warding off the blows of their enemies. Every individual person, man, woman, or child, rush into the field of battle; for it an established custom among them to leave the ouse empty on such emergent occasions. Nay, when they are apprehensive of bloedy engagements, they set fire to all their towns, villages, and habitations, under the specious pretence, that by such means they shall deprive their enemies of the advantages they might reasonably expect of their proving victorious, and to prevent their seldiers from thinking of, or longing for, home. They sell as slaves, all those whom they take prisoners, and they cat the dead bodies of their enemies whom they kill in battle. All crimes, let them be of ever so atrocious a nature, may be compounded for the payment of a small fine; but if the person cannot pay that, his head is cut off and his body quartered. All these parts of the body are given to the relations of the deceased, who boil the head, and put it up near their Fetiche or idol, and the women, having bathed the quarters with their tears, bury them in their garden.

These people are, perhaps, sunk as low into idolatry as any we have yet mentioned, nor is it enough to say they are ignorant of the true God; for even with respect to their own idols, they have the most unworthy notions. They ascribe to them no other attributes than such as are even degrading to human nature, and far beneath the dignity of a man. How can they imagine, that an inanimate being can supply their wants, alleviate their afflictions, inspire them with knowledge, preserve them through life, or make them happy in eternity? The most accomplished man in the world must know himself to be a dependent creature, and consequently must look to some superior being, as an object of worship. But here we find men paying divine adoration to what they trample on in the streets, what is tossed about from place to place,-but this is a god!

We shall conclude this article in the words of St. Cyprian, bishop of Carthage, who was himself a native of Africa, and suffered death for the gospel. "Idolatry is the mother of all debauchery, to throw a snare not only before Christians, but even to corrupt moral Heathens. It flatters them with false promises, amuses them with false hopes, and seduce them by a kind of bewitching magic. The devil is the author of it, who, in order to give it a more promising appearance, joins with it such lewd entertainments as are agreeable to the senses, but destructive to the soul."

No. 20.

6 A

Of the Religion of the Natives of Benin, Ardra, &c.

THESE people are, perhaps, in some things more superstitious, more ignorant, and more barbarous than any we have hitherto mentioned. It is true, they acknowledge one Supreme Being, but at the same time, they worship many subordinate ones. Nay, it is even asserted, that they worship the devil, but this, we imagine, is nothing more than what is common to those Heathen nations, where it is believed there are two principles, one good and one evil. This notion seems to have taken its rise from the consideration of virtue and vice in the world. This induced some Epicurean, or rather Atheistical philosophers to set up two gods, the one in opposition to the other; and we are sorry to find that too much of this prevails even among those who bear the name of Christians. These considerations naturally bind us to draw a veil over the weakness of these people, and to pity their ignorance, because they have not an opportunity of being better acquainted with what relates to their eternal happi

ness.

All of these people have their Fetiches, and a priest, who is a sort of a father confessor, and who, at all times undertakes to give them advice concerning any thing of a doubtful nature, which he does by consulting their oracle.

To carry on the deception as much as possible, the priests pretend that their idols, or Fetiches, speak to them audibly, and for that purpose they have a pipe fixed to the idol, and to it they apply their ear, after they have offered up sacrifices. They have some faint idea of the day of judgment, and they imagine that the souls of the deceased take cognizance of every thing below, and for that reason they offer up to them their most solemn vows, prayers, and oblations.

Whenever they pursue the chace, or engage in any undertaking whatever, they take particular care to make some sort of oblation to the souls of their deceased relations. They also make sumptuous entertainments in honour of the dead, especially of their nearest and dearest kindred, who are the protectors, in their opinion, of their families; for to speak in their own language, every soul is the guardian of its own relations, and it is for that reason that their kings never enter upon any projects till they have first invoked the souls of their ancestors.

They imagine that these souls or spiries, generally reside in the woods, and such as are afflicted either

in body or mind, resort to those solitary retreats, and there most humbly implore their aid and assistance. As for temples or chapels, or indeed any structures for public worship, they have none. All their public meetings for worship are in the woods next adjoining to their huts, and there they offer up their sacrifices and make their oblations to the spirits of the deceased.

