{"collection":"folklore-oral-tradition","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_41566/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_41566","id":"gutenberg_41566","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/41566","summary":null,"tags":["Category: History - Religious","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Folklore","Religions","Superstition"],"text":"Note: Images of the original pages are available through\n      Internet Archive. See\n      http://archive.org/details/curiositiesofsup00adam\n\n\n\n\n\nCURIOSITIES OF SUPERSTITION,\n\nAnd Sketches of some Unrevealed Religions.\n\nby\n\nW. H. DAVENPORT ADAMS,\n\nAuthor of \u201cHeroes of the Cross,\u201d etc.\n\n  \u201cTo my mind there is no study more absorbing than that of\n  the Religions of the World,--the study, if I may so call\n  it, of the various languages in which man has spoken to\n  his Maker, and of that language in which his Maker \u2018at\n  sundry times and in divers manners\u2019 spake to man.\u201d--MAX M\u00dcLLER.\n\n  \u201cPrimus in orbe Deos fecit timor.\u201d--STATIUS, _Thebaid_, 661.\n\n\n  LONDON:\n  J. MASTERS AND CO., 78, NEW BOND STREET.\n  MDCCCLXXXII.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nLondon:\nJ. Masters and Co., 78, New Bond Street.\nMDCCCLXXXII.\n\nLondon:\nPrinted by J. Masters and Co.,\nAlbion Buildings, Bartholomew Close.\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS.\n\n\n  CHAPTER                                                             PAGE\n\n      I. BUDDHISM, ITS ORIGIN AND CEREMONIES                             1\n\n     II. MAGIANISM: THE PARSEES                                         43\n\n    III. JEWISH SUPERSTITIONS                                           68\n\n     IV. BRAHMANISM                                                     84\n\n      V. HINDU MYTHOLOGY, AND THE VISHNU PURANA                         99\n\n     VI. IN CHINA: CONFUCIANISM, TAOUISM, AND BUDDHISM                 119\n\n    VII. AMONG THE MALAYS, THE SLAMATAN BROMOK, THE DYAKS, THE\n         PAPUAN TRIBES, THE AHETAS                                     142\n\n   VIII. THE SAVAGE RACES OF ASIA: THE SAMOJEDES; THE MONGOLS;\n         THE OSTIAKS; IN TIBET                                         155\n\n     IX. SOME AFRICAN SUPERSTITIONS                                    171\n\n      X. THE ZULU WITCH-FINDERS                                        180\n\n     XI. ZABIANISM AND SERPENT-WORSHIP                                 186\n\n    XII. POLYNESIAN SUPERSTITIONS                                      214\n\n   XIII. THE FIJI ISLANDERS                                            230\n\n    XIV. THE RELIGION OF THE MAORIES                                   241\n\n     XV. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS                                    254\n\n    XVI. AMONG THE ESKIMOS                                             274\n\n   XVII. A MEDI\u00c6VAL SUPERSTITION: THE FLAGELLANTS                      279\n\n  XVIII. SCOTTISH SUPERSTITIONS: HALLOWEEN                             288\n\n    XIX. SECOND SIGHT: DIVINATION: UNIVERSALITY OF CERTAIN\n         SUPERSTITIONS: FAIRIES IN SCOTLAND                            300\n\n\n\n\nCURIOSITIES OF SUPERSTITION.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER I.\n\n_BUDDHISM: ITS ORIGIN AND CEREMONIES._\n\n\nPRAYER-WHEELS OF THE BUDDHISTS.\n\nTravelling on the borders of Chinese Tartary, in the country of the Lamas\nor Buddhists, Miss Gordon Cumming remarks that it was strange, every now\nand again, to meet some respectable-looking workman, twirling little brass\ncylinders, only about six inches in length, which were incessantly\nspinning round and round as they walked along the road. What could they\nbe? Not pedometers, not any of the trigonometrical instruments with which\nthe officers of the Ordnance Survey go about armed? No; she was informed\nthat they were prayer-wheels, and that turning them was just about\nequivalent to the telling of beads, which in Continental lands workmen may\noften be seen counting as homeward along the road they plod their weary\nway.\n\nThe telling of beads seems to the Protestant a superfluous piece of\nformalism: what then are we to think of prayer by machinery? The prayers,\nor rather invocations, to Buddha--the Buddhists never pray, in the\nChristian sense--are all closely written upon strips of cloth or paper;\nthe same sentence being repeated some thousands of times. These strips are\nplaced inside a cylinder, revolving on a long spindle, the end of which is\nthe handle. From the wind-cylinder depends a small lump of metal, which,\nwhirling round, communicates the necessary impetus to the little machine,\nso that it rotates with the slightest possible effort, and continues to\ngrind any required number of acts of worship, while the owner, with the\nplaything in his hand, carries on his daily work. His religion requires\nthat he should be all his time immersed in holy contemplation of the\nperfections of Buddha, but to a busy man no such self-absorption is\npossible. He is content, therefore, to say the sentences aloud at the\nbeginning and end of his devotions, and in the interval twirls slowly,\nwhile a tiny bell marks each rotation, and reminds him if he should\nunconsciously quicken his pace.\n\nTennyson finely speaks of Prayer as that by which\n\n  \u201cThe whole round world is every way\n  Bound by gold chains around the feet of GOD;\u201d\n\nbut no such efficacy can be ascribed to the cylinders of brass, copper, or\ngold, which are fashionable among the Buddhists. Yet we must not condemn\ntoo unreservedly: Prayer, even among Christians, is apt to degenerate into\na dull, mechanical uniformity, and to become scarcely less perfunctory\nthan that which the Tibetans grind out of their prayer-machine.\n\nIn a Lama temple, Miss Gordon Cumming once saw a colossal prayer-wheel,\nwhich might almost have sufficed for the necessities of a nation. It was\nturned by a great iron crank, which acted as a handle. The cylinder\nmeasured about twelve feet in height, and six to eight feet in diameter.\nCircular bands of gold and vermilion adorned it, each band bearing the\nwell-known Buddhist ascription, or invocation, \u201cTo the jewel on the\nLotus.\u201d Of this inscription, multiplied on strips of paper and cloth, the\ncylinder was full, and each time that it revolved on its axis, the devotee\nwas accredited with having uttered the pious invocation just as often as\nit was repeated within the cylinder. The whole history of Superstition\noffers scarcely any fact more curious or suggestive than this method of\nprayer by machinery; and that such a grotesque extravagance should have\nemanated from so subtle and metaphysical a faith as Buddhism is an anomaly\nnot easily to be explained.\n\nEach votary who is too poor to possess a prayer-wheel of his own, attends\nthe temple, does homage to the head Lama, receives his benediction, and\nthen, squatting in front of the great wheel, he turns the crank on behalf\nof himself and his family. But if there be a considerable number of\nworshippers, the priest himself works the handle, that all may participate\nsimultaneously in the act of prayer.\n\nThe use of these machines is traced back for fully fourteen centuries, and\nis supposed to have originated in the belief that it was a meritorious\nact, and a patent cure for sin, to be continually reading or reciting\nportions of the sacred books of Buddha. But as many of the people could\nnot read, a substitute had to be found, and it came to be considered\nsufficient if they turned over the rolled manuscripts which embodied the\ninvaluable precepts. And as a vast amount of time and trouble was saved by\nthis process, a further simplification became possible and popular,--the\ninvention of wheels termed _Tehu-Chor_,--great cylindrical bands full of\nprayers; a cord being attached to the base of the band, which, when the\ncord was pulled, twirled like a children\u2019s toy. Prayer-wheels of this kind\nare set up in all public places in Tibet, so that the poor who do not\npossess little pocket Wheels of Devotion may not lose their chance of\naccumulating merit. In some of the monasteries the rows of small cylinders\nare so arranged, that the priest, or any passer-by can set them all in\nsimultaneous motion, by just drawing his hand along them.\n\nAccording to Miss Cumming, who is confirmed by other travellers, the\ncylinders vary in size, from tiny hand-mills, about as big as a\npoliceman\u2019s rattle, to huge machines, eight or ten feet in diameter,\nworked by a heavy iron crank, or sometimes by wind or water power. The\nwind prayer-mills are turned by wings, which, like the cylinder, are\nplentifully covered with prayers. The water-mills are placed over streams,\nso as to dispense with human aid, and allow the running water to turn them\nfor the general welfare of the village. Through the cylinder passes a\nwooden axle, which is fastened to a horizontal wheel, whose cogs are\nturned diagonally to the water.\n\n\u201cOne such group of little mills we noticed,\u201d says Miss Cumming,[1] \u201cset in\na clear stream half-way between Rarung and Pangi, a lively, rapid river,\nrushing headlong down the mountain side to join the Sutlej. Having never\nthen heard of prayer-mills, we assumed them to be for corn, as perhaps\nthey were. At all events, we passed them without inspection, to our\nsubsequent infinite regret. These wheels rotate with the action of the\nwater, and so turn the cylinder, which must invariably stand upright.\nSometimes several of these are placed almost across the stream, and the\nrudest form of temple is built over them.\n\n\u201cThey are so placed that the wheel must invariably turn from right to\nleft, following the course of the sun; to invert that course would not\nonly involve ill-luck, but would amount to being a sin. Hence the\nexceeding unwillingness of the people we met to let us tend their little\nwheels, knowing from sad experience that the English sahibs rather enjoy\nthe fun of turning them the wrong way, and so undoing the efficacy of all\ntheir morning\u2019s work.\n\n\u201cSome of the little pocket cylinders are very beautifully wrought; some\nare even inlaid with precious stones. I saw one great beauty which I\ncoveted exceedingly. The owner would on no account sell it. I returned to\nthe temple next morning, wishing at least to make a drawing of it, but I\nthink he mistrusted me, for he and his plaything had both vanished, and I\nhad to be content with a much simpler one of bronze, inlaid with copper.\nThe people have the greatest reluctance to sell even the ugliest old\nmills. They cling to them as lovingly as you might do to your dear old\nBible; but, as I said before, not merely from the charm of association,\nbut from a dread lest a careless hand should turn them against the sun,\nand so change their past acts of merit into positive sin. So there was a\ngreat deal of talk, and many irons in the fire, before I was allowed to\npurchase two of these, at a price which would have supplied half the\nvillage with new ones.\u201d\n\nThe prayer-mill sometimes contains the Tibetan prayer, or litany, for the\nsix classes of living creatures, namely, the souls in heaven, the evil\nspirits in the air, men, animals, souls in purgatory, and souls in hell;\nbut, as a rule, the Lama worship begins and ends in the famous inscription\nto which we have already alluded--_Aum Mani Padmi Hoong_ (to the jewel in\nthe lotus.) These mystic words are raised in embossed letters on the\nexterior of the cylinder, and are closely written on strips of paper\ninside. All the sacred places are covered with them; the face of the rock,\nthe walls of the temple; just as the Alhambra glitters with its\n_azulejos_, its blazoned inscriptions from the K\u00faran.\n\nThis mystic sentence is composed as follows: _Aum_ or _Om_, equivalent to\nthe Hebrew JAH or JEHOVAH, the most glorious title of the Almighty;\n_Mani_, the jewel, one of Buddha\u2019s appellations; _Padmi_, the lotus, in\nallusion to his lotus-throne; and _Hoong_, synonymous with _Amen_. The\nBuddhists regard this \u201csix-syllabled\u201d charm as a talisman of never-failing\nefficacy; but by some of the sects it is more or less varied. For\ninstance: the Chinese Fo-ists read it as _Aum-mi-to-fuh_, which is also\none of Buddha\u2019s titles; and every devout Fo-ist aims at repeating it at\nleast three hundred thousand times in the course of his life. Some of\ntheir priests will shut themselves up in the temples for months at a time,\nand devote themselves to the dreary task of repetition, hour after hour,\nday and night. Sometimes, ten or twelve devotees will voluntarily\nsequester themselves, and continue all day to cry aloud in chorus; and at\nnight they undertake the task successively, one person droning through the\nmonotonous chant while the others sleep. Thus do they think to be heard\nfor their much speaking! Similar excesses of formalism, however, are\nrecorded in the history of medi\u00e6val Christianity,--in the biographies of\nsaints and ascetics who have substituted for a practical Christianity and\nthe active performance of social duties the dreary vanity of an\nunprofitable solitude, spent in the discharge of useless penances.\n\nThe Buddhist prayer which is consecrated to Buddha as the Chakravarta\nRajah, or King of the Wheel, proves, on examination, to be closely related\nto that Sun-worship which prevailed in the early ages of the world. The\nwheel is, in many creeds, the symbol of the sun\u2019s chariot, that is, of the\nrevolution of the heavenly bodies. In a sculpture, nearly two thousand\nyears old, on the Bilsah Tepe, Buddha is represented simply by a wheel,\novershadowed by the mystic _chattah_, or golden umbrella, which is a\ncommon emblem of his power. His worshippers are represented as making\ntheir offerings to the King of the Wheel. \u201cThis sacred Wheel of the Law,\nor Wheel of Faith, is found again and again among the fain and Buddhist\nsculptures in the caves of Ellora and Ajunta, in most cases projecting in\nfront of Buddha\u2019s Lotus-Throne. In one instance an astronomical table is\ncarved above the wheel. In another it is supported on either side by a\nstag, supposed to represent the fleetness wherewith the sun runs his daily\ncircuit, \u2018going forth from the uttermost part of the heaven, and running\nabout unto the end of it again.\u2019\u201d\n\n\nTHE HINDU TEMPLES.\n\nVisiting the Temples at Hardwar, one of the sacred cities of India, Miss\nGordon Cumming remarks upon the number of their hideous idols, painted and\ncarved, their multitudinous brass bells, their brazen horns, their sacred\ncourts all covered with elaborate carving, and their mythological\nsculptures.\n\nShe says:--\u201cI frankly confess that there is something startling in the\nrapidity with which one gets quite at home amongst all this paraphernalia\nof heathenism, and how very soon idolatry ceases to shock the mind, and\nbecomes merely a curious study with picturesque adjuncts. Six months\npreviously the sight of a veritable temple with its hideous idols and\ndevout worshippers was a thing from which one shrank in shuddering pity.\u201d\nBut she soon became a connoisseur, and \u201clounged from one temple to\nanother, inspecting jewels and exquisite stone carving, and anything\nwonderful the priests had to show, and quite forgot to be shocked, it was\nall so perfectly natural, and seemed so entirely in keeping with the\ntastes of the people.\u201d In this remark there is a wonderful _na\u00efvet\u00e9_; for\nit may reasonably be supposed that the tastes of the people would be in\naccord with a religion which, during its career of two thousand years,\nmust have exercised so great an influence in forming them!\n\nIn some of the temples, according to the same writer, there are sacred\nbulls, carved in white marble and adorned with costly necklaces. In others\nthe attendant priests spend the whole day in pouring single drops of\nprecious oil on holy pebbles brought from the Nerbudda and other sacred\nstreams, and here arranged in little trays. Amongst the privileged\ninhabitants are the monkeys, who frolic about incessantly with their\nbabies in their arms, or sitting on their backs, and twining their little\narms round the parental necks.\n\nThe ceremonies in the different temples are, on the whole, very similar;\nand the following description, taken from the R\u00e3o M\u00e3l\u00e3, applies, except in\nminor details, to all.\n\nThe day is marked by five services: the first at sunrise, when bells are\nrung in the temple, and drums or conch-shells sounded, to rouse the Du, or\ngod, from his slumbers. After performing copious ablutions, the\nofficiating priest enters the holy place, and swings before the idol a\nlamp with five or seven branches. An hour or two later, the Du is attired\nin raiment appropriate to the season. He wears a quilted coat in cold\nweather, and has a lighted brazier placed beside him; whereas, in hot\nweather, he is anointed with sandal-wood dust and water, clothed in fine\nlinen, and decked out with gems and flowers. Placed close to a cool\nfountain, he is assiduously fanned by his attendants. In rainy weather, he\nis wrapped about in scarlet cloth and shawls. When he is dressed, a light\nbreakfast of rice and milk is served up, and his votaries perform \u201cthe\nsixteen acts of worship.\u201d At noon a third service takes place. The Du is\nagain rubbed with oil of sandal-wood, or sandal-dust and water, and\nadorned with fresh flowers. The lamps are trimmed; incense is burned; and\nhis dinner is set before him: after which he is supposed to indulge in his\nnoonday sleep, and profound silence is maintained throughout the temple.\n\nAt three in the afternoon a drum beats, and the god awakes! His attendants\nhasten to serve fruits and sweetmeats, and perform various games for his\namusement. At sunset he is enshrined: his feet are basted, he is sprinkled\nwith water, his mouth is washed, and another offering is made of\nsandal-wood dust, and flowers, and incense. He is once more clothed; an\nelaborate dinner is spread before him; betel leaves are presented; and\nagain the many-branched candlestick is waved, while all the votaries\npresent for the second time perform \u201cthe sixteen acts of worship.\u201d\n\nThe last service takes place at night, when the image is supposed to sup\non bread and water. After receiving the usual oblations of incense and\nflowers, he is undressed, and if he be movable, put to bed, or if not, is\nwarmly covered with shawls and quilts.\n\nNot the least remarkable objects in the Hindu temples are their great\nstatues of bulls in marble or in metal. It is worthy of note that \u201cin the\ngreat Brazen Laver, which Solomon was commanded to make for the use of the\nTemple at Jerusalem, the symbols selected for the adornment of that\nconsecrated Molten Sea should have been those which in later ages were to\nhold so prominent a place in the symbolism of faiths so widely spread as\nthose of Brahma and Buddha. That huge laver was supported by twelve oxen\nof cast metal, three looking to each point of the compass, while the brim\nof the great sea itself was all wrought with flowers of lilies, much the\nsame as the pattern of lotus or water-lily with which the shrine of Buddha\nis invariably edged.\u201d The bull is another symbol which seems to connect\nthe creed of the Hindu with the old nature-worship; for the vernal equinox\ntakes place when the sun enters the sign of Taurus, and this event was\nalways and everywhere a signal for feasting and rejoicing.\n\nBut, as Max M\u00fcller observes, the ancient religion of the Aryan inhabitants\nof India started, like the religion of Greece and Rome, of the Germans,\nSlavs, and Celts, with a simple and intelligible mythological\nphraseology.[2] In the Veda, the names of all the so-called gods or Devas\nundisguisedly betray their original physical character and meaning. Under\nthe name of Agni (ignis) was praised and invoked the fire; the earth by\nthat of Prithv\u00ee (the brave); the sky by the name of Dyu (Zeus, Jupiter),\nand afterwards of Indra; the firmament and the waters by the name of\n\u039f\u1f50\u03c1\u03b1\u03bd\u03cc\u03c2. Under many appellations was the sun invoked, such as S\u00fbrya,\nSavitri, Vishnu, or Mitra; and the dawn by the titles of Ushas, Urvas\u00ee,\nAhan\u00e2, and S\u00fbrya. Nor was the moon forgotten: for though not often\nmentioned under its usual name of Kandra, reference is made to it under\nits more sacred appellation of Soma; and a particular denomination was\nreserved for each of its phases. There is hardly any fact of nature, if it\ncould impress the human mind in any way with the ideas of a higher power,\nof order, eternity, or beneficence,--whether the woods, or the rivers, or\nthe trees, or the mountains,--without a name and representative in the\nearly Hindu Pantheon. No doubt there existed in the human mind, from the\nvery beginning, something, whether we call it a suspicion, an innate idea,\nan intuition, or a sense of the Divine. What distinguishes man from the\nrest of the animal creation is chiefly his ineradicable feeling of\ndependence and reliance upon some higher power; that consciousness of\nbondage, from which the very name of \u201creligion\u201d was derived. \u201cIt is He\nthat hath made us, and not we ourselves.\u201d The presence of that power was\nfelt everywhere, and nowhere more clearly and strongly than in the rising\nand setting of the sun, in the change of day and night, of spring and\nwinter, of birth and death. But although the Divine Presence was felt\neverywhere, it was impossible, in that early period of thought, and with a\nlanguage incapable as yet of defining anything but material objects, to\nconceive the idea of God in its purity and fulness, or to assign to it an\nadequate and worthy expression.\n\nIt must also be remembered that the influence of the genius and forces of\nNature would necessarily be greater in an age when the human mind was\noccupied by few objects of thought, than now when it ranges over the whole\nworld of art and science. Moreover, to the eye of ignorance everything\nseems large and portentous, or dim and inscrutable. The fire from heaven,\nthe reverberating thunder, the gale that crashed down the mountain ravines\nand felled great trees before it, the planetary bodies steadily revolving\nin their courses, the stream with its glow and its ripple, the dense\nshadows of the haunted forest, the recurring rush and roll of the\nsea,--all these were things which for early man had a constant novelty and\nstrangeness, and seemed incessantly to claim his reverent consideration.\nHe could not account for them: whether a bane or a delight they were\nequally unintelligible. They represented, therefore, some Power which he\ncould regard only with awe and reverence. And of that Power the sun would\nnecessarily be the chief type and symbol. All life and love seemed\ndependent upon it. The trees throve, and the flowers bloomed, and the\nbanks rippled, and the birds sang, and the harvests ripened, through the\nsun. It was the source of light and heat, of the vigour and activity of\nnature. While it shone men\u2019s hearts leaped with joy, and the wheels of\nlabour revolved with pleasant toil; but when it disappeared, and the\ndarkness usurped the heavens, the spirits sank, and humanity felt in the\nchange of scene a presentiment and presage of the darkness of death. All\nvitality, all motion centred in the sun. \u201cIt was like a deep furrow,\u201d says\nMax M\u00fcller, \u201cwhich that heavenly luminary drew, in its silent procession\nfrom east to west, over the fallow mind of the gazing multitude; and in\nthe impression left there by the first rising and setting of the sun,\nthere lay the dark seed of a faith in a more than human being, the first\nintimation of a life without beginning, of a world without end.\u201d Who can\nwonder that the Chaldean, and the Celt, alike ascended to the high places,\nand paid their worship of symbolic fires to the great fountain of life and\nlight, the central force of the universe? Who can wonder that all the\nAryan tribes made it, so to speak, the nucleus of their religious systems?\nThe Hindu peasant, centuries ago, addressed it in his heart in much the\nsame language which Gawain Douglas afterwards employed. As its glorious\norb rose above the gleaming horizon, he sent forth to it a message of\nwelcome:\n\n  \u201cWelcome, the lord of light and lamp of day;\n  Welcome, fosterer of tender herbis green;\n  Welcome, quickener of flourished flowers\u2019 sheen;\n  Welcome, support of every root and vein;\n  Welcome, comfort of all kind fruits and grain;\n  Welcome, the bird\u2019s green beild upon the brier;\n  Welcome, master and ruler of the year;\n  Welcome, welfare of husbands at the ploughs;\n  Welcome, repairer of woods, trees, and boughs;\n  Welcome, depainter of the bloomit meads;\n  Welcome, the life of everything that spreads.\u201d\n\nAnd because it was all this, and more, the Hindu saw in it something\ngreater than a mere luminary,--a planetary body; he endowed it with Divine\nattributes, he made it a god, he gave it his worship, and by an elaborate\nsymbolism kept it ever before him.\n\nA necessary consequence of this deification of the sun was the\ndeification of the other bodies that shared with him the firmament; but as\nthey were inferior in splendour and utility, they naturally became\nrecognized as inferior gods. And when once the religious feeling of\nhumanity had gone thus far, its further development became only a question\nof time. The homage given to the stars was soon extended to the winds and\nstreams and groves. A legion of gods sprang into existence, and for a\nwhile they seemed to satisfy the needs and aspirations of humanity. But as\nthe thoughts of men expanded, as their intellect ripened with the ages,\nand grew strong enough to doubt, and bold enough to question the\nconclusions of the common faith, a revolt took place against \u201cthe\ncontradictions of a mythological phraseology, though it had been hallowed\nby sacred customs and traditions.\u201d Men grew tired of so complex and\ncumbrous a religious system, and having observed a definite fundamental\nunity of nature in spite of the diversity of its operations, they came to\nbelieve in a similar unity of the Divine Power. The idea of a supreme\nauthority once entertained, men soon understood that supremacy meant\noneness; that if there were a God over all, He must be one and\nindivisible. One of the earliest proclamations of this sublime truth is\nfound in the Rig-Veda, which says:[3]--\n\n\u201cThat which is one the sages speak of in many ways--they call it Agni,\nYama, Malarisvan.\u201d\n\nAnd again:[4]--\n\n\u201cIn the beginning there came the Source of golden light--He was the only\ntrue Lord of all that is--He stablished the earth and this sky:--Who is\nGod to whom we shall offer our sacrifice?\n\n\u201cHe who gives life, He who gives strength; whose blessing all the bright\ngods desire; whose shadow is immortality; whose shadow is death:--Who is\nthe God to whom we shall offer our sacrifice?\n\n\u201cHe who through His power is the only King of the breathing and awakening\nworld; He who governs all, man and beast:--Who is the God to whom we shall\noffer our sacrifice?\n\n\u201cHe whose power these snowy mountains, whose power the sea proclaims,\nwith the distant river--He whose these regions are, as it were, His two\narms:--Who is the God to whom we shall offer our sacrifice?\n\n\u201cHe through whom the sky is bright and the earth firm--He through whom\nheaven was stablished--nay, the highest heaven--He who measured out the\nlight in the air:--Who is the God to whom we shall offer our sacrifice?\n\n\u201cHe to whom heaven and earth, standing firm by His will, look up,\ntrembling inwardly--He over whom the rising sun shines forth:--Who is the\nGOD to whom we shall offer our sacrifice?\n\n\u201cWherever the mighty water-clouds went, where they placed the reed and lit\nthe fire, thence even He, who is the only life of the bright gods:--Who is\nthe GOD to whom we shall offer our sacrifice?\n\n\u201cHe, who of His might looked even over the water-clouds, the clouds which\ngave strength and lit the sacrifice, He _who is God above all gods_:--Who\nis the God to whom we shall offer our sacrifice?\n\n\u201cMay He not destroy us--He the creator of the earth; or He, the righteous,\nwho created Heaven; He who also created the bright and mighty waters:--Who\nis the God to whom we shall offer our sacrifice?\u201d\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThe creed of a plurality of gods was one that carried in itself the seeds\nof its destruction. But there was another cause of weakness in their\nmortal attributes. Deriving their existence from the life of nature, they\nwere subject to the accidents which that life involved. Thus, the sun at\nnoonday might glow with splendour, but at night it was conquered by the\nshadows, and in winter it seemed to yield to some stronger Power. The moon\nwaxed and waned, and was frequently eclipsed. As nature is subject to\nchange, so also must be the gods that represent its forces and aspects.\nSuch instability, such inherent weakness could not long satisfy the human\nmind; having risen to the height of the idea of one God, it next demanded\nthat that God should be immutable. What rest, what contentment would it\nfind in the supposition of deities as changeful as the winds? Tossed about\nby the currents of passion and feeling, buffeted by adverse circumstances,\nthe soul yearns intensely for something fixed, something absolute,\nsomething unaffected by vicissitude, and finds it in the Divine Being, the\nsame to-day as yesterday, and the same to-morrow as to-day.\n\nThese two opposite principles did not come into immediate collision; the\npriests of heathendom laboured long and earnestly to avert such a\ncatastrophe. In Greece they succeeded by transferring the mortal or\nchangeable element from \u201cthe gods\u201d to \u201cthe heroes.\u201d[5] The human details\nin the characters and lives of Zeus and Apollon were transferred to the\ndemi-gods or heroes represented as the sons or favourites of the gods. The\ntwo-fold character of Herakles as a god and a hero is recognized even by\nHerodotus; and indeed, some of the epithets applied to him sufficiently\nindicate his solar and originally divine personality. But to make some of\nthe solar myths of which Herakles was the centre intelligible and\nconceivable, it became needful to depict Herakles as a mere human being,\nand to raise him to the seat of the Immortals only after he had endured\ntoils and sufferings incompatible with the dignity of an Olympian\ndivinity.\n\nIn Peru the same treatment was adopted, but with different results. A\nthinking, or, as he was called, a free-thinking Inca, remarked that the\nsun\u2019s perpetual travelling--he knew nothing, of course, of the Copernican\ntheory--was a sign of servitude, and he threw doubts on the divine nature\nof aught so restless as the great luminary appeared to him to be. These\ndoubts led to a tradition, which, even if unhistorical was not wholly\nuntrue, that in Peru had existed an earlier worship--that of an Invisible\nDeity, the Creator of the World--Pachacamac.\n\n\u201cIn Greece, also, there are signs of a similar craving after the \u2018Unknown\nGod.\u2019 A supreme God was wanted, and Zeus, the stripling of Creta, was\nraised to that rank. He became God above all gods--\u1f01\u03c0\u03ac\u03bd\u03c4\u03c9\u03bd \u03ba\u03cd\u03c1\u03b9\u03bf\u03c2, as\nPindar calls him. Yet more was wanted than a mere Zeus; and then a supreme\nFate or Spell was imagined before which all the gods, and even Zeus, had\nto bow. And even this Fate was not allowed to remain supreme, and there\nwas something in the destinies of man which was called \u1f51\u03c0\u03ad\u03c1\u03bc\u03bf\u03c1\u03bf\u03bd or\n\u2018beyond Fate.\u2019 The most awful solution, however, of the problem belongs\nto Teutonic mythology. Here, also, some heroes were introduced; but their\ndeath was only the beginning of the final catastrophe. \u2018All gods must\ndie.\u2019 Such is the last word of that religion which had grown up in the\nforests of Germany, and found a last refuge among the glaciers and\nvolcanoes of Iceland. The death of Sigurd, the descendant of Odin, could\nnot avert the death of Balder, the son of Odin, and the death of Balder\nwas soon to be followed by the death of Odin himself, and of all the\nimmortal gods.\u201d\n\nSuch a catastrophe was inevitable, so that Prometheus, the man of\nforethought, could safely predict the fall of Zeus.[6]\n\nA similar issue was worked out in India, but with this difference; that\nthe seeming triumph of reason threatened to end in the destruction of all\nreligious belief. At the outset no vehement contention took place. On the\nbasis of the old mythology arose two new formations,--the Brahmanical\nphilosophy and the Brahmanical ceremonial; the former opening up all\navenues of philosophical inquiry, the latter immuring religious sentiment\nand sympathy within the narrowest possible barriers. Both, however,\nclaimed to find their origin and antiquity in the sacred book of the Veda.\n\nIt was in the sixteenth or fifteenth century before CHRIST that the\nBrahmans, a branch of the white Aryans, passed into Hindustan from the\nnorth-west, and mixed with a more numerous race of coloured and barbarous\naborigines. Among their immigrants the sacerdotal and the royal or noble\nclasses already occupied an authoritative and a distinct position; and\nsoon after their settlement in India, the lower classes, by a natural\nprocess, sank into the markedly inferior condition of the aborigines. Thus\nwas established a singularly rigorous system of caste,--the priesthood\nand the aristocracy combining to oppress and keep down the two inferior\norders of the Brahmans and the aborigines. Intermarriage was strictly\nforbidden, and every device adopted which could be made useful in\nstrengthening and perpetuating the class-distinction.\n\nThis revolution in the social world assisted the revolution in the\nreligious; and the educated classes rapidly abandoned their nature worship\nin favour of the idea of an infinite and everlasting Godhead, which soared\nfar above the feeblenesses and sins of humanity. To become one with this\nGodhead by throwing off the personality linked with a mind that was mean\nand miserable, thenceforth constituted the religious aspiration of the\nBrahman. And in attaining this object he was instructed to seek the help\nof the Brahmanical priesthood; nay, he was taught that without that help\nhe would never succeed, and for this purpose a complex and comprehensive\nceremonial was enjoined upon him. From his cradle to his grave it dogged\nhis footsteps. Put forward as a stay and support, it was really a clog, an\nencumbrance. Not an event in his life could take place for which a formula\nof praise or prayer was not invented. Thanksgiving and sacrifice were\nalike minutely regulated. For the benefit of the inferior castes the old\nPantheon of gods and demons had been retained, and the priesthood allotted\nto each his share of the worshipper\u2019s offerings and oblations. Each was\nrepresented as insisting so strongly on certain observances, and punishing\nso heavily any neglect or violation of them, that the votary feared to\napproach their shrine unless under the protection and guidance of their\npriests. Otherwise he might unwittingly rush into all kinds of sins. They\nalone knew what food might be eaten, what dress might be worn, what god\nmight be addressed, what sacrifice paid. An error in pronunciation, a\nmistake about clarified butter, an unauthorised arrangement of raiment or\nhair, might involve the unassisted worshipper in pains and penalties of\nthe most awful character. Never was so complete and absolute a ceremonial\nsystem known as that by which the Hindu priesthood obtained an entire\nmastery over the Hindu people. Never was any law more minute in its\nprovisions, or more Draconic in the severity with which it punished their\nviolation.\n\nYet, strange to say, this ceremonial did not interfere with liberty of\nthought. Any amount of heresy was compatible with its observance. A man\nmight think as he liked so long as he complied with its various\nconditions. In some of the Brahmanical schools of thought the names of the\ndevs or gods were never heard; in others their existence was ignored, was\nvirtually contradicted. Thus, one philosophical system maintained the\nexistence of a single Supreme Being, and asserted that everything else\nwhich seemed to exist was but a dream and an illusion which might and\nwould be dispelled by a true knowledge of the One God. Another contended\nfor two principles,--first, a Mind, subjective and self-existent; second,\nMatter endowed with qualities; and explained that the world with its cloud\nand sunshine, its sorrows and joys, was the result of the subjective self,\nreflected in the mirror of Matter, and that the freedom of the soul could\nbe secured only by diverting the gaze from the shows and phantasms of\nNature, and becoming absorbed in the knowledge of the true and absolute\nself. A third system allowed the existence of atoms, and referred every\neffect, including the elements and the mind, gods, men, and animals to\ntheir fortuitous concourse. This was identical with the Lucretian system,\nwhich in its turn was related to the Epicurean. Hence it has been said\nthat the history of the philosophy of India is an abridgment of the\nhistory of philosophy. Each of these systems was traced back to the sacred\nbooks of the Vedas, Br\u00e2hmanas and Upanishads; and those who believed in\nany one of them was considered as orthodox as the most devout worshipper\nof Agni,--if the latter were saved by works and faith, the former was\nsaved by faith and knowledge,--a distinction not unknown in the Christian\nphilosophy.[7]\n\nOut of this condition of the Hindu mind arose Buddhism, springing from it\nas naturally as the flower from the seed.\n\nThe remarkable man[8] who founded this wide-spread religion is reputed to\nhave been a prince of the name of Siddhartha, son of Suddhodana, king of\nKapilavastu, a territory supposed to have been situated on the borders of\nOudh and Nipal. He is often called Sakya, after his family, and also\nGautama, from the great \u201cSolar\u201d race of which the family was a branch.[9]\nHaving at an early age exhibited an ascetic and contemplative tendency,\nhis father fearing he might be induced to abandon his high station as\nKshatriga, found him a wife in a princess of great personal charms, and\ninvolved him in all the pomp and luxury of a magnificent court. But\nSiddhartha drank of the cup only to taste the bitter in the draught; and\neach year\u2019s experience of the world convinced him of its inability to\nsatisfy the aspirations of the soul; so that, like Solomon, he would\nexclaim, \u201cVanity, vanity, all is vanity.\u201d The joys of life could not\nrender him forgetful of its sorrows. The thought would force itself upon\nhim that at any moment he might be afflicted with some loathsome or\ntorturing disease; that his friends might be suddenly snatched away; that\nhowever sunny and bright the present, it could not prevent the inevitable\napproach of old age, with its grey hairs, its wrinkled brow, and its\ntottering limbs; and that the moral of the whole show was to be sought in\nthe darkness of the grave. Unable to endure any longer the mental conflict\nbegotten of his keen sense of the realities as compared with the illusions\nof the world, he stole from the guarded palace, and at the age of 29 or\n30, went forth as a beggar, or religious mendicant, to study in the\nschools of the Brahman priests. He underwent their penances; he mastered\ntheir philosophy; but dissatisfied with their cumbrous code of\nsuperstitious ceremonial, he withdrew into the forest, and adopted a\ncourse of religious asceticism.\n\nThis lasted for six or seven years, but brought him no repose. Then he\nresolved on returning once more to human companionship. Beset by the\nSpirit of Evil he fought long and bravely against temptation, and having\ntriumphed, prepared to attain the secret of happiness by giving himself up\nto abstruse meditation. Week after week he was absorbed in thought,\ncontinually investigating the origin of things, and the mystery of\nexistence. All the evils under which he, in common with his fellow-men,\ngroaned, he traced back to birth. Were we not born, we could not suffer.\nBut whence comes birth or continued existence?... We have no room,\nhowever, to dwell on his processes of thought; enough to say that he came\nto the conclusion that the ultimate cause of existence is ignorance, and\nthat the removal of ignorance means, therefore, the termination of\nexistence, and of all the pain and sorrow which existence implies and\ninduces. Realising this absolute unconsciousness of the outer world in his\nown self, he claimed and assumed the name of the Buddha, or \u201cEnlightened.\u201d\n\nThe scene of his victory over life and the world received the name of\nBodhimanda, (the seat of intelligence,) and the tree under which the\nreligious reformer sat in his hour of moral and intellectual triumph was\ncalled Bodhidruma, (the tree of intelligence,) whence Bo-tree. The\nBuddhists believe that it marks the centre of the earth. Hiouen-thsang,\nthe Chinese pilgrim, professes to have found the Bodhidruma, or some tree\nthat passed for it, twelve hundred years after Buddha\u2019s death, at a spot\nnear Gaya Proper, in Bahar, where still may be seen an old dagoba, or\ntemple, and some considerable ruins.\n\nHaving at last attained to a knowledge of the causes of human suffering,\nand of the method of removing and counteracting them, the Buddha felt that\nthe task was imposed upon him of communicating that knowledge to others.\nHe began \u201cto turn the wheel of the law,\u201d--that is to preach,--at Benares;\nand among his earliest disciples was Bimbisara, the ruler of Magadha. His\ncareer as a teacher extended over forty years, during which period he\ntravelled over almost every part of Northern India, making a large number\nof converts, and firmly establishing his religious system. He died at\nKusinagara in Oudh, in 543 B.C., at the age of eighty, and his body being\nburned, the relics were distributed among numerous claimants, who raised\nmonumental tumuli, or topes, for their preservation.\n\nAll the expositions and teachings of the Buddha were oral, and the task of\ncommitting them to writing was undertaken by the chief of his disciples\nshortly after his death. These canonical books are divided into three\nclasses, forming the \u201cTripitaka,\u201d or \u201cthree-fold basket.\u201d In the first\nclass we find the _Soutras_, or Sermons of the Buddha; in the second, the\n_Vinaya_, or book of discipline; in the third, the _Abhidharma_, or\nphilosophy. After a period of a century or so, the Buddhist leaders met\nand revised the Tripitaka, and a third revision took place in 250 or 240\nB.C., since which date the text has remained without alteration.\n\nThe doctrine of Buddha has been defined as a development of four main\nprinciples, (or \u201cSublime Verities.\u201d) 1st. That every kind of existence is\npainful and transitory; 2nd. That all existence is the result of passion;\n3rd. That, therefore, the extinction of passion is the one means of escape\nfrom existence and from the misery necessarily attendant upon it; 4th.\nThat all obstacles to this existence must be swept away.\n\nBut what is meant by existence? That separation from the general Being of\nthe world which is involved in individual life, and in the opposition of\nthe subject which thinks, and the object which is thought about. And what\nis meant by its extinction? Not so much annihilation, as the becoming one\nwith nature, wherein that form of consciousness which separates subject\nand object is set aside. This extinction Buddha called Nirv\u00e2na, or \u201cthe\nblowing out of the lamp;\u201d it does not necessarily mean the annihilation of\nconsciousness altogether, but only of a finite form of it, which may be as\nthe light of a lamp compared with the light of day.\n\nBuddha\u2019s doctrine has been stigmatised as Atheism and Nihilism, and was\nunquestionably liable on its metaphysical side to both charges. It was\nAtheistic, not because it denied, for it simply ignored, the existence of\nsuch gods as Indra and Brahma, but because, like the Sankhya philosophy,\nit admitted but one subjective Self, and considered creation as an\nillusion of that Self, imaging itself for a while in the mirror of Nature.\nIf there were no reality in nature, there would be no real Creator.\n\nSays Max M\u00fcller,[10] stating with his usual clearness a problem which has\nperplexed most students of the history of religion: \u201cHow a religion which\ntaught the annihilation of all existence, of all thought, of all\nindividuality and personality, as the highest object of all endeavours,\ncould have laid hold of the minds of millions of human beings, and how at\nthe same time, by enforcing the duties of morality, justice, kindness, and\nself-sacrifice, it could have exercised a decided beneficial influence,\nnot only on the natives of India, but on the lowest barbarians of Central\nAsia, is one of the riddles which no philosophy yet has been able to\nsolve. The morality which it teaches is not a morality of expediency and\nrewards. Virtue is not enjoined because it necessarily leads to happiness.\nNo; virtue is to be practised, but happiness is to be shunned, and the\nonly reward for virtue is, that it subdues the passions, and thus prepares\nthe human mind for that knowledge which is to end in complete\nannihilation.\u201d\n\nProbably no religious system has ever attained a wide-spread influence\nover the minds of men which has held out so few of those inducements most\nalluring to human nature. The idea of complete annihilation might\nrecommend itself to a philosopher, but would hardly have been regarded as\nlikely to attract the masses. We suppose the explanation is to be found in\nthe particularity of ritual enjoined by the Buddhist priests, this\nparticularity of ritual having always had a fascination for the multitude.\n\n\u201cThere are ten commandments which Buddha imposes on his disciples. They\nare--not to kill, not to steal, not to commit adultery, not to lie, not to\nget intoxicated, to abstain from unseasonable meals, to abstain from\npublic spectacles, to abstain from expensive dresses, not to have a large\nbed, not to receive silver or gold. The duties of those who embraced a\nreligious life were most severe. They were not allowed to wear any dress\nexcept rags collected in cemeteries, and these rags they had to sew\ntogether with their own hands; a yellow cloak was to be thrown over these\nrags. Their food was to be extremely simple, and they were not to possess\nanything except what they could get by collecting alms from door to door\nin their wooden bowl. They had but one meal in the morning, and were not\nallowed to touch any food after midday. They were to live in forests, not\nin cities, and their only shelter was to be the shadow of a tree. There\nthey were to sit, to spread their carpet, but not to lie down, even during\nsleep. They were allowed to enter the nearest city or village in order to\nbeg, but they had to return to their forest before night, and the only\nchange which was allowed, or rather prescribed, was, when they had to\nspend some nights in the cemeteries, there to meditate on the vanity of\nall things. And what was the object of all this asceticism? Simply to\nguide each individual towards that path which would finally bring him to\nNirv\u00e2na, to utter extinction or annihilation. The very definition of\nvirtue was that it helped man to cross over to the other shore, and that\nother shore was not death, but the cessation of all being. Thus charity\nwas considered a virtue; modesty, patience, courage, contemplation, and\nscience, all were virtues, but they were practised only as a means of\narriving at deliverance.