'The Brahmins say that Benares is not a part of this sinful earth; but that it is on the outside of the world. An earthquake, however, which was lately felt there, has rather nonplussed them, as it proves that what shakes the earth, shakes Benares too.' It is easy enough for those who have been long at ease to imagine themselves protected from the common lot of men, but a shaking trial in their estates or persons soon convinces them that they are as other men are. Spiritual presumption leads many professors to imagine that they are beyond the power of temptation, and are no longer such frail beings as their fellow Christians; let but the Lord conceal his face, or Satan assail them, and in their sore trouble they will discover that they are men of like passions with the rest.