All these Heathens practise the rite of circumcision, and indeed it seems to be universal throughout Africa, but they have no fixed time for performing the ceremony. Some do it while they are infants, and others not till they are getting towards years of maturity. Every family has its own particular Fetiche or idol, and their priests attend them as often as they think proper. When a Negro is fallen sick, he sends for his priest, who is called the Fetissero, .who offers up some sacrifices in his behalf, sprinkles the Fetiche belonging to the family with the blood of the victim. In general, their sacrifices are offered up once every six months, and on such occasions, the priests, who are the most arrant impostors in the world, pretend to make the people believe that the idol speaks to them, and gives them a gracious answer. As for the dead, they are of opinion that none but those who die in battle will ever be raised again, and this notion is inculcated in order to make the men regardless of danger, and strangers to

fear.

The natives of Biafara offer up all they have, even their most darling infants, to the devil; and they are extremely addicted to the study and practice of the black art, and all magical incantations; flattering themselves, that by those mysterious operations they can influence the elements, and all the products of nature. When we talk here of the devil, we do not mean that evil spirit, which our Christian divines treat of; but a thing, a being, a spirit only, which we are at a loss to define, or give any adequate idea of; but in all probability it may be the sole object of some people's worship, and frequently it is no more than a chimera of their priests' invention, or a strong impulse, or delusion of their own disordered imagination.

We shall here amuse our readers with one particular custom, which is as idle as it is extravagant; and in all probability, extremely painful. The natives of Rio-Real, and the parts adjacent, as also the Negroes of Ardra, decline the ceremony of circumcision with respect to their females, as well as several others amongst the Africans, but have substituted another in the room of it, which is much more incommodious and uneasy. About the time that their daughters arrive at the age of matrimony, they

lodge a small wooden instrument, plentifully stored with emmits, within their pudenda, which they frequently shift, lest in time those little insects should lose their innate quality, and not be able to sting with that pungency as required. This severe kind of probation continues for near three month, nor is left off till they have qualified them for the marriage bed. As to the mysterious circumcision of the Negro women, we shall treat of it hereafter in another paragraph.

The Negroes of Cabo de Monto, and the parts adjacent, have nothing very remarkable in their nuptial ceremonies, except that the presents which a young lover makes to his mistress, are looked upon as an earnest, and give him a kind of right and title to her. For instance, if a virgin is too young, and not altogether marriageable, her lover may retain her by proper presents. If he has none to give her, he may work for her, build her a hut, and manure her ground for her. In case his mistress is independent on any of her relations, and perfectly disengaged, it is customary for the gallant to invite her to his own house, and for her to accept the offer, tho' with abundance of seeming modesty and reluctance after which she grants him the last favour for ten or twelve nights together, before she insists upon the present which is to bind their engagement. If a son proves the result of their amorous interviews, the father provides for him; if a daughter, she is left entirely to the care and conduct of the mother. Such love adventures as these prove of no ill consequence, are no manner of prejudice or disappointment to the fair sex; for, maids or not maids, they never fail of finding husbands. What a world of noise and confusion should we prevent, were we licensed to carry on such a free trade; were we entrusted for a week or a fortnight together, with such staple commodities, by way of probation, before we struck an absolute bargain, and paid down the purchase-money!

If the lover, after trial, finds his mistress to his taste, and for his turn, he makes his applications to her parents in form, and sends her some suitable presents. She accepts of them, in case she approves of her bed fellow, and if not, returns them directly.

The naming of an infant is performed with abundance of solemnity; and the ceremony is generally performed betimes in the morning, when the child is about eight or ten days old, accompanied with vocal and instrumental music. The celebrant takes the child from the mother, and lays him on a shield or buckler, in the midst of the whole assembly, who are all armed in form. Then he puts a little bow into his hand, and makes an harangue of

about

about half an hour long, according to the best of his knowledge, and the established principles of the negroes, on the duties required of the nominee, in order hereafter to be a happy man, and a man of honour. After this exhortation is over, he returns the child into its mother's arms; and the nomination of a daughter is performed much after the same manner, though not with equal solemnity. The woman, who is the celebrant, takes the girl, and lays her on a mat, in the midst of the whole female assembly, and puts into her hand a ladle, which they make use of to stir their porridge; and after that, she makes an harangue according to their principles, on the duties of a good housewife.