\u201d\n\nBuddha himself was an incarnation of the virtues. His charity, for\nexample, was melting as day. When he saw a tigress standing, and unable to\nfeed her cubs, he offered up his body to be devoured by them. The Chinese\npilgrim, visiting the spot on the banks of the Indus where this miracle\nwas supposed to have occurred, remarks that the soil was still red with\nthe blood of Buddha, as were also the trees and flowers.\n\nThen as to his modesty, it was as supreme as that of a virgin who has\nnever seen men. One day Prasenagit, his royal disciple and protector,\nbesought him to work some miracles in order to silence his adversaries,\nthe Brahmans. Buddha complied, and performed the required miracles; but at\nthe same time he exclaimed, \u201cGreat King, I do not teach the law to my\npupils, telling them, Go, ye saints, and before the eyes of the Brahmans\nand householders perform, by means of your supernatural powers, miracles\ngreater than any man can perform. I tell them, when I teach the law, Live,\nye saints, hiding your good works and showing your sins.\u201d And yet, all\nthis self-sacrificing charity, all this self-sacrificing humility by which\nthe life of Buddha was distinguished throughout, and which he preached to\nthe multitudes that came to listen to him, had but one object, and that\nobject was final annihilation.[11]\n\nAnnihilation! what drearier prospect can be opened to the heart, or soul,\nor mind of man? The utter cessation of that individuality of which the\nmeanest and wretchedest among us feels proudly conscious; of the thoughts\nwhich animate, the desires which warm, the dreams that delight, the hopes\nthat stimulate, the affections that inspire! Do we indeed suffer all the\nsorrows and uncertainties of life,--do we indeed strive, and endure, and\nstruggle,--do we, indeed, learn to labour and to wait, to bear the burden\nof the day and the torture of the night, for no other purpose, with no\nother prospect, than when the brief fever is over, to pass away into\nnothingness? With so much difficulty can the mind reconcile itself to such\na dreary hypothesis that the creed of almost every race and people has\ncontemplated a future stage of existence, even when it has failed to\nattain to anything like a clear and full conviction of the immortality of\nthe soul. The law of compensation seems to demand that a future life shall\nredress the inequalities of the present.\n\nYet this doctrine of Annihilation was preached by Buddha, and apparently\naccepted by the millions who became his disciples. But did they really\naccept it as he preached it? No; the truth is, they read into it, as it\nwere, their own innate, unconquerable belief in a hereafter, and converted\nhis Nirv\u00e2na into a Paradise, which they embellished with the bright\ncolours of imagination. It can hardly be doubted that this was not the\nmeaning or intention of Buddha himself. Look, for a moment, at his \u201cFour\nVerities.\u201d The first of these, as we have already stated, asserts the\nexistence of pain; the second, that the cause of pain is sin; the third,\nthat the cessation of pain may be secured by Nirv\u00e2na; the fourth, that the\nway to this Nirv\u00e2na consists of eight things: right faith or orthodoxy,\nright judgment or logic, right language or veracity, right purpose or\nhonesty, right practice or religious life, right obedience or lawful life,\nright memory, and right meditation.\n\nThese precepts may be understood as the usual laws of an elevated\nmorality, pointing to and terminating in a state of meditation on the\nhighest object of thought, such as has been enjoined by several\nphilosophical or religious systems;--such as was revived in France and\nGermany in the seventeenth century under the name of Pietism. There is\nnothing in this teaching incompatible with a belief in the immortality of\nthe soul and the existence of a GOD. But with the Buddhist Nirv\u00e2na it is\notherwise. Its motive principle, by the way, is a mean and cowardly one,\nfor it makes happiness depend upon the cessation of pain; represents as\nthe highest purpose of human effort the escape from pain. The Buddhist\ninsists that life is a prolonged misery; that birth is the cause of all\nevil; and he adds that even death cannot deliver him from this evil,\nbecause he believes in transmigration, or an eternal cycle of existence.\nTo escape from it we must free ourselves from the bondage, not of life\nonly, but of existence; and this must be done \u201cby extirpating the cause of\nexistence.\u201d\n\nBut what _is_ that cause?\n\nThe Buddhist teacher, involving himself in a cloud of metaphysics,\nanswers, that it is attachment; an inclination towards something, having\nits root in thirst or desire. \u201cDesire presupposes perception of the object\ndesired; perception presupposes contact; contact, at least a sentient\ncontact, presupposes the senses; and as the senses can only perform what\nhas form and name, or what is distinct, distinction is the real cause of\nall the effects which end in existence, birth, and pain. Now this\nconception is itself the result of conceptions or ideas; but these ideas,\nso far from being, as in Greek philosophy, the true and everlasting forms\nof the Absolute, are in themselves mere illusions, the effects of\nignorance. Ignorance, therefore, is really the primary cause of all that\nseems to exist. To know that ignorance, as the root of all evil, is the\nsame as to destroy it, and with it all effects that flowed from it.\u201d\n\nIn Buddha\u2019s own case we may see how such teaching operated upon the\nindividual.\n\nHe entered into the first stage of meditation when he became conscious of\nfreedom from sin, acquired a knowledge of the nature of all things, and\nyearned after nothing but Nirv\u00e2na. But he was still open to the sensation\nof pleasure, and could employ his powers of discrimination and reasoning.\n\nIn the second stage he ceased to use those powers, and nothing remained\nbut the desire of Nirv\u00e2na, and the satisfaction inherent to his\nintellectual perfection.\n\nIn the third stage indifference succeeded to satisfaction; but\nself-consciousness remained, and a certain amount of physical\ngratification.\n\nThese, too, faded away in the fourth stage, along with memory, and all\nsense of pain; and before the neophyte opened the doors of Nirv\u00e2na.\n\nAfter having gone through the four stages once, Buddha began them a second\ntime, but died before he attained the fourth stage.\n\nAfter passing through the four stages of meditation, every Buddhist enters\ninto the infinity of space; thence rises into the infinity of\nintelligence; to soar, afterwards, into the region of Nothing. But even\nthere he finds no repose; something still remains--the idea of the Nothing\nin which he rejoices. This is annihilated in the fourth and last region,\nand then he enjoys absolute, perfect rest, \u201cundisturbed by nothing, or\nwhat is not nothing.\u201d\n\nBuddha taught that this Nirv\u00e2na--which to most persons will seem a\nmetaphysical incomprehensibility--could be attained by all men. As there\nis no difference between the body of a prince and the body of a beggar, so\nis there none between their spirits. Every man is equally capable of\ncoming to a knowledge of the truth, and if he but _will_ to do so, of\nworking out his own emancipation.\n\nIt is important to observe the absence of any theological element in\nBuddhism. Its founder seems never to have spoken of God, and his Nirv\u00e2na\nis wholly different from the Brahmanic idea of absorption into the Divine\nEssence. Of the gods of the people he taught that they were, like men,\nsubject to the law of Metempsychosis, or Transmigration, and therefore\nthat as they were unable to deliver, they were unworthy to be worshipped.\nA recent writer thinks it would be incorrect to speak of Buddha either as\na theist or an atheist, and asserts that he simply describes a condition\nof absolute rest as an escape from the popular metempsychosis, which may\nbe interpreted either in a theistic or an atheistic sense. But a careful\nexamination of his system shows, we think, that it was wholly alien to a\nbelief in a Supreme Spirit.\n\n\u201cBuddhism,\u201d says Barth\u00e9l\u00e9my Saint-Hilaire, \u201chas no God; it has not even\nthe confused and vague notion of a Universal Spirit, in which the human\nsoul, according to the orthodox doctrine of Brahmanism, and the S\u00e2nkhya\nphilosophy, may be absorbed. Nor does it admit Nature, in the proper sense\nof the word, and it ignores that profound division between spirit and\nmatter which forms the system and the glory of Kapila. It confounds man\nwith all that surrounds him, all the while preaching to him the laws of\nvirtue. Buddhism, therefore, cannot unite the human soul, which it does\nnot even mention, with a God, whom it ignores; nor with nature, which it\ndoes not know better. Nothing remained but to annihilate the soul; and in\norder to be quite sure that the soul may not re-appear under some new\nguise in this world, which has been cursed as the abode of illusion and\nmisery, Buddhism destroys its very elements, and never wearies of glorying\nin this achievement. What more is wanted? if this be not the Absolute\nNothing, what is Nirv\u00e2na?\u201d\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nRepellent as seems to us the central doctrine of Buddhism, it extended\nrapidly. This extension was due, however, to the simplicity of the ritual\nwhich Buddha enjoined; the pure morality which he advocated; the equality\nof all men on which he insisted; and the spirit of love, tenderness,\ngentleness, compassion, and toleration which he inspired. Hence it came to\npass that his disciples multiplied in the north-western territories of\nHindustan, and his creed found acceptance, at a later period, probably\nabout three centuries before CHRIST, all over India. In Ceylon it was\nadopted at a very early period; but it was not until the second century\nbefore CHRIST that it made its way into China and Tibet. From Ceylon it\nspread into Birmah and Siam, and the islands of the Indian Archipelago,\nand from China it penetrated into Japan. It is now the religion of more\nthan one fifth of the whole human race.\n\nIts influence has been very considerable, and may distinctly be traced in\nsome of the Gnostic teaching and in the Alexandrine or Neo-Platonic\nphilosophy. It modified the old Brahmanic religion, which, acting under\nits impulse, threw off its human sacrifices and more barbarous rites. The\nfestival of Juggernaut, which for the time places in abeyance all caste\ndistinctions, and adopts many Buddhist symbols, shows that the Brahmans,\neven when they drove it out of India, were compelled to retain some of\nits relics, just as they were under the necessity of recognising Buddha as\none of the Avatars of their god Vishnu. Buddhism may be described as \u201cthe\nparent of Indian architecture,\u201d which, fashioned at first on the Greek\npatterns, speedily assumed a character of its own, as may be seen in its\ncolossal temples.\n\nBut, as is the case with all religious systems of purely human origin,\nBuddhism gradually fell away from the standard of its founder. The heart\ncraves an object of worship, a something or some one on which or on whom\nto rest its hopes and fears, and the Buddhists, untaught to reverence a\nSupreme Being, transferred their adoration to Buddha himself, whose life\nand work they involved in a cloud of myth and legend. His relics came to\nbe worshipped, and reliquary towers for their preservation were everywhere\nerected.\n\nThe enthusiasm which fired the Buddhists, and largely contributed to the\nrapid extension of their creed, for Buddhism, unlike Brahmanism, is a\nproselytising religion, finds a striking illustration in the career of\nHiouen-thsang, the Chinese pilgrim, who, in the middle of the seventh\ncentury, crossed the deserts and mountains which separate China from\nIndia, and visited the principal cities of the Indian Peninsula.\n\n\nHIOUEN-THSANG, A BUDDHIST PILGRIM.[12]\n\nHiouen-thsang was born in a provincial town of China, in one of the\nrevolutionary and anarchical periods of the Chinese Empire. His father,\nhaving quitted the public service, was able to devote his leisure to the\neducation of his four children, one of whom, Hiouen-thsang, was\ndistinguished at an early age by his genius and his thirst for knowledge.\nAfter receiving instruction at a Buddhist monastery, he was admitted as a\nmonk, when only thirteen years old. During the next seven years, he\ntravelled about with his brethren from place to place, in order to profit\nby the lectures of the most eminent professors; but his peaceful studies\nwere frequently interrupted by the horrors of war, and he was forced to\nseek refuge in the more remote provinces of the empire.\n\nAt the age of twenty he took priest\u2019s orders, having already become famous\nfor his multifarious learning. He had studied the chief canonical book of\nthe Buddhist faith, the records of Buddha\u2019s life and teaching, the system\nof ethics and metaphysics, and had completely mastered the works of\nK\u2019ung-fu-tze and Lao-tse. But, like many inquiring minds, he was tortured\nby doubt. For six years more he prosecuted his studies in the principal\nplaces of learning in China, and was frequently solicited to teach when he\nhad come to learn. Baffled in all his efforts to satisfy his anxious and\nrestless intellect, he resolved at last on paying a visit to India, the\nparent-land of Buddhism, where he knew he should find the original of the\nworks, which, in their Chinese translation, had proved so dubious and\nexcited so much mistrust. From the records of his pilgrim predecessors he\nwas aware of the dangers of his journey; yet the glory, as he says, of\nrecovering the Law, which was to be a guide to all men, and the means of\ntheir salvation, seemed to him worthy of attainment. In common with\nseveral other priests, he applied for the Imperial permission to travel\nout of China. It was refused, and his companions lost heart. But\nHiouen-thsang was made of sterner stuff. His mother had often told him\nhow, before his birth, she had had visions of her future offspring\ntravelling to the Far West in search of the law; and he himself had been\nsimilarly encouraged.\n\nHaving no worldly pleasures to enfeeble him, and believing only in one\nobject as worth living for, he resolved to face danger and difficulty;\nmade his way to the Hoang-Ho, and the place of departure of the caravans\nfor the West, and, eluding the vigilance of the Governor, succeeded in\ncrossing the frontier. He was without friends or helpers; but after\nspending the night in fervent prayer, found a guide in a person who, next\nmorning, unexpectedly presented himself. For some distance this guide\nconducted him faithfully, but abandoned him when they reached the Desert.\nThere were still five watch-towers to be passed, and the uncertain track\nthrough the Desert was indicated only by skeletons and the hoof-marks of\nhorses. Bravely went the pilgrim on his way, and though misled by the\n\u201cmirage\u201d of the Desert, he safely reached the first tower. There he\nnarrowly escaped death from the arrows of the watchman, but the officer in\ncommand was himself a devout Buddhist, and he not only allowed\nHiouen-thsang to proceed, but gave him letters of recommendation to the\ngovernors of the other towers. At the last tower, however, he was refused\nleave to pass, and neither bribes nor entreaties proved of any avail. He\nwas compelled to retrace his steps, and make a long d\u00e9tour, in the course\nof which he lost his way. His water-bag burst, and for the first time his\ncourage wavered. Should he not return? But no; he had taken an oath never\nto make a step backward until he had reached India. It were better to die\nwith his face to the West, than return to the East and live.\n\nFor four nights and five days he traversed the Desert, without a drop of\nwater to quench his thirst, with no other refreshment than that which he\nderived from his prayers; and that these should afford any hope or\nconsolation seems strange enough, when we remember that Buddhism held out\nto him no hope of a God or a Saviour. \u201cIt is incredible in how exhausted\nan atmosphere the Divine spark within us will glimmer on, and even warm\nthe dark chambers of the human heart.\u201d Comforted by his prayers, he\nresumed his onward march, and in due time arrived at a large lake in the\ncountry of the Oigom Tatars, by whom he was received with an abundant\nhospitality. One of the Tatar Khans insisted that he should reside with\nhim and teach his people; and as he would listen to no remonstrances or\nexplanations, Hiouen-thsang was driven to a desperate expedient. The king,\nhe said, might fetter his body, but had no power over his mind and will;\nand he refused all food, with a view to put an end to a life which he no\nlonger regarded as of value. In this resolution he persisted for three\ndays, and the Khan, afraid that he would perish, was compelled at last to\nyield. But he extracted from him a promise that on his return to China he\nwould visit him, and abide with him for three years. At last, after a\nmonth\u2019s detention, during which the Khan and his court daily attended the\nlectures of the pious monk, he resumed his journey, attended by a strong\nescort, and furnished with letters of introduction to the twenty-four\nprinces whose dominions he must cross.\n\nHis route lay through what is now called Dsungary, across the\nMusur-dabaghan mountains, the northern chain of the Belur-tag, the valley\nof the Yaxartes, Bactria, and Kabulistan. The pilgrim\u2019s description of the\nscenes through which he passed is interesting and vivid; he was a keen\nobserver, and gifted with considerable powers of expression.\n\nOf the Musur-dabaghan mountains he says:--\n\n\u201cThe crest of these heights rises to the sky. Since the beginning of the\nworld the snow has been accumulating, and it is now transformed into\nmasses of ice, which never melt, either in spring or summer. Hard shining\nsheets of snow are spread out until they vanish into the infinite, and\nmingle with the clouds. If one looks at them, one\u2019s eyes are dazzled by\nthe splendour. Frozen peaks impend over both sides of the wood, some\nhundred feet in height, and some twenty or thirty feet in thickness. It is\nnot without difficulty and danger that the traveller can clear them or\nclimb over them. Sudden gusts of hurricane and tornadoes of snow attack\nthe pilgrims. Even with double shoes, and in thick furs, one cannot help\ntrembling and shivering.\u201d\n\nBut as Max M\u00fcller justly observes, what is more important in the early\nportion of our traveller\u2019s narrative than any descriptions of scenery, is\nhis account of the high degree of civilisation that then obtained among\nthe tribes of Central Asia. Historians have learned to believe in the\nearly civilisation of Egypt, Babylon, China, India; but they will have to\nabandon all their old ideas of barbarism and barbarians now that they find\nthe Tatar hordes possessing, in the seventh century, \u201cthe chief arts and\ninstitutions of an advanced society.\u201d The theory of M. Oppert, who gives\nto a Turanian or Scythian race the original invention of the cuneiform\nletters and a civilisation anterior to that of Babylon and Nineveh, ceases\nto be improbable; since no new wave of civilisation could have touched\nthese countries between the cuneiform period of their literature and\nhistory and the epoch of Hiouen-thsang\u2019s visit.[13]\n\n\u201cIn the kingdom of Okini, on the western portion of China, Hiouen-thsang\nfound an active commerce, gold, silver, and copper coinage; monasteries,\nwhere the chief works of Buddhism were studied, and an alphabet derived\nfrom Sanskrit. As he travelled on he met with mines, with agriculture,\nincluding pears, plums, peaches, almonds, grapes, pomegranates, rice, and\nwheat. The inhabitants were dressed in silk and woollen materials. There\nwere musicians in the chief cities who played on the flute and the guitar.\nBuddhism was the prevailing religion, but there were traces of an earlier\nworship, the Bactrian fire-worship. The country was everywhere studded\nwith halls, monasteries, monuments and statues. Samarkand formed at that\nearly time a kind of Athens, and its manners were copied by all the tribes\nin the neighbourhood. Balkh, the old capital of Bactria, was still an\nimportant place on the Oxus, well-fortified, and full of sacred buildings.\nAnd the details which our traveller gives of the exact circumference of\nthe cities, the number of their inhabitants, the products of the soil, the\narticles of trade, can leave no doubt in our minds that he relates what he\nhad seen and heard himself. A new page in the history of the world is here\nopened, and new ruins pointed out, which would reward the pickaxe of a\nLayard.\u201d\n\nHiouen-thsang passed into India by way of Kabul. Shortly before he reached\nPou-lou-cha-pou-lo, the Sanskrit Purushapura, the modern Peshawer, he was\ninformed of a remarkable cave, where Buddha had converted a dragon, and\nhad promised to leave it his shadow, in order that, whenever the fierce\npassions of its dragon-nature should awake, it might be reminded of its\nvows by the presence of its master\u2019s shadowy features. The promise was\nfulfilled, and the dragon-cave became a favourite resort for pilgrims. Our\ntraveller was warned that the roads to the cave were haunted by robbers,\nso that for three years no pilgrim had been known to return from it. But\nhe replied that it would be difficult during a hundred thousand Kalpas to\nmeet once with the true shadow of Buddha, and that having come so near it\nin his pilgrimage, he could not pass on without paying the tribute of his\nadoration.\n\nHe left his companions in their security, and having, with some\ndifficulty, obtained a guide, proceeded on his way. They had accomplished\nbut a few miles when they were attacked by five robbers. Hiouen-thsang\nshowed them his shaven head and priestly robes. \u201cMaster,\u201d said one of the\nfraternity, \u201cwhere are you going?\u201d \u201cI desire,\u201d replied Hiouen-thsang, \u201cto\nadore the shadow of Buddha.\u201d \u201cMaster,\u201d said the robber, \u201cdo you not know\nthat these roads are full of bandits?\u201d \u201cRobbers are men,\u201d was the answer,\n\u201cand as for me, when I am going to adore the shadow of Buddha, though the\nroads might be full of wild beasts, I shall walk on fearless. And inasmuch\nas I will not fear you, because you are men, you will not be insensible to\npity.\u201d These words, in their simple faith, produced a strange effect upon\nthe robbers, who opened their minds to the enlightenment of the wise man\u2019s\nteaching.\n\nHiouen-thsang resumed his journey, with his guide, and passed a stream\nwhich rushed tumultuously between the walls of a precipitous ravine. In\nthe rock was a door opening into a depth of darkness. With a fervent\nprayer the pilgrim entered boldly, advanced towards the east, then moved\nfifty steps backwards, and began his devotions. He made one hundred\nsalutations, but saw nothing. This he conceived to be a punishment for his\nsins; he reproached himself despairingly and wept bitter tears, because he\nwas denied the happiness of seeing Buddha\u2019s shadow. At last, after many\nprayers and invocations, he saw on the eastern wall a dim patch of light.\nBut it passed away. With mingled joy and pain he continued to pray, and\nagain he saw a light, and again it vanished swiftly. Then, in his ecstasy\nof loving devotion, he vowed that he would never leave the place until he\nhad seen the \u201cVenerable of the age.\u201d After two hundred prayers, he saw the\ncave suddenly fill with radiance, and the shadow of Buddha, of a brilliant\nwhite colour, rose majestically on the wall, as when the clouds are riven,\nand all at once flashes on the wondering eye the marvellous image of the\n\u201cMountain of Light.\u201d The features of the divine countenance were\nilluminated with a dazzling glow. Hiouen-thsang was absorbed in wondering\ncontemplation, and from an object so sublime and incomparable he could not\nturn his eyes away.\n\nAfter he awoke from his trance, he called in six men, and bade them kindle\na fire in the cave, that he might burn incense; but as the glitter of the\nflame made the shadow of Buddha disappear, he ordered it to be\nextinguished. Five of the attendants saw the shadow, but the sixth saw\nnothing; and the guide, when Hiouen-thsang told him of the vision, could\nonly express his astonishment. \u201cMaster,\u201d he said, \u201cwithout the sincerity\nof your faith and the energy of your vows, you could not have seen such a\nmiracle.\u201d\n\nSuch is the account which Hiouen-thsang\u2019s biographers give of his visit to\nBuddha\u2019s cave; but Max M\u00fcller remarks, to the credit of Hiouen-thsang\nhimself, that in the _Si-yu-hi_, which contains his own diary, the story\nis told much more simply. After describing the cave, he merely\nadds:--\u201cFormerly, the shadow of Buddha was seen in the cave, bright, like\nhis natural appearance, and with all the marks of his divine beauty. One\nmight have said, it was Buddha himself. For some centuries, however, it\nhas not been possible to see it completely. Though one does perceive\nsomething, it is only a feeble and doubtful resemblance. If a man prays\nwith sincere faith, and if he have received from above a secret\nimpression, he sees the shadow clearly, but cannot enjoy the sight for any\nlength of time.\u201d\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nFrom Peshawer the undaunted pilgrim proceeded to Kashmir, visited the\nprincipal towns of Central India, and arrived at last in Magadha, the Holy\nland of the Buddhists. There, for a space of five years, he devoted\nhimself to the study of Sanskrit and Buddhist literature; he explored\nevery place which was consecrated by memories of the past. Passing through\nBengal, he travelled southward, with the view of visiting Ceylon, the\nchief seat of Buddhism. But, unable to carry out his design, he crossed\nthe peninsula from east to west, ascended the Malabar coast, reached the\nIndus, and after numerous excursions to scenes of interest in\nNorth-Western India, returned to Magadha to enjoy, with his old friends,\nthe delights of learned leisure and intellectual companionship.\n\nEventually, his return to China became necessary, and traversing the\nPunjab, Kabulistan, and Bactria, he struck the river Oxus, following its\ncourse nearly up to its springhead on the remote Pamir tableland; and\nafter a residence of some duration in the three chief towns of Turkistan,\nKhasgar, Yarkand, and Khoten, he found himself again, after sixteen years\nof varied experience, in his native land. By this time he had attained a\nworld-wide reputation, and he was received by the Emperor with the honours\nusually accorded to a military hero. His entry into the capital was marked\nby public rejoicings; the streets were decked with gay carpets, festoons\nof flowers, and waving banners. The splendour of martial pomp was not\nwanting; the civic magistrates lent the dignity of their presence to the\nscene; and all the monks of the district issued forth in solemn\nprocession.\n\nIf this were a triumph of unusual character, not less unaccustomed were\nthe trophies which figured in it.\n\nFirst, 150 grains of Buddha\u2019s dust;\n\nSecond, a golden statue of Buddha;\n\nThird, another statue of sandal-wood;\n\nFourth, a statue of sandal-wood, representing Buddha as descending from\nheaven;\n\nFifth, a statue of silver;\n\nSixth, a golden statue, representing Buddha victorious over the dragon;\n\nSeventh, a statue of sandal-wood, representing Buddha as a preacher; and\n\nEighth, a collection of 657 Buddhist works in 520 volumes.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nAdmitted to an audience of the Emperor in the Ph\u0153nix Palace, he was\noffered, but declined, a high position in the Government. \u201cThe doctrine of\nConfucius,\u201d he said, \u201cis still the soul of the administration;\u201d and he\npreferred to devote his remaining years to the study of the Law of Buddha.\nThe Emperor invited him to write a narrative of his travels, and placed at\nhis disposal a monastery where he might employ himself in peaceful and\nhappy seclusion in translating the works he had brought back from India.\nHe quickly wrote and published his travels, but the translation of the\nSanskrit MSS. occupied the rest of his life. It is said that the number of\nthe works he translated, with the assistance of a large staff of monks,\namounted to 740, in 1335 volumes. Often he might be seen pondering a\npassage of difficulty, when suddenly a flash of inspiration would seem to\nenlighten his mind. His soul was cheered, as when a man walking in\ndarkness sees all at once the sun piercing the clouds and shining in its\nfull brightness; and, unwilling to trust to his own understanding, he used\nto attribute his knowledge to a secret inspiration of Buddha and the\nB\u00f4dhisattvas.\n\nWhen his last hour approached, he divided all his property among the poor,\ninvited his friends to come and see him, and take a cheerful farewell of\nthe impure body of Hiouen-thsang. \u201cI desire,\u201d he said, \u201cthat whatever\nmerits I may have gained by good works may fall upon other people. May I\nbe born again with them in the heaven of the blessed, be admitted to the\nfamily of Mi-le, and serve the Buddha of the future, who is full of\nkindness and affection. When I descend again upon earth to pass through\nother forms of existence, I desire at every new birth to fulfil my duties\ntowards Buddha, and arrive at the last at the highest and most perfect\nintelligence.\u201d He died in the year 664.\n\nThe life of Hiouen-thsang, and his narrative of travel, have been\ntranslated into French by M. Stanislas Julien.[14] The foregoing\nparticulars have been borrowed from a review of M. Julien\u2019s work, by Max\nM\u00fcller, which originally appeared in the \u201cTimes\u201d of April 17 and 20, 1857.\n\nWe translate from Stanislas Julien\u2019s \u201cVie et Voyages de Hiouen-thsang\u201d the\nChinese narrative of the pilgrim\u2019s last days:--\n\n\u201cAfter completing his translation of the Pradj\u00f1\u00e2, the Master of the Law\nbecame conscious that his strength was failing, and that his end was near\nat hand. Accordingly he spoke to his disciples: \u2018If I came into the palace\nof Yu-hoa-kong, it was, as you know, on account of the sacred book of the\nPradj\u00f1\u00e2. Now that the work is finished, I feel that my thread of life is\nrun out. When after death you remove me to my last resting-place, see that\neverything be done in a modest and simple manner. You will wrap my body\nin a mat, and deposit it in some calm and solitary spot in the bosom of a\nvalley. Carefully avoid the neighbourhood of palace or convent; a body so\nimpure as mine should be separated from it by a great distance.\u2019\n\n\u201cOn hearing these words, his disciples broke out into sobs and cries.\nDrying their tears, they said to him: \u2018Master, you have still a reserve of\nstrength and vigour; your countenance is in no wise altered; why do you\ngive sudden utterance to such miserable words?\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018I know it through and in myself,\u2019 replied the Master of the Law; \u2018how\nwould it be possible for you to understand my presentiments?\u2019\n\n\u201cOn the first day of the first moon in the spring of the first year\n_Lin-te_ (664), the neighbouring interpreters and all the religious of the\nconvent, came to solicit him, with the most pressing earnestness, to\ntranslate the collection of the _Ratnako\u00fbta so\u00fbtra_.\n\n\u201cThe Master of the Law, yielding to their fervid persistency, made an\neffort to overcome his weakness, and translated a few lines. Then, closing\nthe Hindu text, he said: \u2018This collection is as great as that of the\n_Pradj\u00f1\u00e2_, but I feel I have not sufficient strength to complete such an\nenterprise. My last moments have arrived, and my life can be only of short\nduration. To-day I would fain visit the valley of Lantchi, to offer my\nlast homages to the statues of the innumerable Buddhas.\u2019\n\n\u201cAccordingly, he set forth with his disciples. The monks, at his\ndeparture, did not cease to shed tears.\n\n\u201cAfter this pious excursion he returned to the convent. Thenceforward he\nceased to translate, and occupied himself solely in his religious duties.\n\n\u201cOn the eighth day, one of his disciples, the monk Hiouen-Khio, originally\nof Kao-tch\u2019ang, related to the Master of the Law a dream which he had had.\nHe had seen a _Fesu-thou_ (or _Sto\u00fbpa_,) of imposing aspect and prodigious\nheight, crumble suddenly to the ground. Awakened by the fall, he ran to\ninform the Master of the Law. \u2018The event does not concern you,\u2019 said\nHiouen-thsang; \u2018it is the presage of my approaching end.\u2019\n\n\u201cOn the evening of the ninth day, as he crossed the bridge of a canal in\nthe rear of his residence, he fell, and injured his leg. From that moment\nhis strength declined perceptibly.\n\n\u201cOn the sixteenth day he cried out, as if awaking from a dream: \u2018Before my\neyes I see an immense lotus-flower, charming in its freshness and purity.\u2019\n\n\u201cHe had another dream on the seventeenth day, in which he saw hundreds and\nthousands of men of tall stature, who, decorated with garments of\nembroidered silk, with flowers of marvellous beauty, and jewels of great\nprice, issued from the sleeping-chamber of the Master of the Law, and\nproceeded to set out, both internally and externally, the hall consecrated\nto the translation of the holy books. Afterwards, in the rear of that\nhall, on a wooded mountain, they everywhere planted rich banners of the\nmost vivid colours, and created an harmonious music. He saw moreover,\nwithout the gate, an innumerable multitude of splendid chariots loaded\nwith perfumed viands and fruits of more than a thousand kinds, as\nbeautiful in form as in colour; no fruits were there of terrestrial\ngrowth! The people brought them to him, one after the other, and offered\nhim a profusion; but he refused them, saying: \u2018Such viands as these belong\nonly to those who have obtained the superior intelligence. Hiouen-thsang\nhas not yet arrived at that sublime rank: how could he dare to receive\nthem?\u2019 In spite of his energetic refusal they continued to serve him\nwithout intermission.\n\n\u201cThe disciples who watched by him happening to make some slight sound, he\nopened his eyes suddenly, and related his dream to the sub-director\n(_Karmmadana_), a certain Hoe\u00ef-te.\u201d\n\n\u201c\u2018And from these omens,\u2019 added the Master, \u2018it seems to me that such\nmerits as I have been able to acquire during my life have not fallen into\noblivion, and I believe, with an entire faith, that it is not in vain one\npractises the doctrine of the Buddha.\u2019\n\n\u201cImmediately, he ordered the master Kia-chang to make a written list of\nthe titles of the sacred books and the treatises which he had translated,\nforming altogether seven hundred and forty works and thirteen hundred and\nthirty-five volumes (_livres_). He wrote down also the _K\u00f4ti_ (ten\nmillions) of paintings of the Buddha, as well as the thousand images of\n_Mi-le_ (_M\u00e2itr\u00eaya b\u00f4dhisattva_), painted on silk, which he had caused to\nbe executed. There were, moreover, the _K\u00f4tis_ (one hundred millions) of\nstatuettes of uniform colour. He had also caused to be written a thousand\ncopies of the following sacred books:\n\n    _Nong-touan-pan-jo-king (Vadjra tchh\u00eadika pradj\u00f1\u00e2 par\u00e2mit\u00e2 so\u00fbtra)._\n\n    _Yo-sse-jou-la\u00ef-pou-youen-kong-te-king (Arya bhagavati bh\u00e2ichadja\n    gourou po\u00fbrwa pranidh\u00e2na n\u00e2ma mah\u00e2 y\u00e2na so\u00fbtra)._\n\n    _Lou-men-t\u2019o-lo-ni-king (Chat moukhi dh\u00e2rani)._\u201d\n\nHe had ministered to the wants of upwards of twenty thousand persons among\nthe faithful and heretical; he had kindled a hundred thousand lamps, and\npurchased thousands upon thousands (_ocean_) of creatures.\n\nWhen Kia-chang had finished this long catalogue of good works, he was\nordered to read it aloud. After hearing it, the religious crossed their\nhands and loaded the Master with congratulations. Then he said to\nthem:--\u201cThe moment of my death approaches; already my mind grows feeble\nand seems to be on the point of quitting me. Distribute at once in alms my\nclothes and goods; let statues be fabricated; and order the religious to\nrecite some prayers.\u201d\n\nOn the twenty-third day, a meal was given to the poor, at which alms were\ndistributed. On the same day, he ordered a moulder named Song-kia-tchi, to\nraise, in the Kia-cheou-tien palace, a statue of the Intelligence\n(Buddha); after which he invited the population of the convent, the\ntranslators, and his disciples, to bid \u201ca joyous farewell to that impure\nand contemptible body of Hiouen-thsang, who, having finished his work,\nmerited no longer existence. I desire,\u201d he added, \u201cto see poured back upon\nother men the merits which I have acquired by any good works; to be born\nwith them in the heaven of the Touchitas; to be admitted into the family\nof _Mi-le_ (_M\u00e2itr\u00eaya_); and to serve the Buddha, full of tenderness and\naffection. When I shall return to earth to pass through other existences,\nI desire, at each new birth, to discharge with boundless zeal my duties\ntowards the Buddha, and finally to arrive at the Transcendent Intelligence\n(_Anouttara samyak samb\u00f4dhi_).\u201d\n\nAfter having made these adieux, he was silent, and engaged in meditation;\nthen with his dying tongue he faltered forth his bitter regret that he did\nnot enjoy more of the \u201cworld of the eyes\u201d (the faculty of seeing), of the\n\u201cworld of the thought\u201d (the faculty of thinking), of \u201cthe world of the\nknowledge which springs from observation\u201d (the knowledge of sensible\nobjects); of the \u201cworld of the knowledge which springs from the\nmind\u201d--_l\u2019esprit_ (the perception of spiritual things); and that he did\nnot possess the fulness of the Intelligence. Finally, he pronounced two\n_gubhas_, which he caused to be repeated to the persons near him:--\n\n\u201cAdoration to _Maitr\u00eaya Tathagata_, gifted with a sublime intelligence! I\ndesire, with all men, to see your affectionate visage.\n\n\u201cAdoration to _Maitr\u00eaya Tathagata_! I desire, when I quit this life, to be\nborn again in the midst of the multitude who surround you.\u201d\n\nThe Master of the Law, after having long fixed his gaze upon Te-hoe\u00ef, the\nsub-director of the convent (_Karmmadana_), raised his right hand to his\nchin and his left upon his breast; then he stretched out his legs, crossed\nthem, and lay down on the right side.\n\nHe remained thus, immovable, without taking anything, until the fifth day\nof the second moon. In the middle of the night his disciples asked him:\n\n\u201cMaster, have you at length obtained to be born in the midst of the\nassembly of _Maitr\u00eaya_?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d he replied, with a failing voice. And having spoken, his breathing\ngrew rapidly weaker, and in a few moments, his soul passed away.\n\nHis servants, feeling quietly, found that his feet were already cold, but\nthat the back part of the head retained its warmth.\n\nOn the seventh day (of the second moon) his countenance had not undergone\nany alteration, and his body exhaled no odour.\n\nThe religious of the convent having passed several days in prayers, it was\nnot until the morning of the ninth day that the sad news reached the\ncapital.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThe Master of the Law was seven _tchi_ high; his face was of a fresh\ncomplexion. His eyebrows were wide apart, his eyes brilliant. His air was\ngrave and majestic, and his features were full of grace and vivacity. The\nquality or tone (_timbre_) of his voice was pure and penetrating, and his\nlanguage at times soared to a lofty eloquence, so noble and so harmonious\nthat one could not refuse to listen. When he was surrounded by his\ndisciples, or animated by the presence of an illustrious guest, he would\noften speak for half-a-day, while his hearers sat riveted in an immovable\nattitude. His favourite attire was a robe of fine cotton stuff,\nproportioned to his height and figure; his gait was light and easy; he\nlooked straight before him, throwing his glances neither to the right nor\nto the left. He was majestic as those great rivers which embrace the\nearth; calm and shining as the lotus which springs in the midst of the\nwaters. A severe observer of discipline, he was unchanged and\nunchangeable. Nothing could equal his affectionate benevolence and tender\npity, the fervour of his zeal or his inviolable attachment to the\npractices of the Law. He was reserved in his friendship, made no hasty\nbonds, and when once he had entered his convent, nothing but an imperial\ndecree could have drawn him from his pious retreat.\n\nOn the third day of the second moon (of the period _Lin-te_,--664), the\nMaster of the Law had sent Hiu-hiouen-pi to inform the Emperor of the\nwound he had received, and of the malady it had induced.\n\nOn the seventh day of the same month the Emperor, by a decree, ordered one\nof the imperial physicians to take with him medicaments and attend upon\nthe Master of the Law, but by the time he arrived, the Master was already\ndead. Teou-sse-lun, governor of Fang-tcheou, announced by a report this\nmelancholy event.\n\nAt the news, the Emperor shed tears copiously, and cried aloud in his\nsorrow, declaring that he had just lost the treasure of the empire. For\nseveral days he suspended the usual audiences.\n\nAll the civil and military functionaries abandoned themselves to groans\nand tears: the Emperor himself was unable to repress his sobs or moderate\nhis grief. On the next day but one, he spoke to his great officers as\nfollows:\n\n\u201cWhat a misfortune for my empire is the loss of Thsang, the Master of the\nLaw! It may well be said that the great family of Cakya has seen its sole\nsupport shattered beneath it, and that all men remain without master and\nwithout guide. Do they not resemble the mariner who sees himself sinking\ninto the abyss, when the storm has destroyed his oars and his shallop? the\ntraveller astray in the midst of the darkness, whose lamp dies out at the\nentrance to a bottomless gulf?\u201d\n\nWhen he had uttered these words, the Emperor groaned again, and sighed\nmany times.\n\nOn the twenty-sixth day of the same month, the Emperor issued the\nfollowing decree:\n\n\u201cIn accordance with a report addressed to me by Teou-sse-lun on the death\nof the Master of the Law, Hiouen-thsang, of the convent _Yu-hoa-sse_, I\norder that his funeral take place at the expense of the State.\u201d\n\nOn the sixth day of the third moon, he issued a new decree as follows:\n\n\u201cBy the death of Thsang, the Master of the Law, the translation of the\nsacred books is stopped. In conformity to the ancient ordinances, the\nmagistrates will cause the translations already completed to be copied\ncarefully: as for the (Indian) manuscripts which have not yet been\ntranslated, they will be handed over in their entirety to the director of\nthe convent _Ts\u2019e\u2019-en-sse_ (of the Great Beneficence,) who will watch over\ntheir safety. The disciples of Hiouen-thsang and the translators\u2019 company,\nwho previously did not belong to the convent _Yu-hoa-sse_, will all return\nto their respective convents.\u201d\n\nOn the fifth day of the third moon appeared the following decree:\n\n\u201cOn the day of the funeral of the Master of the Law, Hiouen-thsang, I\npermit the male and female religious of the capital to accompany him _with\nbanners and parasols_ to his last resting-place. The Master of the Law\nshone by his noble conduct and his eminent virtues, and was the idol of\nhis age. Wherefore, now he is no more, it is just that I should diffuse\nagain abundant benefits to honour the memory of a man who has had no equal\nin past times.\u201d\n\nHis disciples, faithful to his last wishes, formed a litter of coarse\nmats, removed his body to the capital, and deposited it in the convent of\nthe Great Beneficence, in the middle of the hall devoted to the labours\nof translation. United by the sentiment of a common sorrow, they uttered\nsuch cries as might have shaken the earth. The religious and the laics of\nthe capital hastened to the spot, and poured out tears mingled with sobs\nand cries. Every day the crowd was swollen by fresh arrivals.\n\nOn the fourteenth day of the fourth month, preparations were made for his\ninterment in the capital of the West. The male and female religious, and a\nmultitude of the men of the people, prepared upwards of five hundred\nobjects necessary for the celebration of his obsequies; parasols of smooth\n(_unia_) silk, banners and standards, the tent and the litter of the\n_Ni-ouan_ (Nirv\u00e2na;) the inner coffin of gold, the outer one of silver,\nthe _so-lo_ trees (_salas_,) and disposed them in the middle of the\nstreets to be traversed by the procession. The plaintive cadences of the\nfunereal music, and the mournful dirges of the bearers resounded even to\nHeaven. The inhabitants of the capital and of the districts situated\nwithin a radius of five hundred _li_ (fifty leagues,) who formed the\nprocession, exceeded one million in number. Though the obsequies were\ncelebrated with pomp, the coffin of the Master nevertheless was borne upon\na litter composed of rude coarse mats. The silk manufacturers of the East\nhad employed three thousand pieces of different colours in making the\nchariot of the Nirv\u00e2na, which they had ornamented with flowers and\ngarlands, loaded with precious stones. They had asked permission to place\nthe body of the Master of the Law upon this resplendent catafalque; but\nafraid of infringing his dying command, his disciples had refused. So it\nwent first, bearing the Master\u2019s three robes and his religious mantle, of\nthe value of one hundred ounces of silver; next came the litter\nconstructed of coarse mats. Not one of the assistants but shed copious\ntears or was almost choked with grief!\n\nUpwards of thirty thousand religious and laics spent the night near his\ntomb.