CO CHIN CHIN A. ' 329 
boy attending on the priest stood close lefore iiim with a 
burning coal on a brazen dish. One of the peasants carried 
a ladder of bamboo, which he placed against the tree ; and 
another mounting it deposited in the cage, before the idol, 
two basons of rice, a cup of sugar, and one of salt. The 
priest in the mean time, with arms extended and eyes turned 
towards heaven, muttered something in a low tone of voice, 
when the man who. had carried the ladder fell on his knees 
and nine times prostrated his body on the ground, according 
to the custom of the Chinese. Several women and children 
remained at a distance, as if forbidden to approach too near ; 
though, as priestesses are said to be common in this country, 
it is not probable there was any restriction on account of 
the sex. 
That the ladder was the property of the priest, and that at 
a suitable time he would take care to remove the sacred de- - 
posit and appropriate the offering to his own use, like the 
priests of the idol Bel in times of old, as related in the 
apocryphal writings, there is little room for doubting ; but 
the offering Avas not, on that account, less a token of**^ the 
piety and gratitude of him who made it. And although it 
might have been more dignified, on the part of the priest, to 
take his due fairly and openly, 3^et there are not perhaps any 
class of men who are better entitled to a remuneration for 
their services than those whose time is occupied in keeping 
alive the duties of religion. At all times and in all nations 
the disposal of the first fruits seems to have been vested in 
the hands of the priests. From sacred history it clearly appears 
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