Some of the natives of the Golden Coast, are addicted, notwithstanding they are indulged in polygamy as well as their neighbours, to strolling abroad, and lying with strangers. In case they are detected, the affair is with ease accommodated, by paying the injured wife some trivial amerciament; though should she, on the other hand, chance to trespass, and prove false to her husband's bed, she would run the risque of being divorced, or sold for a slave. The courtship of these people is not very ceremonious. The young man asks the question and seldom meets with a repulse; if he is not a slave, or does not forget his nuptial presents, which consist only in a few worthless baubles. She is conducted to her husband's house in the evening; and there a brideman is nominated to be her guardian, and to lie for about eight days between the new-married couple, to give a check to the violence of the bridegroom's passion, till in time they become better acquainted.

Now we are upon the topic of matrimony, we shall make bold to mention one particular ceremony, which, though there is very little religion in the case, it is true, cannot so properly be introduced in any other place. Every village amongst the negroes, maintains two or three common women; whom they instal, or put in possession of their posts, in the presence of a very numerous assembly. The candidates are exposed to public view, and seated upon a mat; in the interim the oldest of them cuts the throat of a fowl, and lets the blood trickle down upon her head, shoulders, and arms; and then solemnly promises upon oath, to oblige any townsman whatever with her favours upon reasonable terms; after this, she admits one of the company to her embraces, and then goes and washes herself with one of her comrades. The ablution ended, she resumes her post, and is rubbed all over her arms, breast, and shoulders with white chalk; and to close the ceremony, two young fellows take her

upon their shoulders, and carry her in triumph ali over the town. After that, she is obliged for eight. days together to sit in public upon her mat, and there recommend herself to the generosity of her gallants.

The courtiers in the kingdom of Benin, are not allowed to cover their nakedness, nor marry without his majesty's licence and consent, first had and obtained. The privilege of raiment entirely depends on his royal pleasure; and whenever he confers that favour, he obliges them with a wife at the same time. Neither do the wives ever dress themselves without the husband's permission; who, when they grant any of them that favour, take up their lodging with them. A widow, that has a son, must never marry again, without his consent; nay, she absolutely becomes his servant. If any one makes his addresses to her, with her son's knowledge and approbation, the gallant always engages to settle the youth, and find out a wife to his inclinations. Parents never marry their daughters before they are duly qualified; and after their nuptials, concern themselves no farther about them. We omit several other customs, as being, in our opinion, not worth observance; but they have one notion, however, that is very particular. To be brought to bed of two children, is by them accounted perfectly scandalous; and as they are fully persuaded, that twins are the result of their wives incontinence and loss of honour, they not only discard one of them; but sometimes, as we are informed, make away with and destroy it. What hard thoughts would they entertain of a superfetation? and how would they asperse and stigmatize such women as have sometimes three at a birth?

We shall now come to their funeral solemnitics. The negroes of Cabo de Monte in the first place weep and lament over a dead friend, and mingle the commemoration of some of his most laudible actions with their tears. After this testimony of their respect, they wash his body, "curl his hair, dress him, and in order to make him stand upright, tie him fast behind, and under his arms. They furnish the deceased with a bow and arrow, and adoin him with all the gayest things he was possessed of in his life-time; and in that attitude each of them makes him some suitable présent. The relations and friends sit on their knees all round about, with their backs turned towards him, having their bows in their hands, drawn with such violence, that they seem in danger of being broke. This ceremony, say they, declares, that they are prepared to take revenge on such as might any ways have been instrumental to his death. When they put him in the grave, they