\n\nOn the morning of the fifteenth day the grave was closed; then, at the\nplace of sepulture, an immense distribution of alms was made, and the\ncrowd afterwards dispersed in silence.\n\nOn the eighth day of the fourth moon of the second year of the\nTsong-tchang period (669,) the Emperor decreed that the tomb of the Master\nof the Law should be transported into a plain, situated to the west of the\n_Fan-tch\u2019ouen_ valley, and that a tower should be erected in his\nhonour.[15]\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II.\n\n_MAGIANISM: THE PARSEES._\n\n\nTHE ZENDAVESTA.[16]\n\nWhen the pure morality of Christianity is adduced as a proof of its high\norigin, one of the favourite devices of Modern Unbelief is to claim an\nequally high standard for the morality inculcated by the primitive creeds,\nand to rain praises upon the ethical systems embodied in the So\u00fbtras of\nthe Buddhists, the Rig-Veda of the Brahmans, or the Zendavesta of the\nParsees. In making this claim our philosophers probably calculate on the\nlittle knowledge which the multitude possess of any creeds but their own.\nThey are well aware that, to the popular mind, the teaching of Buddha or\nZoroaster is necessarily a sealed book, and that the whole extent of its\npurport is known only to a few scholars. Hence, when they come to support\ntheir thesis by quotations, they are able to select those isolated\npassages which shine with the lustre of genuine diamonds, and produce an\nabsolutely false impression of the general character of the writings in\nwhich they occur; thin veins of precious metal shining here and there\nthrough masses of worthless ore. No doubt the Veda contains numerous\nutterances of the highest beauty, in which the soul\u2019s devotion to a\nSupreme Power is expressed with a lyrical fervour inferior only to that of\nthe Sweet Singer of Israel. No doubt the Zendavesta, or the books of\nK\u2019ung-fu-tze, like the works of later and maturer intellects--a Xenophon\nand a Plato, a Seneca and a Marcus Aurelius--are enriched with thoughts of\nthe loftiest description, and frequently breathe the most exalted\naspirations. But what we have to remember is, that these are wholly\nexceptional; that they are the most arduous efforts of each self-absorbed\nthinker, and the indications of his boldest flights. At other times the\nwing grows feeble; at other times the music is faint and even discordant;\nthe bird can do no more than creep along the ground. In the sayings of our\nLord, however, or in the writings of His Apostles, the tone is always\nsustained, clear, definite. There is no uncertainty or hesitation. Nothing\nmean or unworthy is woven in their texture. No concessions are made to\nman\u2019s coarser desires or grosser passions. The system set before us is\nrounded in perfection, and shows not a flaw from beginning to end. We feel\nthat He who speaks, whether in His own Person or through His disciples,\nspeaks as never man spoke before; and that the Voice which fills our ears\nand stirs our hearts is, in deed and in truth, a Voice from Heaven.\n\nWe propose to furnish in this chapter a general view of the construction\nand teaching of the Parsee Scriptures, with the view of showing the signal\ninferiority of the creed it embodies to Christianity in all that can\nelevate the mind and satisfy the soul. At the same time we admit that the\nParsee creed, and all similar creeds, possess an intrinsic value, apart\nfrom their ethical deficiencies, as illustrating the recognition of an\nAlmighty Will, an Eternal and Supreme Force, by all the higher races of\nmankind. They show us the hopes, fears, and desires of great tribes and\npeoples which existed in the days before men wrote history; and they show\nus how their wisest teachers groped in the dark, and stumbled in the\nthorny path,--favoured occasionally, it is true, with a wonderful glimpse\nof light, and striking now and again into the pleasant places, but never\nrejoicing in the glory which rose upon earth with the Sun of\nRighteousness, never treading in that narrow but secure way which leads to\nEternal Life. We see in them the great minds of the early world, like\nchildren on the seashore, perplexed by a music which they could not\ncomprehend, and astonished by a power which they were unable to define.\nYet happier and wiser they than the cold materialist of a later age, who\nresolves all mysteries, all phenomena, into the working of a blind\ninflexible Law, and takes out of creation its light, beauty, and joy by\ndenying the existence of an all-powerful and all-loving Creator.\n\nThe religion professed by the ancient Persians, and still accepted by the\nParsees of Western India, and by a scattered population in Yezd and\nKerman, is taught in the books known as the Zend-Avesta. This title comes\nfrom the Sassanian term _Avesta_ or _Apusta_, that is, the text;[17] and\n_Zend_, or _Zand_, that is, the commentary upon it. The meaning of the\nlatter word, however, seems to have varied at different periods.\nOriginally it signified the interpretation of the sacred texts handed down\nfrom Zoroaster (or Zarathustra) and his disciples. In course of time the\ninterpretation came to be esteemed not less authoritative and sacred than\nthe original text, and both were called _Avesta_. But the language in\nwhich they were written having died out, they became unintelligible to the\nmajority of the people, and a new _Zend_ or commentary was required before\nthey could be understood. The new \u201cZend\u201d was the work of the most learned\npriests of the Sassanian period, and consisted of a translation of the\ndouble \u201cAvesta\u201d into the vernacular language then in vogue.[18] And as\nthis translation is the only key which the priests of modern Persia\npossess to the old creed as taught by Zarathustra, it has usurped the\nplace of the original Zend, and is now the recognised official commentary.\n\nBut, anciently, the word \u201cZend\u201d implied something more than a simple\ninterpretation of the \u201cAvesta,\u201d or sacred texts. That interpretation was\nthe source of certain new doctrines, the whole of which were considered\northodox, and designated _Zandi-agahi_, or Zend doctrines; doctrines\nwhich, it can hardly be doubted, supplied Plutarch and some other of the\nGreeks with ethical suggestions. The name _Pazend_, which frequently\noccurs in connection with _Avesta_ and _Zend_, denotes a further\nexposition of Zarathustrian teaching, as contained in the Vendidad, to\nwhich we shall shortly refer.\n\nThus far we have been indebted to Dr. Haug\u2019s account of the origin of the\nZendavesta. His views are confirmed by Westergaard, who asserts that the\nsacred books belong to two epochs; that is, that they are written in one\nage, and collected and systematised in another, in much the same way as,\naccording to Wolf, the Homeric poems were produced and assumed their\npresent form. All the earlier traditions ascribe their origin to\nZarathustra; but modern philologists affirm that they could not have\nsprung from any single mind, because they present no defined or\nself-consistent system of religious belief or moral economy. Like the\nhymns of the Vedas, and the strains of the Norse Edda, the several\nportions of the Zendavesta, so they say, must have been composed by\ndifferent bards, each of whom coloured his particular theme according to\nthe hues of his lively imagination. This theory, however, though it may\nhave an element of truth in it, is hardly the whole truth. The Zendavesta\nis unquestionably wanting in unity and completeness. But it seems to us\nthat traces of a dominant mind are everywhere visible; that the various\nparts are held together as on a thread by the teaching of Zarathustra\nhimself; and that the additions made by later and inferior writers are not\nsuch as wholly to obscure the original work.\n\nIt is to the celebrated Frenchman, Anquetil Duperron, that the scholars of\nthe West owe their knowledge of these remarkable books. Happening to see a\nfacsimile of a few pages written in Zend characters, he resolved on\nsetting out for India in order to purchase manuscripts of all the sacred\nbooks of the Zarathustrian religion, to acquire a thorough insight into\ntheir signification, and to obtain a knowledge of the rites and religious\nobservances of the Parsees. His means being limited, he entered himself as\na sailor on board a ship of the Dutch Indian Company, and worked his way\nout to Bombay in 1754. With money supplied by the French Government to\nassist him in his ingenious researches, he bribed one of the most learned\n_dustoors_ or priests, Dustoor Darat, or Surat, to procure the treasures\nhe desired, and to instruct him in the Zend and Pehlvi languages. As soon\nas he had acquired the requisite proficiency, he addressed himself to the\ntask of translating the whole of the Zendavesta into French. This was in\n1759. Returning to Europe, he convinced himself of the genuineness of his\npurchases by comparing them with MSS. in the Bodleian Library; and, after\nseveral years of arduous labour, produced the first European version in\n1771. At the outset, the authenticity of his work was challenged both in\nEngland and Germany; but all doubts have been set at rest by the inquiries\nof Rask and others; and thus, through the fanciful enterprise of a young\nFrenchman, the veil has been lifted which for so long a period shrouded\nthe mysterious religion of the Magi.\n\nWe do not, however, possess the whole of the Avesta. It is asserted by an\nArabian writer that Zarathustra himself covered with his verses no fewer\nthan twelve thousand parchments, and who shall compute the extent of the\nliterature accumulated by his disciples? Whether this literature perished\nat the epoch of the Macedonian conquest of Persia, or whether it was\ndestroyed by Alexander the Great, or whether it gradually perished as the\ninfluence of the Greek philosophy prevailed over the Zarathustrian\ntheology, it is impossible to determine. The remains of the sacred books,\nhowever, with short summaries of their contents, have been handed down to\nus. Originally they were twenty-one in number, called _Nosks_, and each\n_Nosk_ consisting of \u201cAvesta\u201d and \u201cZend\u201d--text and commentary. The number\ntwenty-one corresponded to the number of words composing the \u201cHonovar,\u201d or\nmost sacred prayer, of the Zarathustrians. It is, we may add, a magical\nnumber, being the result of the multiplication of the sacred numbers,\n_three_ and _seven_.\n\nOf these divisions the _pr\u00e9cis_ now extant, and collected for the first\ntime by the Danish scholar Westergaard, comprise the following books:\nFirst, the _Yasna_, which sets before us the devotions proper to be\noffered in connection with the sacrificial ceremonies. This Yasna is\ndivided into seventy-two chapters, representing the six Yah\u00e2nh\u00e2rs, or\n\u201cseasons\u201d during which Ahura-Mazda, the Good Principle, created the world.\nThe reader will here note the coincidence between the six creative seasons\nof the Magian seer, and the six creative days of the Hebrew lawgiver. The\nYasna consists of two parts, the older of which is written in what is\ncalled the G\u00e2tha dialect, and had acquired a peculiar sanctity prior to\nthe date of composition of the other books. It may be described as a\ntreasury of songs, hymns, and metrical prayers, which embody a variety of\nabstruse reflections upon subjects of metaphysical inquiry, and are much\nbetter adapted to stimulate the intellect of the student than to foster\nthe devotion of the worshipper. They are rhymeless, like the poetical\neffusions of C\u00e6dmon, and in their metrical structure bear a curious\nresemblance to the Vedic hymns. Of these collections, or G\u00e2thas, there are\nfive, and their leading title seems to be: \u201cThe Revealed Thought, the\nRevealed Word, and the Revealed Deed of Zarathustra the Holy.\u201d It is added\nthat the Archangels first sang the G\u00e2thas. Their general purport is an\nexposition of the work and teaching of the great founder of Magianism, who\nis represented as inveighing against a belief in the _devas_, or gods, and\nexhorting his disciples to lift up their hearts only to Ahura-Mazda, the\nSupreme Goodness.\n\nNow it seems necessary to correct a popular error, that the Zendavesta is\nlargely liturgical: an error confirmed by the assertion of Gibbon, who\nsays: \u201cEvery mode of religion, to make a deep and lasting impression on\nthe human mind, must exercise our obedience, by enjoining practices of\ndevotion for which we can assign no reason; and must acquire our esteem by\ninculcating moral duties analogous to the dictates of our own hearts. The\nreligion of Zoroaster was abundantly provided with the former, and\npossessed a sufficient portion of the latter.\u201d But Zarathustra himself, in\none of his best-known precepts, warns his followers that \u201che who sows the\nground with care and diligence, acquires a greater stock of religious\nmerit than he would gain by the repetition of ten thousand prayers.\u201d It is\nthe tendency of all ethico-religious systems, at least in their earliest\nstage of development, to discourage purely liturgical observances, and to\nenjoin on the disciple a state of self-concentration and self-absorption\nvaried only by physical activity. Unaided by a divine Revelation, their\nfounders never rise higher than the passive virtues of endurance and\npatience. As time passes away, and the new creed falls into the hands of a\nspecial school of expounders, minute rites and rigid practices are\naccumulated in order to impose upon the neophyte, and deepen the influence\nof those who alone possess a clue to their meaning. The formalities which\nencumber the Zarathustrian worship were invented long after the death of\nthe master, and no indication of them appears in the oldest section of\nthe Zendavesta. They are to be found chiefly in the much later pages of\nthe _Sadder_, where fifteen different genuflexions and prayers are\nrequired of the devout Persian every time he cuts his finger-nails!\n\nTo return to the Yasna. The G\u00e2thas, of which we have been speaking, were\nnot improbably composed by Zarathustra himself, and may be held to express\nhis belief and his thoughts in his own words. The second part, or \u201cYounger\nYasna,\u201d is of a much later date and less lofty tone. The invention of some\nof the Master\u2019s disciples or priests, it re-establishes the Polytheism\nwhich Zarathustra so strenuously condemned; and furnishes the believer\nwith a manual of prayers and incantations (in prose) to the genii of the\nwoods and streams and hills, the powers of fire and earth and water, and\nall the invisible spirits which haunt the luminous air.\n\nWe come next to the _Visparad_, a collection of prayers in\nthree-and-twenty chapters, written in Zend, and of a similar tenour to\nthose in the younger Yasna. These prayers refer to the preparation of the\nsacred water, and the consecration of certain offerings--such as the\nsacred bread--which are carried round about the sacred fire, and after\nhaving been exhibited to it, are eaten by the priest and by the votary on\nwhose behalf the ceremony is performed.\n\nThe _Yashts_ (Y\u00easti)--that is, worship by prayers and sacrifices--fall to\nbe considered in the third place. Of these devotions, which are\nconsecrated to the praise and worship of one Divine Being, and of a\ncertain limited group of inferior deities, twenty-four are extant. In\nusing them the votary endeavours, by a wearisome enumeration of the\nglorious achievements of the deity he is addressing, and of the miracles\nhe has wrought, to induce him to come and enjoy the meal prepared for him,\nand then to bestow on his fervid worshipper a blessing not inferior to the\nboons bestowed on his children in bygone times. So far as concerns the\nlegendary history of the ancient Iranians, and in connection with their\nbelief in the pantheon of Magianism, the Yashts are of great value, and\nindeed, from this point of view, are the most precious portion of the\nZendavesta.\n\nWhile the three parts already described exhibit more or less of a\nliturgical character, the fourth division, known as the _Vendidad_, forms\na collection of customs, observances, laws, pains, and penalties, the\ngrowth of a period much later than that of Zarathustra, when Ritual began\nits encroachments on Religion. It is the essence of all _genuine_ Ritual\nthat it should illustrate and explain Doctrine, but this is never found to\nbe the case in the primitive creeds. In all such it becomes merely the\ningenious invention of a subtle priesthood, by which its members\nestablished their influence over an ignorant community. In the eyes of the\nunlearned its complex character invested it with an air of mystery; they\nwere led to look upon the \u201cform\u201d as of greater importance than the\n\u201cspirit,\u201d and to attribute a strange, a wonderful potency to rites and\nceremonies which they could not understand. While it is the special\nfeature of the faith of CHRIST that it appeals in its sweet simplicity to\nevery heart, and that it requires of the believer to present himself\nbefore the altar with the innocence and trustfulness of a little child;\nthat it seeks not to confuse by a multiplicity of minute observances, and\neven sums up its leading tenets in two brief and easily intelligible\ncommandments; Magianism, conscious of its inherent defects, unable to fall\nback on the redeeming sacrifice of a SAVIOUR, deficient in any enduring\nprinciple of vitality, sought to build up its structure on a foundation of\nceremonies and formalities. And when it could not feed the soul with the\nbread of truth, it dazzled the senses by imposing spectacles, and confused\nthe imagination with a cumbrous code of the most complicated ritualistic\nfrivolities; so that the Persian worship, with its incantations and\ndevices, laid the foundation of the later Magic.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nTurning our attention now to that portion of the Zendavesta which is\ncalled the Vendidad, we find that it is divided into twenty-two Fargards,\nor chapters.\n\nIn the first of these we find an account of the creation by Ahura-Mazda,\nof sixteen holy regions, sinless spotless Edens, localities of perfect\nbliss; each of which is destroyed in succession by Ahriman, the Spirit of\nEvil,--a fable evidently suggested by the Mosaic history of Paradise. The\nsecond treats of a certain king, Yimo Vivaugham, who introduced\nagriculture into the land of Iran. The third sets forth the various means\nby which Zoma, or the Earth, may be rendered happy. You must beware of\nexcavating deep holes in it, for through these the _devs_, or demons, pass\nto and fro between hell and earth; nor must you bury within it the dead\nbodies of men or dogs, or other animals. The fourth chapter enumerates six\ncategories of crime, and the several punishments connected with them. The\nfifth and sixth are occupied with a description of various kinds of\nimpurity. The seventh and eighth contain liturgical directions in\nreference to the disposal of the carcases of men and dogs;[19] and it is\nstated that whoever eats of flesh so unclean can never be purified, but\nthat hell will undoubtedly be his portion. Even the house in which a man\nor a dog dies must immediately be purified by the use of incense or\nsweet-smelling odours; a sanitary precaution of some importance in hot\nclimates. In the ninth occurs an elaborate detail of the rite of\npurification denominated the _Barathium_, to be performed by, and on\nbehalf of a person who shall have been unwittingly defiled by touching the\ndead. The tenth and eleventh are not less minute in their directions what\nword must be repeated twice, and thrice, and four times at the different\nG\u00e2thas, in order that Ahriman and his lieutenants may be expelled from men\nand women who have been in contact with the dead, and from houses, cities,\nand provinces into which they have obtained an entrance.\n\nThe twelfth Fargard treats of various funeral ceremonies, and repeats a\nnumber of injunctions relative to the cleansing of places, of clothes and\nother articles, polluted by lifeless bodies. It concludes with elaborate\nwarnings against a two-footed _dev_, called Ashmog. The thirteenth and\nfourteenth run riot in praise of the noble qualities of dogs, and severe\nin their rebuke of the \u201csuperior animals\u201d who ill-use them. The fifteenth\nreads like a Commination Service, in its denunciation of certain crimes\nwhich can never be undone even by the profoundest penitential offices, and\nare punished by Ahura-Mazda with eternal condemnation. The seventeenth,\nlike the sixteenth, is tediously liturgical, and discusses such minuti\u00e6 as\nthe arrangement of the hair of the head, the extraction of bad or gray\nhairs, and the cutting of nails. If these operations are performed\nwithout certain prescribed ceremonies, the devs come upon earth, and\nparasitical organisms are produced to the great discomfort and injury of\nman. The eighteenth lays down the distinctions which should characterise\nan _Athrava_, or priest. He must wear the _padan_, a mouth-cover, of two\nfingers\u2019 breadth; must carry an instrument for disposing of parasitical\ninsects; devote his nights to study, keep alive the sacred fire, and\nsuccour the distressed. The nineteenth chapter recounts the perils to\nwhich Zarathustra was exposed, when he had left the south on his mission,\nfrom the murderous assaults of Ahriman and his host, who hastened up from\nthe north; the north, to an inhabitant of the warm sunny south, naturally\nappearing the fit home and haunt of the Spirit of Evil. The twentieth is\ndevoted to the praise of Taneslied, who is represented as having swept\naway disease, death, bloodshed, war, evil-doers, falsehood, and all kinds\nof wickedness. The twenty-first enjoins the salutations to be paid to the\nsacred Bull, and extols some of its illustrious qualities. Finally, the\ntwenty-second narrates the mission of Zarathustra, and describes the evil\nhe will dispel through the influence of the Word; Ahura-Mazda having\nordered him to establish his worship in the region called Airya-Mava, or\nIrman, so that it may become bright, pure, and happy as the abode of\nAhura-Mazda himself, free from sin, and, consequently, free from sorrow\nand suffering.\n\nFrom this brief summary it will be seen that the religion of the Parsees\nin its present form is a definite Dualism, recognizing the existence of\ntwo distinct principles, Good and Evil, impersonated by spirits of equal\npower, named Ahura-Mazda, (or Spento-Manyus,) and Ahriman, (or\nAngro-Manyus.) But no such doctrine was taught by Zarathustra himself. His\ncreed, like all the earliest creeds, was purely Monotheistic. He set\nbefore men, as the sole object of their love and adoration, one Supreme\nBeing, Ahura-Mazda, the great \u201cLife-Giver\u201d or the \u201cLiving Wisdom,\u201d as the\nname is variously explained. Nor was his conception of this one God\naltogether unworthy of the Founder of a Religion. He does not represent\nHim, indeed, as the \u201cFather,\u201d loving, sympathetic, compassionate, and so\nfull of condescension, that He is willing to give His Son to die for the\nsalvation of erring Humanity; for he did not enjoy that fuller revelation\nof the Divine Nature which was vouchsafed to the Hebrew race. But he shows\nHim as the \u201cLord over all lords, the Forgiving, the Omniscient.\u201d He is\nineffably pure, the source of all Truth, the Holy God. In the Khordah\nAvesta, Zarathustra is introduced as inquiring: \u201cTell me the name, O pure\nAhura-Mazda, which is Thy greatest, best, and fairest name?\u201d Ahura-Mazda\nreplies: \u201cMy name is He who may be questioned: the Gatherer of the people:\nthe Most Pure: He who takes account of the actions of men. My name is God\n(Ahura); My name is the Great Wise One (Mazdas.) I am the All-Seeing, the\nDesirer of Good for My creatures, He who cannot be deceived: the\nProtector: the Tormentor of tormentors: He who smiteth once and only once:\nthe Creator of All.\u201d\n\nHis happiness, like His holiness, is without spot or blemish; every\nblessing is His that man can imagine--health and wealth, virtue, wisdom,\nprosperity, immortality; and these blessings He is willing to bestow on\nHis creatures if in thought and word and deed they eschew impurity. But we\nnowhere read that He will assist them in the struggle against sin by\ncreating in them a new heart, or by vouchsafing the grace of His Holy\nSpirit. The mystery of the Atonement was beyond the reach of the soul and\nintellect even of Zarathustra; and the highest conception of God to which\nhe could attain was that of a Being of perfect Goodness, sitting enthroned\nin a strange awful loneliness, with no other feeling than that of approval\nof Good and disapproval of Evil. He is, of course, the supreme type of\nPower: all that _is_ flows from Him, as light from the Sun: He creates\nboth the shadow and the brightness of the human existence, good and ill,\nfortune and misfortune. So far above all human intelligence is He placed,\nthat images of Him are forbidden, though He is understood to be symbolised\nby the sun and by fire. He can be served only by prayers and offerings, by\na life of purity and truth, by abstinence from sinful passions, by the\nbanishment of sinful thoughts. Thus Herodotus says of the Zarathustrians,\nthat they reject the use of temples, of altars, and of statues. \u201cThey\nsmile,\u201d he says, \u201cat the folly of those nations who imagine that the Gods\nare descended from, or have any affinity with, human nature. The loftiest\nmountain-tops are the places chosen for their sacrifices. Hymns and\nprayers are their principal forms of worship. And the Supreme God, who\nfills the vast sphere of Heaven, is the object to whom they are\naddressed.\u201d\n\nThe service of Ahura-Mazda consisted, then, as we see, in the performance\nof good works, in the cultivation of virtue, and in the due offering up of\nprayer and praise. It was an intellectual worship that Zarathustra\nprescribed; a worship that might assist in the development of a high\nmorality, but could not inculcate a deep and true religious feeling. Of\ncontrition for sin, of humbling oneself before God, of self-sacrifice and\nself-abnegation, of love, and faith, and hope, the creed of Zarathustra\ntook no account. And here, as well as elsewhere, we observe its vast\ninferiority to the religion of CHRIST. It made no provision for the\nawakening and fostering of those tender emotions of profound humility,\nthankful adoration, and unutterable gratitude which are awakened in the\nChristian\u2019s heart by the name of JESUS. It could never have called forth\nsuch an utterance of the son\u2019s glad submission to the will of the FATHER\nas we find, for example, in the ejaculatory verse of Ben Jonson:\n\n  \u201cHear me, O GOD!\n    A broken heart\n    Is my best part:\n  Use still Thy rod,\n    That I may prove\n    Therein Thy love.\n\n  \u201cIf Thou hadst not\n    Been stern to me,\n    But left me free,\n  I had forgot\n    Myself and Thee.\n\n  \u201cFor sin\u2019s so sweet,\n    As minds ill-bent\n    Rarely repent,\n  Until they meet\n    Their punishment.\u201d\n\nSuch lines as these indicate a relation between man and his GOD which\ncould never obtain between the Zarathustrian and his Ahura-Mazda. His was\na cold, unimpassioned, logical creed, warmed by no single heart-throb of\nDivine love and mercy; a creed which demanded human worship for a sinless\nGod, but did not invite human faith in a loving Redeemer; and,\nconsequently, a creed which left untouched the deepest springs and most\nresponsive chords of our humanity.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nBoth the excellencies and the short-comings of Magianism are shown in the\nconfessions and prayers included in the Zendavesta. For example, there is\nmuch that is elevated and noble in the following, yet its tone is\ncuriously Pharisaical, and may be contrasted with that of Ben Jonson\u2019s\nverses. Instead of being the aspiration of a sinful soul after\nforgiveness, and a reaching forth towards love and light, it is the\nself-eulogium of a mind confident in its own sustaining power, and to\nappreciate its weakness we need only to contrast it with the fervour of a\nDavid or a S. Paul. We remember that the Hebrew king exclaimed: \u201cMy heart\npanteth, my strength faileth me: as for the light of mine eyes, it also is\ngone from me,\u201d and how the Apostle confessed himself \u201cthe chief of\nsinners.\u201d With no such aching consciousness of weakness does the\nZarathustrian bow himself before God. There is all the pride of\nself-righteousness in his prayer. Thus:\n\n\u201cI remain standing fast in the statutes of the law which Ahura-Mazda gave\nto Zarathustra. As long as life endures I will stand fast in good thoughts\nin my soul, in good words in my speech, in good deeds in my actions. With\nall good am I in harmony, with all evil am I at variance. With the\npunishments of the future life I am content. I have taken hold of good\nthoughts, words, and works. I have forsaken evil thoughts, words, and\nworks. May the power of Ahriman be broken! may the reign of Ahura-Mazda\nincrease!\u201d\n\nAnd again:\n\n\u201cI am steadfast in this faith, and turn myself not away from it, for the\nsake of a happy life, or for the sake of a longer life, nor for power, nor\nfor a kingdom. If I must give up my body for the sake of my soul, I give\nit willingly. I believe firmly in the good Mazda-yusaian faith; in the\nResurrection; in the bridge of souls,[20] in the invariable reward of good\ndeeds and punishment of bad deeds, in the everlasting continuance of\nparadise and the annihilation of hell; and I believe that, at the last,\nAhura-Mazda will be victorious, and Ahrimanes will perish with the Devs,\nand all the children of darkness.... I am full of hope that I shall attain\nto Paradise and the shining Garath\u00e2nan, where all majesty dwelleth. I make\nthis confession in the hope that I may hereafter become more zealous to\naccomplish good works and keep myself more from sin; and that my good\ndeeds may serve for the diminution of evil and the increase of good till\nthe rising again.\u201d\n\nWe know the form of prayer taught us by JESUS CHRIST; how simple it is,\nhow complete, how absolute in its renunciation of self, how comprehensive\nin its charity. \u201cThy will be done\u201d.... \u201cForgive us our trespasses as we\nforgive them who trespass against us\u201d.... \u201cLead us not into temptation.\u201d\nSuch are its leading thoughts: submission before GOD, charity before Man;\nboth implying and demanding the conquest and humiliation of self. Let us\ncontrast it with a Zarathustrian prayer:\n\n\u201cIn the name of God the Giver and Forgiver, Rich in Love, praise be to\nAhura-Mazda, the God with the name ... \u2018Who always was, always is, and\nalways will be.\u2019... Ahura-Mazda the Wise, the Creator, the Over-seeing\nGod, pure, good, and just! With all strength bring I thank-offerings and\npraise to the Lord, the completer of good works, who made men greater than\nall earthly beings, and through the gift of speech created them to rule\nover the creatures and to war against the evil spirits. Praise to the\nomniscience of God who has sent through the holy Zarathustra power and\nknowledge of the law. All good do I accept at Thy command, O God, and\nthink, speak, and do it. I believe in the pure law, and by every good work\nI seek forgiveness for sins. I keep pure the six powers--thought, speech,\nact, memory, reason, understanding. According to Thy will am I able to\nfulfil (these resolutions.) O Accomplisher of Good, to Thy honour are good\nthoughts, good words, and good works. I enter on the shining way to\nParadise. May the terror of hell not overcome me! May I pass the bridge\nChinavat and attain to Paradise, the bright and odoriferous, where are all\njoys. Praise to the Lord who awards those who accomplish good deeds\naccording to His will, who purifies the obedient, and at last purifies the\nwicked in hell. All praise be to the Creator, Ahura-Mazda, the All-Wise,\nthe Mighty, the Rich in Love.\u201d\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nPrayer, according to Zarathustra, is not the humbling of the soul before\nits Creator, not the aspirations of the spirit towards the Source of all\nLove and Mercy, not the desire of the creature to be at peace with GOD,\nbut the renunciation of will,--a noble and worthy aim in itself, but not\nfulfilling the Christian idea of prayer. To do good and to shun evil is,\nno doubt, the motive of the Christian life; but prayer is something more\nand something higher, the sacrifice of an humble and a contrite heart.\n\n  \u201cHeaven is the magazine wherein GOD puts\n  Both good and evil; prayer\u2019s the key that shuts\n  And opens this great treasure; \u2019tis a key\n  Whose wards are Faith, and Hope, and Charity.\n  Wouldst thou prevent a judgment due to sin?\n  Turn but the key and thou mayst lock it in.\n  Or wouldst thou have a blessing fall upon thee!\n  Open the door and it will shower on thee.\u201d[21]\n\nBut no such conception as this is discernible throughout the length and\nbreadth of the Parsee Scriptures, which here, as elsewhere, and in\nrelation to other matters, attain a lofty, but not the loftiest, level;\nrise above earth, but do not soar to Heaven. They seem instinct with\nechoes of the original revelation vouchsafed to man, but those echoes are\nfaint and imperfect; whereas, in the Hebrew creed, the voices of GOD are\nrepeated with a fulness and a power which leaves the heart nothing to\ndesire. In this vast superiority we cannot fail to see a strong and\nstriking proof of its authenticity. If it be found difficult to account\nfor the moral excellence and \u00e6sthetic beauty of Zarathustrianism without\ntracing it back in some indirect way to a Divine origin; how shall we\nexplain the sublimity and grandeur of the Hebrew Theism, unless we admit\nthat it is all it professes to be,--is, in very truth, the expression of\nthe will of the everliving GOD?\n\nWe have spoken of Zarathustra\u2019s religion as originally monotheistic; its\npurity, however, was not long preserved, and the cause of its corruption\nlay in itself. Zarathustra could not deny the existence of Evil, and to\nexplain it was driven to concoct an extraordinary hypothesis. As in every\nelectrified object there are two poles, a positive and a negative, so,\naccording to the Prophet, in Ahura-Mazda, and in all rational beings, man\nincluded, are present a good and holy Will, and its shadow or negative,--a\nhigher and a lower nature,--the Positive and the Negative Mind. How\nZarathustra reconciled this idea with his conception of Ahura-Mazda, as\nPerfect Goodness, we are unable to comprehend. At all events, it contained\nthe germs of the future Dualism of the Persian religion. The Negative Mind\nsoon came to be separated from the good and holy Will, and was quickly\npersonified as an independent evil being, a Power of Night and Darkness,\nAhriman (Angro-Manyus,) equal in might to Ahura-Mazda, and disputing with\nhim the possession of the world. Thus arose the myth of the constant\nstruggle between the two powers, as between Day and Night; the servants of\nAhura-Mazda being sent forth to encounter, resist, and overcome the slaves\nand works of Ahriman, thereby bringing about the end of all things, when\nAhriman himself should be vanquished and reconciled.\n\nIn course of time the difficulties of this dual theory were detected by\nacute intellects, and at the Sassanian Revival an attempt was made to\ndispose of them by introducing the doctrine of Monotheism under a new\nform, that of a Great Primal Cause (Zervana Akarana), the Boundless Time\nor Uncreated Whole, such as we trace in the later Greek poetry, and\napparently rather a \u201cmetaphysical abstraction,\u201d like the Greek \u1f08\u03bd\u03ac\u03b3\u03ba\u03b7, or\nthe Roman Nemesis, than \u201can active and presiding deity.\u201d Thence proceeded\nboth the Good and the Evil Principles; the two antagonist creators who\nbalanced against each other in perpetual conflict a race of spiritual and\nmaterial beings, light and darkness, good and evil. The wise benevolence\nof Ahura-Mazda formed men capable of virtuous impulses, and endowed each\nwith everything that could contribute to his happiness. He preserved by\nhis watchful providence the harmonious movements of the planets, and the\ntemperate combination of the elements. But the malice of Ahriman has long\nsince pierced Ahura-Mazda\u2019s \u201cegg;\u201d in other words, violated the sweet\naccord and bounteous beauty of His works. Since that fatal irruption, the\nmost minute articles of good and evil are alternately commingled and\nagitated together; the most poisonous herbs spring up among the most\nwholesome plants; the warfare of deluges, earthquakes, and conflagrations\ndisturbs the serenity of nature; and humanity is subjected to all the\nblighting influences of sin, suffering, and sorrow. While the rest of\nmankind were led away captive in the chains of their terrible enemy, the\nfaithful Persian alone remained constant in his faith in Ahura-Mazda, and\nfought under his banner of light, looking forward to a triumphant day when\nGood should prevail over all the world.\n\nIt seems to us impossible to doubt that, in this later development of the\nZoroastrian faith, its priests and teachers were largely indebted to the\nSacred Writings, though into what they borrowed they introduced much\noriginal and fanciful speculation.\n\nA Parsee, with a firm faith in Ahura-Mazda, and conscious of having obeyed\nthe law, offered up prayer and praise, and renounced, in intention at\nleast, evil thoughts and deeds and words, lay down on his death bed in a\ncertain hope and expectation of the Eternal life. We have seen that the\nZendavesta appointed a variety of penances, by the performance of which\nthe believer obtained immediate pardon for ordinary transgressions; and\ntherefore, full of the self-righteousness which his creed was so well\nadapted to inculcate, he faced the passage of the Dark River without fear.\nHe knew not of any need to implore the mercy of a Redeemer, to humble\nhimself in sackcloth and ashes, to base his hope on the infinite love of\nGOD made man, on the glorious sacrifice of the Cross; his soul passed\nstraight to Paradise, as an arrow flies towards its mark. In the Khordah\nAvesta we can follow the stages of its journey:--On the first night after\ndeath the soul dwelt near the head of the inanimate body it had just\ndeserted, and sat there praying, rejoicing in as much joy as is vouchsafed\nto the whole living world. And so did it dwell on the second night,\npraying. And so did it dwell on the third night, praying. But when the\nthird night verged upon dawn, the soul of the pure man went forward. A\nwind, sweeter than all other winds, blew to meet it from the south. And in\nthat wind came to embrace the pilgrim _his own law_, under the figure of a\nmaiden beautiful and shining, fair as the fairest of created beings. The\npilgrim then took the first step in his celestial progress, and arrived in\nthe paradise _Hamata_; he took the second, and reached the paradise\n_H\u00fbkhta_; he took the third, and arrived at the paradise _Hvarsta_. The\nbeatified wanderer made yet another step, and gained the presence of the\nEternal Light. There was he addressed by an already beatified soul: \u201cHow\nart thou, O pure deceased, who hast come from the perishable world hither\nto the imperishable?\u201d Ahura-Mazda here interrupted: \u201cAsk him not, for he\nhas come on the fearful trembling way, the separation of soul and body.\nBring him hither of the food of the full fatness, that is, of the filling\nfood for those who think, speak, and do good, for the pure after death.\u201d\n\nA recent writer says of this notion of a progressive advance to the\n\u201cEternal Light,\u201d of the welcome received from the blessed, and from the\ngentle words of Ahura-Mazda himself; and of the conducting angel who\nrepresents the man\u2019s own earthly faith and life, (like Bunyan\u2019s Mr.\nGood-Conscience meeting old Honest beside the River of Death,) \u201call\nthese,\u201d he says, \u201care beautiful thoughts.\u201d Surely fanciful, rather than\nbeautiful; and better adapted to amuse religious sentimentalists than to\nsatisfy healthy and earnest believers. The obvious reference to the three\ndays and nights spent by our LORD \u201cin prison\u201d appears to indicate that\nthis is a comparatively modern portion of the Zendavesta, founded upon\nsome vague knowledge of the mystery of the Resurrection.\n\nWhile the pure soul proceeded, as we have seen, by three stages or\ngradations to the Paradise of Light and Sweetness, the evil and unclean\nsoul, on the other hand, descended, also by three stages, to the terrors\nof Douzakh, the dark abode of Ahriman and the Devs. There it suffered\naccording to its sinfulness until the general day of Resurrection. At that\ngreat epoch these nights of indescribable woe will be undergone by all who\nhave not expiated their earthly offences; woe so terrible, that the\nBlessed, looking down upon it from their celestial battlements, will be\nmoved to tears of pity. And then the massive mountains and the solid rocks\nshall be melted by the heat, and streams of liquid gold shall flow, in\nwhich both the pure and evil shall receive a regenerating bath. Ahriman\nand his devs shall share in the universal happiness, and all created life\nshall swell the song of praise sent up in honour of Ahura-Mazda.\n\nWhile we are unable to doubt that in the Zendavesta, as it has come down\nto us, may be traced the direct influence of the Hebrew creed, and that\nideas and principles of a still later date were borrowed more or less\nclosely from Christianity, we can as little doubt that Zarathustrianism\nhad no inconsiderable effect on the Jewish popular belief. The Jewish\nprophets, after the Captivity, would seem to have adopted much of what may\nbe called their poetic language and machinery from the writings of the\nMagian teachers. The Talmud contains unmistakable evidence of its\nindebtedness to the same source. The Angelology of the Jewish doctors\noriginated, probably during the captivity of the Tribes in Babylonia, in\nthe Magian superstitions; and it was then that the complete angelic\nhierarchy was evolved, with its seven great archangels corresponding to\nthe seven Amchaspands of the Zendavesta. It was then that for the first\ntime the Jewish popular creed recognised the existence of two antagonistic\nhosts of spiritual beings, arrayed against each other in everlasting\nbattle. Then was developed the fancy of a guardian angel attending every\nindividual to shelter him from the malignant hostility of his Dev or\ndemon. So that much of the mythology which Milton employs so effectively\nin \u201cParadise Lost,\u201d having borrowed it from the traditions and legends of\nthe Hebrew race, came originally from the far East, and was invented by\nthe followers of Zarathustra. The Miltonic and popular conception of\nSatan, so unlike the Biblical representation of the great Destroyer, was\nlargely coloured from the Magian sketch of Ahriman, the Power of Darkness.\n\nIt is certain that the grand and lofty Hebrew revelation of the One GOD\nwas modified and debased by its contact with the Magian teaching. It has\nbeen well remarked that wherever any approximation had been made to this\nsublime truth of the existence of the one great First Cause, either \u201cawful\nreligious reverence\u201d or \u201cphilosophic abstraction\u201d had removed the Creative\nPower absolutely out of the range of human sense, and supposed that the\nintercourse of the Divinity with man, the moral government, and even the\nactual creative work, had been carried on by the intermediate agency of,\nin Oriental phrase, an Emanation, or, in Platonic language, of the\n\u201cWisdom,\u201d \u201cReason,\u201d or \u201cIntelligence\u201d of the Supreme. The Jews, under the\ninfluence of their intercourse with the Persians, adopted that conception,\nand, departing from the path laid down for them by Revelation, interposed\none or more intermediate beings as the channels of communication between\nGOD and man. The Apostle seizes on the popular fancy, and endeavours to\nrestore from it the original truth, when he tells his readers that the\n\u201cWord\u201d of which they spoke so vaguely and presumptuously was none other\nthan GOD Himself,--the SON of GOD, but equal with the FATHER,--the\nbrightness of His glory and the express image of His person. He showed\nthem that the mediation between the lofty spiritual nature of GOD and the\nintellectual and moral being of Man was not to be accomplished through any\nindependent agency, but by the revelation of GOD Himself in the person and\npresence of His beloved SON. That this, the essential and central truth of\nChristianity, was one which the unassisted human intellect could never\nhave developed we know, from the fact that it is found in no creed of\nadmittedly human origin, and that it is never clearly set forth even in\nany religious system which has borrowed from Christianity.\n\nWe can imagine the ability of man to shape out for himself an idea of some\nawful Power, some mighty First Cause, which created and ordered the\nuniverse, and controlled and shaped its destinies. Looking around upon\ncreation, he might, perhaps, without any severe intellectual effort,\nattain to the thought of a Creator. This conception once realised, he\nmight in due time come to believe that the Creator could be pleased or\nangered by the doings of His creatures; and that the anger of One so\npowerful would be something to dread and avoid. But the idea of this grand\nand terrible Creator sending from Heaven His own Son to take upon Himself\nhumanity, and thereby save the creature from the just wrath it had\nprovoked, and the dread retribution it had deserved,--an idea, so glorious\nand consoling, could never, we believe, have been grasped by the loftiest\nhuman intellect, unless aided by a revelation from above.\n\nThe exact relation of Zarathustrianism to Christianity it is somewhat\ndifficult to define, because a cloud of doubt and uncertainty hangs over\nthe compilation of the later portions of the Zendavesta. While the great\nantiquity of the G\u00e2thas cannot be disputed, while there is clear evidence\nthat they contain much of the original teaching of Zarathustra,--teaching\nnobler and more exalted than that of his followers,--it seems not less\ncertain that the doctrines of the Resurrection and the Future Life were\nborrowed from the Hebrews. What then is left to justify a comparison with\nChristianity? The keynote of its scheme is intellectual pride; that of the\nChristian religion, spiritual abasement. The former urges on its disciples\nthe necessity of good thoughts, words, and deeds in order to please\nAhura-Mazda; the latter, as a proof of faith in the mission of its\nFounder. The former teaches an excellent code of morals, so far as relates\nto the individual; the latter lays down one golden rule, \u201cDo unto others\nas thou wouldest they should do unto thee.