Mecca, They had five images of Gods of the first class, which were representatives of the different powers and attributes of the chief Almighty God. Vvodd, under the figure of a Cupid; Sevvack, in the shape of a woman; Jagouth, described as a lion; Neir, as an eagle; and Jaug, as a horse; the allegorical meaning of which is easily understood. There were also a number of inferior Deities, but all subservient to the power of the supreme God, Each planet and principal star had its temple, and ranked many followers of its worship, of which seven are mentioned by Arabian historians :-DzоHL, Saturn; DZOHARA, Venus; MOSCHTARA, Jupiter; ALUARID, Mercury; ALDABARAN, the Bull's-Eye; SOHAIL, the star Canopus; and ALSCHEERA, Sirius, or the Dogstar. Although divine honours were paid to these imaginary Deities, still the Arabians believed in the unity of God, and these several minor objects of adoration were merely emblematical of his variety of powers and ubiquity of presence.

In Kamschatka, the Creator of the universe, the sovereign Lord and Ruler of all things celestial and terrestrial, is represented under the figure of an ill-natured and arbitrary old man.

The Egyptians paid great respect to their gods Osiris and Isis. Osiris, who was emblematical of the sun, was depicted as having a human form with a hawk's head, that bird having a piercing eye' and swift flight, which tallies with the characteristic of the sun; he was clothed in a shining garment, to indicate rays. The generative virtue of the sun was delineated membrum virile ipsi arrectum. KNEPH, the intelligence, or efficient cause of the universe, the powerful and almighty Father of creation, was described as a man clothed in deep blue, (the colour of the sky) having in his hand a sceptre, and a small bonnet of light feathers on his head.

The Sepharvaites, a race of men who were settled in the country of Samaria, paid divine honours to the sun, which was with them the chief God. He was called Adrammelech, signifying. magnificent king. The moon also had worshippers, but not so numerous, that being a Deity inferior to the great God. The moon was named Anamelech, meaning gentle king,

Among the Chaldeans and Canaanites, the supreme Lord and Creator of the universe was worshipped under the name of Baal, which is, lord or master. His statue was represented as of donbtful sex, and when his votaries called upon him, they invoked him thus:-"Hear us, O Lord, whether thou art a God or a Goddess." The worship of this Divinity passed from them to the Carthaginians, as appears from their names, Hannibal, Asdrubal, &c., according to the custom of the East, where kings and great men added to their own names those of the Gods.

The Moabites and Midianites worshipped God under the name of Baal-peor, or Baal-phegor, and described him in the shape of a Priapus, and his adoration consisted in obscene and lascivious practices; the offerings which were generally bestowed to God

and which were thought most acceptable, were the excrements of the votaries. The Jews seemed to have a great hankering after this description of God, for we read in Numbers, that "Israel joined himself to Baal-peor" and afterwards, Solomon erected a temple to his honour upon the mount of Olives.

The Ekronites rendered their holy offerings and fervent prayers to Baal-zebub, or Belzebub, called in the New Testament," thẻ Prince of Devils." His name is literally rendered the Lord of flies, or the God fly. Among these people God was painted in the form of a fly; he had temples, oracles, altars, and numerous adorers, and his attributes and perfections were of the most exalted kind.

Moloch, among the Ammonites, was the great God of Heaven and Earth, and represented as a brazen image sitting upon a throne of the same metal, adorned with a royal crown, having the head of a calf, with his arms extended. The mention of this nation again, reminds us how fickle the Hebrews were in the objects of their veneration, for in several places in the Bible Moses forbids the Israelites to dedicate themselves to this Deity, or in any way to countenance his worship, threatening death to all who should dare to be guilty of so heinous a crime, his religion not allowing Jehovah to be typified. There is great reason to believe that the Hebrews were much addicted secretly to this idolatry, for Amós, and after him St. Stephen, reproaches them with having carried into the wilderness "the tabernacle of their God Moloch."

The ancient Saxons, and the present race of Laplanders, called the eternal, immutable, and omnipotent God, Thor, signifying thunder. His image is made of wood, generally of birch; it has a rough, misshapen trunk, on the top of which there is some resemblance to a human head, in which there is driven a large nail with a flint-stone fastened to it, that he may make himself a fire when he sees it necessary or convenient. He carries a large hammer, the handle of which passes through his body, and is the instrument by which he punishes the wicked.

The Phoenicians deified the moon under the name of Astarte, the Queen of Heaven. She was possessed of all the essences, perfections, and attributes, which were attributed to God by the other systems of theology. Her representations were not always alike, but she was generally figured in a short dress, a crown of battlements on her head, a man's head in her right hand, and a staff in her left.

In Japan, Amidas is the name by which the Almighty God is known; he is the sovereign Lord and absolute Ruler of Paradise; a being invisible, incorporeal, immutable, distinct from all the elements, existing before nature, the foundation of all good, without beginning and without end. He is the great Saviour of mankind, for it is through his intercession that the souls of the bad though repenting men are absolved from all sin and made par

takers of eternal life. He is represented on a very high altar, and mounted on a horse with seven heads; his own head is in the figure of that of a dog, and he holds in his hand a gold ring or circle, which he bites, the hieroglyphic of eternity; he is dressed in a very rich robe, adorned with pearls and precious stones.

The Servians, an Indian sect, recognise God by the name of Eswara, and describe him under the human shape, expressive of the intercourse of the sexes. This Deity had a son, Virrepadra, who sprang from a drop of his sweat; he kicked the sun and beat out all his teeth--and drubbed the moon so heartily, that the marks of his blows have continued in her face ever since. This personification of the Almighty has numerous followers, and the manner in which they express their greatest awe and veneration is by smearing their heads with cow-dung.