bury

bury not only the presents that are made him, but some of his most valuable effects along with him. If a prince, or a nobleman dies, they bury a sufficient quantity of slaves with him, to attend and wait on him in the other world. Their mourning consists in making a solemn vow, and binding it with an oath, to fast about eight or ten days together. If some very valuable friend happens to die, whose loss is a more than common concern to them, they sometimes hold it for a month. During all that time they neither caress their wives, nor have any familiar converse with the female sex: They wear no coloured cloaths; they shave their heads, and lic upon the ground. When the term of their fasting is expired, they discharge themselves of their vow, by repeating the same ceremony they observed at first, that is to say, extending their hands in the presence of a Fetiche; and after, they make a sumptuous entertainment in honour of the deceased.

When any one is suspected to have died an unnatural death, they neither weep over the corpse, nor wash it, nor dress it, till their jealousy is removed, and the fact cleared up. For, say they, should we mourn over it first, it would be impossible to find out the unhappy cause; since the spirit whom we should consult on this melancholy occasion, would then be silent, and resolve none of our queries. In order to discover the fact in such cases, they take a small piece of the deceased's garment, the parings of his nails, and a lock of his hair, all which they bind up together, and cover them over with the dust of some particular red wood. After this, they fasten this little pacquet to a stick, the two ends whereof are laid upon the heads of two men. Then one amongst them, whom they look upon as the best orator, takes two iron implements; as for instance, two hatchets, or the like, and striking one against the other, conjures the dead person to disclose whether his death was the result of violence, or a decay in nature: If the latter, the spirit, who actuates, or influences the two men, compels them to bow down their heads; if the former, to shake them. They continue in the same manner to ask him further, in order to be fully satisfied what he died of, if the dose, or potion, that was given him, was too strong for his constitution? if he was poisoned? who administered it? and the like. In short, when they have discovered, as they imagine, the malefactor, they charge him with the fact, and make him swallow down, fasting in the morning, the quantity of three or four cups full of a very strong liquid extracted from the bark of some particular trees. This draught, they say, infallibly kills the

party accused if guilty; if innocent, he instantly throws up every drop of it. Sometimes there is a spell, or charm, laid upon the spirit which prevents him from giving an answer to all their interrogatories; and, in that case, they apply themselves to some magicians, to remove the fascination, and then they proceed to the experiment above described.

After the decease of a father, the eldest son takes possession as heir of all his effects; and in case he has younger brothers, undertakes to be their tutor : and he is entitled to both, even before he is twenty years of age; but he is obliged, however, to testify his abilities before the king in the following manner; he repairs to the usual place where they practise the art of shooting, in the midst of a crowd of his relations, with his father's bow in his hand, and his quiver at his back. He grounds his bow as an able archer, and in that attitude asserts, that he thinks himself capable of making a proper use of the arms his father had left him. After this formal declaration, he gives a specimen of his art, and then makes a kind of an harangue, wherein he assures his majesty, that he will maintain his family, defend the rights and privileges of his brothers, and take care, as far as in him lies, of all their lands and effects, &c.

In the more remote parts of Guinea, beyond the kingdom of Benin, there is nothing very remarkable in the funeral solemnities of the Negroes, except, that after the decease of one of their heroes or commanders, they hollow a tree, and impale a youth alive in it in order to be his slave and attendant in the other world. Such as die at Benin, are always accompanied by a considerable number of slaves. As soon as the corpse is laid in the grave, they dance. and sing over it for seven or eight days together, and sometimes take the body up again, in order to honour it with a fresh sacrifice of beasts and slaves. As to their king, when he dies, they dig a grave for him of an uncommon depth, in the centre of the court, and there inter him; and his courtiers are all ambitious of attending him; but that honour is reserved only for his peculiar favourites. When they have selected their compliment, they bury them alive along with him; and afterwards a large sepulchral stone is rolled over the grave. The first of these favourites that dies, is always commemorated with the greatest reverence and respect. To conclude, the new king orders an elegant entertainment to be made for the populace upon the monument, which is the ceremony of his coronation; and is often attended with the massacre of several of his subjects, in honour of his accession to the throne.