\u201d The former enforces the law of\nself-control; the latter of self-renunciation. It is impossible to pretend\nthat Magianism shows the same insight into man\u2019s wants, failings,\npassions, temptations, as Christianity shows; or provides a system so\ncapable of adaptation to every age, and rank, and character.\n\nWe see no reason to doubt the authenticity and antiquity of the\nZendavesta; but it is somewhat surprising that scholars who make haste to\naccept _it_ as genuine, should show so much scepticism in reference to the\nChristian Scriptures. Surely, as regards the latter, the evidence of\ngenuineness is infinitely stronger than as regards the former. We know\nthat they were implicitly accepted by men who lived almost in the very\ntime of those who recorded them; on the other hand, of Zarathustra and his\ncontemporaries or successors we know absolutely nothing. Some authorities\nrepresent him to have flourished as early as 2200 B.C.; others as late as\n500 B.C. Some consider him to have been the founder of a dynasty; others\ninvest him with a supernatural personality. But at the best he remains\n_nominis umbra_; as indistinct and shadowy, as in his teaching he is cold\nand clear. Of the authenticity of his writings the principal proofs are\nthose derivable from the writings themselves. But if we allow that such\nproofs are admissible, what shall we say of those to be found in the\nGospels and Epistles? As their morality is so much more elevated than that\nof the Zendavesta, so is the certainty of their Divine origin infinitely\nmore assured. The class of testimony which asserts the authenticity of the\none not less convincingly affirms the genuineness of the other. And if the\nGospels are all that they purport to be, how can we avoid the conclusion\nthat they are truthful also in the witness they bear to the life and\ncharacter of CHRIST?\n\nWe may point to a remarkable contrast between Magianism and\nChristianity,--that the former has undergone an almost complete revolution\nof meaning and doctrine, while, in spite of sectarian glosses, the latter\nremains virtually unaltered. The faith once for all delivered to the\nsaints is held by believers to-day in all its original purity. We repeat\nthe Creed just as it fell from the rapt lips of martyrs, saints and\nconfessors. But the monotheism of Zarathustra has been broken up into a\ncurious Dualism; and upon the religious system of the G\u00e2thas has been\naccumulated such a burden of ritual, of novel teaching, of borrowed\ndogmas, and alien mysteries, that the acutest students are almost baffled\nin their endeavours to distinguish the false from the true, and the new\nfrom the old. It is almost impossible to determine what belongs to the\nZarathustrian original, and what to perversions or adaptations from the\nJewish Scriptures.\n\nIt is an indisputable testimony to the living force and divine genius of\nChristianity, that it occupies a void which no one of the primitive\nreligions has ever been able to fill. We find it difficult to conceive\nthat any man who has once been a Christian could voluntarily embrace\nZarathustrianism or Buddhism, and attempt to satisfy his soul with it, any\nmore than with the philosophy of the Stoics. We are tempted to ask,\nindeed, whether either could at any time have satisfied the cravings of\nhumanity. We know that all their ethical schemes could not lift the sages\nof Greece and Rome out of the deep, the intense sadness which possessed\nthem, nor respond to their yearnings after a something they could neither\ndescribe nor define. Their state of thought and feeling has been expressed\nby a modern poet, Matthew Arnold, with what seems to us a wonderful\nfidelity:--\n\n            \u201cNor only in the intent\n            To attach blame elsewhere,\n            Do we at will invent\n            Stern powers who make their care\n  To embitter human life, malignant deities.\n\n            \u201cBut next, we would reverse\n            The scheme ourselves have spun,\n            And what we made to curse\n            We now would lean upon,\n  And feign kind gods who perfect what man vainly tries....\n\n            \u201cWe pause, we hush our heart,\n            And then address the gods:\n            \u2018The world hath failed to impart\n            The joy our youth forebodes,\n  Failed to fill up the void which in our breasts we bear!\u2019\u201d\n\nTheir principles of thought were pure, but they felt that there existed a\npurity which was beyond their reach; their standard of conduct was high,\nbut they were inwardly conscious that it ought to be higher. On that\ngolden \u201cladder of sunbeams\u201d which rises from earth to the angel-guarded\nbattlements of heaven, they had ascended a few timid steps, but above and\nbeyond they could see a glory to which it was not given them to rise.\nHence it has often been said, and justly, that the men were greater than\ntheir system; and such, so far as Magianism was concerned, may well have\nbeen the case with the loftier minds of Bactria and Persia. But it can\nnever be pretended that the Christian is greater than Christianity. Let\nhim be ever so holy in his living, ever so exalted in his aspirations, he\nwill not seek for something _beyond_ and _out of_ Christianity, because he\nfeels and knows that he cannot exhaust all its capabilities; that it soars\nfar higher than he can ever soar. It has truths which the profoundest\npsychologist cannot fathom; it opens up visions which the boldest\nimagination cannot comprehend; it contains a wealth of emotion and\nsympathy which the most passionate soul can never exhaust. After we have\nsaid and done all we can, after we have mastered all that has been said\nand done by other men, we still find in the life and character of CHRIST\nthat which may well engage, and yet never weary our attention. And here we\ntouch upon a feature which no human system of religion or morality has\never matched. Strip the Zendavesta, if you will, of all its later and less\nworthy adjuncts, and yet it cannot, any more than the Rig-Veda, present us\nwith the divine beauty of the Man of Sorrows. But this it is which fills,\nsoothes, blesses, inspires the aching, restless, craving human heart. When\nit can no longer satisfy itself with the cold moralities of philosophy,\nwhen it pines for a deeper and a warmer life, when it is weary with\nproblems which it cannot solve, and disappointed in hopes which it has\nseen fade away like dreams of the night, it turns to the Cross and is\ncomforted. The mysteries which perplexed it vanish in the light that\nemanates from the Divine history of the SON of GOD. The awe with which it\nregards the passionless abstraction of a great First Cause, a supreme\nentity of Power and Wisdom without Love, passes into reverent admiration\nand joyous thanksgiving when it looks up into the face of the Good\nShepherd, and reposes in the shadow of the Vine, and learns how that He\nWho was with the FATHER before the beginning, has suffered even as we\nsuffer, has borne the heavy burden of the flesh even as we have borne it,\nand now sits on the right hand of GOD,--not an idea, not a principle, not\na Spirit, but a PERSON, bidding all who believe to come unto Him and be at\nrest.\n\nThis, indeed, is the cardinal merit of Christianity,--it has given us\nCHRIST.\n\nGOD forbid that we should deny a certain value even to the \u201cunconscious\nprophecies of heathendom,\u201d or refuse to see something of the spirit of\nCHRIST in the teaching of the ancient sages and philosophers; but when an\nattempt is made to raise Magianism to an equal rank with Christianity, and\nthe cold intellectual utterances of the Zendavesta to rank with the\nliving voices of Holy Writ, it is essential to point out how vast, how\nimpassable is the gulf between them; how little Magianism did or could do\nto elevate man\u2019s spiritual nature; and how largely Christianity surpasses\nit, in and through the manifestation of the Divine love in the mystery of\nGOD made Man.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III.\n\n_JEWISH SUPERSTITIONS._\n\n\nTHE TALMUD.\n\nThe Talmud, (from the Hebrew _lamad_, to learn,) is the name given to the\ngreat code of the Jewish civil and canonical law. It is divided, like the\nZendavesta, into two parts, the Mishna and the Gemara; the former being,\nas it were, the text, and the latter the commentary and supplement. Of\nlate years public attention has been exceptionally drawn to it by the\nwritings of the late Emanuel Deutsch, and it has obtained, as we think, a\nwholly undeserved amount of panegyric.\n\nDeutsch, an enthusiast in his attachment to the land and religion of his\nforefathers, put it forward as a wondrous treasure, the real value of\nwhich had been wholly overlooked. It contained, he seemed to say, a\ncomplete _corpus juris_; and, as an encyclop\u00e6dia of law, should be\ncompared with the corresponding collections of Roman or of English law,\nwith the Pandects of Justinian and the Commentaries of Blackstone. Herein\nlies the excuse for rules that have been considered unduly subtle, or in\nother ways offensive to modern taste. But it contains something more than\na body of law; it is also a collection of Jewish poetry and legend, of\nJewish science, and Jewish metaphysical speculation. The Mishna is a\ndevelopment of the laws contained in the Pentateuch. The members of the\nSanhedrim, who were chiefly concerned in the formation of this law, were\nobliged (so argues Deutsch) to be accomplished men. It was necessary that\nthey should possess some knowledge of physical science, or at least of\nzoology, botany, and geography in their then condition. It was necessary\nalso that they should be good linguists, having some acquaintance with\nLatin and Greek, as well as with Aramaic, Syriac, and Hebrew. Disreputable\nmen were kept out, and all were compelled to be married men and fathers of\nfamilies. \u201cThe origin of the Talmud,\u201d he says, \u201cis coeval with the return\nfrom the Babylonish captivity.\u201d And though it is the glory of Christianity\nto have carried into the heart of humanity at large the golden germs of\nthought previously hidden in the schools of the learned, yet numerous\nprecepts, supposed to be purely Christian, lie enshrined in the pages of\nthe Talmud. It would be difficult to find a penal legislation more\ndistinctly humane. As for its myths, its allegories, its apparent\nabsurdities, they should be read in the spirit in which Christians read\nBunyan\u2019s \u201cPilgrim\u2019s Progress.\u201d The Talmud insists upon the pre-existence\nof the soul, on the dogmas of Immortality and the Resurrection, it denies\nthe doctrine of everlasting damnation; it excludes no human being from the\nworld to come. And as the Talmud, continues Deutsch, although redacted at\na later period, is, in point of time, prior to the New Testament, the\nbeautiful maxims of the former cannot have been borrowed from the latter.\nIn a word, it is a collection which took nearly a thousand years to form,\nand has been commented upon for a thousand years since. It breathes\ncharity to all men. If we except a few items of coarseness, such as must\noccur in every legal code, it is all good; at least, it is never bad; it\ndeserves all possible respect and even reverence. Such, in a condensed\nform, is the account of the Talmud which Deutsch asks us to accept.\n\nBut it cannot be admitted that the defects of the Talmud are trivial, any\nmore than that the spirit of the Rabbins towards Christianity was\ntolerant. Nor can it be admitted that the Talmud owes nothing to the\nChristian Scriptures.\n\nOn the first point hear what Professor Hurwitz says:--\u201cThe Talmud contains\nmany things which every enlightened, nay, every pious Jew, must sincerely\nwish had never appeared there, or should at least long ago have been\nexpunged from its pages. Some of these Agadatha are objectionable _per\nse_; others, indeed, are susceptible of explanations, but without them are\ncalculated to produce false and erroneous impressions.\u201d So much may be\nsaid, we think, of the legends in the Talmud; such as the size of\nLeviathan and the way in which he is to be killed and cooked for the\nchosen people, and the marriage of Adam with Lilith before the creation of\nEve, with the diabolic progeny which sprang from them.\n\nAnother point to be considered is the influence of the Alexandrian books,\ncommonly known by us as the Apocrypha. Of these the Books of Wisdom and\nEcclesiasticus at any rate exhibit the reflections of singularly devout\nand thoughtful minds, which had exercised themselves in the contemplation\nof the writings of Moses and the prophets in combination with no\ninconsiderable tincture of Greek philosophy. It would be a question of\ngreat interest to see how far ideas suggested in those very remarkable\ncompositions have found their way into the Talmud.\n\nAs regards the sentiments of the Rabbins towards Christianity: in the\nreign of Domitian, (that is, about A.D. 90,) the Sanhedrim took measures\nagainst the Minim, that is to say, the degenerated; for so they called the\nJews who had been converted to Christianity. The Rabbi Tarphon said:--\u201cThe\nGospels and all the books of the Minim deserve to be burnt, for Paganism\nis less dangerous: the Pagans misunderstand the truths of Judaism from\nignorance, the Minim deny them with full knowledge of the case. Better to\nseek an asylum in a Pagan temple than in the synagogues of the Minim.\u201d The\nSanhedrim of Jamnia and other similar bodies adopted the like tone. And it\nwas men like these who helped to form the Talmud.\n\nNot the less it remains true, that every powerful movement which has\noccurred in the world\u2019s history has shown a part of its power in the way\nit has influenced opponents. The Reformation, as the Ultramontane De\nMaistre is compelled to admit, wrought a very perceptible change even\namong Roman Catholics. The French Revolution of 1793 did not leave\nLegitimists in the position they had occupied before its outbreak. Now\nChristianity is the greatest movement the world has ever seen. Dean\nMerivale in his excellent \u201cHistory of the Romans under the Empire,\u201d states\nwith no less eloquence than truth the immense indirect influence which it\nhad begun to exercise on heathen thought by the end even of the first\ncentury. We can trace it in Pagan literature. But Deutsch and similar\nTalmudophilists would have us believe that it had no influence whatever\nupon the Talmud, and that whenever we find kindred thoughts in the\nteaching of Christianity, and in the teaching of their favourite work, it\nis the Gospel which is indebted to the Talmud and not the Talmud to the\nGospel.\n\nBut for our part we wholly dissent from this extraordinary theory, which,\nindeed, cannot be supported by any chronological evidence. There are\noccasions, of course, in which dates become of comparatively trifling\nimportance. A man feels troubled, for example, with the enigmas of life,\nand finds light and consolation in reading the book of Job; that most\nbeautiful book--_quel bellissimo libro_, as the Italian poet Giusti called\nit. Some friend, finding him thus engaged, begins to argue in favour of\nBishop Warburton\u2019s view, that it is a composition of comparatively late\ndate, perhaps of the age of Jeremiah, and not (as used to be generally\nsupposed) as early as the time of Moses. In such a case a man may well\nreply, that without any wish to discourage critical inquiry in its proper\nplace, he is content for the present to go on reading for his soul\u2019s\nhealth, to accept the words before him as a message from above, and to\nfeel sure that whenever GOD gave it, it was given at the time when it was\nmost needed. But in the case of the Talmud dates are of real and living\nimportance, though we own that it is difficult to fix them with accuracy.\nWe believe, however, with one of Deutsch\u2019s critics, that Christian\nelements _have_ found their way into the Talmud, though doubtless,\npre-Christian ideas, similar to those which are met with in the Books of\nWisdom and Ecclesiasticus, are also to be found there. Is it not true that\nthe Mishna was brought into its present form by Rabbi Jehudah, surnamed\nthe Holy, about A.D. 200, and that the Gemara was not completed until A.D.\n500? Deutsch, indeed, appeals to the article in the \u201cNovell\u00e6\nConstitutiones\u201d (or _Novels_, as they are commonly called) of Justinian\nagainst the Talmud. The reference is correct enough, but the _Novels_\nbelong to the later parts of Justinian\u2019s reign, and were not promulgated\nbefore the year 534.\n\nIt is well known that at the present time there are three parties among\nthe Jews who differ widely as to the amount of respect which ought to be\npaid to the legislation contained within the pages of the Talmud. Two out\nof these parties would greatly modify it, or actually sweep it away. We\nbelieve that its influence upon practice is not destined to endure; and\nthat though there _is_ a book which will continue so to influence life,\nthat book is not the Talmud, but the Bible. The Talmud has its curiosities\nand even beauties, as well as its gross absurdities and defects; but,\nafter all, it will be found, we believe, that it often reflects but too\ntruly the mind of those of whom it was said, \u201cYe have made the commandment\nof GOD of none effect by your traditions.\u201d\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nWith these preliminary observations, we pass on to a more particular\ndescription of the Talmud.\n\nThere are two Talmuds, the one called the Talmud of the Occidentals, or\nthe \u201cJerusalem\u201d Talmud, and the other the \u201cBabylonian\u201d Talmud. The former\nof these originally included the whole of the first five _Sedarim_ (or\nportions,) but now consists of only thirty-nine treatises. Its final\nredaction is supposed to have taken place towards the close of the fourth\nChristian century, but the authorities engaged in the work cannot now be\ndetermined. But it is certainly distinguished by more accuracy of\nexpression and precision of statement than the second or Babylonian, or\n\u201cour\u201d Talmud, which makes use of its predecessor, and was not completed\nfor a century later. Its editor is generally considered to be Rabbi Ashi,\npresident of the Academy of Syro in Babylon (A.D. 365-427.) Both the\nMishna, though revised in A.D. 219, and the \u201cPalestine\u201d Gemara, had become\ngreatly corrupted through the interpolation of gross traditions and the\ncritical judgments of different schools, when Rabbi Ashi, with the\nassistance of his friend and disciple, Abina, undertook the labour of\nsifting the old from the new, and introducing order into chaos.\n\nAshi was appointed to the headship of the school of Sora at the age of\ntwenty-three, and under his rule Sora became the head-quarters of\nRabbinism in the East. When he entered on the redaction of the Mishna and\nGemara, he began by assembling yearly at the great feasts the most learned\nHebrews, and examining them with respect to their traditional practices\nand expositions. He then called together his disciples every spring, and\ngave out to them a particular treatise of the Mishna; in the autumn they\nagain came before him with all the information relative to it they had\ncollected in the interval. This he personally investigated, and reduced\ninto shape. The Mishna being composed of sixty-three treatises, he was\nthus engaged for upwards of thirty years. The final revision occupied him\ntwenty-two years. At the time of his death (in his seventy-fifth year) the\nwork was all but completed; the last touches were given by his friend,\nRabbi Abina.\n\nThe Mosaic is the written law of the Jews; the Mishna, the oral. The\nlatter is the very basis of Judaism, is its civil, religious, and\njuridico-political code,--an explanation and amplification of the Mosaic.\nIt was developed out of the authoritative decisions of the schools and of\ncertain distinct and well-authenticated traditions which were traced back\nto Sinai itself. Thus there were two chief sections, or parts: _Halacoth_,\nthe rabbinical decisions, and _Haggadah_, the traditional narratives and\npopular illustrations. Of the great bulk of the former the reputed author\nis Hillel, the head of the Sanhedrim in the early part of Herod the\nGreat\u2019s reign, but, probably, he only collected them. Maimonides arranges\nthem under five heads:--\n\n    _a._ Mosaic and Scriptural;\n\n    _b._ Mosaic and traditional;\n\n    _c._ Dicta and decisions generally received, but doubtful;\n\n    _d._ Decisions of the wise, given by them as \u201chedges of the law;\u201d and\n\n    _e._ Counsels of prudence, which it was well to follow, though they\n    had no legal authority.\n\nThe Haggadic narratives are generally of a light and amusing character,\nthough occasionally a deep significance underlies them, converting them\ninto allegories and fables and parables well worthy the attention of the\nstudent, though he may not think so highly of them as Frankel, who\nexclaims: \u201cThey are as vivid flashes: or as those spirits of light in\nJewish myth, that flow forth in daily myriads from GOD\u2019S throne, and then\nvanish to make way for others.\u201d\n\nThe Halacoth and Haggadoth accumulated rapidly after the Captivity,\nrepresenting in due time \u201ca body of traditional exposition of high\nauthority, which increased rapidly, and required the life-long study of a\nnumerous body of Sopherim, or Scribes, to digest and hand on without loss\nto succeeding generations.\u201d Soon it outgrew the grasp of even the\nstrongest memory and the profoundest application, and it became evident\nthat, unless put upon record, all that was valuable would perish, and only\nthat be preserved which chanced to be in accordance with popular\nsentiment. To the digest made by Hillel, Simon ben Gamaliel added the\nworthiest of the later material; and his son, Jehudah the Holy, entered on\na complete redaction and revision, which he published in A.D. 219. Hillel,\ngrandfather of the Gamaliel at whose feet S. Paul sat, had arranged the\ntraditional Halacoth under eighteen heads; Jehudah re-arranged them into\nsix Sedarim, or sections:--\n\n    1. _Zera\u00efm_ (Seeds,) on Agriculture;\n\n    2. _Moed_ (Feast,) on the Sabbath, Festivals, and Fasts;\n\n    3. _Nashim_ (Women,) on Marriage, Divorce, &c., including the laws on\n    Vows and the Nazirship;\n\n    4. _Nizikin_ (Damages,) chiefly civil and penal law, including the\n    ethical treatise Aboth;\n\n    5. _Kadashim_ (Sacred things,) Sacrifices, &c., a description of the\n    Temple at Jerusalem, &c.;\n\n    6. _Tehoroth_ (Purifications,) on pure and impure persons and things.\n\nWe now see that, about A.D. 221 Jehudah the Holy created the Mishna, we\nhave already seen that three centuries later, the same exhaustive work of\nredaction and revision was done for the Gemara,--the two forming what is\nnow known as the Talmud. The two \u201ceditors\u201d received each his peculiar\ntitle of honour; Jehudah was styled Rabbina, Ashi Rabban.\n\nOf the language of the Babylon Talmud it is said that it is debased with\nforeign and barbarous terms and grammatical solecisms to a much greater\nextent than the \u201cJerusalem Talmud.\u201d Mr. Blunt asserts that \u201cthe Haggadic\nnarratives resemble more closely the vernacular Aramaic, showing their\norigin in ordinary folk lore. The Halacoth are in Mishnic Hebrew, carrying\nevidence of higher date. The style is so exceedingly concise as to make\nthe sense that it contains a microscopic study. The difficulties indeed\nof the Gemara are so great, that no one need think to master them\nthoroughly who has not drawn in Gemara with his mother\u2019s milk. The study\nof the Talmud presumes a thorough knowledge also of the Hebrew Bible, a\nsingle word often indicating an entire passage. The wonderful moral\nconfusion of the Talmud, the mixed character of which may be detected in\nevery page, is nowhere more strikingly exemplified than in the prayer put\nby the Gemarist into the mouth of Rabbi Nechoniah ben Hakakana, on\nentering the school, or Beth Midrash, and quitting it again in the\nevening.\u201d\n\nThe morning prayer was as follows:--\n\n\u201cI beseech Thee that no scandal may occur through fault of mine, and that\nI err not in matters of Halacah, so as to cause my colleagues to exult.\nMay I not call impurity pure, or purity impure; and may my colleagues not\nblunder in matters of Halacah, that I may have no cause to triumph over\nthem.\u201d\n\nThe spirit of this prayer, in its meekness and modesty, is truly\ncommendable, and presents a striking contrast to that of the evening\nprayer:--\n\n\u201cI thank Thee that Thou hast given me my portion among those who have a\nseat in the Beth Midrash, and that Thou hast not cast my lot among those\nwho sit in the corner. I early rise, and they early rise; but I rise to\nthe service of the law, they to vanity. I labour, and they also labour,\nbut I labour and receive a recompense; they labour, but receive nothing. I\nhasten, and they also hasten; but I hasten in the direction of the world\nto come, they hasten towards the pit of destruction.\u201d\n\nIt is impossible to believe that both these prayers come from the same\nsource; \u201csweet waters and bitter\u201d do not alike flow from the fountain of\nMarah.\n\nWith respect to the general character of the Talmud, with all its weakness\nand strength, its beauty and deformity, its poetry and commonplace, its\ntender wisdom and glaring absurdity, we cannot do better than quote the\nmoderate opinion of the writer already cited, as infinitely more\ntrustworthy than the dithyrambic utterances of Deutsch and his imitators.\nHe says:--\n\n\u201cIn its origin it was the result of an almost necessary development.\nStarting with the axiom that the law of Moses is binding on the children\nof Abraham in every generation, its precepts have been applied to the\nchanging habits and customs of the Jews in different ages and under\nvarious climates, by a literal interpretation when possible, otherwise on\nthe _ci-pr\u00e8s_ principle, rarely by giving a new direction to its\nenactments, as instanced under the Hillel _r\u00e9gime_. It is this application\nof the Law to the needs of Jewish Society, by a process slow and gradual,\nthat has made each successive stage of development, in Jewish opinion,\nmore valuable than its predecessors. Thus if the Law has been likened to\nwater, the Mishna, which gives a later direction to its precepts, is as\nwine; and the Gemara, declaring as it does the sense in which the Mishnic\nHilkoth are to be taken, is as hippocras. It is not that the Law is less,\nor that the traditional decisions and expository matter are more sacred,\nbut the latest phase of judicial interpretation is the most binding; and\nwhere the rule of action is clear and decisive, no antecedent utterance\nneed trouble the inquirer. Yet the Talmud has always been antiquated. It\nhas never known the sunshine of youth. It has still been the mouldering,\nmoss-grown ruin. In its origin it presupposed vital action where there was\nnothing but death; Temple service with the Temple hopelessly in ruins,\n\u2018not one stone upon another;\u2019 sacrificial rites that were impossible\nwithout an altar, and for which certain prayers were substituted,\ncarefully numbered out, and made binding on the individual in lieu of\npublic offering.... Nothing can be more completely out of place than\nstrict Talmudism amid the complications of modern society; it is\nimpossible to make its precepts consist with the social and political\nduties of the highly educated Jew. Our LORD, Who came not to destroy the\nLaw, but to fulfil it, has pointed out those modes of dealing with the Law\nin its higher and more spiritual bearings, that in the end must be\naccepted by Israel as his truest wisdom.\u201d\n\nMr. Deutsch gives the following account of the six sections of the\nMishna:--\n\n\u201cSection I. _Seeds_: of Agrarian laws, commencing with a chapter on\nPrayers. In this section the various tithes and donations due to the\nPriests, the Levites, and the poor, from the products of the lands, and\nfurther the Sabbatical year, and the prohibited mixtures in plants,\nanimals, and garments, are treated of.\n\n\u201cSection II. _Feasts_: of Sabbaths, Feast and Fast days, the work\nprohibited, the ceremonies ordained, the sacrifices to be offered, on\nthem. Special chapters are devoted to the Feast of the Exodus from Egypt,\nto the New Year\u2019s Day, to the Day of Atonement (one of the most impressive\nportions of the whole book,) to the Feast of Tabernacles, and to that of\nHaman.\n\n\u201cSection III. _Women_: of betrothal, marriage, divorce, &c.; also of vows.\n\n\u201cSection IV. _Damages_: including a great part of the civil and criminal\nlaw. It treats of a law of trades, of buying and selling, and the ordinary\nmonetary transactions. Further, of the greatest crime known to the law,\nviz., idolatry. Next of witnesses, of oaths, of legal punishments, and of\nthe Sanhedrim itself. This section concludes with the so-called \u2018Sentences\nof the Fathers,\u2019 containing some of the sublimest ethical dicta known in\nthe history of religious philosophy.\n\n\u201cSection V. _Sacred Things_: of sacrifices, the first-born, &c.; also of\nthe measurements of the Temple (Middoth).\n\n\u201cSection VI. _Purifications_: of the various Levitical and other Hygienic\nlaws, of impure things and persons, their purification, &c.\u201d[22]\n\nIn defence of the Haggadah, with all its incongruities, puerilities, and\nabsurdities, it is only just to hear what Deutsch, its enthusiastic\napostle, has to say. And first he applies to it the rhyming apology which\nBunyan put forward on behalf of his great allegory,--which, by the way,\nMr. Deutsch surely misrepresents and misunderstands when he speaks of it\nas Haggadistic:--\n\n  \u201c... Wouldst thou divert thyself from melancholy?\n  Wouldst thou be pleasant, yet be far from folly?\n  Wouldst thou read riddles and their explanation?\n  Or else be drown\u00e8d in thy contemplation?\n  Dost thou love picking meat? Or wouldst thou see\n  A man in the clouds, and hear him speak to thee?\n  Wouldst thou be in a dream, and yet not sleep?\n  Or wouldst thou in a moment laugh and weep?\n  Wouldst lose thyself, and catch no harm?\n  And find thyself again without a charm?\n  Wouldst read thyself, and read thou know\u2019st not what\n  And yet know whether thou art blest or not\n  By reading the same lines? O then come hither,\n  And lay this book, thy head and heart together.\u201d\n\nMr. Deutsch thus seeks to disarm antagonists by a skilful concession. He\ndoes not wonder--not he--that the so-called \u201cRabbinical stories,\u201d\nsubmitted at intervals to the English public, should have met with an\nunflattering reception. The Talmud, which has always at hand a drastic\nword, says of their collectors:--\u201cThey dived into an ocean, and brought up\na potsherd.\u201d But then, he says, these follies form only a small item in\nthe vast mass of allegories, parables, and the like, that compose the\nHaggadah. And, besides, they are partly ill-chosen, partly ill-translated,\nand partly did not even belong to the Talmud, but to some recent Jewish\nstory books. Herder--to name the most famous critic of the \u201cPoetry of\nPeoples\u201d--has spoken most eulogistically of what he saw of the genuine\nspecimens. And, indeed, \u201cnot only is the entire world of pious biblical\nlegend which Islam has said and sung in its many tongues to the delight of\nthe wise and simple for twelve centuries, now to be found either in embryo\nor fully developed in the Haggadah, but much that is familiar among\nourselves in the circles of medi\u00e6val sagas, in Dante, in Boccaccio, in\nCervantes, in Milton, in Bunyan, has consciously or unconsciously flowed\nout of this wondrous realm, the Haggadah. That much of it is overstrained,\neven according to Eastern notions, we do not deny. But,\u201d argues Mr.\nDeutsch, \u201cthere are feeble passages even in Homer and Shakespeare.\u201d To\nthis it may be replied, that in Homer and Shakespeare such passages are\nrare, and do not form the bulk of their writings; and, moreover, that for\nthe Iliad or for Hamlet we do not claim the position of authority which is\nclaimed for the Talmud.\n\nLet us glance briefly at the cosmogony of the Talmud. It assumes that the\nuniverse has been developed by means of a series of cataclysms; that world\nwas destroyed after world, until GOD made \u201cthis world, and saw that it\nwas very good.\u201d It assumes also that the kosmos was wrought out of some\noriginal substance, itself created by GOD. \u201cOne or three things were\nbefore this world,--Water, Fire, and Wind; Water begat the darkness, Fire\nbegat light, and Wind begat the spirit of Wisdom.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe _how_ of the creation was not mere matter of speculation. The\nco-operation of angels, whose existence was warranted by Scripture, and a\nwhole hierarchy of whom had been built up under Persian influences, was\ndistinctly denied. In a discussion about the day of their creation, it is\nagreed on all hands that there were no angels at first, lest men might\nsay, \u2018Michael spanned out the firmament on the south, and Gabriel to the\nnorth.\u2019\u201d There is a distinct foreshadowing of the Gnostic Demiurgos--that\nantique link between the Divine Spirit and the world of matter--to be\nfound in the Talmud. What with Plato were the Ideas, with Philo the Logos,\nwith the Kabbalists the \u201cWorld of Aziluth,\u201d what the Gnostics called more\nemphatically the wisdom (\u03c3\u03bf\u03c6\u03af\u03b1), or power (\u03b4\u03cd\u03bd\u03b1\u03bc\u03b9\u03c2), and Plotinus the\n\u03bd\u03bf\u1fe6\u03c2, that the Talmudical authors call Metation. There is a good deal, in\nthe post-captivity Talmud, about the Angels, borrowed from the Persian.\nThe Archangels or Angelic princes are seven in number, and their Hebrew\nnames and functions correspond almost exactly to those of their Persian\nprototypes. There are also hosts of ministering angels, the Persian\n_Yazatas_, whose functions, besides that of being messengers, were\ntwofold,--to praise GOD, and to be guardians of man. In their first\ncapacity they are daily created by GOD\u2019S breath out of a stream of fire\nthat rolls its waves under the supernal throne. In their second, two of\nthem accompany every man, and for every new good deed man acquires a new\nguardian angel, who always watches over his steps. When a righteous man\ndies, three hosts of angels descend from the celestial battlements to meet\nhim. One says, (in the words of Scripture,) \u201cHe shall go in peace;\u201d the\nsecond takes up the strain and says, \u201cWho has walked in righteousness;\u201d\nand the third concludes, \u201cLet him come in peace and rest upon his bed.\u201d In\nlike manner, when the wicked man passes away, three hosts of wicked angels\nare ready to escort him, but their address is not couched in any spirit of\nconsolation or encouragement.\n\nThere are various indications in the Talmud of a belief in the\nresurrection and immortality of the soul. The resurrection, it teaches, is\nto be brought about by the mystic influence of the \u201cDew of life\u201d in\nJerusalem. It does not uphold the dogma of everlasting damnation, though\nit allows that the punishment of apostates, idolaters, and traitors will\nendure for \u201cgenerations upon generations.\u201d\n\nIn conclusion, it is but fair that we should present the brighter and\nbetter aspect of this extraordinary book, its ethical side, and afford\nsome illustrations of the moral and religious philosophy which pervades\nit,--which is its salt, and preserves its savour. The following sayings\nhave been translated by Deutsch.[23] Many of them bear a striking\nresemblance to the great and glorious sayings of the Gospels; and to us it\nseems impossible to doubt that they evidence the influence of the former.\nIt is true that the Talmud as a whole preceded the New Testament, but as\nits redaction took place at a much later period, we see nothing absurd in\nthe hypothesis that its redactors had felt the spell of the Christian\nteaching, and occasionally introduced some of its rare and precious\nthreads of purest silk into the coarse woof woven by traditionalists,\nscholiasts, and commentators:--\n\nThe house that does not open to the poor shall open to the physician; even\nthe birds in the air despise the miser. He who gives charity in secret is\ngreater than Moses himself. Honour the sons of the poor, it is they who\nbring science into splendour.\n\nLet the honour of thy neighbour be to thee like thine own. Rather be\nthrown into a fiery furnace than bring any one to public shame.\n\nHospitality is the most important part of divine worship. There are three\ncrowns: of the law, the priesthood, the kingship; but the crown of a good\nname is greater than they all.\n\nIron breaks the stone, fire melts iron, water extinguishes fire, the\nclouds drink up the water, a storm drives away the clouds, man withstands\nthe storm, fear unmans man, wine dispels fear, sleep drives away wine, and\ndeath sweeps all away--even sleep. But Solomon the Wise says, Charity\nsaves from death.\n\nThe dog sticks to you on account of the crumbs in your pocket.\n\nThe camel wanted to have horns, and they took away his ears.\n\nThe soldiers fight, and the kings are the heroes.\n\nHe in whose family there has been one hanged should not say to his\nneighbour, Pray hang this little fish up for me.\n\nThe cock and the owl both await the daylight. The light, says the cock,\nbrings delight to me; but what are _you_ waiting for?\n\nWhen the thief has no opportunity for stealing, he considers himself an\nhonest man.\n\nIf thy friends agree in calling thee an ass, go and get a halter round\nthee.\n\nFools are no proof.\n\nOne eats, another says grace.\n\nHe who is ashamed will not easily commit sin. There is a great difference\nbetween him who is ashamed before his own self, and him who is only\nashamed before others. It is a good sign in man to be capable of being\nashamed. One contrition in man\u2019s heart is better than many flagellations.\n\nHow can you escape sin? Think of three things,--whence thou camest,\nwhither thou goest, and to whom thou wilt have to account for all thy\ndeeds,--even to the King of kings, the All-holy, praised be He.\n\nLove your wife like yourself, honour her more than yourself. Whosoever\nlives unmarried lives without joy, without comfort, without blessing.\nDescend a step in choosing a wife. If thy wife is small, bend down to her\nand whisper into her ear. He who forsakes the love of his youth, GOD\u2019S\naltar weeps for him. He who sees his wife die before him, has, as it were,\nbeen present at the destruction of the sanctuary itself, around him the\nworld grows dark. It is woman alone through whom GOD\u2019S blessings are\nvouchsafed to a house. She teaches the children, speeds the husband to the\nplace of worship and instruction, welcomes him when he returns, keeps the\nhouse godly and pure, and GOD\u2019S blessings rest upon all these things. He\nwho marries for money, his children shall be a curse to him.\n\nAfter the thief runs the theft; after the beggar, poverty.\n\nWhile thy foot is shod, smash the thorn.\n\nWhen the ox is down, many are the butchers.\n\nLuck makes rich, luck makes wise.\n\nIf you wish to hang yourself, choose a big tree.\n\nWhen the pitcher falls upon the stone, woe unto the pitcher; when the\nstone falls upon the pitcher, woe unto the pitcher; whatever befalls, woe\nunto the pitcher.\n\nYouth is a garland of roses, age a crown of thorns.\n\nBe thou the cursed, not he who curses. Be of them that are persecuted, not\nof them that persecute. Look at Scripture, there is not a single bird more\npersecuted than the dove, yet GOD has chosen her to be offered up on His\naltar. The bull is hunted by the lion, the sheep by the wolf, the goat by\nthe tiger. And GOD said, \u201cBring Me a sacrifice not from them that\npersecute, but from them that are persecuted.\u201d\n\n\u201cHath GOD pleasure in the meat and blood of sacrifices?\u201d asks the prophet.\nNo; He has not so much ordained as permitted them. It is for yourselves,\nHe says, not for Me that you offer, Like a king, who sees his son\ncarousing daily with all manner of evil companions: You shall henceforth\neat and drink entirely at your will at my own table, he says. They offered\nsacrifices to demons and devils, for they loved sacrificing, and would not\ndo without it. And the LORD said, \u201cBring your offerings to Me, you shall\nthen at least offer to the true GOD.\u201d\n\nEven when the gates of heaven are shut to prayer, they are open to tears.\n\nThe reward of good works is like dates, sweet and late to ripen.\n\nLife is a passing shadow, says the Scripture. Is it the shadow of a tower,\nof a tree? A shadow that prevails for a while? No, it is the shadow of a\nbird in his flight,--away speeds the bird, and there is neither bird nor\nshadow.\n\nRepent one day before thy death. There was a king who bade all his\nservants to a great repast, but did not indicate the hour; some went home\nand put on their best garments, and stood at the door of the palace;\nothers said, There is ample time, the king will let us know beforehand.\nBut the king summoned them of a sudden; and those that came in their best\ngarments were well received, but the foolish ones, who came in their\nslovenliness, were turned away in disgrace. Repent to-day, lest to-morrow\nyou might be called.\n\nHe who has more learning than good works is like a tree with many branches\nbut few roots, which the first wind throws on its face; whilst he whose\nworks are greater than his knowledge, is like a tree with many roots but\nfewer branches, but which all the winds of heaven cannot uproot.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV.\n\n_BRAHMANISM._\n\n\nTHE BRAHMANS.\n\nIn the \u201cBook of Sir Marco Polo\u201d occurs a quaint description of the\n_Abraiaman_ or Brahmans, which, though inaccurate in some of its details,\nseems worth quotation here:--\n\nYou must know, he says, that these Abraiaman are the best merchants in the\nworld [an obvious misconception!] and the most truthful, for they would\nnot tell a lie for anything on earth. If a foreign merchant who does not\nknow the ways of the country apply to them, and place his goods in their\nhands, they will take charge of them most loyally, selling them to the\nbest advantage, seeking jealously the profit of the foreigner, and asking\nno commission except what he pleases to bestow. They eat no flesh, drink\nno wine, and live a life of great chastity; nor would they on any account\ntake what belongs to another, for so their law commands. And they are all\ndistinguished by wearing a thread of cotton over one shoulder and tied\nunder the other arm, so that it crosses the breast and the back.\n\nThey have a rich and powerful king, who is eager to purchase precious\nstones and large pearls; and he sends these Abraiaman merchants into the\nkingdom of Maabar called Soli, which is the best and noblest Province of\nIndia, and where the best pearls are found, to fetch him as many of these\nas they can get, and he pays them double the cost price for all. So in\nthis way he has a vast treasure of such valuables.\n\nThese Abraiaman are idolaters; and they give greater heed to signs and\nomens than any people that exist. I will mention one of their customs as\nan example. To every day of the week they assign a special augury. Suppose\nsome purchase is on foot; he who proposes to become the buyer takes note,\nwhen he rises in the morning, of his shadow in the sun, which ought, he\nsays, on that day to be of such and such a length; and should his shadow\nbe of the proper length for that day he completes his purchase; if it be\nnot, he will on no account do so, but waits till his shadow reaches the\nprescribed measurement. For there is a certain length fixed for every day\nin the week; and the merchant will not complete any business unless he\nfinds his shadow of the length set down for that particular day. Also to\neach day in the week they assign one hour as unlucky, which they term\n_Choiach_. For example, on Monday the hour of Half-tierce (7 to 8 a.m.),\non Tuesday that of Tierce, (9 to 10 a.m.), on Wednesday Nones (12 to 1\np.m.), and so on.\n\nAgain, if one of them be in the house, and, while meditating a purchase,\nshould see a tarantula (such as is very common in that country) on the\nwall, provided that it advance from a quarter which he deems lucky, he\nwill complete his purchase at once; but if it come from a quarter which he\nconsiders unlucky, he will not do so on any inducement. Moreover, if, on\ngoing forth, he hear any one sneeze, he will proceed if he consider it a\ngood omen; but, if the reverse, he will straightway sit down in his place\nfor as long as he thinks it well to tarry. Or if, in travelling along the\nroad, he see a swallow fly past, should its direction be lucky he will\nproceed, but, if not, he will turn back again: in fact, they are worse, in\nthese vagaries, than so many Patarins! (i.e. heretics.)\n\nThese Abraiaman are very long-lived, owing to their extreme abstinence in\neating. And they never allow themselves to let blood in any part of the\nbody. They have capital teeth, which is due to a certain herb they chew;\nit greatly improves their appearance, and is also very good for the\nhealth.\n\nThere is another class of people called _Chugi_ [Jogi], who are indeed\nproperly Abraiaman, but they form a religious order devoted to the Idols.\nThey are extremely long-lived, every man of them living to 150 or 200\nyears. They eat very little, but what they do eat is good; rice and milk\nchiefly. And these people make use of a very strange beverage; for they\nbrew a potion of mixed sulphur and quicksilver, and drink it twice every\nmonth. This, they say, gives them long life; and they are used to take it\nfrom their childhood.\n\nCertain members of this Order lead the most ascetic life imaginable, going\ncompletely naked; they worship the Ox. Most of them wear a small image of\nan ox, in brass, pewter, or gold, tied over the forehead. Moreover, they\ntake cow-dung, and burn it, and make a powder of it; and then they make it\ninto an ointment, with which they daub themselves as devoutly as\nChristians use holy water. Further, if they meet any person who treats\nthem well, they daub a little of this powder on the middle of his\nforehead.\n\nThey do not eat from bowls or trenchers, but place their food on leaves of\nthe Apple of Paradise and other large leaves; these, however, they use\ndry, never green. For they say the green leaves have a soul in them, and\nso it would be a sin. And they would rather die than do what their Law\npronounces to be sin. If any one ask how it comes that they are not\nashamed to go about in their nudity, they say:--\u201cWe go naked because naked\nwe came into the world, and we desire to have nothing about us that is of\nthis world. Moreover, we have no sin of the flesh to be conscious of, and\ntherefore we are not ashamed of our nakedness, any more than you are to\nshow your hand or your face. You who are conscious of the sins of the\nflesh do well to be ashamed, and to cover your nakedness.