our triumph. Peace dwelt in the new city, but only for a time. Again the sound of the drum was heard in our Church, and we were threatened with another rupture. The Lord demanded even larger faith and more perfect devotion. These, hundreds persistently refused to give. They said they would serve God, but according to their own interpretation of His will. In the inner working of the Holy Spirit they had no faith, and they defiantly denied the doctrine of Inspiration or Adesh. We instantly declared war against this species of infidelity, and in close combat we at last achieved signal victory over our antagonists. Having now triumphed over all opposition we joyfully sounded the conch-shell of peace, and built unto our dear God the new city and the new tabernacle of the New Dispensation. Devout reader, trace if you can, the finger of God in these successive stages of our progress. In the earliest war we vindicated the Father; in the second we honored the Son; in the third we have established the kingdom of the Holy Ghost. The idolaters protested against the Father; the parent Brahmo Somaj protests against the Son, and would not honor Jesus or Moses or Paul; the protesting Brahmos protest against the Holy Spirit, and regard Divine inspiration or command as a lie. Butglory be unto God-the New Dispensation worships the Father, honors the Son, and lives in the inspiration of the Holy Ghost. We never read or studied the doctrine of Trinity, but our Holy Church has lived. and grown into it. To us this is a marvel. Great, great art thou, great among the forces in creation. We shall honour thee and magnify thee because of thy greatness and majesty. Thou art not God: we do not adore thee. But in thee dwells the Lord, the Eternal Inextinguishable Flame, the Light. of the universe, the immanent Fire, Fire of fire, whom fire doth reveal and glorify. O thou brilliant Agni, in thee we behold our Resplendent Lord. His hand holds up thy holy flame. Without Him thou art not. Then let us glorify Him, thy God and our God. The Lord has made thee, O Agni, formidable and mighty, mighty to consume and destroy. With thy tremendous force thou burnest and swallowest extensive forests and reduces cities and towns into ashes. Be fore thy fury heroes tremble in utter helplessness. But if, Agni, thou art a fierce enemy to be always dreaded, thou art also a benefactor, worthy of all honour and gratitude. Our friend art thou, O Agni. Thy good services who can recount? In the firmanent above thou art ablaze as the sun, and thou scatterest light and heat in all directions for our benefit. Down below on earth, in the home of every householder thou kindlest a flame to cook our daily food; thou cheerest us in cold wintry nights; and thou lightest the candle to give us light in the midst of dark Thou removest plague and pestilence and foul diseases, and thou dost purify the air by destroying noxious effluvia. Therefore, our venerable forefathers, the ancient Aryan Rishis, greatly honored thee, and performed the sacred Hom unto thy glory. O friend and benefactor of the human race, O thou whose glory the Rig Veda so devoutly sang four thousand years ago, burn brightly before us, that we may sing thy praise amid the civilization of the nineteenth century and be worthy of our forefathers. Blessed art thou, O Agni, for thou art a blazing witness unto the Lord, and thou revealest His brightness unto man. O Thou Resplendeut God of Fire. O God of Agni, as Agnihotri and priest I initiate the ceremony of the true Hom, under Thy command, for the destruction of carnal propensities. Help us, God; good God, help us. In Thy holy fire we desire to burn to-day our sins and iniquities, our foul desires and the lusts of the flesh. As the fire before us burns these pieces of fuel, so shall we burn our anger and avarice, lust and pride, and all our passions in the fire of Thy holiness. We are not saved till the very root of sin and temptation is burnt up. The son of God in an instant bravely vanquished Satan, and overcame temptation. And so the blessed Buddha indignantly drove away the tempter Mara, and conquered flesh. Administer unto us, O Resplendent Spirit, fire-baptism, that we may vanquish the tempter as those master souls did. Root out iniquity. Destroy the very seed of corruption. O Lord, Annihilate Satan and burn Death, that we may put on incorruption and everlasting life. These six pieces of fuel tied together, which represent the six evil passions of the heart, do Thou burn and destroy in The flame. And as these pieces of fuel burn and are reduced to ashes, may they typify the destruction of our carnal passions in the fire of Thy holiness ! Thus saying, the minister cast the six pieces of fuel into the burning fire, the congregation exclaiming together, "Victory to God, Victory to God, Victory to God." Peace, Peace, Peace. TRUE MEANING OF THE FIRE CEREMONY. THE Hom ceremony, which we noticed the other day, was a combination of many types and symbols, ideas and principles, chemically made into one. They were not of course elaborated separately by much reflection and thought, and then moulded and mixed togther into a heterogeneous compound. The whole thing, however, was evolved as one solid and synthetic unity, typical of a deep spiritual principle, namely the slaying of carnal propensities. In this rite the observant eye will find Christ's Temptation, Buddha's Temptation, the Hindu Rishi's Hom, the Parsee's Blazing Fire in the Temple. The chief idea in it is "Get thee behind me Satan." This idea has been worked out in a perfectly national style. To a Hindu fire naturally commends itself as a destructive and purifying agent, and in his mind it cannot fail to suggest grand traditional associations of the ancient Hom ceremony, which was used in Vedic days to destroy both physical and moral evil, to purify the atmosphere, to keep off ferocious beasts and venomous snakes, to ensure the safety and peace of the hermitage, and thus to help in various ways the Yogi's spiritual culture. Hence is it that we find the modern Hindu devotee lighting up the Vedic Hom fire to burn the six Satans of his carnal nature. These are the Sharr Ripu, or six enemies, namely Lust, Anger, Covetousness, Infatuation, Pride and Envy. The Hom, then, under the New Dispensation, symbolizes the burning up of carnality in the blazing fire of Divine holiness, and marks the turning point in the life of every disciple of Christ, where the soul in the strength of the Lord resolutely overcomes temptation, says unto evil'Avaunt,' and accomplishes the negative or destructive work of sanctification, before entering upon its positive side, which is the attainment of new life through Baptism. IMMERSION IN JORDAN WATER, OR CEREMONY. THE Ceremony of Overcoming Temptation, which was initiated on Tuesday, the 7th, was consummated on Sunday last. What began with Fire ended with Water. The typical destruction of carnality was naturally followed by the symbol of new birth. Fire killed and consumed the old man; Baptism evolved the new man. After Service in the Tabernacle the devotees con |