There

There never was any one religion whatsoever, that had not a particular set of mysteries, which none but a few select devotees could ever attain to. In order to arrive at that pitch of perfection, there have always been such extravagant ceremonies to be observed, as were sufficient to surprise, blind, shock, and even confound the inferior class of de

votees.

Fastings, penances, and a thousand austerities have been for the generality, the preludes, if we may be allowed the expression, to those mystic ceremonies, and every person of experience well knows, that the imagination of a devotee is all on fire, especially while he is learning what he considers as a sacred mystery. This is evident, from the accounts we have of the initiation of the ancients, and we have frequently taken notice of this in our accounts of the religion of the idolators in the EastIndies.

The regeneration of the Negroes of Cabo de Monte, is of the same nature and degree. In order to have a familiar intercourse with spirits, and be admitted into their refined society, the candidate must die and be born again. The mysteries of such assemblies are concealed and hid from the eyes of women and children, nor are any strangers admitted. If the person thus qualified should indiscreetly reveal any of these divine secrets to a friend whom he loved ever so much, or thought he could confide in, the spirits, they believe, would resent the discovery, and would inevitably destroy the one for his indiscretion, and the other for his curious and impertinent enquiry.

The ceremony of this initiation is solemnized but once in twenty, or twenty-five years, and the Negroes in their common discourse about it, talk, for the generality, in the language of enthusiasts. All we can make of this ceremony of their dying, is, that it must consist in some abominable rites that they are ashamed of, otherwise, why should they keep it so concealed? Perhaps it is similar to some of those abominations, so frequently mentioned in the Old Testament; nay, that it is so, there is strong reasons to believe, because their idols have similar names to those of the Canaanites.. Thus they call their regeneration, or that of dying and being born again to a new state of existence, by the name of Belli Paaro, which undoubtedly is the Baal Peor of the Heathens. Now it is well known that there were many horrid abominations committed in the temple of Baal Peor, for it was from him that the Greeks, and after them the Romans borrowed their shameful god Priapus, which leads us to consider NJ. 20..

these African mysteries as truly abominable, and not fit to be mentioned.

The marks, or signatures of this regeneration, or Belli-Paaro, are several long slashes down the neck and shoulders, and such as are favoured with these barbarous marks pretend to much more knowledge than their neighbours. They sit as judges both incivil and in criminal causes, and as for those who are not yet in the state of regeneration, they are reckoned among the number of the prophane, impure, and illiterate, incapable of giving a just judgment in any thing of importance, and unworthy of being admitted into any public assemblies, civil or ecclesiastical. siastical. But secret as they keep this mistery, yet something relating to it has transpired, which we shall here lay before the reader.

By the king's special command, they make choice of some private commodious place in the woods, that abounds with olives and other fruits, and in short is stored with all sorts of herbs, in such plenty, as are fit for the subsistence of the human species. To this sacred solitude their youth are conducted, but with reluctance; for they think it a melancholy circumstance to encounter with death. Before they set out, they give away all their effects to their friends and relations, intimating thereby, that they renounce all the vanities and pleasures of this life. They are accompanied by several old devotees, who have been many years initiated, and these reside among them in the grove as their superintendants and instructors. They inform them of all the customs and ceremonies which must be religiously observed; they inure them by frequent exercise to a particular violent dance, that shakes them prodigiously, and they teach them some pieces of poetry, abounding with encomiums on their Belli-Paaro. All these candidates or probationers receive a new name at their regeneration, and the ceremony or initiation lasts at least five years, so that it may be considered as a course of liberal education. The king himself honours them with his presence several different times, and then it is that they are publicly examined.

As for the young ones, they are not permitted to stir out, nor appear among the prophane; for such are, in their opinion, all those who have not been regenerated. The parts adjacent to this grove for three or four miles round, are looked upon as sacred, and no prophane person must presume to enter therein. The women are all excluded, and if by any accident, they should happen to enter within these bounds, they must sing as loud as they are able to raise their throats; were they to neglect this,

6 B

they