\u201d\n\nOn no account would they kill an animal, not even a fly, or a flea, or a\nlouse, or anything in fact that has life; for they say all these have\nsouls, and it would be sinful to do so. They eat no vegetables in a green\nstate, only when they are dry. And they sleep on the ground, naked,\nwithout a rag of clothing over them or under them; so that it is a marvel\nthey do not all die, instead of living so long as I have told you. They\nfast every day in the year, and drink nothing but water. And when a novice\nhas to be received among them they keep him awhile in their convent, and\nmake him follow their rule of life.\n\nThey are such cruel and perfidious idolaters that it is very devilry! They\nsay that they burn the bodies of the dead, because if they were not burnt,\nworms would generate and consume them; and when no more food remained for\nthem, they would die, and the souls belonging to those bodies would bear\nthe sin and the punishment of their death.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nIn another part of his immortal work, Marco Polo speaks of the\nfish-charmers of Ceylon as Brahmans (or _Abraiaman_.) The pearl-fishers,\nhe says, pay one twentieth part of all that they take to these men, who\ncharm the great fishes, and prevent them from injuring the divers whilst\nengaged in seeking pearls under water. Their charm holds good only for the\nday; at night they dissolve it, so that the fishes can work mischief at\ntheir will. These Abraiaman, he adds, know also how to charm beasts and\nbirds and every living thing.\n\nCommenting on this statement, Colonel Yule observes that the modern\nsnake-charmers do not seem entitled to the distinctive appellation of\nAbraiaman, or Brahmans, though they may have been so in former days. At\nthe diamond-mines of the Northern Circars Brahmans are employed in the\nsimilar task of propitiating the tutelary genii. The snake-charmers are\ncalled in Tamul _Kadal-kalti_, \u201cSea-binders,\u201d and in Hindustani,\n_Haibanda_, or \u201cShark-binders.\u201d At Aripo they belong to one family,\nsupposed to enjoy monopoly of the charm. The chief operator is (or was,\nnot many years ago) paid by Government, and he also received two oysters\nfrom each boat daily during the fishery. Turnoub, on his visit, found the\nincumbent of the office to be a Roman Catholic Christian, but that did not\nseem to affect the exercise or the validity of his practices. It is\nremarkable that when Turnoub wrote, not more than one authenticated\naccident from sharks had taken place, during the whole period of the\nBritish occupation.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nAmong the shepherds, or hillmen, in the neighbourhood of Rampore (or \u201cCity\nof Rama,\u201d)--the Paharis, as they are called,--a curious custom lingers,\nwhich resembles the strange old Highland ceremony of the sunwise turn, or\nDeisul, round any particular object, partly for luck, partly as a survival\nof the sun-worship of the men of old. Sometimes the villagers gather their\nflocks into one great herd, and, walking at the head, lead them slowly\nround the village, following the solar course. Gradually they quicken\ntheir pace to a run, and in this fashion perambulate the village thrice or\neven oftener.\n\nThis sunwise turn is practised in other cases, as in sickness or accident.\nSheep and goats are solemnly paraded round the sufferer; after which they\nlose their heads. If the sufferer be wealthy, the number so sacrificed to\nthe demons is often considerable. But the Paharis very firmly hold that\nthough the lesser spirits may be thus propitiated, no sacrifice is\nacceptable to the Supreme Deity; that all He claims is devout worship.\n\nThey believe in the existence of three and thirty millions of good and\nevil spirits, but their special adoration seems to be reserved for the\nspirit which watches over their particular village, and in their temples\nthey reserve for him a kind of ark or shrine, wherein his veiled image is\ncarefully preserved. Every day this ark is slung upon long poles, and\ntaken out for an airing; and once a year it is borne through the country\nside in solemn procession, and the people assemble and dance before it, as\nthe Israelites of old danced before the tabernacle. The said ark is gaily\ndecorated with bright-coloured hangings, and upon it is set a brazen head,\nwith four or more faces, overshadowed by yaks\u2019 tails, like huge plumes of\ndark or scarlet wool. Sometimes the whole structure is adorned with faces\nof polished metal, which gleam and reflect like mirrors in the sun.\nMoreover, it is usually draped all around with a deep fringe of silky\nwhite yaks\u2019 tails, depending almost to the ground, and concealing the\nbodies of the bearers, so that the tabernacle seems to crawl along upon\nits own feet.\n\nTo the service of the temple certain people are set apart in every\nvillage. In the morning they sound an alarm in honour of the god with\nbell, and conch, and cymbal, and again in the evening with a similar din\nthey announce the close of day. Ablutions are ignored by the villagers in\ntheir own case, but they will have their goddess washed and dressed\ndaily. They burn incense before her, and serve her with offerings of\nleaves of wild mint.\n\nOccasionally, all the tribes assemble at a religious festival, and each\nvillage sends forth its ark, with the men and women attired in their\nbrightest colours, and glittering with all their jewels. The various\nprocessions, with dance and song and gambol, proceed towards the appointed\nrendezvous; one of their little temples, of rudely carved cedar-wood,\nsituated in the calm shade of a group of forest-trees. Near this temple is\nusually prepared a neatly-levelled space, covered with green turf, or,\nperhaps, paved; and here the Khudas, or arks, are solemnly deposited. For\nthree days the festivities are kept up, and the sound of singing and\ndancing seems continuous. Every now and then each village-company raises\nits Khuda from the ground, and carries it in a little circle, sunwise,\nwhile the nodding plumes seem to keep time to the rude chant of the simple\nworshippers, and an outer ring of men, joining hands, follow the rhythm in\nfantastic dance. Then the idol is set down; the people prepare their\nhomage; the dance goes on; and the women, in a long undulating chain,\nsunwise revolve around the mystic Khuda.\n\nEach woman, throwing one arm around her neighbour\u2019s waist, keeps the other\nfree, and waves a plume-like chowni or yak\u2019s tail, as she bows to the\nKhuda. They do not all wave simultaneously, but in swift succession, so as\nto produce the effect of a continuous graceful motion. If one of the women\nretire, from fatigue, another slips into her place: sometimes the men form\nthe circle, then both men and women join, always carrying on the same\nevolutions, the same circular motion. At nightfall the huge fires are\nkindled, and the lurid gleams of pine-wood torches flicker athwart the\ndarkness, while the echoes ring incessantly with the monotonous clang of\ngreat trumpet-shells and tomtoms.\n\nWhen they have expended all their energies the revellers bring the\nfestival to a close, and each village-company bears back its\npatron-goddess to her own little sanctuary.\n\nWhether, as some surmise, this ceremony is associated with any tradition\nof Noah\u2019s Ark, we cannot pretend to determine. But it is certain that some\nlegends of the Flood still linger among the hillmen. There is a popular\nmyth which tells of a mighty ship built by Manu and the Seven Sages, in\nwhich they stored the seed of all kinds of life, and of its being rescued\nby Brahma when the Deluge overwhelmed the primitive earth. Brahma, it\nsays, drew the great vessel for many days until he reached a high peak of\nthe Himalayas, where he moored it securely. In memory whereof, the peak\nhas ever since borne the name of _Naubandhana_.\n\nMr. W. Simpson, who has seen much of India and the Indians, describes an\nArk-festival which he witnessed in a Himalayan valley. After indulging in\nthe usual ceremonial ablutions, the people of the district assembled at\nthe village of Coatee to do honour to its patron-goddess. The Khuda was\nbrought out, and with dance and music, conducted in noisy procession\nthrough the deep shades of the forest and its lonesome glens, until they\nreached a certain grove, in which a small temple was situated. The Khuda\nwas then deposited on the paved space in front; and an aged priest washed\nall the brazen faces with mint leaves and water previous to offering up\nincense, flowers, fruit, and bread.\n\nA number of playful young kids were next brought forward. The priest\nsprinkled them with water. On the ground lay a large flat brazen dish, and\none of the villagers stood beside it with a sacred hatchet, rudely\nornamented. At a single blow he struck off the head of a kid. The priest\u2019s\nassistant raised the head, and muttering certain words, presented it to\nthe Khuda. Dipping his finger into the blood, he flicked some drops upon\nthe carven image, and placed the head with the other offerings. Meanwhile,\nthe kid\u2019s body had been so disposed that all its blood dripped into the\nbrazen vessel; and when two or three animals had been sacrificed and the\ndish was full, one of the men lifted it up, and, first presenting it to\nthe Khuda, turned round, and swang the body against the whitewashed wall\nof the temple, so as to empty it of blood. This ceremony was thrice\nrepeated.\n\nThe festival is known as the _Akrot-ka-pooja_, or Walnut Festival, from\nthe pastime that follows the sacrificial scene. The priest, with a few\ncompanions, takes his place in the balcony of the temple, and all the\nyoung men present pelt them liberally with walnuts and green pine-cones,\nwhich the group in the balcony rapidly collect and return in plentiful\nvolleys. For about half-an-hour this severe encounter lasts, when the\nassailed descend, and once more mingle with the crowd.\n\nBy this time the sacrificial kids have been cooked, and the people seating\nthemselves on the paved space in front of the Khuda, cakes and flesh are\nserved out among them. In opposition to the usual Eastern custom, the\nwomen are helped before the men. It is now time for the homeward journey,\nbut the mysterious oscillation of the Khuda is understood to signify its\ndesire to visit the neighbouring village of Cheenee; and thither the\nmultitude at once proceed, dancing, singing, shouting, while the forest\nglades resound with the trumpets and the tomtoms, and a few of the\nnimbler-footed speed ahead to give notice to the authorities at Cheenee of\nthe honour in store for them. When near the latter village, the procession\nis met by the goddess of Cheenee, with her retinue, and an exchange of\ncourtesies takes place. Next morning, the goddess of Kothi, or Coatee,\nreturns to her own charge.\n\n\nSHAMANISM: DEVIL-DANCING.\n\nIn many parts of Central and Southern India the rite of Devil-Dancing is\npractised, and Bishop Caldwell gives a striking description of it as it\nexists among the Shawars of Tinnevelly:[24]\n\n\u201cWhen the preparations are completed and the devil-dance is about to\ncommence, the music is at first comparatively slow; the dancer seems\nimpassive and sullen, and he either stands still or moves about in gloomy\nsilence. Gradually, as the music becomes quicker and louder, his\nexcitement begins to rise. Sometimes, to help him to work himself up into\na frenzy, he uses medicated draughts, cuts and lacerates himself till the\nblood flows, lashes himself with a huge whip, presses a burning torch to\nhis breast, drinks the blood which flows from his own wounds, or drains\nthe blood of the sacrifice, putting the throat of the decapitated goat to\nhis mouth. Then, as if he had acquired new life, he begins to brandish his\nstaff of bells, and to dance with a quick but wild unsteady step.\nSuddenly the afflatus descends; there is no mistaking that glare, or those\nfrantic leaps. He snorts, he swears, he gyrates. The demon has now taken\nbodily possession of him, and though he retains the power of utterance and\nmotion, both are under the demon\u2019s control, and his separate consciousness\nis in abeyance. The bystanders signalize the event by raising a long\nshout, attended with a peculiar vibratory noise, caused by the motion of\nthe hand and tongue, or the tongue alone. The devil-dancer is now\nworshipped as a present deity, and every bystander consults him respecting\nhis diseases, his wants, the welfare of his absent relatives, the\nofferings to be made for the accomplishment of his wishes, and, in short,\neverything for which superhuman knowledge is supposed to be available.\u201d\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nBefore we quit this subject, it may be for the interest and convenience of\nthe reader, if we offer a brief account of the doctrines and rites of\nBrahmism. This movement against the old Hindu faith, initiated by Rammohun\nRoy, and developed by Babu Keshub Chunda Sen, owes its origin, however\nunconsciously, to the influence of Christianity, which the Hindu mind, on\nawaking from its long sleep of centuries, found, as it were, by its side,\nand the pure and elevated character of which it could not but recognise.\n\nRammohun Roy was born in the district of Moorshadabad in 1772, and was\nupwards of forty years of age when he undertook the part of a religious\nreformer. A man of considerable natural powers, he had cultivated them\ncarefully, acquired a thorough knowledge of Sanskrit and Arabic, and\naccompanied his meditations on the Sastras, or Hindu religious books, with\na close study of the English Scriptures. Removing to Calcutta in 1814, he\nendeavoured to engage his friends in the same pursuits, and as this effort\nled him naturally to new inquiries, he soon came to abandon his belief in\ntraditional Hinduism. A cry of \u2018infidel!\u2019 was immediately raised against\nhim; he became the subject of an incessant hostility; was on one occasion\nmobbed in the streets of Calcutta; and owed his life to the protection of\nthe British Government. Persecution, however, could not quench his thirst\nafter knowledge. He applied himself to the study of Greek and Hebrew,\nthat by reading the Bible in its original languages, he might penetrate\nmore thoroughly into the spirit of Hebrew and Christian devotion.\n\nHaving dismissed the authority of the Puranas, he rested his faith on the\nVedas, the oldest of the Hindu sacred books, in the conviction (an\nerroneous one) that the old creed of Hinduism was monotheistic, and the\nbelief (a justifiable one) that the Puranas represented the degeneracy of\na later age. Strange to say, he did not detect the Pantheism that\noverflows the Vedas: in the Upanishads or treatises attached to them, he\nfancied that he saw a pure Deism, and to diffuse this among his\ncountrymen, he published numerous translations and organised a society of\nbelievers, who recited texts from the Vedas, and chanted Christian hymns.\nIn 1830 he went further; founding a prayer-meeting, which proved the seed\nof what is now known as the Brahma Sam\u00e1j. The building erected for the\npurpose of holding the meetings was, according to the trust deed, to be\nopen to people of all sorts and conditions, \u201cwho shall behave and conduct\nthemselves in an orderly, sober, religious, and devout manner, for the\nworship and adoration of the Eternal, Unsearchable, and Immutable Being,\nwho is the Author and Preserver of the Universe, but not under and by any\nother name, designation, or title, peculiarly used for and applied to any\nparticular Being or Beings by any man or set of men whatsoever.\u201d It\nprovided also, in direct opposition to the practices of Hinduism, that no\ngraven image, sculpture, carving, picture, painting, portrait, or likeness\nof anything, should \u201cbe admitted within the walls of this building;\u201d that\nno animal sacrifices should take place there; that no eating or drinking,\nfeasting or rioting, should be permitted; that evil speaking against the\nbeliefs of men should be prohibited; and that no prayer, or sermon, or\nteaching should be allowed, unless it had \u201ca tendency to the contemplation\nof the Author and Preserver of the Universe, or to the promotion of\ncharity, morality, piety, benevolence, virtue, and the strengthening of\nthe bonds of union between men of all religious persuasions and creeds.\u201d\n\nHere we have a distinct advance on Brahmanism and even on Buddhism, but\nthe religious system indicated in the closing sentence is nevertheless as\nvague as it is cold; and lacks that vital element which Christianity\nderives from its recognition of GOD the FATHER and CHRIST the SAVIOUR.\nHowever, Rammohun Roy, in his fashion, was a sincere \u201cseeker after GOD;\u201d\nand in his vague endeavour to grasp the truth he persevered in the face of\nan intolerant opposition. He still continued to give a foremost place to\nthe Vedas as channels of religious instruction, but he introduced the\nPsalms of David; and as time wore on, he separated himself more and more\ncompletely from the traditions of orthodox Hinduism. Even his faith in the\nVedas came to be much shaken; and finding himself at last in that state of\nisolation which is the suffering and martyrdom of the man in advance of\nhis age, he quitted India and went to live in England. At Bristol he\nresided, much esteemed, until his death in 1833.\n\nFor awhile the torch which he had lighted flickered ominously near to\nextinction, until, in 1841, it passed into the hands of Babu Debendronath\nTagore. By him it was again lighted up; and as much had happened since\nRammohun Roy\u2019s departure, as education had gradually weakened the old\ntraditional prejudices, it became the rallying-point of a crowd of earnest\ninquirers. Debendronath Tagore devoted himself with eager unselfishness,\ngiving unsparingly of his time, his money, and his talents. His work\nderived no inconsiderable moral support from his unblemished personal\ncharacter. He provided the Sam\u00e1j with a printing-press, expended much\nmoney in fitting up their place of worship, and collected a valuable\nlibrary of the Hindu sacred books, besides providing for the support of\npoor but promising students, sent to Benares to prosecute their studies.\n\nA remarkable change, however, soon came over the faith and teaching of the\nSam\u00e1j. Hitherto, as we have seen, they had been based upon the Vedas, as\nthe authorized rule of Hindu theology; but inquiry and criticism had\ngradually disclosed their Pantheistic character, and their consequent\nincompatibility with the creed of the Sam\u00e1j. Thus it came to pass that\nabout 1850 the Vedas had to go; and the members of the Sam\u00e1j no longer\ncalled themselves Vedantists but Brahmoists, or Brahmists (from _Brahm_,\nor Brahma, the Supreme Being.) In other words, they openly became\nTheists.\n\nA religious sect, brought together by a common monotheism and accepting a\ncommon covenant, was naturally impelled towards an expansion of their\ncreed. But this expansion in the case of the Brahma Sam\u00e1j, was probably\nhastened by the number of branch Sam\u00e1jes that sprang up in the\nneighbourhood of the metropolis and in some of the larger towns of the\nBengal presidency. These branches, constantly increasing in number through\nthe accessions of educated young men from the colleges and zillah schools,\nnaturally looked to the parent Sam\u00e1j to define and establish their creed;\nand what must be regarded as an authoritative exposition of it was\npublished in 1868. The following is a summary of it:--\n\n\u201c1. The book of Nature and Intuition form the basis of the Brahmaic faith.\n\n\u201c2. Although the Brahmas do not consider any book written by man the basis\nof their religion, yet do they accept with pleasure and respect any\n_truth_ contained in any book.\n\n\u201c3. The Brahmas believe that the religious condition of man is\nprogressive, like the other facts of his condition in this world.\n\n\u201c4. They believe that the fundamental doctrines of their religion are at\nthe basis of every religion followed by man.\n\n\u201c5. They believe in the existence of One Supreme GOD--a GOD endowed with a\ndistinct personality, and attributes equal to His nature, and intelligence\nbefitting the Governor of the Universe; and worship Him--Him alone. They\ndo not believe in His incarnation.\n\n\u201c6. They believe in the immortality and progressive state of the soul, and\ndeclare that there is a state of conscious existence succeeding life in\nthis world, and supplementary to it as respects the action of the\nuniversal moral government.\n\n\u201c7. They believe that atonement is the only way to salvation. They do not\nrecognise any other mode of reconcilement to the offended but loving\nFather.\n\n\u201c8. They pray for _spiritual_ welfare, and believe in the _efficacy_ of\nreal prayers.\n\n\u201c9. They believe in the Providential care of the Divine Father.\n\n\u201c10. They avow that love towards Him, and performing the works He loveth,\nconstitute His worship.\n\n\u201c11. They recognise the necessity of public worship, but do not believe\nthat they cannot hold communion with the Great Father without resorting to\nany fixed place at any fixed time. They maintain that we can adore Him at\nany time and at any place, provided that time and that place are\ncalculated to compose and direct the mind towards Him.\n\n\u201c12. They do not believe in pilgrimages, but declare that holiness can be\nattained only by elevating and purifying the mind.\n\n\u201c13. They do not perform any rites and ceremonies, or believe in penances,\nas instrumental in obtaining the grace of GOD. They declare that moral\nrighteousness, the gaining of wisdom, Divine contemplation, charity, and\nthe cultivation of devotional feelings, are their rites and ceremonies.\nThey further say, Govern and regulate your feelings, discharge your duties\nto GOD and to man, and you will gain everlasting blessedness; purify your\nhearts, cultivate devotional feelings, and you will see Him who is Unseen.\n\n\u201c14. Theoretically, there is no distinction of caste among the Brahmas.\nThey declare that we are all the children of GOD, and, therefore, must\nconsider ourselves as brothers and sisters.\u201d\n\nBriefly speaking, the religious system herein set forth may be described\nas Christianity without CHRIST; and yet it was unwilling to acknowledge\nits obligations to Christianity. Its apostles sought to persuade\nthemselves and others that they derived everything from the Vedas and\nnothing from the Bible; and when they were compelled to abandon the Vedas,\nthey fell back upon Nature as a Divine Revelation. But, as an Anglo-Indian\nauthority contends, it is certain that but for the new life which at this\ntime flowed in with the tide of Western thought, and the study of a\nliterature \u201csaturated at every pore\u201d with Christian sentiment and the high\nGospel morality; and but for the strong and ceaseless opposition\nmaintained by Christianity in the person of its missionaries against the\nAtheism, which was the first, though a short-lived result of the sudden\nintellectual quickening the young men of Calcutta experienced when Western\nscience was substituted for Oriental myths, neither would the study of the\nVedas have been revived, nor would the great lessons of nature have\nappeared so intelligible as they then became.[25]\n\nWe have seen that Brahmanism made one advance under Rammohun Roy; it was\nled still further forward by Debendronath Tagore; and then he too suddenly\nhalted, as his predecessor had done. The leadership next devolved upon a\nman of higher courage, not less fitted to lead a great movement by his\nenthusiasm than by his ability, Babu Keshub Chunda Sen. Keshub was\ndetermined that the challenge should be thrown down to orthodox Hinduism:\nand persuaded Debendronath Tagore, when his daughter was married, to\ncelebrate the occasion without the usual idolatrous ceremony. After this,\nhe purified of their idolatrous element the rites observed at birth and\ndeath. Still, Debendronath Tagore supported him; but, at last, when an\nattempt was made to eliminate not only what was purely idolatrous, but\nalso everything offensive to enlightened feeling and a purer taste,\nDebendronath and the conservative party opposed, and a schism was the\nresult.\n\n\u201cThe time had arrived,\u201d says the writer already quoted, \u201cwhen Brahmism, if\nit was a power and not mere talk, must do battle with the system of caste\ndistinctions. The first step in this direction taken by Keshub Chunda Sen,\nwas the celebration of a marriage between persons belonging to different\ncastes. That was an innovation such as might well startle the venerable\npundits of Nuddea and Benares. There could henceforward be no doubt as to\nthe more than heretical tendency of the theistic doctrine. An electric\nshock ran through society: all Hindudom was roused from its slumber, and\nbegan suspiciously to ponder what Brahmism meant by such daring. But the\nreal test of principle was yet to come. It was comparatively safe to make\na few modifications in domestic religious rites: the marriage of people of\ndifferent castes compromised the principals chiefly: it was necessary that\nthe entire Brahma community should by some act be universally committed to\nwar against the evils and iniquities of caste. Keshub and his party\naccepted this necessity, threw off the sacred thread that distinguished\nthem as Brahmans, and insisted that all who desired membership with their\nSam\u00e1j should consent to renounce caste. There could be no greater triumph\nthan this, of principle over traditionalism: it stamped Brahmism as a\npower in the land, and not an idle theological speculation.\u201d\n\nThenceforward, Keshub Chunda Sen became the recognised leader of \u201cthe\nBrahma Sam\u00e1j of India,\u201d and the new sect adopted an active proselytism.\nBranch Sam\u00e1jes have been established all over the country; missionaries\nhave been sent as far as Madras and Bombay and the Punjab. Tracts and\nlectures have been freely circulated. In Calcutta a so-called \u201cchurch\u201d has\nbeen built, and is well attended every Sunday evening, not only by men,\nbut by women, for whom special accommodation is provided. The services are\nconducted in the vernacular, so as to be intelligible to all worshippers.\nBrahmist hymns are sung to the accompaniment of the harmonium, and the\nsolemn _mridong_ (a kind of drum): passages are read from a book of\nselections in which the extracts from the Bible greatly outnumber those\nfrom any other source; extemporaneous prayers are offered with an\nintensity of spiritual feeling that could do no disgrace to a Christian\ncongregation; and discourses are delivered which breathe a pure and noble\ntone of sentiment and feeling. Two weekly periodicals, one Bengali and the\nother English, the \u201cDharma Tattwa\u201d and the \u201cIndian Mirror,\u201d are the\nrecognised exponents of the views and teaching of the Sam\u00e1j.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER V.\n\n_THE HINDU MYTHOLOGY: AND THE VISHNU PURANA._\n\n\nThe word _Purana_ means \u201cold,\u201d and the original object of the Puranas\nwould seem to have been the preservation of ancient mythological fictions\nand historical traditions. But in the form in which they have come down to\nus they do something more than this. They comprehend, more or less\nthoroughly, the five following subjects:--1, Primary creation, or\ncosmogony; 2, Secondary creation, or the destruction and renovation of\nworlds, including chronology; 3, Genealogy of gods and patriarchs; 4,\nReigns of the Manus, or periods called Manwantaras; and 5, History, or\nsuch particulars as are extant of the princes of the solar and lunar\nraces, and of their descendants to modern times. According to Professor\nWilson, they are evidently derived from the same religious system as the\nR\u00e1m\u00e1yana and Mah\u00e1bh\u00e1rata, or from what he calls the mytho-heroic stage of\nHindu belief. \u201cThey present, however, peculiarities which designate their\nbelonging to a later period, and to an important modification in the\nprogress of opinion. They repeat the theoretical cosmogony of the two\ngreat poems; they expound and systematise the chronological computations;\nand they give a more definite and connected representation of the\nmythological fictions and the historical traditions. But besides these and\nother particulars, which may be derivable from an old, if not from a\nprimitive era, they offer characteristic peculiarities of a more modern\ndescription, in the paramount importance which they assign to individual\ndivinities, in the variety and purport of the rites and observances\naddressed to them, and in the invention of new legends illustrative of the\npower and graciousness of those deities, and of the efficacy of implicit\ndevotion to them.\u201d\n\nThe form of composition adopted in the Puranas is that of a dialogue, in\nwhich its contents are related by one imaginary individual in reply to\nanother. Several dialogues are eventually woven together; and they purport\nto have been held on different occasions between different individuals, in\nconsequence of similar questions having been asked. Usually the immediate\nnarrator is Lomaharshan\u00e1 or Romaharsh\u00e1na, the disciple of Vyasa, who, as\nPlato did for Socrates, communicates to the reader his great master\u2019s\nutterances. The Vyasa or compiler here meant was Krishna Dwaip\u00e1yana, the\nson of Par\u00e1sara; it is said of him that he taught the Vedas and Puranas to\nvarious pupils, but it seems more probable that he was at the head of a\nschool or college, the members of which moulded the sacred literature of\nthe Hindus into its present form.\n\nThere appear to have been eighteen Puranas: namely, 1, Brahma; 2, Padma;\n3, Vaishnava; 4, Saiva; 5, Bhagavata; 6, N\u00e1rad\u00edya; 7, M\u00e1rk\u00e1ndeya; 8,\nAgneya; 9, Bhavishya; 10, Brahma Vaivarta; 11, Lainga; 12, V\u00e1r\u00e1ha; 13,\nSk\u00e1nda; 14, V\u00e1mana; 15, Kaurma; 16, M\u00e1tsya; 17, G\u00e1ruda; 18, Br\u00e1hmanda.\n\nThe Vishnu Purana is described as that in which Par\u00e1sara, beginning with\nthe events of the Var\u00e1ha Kalpa, expounds man\u2019s moral and religious\nobligations in about seven thousand stanzas. It is divided into six\nbooks:--\n\nThe first deals chiefly with the details of creation, primary (Sarga) and\nsecondary (Pratisarga); the first explaining how the universe proceeds\nfrom Prakriti or eternal crude matter; the second, in what way \u201cthe forms\nof things are developed from the elementary substances previously evolved,\nor how they reappear after their temporary destruction.\u201d Both these\ncreations are periodical; the first does not end until the life of Brahma\nends, when not only the gods and all other forms are annihilated, but the\nelements are resolved into the primary substance, besides which one only\nspiritual being exists. The latter occurs at the end of every Kalpa, \u00e6on,\nor day of Brahma, and is wholly limited to the forms of inferior creatures\nand the lower worlds; leaving untouched sages and gods and the substance\nof the heavens. A description of the ages or periods of time on which\nthese events depend is involved in the explanation; and it is given\naccordingly in wearisome detail. Their character has been a source of very\nunnecessary perplexity to European writers; for they belong to a wholly\nmythological scheme of chronology, which has no reference to any real or\nsupposed history of the Hindus, but prefigures, according to their system,\nthe infinite and eternal revolutions of the universe.\n\nBy a singular incongruity the existence of Pradh\u00e1na, or crude matter, is\nidentified with Vishnu, who is declared to be both spirit and crude\nmatter, and not only crude matter, but all visible substance, and Time. He\nis Purusha, \u201cspirit;\u201d Pradh\u00e1na, \u201ccrude matter;\u201d Vyakta, \u201cvisible form;\u201d\nand K\u00e1la, \u201ctime.\u201d \u201cThis,\u201d says Professor Wilson, \u201ccannot but be regarded\nas a departure from the primitive dogmas of the Hindus, in which the\ndistinctness of the Deity and His works was enunciated; in which, upon His\nwilling the world to be, it was; and in which His interposition in\ncreation, held to be inconsistent with the quiescence of perfection, was\nexplained away by the personification of attributes in action, which\nafterwards came to be considered as real divinities, Brahma, Vishnu, and\nSiva, charged severally, for a given season, with the creation,\npreservation, and temporary annihilation of material forms.\u201d In the Vishnu\nPurana, these divinities are declared to be no other than Vishnu.\n\nThe earth having been duly prepared for the reception of living creatures,\nit was peopled by the will-begotten sons of Brahma, the Prajapatis or\npatriarchs. But it was necessary to provide these \u201cgrey forefathers\u201d of\nthe early world with wives. For this purpose, the Manu Swayambhuva and his\nwife Satarupa, were invented; and their daughters supplied the patriarchs\nwith female partners. Numerous legends were built up on this basis, and\nthe whole story assumed an allegorical form. Swayhambhuva, the son of the\nself-born or uncreated, and his wife Satarupa, the hundred-formed or\nmultiform, are themselves allegories; and their female descendants, who\nbecame the wives of the Rishis, are Faith, Devotion, Content,\nIntelligence, Tradition, and the like; whilst among their posterity are\nfound the different phases of the moon and the sacrificial fires. There\nare other legends in explanation of the peopling of the earth. All seem to\nindicate that the Prajapatis and Rishis were \u201creal personages, the authors\nof the Hindu system of social, moral, and religious obligations, and the\nfirst observers of the heavens, and teachers of astronomical science.\u201d\n\nThe genealogy is traced of the royal personages of this first race or\ndynasty, and is continued into the second book; after which comes a detail\nof the geographical system of the Puranas, with Mount Meru, the seven\ncircular continents, and their surrounding oceans, to the limits of the\nworld. This (except so far as India or Bharata is concerned) is purely\nmythological. In the early portion of the third book, the arrangement of\nthe Vedas and other sacred writings of the Hindus is described. Then\nfollows an account of the principal Hindu institutions, the duties of\ncastes, the obligations of different stages of life, and the celebration\nof funeral rites, in a brief but primitive strain, and in harmony with the\nlaws of Manu. \u201cIt is a distinguishing feature of the Vishnu Purana, and it\nis characteristic of its being the work of an earlier period than most of\nthe Puranas, that it enjoins no sectarial or other acts of supererogation;\nno Vratas, occasional self-imposed observances; no holy days, no birthdays\nof Krishna, no nights dedicated to Lakshmi; no sacrifices or modes of\nworship other than those conformable to the ritual of the Vedas. It\ncontains no M\u00e1h\u00e1linyas or golden legends, even of the temples in which\nVishnu is adored.\u201d\n\nThe fourth book contains a tolerably full list of royal dynasties and\nindividuals, with a dull chronicle of events, the authenticity of which\ncannot always be accepted. In the fifth book we have the life of Krishna,\none of the avatars or manifestations of Vishnu; and in the last an account\nof the dissolution of the world, \u201cin both its major and minor cataclysms,\u201d\nwhich, \u201cin the particulars of the end of all things by fire and water, as\nwell as in the principle of their perpetual renovation, presents a\nfaithful exhibition of opinions that were general in the ancient world.\u201d\n\nWe now proceed to give a few specimens of the contents of this remarkable\nwork.\n\n\n_Origin of Rudra_ (Bk. i. c. 8.)\n\nIn the beginning of the Kalpa, as Brahma proposed to create a son, who\nshould be like himself, a youth of a purple complexion appeared; crying\nwith a low cry, and running about. Brahma, when he beheld him thus\nafflicted, said to him: \u201cWhy dost thou weep?\u201d \u201cGive me a name,\u201d replied\nthe boy. \u201cRudra be thy name,\u201d rejoined the great father of all creatures:\n\u201cbe composed; desist from tears.\u201d But, though thus addressed, the boy\nstill wept seven times; and Brahma therefore gave to him seven other\ndenominations: and to these eight persons regions and wives and posterity\nbelong. The eight manifestations, then, are named Rudra, Bhava, Sarva,\nIsana, Pasaputi, Bhima, Ugra, and Mah\u00e1deva, which were given to them by\ntheir great progenitor. He also assigned to them their respective\nstations, the sun, water, earth, air, fire, ether, the ministrant Brahman,\nand the moon; for these are their several forms. The wives of the sun and\nthe other manifestations, termed Rudra and the east, were, respectively:\nSuvarchal\u00e1, Ush\u00e1, Vik\u00e9s\u00ed, S\u00edv\u00e1, Sw\u00e1h\u00e1, Disas, Diksh\u00e1, and Rohini. Now hear\nan account of their progeny, by whose successive generations this world\nhas been peopled. Their sons were severally: Sawaischara (Saturn,) Sukra\n(Venus,) the fiery-bodied (Mars,) Mamjava, Skanda, Swarga, Sant\u00e1na, and\nBudha (Mercury.)\n\n\n_Sacrifice of Daksha._\n\n(This remarkable legend, according to Professor Wilson, is intended to\nallegorise a struggle between the worshippers of Siva and of Vishnu, in\nwhich the former, after a temporary defeat, obtained the victory.)\n\nThere was formerly a peak of Meru, named S\u00e1vitra, abounding with gems,\nradiant as the sun, and celebrated throughout the three worlds; of immense\nextent, difficult of access, and an object of universal adoration. Upon\nthat glorious eminence, rich with mineral treasures, as upon a splendid\ncouch, the deity Siva reclined, accompanied by the daughter of the\nsovereign of mountains, and attended by the mighty Adityas, the powerful\nVasus, and by the heavenly physicians, the sons of Aswini; by Kubera,\nsurrounded by his train of Guhyakas, the lord of the Yakshas, who dwells\non Kail\u00e1sa. There also was the great Muni Usanas: there were Rishis of the\nfirst order, with Sanatkumar\u00e1 at their head, divine Rishis, preceded by\nAngiras; Viswavasu, with his bands of heavenly choristers; the sages\nN\u00e1rada and Parvata; and innumerable troops of celestial nymphs.\n\nThe breeze blew upon the mountain, bland, pure, and fragrant; and the\ntrees were decorated with flowers that blossomed in every season.\n\nThe Vidyadharas and Siddhas, affluent in devotion, waited upon Mah\u00e1deva,\nthe lord of living creatures; and many other beings, of various forms, did\nhim homage. Pr\u00e1kshasas of terrific semblance, and Pis\u00e1chas of great\nstrength, of different shapes and features, armed with various weapons,\nand blazing like fire, were delighted to be present, as the followers of\nthe god. There stood the royal Naudin, high in the favour of his lord,\narmed with a fiery trident, shining with inherent lustre; and there the\nbest of rivers, Ganga, the assemblage of all holy waters, stood adoring\nthe mighty deity. Thus worshipped by all the most excellent of sages and\nof gods, abode the omnipotent and all-glorious Mah\u00e1deva.\n\nIn former times Daksha commenced a holy sacrifice on the side of Himavat,\nat the sacred spot Gang\u00e1dwara, frequented by the Rishis. The gods,\ndesirous of assisting at this solemn rite, came, with Indra at their head,\nto Mah\u00e1deva, and intimated their purpose, and having received his\npermission, departed, in their splendid chariots, to Gang\u00e1dwara, as\ntradition reports. They found Daksha, the best of the devout, surrounded\nby the singers and nymphs of heaven, and by numerous sages, beneath the\nshade of clustering trees and climbing plants; and all of them, whether\ndwellers on earth, in air, or in the regions above the skies, approached\nthe patriarch with outward gestures of respect. The Adityas, Vasus,\nRudras, Maruts, all entitled to partake of the oblations, together with\nJishnu, were present.\n\nThe (four classes of Pitris) Ushmapas, Somapas, Ajyapas, and Dh\u00famapas, (or\nthose who feed upon the flame, the acid juice, the butter, or the smoke of\nofferings,) the Aswins, and the progenitors, came along with Brahm\u00e1.\nCreatures of every class, born from the womb, the egg, from vapour, or\nvegetation, came upon their invocation; as did all the gods, with their\nbrides, who, in their resplendent vehicles, blazed like so many fires.\n\nBeholding them thus assembled, the sage Dadhicha was filled with\nindignation, and observed: \u201cThe man who worships what ought not to be\nworshipped, or pays not reverence where veneration is due, is guilty, most\nassuredly, of heinous sin.\u201d Then, addressing Daksha, he said to him: \u201cWhy\ndo you not offer homage to the god who is the lord of life (Pasubhartri?)\u201d\nDaksha spake: \u201cI have already many Rudras present, armed with tridents,\nwearing braided hair, and existing in eleven forms. I recognise no other\nMah\u00e1deva.\u201d Dadhicha spake: \u201cThe invocation that is not addressed to Isa\nis, for all, but a solitary (and imperfect) summons. Inasmuch as I behold\nno other divinity who is superior to Sankhara, this sacrifice of Daksha\nwill not be completed.\u201d Daksha spake: \u201cI offer in a golden cup, this\nentire oblation, which has been consecrated by many prayers, as an\noffering ever due to the unequalled Vishnu, the sovereign lord of all....\u201d\n\n(After a conversation between the mighty Maheswara and his spouse, whom he\naddresses in epithets which have quite an Homeric sound:)\n\nThe mighty Maheswara created, from his mouth, a being like the fire of\nfate; a divine being, with a thousand heads, a thousand eyes, a thousand\nfeet; wielding a thousand clubs, a thousand shafts; holding the shell, the\ndiscus, the mace, and bearing a blazing bow and battle-axe; fierce and\nterrific, shining with dreadful splendour, and decorated with the crescent\nmoon; clothed in a tiger\u2019s skin dripping with blood, having a capacious\nstomach, and a vast mouth armed with formidable tusks. His ears were\nerect, his lips were pendulous; his tongue was lightning; his hand\nbrandished the thunderbolt; flames streamed from his hair; a necklace of\npearls wound round his neck; a garland of flame descended on his breast.\n\nRadiant with lustre, he looked like the final fire that consumes the\nworld. Four tremendous tusks projected from a mouth which extended from\near to ear.\n\nHe was of vast bulk, vast strength, a mighty male and lord, the destroyer\nof the universe, and like a large fig tree in circumference; shining like\na hundred moons at once; fierce as the fire of love; having four heads,\nsharp white teeth, and of mighty fierceness, vigour, activity, and\ncourage; glowing with the blaze of a thousand fiery suns at the end of the\nworld; like a thousand undimmed moons; in bulk like Him\u00e1dri, Kail\u00e1sa, or\nSumnu, or Mundara, with all its gleaming herbs; bright as the sun of\ndestruction at end of ages; of irresistible prowess and beautiful aspect;\nirascible, with lowering eyes, and a countenance burning like fire;\nclothed in the hide of the elephant and lion, and girt round with snakes;\nwearing a turban on his head, a moon on his brow: sometimes savage,\nsometimes mild; having a chaplet of many flowers on his head, anointed\nwith various unguents, adorned with different ornaments and many sorts of\njewels, wearing a garland of heavenly Karnikara flowers, and rolling his\neyes with rage. Sometimes he danced; sometimes he laughed aloud; sometimes\nhe stood wrapt in meditation; sometimes he trampled upon the earth;\nsometimes he sang; sometimes he wept repeatedly. And he was endowed with\nthe faculties of wisdom, dispassion, power, penance, truth, endurance,\nfortitude, dominion, and self-knowledge.\n\nThis being then knelt down upon the ground, and raising his hands\nrespectfully to his head, said to Mah\u00e1deva: \u201cSovereign of the gods,\ncommand what it is that I must do for thee;\u201d to which Maheswara replied:\n\u201cSpoil the sacrifice of Daksha.\u201d Then the mighty Virabhadra, having heard\nthe pleasure of his lord, bowed down his head to the feet of Praj\u00e1pati,\nand starting like a lion loosed from bonds, despoiled the sacrifice of\nDaksha; knowing that he had been created by the displeasure of Devi. She,\ntoo, in her wrath, as the fearful goddess Rudrak\u00e1li, accompanied him, with\nall her train, to witness his deeds. Virabhadra, the fierce, abiding in\nthe region of ghosts, is the minister of the anger of Devi. And he then\ncreated, from the pores of his skin, powerful demigods, the mighty\nattendants upon Rudra, of equal valour and strength, who started by\nhundreds and by thousands into existence. A loud and confused clamour\nstraightway filled all the expanse of ether, and inspired the denizens of\nheaven with dread. The mountains tottered, and earth shook; the winds\nroared, and the depths of the sea were disturbed; the fires lost their\nradiance, and the sun grew pale; the planets of the firmament shone not,\nneither did the stars give light; the Rishis ceased their hymns, and gods\nand demons were mute; and thick darkness eclipsed the chariot of the\nskies.\n\nThen from the gloom emerged fearful and numerous forms, shouting the cry\nof battle; who instantly broke or overturned the sacrificial columns,\ntrampled upon the altars, and danced amidst the oblations. Running wildly\nhither and thither, with the speed of wind, they tossed about the\nimplements and vessels of sacrifice, which looked like stars precipitated\nfrom the heavens. The piles of food and beverage for the gods, which had\nbeen heaped up like mountains;[26] the rivers of milk; the tanks of curds\nand butter; the masses of honey, and butter-milk, and sugar; the mounds of\ncondiments and spices of every flavour; the undulating knolls of flesh and\nother viands; the celestial liquors; pastes and confections which had been\nprepared; these the spirits of wrath devoured, or defiled, or scattered\nabroad. And, falling upon the host of the gods, these vast and resistless\nRudras beat or terrified them, mocked and insulted the nymphs and\ngoddesses, and quickly put an end to the rite, although defended by all\nthe gods; being the ministers of Rudra\u2019s wrath, and similar to himself.\nSome then made a hideous clamour, whilst others fearfully shouted, when\nYajna was decapitated. For the divine Yajna, the lord of sacrifice, began\nto fly up to heaven, in the shape of a deer; and Virabhadra, of\nimmeasurable spirit, apprehending his power, cut off his vast head, after\nhe had mounted into the sky.\n\nDaksha, the patriarch, his sacrifice being destroyed, overcome with\nterror, and utterly broken in spirit, fell prone upon the ground, where\nhis head was spurned by the feet of the cruel Virabhadra. The thirty\nscores of sacred divinities were all presently bound, with a band of fire,\nby their lion-like foe; and they all addressed him, crying: \u201cO Rudra, have\nmercy upon thy servants! O lord, dismiss thine anger!\u201d This spake Brahma,\nand the other gods, and the patriarch Daksha; and, raising their hands,\nthey said: \u201cDeclare, mighty being, who thou art.