Connecticut western news., 1895-01-17

trees SleeVed With blossoms and rocks upholstered of moss, commingling sounds and sights and odors until eye and ear and nostril vie with each other as to which sense shall open the door to the most enchantment A struggle between. music and perfume and iridesoence. Ole anders reeling in intoxication of color Great banyan trees that have been chang. ing their mind for centuries, each cen tury carrying out a new plan of growth attracted our attention and saw us pass in the year of 1894 as they saw pass the generations of 1794 and 1894. Colom- bo is so thoroughly embowered in foli- age that if you go into one of its towers and look down upon the city of 13O, 900 people you cannot see house Oh, the trees of Ceylonl May you live to be- hold the morning climbing down through their branches or the evening tipping their leaves with amber and goldl l forgive the Buddhist for the worship of trees until they know of the God who made the trees. I wonder not that there are some trees in Ceylon call ed sacred. To me all trees are sacred I wonder not that before one of them they burn oamphor flowers and hang lamps around it's branches and 100, 900 people each year make pilgrimage to that tree. Worship something man must, and, until he hear of the only Being worthy of worship, what so elevating as a treel What glory en- throned amid it's foliagel What a majestic doxology spreads out in it's branches What a voice when the tempests pass through itl How it looks down. upon the cradle and the grave of oenturiesl As the fruit of one tree unlawfully eaten struck the race with woe and the uplifting of another tree brings peace to the soul, let the woodman spare the tree and all nations honor it, if, through higher teaching, we do not, like the Ceylonese, worship itl How oonsolatory that when we no more walk under the tree branches on earth we may see the ''tree of life which bears 12 manner of fruit and yields her fruit every month, and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nationsp
 A Strange Procession.
 Two prooessions I saw in Ceylon within one hour. the first led by Hin- doc priest, a huge pot of flowers on his head, his face disfgured with holy lacer- ations and his unwashed followers beat ing as many discords from what are SUD- posed to be musical instruments as at one time can be induced to enter the human ear. The procession halted at the door of the huts. The occupants came out and made obeisanoe and presented small contributions. In return there for the priest sprinkled ashes upon the children who came forward, this evi- dently form of benediction. Then the procession, led on by the priest, started again. More noise, more ashes, more genudection. However keen one's sense of the ludicrous. he could find nothing to excite even smile in the movements of such procession. Meaningless, op- pressive, squalid, filthy, sad.
 Returning to our carriage, we rode on for few moments, and we came on another procession, kindly lady lead ing groups of native children, all clean, bright, happy, laughing. They were Christian school out for exercise There seemed as much intelligence, refinement and happiness in that regiment of young Cingalese as you would find in the ranks of any young ladies' seminary being chaperoned on their afternoon walk through Central park, New York, or Hyde park, London The Hindoo pro- cession illustrated on small scale some thing of what Hindooism can do for the world The Christian procession illus trates on a small scale something of what Christianity can do for the world. But those two processions were only fragments of two great processions ever marching across our world, the process sion blasted of superstition and the pro- cession blessed of gospel light saw them in one afternoon in Ceylon. They are to be seen in all nations.
 Nothing is of more thrilling interest than the Christian achievements in this island The Episcopal church was here the national church, but disestablish- ment has taken place, and since MT. Gladstone's accomplishment of that fact in 1880 all denominations are on equal platform, and all are are doing mighty work. America is second to no other nation in what has been done for Cey- lon. Since 1816 she has had her religious agents in the Jaffna peninsula of Cey- lon. The Spauldings, the Howlands, the Drs. Poor, the Saunders and others just as good and strong have been fighting back monsters of superstition and cruel ty greater than any that ever swung the tusk or roared in the jungles.
 Christ Buddha-
 The American missionaries in Cey1on have given special attention to medical instruction and are doing wonders in driving back the horrors of heathen sur gery. Cases of suffering were formerly given over to the devil worshipers and such tortures inflicted as may not be described. The patient was trampled by the feet of the medical attendants It Is only of Gods mercy that there is living mother in Ceylon. Oh, how much Ceylon needs doctors, and the medical classes of native students under the care of those who follow the exam pie of the late Samuel Fish Green are providing them. so that all the allevi- ations and kindly ministries and scien- tifio acumen that can be found in Amer ioan and English hospitals will soon bless all Ceylon.
 In that island are 32 American school, 210 Church of England schools, 234 Wesleyan schools, 234 Roman Catholic schools. An, the schools de- eide most everythingl How suggest Ne the incident that came to me in Cey lon. In school under the care of the Episcopal church two boys were con- verted to Christ and were to be baptized An intelligent Buddhist boy said in the school, Let all the boys on Buddha's side come to this psrt of the room and all the boys on Christ's side go to the other part of the room. :"
 All the boys except two went on Bud dha's side, and when the two boys who were to be baptized were scoffed at and ] tlo,sa .xialafaa and ,satis.csd