The Hottentots call the supreme God, Gounja Ticqvoa, the God of Gods; they represent him as a good man, who does nobody any harm, and dwells far above the moon. He has at various times descended upon earth and become visible to his creatures; he always appears in colour, shape, and apparel, like the finest and most perfect man among them.

God, according to the original Finlanders, was depicted as a man sitting upon a kind of altar, having a crown upon his head set with twelve precious stones, and a great chain of gold about his neck. His name was Jumala, and he had absolute command over the whole of creation, and was the author of life and death.

The Siamese worship God under the name of Sommonacodom, who is master of every thing relating to Heaven, earth, and Hell. This Deity has descended into the material world 550 times under different forms, and in whatsoever figure he has appeared in, it has been the most beautifully-perfect of the kind: he once appeared under the form of an ape.com

The God of the Mexicans, before the discovery of that country by Europeans, was Vitziputzli, whose figure was that of a human being, seated in a chair of sky-coloured blue, supported by a litter, having four serpents' heads at the four corners. His forehead was of a blue colour, and he had a blue streak across the nose which went from ear to ear, Under his feet was an azure globe, representing the heavens. His head was covered with a helmet of feathers of different colours; and his countenance was hideous and severe. In his right hand he held a snake; and in his left a buckler, cover ed wi h five white feathers set cross-wise, and five arrows. His capabilities and eternity are the same as belong to God in every other part of the world. The believers of this God hold the doctrine of the immortality of the soul. The story which the Mexicans relate of their first settling in that country, is precisely similar in its leading features to the Mosaic account of the entrance of the Israelites into the land of Canaan. This fact affords much scope for speculative enquiry.com

Pachacama was the name of the Supreme Being of the ancient Peruvians, whose temples were so immensely rich, that when Ferdinand Pizarro invaded them, he found in one alone 9,000,000 ducats, though 400 Peruvians had removed as much wealth as they could carry, and the Spanish soldiers had plundered it before he arrived. vc Doo

The Malabarians worship God under the name of Izora, who is all-wise, infinite, and eternal. He is described as having long and beautifully-flowing hair, with three eyes, and a crescent or half moon upon his forehead he has sixteen arms, each of which grasps something: an elephant's skin is thrown over his shoulders, and his feet are surrounded with little serpents; he wears a necklace, at which hangs a little bell. All these particulars are emblematical, His sixteen hands denote his great power; the serpents twisting round him, the revolution of ages; and the little bell indicates his great vigilance..

Among the Hindoos the God of creation is Brama, who by his power formed all the animal, vegetable, and material world, out of the four elements, fire, air, earth, and water, and whose comprehensive benevolence selected man to have dominion and authority over the rest, bestowing upon him understanding and judgment, and giving him supremacy over all parts of the world. Brama created fourteen different worlds: the first, which is situated above the heavens, was produced from his brain; the second from his eyes; the third from his mouth; the fourth from his left ear; the fifth from his palate; the sixth from his heart; the seventh from his belly; the eighth was formed by his generative organs; the ninth by his left thigh; the tenth by his knees: the eleventh proceeded from his heel; the twelfth from the toes of his right foot; the thirteenth from the sole of his left foot; and the fourteenth, and last, from the air by which he is surrounded. They affirin, that there is an affinity between the several worlds and the different parts of Brama's body, from whence they originated; and the inhabitants of each partake of the several characteristics and inclinations of the several parts from whence they proceed. The Hindoos represent God in the figure of a man with three heads and several arms, with a long, pointed beard, and a prominent belly, without any drapery surrounding him, and sitting upon a lotos leaf. The worshippers of Brama are Necessarians, for at the instant of every man's birth, to whatever nation or tribe he may belong, God writes upon his head in undelible characters every thing he is to do, and whatever is to-befal him during life.

Having observed some of the various descriptions which have been and are given of the Almighty God in different countries, and among separate people, a question naturally arises in the mind, Which out of such a multiplicity of Deities is the true God? Every system of theology has personified the Divinity according as he has appeared to its professors, or the idea which they have

formed of him and his extensive attributes. The cuquiring mind, by comparing one with the rest, and all with each other, finds no data sufficiently strong and elucidatory to enable it to decide amongst such a complication on which side truth belongs. With the present dogmas which are submitted for consideration the deepest penetration of the mind seems only to involve the subject in greater mysterious confusion, and to bewilder the understanding. Further light must be thrown upon the matter, either by the steady march of philosophical science,porbby the meteor-like. evanescence of a miracle, before mankind at large can be acquainted with, or the art of man decide, the true and unequivocal answer to the question, "What is God?"

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T. G.

YOUR candour and impartiality must meet with the approbation of all your correspondents and are entitled to their thanks, and praise. As I challenge no one, I only beg that you will permit me to defend myself, when I am assailed. I have said, I believe not in God, I say so again. And I say so, from the influence of demonstration. I cavil not with words, using" proper words in proper places," Swift gives as his definition of a good style of writ ing. This almost any man will do, who understands the words he uses and comprehends the subject on which he writes. I can make no display of learning because I have none. The advocates for divinity (as if an omnipotent being stood in need of a counsellor or lawyer to plead for him) are all grammarians, profound logicians, learned men, and philosophers. For such men, I have an involuntary respect, and whatever they may think of me, I shall always respect them, while they argue temperately and are free from arrogance and hypocrisy. I have said that I would believe if I could and I must say that the gentlemen who presume to argue for and support the being of omnipotence, have said nothing yet to identify his existence or change my creed. One, I find, relies on the old mode of making converts, by terrifying us out of our opinions, as they frighten an ewe to a strange lamb by setting dogs to bark at her.

To do this effectually, they bring in the terrible argument, truly logical, I suppose, of God's vengeance, hereafter. This, I take it, is the argument which confirms their own belief; for fear