\u201d\n\nVirabhadra said: \u201cI am not a god, nor an Aditya, nor am I come hither for\nenjoyment, nor curious to behold the chiefs of the divinities. Know that I\nam come to destroy the sacrifice of Daksha, and that I am called\nVirabhadra, the issue of the wrath of Rudra. Bhadrakali, also, who has\nsprung from the anger of Devi, is sent here, by the god of gods, to\ndestroy this rite. Take refuge, king of kings, with him who is the lord of\nUma. For better is the anger of Rudra than the blessings of other gods.\u201d\n\nHaving heard the words of Virabhadra, the righteous Daksha propitiated the\nmighty god, the holder of the trident, Maheswara. The hearth of sacrifice,\ndeserted by the Brahmans, had been consumed; Yajna had been metamorphosed\nto an antelope; the fires of Rudra\u2019s wrath had been kindled; the\nattendants, wounded by the tridents of the servants of the god, were\ngroaning with pain; the pieces of the uprooted sacrificial posts were\nscattered here and there; and the fragments of the meat-offerings were\ncarried off by flights of hungry vultures and herds of howling jackals.\n\nSuppressing his vital airs, and taking up a posture of meditation, the\nmany-sighted victor of his foes, Daksha, fixed his eyes everywhere upon\nhis thoughts. And the god of gods appeared from the altar resplendent as a\nthousand suns, and smiling upon him, said, \u201cDaksha, thy sacrifice has been\ndestroyed through sacred knowledge, I am well pleased with thee.\u201d And he\nsmiled again, and exclaimed, \u201cWhat shall I do for thee? Declare, together\nwith the preceptor of the gods.\u201d\n\nAnd Daksha, frightened, alarmed, and agitated, his eyes suffused with\ntears, raised his hands reverently to his brow, and said, \u201cIf, lord, thou\nart pleased; if I have found favour in thy sight; if I am to be the object\nof thy benevolence; if thou wilt confer upon me a boon, this is the\nblessing I solicit, that all these provisions for the solemn sacrifice\nwhich have been collected with much trouble and during a long time, and\nhave now been eaten, drunk, devoured, burnt, broken, scattered abroad, may\nnot have been prepared in vain.\u201d \u201cSo let it be,\u201d replied Hara, the subduer\nof Indra. And thereupon Daksha knelt down upon the earth, and praised\ngratefully the author of righteousness, the three-eyed god Mah\u00e1deva,\nrepeating the eight thousand names of the deity whose emblem is a bull.\n\n\n_Public Games._ (Bk. v., c. 10.)\n\nAs Krishna and Rama proceeded along the high road, they saw coming towards\nthem a young girl, who was crooked, carrying a pot of unguent. Addressing\nher sportively, Krishna said, \u201cFor whom are you carrying that unguent?\nTell me, lovely maiden, tell me truly.\u201d Spoken to as it were through\naffection, Kubja[27], well disposed towards Hari, replied to him also\nmirthfully, being smitten by his appearance, \u201cKnow you not, beloved, that\nI am the servant of Kamsa, and appointed, crooked as I am, to prepare his\nperfumes? Of unguent ground by any other he does not approve, and hence I\nam enriched through his liberal rewards.\u201d Then said Krishna, \u201cFair-faced\ndamsel, give us of this unguent,--fragrant and fit for kings,--as much as\nwe may rub upon our bodies.\u201d \u201cTake it,\u201d answered Kubja. And she gave them\nas much of the unguent as was sufficient for their persons. And they\nrubbed it on various parts of their faces and bodies, till they looked\nlike two clouds, one white and one black, decorated by the many-tinted bow\nof Indra.\n\nAnd Krishna, skilled in the curative art, took hold of her under the chin\nwith the thumb and two fingers, and lifted up her head, whilst with his\nfeet he pressed down her feet, and in this way he made her straight.\n\nWhen she was thus relieved from her deformity, she was a most beautiful\nwoman; and filled with gratitude and affection, she took Govinda by the\ngarment, and invited him to her house. Promising to come at some other\ntime, Krishna smilingly dismissed her, and then laughed aloud on beholding\nthe countenance of Baladeva.\n\nDressed in blue and yellow garments, and anointed with fragrant unguents,\nKrishna and Rama proceeded to the hall of arms, which was hung round with\ngarlands. Inquiring of the warders which bow he was to try, and being\ndirected to it, Krishna took it, and bent it. But drawing it with\nviolence, he snapped it in two, and all Mathura resounded with the noise\nwhich its fracture occasioned. Abused by the warders for breaking the bow,\nKrishna and Rama retorted, and defied them, and left the hall.\n\nWhen Kamsa knew that Akrura had returned, and heard that the bow had been\nbroken, he then said to Chanura and Mushtika, his boxers, \u201cTwo youths,\ncowherd boys, have arrived. You must kill them both, in a trial of\nstrength, in my presence; for they practise against my life. I shall be\nwell pleased if you kill them in the match, and will give you whatever you\nwish, but not otherwise. These two foes of mine must be killed by you,\nfairly or unfairly. The kingdom shall be ours in common when they have\nperished.\u201d\n\nHaving given them their orders, he sent next for his elephant driver, and\ndesired him to station his great elephant, Kuvalayapida,--who was as vast\nas a cloud charged with rain,--near the gate of the arena, and drive him\nupon the two boys when they should attempt to enter. When Kamsa had issued\nthese commands, and ascertained that the platforms were all ready (for the\nspectators), he awaited the rising of the sun, unconscious of impending\ndeath.\n\nIn the morning the citizens assembled on the platforms set apart for them;\nand the princes, with the ministers and courtiers, occupied the royal\nseats. Near the centre of the circle, judges of the games were stationed\nby Kamsa, whilst he himself sat apart close by, upon a lofty throne.\nSeparate platforms were erected for the ladies of the palace, for the\ncourtesans, and for the wives of the citizens. Nanda and the cowherds had\nplaces appropriated to them, at the end of which sat Akrura and Vasudeva.\nAmongst the wives of the citizens appeared Devaki, mourning for her son,\nwhose lovely face she longed to behold, even in the hour of his\ndestruction.\n\nWhen the musical instruments sounded, Chanura sprang forth, and the people\ncried, \u201cAlas!\u201d and Mushtika slapped his arms in defiance. Covered with\nblood and mud from the elephant, which, when goaded upon them by its\ndriver, they had slain, and armed with its tusks, Balabhadra and Janardana\nconfidently entered the arena, like two lions amidst a herd of deer.\nExclamations of pity arose from all the spectators, along with expressions\nof astonishment. \u201cThis, then,\u201d said the people, \u201cis Krishna. This is\nBalabhadra. This is he by whom the fierce night-walker Putana was slain;\nby whom the waggon was overturned, and the two Arjuna trees felled. This\nis the boy who trampled and danced on the serpent Kaliya; who upheld the\nmountain Govardhana for seven nights; who killed, as if in play, the\niniquitous Arishta, Dhenuka, and Kisra. This, whom we see, is Achyuta.\nThis is he who has been foretold by the wise, skilled in the sense of the\nPuranas, as Gopala, who shall exalt the depressed Yadava race. This is a\nportion of the all-existing, all-generating Vishnu, descended upon earth,\nwho will, assuredly, lighten her load.\u201d\n\nThus did the citizens describe Rama and Krishna, as soon as they appeared:\nwhilst the breast of Devaki glowed with maternal affection; and Vasudeva,\nforgetting his infirmities, felt himself young again, on beholding the\ncountenances of his sons as a season of rejoicing. The women of the\npalace, and the wives of the citizens, wide opened their eyes, and gazed\nintently upon Krishna.\n\n\u201cLook, friends,\u201d said they to their companions; \u201clook at the face of\nKrishna. His eyes are reddened by his conflict with the elephant; and the\ndrops of perspiration stand upon his cheeks, outvying a full-blown lotus\nin autumn, studded with glittering dew. Avail yourself, now, of the\nfaculty of vision. Observe his breast,--the seat of splendour, marked\nwith the mystic sign,--and his arms, menacing destruction to his foes. Do\nyou not notice Balabhadra, dressed in a blue garment,--his countenance as\nfair as the jasmine, as the moon, as the fibres of the lotus-stem? See how\nhe gently smiles at the gestures of Mushtika and Chanura, as they spring\nup.\n\n\u201cAnd now behold Hari advance to encounter Chanura. What! Are there no\nelders, judges of the field? How can the delicate form of Hari,--only yet\nin the dawn of adolescence,--be regarded as a match for the vast and\nadamantine bulk of the great demon? Two youths, of light and elegant\npersons, are in the arena, to oppose athletic fiends, headed by the cruel\nChanura. This is a great sin in the judges of the games, for the umpires\nto suffer a contest between boys and strong men.\u201d\n\nAs thus the women of the city conversed with one another, Hari, having\ntightened his girdle, danced in the ring, shaking the ground on which he\ntrod. Balabhadra also danced, slapping his arms in defiance. Where the\nground was firm, the invincible Krishna contended, foot to foot, with\nChanura. The practised demon Mushtika was opposed by Balabhadra. Mutually\nentwining, and pushing, and pulling, and beating each other with fists,\narms, and elbows, pressing each other with their knees, interlacing their\narms, kicking with their feet, pressing with their whole weight upon one\nanother, fought Hari and Chanura.\n\nDesperate was the struggle, though without weapons, and one for life and\ndeath, to the great gratification of the spectators. In proportion as the\ncontest continued, so Chanura was gradually losing something of his\noriginal vigour, and the wreath upon his head trembled from his fury and\ndistress; whilst the world-comprehending Krishna wrestled with him as if\nbut in sport. Beholding Chanura losing, and Krishna gaining strength,\nKamsa, furious with rage, commanded the music to cease.\n\nAs soon as the drums and trumpets were silenced, a numerous band of\nheavenly instruments was heard in the sky; and the unseen gods exclaimed:\n\u201cVictory to Govinda! Kesava, kill the demon Chanura!\u201d Madhusudana, having,\nfor a long time, dallied with his adversary, at last lifted him up, and\nwhirled him round, with the intention of putting an end to him. Having\nwhirled Chanura round a hundred times, until his breath was expended in\nthe air, Krishna dashed him on the ground, with such violence as to smash\nhis body into a hundred fragments, and strew the earth with a hundred\npools of gory mire.\n\nWhilst this took place, the mighty Baladeva was engaged, in the same\nmanner, with the demon bruiser, Mushtika. Striking him on the head with\nhis fists, and on the breast with his knees, he stretched him on the\nground, and pummelled him there till he was dead. Again, Krishna\nencountered the royal bruiser Tosaluka, and felled him to the earth with a\nblow of his left hand. When the other athletes saw Chanura, Mushtika, and\nTosaluka killed, they fled from the field; and Krishna and Sankarshana\ndanced, victorious, on the arena, dragging along with them, by force, the\ncowherds of their own age. Kamsa, his eyes reddening with wrath, called\naloud to the surrounding people:--\u201cDrive those two cowboys out of the\nassembly: seize the villain Nanda, and secure him with chains of iron; put\nVasudeva to death with tortures intolerable to his years: and lay hands\nupon the cattle, and whatever else belongs to those cowherds who are the\nassociates of Krishna.\u201d\n\nUpon hearing these orders, the destroyer of Madhu laughed at Kamsa, and,\nspringing up to the place where he was seated, laid hold of him by the\nhair of his head, and struck his tiara to the ground. Then, casting him\ndown upon the earth, Govinda threw himself upon him. Crushed by the weight\nof the upholder of the universe, the son of Ugrasena (Kamsa), the king,\ngave up the ghost. Krishna then dragged the dead body, by the hair of the\nhead, into the centre of the arena; and a deep furrow was made by the vast\nand heavy carcase of Kamsa, when it was dragged along the ground by\nKrishna, as if a torrent of water had rushed through it.\n\nSeeing Kamsa thus treated, his brother Sunaman came to his succour: but he\nwas encountered, and easily killed, by Balabhadra. Then arose a general\ncry of grief from the surrounding circle, as they beheld the King of\nMathura thus slain, and treated with such contumely, by Krishna. Krishna,\naccompanied by Balabhadra, embraced the feet of Vasudeva and of Devaki:\nbut Vasudeva raised him up; and he and Devaki recalling to recollection\nwhat he had said to them at his birth, they bowed to Janardana; and the\nformer thus addressed him: \u201cHave compassion upon mortals, O god,\nbenefactor, and lord of deities. It is by thy favour to us two that thou\nhast become the present upholder of the world. That, for the punishment of\nthe rebellious, thou hast descended upon earth in my house, having been\npropitiated by my prayers, sanctifies our race. Thou art the heart of all\ncreatures; thou abidest in all creatures; and all that has been, or will\nbe, emanates from thee, O universal spirit. Thou, Achyuta, who\ncomprehendest all the gods, art eternally worshipped with sacrifices: thou\nart sacrifice itself, and the offerer of sacrifices. The affection that\ninspires my heart, and the heart of Devaki, towards thee, as if thou wert\nour child, is, indeed, but an error and a great delusion.\n\n\u201cHow shall the tongue of a mortal such as I am call the creator of all\nthings, who is without beginning or end, son? Is it consistent that the\nlord of the world, from whom the world proceeds, should be born of me,\nexcept through illusion? How should he, in whom all fixed and moveable\nthings are contained, be conceived in the womb and born of a mortal being?\nHave compassion, therefore, indeed, O supreme lord, and, in thy descended\nportions, protect the universe. Thou art no son of mine. This whole world,\nfrom Brahma to a tree, thou art. Wherefore dost thou, who art one with the\nSupreme, beguile us? Blinded by delusion, I thought thee my son, and for\nthee, who art beyond all fear, I dreaded the anger of Kamsa; and,\ntherefore, did I take thee, in my turn, to Gokula, where thou hast grown\nup. But I no longer claim thee as mine own. Thou, Vishnu,--the sovereign\nlord of all, whose actions Rudra, Maruts, the Aswins, Indra, and the gods\ncannot equal, although they behold them; thou, who hast come amongst us,\nfor the benefit of the world,--art recognised; and delusion is no more.\u201d\n\nWe shall furnish but one other specimen:--\n\n\n_Anecdotes of Khandikya and Kesidhwaja._\n\nMaitreya, addressing Parasara, says: \u201cReverend teacher, I am desirous of\nbeing informed what is meant by the term meditation (_yoga_), by\nunderstanding which I may behold the Supreme Being, the upholder of the\nuniverse.\u201d\n\nParasara, in reply, says that he will repeat the explanation formerly\ngiven by Kesidhwaja to the magnanimous Khandikya, also called Janaka.\n\nWhereupon Maitreya replies: \u201cTell me, first, Brahman, who Kandikya was and\nwho Kesidhwaja; and how it happened that a conversation relating to the\npractice of Yoga occurred between them.\u201d\n\nThereupon follows Parasara\u2019s narrative:\n\nThere was Janaka, named Dharmadhwaja, who had two sons, Mitadhwaja and\nKritadhwaja; and the latter was a king ever intent upon existent supreme\nspirit: his son was the celebrated Kesidhwaja. The son of Mitadhwaja was\nJanaka, called Khandikya. Khandikya was diligent in the way of works, and\nwas renowned, on earth, for religious rites. Kesidhwaja, on the other\nhand, was endowed with spiritual knowledge. These two were engaged in\nhostilities; and Khandikya was driven from his principality by Kesidhwaja.\nExpelled from his dominions, he wandered, with a few followers, his\npriest, and his counsellors, amidst woods and mountains, where, destitute\nof true wisdom, he performed many sacrifices, expecting, thereby, to\nobtain divine truth, and to escape from death by ignorance.\n\nOnce, while the best of those who are skilled in devotion (Kesidhwaja) was\nengaged in devout exercises, a fierce tiger slew his milch-cow, in the\nlonely forest. When the Raja heard that the cow had been killed, he asked\nthe ministering priests what form of penance would expiate the crime. They\nreplied, that they did not know, and referred him to Kaseru. Kaseru, when\nthe Raja consulted him, told him that he, too, knew not, but that Sunaka\nwould be able to tell him. Accordingly, the Raja went to Sunaka; but he\nreplied: \u201cI am as unable, great king, to answer your question as Kaseru\nhas been; and there is no one now, upon earth, who can give you the\ninformation, except your enemy Khandikya, whom you have conquered.\u201d\n\nUpon receiving this answer, Kesidhwaja said: \u201cI will go, then, and pay a\nvisit to my foe. If he kill me, no matter; for, then, I shall obtain the\nreward that attends being killed in a holy cause. If (on the contrary) he\ntell me what penance to perform, then my sacrifice will be unimpaired in\nefficacy.\u201d\n\nAccordingly, he ascended his car, having clothed himself in the deer skin\nof the religious student, and went to the forest where the wise Khandikya\nresided. When Khandikya beheld him approach, his eyes reddened with rage,\nand he took up his bow and said to him: \u201cYou have armed yourself with the\ndeer skin to accomplish my destruction; imagining that, in such an attire,\nyou will be safe from me. But, fool, the deer upon whose backs this skin\nis seen are slain, by you and me, with sharp arrows. So will I slay you:\nyou shall not go free, whilst I am living. You are an unprincipled felon,\nwho have robbed me of my kingdom, and are deserving of death.\u201d\n\nTo this Kesidhwaja answered: \u201cI have come hither, Khandikya, to ask you to\nsolve my doubts, and not with any hostile intention. Lay aside, therefore,\nboth your arrow and your anger.\u201d\n\nThus spoken to, Khandikya retired awhile, with his counsellors and his\npriest, and consulted them what course he should pursue. They strongly\nurged him to slay Kesidhwaja while he was in his power, since by his death\nhe would again become the monarch of the whole world.\n\nKhandikya replied to them:--\u201cIt is, no doubt, true that, by such an act, I\nshould become the monarch of the whole earth. He, however, would thereby\nconquer the world to come; whilst the earth would be mine. Now, if I do\nnot kill him, I shall subdue the next world, and leave him this earth. It\nseems to me that this world is not of more value than the next: for the\nsubjugation of the next world endures for ever; the conquest over this is\nbut for a brief season. I will, therefore, not kill him, but tell him what\nhe wishes to know.\u201d\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nAccordingly, Kesidhwaja proceeds to describe the benefits which result\nfrom the Yoga or contemplative devotion.\n\nThe sage, or Yogin, when first applying himself to contemplative devotion,\nis called the novice or practitioner (Yoga-yuj); when he has attained\nspiritual union, he is termed the adept, or he whose meditations are\naccomplished. Should the thoughts of the former be unvitiated by any\nobstructing imperfection, he will obtain freedom, after practising\ndevotion through several lives. The latter speedily obtains liberation in\nthat existence in which he reaches perfection, all his acts being consumed\nby the fire of contemplative devotion. The sage who would bring his mind\ninto a fit state for the performance of devout contemplation must be\ndevoid of desire, and observe invariably continence, compassion, truth,\nhonesty, and disinterestedness: he must fix his mind intently on the\nsupreme Brahma, practising holy study, purification, contentment, penance,\nand self-control. These virtues, respectively termed the five acts of\nrestraint (Yama) and five of obligation (Niyama), bestow excellent\nrewards, when practised for the sake of reward, and eternal liberation,\nwhen they are not prompted by desire of transient benefits. Endowed with\nthese merits, the sage, self-restrained, should sit in one of the modes\ntermed Bhadrasana,[28] and engage in contemplation.\n\nBringing his vital airs, called Prana, under subjection, by frequent\nrepetition, is thence called a Pranayama, which is, as it were, a seed\nwith a seed. In this, the breath of expiration and that of inspiration are\nalternately obstructed, constituting the act twofold; and the suppression\nof both modes of breathing produces a third. The exercise of the Yogin,\nwhilst endeavouring to bring before his thoughts the gross form of the\nEternal, is denominated Alambana.[29] He is then to perform the\nPratyahara, which consists in restraining his organs of sense from\nsusceptibility to outward impressions, and directing them entirely to\nmental perceptions. By these means the entire subjugation of the unsteady\nsenses is effected; and, if they are not controlled, the sage will not\naccomplish his devotions. When, by the Pranayama, the vital airs are\nrestrained, and the senses are subjugated by the Pratyahara, then indeed\nthe sage will be able to keep his mind steady in its perfect asylum.\n\nThe sage now plunges into transcendentalism which would be barely\nintelligible, and certainly uninteresting to the reader, and we shall\ntherefore decline to follow him, concluding our extract with the\ndescription of Vishnu which Kesidhwaja furnishes to his inquiring guest.\n\nThink of him as having a pleased and lovely countenance, with eyes like\nthe leaf of the lotus, marble cheeks, and a broad and brilliant forehead;\nears of equal size, the lobes of which are decorated with splendid\npendants; a painted neck; and a broad breast, on which shines the Srivatsa\nmark; a belly falling in graceful folds, with a deep-seated navel; eight\nlong arms, or else four; and firm and well-knit thighs and legs, with\nwell-formed feet and toes. Let him, with well-governed thoughts,\ncontemplate, as long as he can persevere in unremitting attention, Hari,\nas clad in a yellow robe, wearing a rich diadem on his head, and brilliant\narmlets and bracelets on his arms, and bearing in his hands the bow, the\nshell, the mace, the sword, the discus, the rosary, the lotus, and the\narrow.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VI.\n\n_IN CHINA:--CONFUCIANISM, TAOUISM, AND BUDDHISM._\n\n\nThe creeds in vogue amongst the Chinese may be regarded as\nthree:--_Confucianism_, the religion of the state; _Taouism_, the religion\nof the philosophers; and _Buddhism_, the religion of the people.\n\nIt has been justly said that a religion which, like Confucianism, has\nexercised for twenty-four centuries a potent influence over the Chinese\nmind, though owing its name and origin to a simple citizen, must possess\nin it something well worthy of consideration. There must be in it a spell\nwhich strongly attracts the popular sympathies. This spell is said to be,\nthough possibly we ought to search deeper and farther for it, the purely\npractical character of its tenets, and the harmony which exists between\nthose tenets and the patriarchal character of the government and the\ninstitutions of the country. And in fact it is not so much a religion as\nan ethical system,--something such as Christianity would be, if we took\nout of it JESUS CHRIST. Or we may distinguish it as \u201ca system of\nceremonies on a moral basis,\u201d and, as such, admirably adapted to the\ntastes and needs of so ceremonial-loving a people as the Chinese. To this\nday the Ly-pou watch with jealous vigilance the maintenance of all the old\ntraditional rites, and rigidly enforce the observance of the traditional\ndetails in the construction of the temples. Moreover such particulars as\nthe six kinds of sceptres, the five kinds of mats, and the five kinds of\nstools are strictly insisted upon; and it is known that the innumerable\nprescribed sacrifices offered to the various gods of the heaven and the\nearth, to a man\u2019s forefathers, to the hills and the rivers, the sea and\nthe central mount, the god of the south pole and the god of thunder, are\nthe same now as they have been for upwards of 2,000 years.\n\nThe founder of Confucianism, Kong-foo-tse, or Confucius, (as the Jesuits\nlatinised the name,) was born about 550 B.C. in the state Loo, within the\ndistrict now called Keo-fou Hien, lying to the eastward of the great\nImperial canal, in the province of Shang-tung.\n\nTradition asserts that his father was a descendant of the imperial family\nof Hoang-ty, of the dynasty of Chang (2,000 B.C.), and the chief minister\nof his native kingdom. At an early age, as is common with most who are\ndestined to rise to greatness, Confucius gave indisputable proof of no\nordinary mental capacity, and these budding powers were carefully\ndeveloped by the training and tuition of the ablest masters. He was still\nyoung when he made himself acquainted with the literature of the period,\nand especially with the canonical and classical books attributed to the\nancient legislators Yam Chun, and others. His amiability of temper is\nwarmly commended, and no shadow of reproach rests upon his moral\ncharacter; except in so far as he exposed himself to censure by divorcing\nhis wife, after she had borne him a son, in order, it is said, \u201cthat he\nmight devote himself the more absolutely to his studies.\u201d It is some\nexcuse for him that, at this time, he was only twenty. In the same year he\nwas appointed \u201csuperintendent of cattle,\u201d--not exactly the ideal office\nfor a philosophical student. However his assiduity and fidelity soon\nsecured the approbation of his superiors; he was promoted to a more\ninfluential position; and there seemed every probability of his attaining\nto the highest rank, when a sudden revolution in the state for a time\nobscured his prospects.\n\nThe next eight years of his life he spent in travel, assuming the role of\na religious reformer, and everywhere gathering round him a crowd of ardent\ndisciples, whom he instructed in the rules and principles of his ethical\nsystem. It is said that they numbered as many as 3,000, of whom\nseventy-two were specially distinguished by their devotion to their\nmaster and their rigid observance of his tenets. Returning to Loo, when he\nwas about forty-three years old, he was again called to the service of the\nstate, and from grade to grade rose to the post of Prime Minister, or\n\u201cgovernor of the people.\u201d Invested with plenary power, he proceeded, with\nthe ardour of an enthusiast, to realise his ideas, and rapidly brought\nabout a vast improvement in both the moral and physical condition of the\ncountry. The poor were the particular objects of his care: he provided\nthem with plentiful supplies of cheap and good food, and released them\nfrom the thraldom in which the nobles had held them. His energy and wisdom\nextended to every department of the state; and with extraordinary\nfertility of resource, he initiated measures for the extension of\ncommerce, the improvement of the bridges and highways, the impartial\nadministration of justice, and the extirpation of the robber bands which\ninfested the mountains. But the neighbouring sovereigns regarded with\nalarm the progress of his bold reforms. No doubt they talked about\ncommunistic and socialistic doctrines, and the advancing flood of\ndemocracy, as timid people do in our own day. At all events they contrived\nto put such a pressure upon the King of Loo that he was compelled to part\nwith his great minister, who fled from his enemies northward, and found\nrefuge in the kingdom of Tsi, on the Gulf of Petchali. For twelve, or, as\nsome say, fourteen years he wandered from place to place, adding to the\nnumber of his proselytes; until spent with fatigue, and bowed down with\nyears, he retired with a few favourite disciples to a quiet valley in his\nnative land, and devoted the remainder of his life to the task of revising\nand improving the famous writings which for so many centuries have been\nconsecrated by the devout acceptance of the Chinese. He died at the age of\nseventy-three, in 477 B.C.,[30] \u201con the eighteenth day of the second\nmoon,\u201d after a seven days\u2019 illness. Like many other great reformers,\nthough but indifferently treated in his lifetime, he became after death\nthe object of universal admiration, and to this day the Chinese pay homage\nto the memory of the \u201cGreat Master,\u201d the \u201cChief Doctor,\u201d the \u201cWise King of\nLiterature,\u201d the \u201cSaint,\u201d the \u201cInstructor of Emperors and Kings.\u201d His\ndescendants have been loaded with honours and privileges, and now\nconstitute the only hereditary nobility in the Chinese empire. Like the\nprinces of the blood, they are exempt from taxation. And in every city of\nthe first, second, and third rank, stands at least one temple dedicated to\nConfucius, where the emperor himself and the mandarins are bound to\nworship, with offerings of wine, fruit, and flowers,--with burning of\nfragrant gums, frankincense, and tapers of sandal wood,--and with singing\nof appropriate hymns. The eighteenth day of the second moon is kept sacred\nby the Chinese as the anniversary of his death.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nWe have already said that the system of Confucius was ethical rather than\nreligious. It is absolutely free from any theological strain, and, indeed,\nmakes no mention of a Creator. \u201cHow should I know God,\u201d he would say,\n\u201cwhen as yet I know not man?\u201d \u201cHis system was essentially conservative; he\naimed at the correction of new vices which had crept into the body politic\nby endeavouring to restore the old customs of the country; and hence the\nhigh favour in which his system has ever been held by the rulers and\nmagnates of the empire. It inculcated the most perfect subordination, the\nmost servile obedience, and the most scrupulous adherence to ancient\nusage; every social, civil, and political duty is set forth in it with the\ngreatest precision; but inasmuch as all the parts of the great machine of\nempire are not absolutely deprived of volition, a rebellious cog-wheel or\ninsignificant pinion will sometimes disarrange and impede the entire\nmachinery.\u201d\n\nConfucius held that the universe had been generated by the union of two\nmaterial principles,--a heavenly and an earthly, Yang and Ya. He\nrepresents man as having fallen by his own act from his original purity\nand happiness, and asserts that by his own act he can recover that\ncondition. For this purpose he must lead a life of obedience to the law,\nand he must not do unto others that which he would not have others do unto\nhim. He made the supremacy of parental authority the basis of his\npolitical teaching, and strongly advocated that the son\u2019s submission to\nthe father must be as complete as that of the servant to the master, of\nthe master to the magistrate, of the magistrate to the crown, and of the\ncrown to the law. Of course this implied that the reciprocal obligations\nmust be observed. This rigid application of the family ideal to the\nadministration of the government, and the consequent creation of a pure\ndespotism, has been the cause of all that is most perplexing to Europeans\nin the Chinese civilisation, and explains why it has never advanced beyond\nthe standard or mark to which it had attained in the era of Confucius.\n\nThe Confucian doctrines are set forth in _Gze-Chou_, \u201cThe Four Books,\u201d and\n_King_, \u201cThe Five Canonical Works,\u201d of which the following particulars may\ninterest the reader.\n\n\n_The Ta-heo, or \u201cGreat Study.\u201d_\n\nThe _Ta-heo_, or \u201cSchool of Adults,\u201d has been translated by Dr. Marshman,\nin the \u201cClavis Sinica.\u201d It is a treatise, in two chapters, on politics and\nmorals, rising gradually from the government of oneself to the government\nof a family, thence to the government of a province, and finally to the\ncontrol of the affairs of an empire. Its leading principle is\nself-improvement, self-culture. In one of the sections an eulogium is\nbestowed upon the beauty of virtue as a means of self-enjoyment. And the\nbook closes with a fine exhortation to be just, and truthful, and honest,\nto those whom fortune places at the head of the state.\n\n\n_The Chung-Yung, or \u201cThe Invariable in the Mean,\u201d_\n\nAlso translated as \u201cthe Safe Middle Course,\u201d and \u201cthe Infallible Medium,\u201d\ndescribes the golden mean, the due medium by which a man should regulate\nhis conduct. He is not to be lifted up by prosperity, nor cast down by\nadversity. Through thirty-three sections, in language sometimes clear and\nstrenuous, sometimes obscure, the subject is pursued, and the whole duty\nof man inculcated. Here is a passage describing a kingly man which may be\ncompared with one in Seneca:--\n\n\u201cIt is only the man supremely holy, who, by the faculty of knowing\nthoroughly, and comprehending perfectly the primitive laws of living\nbeings, is worthy of possessing supreme authority, and governing men; who\nby possessing a soul, grand, firm, constant, and imperturbable, is capable\nof making justice and equity reign; who by his faculty of being always\nhonest, simple, upright, grave, and just, is able to attract respect and\nveneration; who by his faculty of being clothed with the ornaments of the\nmind, and the talents procured by assiduous study, and by the\nenlightenment that springs from an exact investigation of the most hidden\nthings, and the most subtle principles, can with accuracy discern the true\nfrom the false, and the good from the evil.\u201d\n\n\n_The Lun-Yu, or \u201cPhilosophical Conversation.\u201d_\n\nThis is the Chinese _Ph\u00e6do_, and contains a record of the conversations\nheld between Confucius and his disciples, but the author lacked the\neloquence and imagination of Plato. It is interesting however from its\nanecdotes of the Great Teacher. In introducing his guests, it seems that\nhe kept his arms extended, like the wings of a bird; that he never ate\nmeat which had not been cut in a straight line; that he never used his\nfingers to point to anything; and that he would not occupy the mat spread\nfor him as a seat unless it was regularly placed.\n\n\n_The Meng-tze, or \u201cMencius,\u201d_\n\nIs a Commentary upon Confucius, written about a century after his death by\nhis disciple Meng-tze. The subjects treated in it are of various nature.\nIn one part the virtues of individual life and of domestic relations are\ndiscussed; in another, the order of affairs. Here are investigated the\nduties of superiors, from the sovereign to the lowest magistrate, for the\nattainment of good government. There are expounded the labours of\nstudents, peasants, traders, artisans, while, in the course of the work,\nthe laws of the physical world, of the heavens and the earth, the\nmountains and rivers, of birds, fishes, quadrupeds, insects, plants, and\ntrees, are occasionally described. The great number of affairs which\nMencius managed, in the course of his life, in his intercourse with men,\nhis occasional conversations with people of rank, his instructions to his\npupils, his expositions of books, ancient and modern,--all these details\nare incorporated in this publication. It is a collection of historical\nfacts, and of the words of ancient ages, put together for the instruction\nof mankind.\n\nMencius died when he was eighty-four years of age; his memory is revered\nby the Chinese next to that of Confucius, and his descendants are treated\nwith a distinction inferior only to that which is accorded to those of\nConfucius.\n\n\n_King; or, The Five Canonical Works._\n\nThese, which were either written or compiled by Confucius, are the most\nvenerable existing monuments of Chinese literature, and embody the\nfundamental principles of the earliest creeds and customs of China.\n\nThe first is the _Y-King_, or \u201cSacred Book of Changes,\u201d which may be\ntermed a Chinese Cyclop\u00e6dia, and contains a great variety of subjects,\nmorals, physics, and metaphysics. It is founded on the combinations of\nsixty-four lines,--some entire, and some broken,--and called _Koua_; the\ndiscovery of which has been attributed to Fo-hi, the traditional founder\nof Chinese civilisation. He found them, it is said, on the shell of a\ntortoise, and asserted that they were capable of explaining all things. It\ndoes not seem easy, however, to explain _them_, and the commentaries upon\nthem are more numerous than even the commentaries upon Shakespeare. The\nImperial Library at Peking contains no fewer than 1450.\n\nSecond in order comes the _Shu-King_, or \u201cBook of History,\u201d which, despite\nits imperfect and fragmentary condition, is full of interest. It contains\na concise narrative of Early Chinese history, down to the eighth century\nbefore our era; including the speeches addressed by several emperors to\ntheir high officers, and numerous valuable documents of great antiquity.\nReference is made in its pages to a great deluge, which some suppose to be\nthe Flood recorded in the book of Genesis, but others, with more\nprobability, identify with one of the early and extensive inundations of\nthe Hoang-Ho.\n\nThe third is the _Shi-King_, or \u201cBook of Sacred Songs,\u201d a collection of\n311 poems, ancient, national, and official, the best of which every\nwell-educated Chinaman commits to memory. They range from the eighteenth\nto the third century before our era, and are divided into four parts:\nfirst, the Ku-fung, or songs of \u201cthe manners of different states;\u201d second\nand third, songs for state occasions; and fourth, Soong, a collection of\neulogies on the various emperors of the Chow dynasty. This book is\ndescribed as replete with very interesting and probably authentic\ninformation on the ancient manners of China, and is frequently quoted by\nboth Confucius and Mencius, and by them recommended to the study of their\ndisciples.\n\nFourth comes the _Li-King_, or \u201cBook of Rites and Ceremonies,\u201d in which we\nfind a mass of fragments dating from the time of Confucius downwards, and\nthrowing a vivid light on the permanent characteristics of the Chinese\ncivilisation, and on the causes which made it what it is in all its iron\nimmutability. The ceremonial usages of China, as prescribed in this\nritual, number about 3000; and one of the six tribunals, the Ly-pou, is\nspecially charged with their custody and interpretation.\n\nFifth and last is the _Chun-tsien_, or _Tchuntsiou_, or \u201cBook of Spring\nand Autumn,\u201d so called from the seasons in which it was respectively begun\nand ended by Confucius. Here the Great Teacher has simply written down the\nearlier history of his native land of Loo; with the view of recalling the\nprinces of his age to a conservative spirit of reverence for the customs\nof the past by indicating the misfortunes that took place after they fell\ninto neglect.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nStrictly speaking, Confucianism has no priests, no distinct sacerdotal\norder; the emperor himself is the patriarch or head, and every magistrate,\nwithin the sphere of his jurisdiction is a religious official or\nhierophant. \u201cGenerally, all literary persons, and those who propose to\nbecome such, in attaching themselves to it do not necessarily renounce\npractices borrowed from other religions. But, in fact, faith does not seem\nto have anything to do with the matter; and habit alone induces them to\nconform to ceremonies which they themselves turn into ridicule--such as\ndivinations, horoscopes, and calculating lucky and unlucky days, all of\nwhich superstitions are in great vogue throughout the empire.\u201d\n\nChina possesses an enormous number of pagodas, or idol-temples; Peking\nboasts of 10,000; every village has several, and they are distributed all\nalong the roads and all over the fields. Some are remarkable for their\nsplendour; but the majority do not differ in appearance, or very slightly,\nfrom other buildings. Often they are nothing more than small chapels, in\nwhich are niches containing idols and vases filled with burning perfumes,\nor the ashes of gilt paper on which prayers have been printed, these\npapers having been burnt, as a religious rite, by devotees. The\nworshippers, if such they may be called, display the utmost indifference\nof behaviour in these temples: they enter them to enjoy a rest or a sleep;\nor they walk about with their hats on, whistling, smoking, laughing,\nchattering. Round the sides are seated the vendors of the aforesaid gilt\npaper prayers and pastiles; ever and anon they demand attention to their\nwares by striking a gong; while the people incessantly burn paper models\nof clothing, shoes, money, junks, and the like, to assist their deceased\nfriends on their long journey. For though the Chinese have no distinct\nrecognition of a future state, the worship of the dead is a prominent\nelement of their religion. Noble and peasant alike bring offerings, or\nsend them by proxy, and kneel before the shades of their ancestors: this\nduty at least is always remembered, whatever other may be forgotten.\n\nThe following may be given as an example of the prayers used upon such\noccasions:--\n\n\u201cI, Lea Kwang, second son of the third generation, presume to come before\nthe grave of my ancestors. Revolving years have brought again the season\nof Spring; I sweep your tomb with reverence, and, prostrate, beg you to be\nspiritually present, and grant that your posterity may be illustrious. At\nthis season I desire to recompense the root of my existence, and\nreverently, therefore, before your holy spirit present the five-fold\noffering of pork, fowl, duck, goose, and fish; with five fruits and the\ndrink _samshu_;[31] entreating that you will condescend to inspect them.\nThis announcement is presented on high.\u201d\n\nSuch offerings as are not accepted by the priests are generally taken home\nagain to furnish full the worshipper\u2019s own table.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThe Ritual State Worship, which concerns the Emperor and his court, but\naffects not the great body of the people, we must glance at very briefly.\nIt may be defined as the ceremonial of a philosophical pantheism,\nunconnected with any theological doctrine. Three classes of natural\nobjects are distinguished, to which the \u201cGreat,\u201d the \u201cMedium,\u201d and the\n\u201cLesser\u201d Sacrifices are offered. The first class, the _Ta-sze_, includes\nthe Heaven and the Earth, and along with and equal to these, the great\nTemple of Imperial Ancestors. Among the _Chung-sze_, or \u201cMedium\nSacrifices,\u201d are the Genii, the Great Light and the Evening Light (that\nis, the Sun and the Moon), the Gods of Land and Grain, the God of Letters,\nand the Inventors of Agriculture, Manufactures, and the Useful Arts. To\nthe \u201cLesser Sacrifices,\u201d or _Scaou-sze_, belong the Founder of the Art of\nHealing, as well as the spirits of statesmen, scholars, and persons of\neminent virtue. They are offered also to various natural phenomena, such\nas the clouds, the rain, the wind, the thunder. The God of War, and Lung\nWang, the dragon-king, who represents the rivers and streams, have their\nworshippers; nor is Tien-How, the Queen of Heaven, forgotten. There are,\nbesides, a host of household deities, like the Lares and Penates of the\nancients, who are propitiated by domestic sacrifices at the new year, when\nthey are supposed to pay a brief visit to the Other World, and report, as\nit were, the doings and misdoings of the families over which they preside.\n\nThe chief sacrificial seasons are these: the winter solstice for all\noffered to heaven, the summer season for all offered to earth. The others\nhave their appointed dates. Then, in the course of the year, numerous\nfestivals of a more or less religious character are held. First among them\nis the Imperial Ploughing of the Sacred Field, which takes place towards\nthe end of March. The Emperor, attended by some of the princes of the\nblood and his chief ministers, then proceeds to a field on one side of the\ncentral street in Peking, where fitting preparations have, of course, been\nmade. After certain sacrifices, consisting chiefly of grain preserved from\nthe produce of the same field, the Emperor takes the plough, and drives a\nfew furrows. His example is followed by the princes and ministers in\nsuccession: a red tablet indicating the space allotted to each\ndistinguished amateur. The \u201cfive sorts of grain\u201d are then sown; and when\nthe Emperor has seen the work completed by the attendant husbandmen, the\nfield is committed to the charge of an officer whose business it is to\ncollect and store the produce with a view to future sacrifices to the Gods\nof the Harvest.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nOf the _Shae-tung_, or Feast of Lanterns, every traveller has spoken.\nThere are also the _Too-te-tan_, or birthdays of the familiar gods of the\ncity; the _Tsing-ming-tsee_, or Feast of Tombs; the festivals of all and\nsundry deities; and the birthdays of the living Emperor and Empress, as\nwell as the anniversaries of the deaths of their predecessors, which,\nhowever, are observed only by the mandarins. So numerous are the festivals\nthat were they celebrated everywhere by everybody there would be neither\n\u201ctime\u201d nor \u201chands\u201d for the works of agriculture or commerce, trade,\nscience, or the arts.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nWe pass on to a brief account of\n\n\nTAOUISM.\n\nThe founder of Taouism, the doctrine of Tao, or Reason, was a celebrated\nphilosopher named Lao-tsze, who was born in the third year of the Emperor\nTing-wang, of the Chow dynasty (B.C. 604) in the state of Tseu, now known\nas Hoo-pih and Hoo-nan. He preceded Confucius by half a century. His\nfamily name was _Le_, or Plum, and his youthful name, _Urh_, or Ear, in\nallusion to the exceptional size of his \u201cauricular appendages.\u201d The events\nof his career are so obscured in an atmosphere of legend and fable,\ncreated by admiring disciples, that it is difficult to get at any\nauthentic particulars; but he seems to have been an assiduous student, and\nthe historian or chronologist of a king of the Chow dynasty. Visiting,\nabout B.C. 600, the western parts of China, he gained there a knowledge of\nthe system of Fo, or Buddha, and soon afterwards began to develope his own\nreligious teaching. So great was his fame that Confucius went to see him;\nbut the interview was hardly of the character that might have been\nexpected when two religious philosophers met. Lao-tsze reproached the\nyounger sage with pride and ostentation and vanity, affirming that\nphilosophers loved retirement and seclusion, and made no boast of virtue\nand knowledge. It speaks well for the good nature of Confucius that he\nreplied to this tirade by highly commending Lao-tsze to his followers, and\ndescribing him as a dragon soaring to the clouds of Heaven, unsurpassed\nand unsurpassable.\n\nLao-tsze inquired of Confucius if he had discovered the _Taou_, the \u201cpath\u201d\nor \u201creason\u201d by which Heaven acts, and was informed that the philosopher\nhad searched for it unsuccessfully. Lao-tsze replied that the wealthy\ndismissed their friends with presents, and sages theirs with good counsel;\nand that for himself, he humbly claimed to be thought a sage--an indirect\nway of advising Confucius to continue his quest of the _Taou_. Retiring to\nHan-kwan, he wrote there his _Taou-tih-king_, or Book of Reason and\nVirtue. He died, or as his followers say, ascended to Heaven on a black\nbuffalo, in the twenty-first year of the reign of King-wang of the Chow or\nCheu dynasty, or B.C. 523, having attained the age of 119 years.[32]\n\nThe contrast between the system of Lao-tsze and that of Confucius may be\nindicated in a word: the former was _speculative_, the latter _practical_,\nand it is no wonder, therefore that the latter, addressing itself to man\u2019s\nactual necessities and daily duties, prevailed over the former. But, in an\nabstract sense, Lao\u2019s, as originally defined by himself, was the purer and\nmore elevated; for it aimed at securing the immortality of man through the\ncontemplation of GOD, the subjugation of the passions, and the absolute\ntranquillity of the soul. He taught that Silence and the Void generated\nthe Taou, the \u201cLogos\u201d or reason by which movement was produced; and that\nall beings containing in themselves the duality of male and female sprang\nfrom them.\n\nMan, he said, was composed of two principles, the material and the\nspiritual: from the latter he emanated, and to it he ought to return, by\nthrowing off the fetters and snares of the world, crushing out the\nmaterial passions, the desires of the soul, and the pleasures of the body,\nand abandoning riches, honours, and the ties of life.\n\nBefore Lao-tsze\u2019s time, the Chinese seem to have worshipped the\n_Shang-te_, or Supreme Ruler, and the _Tien_, or Heaven: but Lao-tsze\npreached in their place the _Taou_, or \u201creason\u201d of the Kosmos. Of a\nSupreme Creative and Eternal Power he had no conception. There was as\nlittle theology in his system as in that of Confucius; but its morality\nwas not less admirable; it insisted on the practice of those virtues which\nform the moral code of all the higher religions,--charity, benevolence,\nchastity, and the free-will, moral agency, and responsibility of man. But\nthere was an obscurity about Lao-tsze\u2019s teaching, which enabled his\nfollowers successfully to pervert it, and it gradually assumed a form\nwhich the Teacher himself would undoubtedly have been the first to\nrepudiate. The Taossi, as they were called, professed to have discovered\nthe drink of immortality, and practised divination, alchemy, the\ninvocation of spirits, and other superstitious rites. These follies were\ngravely ridiculed by the Joo-Keaou, or sect of Confucius, and gradually\nwere abandoned by all but the most illiterate.\n\nAmong the host of deities worshipped by this sect we may instance the\n_San-tsing_, or \u201cThree Pure Ones,\u201d the three-fold ruler of the assembled\ngods in heaven, the sun, the moon, and the stars, who delivers his name\nand benevolent commands to be promulgated amongst mankind, that all who\nsee and recite that name may be delivered from all evil, and obtain\ninfinite happiness. \u201cIt is impossible to doubt,\u201d says a writer, \u201cthat we\nsee here traces of a Divine revelation, corrupted though it has now\nbecome. China has her Trinity in Taouism as well as in Buddhism; as other\nPagan nations have had theirs in the Orphic mythology, where there were\n\u2018counsel, and light, and life;\u2019 in the Platonic theology, which had its\n\u2018good, and mind, and the soul of the world,\u2019 as in the Egyptian mysteries\nthere were \u2018On, and Isis, and Neith;\u2019 and in that of Fo, \u2018Brahma, Vishnu,\nand Seeva.\u2019\u201d\n\nThe Taossi, Tien-sze, or \u201cCelestial Doctors,\u201d--the priests of\nTaouism,--are outwardly distinguished amongst the Chinese by the manner in\nwhich they dress their hair. They shave the sides of the head, and coil\nthe remaining hair in a tuft on the crown. Moreover, they wear\nslate-coloured robes. There are two orders; one, the keepers of the\ntemples, vowed to celibacy; the others, who are free to marry, live in\ntheir own houses, or wander about the country selling charms and medical\nnostrums. In the feast of one of their deities, the \u201cHigh Emperor of all\nthe Sombre Heavens,\u201d they assemble before his temple, and having kindled a\nhuge fire, about fifteen or twenty feet in diameter, go over it barefoot,\ncarrying the gods in their arms. \u201cThey firmly assert,\u201d says Williams,\n\u201cthat if they possess a sincere mind they will not be injured by the fire;\nbut both priests and people get miserably burnt on these occasions.\u201d\nEscayrac de Lauture says that they leap, dance, and whirl round the fire,\nstriking at the devils with a straight Roman-like sword, and sometimes\nwounding themselves as the priests of Baal and Moloch were wont to do.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nSome interesting particulars of the Buddhist temples of China are supplied\nby Mr. Fortune. He speaks of the temple of Tien-tung as a congeries of\ntemples, a collection of spacious structures, which occupy the site of\nformer buildings. All of these are crowded with idols, or images of the\nfavourite gods, such as the \u201cThree precious Buddhas,\u201d \u201cthe Queen of\nHeaven,\u201d represented as sitting on the celebrated lotus or nelumbium--\u201cthe\nGod of War,\u201d and many other deified kings and great men of former days.\nMany of these images are from thirty to forty feet in height, and have a\nstriking appearance as they stand arranged in the spacious lofty halls.\nThe priests themselves reside in a range of low buildings, erected at\nright angles with the different temples and courts that divide them. Each\nhas a little temple under his own roof; a family altar crowded with petty\nimages, where he is often engaged in private devotion.\n\nMr. Fortune, after inspecting the various temples and the belfry, which\ncontains a noble bronze bell of large dimensions, was conducted to the\nhouse of the principal priest, where dinner was already spread upon the\ntable. The Buddhist priests are not permitted to eat animal food at any of\ntheir meals. The dinner, therefore, consisted entirely of vegetables,\nserved _\u00e0 la Chinoise_, in numerous small round basins, the contents of\neach--soups excepted--being cut up into small square bits, to be eaten\nwith chopsticks. The Buddhist priests contrive to procure a quantity of\nvegetables of different kinds, which, by a peculiar mode of preparation,\nare rendered very savoury. \u201cIn fact,\u201d says Mr. Fortune,[33] \u201cso nearly do\nthey resemble animal food in taste and in appearance, that at first we\nwere deceived, imagining that the little bits we were able to get hold of\nwith our chopsticks were really pieces of fowl or beef. Such, however, was\nnot the case, as our good host was consistent on this day at least, and\nhad nothing but vegetable productions at his table. Several other priests\nsat with us at table, and a large number of others of inferior rank with\nservants, crowded around the doors and windows outside.\u201d\n\nDuring dinner, Mr. Fortune learned that about a hundred priests were\nconnected with the monastery, but that many were always about on missions\nto various parts of the country. A considerable portion of land in the\nvicinity belonged to the temple, and supplied its revenue: large sums were\nraised every year from the sale of bamboos, which are here very excellent,\nand of the branches of trees and brushwood, which are made up in bundles\nfor firewood. Many rice and tea farms also belong to the priests and are\ncultivated by them. In addition to the sums thus raised, a considerable\nrevenue must accrue from the contributions of the devotees who frequent\nthe temple, as well as from the alms and donations collected by the\nmendicant priests of the order, who are sent out on begging excursions at\nstated periods of the year. There are, of course, all grades of priests;\nsome being merely the servants of the others, both domestic and\nagricultural.\n\nThe temple forms the centre of a fine landscape. It stands at the head of\na fertile valley, with green hills all around it; this valley echoes with\nthe music of several bright mountain streams, and yields abundant crops of\nrice. On the lower slopes of the more fertile hills grow masses of tea\nshrubs, with dark green leaves, lending a fine background to the picture.\nA long avenue of Chinese pine trees leads up to the temple. At first it is\nstraight, but near the temple it winds picturesquely round the edges of\nthe artificial lakes, to end at a flight of stone steps. Behind, and on\neach side, the mountains rise in irregular ridges, from 1,000 to 2,000\nfeet above the sea level; not bare and desolate like the mountains of the\nsouth, but clothed to their tops with a dense tropical-looking growth of\nbrushwood, shrubs, and trees. Some of the finest bamboos of China flourish\nin the ravines, and the sombre-coloured pine attains to a large size on\nthe acclivities.\n\nA quaint account of the origin of the monastery was given by one of the\nhead priests:--\n\n\u201cMany hundred years ago a pious old man retired from the world, and came\nto dwell in these mountains, giving himself up entirely to the performance\nof religious duties. So earnest was he in his devotions that he neglected\neverything relating to his temporal wants, even to his daily food.\nProvidence, however, would not suffer so good a man to starve. Some boys\nwere sent in a miraculous manner, who daily supplied him with food. In the\ncourse of time the fame of the sage extended all over the adjacent\ncountry, and disciples flocked to him from all quarters. A small range of\ntemples was built, and thus commenced the extensive buildings which now\nbear the name of \u2018Tien-tung,\u2019 or the \u2018Temple of the Heavenly Boys;\u2019 _Tien_\nsignifying heaven, and _tung_, a boy. At last the old man died, but his\ndisciples supplied his place. The fame of the temple spread far and wide,\nand votaries came from the most distant parts of the empire--one of the\nChinese kings being amongst the number--to worship and leave their\nofferings at its altars. Larger temples were built in front of the\noriginal ones, and these again in their turn gave way to those spacious\nbuildings which form the principal part of the structure of the present\nday.\u201d\n\nMr. Fortune remarks that a large number of Buddhist temples are scattered\nover all this part of the country. Their architects have shown as keen a\nsympathy with nature as the Cistercian founders in Europe, always building\nthem in the most lovely and picturesque situations, amongst the green\nhills, and in the shelter of spreading woods--the leafy enclosures that in\nEngland indicate the presence of an old manor house, or \u201cancestral hall.\u201d\n_Poo-to_, or the Worshipping Island, as foreigners call it, is one of the\neastern islands in the Chusan Archipelago, and seems to be one of the\ngreat Buddhist centres. The principal group of temples is situated in a\nfine romantic glen, and from the high ground above it, seems like a town\nof considerable size. As the traveller approaches nearer, he finds the\nview of great interest. In front extends a large artificial pond, filled\nwith the broad green leaves and noble red and white flowers of the\nnelumbium speciosum,--a plant in high favour with the Chinese. Access to\nthe monastery is obtained by a very ornamental bridge thrown across this\npiece of water.\n\nThe temples or halls containing the idols are extremely spacious; many of\nthe idols are thirty or forty feet high, generally made of wood or clay,\nand then richly gilt. In a temple of far less pretentious character than\nany of the others Mr. Fortune met with some exquisite bronze statues, of\nundoubted value.\n\nHaving examined these temples, our traveller made his way towards another\ngroup of them, about two miles to the eastward, and close on the sea\nshore. Entering the courts through a kind of triumphal arch, which looked\nout upon the sapphire sea, he found that these temples were constructed on\nthe same plan.\n\nOn the following day he inspected various parts of the island. In addition\nto the larger temples just noticed, about sixty or seventy smaller ones\nare built on all the hill sides, each containing three or four priests,\nwho are all under the abbot, or superior, residing near one of the large\ntemples. \u201cEven on the top of the highest hill,\u201d he says, \u201cprobably 1,500\nor 1,800 feet above the level of the sea, we found a temple of\nconsiderable size and in excellent repair. There are winding stone steps\nfrom the sea-beach all the way up to this temple, and a small\nresting-place about half-way up the hill, where the weary devotee may\nrest and drink of the refreshing stream which flows down the sides of the\nmountain, and in the little temple close at hand, which is also crowded\nwith idols, he can supplicate Buddha for strength to enable him to reach\nthe end of his journey. We were surprised to find a Buddhist temple in\nsuch excellent order as the one on the summit of the hill proved to be in.\nIt is a striking fact, that almost all these places are crumbling fast\ninto ruins. There are a few exceptions, in cases where they happen to get\na good name amongst the people from the supposed kindness of the gods; but\nthe great mass are in a state of decay.\u201d\n\nThe island of Poo-to is nothing but a residence for Buddhist priests, and\nno other persons are allowed to live there but their servants and\nattendants. No women are admitted, as the principles of Buddhism insist\nupon sacerdotal celibacy. There are about 2,000 priests, many of whom are\nconstantly absent on begging expeditions for the maintenance of their\nreligion. On certain high days, at different periods of the year, many\nthousands of both sexes, but more particularly females, visit these\ntemples, clothed in their gayest attire, to pay their vows and engage in\nthe other practices of heathen worship. In the temples or at the doorways\nstand little stalls, for the sale of incense, candles, paper made up to\nresemble ingots of Sycee-silver, and other holy things, which are regarded\nas acceptable offerings to the gods, and are either consumed in the\ntemples or carried home to bring, it is supposed, a blessing upon the\nhomes and families of their purchasers. The profits of these sales go, of\ncourse, to the maintenance of the establishment. Whatever we may think of\nthe superstitious character of Buddhism, it is impossible to doubt the\nsincerity of its disciples, when we find them sometimes travelling a\ndistance of several hundred miles to worship in their temples.\n\n\u201cI was once staying,\u201d says Fortune,[34] \u201cin the temple of Tien-tung when\nit was visited for three days by devotees from all parts of the country.\nAs they lined the roads on their way to the temple, clad in the graceful\nand flowing costumes of the East, the mind was naturally led back to\nthose days of Scripture History when Jerusalem was in its glory, and the\nJews, the chosen people of God, came from afar to worship in its temple.\u201d\n\nMr. Gutzlaff, the missionary, is of opinion that the priests and devotees\nof Buddhism entertain no sincere conviction of the truth of their creed.\nDescribing a visit to Poo-to, he says: \u201cWe were present at the vespers of\nthe priests, which they chanted in the Pali language, not unlike the Latin\nservice of the Romish Church. They held rosaries in their hands, which\nrested folded upon their breasts. One of them had a small bell, by the\ntinkling of which their service was regulated; and they occasionally beat\nthe drum and large bell to rouse Buddha\u2019s attention to their prayers. The\nsame words were a hundred times repeated. None of the officiating persons\nshowed any interest in the ceremony, for some were looking round laughing\nand joking, while others muttered their prayers. The few people who were\npresent, not to attend the worship, but to gaze at us, did not seem, in\nthe least degree, to feel the solemnity of the service.\u201d But to condemn\nthe whole Buddhist sect from this solitary instance would be as reasonable\nas to pronounce all Protestants insincere because a West-end congregation\nin London may have shown signs of frivolity and indifference! Mr. Fortune,\non the contrary, declares that he was much impressed by the solemnity with\nwhich the devotional exercises of the Buddhists were generally conducted.\n\u201cI have often walked,\u201d he says, \u201cinto Chinese temples when the priests\nwere engaged in prayer, and although there would have been some apology\nfor them had their attention been diverted, they went on in the most\nsolemn manner until the conclusion of the service, as if no foreigner were\npresent. They then came politely up to me, examining my dress and\neverything about me with the most earnest curiosity. Nor does this apply\nto priests only; the laity, and particularly the female sex, seem equally\nsincere when they engage in their public devotions. Whether they are what\nthey appear to be, or how often they are in this pious frame of mind, are\nquestions which I cannot answer. Before judging harshly of the Chinese,\nlet the reader consider what effect would be produced upon the members of\na Christian church by the unexpected entrance of a small-footed Chinese\nlady, or a Mandarin, with the gold button and peacock feather mounted on\nhis hat, and his long tail dangling over his shoulders. I am far from\nbeing an admirer of the Buddhist priesthood; they are generally an\nimbecile race, and shamefully ignorant of everything but the simple forms\nof their religion, but nevertheless there are many traits in their\ncharacter not unworthy of imitation.\u201d\n\nThe superstitious credulity of the Chinese is demonstrated by the nature\nof their various religious ceremonies. In all the southern towns every\nhouse has its temple or altar, both within and without. In the interior\nthe altar generally occupies the end of the principal hall or shop, as the\ncase may be; is raised a few feet from the ground, and adorned with an\neffigy of the household god, enveloped in gaudy tinsel paper. By the way,\nof what we call \u201ctaste,\u201d the Chinese do not seem to know even the\nrudiments; nor do they appear to have any feeling for harmony of colour or\nproportion. On the first day of the Chinese month, and other festivals,\ncandles and incense flare and smoke on the table in front of it. The altar\noutside the door is like to a small furnace, and here the same ceremonies\nare regularly performed.\n\nThe traveller, as he passes in the neighbourhood of small villages, or in\neven more sequestered localities, comes upon little joss-houses or\ntemples, all glaringly decorated in the same style with paintings and\ntinsel paper, and stuck round about with bits of candles and sticks of\nincense. Shops for the sale of idols of all kinds and sizes, but of\nunvarying ugliness, at prices varying from a few pence to many pounds, are\nfound in all the large towns. Some are evidently very ancient, and have\npassed through the hands of a long succession of proprietors. It is a\ncapital custom--is it not?--when you are tired of your god, because he\ndoes not fulfil your wishes, to purchase another and a more powerful at a\nslight increase of price! A deity who would really gratify _all_ our\npetitions would be worth--so far as this world is concerned--a heavy sum!\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nNothing in China is more remarkable than the periodical offerings of a\nChinese family to its gods. The traveller already cited witnessed such a\nceremony in a house at Shanghai. The principal hall was duly set out at an\nearly hour in the morning; a large table was placed in the centre; and\nshortly afterwards covered with small dishes filled with the various\narticles commonly used as food by the Chinese. All these were of the very\nbest description which could be procured. After a certain time had elapsed\nnumerous candles were lighted, and from the burning incense rose columns\nof fragrant smoke. The inmates of the house and their friends were all\nclothed in their best attire, and came in turn to _ko-too_, or bow lowly\nand repeatedly in front of the table and the altar. \u201cThe scene,\u201d says our\nauthority, \u201calthough it was an idolatrous one, seemed to me to have\nsomething very impressive about it, and whilst I pitied the delusion of\nour host and his friends, I could not but admire their devotion. In a\nshort time after this ceremony was completed a large quantity of tinsel\npaper, made up in the form and shape of the ingots of Sycee silver common\nin China, was heaped on the floor in front of the tables, the burning\nincense was then taken from the table and placed in the midst of it, and\nthe whole consumed together. By-and-by, when the gods were supposed to\nhave finished their repast, all the articles of food were removed from the\ntables, cut up, and consumed by people connected with the family.\u201d\n\nOn another occasion, Mr. Fortune, when at Ning-po, having been abroad all\nday, did not return to the city until nightfall. The city gates were\nclosed, but, on knocking, he was admitted by the warder. Passing into the\nwidest and finest street in the city, he observed a blaze of light and a\ngeneral liveliness very unusual in any Chinese town after dark. The sounds\nof music fell upon his ear, the monotonous beat of the drum and gong, and\nthe more pleasing and varied tones of several wind instruments. On\napproaching nearer he discovered that a public offering was being made to\nthe gods, and it proved to be a more striking scene than he could have\nanticipated. The table was spread in the open street, and all the\npreparations were on a large and expensive scale. Instead of small dishes,\nwhole animals were sacrificed. On one side of the table was placed a pig,\non the other a sheep; the former, scraped clean in the usual fashion, the\nlatter skinned; of both the entrails had been removed, and on both were\nplaced flowers, an onion, and a knife. The other parts of the table\n\u201cgroaned\u201d with the delicacies in vogue among the more respectable Chinese,\nsuch as fowls, ducks, numerous compound dishes, fruits, vegetables, and\nrice. At one end of the table, when the gods were supposed to sit during\nthe meal, chairs were set; and chopsticks were laid in order by the side\nof every dish. The whole place glared with light, and wreaths of incense\nfilled the air with sweet odours. At intervals, bands of musicians struck\nup the favourite national airs, which are all of a plaintive cast, and\naltogether the scene was a strange and curious revelation of human\nsuperstition.[35]\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nProcessions in honour of the gods are of frequent occurrence. Mr. Fortune\nspeaks of one which he saw at Shanghai as at least a mile in length. The\ngods, or josses, arrayed in the finest silks, were carried about in\nsplendid sedan-chairs, in the centre of a long train of devotees, all\nsuperbly dressed for the occasion, and all bearing their different\ninsignia of office. The dresses of the officials exactly resembled those\nof some of the attendants who figure in the suite of the higher mandarins.\nSome wore on the sides of their hats a broad fan, composed of\npeacock-feathers; others strutted in gaudy theatrical costumes, with two\nlong black feathers stuck, like horns, in their low caps. The scowling\nexecutioners carried long conical black hats on their heads, and whips in\ntheir hands, for the prompt chastisement of the refractory. Bands of\nmusic, in different parts of the procession, played at intervals as it\nmarched along.\n\nOn arriving at a temple in the suburbs, it came to a halt. The gods were\ntaken out of the sedan-chairs, and with a great exhibition of reverence,\nreplaced in the temple, from which they had been removed in the morning.\nThen their worshippers bent low before their altars, burning incense, and\ndepositing their gifts. Numerous groups of well-dressed ladies and their\nchildren were scattered over the ground in the neighbourhood of the\ntemple; all were kneeling, and apparently they conducted their devotions\nwith great earnestness. A large quantity of paper, in the shape of the\nSycee silver ingots, was piled up on the grass by the different devotees,\nand when the ceremonies of the day were being brought to a conclusion, the\nwhole was burned in honour of, or as an offering to, the gods.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VII.\n\n_AMONG THE MALAYS: THE SLAMATAN BROMOK; THE DYAKS; THE PAPUAN TRIBES; THE\nAHETAS._\n\n\nTHE SLAMATAN BROMOK.\n\nA religious ceremony exists in Java which has an obvious affinity to the\nold Nature-Worship, and finds its excuse in the dread with which the\nuncivilised races regarded the mysterious forces of Nature, unseen in\nthemselves, but palpable in their results. About three miles from the town\nof Tosari, rises the barren cone of the Bromok, a still active volcano,\nwhich is strangely situated in the bosom of green wooded hills and\nmountains,--a significant blur upon the landscape. The traveller who\ndesires to accomplish its ascent climbs up the rough and almost\nprecipitous slope by a path winding through immense breadths of a tall\nyellow grass called the alang-alang. When he has attained to the brink of\nthe Monegal, an enormous extinct crater, reputed to be the largest in the\nworld, he will do well to pause, and survey the landscape before him. Of\nthe knot of mountains on which his eye rests, the foremost is called the\nBatok, or Butak, that is, the Bald; in allusion, probably, to its barren\nsummit, for its sides are well clothed with herbage. It is shaped like a\ncone, with deep grooves down its declivities, indicating the course taken\nby the lava-streams formerly ejected from its interior. To its right, a\nlittle in the rear, stretches the sharp pointed chain of the Dedari and\nWidadarea, or \u201cabode of fairies;\u201d while, on the left, shrouded in smoke\nclouds, which partially conceal its bulk, is situated the mass of the\ndreary Bromok.\n\nDescending into the crater, we cross its sandy floor, the Dasar,--or, as\nit is appropriately called, the Sandy Sea,--where grows not tree nor\nshrub, and the only signs of vegetation are a few scattered patches of\ndried and scrubby grass. The surface is strangely corrugated or ridged,\nlike the sea-sand at ebb of tide; and the whole landscape is as full of\ngloom as the waste of the African Sahara.\n\nLike many other volcanoes, the Bromok is a truncated cone. From one of its\nsides project numerous irregular masses, or mounds of mud and sand,\nincrusted in a baked clay like red lava. Some of these have been largely\nreduced in size by the heavy tropical rains, which have ploughed deep\nbroad fissures in the Sandy Sea; while others, still supplied with liquid\nmatter from the volcano, are encroaching on the Dasar, and covering so\nmuch of it as lies within the more immediate neighbourhood of the crater.\nLarge blocks of lime and limestone lie embedded in these mounds; also huge\nblack stones veined like marble and glittering like granite. These, as\nwell as the scori\u00e6 which abound in every direction, were products, it is\nsupposed, of the last eruption of the Bromok.\n\nClimbing to the summit of the ridge, and looking down into the abyss of\nthe crater, the traveller at first is tempted to suppose that before him\nlies one of the \u201ccircles\u201d of Dante\u2019s medi\u00e6val Inferno. A yawning pit in\nthe centre belches dense volumes of sulphureous smoke, accompanied by\nterrific sounds, like groans and shrieks and yells. The inner crater forms\na large basin, about 350 feet in diameter, with irregular broken sides,\ndescending to a depth of fully 250 feet. The sides, as well as the bottom,\nare encrusted with deposits of yellow sulphureous matter.\n\nThe ceremony of the benediction of this dread volcano takes place two or\nthree times a year; it is not without its picturesque details. Groups of\npilgrims are scattered about the Sandy Sea; some eating, others praying;\nsome singing, others laughing, talking, chaffering. Men are selling, and\nfinding a ready market for, amulets, charms, and volcanic stones, which,\nin language as extravagant as that of the European proprietor of a patent\npill, they declare to be sovereign remedies for every human malady.\nProvisions of all kinds are on sale, and lie exposed upon roughly\nconstructed stands, resembling those which are seen at English fairs; a\nplank or two, supported on a couple of stone trestles. \u201cWodonos and\nMantries\u201d--the Javanese nobles--parade up and down in gay attire, their\nburnished krisses glittering amidst the folds of their sarong. Old men and\nold women, who have come to pay their last homage to the shrine, totter\nalong feebly; watching with delight, however, the frolics of their\ngrandchildren as they scamper about in unchecked glee.\n\nAt one part of the Sandy Sea twenty mats are ranged in a row, and upon\neach a young priest kneels, having before him a box of myrrh,\nfrankincense, aloes, and other spices, which are sold for offerings. At\nright angles runs another row, with the same number of priests, all\nkneeling in the Arab fashion, their bodies partly resting on the calves of\ntheir legs. These are older than the former group, and may be regarded as\nthe patriarchs of their respective villages. Behind each stands a\npayong-bearer, shading his master from the sun with a large umbrella.\nTheir dress consists of a white gown worn over the sarong, which is tied\nto the waist by a broad red belt. Over the shoulders hang two bands of\nyellow silk, bound with scarlet, and their ends ornamented with tassels\nand gold coins. The head-dress consists of a large turban, adorned with\ngay silken scarfs. In front of each priest are spread small packets made\nof plantain leaves, containing incense, sandal-wood chips, and other\npreparations; wooden censers, throwing forth jets of fragrant smoke; and a\nvessel, made of plaited ratan, for holding water.\n\nAt a short distance from the priests a motley crowd is assembled, waiting\nfor the various offerings they have deposited upon specially prepared\nbamboo stands, to be consecrated. These offerings consist of cocoa-nuts,\nplantains, pine-apples, mangoes, and other fruits; of baskets of young\nchickens; of trays loaded with all kinds of cakes; of strips of silk and\ncalico; of gold, silver, and copper coins.\n\nAfter spending a few minutes in prayer, the priest dips his goupillon or\ncup into the vessel of water before him, mutters a few unintelligible\nwords, and sprinkles the oblations as they are successively presented.\nThen all the holy men bow their heads, and repeat loudly and distinctly a\nritual prayer.\n\nThe oldest rises up, followed in succession by his sacerdotal companions,\nuttering a phrase which sounds like \u201cAyo, ayo, Bromok!\u201d and probably\nmeans, \u201cForward, forward to the Bromok!\u201d At this signal all the crowd rush\nto the Bromok, impressed with a belief that he who first gains the ridge\nwill be the favourite of fortune, and presently meet with some exceptional\nstroke of good luck. At intervals some of the older priests come to a\nhalt, spread their mats, and prostrate themselves in prayer for five or\nten minutes, thus securing an interval of rest at the same time that they\nwin a reputation for special devoutness.\n\nOn reaching the summit of the volcano, the various families and\nindividuals again present their offerings to the priests, who mumble over\nthem a few additional words: they are then thrown into the crater, each\nperson eagerly repeating some prayer or wish. And thus concludes the\nstrange ceremony by which the spirits of the Bromok are supposed to be\npropitiated. The crowd descend from the volcano to join in various games\nand pastimes; towards evening they begin to disperse, and as the night\nspreads its cloud of darkness over the scene, the Sea of Sand resumes its\nordinary aspect of loneliness and desolation.\n\n\nTHE DYAKS OF BORNEO.\n\nIt is not certain that the Dyaks possess any religion. Temminck asserts\nthat they _have_, and that it bears a close resemblance to \u201cfetichism.\u201d\nThe god Djath, he says, rules the sublunar world, and the god Sangjang\npresides over hell. These gods wear the human form, but are invisible; the\nDyaks invoke them by sprinkling rice on the ground, and offering various\nsacrifices. In the houses of the Dyaks, adds Temminck, wooden idols are\nfrequently met with.\n\nOther travellers are of opinion that they profess a kind of Pantheism, and\nrepresent them as believing, like the ancient Greeks, in a multitude of\ngods, gods above and gods below the world, as well as innumerable good and\nevil spirits, of whom Budjang-Brani is undoubtedly the most wicked. All\ndiseases are caused by the agency of evil demons, and all misfortunes; and\ntherefore the Dyaks make vigorous efforts to drive them away by shouts,\nand shrieks, and the discordant gong. So in some of the West Indian\nislands the natives, during an eclipse, would seek, by a horrible clamour,\nto frighten away the monster they supposed to be devouring the moon.\n\nSome authorities go so far as to represent the Dyaks as cherishing vague\nideas of the Unity of the Godhead and the immortality of the soul.\n\nMadame Ida Pfeiffer was by no means a philosophical traveller, but she was\nan honest observer; and as the result of her explorations in Borneo, she\npositively affirms that among the tribes she visited are neither temples\nnor idols, priests nor sacrifices. On the occasions of their births,\nmarriages and funerals they perform certain ceremonies, but these appear\nto be devoid of all religious character. Usually on such occasions they\nkill fowls as well as hogs. When concluding treaties of peace they always\nslaughter swine, but they do not eat them, and in this custom we may trace\nperhaps the propitiatory idea. A few tribes burn their dead, and preserve\nthe ashes in hollow trees; others inter them in the least accessible\nlocalities, such as the summits of lofty mountains; others bind the corpse\nto the trunk of a tree in the position in which S. Peter was crucified,\nthat is, with the feet upwards and the head downwards.\n\n\nIN BOURU.\n\nThe inhabitants of Bouru, one of the islands of the Malay Archipelago,\nprofess a creed which was taught them by one called Nabiata. From some of\nits articles he would seem to have been a Mohammedan, or acquainted with\nMohammedanism; but whence he came, or how, or when he made his way to\nBouru, it is impossible to ascertain. The natives say that there is one\nSupreme Being, Who created all things, and is the source of both good and\nevil. He permits the existence of evil spirits. Those who pray to Him He\nrewards with prosperity; those who neglect this duty He never fails to\npunish. It was owing to His infinite love for man that He sent him this\ninspired teacher Nabiata, who resided among the mountains, and delivered\nhis Master\u2019s will in seven commandments:--\n\n    1. Thou shalt not kill nor wound.\n\n    2. Thou shalt not steal.\n\n    3. Thou shalt not commit adultery.\n\n    4. Thou shalt not set thyself up against thy _fenna_ (priest.)\n\n    5. A man shall not set himself up against the chief of his tribe.\n\n    6. A chief shall not set himself up against him who is over his or\n    other tribes.\n\n    7. The chief over more than one tribe shall not set himself up against\n    him who is placed over all the tribes.\n\nNabiata also taught that though the body perishes, the soul will live for\never; that those who keep the foregoing commandments, (and all the acts of\nmen are duly recorded by the Supreme Being,) shall dwell in His presence\nfar above the firmament; while those who have lived wickedly shall never\nrise to the abode of the happy, nor shall they remain upon earth, but for\never and ever, lonely and in sorrow, wander among the clouds, yearning\nwith a desire that can never be fulfilled, to join their brethren in the\nheaven above or on the earth beneath.\n\nNabiata also introduced the rite of circumcision, and ordained that it\nshould be performed on children of both sexes when they attained the age\nof eight or ten years.\n\n\nTHE PAPUAN TRIBES.\n\nAmong the Dorians, or the inhabitants of the north coast of New Guinea,\nnear Port Dory, an almost childish superstition prevails. Always and\neverywhere they carry about with them a variety of charms and talismans,\nsuch as bits of bone, or quartz, or carved wood, to which, for some reason\nor other, an artificial value has come to be attached. Those among them\nwho have acquired a slight knowledge of Mohammedanism use verses of the\nKoran written upon narrow strips of paper by the Mohammedan priests of\nCeram and Tidore. But most of the Dorians are pagans, and worship an idol\ncalled \u201cKarwar,\u201d a clumsy figure of which, carved in wood, holding a\nshield, and distinguished by an exceptionally large head, with a sharp\nnose and a wide mouth, is kept in every house, and plays the part of a\ndumb oracle. Its owner, when involved in any difficulty or danger, hastens\nto crouch before it, bowing or salaaming repeatedly, with his hands\nclasped upon his forehead. If while thus engaged he experiences an emotion\nof doubt or despondency, it is considered an evil sign, and he proceeds to\nabandon whatever may have been his wish or object. It will thus be seen\nthat everything depends upon the votary\u2019s temperament or natural\ndisposition,--if he be a sanguine and resolute man, it is not likely that\nhe will be conscious of any untoward sensation; and, in such a case, he of\ncourse concludes that he has the sanction of his \u201cKarwar.\u201d In other words,\nhis will fortifies him to carry out his wishes. But even among civilised\nnations a similar method of \u201cconsulting the oracle,\u201d--of soliciting the\nadvice of another with the intention of following it only if it coincides\nwith one\u2019s own desires,--is sometimes heard of!\n\nThe Dorians appear to maintain a priestly caste; but its functions are\nconfined to the interpretation of dreams and omens; besides which its\nmembers act as \u201cmedicine men.\u201d There are no religious rites, no\nsacrifices. The two notable events of marriage and death pass with little\nshow. In the former, the intending bride and bridegroom sit down before\nthe Karwar, the woman offers the man homage in the shape of tobacco and\nbetel-leaf; then they join hands, rise up, and are recognised as man and\nwife. When a death occurs, the corpse is wrapped in a white calico shroud,\nand interred in a pit about five feet deep. There it lies upon its side in\nthe midst of its weapons and ornaments, and a porcelain dish under its\near. The grave is afterwards filled up with earth, roofed over with dried\ngrass, and crowned with the Karwar of the departed.\n\nThe Aruans, like the Papuans, belong to the Australo-Malay division of the\nArchipelago, and their religious system is but a little more developed.\nAnd here we may note that as we recede from Asia and advance through the\ngreat chain of the Eastern islands to Australia, we observe a gradual\nreligious decadence, until the depth of barbarism is reached in the\nwretched aboriginal tribes of the great \u201cisland continent.\u201d The Aruans\nhave no idea of a heaven or a hell; no sense of any \u201cworld beyond the\ngrave,\u201d but their funeral rites are conducted on an extensive scale.\n\nWhen an Aruan dies, his kinsmen at once assemble and destroy all the goods\nand chattels he has accumulated during his lifetime; breaking even the\ngongs in pieces, which are carefully thrown away. The body is next laid\nout on a small mat, and propped up against a ladder for three or four\ndays; after which the relatives again assemble, and apparently to prevent\nfurther decay, cover the exposed parts with lime. Meanwhile the hut is\nfilled with the fumes of burning dammar or resin, and the guests sit in\nthe perfumed atmosphere drinking large draughts of arrack, and of a spirit\nwhich they contrive to distil from the juice of some indigenous fruit. The\nstimulant soon does its work; they give vent to their feelings in violent\nshouts, which mingle with the howls and wails of the women and the hoarse\ndiscord of the gongs. Food is offered to the deceased, and the mouth\ncrammed with various kinds of edibles, rice, and arrack.\n\nBy this time all the friends and relatives of the departed have\nassembled--as at a Scotch funeral; the body is placed on a kind of bier,\nwhich is strewn with numerous pieces of cloth according to the wealth of\nthe deceased; while large dishes of China porcelain are set beneath to\ncatch any moisture that may fall from it. A high value is afterwards set\nupon these dishes. Being taken out of the house, the body is supported\nagainst a post, and another effort made to induce it to eat. The hollow\njaws are again stuffed with lighted cigars, rice, fruit, and arrack; and\nthe mourners join in a loud chant, inquiring whether the sleeper will not\nawake at the sight of so many friends and fellow-villagers. Alas, the long\nslumber continues! The body is again placed upon its bier, which is\ncarried into the forest, and it is hoisted upon the summit of four posts.\nA tree, usually the _Pavetta Indica_, is then planted near it; and at this\nfinal ceremony none, it is said, but naked women are allowed to be\npresent. This is called the _sudah buang_, and signifies that the body is\nthenceforth abandoned to the silence of the wilderness as unable any\nlonger to see, hear, think, or feel.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThe religion of savage or uncivilised men is, necessarily, coloured and\ndetermined by the natural influences that surround them, and according as\nthey live in the African desert or the American forest, among the snows of\nSiberia or on the table-land of Tibet, will bear its distinctive and\nappropriate character. We do not doubt, therefore, but that Sherard Osborn\nis right in the explanation he offers of the superstitious credulity of\nthe Malays, that the wonderful phenomena peculiar to the seas and islands\nof the great Eastern Archipelago could never be intelligible to an\nuneducated and highly imaginative race except on the supposition of\nsupernatural agency. Of course, this superstitious temperament is not\nconfined to the Malayan race. It is found, as we have said, in all savage\npeoples, and springs from that profound though often vague and undefinable\nsense of an overruling and mysterious Power which the influence of Nature\nimpresses on the heart of man.\n\nThere were proofs by the thousand among the Malays with whom Admiral\nSherard Osborn came in contact, of that connection with the Unseen World\nwhich men in every stage of civilisation seem to accept and to be desirous\nof developing. And he relates a striking instance of their great\ncredulity, which we may quote here as not wholly without illustrative\nvalue.\n\nSherard Osborn\u2019s gunboat was lying one night close to the southern point\nof the Quedah river, where it flows into the Strait of Malacca. The air\nwas chill and damp, and the sky obscured with clouds, through which a\nyoung moon sped occasional shafts of silver light.\n\nAbout eleven o\u2019clock his attention was directed to his look-out man, a\nMalay, who, seated upon the fore-deck gun, was spitting violently, and\ngiving rapid utterance to expressions apparently of reproof or defiance.\nAnother Malay quickly joined him; pointed towards the jungle-loaded shore;\nand then he too began the spitting and ejaculatory process. After awhile,\nwith an evident air of relief, the second Malay went down below. Unable\nany longer to restrain his curiosity, Sherard Osborn walked forward. The\nlook-out man had turned his back to the jungle, but ever and anon threw a\nfurtive glance over his shoulder, and uttered sentences in which the name\nof \u201cAllah\u201d frequently occurred. He seemed delighted at the coming of his\ncaptain, and, springing to his feet, saluted him.\n\n\u201cAnything new?\u201d said Osborn; \u201cany prahus in sight?\u201d\n\n\u201cTeda, Touhan--no, sir,\u201d was the reply; and then observing that his\nofficer was looking in the direction of the jungle, he made signs that it\nwas better to look anywhere but there.\n\nCalling Jamboo, his interpreter, Osborn desired him to ask the Malay what\nhe saw in the jungle. Judge his astonishment at the reply:\n\n\u201cHe says he saw a spirit, sir.\u201d\n\n\u201cNonsense. Ask him how or where? It may be some Malay scouts.\u201d\n\nAgain came the answer: that the man had distinctly seen an _untoo_, or\nspirit, moving about among the trees close to the margin of the water; and\nthat he had been assiduously praying and expectorating, in order to\nprevent it from approaching the gunboat, as it was evidently a very bad\nspirit, very dangerous, and clothed in a long dress.\n\nSherard Osborn reprimanded his interpreter for repeating so ridiculous a\nfancy, and ordered him to explain to the man that there were no such\nthings as \u201cspirits,\u201d and that if he had seen anything, it must have been\nan animal or a man. But he was earnestly assured by Jamboo, the\ninterpreter, that Malays frequently saw untoos; that some were dangerous,\nand some harmless; and that as for the untoo he had just seen, the captain\nwould see it too, if he looked carefully.\n\nAccordingly, the English captain sat down by the side of the Malay sailor,\nand looked in the same direction. The gunboat lay at anchor about one\nhundred and fifty yards from the jungle; the water flowed up to its very\nmargin; among the spreading roots of the mangrove trees lay small ridges\nof white shingle and broken shells, which receded into darkness or shone\nout into distinct relief as the moonlight fell upon them. When these white\ngleams became visible, Osborn immediately pointed to them, and hinted that\nthese were the Malay\u2019s \u201cspirit.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, no!\u201d he answered vehemently, and Jamboo added, \u201cHe says he will warn\nyou immediately he sees _it_.\u201d\n\nSuddenly he touched his officer, and pointing earnestly, exclaimed, \u201cLook,\nlook!\u201d\n\nSherard Osborn _did_ look, and for a moment yielded to the delusion as he\ncaught sight of what appeared to be, and probably was, the figure of a\nfemale with drapery thrown around her. Gliding out of the dark forest\nshadows, it halted at a hillock of white sand not more than three hundred\nyards distant. Osborn rubbed his eyes; the interpreter called vigorously\non a Romish saint, and the Malay spat energetically, as if some unclean\nanimal had crossed his path. Again the captain looked, and again he saw\nthe form, which had passed a dense clump of trees, and was slowly crossing\nanother avenue in the forest.\n\n\u201cFeeling the folly,\u201d says Sherard Osborn, \u201cof yielding to the impression\nof reality which the illusion was certainly creating in my mind, I walked\naway, and kept the Malay employed in different ways until midnight; he,\nhowever, every now and then spat vehemently, and cursed all evil spirits\nwith true Mohammedan fervour.\u201d\n\n\nTHE ORANG-LAUTS.\n\nOf this singular race of Malays, the Orang-Lauts, \u201cMen of the Seas,\u201d or\n\u201cSea-Gipsies,\u201d it is said that they do not seem to know anything of a\nCreator. \u201cA fact so difficult to believe,\u201d says Mr. Thomson, \u201cwhen we find\nthat the most degraded of the human race, in other quarters of the globe,\nhave an intuitive idea of this unerring and primary truth imprinted on\ntheir minds, that I took the greatest care to find a slight image of the\nDeity within the chaos of their thoughts, however degraded such might be,\nbut was disappointed. They knew neither the God nor the Devil of the\nChristians or Mohammedans, although they confessed they had been told of\nsuch; nor any of the demi-gods of Hindu mythology, many of whom were\nrecounted to them.\u201d\n\nThe three great epochs of individual life, birth, marriage, death, pass\nunnoticed by them. At birth, the mother\u2019s joy is the only welcome to a\nworld it is not likely to find very bright or happy. At marriage, the sole\nsolemnity is the exchange between the male and the female of a mouthful of\ntobacco and a cheepah, or gallon, of water. At death, the body of the\ndeceased is wrapped in his rags and tatters, and with, perhaps, a few\ntears from the attendant women, committed to the earth. They have none of\nthat exquisite enjoyment of life which is felt by a cultured race; and\nneither the entrance upon it nor the passage from it seems to them an\nevent calculated to awaken any emotion of interest. And as they are\nabsolutely without religion, so are they wholly free from superstition;\nthe solemn influences of Nature seem to produce no effect upon their\nstolid dispositions. Of the p\u00e2rus, and dewas, and nambangs, and other\nphantom forms which, in the quick imagination of the Malay, haunt each\nmountain, rock, and tree, they nothing know; and knowing nothing, they do\nnot fear. Terror is as often the result of knowledge as of ignorance. The\nmind that has no conception of an unseen world or a supernatural force,\nmust necessarily be free from all apprehension of it.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nPassing on to the Philippine Islands, we meet there with the Ahetas, who,\nlike the Orang-Lauts, have no religious system, but, unlike the\nOrang-Lauts, cherish at least a religious sentiment. It appears that they\nhave learned from--or have taught--the Tanguianes, a brave race dwelling\nin the vicinity, the practice of worshipping--for a day--the trunk of a\ndistorted tree, or a fragment of rock, in which they trace some fancied\nresemblance to an animal. Then they turn away from it, and think no more\nabout gods until they encounter another strange and fantastical form, for\nthe existence of which they are unable to account: this, in turn, they\nmake the object of a fugitive devotion. For the dead their reverence is\npathetic. Year after year they visit their graves, with as much fidelity\nas a Christian mourner, though without the Christian\u2019s faith in a future\nreunion, and place there a modest offering of tobacco and betel. The bows\nand arrows of the departed are suspended above his grave on the day of\ninterment, and the Ahetas fondly believe that every night he rises from\nhis resting-place to pursue the shadowy hunt in the haunted glades of the\nforest.\n\nIn the case of an aged person afflicted with a mortal illness, they adopt\ntoo often a summary procedure, not waiting for him to die before they bury\nhim. But no sooner has the body been deposited in the grave, than it\nbecomes imperative, according to their traditions, that his death\nshould be avenged; and, accordingly, the warriors of the tribe sally\nforth, with lance and arrow, to slay the first living creature they\nencounter,--whether man, or stag, or wild hog, or buffalo. When thus in\nquest of an expiatory victim, they take the precaution of breaking off the\nyoung shoots of the shrubs as they pass by, and leave the broken ends\nhanging in the direction of their roots, as a warning to travellers or\nneighbours to shun the path they are taking; for were one of their own\npeople to be the first to come across the avengers, they dare not suffer\nhim to escape any more than Agamemnon could spare his daughter Iphigenia.\nAs she suffered for her father\u2019s vow, so must the ill-fated Aheta suffer\nfor the custom of his tribe.\n\nTheir superiority to many savage races is attested by their faithfulness\nin marriage; they practise monogamy. When a young man has chosen his\nfuture partner, his friends or relatives ask the consent of their parents,\nwhich is never refused. The marriage day is fixed, and in the morning,\nbefore sunrise, the maiden is despatched into the forest, where she\nconceals herself or not, according to her inclinations towards her suitor.\nAn hour\u2019s grace is allowed, and the young man then goes in search of her:\nif he succeed in finding her, and bringing her back to her friends before\nsunset, she becomes his wife; but if he fail, he is required to abandon\nall further claim to the damsel. A strange custom! But there is this much\nat least to be said for it, that it allows the maiden more liberty of\nchoice than she always enjoys in civilised society!\n\nWhether the Ahetas (or Negritos) sprang from a mixture of Malay and Papuan\nblood, or are of purely Papuan origin, our ethnologists do not seem to\nhave determined. But in their present development they are certainly\nsuperior to the Papuan races.[36]\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VIII.\n\n_THE SAVAGE RACES OF ASIA: THE SAMOJEDES; THE MONGOLS; THE OSTIAKS; IN\nTIBET._\n\n\nTHE SAMOJEDES.\n\nThe Samojedes are a people of Arctic Asia, where they inhabit the forests\nand stony tundras of Northern Russia and Western Siberia; driving their\nherds of reindeer from the banks of the Chatanga to the ice-bound shores\nof the White Sea, or hunting the wild beasts in the thick forests which\nextend between the Obi and the Yenisei.\n\nTheir superstition is of a very coarse and degrading character. It is true\nthat they recognise the existence of a Supreme Deity, named\nJilibeambaertje, or Num, who resides in the air, and, like the Greek Zeus,\nsends down rain and snow, thunder and lightning; and they afford a proof\nof that latent capacity for poetical feeling, which some of even the most\nbarbarous tribes possess, in their description of the rainbow as \u201cthe hem\nof his garment.\u201d To them, however, he seems so elevated above the things\nof earth, so indifferent to the woes or joys of humanity, that they regard\nit as useless to seek to propitiate him either by prayer or sacrifice; and\naccordingly they appeal to the inferior gods who have, as they believe,\nthe control of human affairs, and can be affected by incantations, vows,\nor special homage.\n\nThe bleak and lonely island of Waigatz is still, as in the days of the\nDutch adventurer, Barentz, supposed to be the residence of the chief of\nthese minor divinities. There a block of stone, pointed at the summit,\nbears a certain resemblance to a human head, having been wrought into\nthis likeness by a freak of Nature. The Samojede image-makers have taken\nit for their model, and multiplied it in wood and stone; and the idols\nthus easily manufactured they call _sjad\u00e6i_, because they wear a human (or\nsemi-human) countenance (_sja._) They attire them in reindeer skins, and\nembellish them with innumerable coloured rags. In addition to the\n_sjad\u00e6i_, they adopt as idols any curiously contorted tree or irregularly\nshapen stone; and the household idol (_Hahe_) they carry about with them,\ncarefully wrapped up, in a sledge reserved for the purpose, the\n_hahengan_. One of the said Penates is supposed to be the guardian of\nwedded happiness, another of the fishery, a third of the health of his\nworshippers, a fourth of their herds of reindeer. When his services are\nneeded, the Hahe is removed from its resting-place, and erected in the\ntent or on the pasture-ground, in the wood, or on the river\u2019s bank. Then\nhis mouth is smeared with oil or blood, and before him is set a dish of\nfish or flesh, in return for which repast it is expected that he will use\nhis power on behalf of his entertainers. When his aid is no longer needed,\nhe is returned to the hahengan.\n\nBesides these obliging deities, the Samojede believes in the existence of\nan order of invisible spirits which he calls _Tadebtsois_. These are ever\nand everywhere around him, and bent rather upon his injury than his\nwelfare. It becomes important, therefore, to propitiate them; but this can\nbe done only through the intervention of a _Tadibe_, or sorcerer; who, on\noccasion, stimulates himself into a wildly excited condition, like the\nfrenzy of the Pythean or Delphic priestess. When the credulous Samojede\ninvokes his assistance, he attires himself in full necromantic costume: a\nkind of shirt, made of reindeer leather; and trimmed with red cloth. Its\nseams are similarly trimmed; and the shoulders are decorated with red\ncloth tags, or epaulettes. A visor of red cloth conceals his face, and\nupon his breast gleams a plate of polished metal.\n\nThus imposingly arrayed, the Tadibe takes his drum of reindeer skin,\nornamented with brass rings, and, attended by a neophyte, walks round and\nround with singular stateliness, while invoking the presence of the\nspirits by a discordant rattle. This gradually increases in violence, and\nis accompanied by the droning incantation of the words of enchantment. In\ndue time the spirits are supposed to appear, and the Tadibe proceeds to\nconsult them: beating his drum more gently, and occasionally pausing in\nhis lugubrious chant,--which, however, the novice is careful not to\ninterrupt,--to listen, as he pretends, to the answers of the deities. At\nlength the interrogations cease; the chant breaks into a fierce howl; more\nand more loudly rattles the drum: the Tadibe appears possessed by a\nsupernatural influence; his body writhes; the foam-drops gather on his\nlips. All at once the wild intoxication ceases; and the Tadibe delivers\nthe supposed will of the Tadebtsois: advises how a stray reindeer may be\nrecovered, or the disease of the Samojede worshipper relieved, or the\nfisherman\u2019s labour may secure a plenteous \u201charvest of the sea.\u201d\n\nThe Tadibe\u2019s office is usually hereditary; but occasionally some outsider,\npredisposed by nature to hysteric manifestations, and gifted with a warm,\nirregular imagination, is initiated into its mysteries. His morbid fancy\nis intensified by long solitary self-communings and protracted fasts and\nvigils; and his frame debilitated by the use of pernicious narcotics and\nstimulants, until he comes to believe that he has been visited by the\nspirits. He is then received as a Tadibe, with numerous ceremonies, which\ntake place at midnight, and is invested with the magic drum. It is\nevident, therefore, that the Tadibe, if he deceive others, is the victim\nto some extent of self-deception. But, in order to impose upon his\nignorant countrymen, he does not disdain to resort to the commonest cheats\nof the conjuror. Among these is the notorious rope-trick, introduced into\nEngland by the performers known as the \u201cDavenport Brothers,\u201d and since\nrepeated by so many \u201cprofessional artists.\u201d With hands and feet to all\nappearance securely fastened, he sits down on a carpet of reindeer skin,\nand, the lights being put out, summons the spirits to his assistance.\nTheir presence is speedily made known by singular noises; squirrels seem\nto rustle, snakes to hiss, bears to growl. At length the disturbance\nceases; the lights are rekindled; and the Tadibe steps forward unbound;\nthe spectators of course believing that he has been assisted by the\nTadebtsois.\n\nNot less barbarous than the poor creatures who submit to his guidance,\nthe Tadibe is incapable, and probably not desirous, of improving their\nmoral condition. Similar impostors, claiming and exercising a similar\nspiritual dictatorship,--_Schamans_, as the Tungusi call them, _Angekoks_\namong the Eskimos, _Medicine-men_ among the Crees and Chepewyans,--we find\namong all the Arctic tribes of the Old and New World, where their\nauthority has not been overthrown by Christianity or Buddhism; and this\ndreary superstition still prevails over at least half a million of souls,\nfrom the White Sea to the extremity of Asia, and from the Pacific to\nHudson\u2019s Bay.\n\nLike the peoples of Siberia, the Samojedes offer up sacrifices to the\ndead, and perform various ceremonies in their honour. Like the North\nAmerican Indians, they believe that the desires and pursuits of the\ndeparted continue exactly the same as if they were still living; and\nhence, that they may not be in want of weapons or implements, they deposit\nin or about the graves a sledge, a spear, a knife, an axe, a cooking-pot.\n\nAt the funeral, and for several years afterwards, the kinsmen sacrifice\nreindeer over the grave.\n\nWhen a chief or Starochina dies,--the owner, it may be, of several herds\nof reindeer,--his nearest relatives fashion an image, which is kept in the\ntent of the deceased, and receives the same measure of respect that was\npaid to the man himself in his lifetime. At every meal it occupies his\naccustomed seat; every evening it is solemnly undressed, and duly laid\ndown in his bed. For three years these honours are regularly paid; after\nwhich the image is buried, in a belief that the body must by that time\nhave decayed, and lost all recollection of the past. Only the souls of the\nTadibes, and of those who have died a violent death, are in the enjoyment\nof immortality, and hover about the air as disembodied spirits.\n\n\nTHE OSTIAKS.\n\nFurther to the east, and occupying the northernmost part of Siberia from\nthe Oural Mountains to Kamtschatka, are the Ostiaks.\n\nThe Russians have imposed upon this people the Christian religion, as\ntaught by the Greek Church; but it seems probable that the majority adhere\nin secret to their heathen creed. Madame Felinska, a Polish lady, who for\nsome years lived in exile in Siberia, relates that, one day, when she was\nseeking a pathway through a wood, she came upon a couple of Ostiaks, on\nthe point of performing their devotions. These are certainly of a much\nsimpler kind than the rites enjoined by the Greek Church: the worshipper\nsimply places himself before a tree--he appears to prefer the larch--in\nsome sequestered forest-nook, and performs in rapid succession the most\nextravagant contortions and gestures. As the practice is prohibited by the\nRussian Government, it is necessarily made a matter of secresy.\n\nAn Ostiak generally carries about him a rude image of one of the deities\nor demons which he adores under the name of Scha\u00eftan; but he conforms to\nRussian customs by wearing a small crucifix of copper on his breast. The\nScha\u00eftan is a rude imitation of the human figure, carved in wood. It is of\ndifferent sizes, according to the uses for which it is intended; if for\nwearing on the person, it is a miniature doll; but as part of the\nfurniture of an Ostiak\u2019s hut it is made on a large scale. It is always\nattired in seven pearl-broidered chemises, and suspended to the neck by a\nstring of silver coins. In every hut it fills the place of\nhonour,--sometimes in company with an image of the Virgin Mary or some\nRussian saint; and when they sit down to their meals, the Ostiaks are\ncareful to offer it the daintiest morsels, smearing its lips with fish or\nraw game; this sacred duty fulfilled, they attack with eagerness the\nviands set before them.\n\nThe Ostiak priests are called _Schamans_. Their influence is very great,\nbut is wholly employed in the promotion of their own selfish interests,\nthrough the encouragement of the basest superstitions.\n\n\nWEATHER-CONJURING AMONG THE MONGOLS.\n\nThere are many allusions in Mongol history to the practice of\nweather-conjuring. The operation was performed by means of a stone\nsupposed to be endowed with magical virtues, called _Yadah_ or _Jadah\nT\u00e1sh_; this was suspended over or hung in a basin of water with sundry\nceremonies. Ibn Mohalhal, an early Arab traveller, asserts that the\n_K\u00edm\u00e1k_, a great tribe of the Turks, possessed such a stone. In the war\nwaged against Chinghiz and Aung Khan by a powerful tribal confederation in\n1202, it is recorded that Sengun, the son of Aung Khan, who had been\ndespatched to arrest the enemy\u2019s advance, caused them to be enchanted, so\nthat all the movements they attempted against him were defeated by dense\nmists and blinding snow-storms. So thick was the mist, so intense was the\ndarkness, that men and horses stumbled over precipices, and many also\nperished with cold.\n\nThe celebrated conqueror, Timur, in his _Memoirs_, records that the Jets\nresorted to incantations to produce heavy rains which hindered his cavalry\nfrom acting against them. A _Yadachi_, or weather-conjuror, was taken\nprisoner, and after he had been beheaded the storm ceased.\n\nBabu refers to one of his early friends, Khwaja ka Mulai, as conspicuous\nfor his skill in falconry and his knowledge of _Yadageri_, or the science\nof inducing rain and snow by means of enchantment. The Russians were much\ndistressed by heavy rains in 1552, when besieging Kazan, and universally\nascribed the unfavourable weather to the arts of the Tartar queen, who was\nan enchantress.\n\nEarly in the 18th century, the Emperor Shi-tsung issued a proclamation\nagainst rain-conjuring, addressed to the Eight Banners of Mongolia. \u201cIf,\u201d\nindignantly observes the Emperor, \u201cif I, offering prayers in sincerity,\nhave yet cause to fear that it may please heaven to leave MY prayer\nunanswered, it is truly intolerable that mere common people wishing for\nrain should of their own fancy set up altars of earth; and bring together\na rabble of Hoshang (Buddhist Bonzes) and Taossi to conjure the spirits to\ngratify their wishes.\u201d\n\nThe belief in the efficacy of weather-conjuring prevailed all over Europe.\nIn the _Cento Novelle Antiche_, certain necromancers gave specimens of\ntheir skill before the Emperor Frederic Barbarossa; and the weather began\nto be overcast; and lo, of a sudden rain fell with continued thunders and\nlightnings, as if the world were come to an end, and hailstones of the\nsize and appearance of steel caps.\n\n\nIN TIBET.\n\nMarco Polo, describing his visit to the Kaan\u2019s Palace at Chandu, once\nknown as Kaipingfu, speaks of the immense stud of pure white mares which\nthe Kaan kept there, and adds:--\u201cWhen the Kaan sets out from the Park on\nthe 28th of August, the milk of all those mares is taken and sprinkled on\nthe ground. And this is done on the injunction of the Idolaters and\nIdol-priests, who affirm that it is an excellent thing to sprinkle that\nmilk on the ground every 28th of August, so that the Earth and the Air and\nthe False Gods shall have their share of it, and likewise the spirits that\ninhabit the Air and the Earth. And then those beings will protect and\nbless the Kaan and his children and his wives and his folk and his gear,\nand his cattle and his horses, his corn and all that is his.\u201d\n\nMarco Polo proceeds:--\u201cBut I must now tell you a strange thing which\nhitherto I have forgotten to mention. During the three months of every\nyear that the Emperor resides at that place, if it should happen to be bad\nweather, there are enchanters and astrologers in his train, who are such\nadepts in necromancy and diabolic arts, that they are able to prevent any\ncloud or storm from passing over the spot on which the Emperor\u2019s Palace\nstands. The sorcerers who do this are called Tebet and Kesimar, which are\nthe names of two nations of idolaters. Whatever they do in this way is by\nthe help of the Devil, but they make those people believe that it is\ncompassed by dint of their own sanctity and the help of GOD....\n\n\u201cThere is another marvel performed by those Bacsi of whom I have been\nspeaking as knowing so many enchantments. For when the great Kaan is at\nhis capital and in his great palace, seated at his table, which stands on\na platform some eight cubits above the ground, his cups are set before him\non a great buffet in the middle of the hall pavement, at a distance of\nsome ten paces from the table, and filled with wine, or other good spiced\nliquor such as they use. Now when the Kaan desires to drink, these\nenchanters by the power of their enchantments cause the cups to move from\ntheir place without being touched by anybody, and to present themselves to\nthe Emperor! This every one present may witness, and there are oftentimes\nmore than ten thousand persons thus present. \u2019Tis a truth and no lie! and\nso will tell you the sages of our own country who understand necromancy,\nfor they also can perform it.\u201d\n\nOn the occasion of one of these Idol Festivals, the Bacsi would go to the\nPrince and say:--\u201cSire, the feast of such a god is come.\u201d And he would\ncontinue:--\u201cMy Lord, you know that this god, when he gets no offering,\nalways sends bad weather and spoils our seasons. So we pray you to give us\nsuch and such a number of black-faced sheep,\u201d (naming any number they\nplease). \u201cAnd we beg also, good my Lord, that we may have such a quantity\nof incense, and such a quantity of lign-aloes, and\u201d--so much of this or so\nmuch of that, according to the measure of their cupidity or the\nprobability of their expectations being gratified--\u201cthat we may perform a\nsolemn service and a great sacrifice to our Idols, and that so they may be\ninduced to protect us and all our property.\u201d\n\nWhen the Bacsi have obtained from the Kaan the fulfilment of their\ndesires, they make a great feast in honour of their god, and hold great\nceremonies of worship with grand illuminations and quantities of incense\nof a variety of odours, which they make up from different aromatic spices.\nAnd when the viands are cooked, they set them before the idols, and\nsprinkle the bush about, affirming that in this way the idols obtain a\nsufficiency. Thus it is that they keep their festivals. Each idol, we must\nadd, has a name of his own, and a feast-day, just as the Saints of the\nChristian Church have their anniversaries.\n\nLarge minsters and abbeys are theirs, some of them of the size of a small\ntown, with upwards of 2,000 monks in a single abbey. These monks dress\nmore decorously than the rest of the people, and have the head and the\nbeard shaven. Among them a limited number are, by their rule, allowed to\nmarry.\n\nAnother kind of devotees were called the Seusin, men of extraordinary\nabstemiousness, who led a life of extreme endurance. Their sole food was\nbran mixed with hot water, so that one might call their lives a prolonged\nfast. They had numerous idols, and idols of a monstrous size, but they\nalso worshipped fire. Idolaters not belonging to this sect naturally\ncalled them \u201cheretics,\u201d on the old principle that \u201cmy doxy\u201d is\n\u201corthodoxy,\u201d and \u201cyour doxy\u201d \u201cheterodoxy.\u201d Their dresses were made of\nhempen stuff, black and blue, and they slept upon mats. In fact, says\nMarco Polo, \u201ctheir asceticism is something remarkable.\u201d\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nChandu, or Xanadu, and its palace, suggested to Coleridge one of his most\nexquisite passages of description:--\n\n  \u201cIn Xanadu did Kubla Kaan\n    A stately pleasure dome decree:\n  Where Alph, the sacred river, ran,\n  By caverns measureless to man,\n    Down to a sunless sea.\n  So twice five miles of fertile ground,\n  With walls and towers were girdled round:\n  And there were gardens bright with sinuous rills,\n    Where blossomed many an incense-bearing tree;\n  And here were forests, ancient as the hills,\n    Enfolding sunny spots of greenery.\u201d\n\nXanadu has disappeared, and so has its palace, but the superstitions\npractised in it are still in vogue among the Mongolian peoples. The word\n\u201cBakhshi,\u201d however, has come to have a different meaning in different\ndistricts; among the Kirghiz Kazzaks it is applied, as Marco Polo applied\nit, to a conjuror or medicine-man; among the modern Mongols it signifies\n\u201ca teacher,\u201d and is bestowed on the oldest and most learned priest of a\ncommunity; in Western Turkestan it means \u201ca bard;\u201d in our Indian army it\nis \u201ca paymaster.\u201d\n\nThe jugglery of the goblets, to which Marco Polo refers, was not uncommon\nin Medi\u00e6val Europe. Colonel Yule cites[37] the Jesuit Delrio as lamenting\nthe credulity of certain princes, otherwise of pious repute, who allowed\ndiabolic tricks to be played in their presence; as for instance that\nthings of iron, and silver goblets, or other heavy articles, should be\nmoved by bounds from one end of a table to the other, without the use of a\nmagnet or of any attachment. The pious prince appears to have been Charles\nIX., and the conjuror a certain Cesare Maltesio. In old legends this\ntrick is one of the sorceries ascribed to Simon Magus. \u201cHe made statues to\nwalk; leapt into the fire without being burnt; flew in the air; made bread\nof stones; changed his shape; assumed two faces at once,\u201d--an\naccomplishment not confined to conjurors,--\u201cconverted himself into a\npillar; caused closed doors to fly open of their own will; and made the\nvessels in a house seem to move of themselves.\u201d\n\nColonel Yule asserts that the profession and practice of exorcism and\nmagic in general is much more prominent in Lamaism, or Tibetan Buddhism,\nthan in any other known form of that religion. \u201cIndeed,\u201d he says, \u201cthe old\nform of Lamaism, as it existed in Marco Polo\u2019s day, and till the reforms\nof Tsongkhapa (1357-1419), and as it is still professed by the _Red_ sect\nin Tibet, seems to be a kind of compromise between Indian Buddhism and the\nold indigenous Shamanism. Even the reformed doctrine of the Yellow sect\nrecognises an orthodox kind of magic, which is due in great measure to the\ncombination of Sivaism with the Buddhist doctrines, and of which the\ninstitutes are contained in the vast collection of the _Jud_ or Tantras,\nrecognised among the holy books. The magic arts of this code open even a\nshort road to the Buddhahood itself. To attain that perfection of power\nand wisdom culminating in the cessation of sensible existence, requires,\naccording to the ordinary paths, a period of three _asankhyas_ (or say\nUnaccountable Time \u00d7 3), whereas by means of the magic arts of the\n_Tantras_, it may be reached in the course of three _rebirths_ only, nay,\nof one! But from the Tantras also can be learned how to acquire miraculous\npowers for objects entirely selfish and secular, and how to exercise these\nby means of _Dh\u00e1rani_, or mystic Indian charms.\u201d\n\nThe commonplace and vulgar exhibition of such exploits as blowing fire,\ncutting off heads, and swallowing knives, is formally repudiated by the\northodox Yellow Lamas; but as the crowd cannot be satisfied without them,\neach of the great Yellow Lama monasteries in Tibet maintains a conjuror,\nas of old each European sovereign kept his jester. This conjuror is not a\nmember of the monastic fraternity, and lives in a particular part of the\nconvent, out of the atmosphere of their sanctity. He is called _Choicong_,\nor protector of religion, and is free to marry. The Choicong hand down\ntheir magic lore from generation to generation orally, and by their cries\nand howls, and their frenzied gestures, and their fantastic dress, are\nconnected with the Shamanist devil dancers.\n\nMagic seems to have always borne the same character in every country. The\nmarvels accomplished by the Indian mystic charms, or _Dh\u00e1rani_, are\nexactly those which the Medi\u00e6val magicians of Europe professed to achieve.\nTo make water flow backwards, to resuscitate the dead, to fly through the\nair, to read a man\u2019s inmost thoughts, these were the wonders done by Simon\nMagus in his day, and by Albertus Magnus and his followers in their day;\nand form what may be called the ordinary stock-in-trade of the old\nnecromancers. The Bakhshis included them in their series of performances.\n\u201cThere are certain men,\u201d says Ricold, \u201cwhom the Tartars honour above all\nin the world, viz., the _Baxit\u00e6_, (or _Bakhshis_), who are a kind of idol\npriests. These are men from India, persons of deep wisdom, well conducted,\nand of the gravest morals. They are usually acquainted with magic arts,\nand depend on the counsel and aid of demons; they exhibit many illusions,\nand predict some future events. For instance, one of eminence among them\nwas said to fly; the truth however was (as it proved) that he did not fly,\nbut did walk close to the surface of the ground without touching it; and\nwould seem to sit down without having any substance to support him.\u201d Ibn\nBatuta describes a performance of this kind as witnessed by him at Delhi,\nin the presence of Sultan Mahomed Tughlak. Francis Valentyn, at a later\ndate, speaks of it as common in India. He was told, he says, that a man\nwould first go and sit upon three sticks which had been so put together as\nto form a tripod, after which, first one stick, then a second, then a\nthird would be removed from under him, and yet the man would not fall, but\nwould remain suspended in the air. He could not bring himself to believe\nit, so manifestly contrary was it to reason, yet he had spoken with two\nfriends who had both seen it done on the same occasion, and one of them\nmistrusting his own eyes, had felt about with a long stick to ascertain if\nthere were not something on which the body rested, but could discover\nnought.\n\nSuperstition, like history, repeats itself,--some of the marvels with\nwhich the Lama conjurors and the Tartar Bakhshis deluded their people are\nrepeated by the spiritualistic \u201cmediums,\u201d of the present day and put\nforward by them as the credentials of their pretended mission.\n\nThey fall short, however, of the extraordinary feats performed by the\nprofessional jugglers who laid no claim to a religious character, if we\nmay credit the accounts of the early travellers. Ibn Batuta, for instance,\ngravely describes what he saw, or thought he saw, at a great entertainment\ngiven by the Viceroy of Khansa:--\n\nA juggler, he says, one of the Kaan\u2019s slaves, made his appearance, and at\nthe Amir\u2019s bidding, began to display his surprising accomplishments.\nTaking a wooden ball, with several holes in it, through which long thongs\nwere passed, he laid hold of one of these, and slung the ball into the\nair. It went so high, that the spectators wholly lost sight of it.\nObserve, that the scene was the palace-court, _sub Jove_. There remained\nonly a little of the end of the thong in the juggler\u2019s hand, and of this\nhe desired a juvenile assistant to lay hold, and mount. He did so,\nclimbing by the thong, and was speedily lost to sight also. The conjuror\ncalled him thrice, but receiving no answer, snatched up a knife, as if in\na great rage, laid hold of the thong, and in _his_ turn disappeared.\nBy-and-by he threw down one of the boy\u2019s hands, then a foot, then the\nother hand, the other foot, the trunk, and lastly, the head! Finally, he\nhimself came down, all puffing and panting, and with blood-besmeared\nclothes kissed the ground before the Amir, addressing him in Chinese. The\nAmir made some reply; and straightway the juggler took the boy\u2019s _disjecta\nmembra_, laid them in their places, gave a kick, and lo and behold, the\nboy arose and stood erect, \u201cclothed and in his right mind.\u201d \u201cAll this,\u201d\nsays Ibn Batuta, \u201castonished me beyond measure,\u201d--and no wonder!--\u201cand I\nhad an attack of palpitation like that which overcame me once before in\nthe presence of the Sultan of India, when he showed me something of the\nsame kind. They gave me a cordial, however, which cured the attack. The\nKazi Afkharuddin was next to me, and quoth he, \u2018Wallah! \u2019tis my opinion\nthere has been neither going up nor coming down, neither maiming nor\nmending; \u2019tis all hocus pocus!\u2019\u201d\n\nImpartial scientific observers have passed a similar verdict on the\nproceedings of the \u201cmediums,\u201d who, however, have never achieved anything\nso surprising as the feat here recorded. Before we incredulously reject\nthe Arab traveller\u2019s narrative, let us compare it with an account\nfurnished by Edward Melton, an Anglo-Dutch traveller, of the performances\nof some Chinese conjurors, which he saw at Batavia. Passing over the\nbasket-murder trick, which Houdin and others have made familiar to the\nEnglish public, we come to \u201ca thing which surpasses all belief;\u201d which,\nindeed, Mr. Melton would scarcely have ventured to relate had not\nthousands witnessed it at the same time as himself.\n\nOne of the gang took a ball of cord, and grasping one end in his hand\nhurled the other up into the air with such force that it was entirely lost\nto sight. He then climbed up the cord as rapidly as a sailor up his ship\u2019s\nrigging, and to such a height that he became invisible. Melton stood full\nof astonishment, and at a loss to know what next would happen; when,\nbehold, a leg tumbled out of the air! A conjuror who was on the watch for\nit immediately snatched it up, and threw it into a basket. Down came a\nhand, and then another leg, and, in short, all the members of the body\nsuccessively fell from the air, to find shelter in the basket. The last of\nthe ghastly shower was the head; and no sooner had it touched the ground\nthan the man who had gathered the limbs and stowed them in the basket,\nturned them all out again topsy-turvy. Straightway they began to creep\ntogether, until they composed a whole man, who stood up and walked about\njust as before, having sustained apparently no damage! \u201cNever in my life,\u201d\nsays Melton, \u201cwas I so astonished as when I beheld this wonderful\nperformance, and I doubted now no longer that those misguided men did it\nby the help of the Devil. For it seems to me totally impossible that such\nthings should be accomplished by natural means.\u201d[38]\n\nThe Emperor Jah\u00e1ngir in his \u201cMemoirs\u201d (cited by Yule) describes the\nexploits of some Bengali jugglers, who exhibited before him. Two of them\nbear a close resemblance to the foregoing. Thus: they produced a man whom\nthey divided limb from limb, actually severing his head from the body.\nThese mutilated members they scattered along the ground, where they\nremained for some time. A sheet or curtain was extended over the spot, and\none of the men placing himself under it, in a few minutes reappeared, in\ncompany with the individual supposed to have been so roughly dissected, in\nsuch perfect health and condition, that one might have safely sworn he had\nnever received the slightest wound or injury.\n\nAgain: they produced a chain, fifty cubits long, and one end of it threw\ntowards the sky, when it remained as if fastened to something in the air.\nA dog was then brought forward, and being placed at the lower end of the\nchain, ran up it to the other end, and immediately vanished. In the same\nmanner a boy, a panther, a lion, and a tiger were successively sent up the\nchain to disappear, in their turn, at the other end of it. And, lastly,\nthe chain was taken down and put away in a bag, without any of the\nspectators discovering in what manner the different animals had been\nspirited into space!\n\nThe surprising dexterity of these jugglers is emulated by their\ndescendants, and many of the Indian conjurors produce illusions scarcely\nless wonderful than any we have described.\n\nTake the pretty mango-trick. The juggler who exhibits has no other drapery\nthan half a yard of cotton, and no other apparatus than a handful of\ncommon toys. He has none of those elaborate mechanical contrivances, on\nwhich the European professors of legerdemain mostly rely for their\neffects.\n\nHe takes a mango-stone, buries it in a little mud, and covers it with a\njar.\n\nA few minutes later, the jar is lifted up; and lo, a tender green\nseed-leaf has delicately sprouted. Another peep into the magic hotbed, and\nwe see that the tiny leaf has withered, and that a flourishing young tree\nhas sprung into sudden existence.\n\nOr we have the egg-trick, which an eye-witness thus describes:--[39]\n\n\u201cOne of the party, a very handsome woman, fixed on her head a fillet of\nstrong texture, to which were fastened, at equal distances, twenty pieces\nof string of equal length, with a common noose at the end of each. Under\nher arm she carried a basket, in which were carefully deposited twenty\neggs. Her basket, the fillet, and the nooses were carefully examined by\nus. There was evidently no deception.\n\n\u201cThe woman advanced alone, and stood before us. She then began to move\nrapidly round on one spot, whence she never for one instant moved,\nspinning round and round like a top.\n\n\u201cWhen her pace was at its height, she drew down one of the strings, which\nnow flew horizontally round her head, and, securing an egg in the noose,\nshe jerked it back to its original position, still twirling round with\nundiminished velocity, and repeating the process until she had secured the\nwhole twenty eggs in the nooses previously prepared for them. She\nprojected them rapidly from her hand the moment she had secured them,\nuntil at length the whole twenty were flying round her in an unbroken\ncircle. Thus she continued spinning at undiminished speed for fully five\nminutes; after which, taking the eggs one by one from their nooses, she\nreplaced them in her basket; and then in one instant stopped, without the\nmovement of a limb, or even the vibration of a muscle, as if she had been\nsuddenly transformed into marble. The countenance was perfectly calm, nor\ndid she exhibit the slightest distress from her extraordinary exertions.\u201d\n\nThe basket-murder trick, to which we have already referred, is as\nfollows:--\n\nThe juggler stepping forward, invites your examination of a light wicker\nbasket, and when you profess yourself satisfied, he places it over a\nchild, about eight years old, who is perfectly naked. He then asks the\nchild some indifferent question, and you hear her reply to it from the\nbasket. Question and answer are repeated frequently, each time in a louder\nand more impassioned manner, until the juggler, in a seeming fit of rage,\nthreatens to kill the girl, who vainly supplicates for mercy.\n\nThe dramatic character of the scene is as perfect in its realism as it is\nhorrible. The man plants his foot furiously on the frail basket, and\nplunges his sword into it again and again, while the ears of the\nspectators are rent and their hearts touched by the child\u2019s cries of\nagony. For a moment it is impossible to believe that you are witnessing a\ndeception, as you listen to the passionate shrieks and watch the man\u2019s\nfurious face. Blood flows in a stream from the basket, and by degrees the\ngroans of the victim grow fainter and fainter, until all is hushed in a\nsilence so intense that you hear your heart beat. You are about to rush on\nthe murderer, and inflict summary punishment, when he mutters a few\ncabalistic words, takes up the basket, and shows you--only a little\nblood-stained earth; while the child, you know not how or whence, has come\nto mingle with the crowd, and ask for baksheesh.\n\nTwo simpler exploits may be recorded:--\n\nTaking a large, wide-mouthed, earthen vessel, filled with water, the\nconjuror turns it upside down, and, of course, the contents run out.\n\nHe then reverses the jar, which to your amazement is seen to be perfectly\nfull, while all the earth round about is--dry! The jar is again emptied,\nand submitted to the inspection of the spectators. He asks you to fill it\nto the brim; after which he reverses it: not a drop of water flows, and\nyet when you look into it, it is perfectly empty. At last the conjuror\nbreaks the jar by way of a practical demonstration of the fact that it is\nmade of common earthenware.\n\nA large basket is produced: the conjuror raises it, and a Pariah dog\nappears crouching on the ground. The basket-cover is replaced; and a\nsecond examination shows you a bitch with a litter of seven puppies. A\ngoat, a pig, and various other animals, come forth in due time from this\ninexhaustible cornucopia.\n\nAll these exploits are performed by a single exhibitor, who stands quite\nalone, and at a distance of several feet from the crowd, so that collusion\nwith confederates would seem to be impossible.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IX.\n\n_SOME AFRICAN SUPERSTITIONS._\n\n\nAfrica is the land of superstition,--dark, cruel, ghastly superstition. It\naccompanies its victim from the cradle to the grave; throws its fell\nshadow over every scene and incident of life. We cannot attempt, nor do we\ndesire, to paint it in all its horrors. For our purpose it will be\nsufficient to glance at some of the ceremonies, hideous or grotesque,\nwhich are practised by the Equatorial Savage.\n\nIn his childhood he has to be initiated into certain mysteries. What those\nare Mr. Winwood Reade learned from a negro steward, who informed him that\nhe was taken into a fetich, or idol house, severely flogged, and plastered\nwith goat-dung: this ceremony, like the rites of masonry, being conducted\nto the sound of music. Afterwards from behind a kind of screen or shrine\nissued uncouth and terrible sounds such as he had never before heard.\nThese, he was told, emanated from the spirit called Ukuk. He afterwards\nbrought to Mr. Winwood Reade the instrument with which the fetich-man\nproduces the noise. It may be described as a whistle made of hollowed\nmangrove wood, about two inches long, and covered at one end with a scrap\nof bat\u2019s wing. For a period of five days after initiation the novice wears\nan apron of dry palm leaves.\n\nHe is next instructed in the science of fetich; and afterwards he learns\nwhat kinds of food are forbidden to his tribe, for one tribe may not eat\ncrocodile, another hippopotamus, nor a third buffalo. He learns to\nreverence and dread the spirit _Ukuk_, which dwells, it is said, in the\nbowels of the earth, and visits the upper world only when he has some\nbusiness to perform. On the occasion of his visits, he abides in the\nfetich-house, which is built in a peculiar form, roofed with dry plantain\nleaves, and always kept in darkness. Thence strange dread sounds, like the\ngrowling of a tiger, are heard to proceed, so that the women and children\nshudder as they listen. When the mangrove-tube is thus at work, the\ninitiated hasten to the house, and a \u201clodge\u201d or \u201ccouncil\u201d is held.\n\n\u201cThe natives of Equatorial Africa worship also the spirits of their\nancestors; a worship for which their minds are prepared by the veneration\nwhich they pay to old age. Young men never enter the presence of an aged\nperson without curtseying (a genuine curtsey like that of a charity-school\ngirl), and passing in a stooping attitude, as if they were going under a\nlow door. When seated in his presence, it is always at a humble distance.\nIf they hand him a lighted pipe, or a mug of water, they fall on one knee.\nIf an old man, they address him as _rora_--father; if an old woman as\n_ngwe_--mother. It is customary for only the old people to communicate bad\nnews to one another; and it is not to be wondered at that we find the\nnegroes such perfect courtiers, since it is the etiquette of the country\nthat the aged should only be addressed in terms of flattery and adulation.\n\n\u201cWhen they die their relics are honoured. In the Congo country their\nbodies are dried into mummies. Here, their bones are sometimes stored up\nand visited at set periods. Or, when a person noted for his wisdom has\ndied, his head, when partially decomposed, is often cut off and suspended,\nso as to drip upon a mass of chalk placed underneath. This matter is\nsupposed to be the wisdom which formerly animated the brain, and which,\nrubbed upon the foreheads of others, will communicate its virtue.\u201d\n\nIt can easily be understood how this reverence paid to the relics of one\u2019s\nancestors would develope into the worship of their spirits. The Equatorial\nSavage believes that the manes of his forefathers influence his life and\nfortunes entirely to his advantage, and by a dying friend or relative will\noften send messages to them. Mr. Reade adds that a son has been known to\nkill his aged mother from a conviction that her spirit would be of more\nservice to him than her substance; a reason for matricide which would\nhardly be accepted as conclusive in civilised countries! The savage lives,\nhowever, in constant communion and sympathy with the spirit-world. The\nvisions which come to him in his dreams, and the sounds which he fancies\nhimself to hear, are those of the Unseen. And as he is always brooding\nupon his dreams and relating them to his friends, he necessarily dreams\nthe more, until it becomes difficult for him to draw a line between the\ndream and the reality.\n\nWhen any calamity befalls the tribe, or at the approach of any imminent\ndanger, they gather together on the brink of some lofty bluff, or on the\nforest\u2019s haunted threshold, and stretching their arms towards the sky,\nwhile the women wail and the children weep, they call upon the spirits of\nthe departed to come and help them.\n\nThey have a remarkable ceremony which illustrates the force and vividness\nof their belief in spirits:\n\nWhen the dead are weary of staying in the bush, they come for one of their\npeople whom they most affect. And the spirit will say to the man: \u201cI am\ntired of dwelling in the bush; please to build for me in the town a little\nhouse as close as possible to your own.\u201d And he tells him to dance and\nsing too; and accordingly the man assembles the women at night to join in\ndance and song.\n\nThen, next day, the people repair to the grave of the _Obambo_, or ghost,\nand make a rude idol; after which the bamboo bier on which the body is\nconveyed to the grave, and some of the dust of the ground, are carried\ninto a little hut erected near the house of the visited, and a white cloth\nis draped over the door.\n\nIt is a curious fact, which seems to show that they have a legend\nsomething like the old Greek myth of Charon and the Styx, that in one of\nthe songs chanted during this ceremony occurs the following line: \u201cYou are\nwell dressed, but you have no canoe to carry you across to the other\nside.\u201d\n\nAccording to Mr. Reade, these savages have their Naiads and Dryads; their\nspirits of the mountains and the forests, the lakes and the streams, and\nthe high places. They have also their Typhon and their Osiris, their Good\nand Evil Genius; thus recognising, in common with almost every other\nrace, the enduring antagonism between the Principles and Powers of Good\nand Evil. The Evil Spirit, _Mbwiri_, they worship with a special homage;\nhis might is to be dreaded, and his anger, if possible, averted. He is the\nlord of earth; and before him, as before a tyrant whose hand can grasp\ntheir lives and fortunes, they bend in humble adoration. But as the Good\nSpirit will do them no injury, they conceive it unnecessary to address to\nit any regular or formal prayer. \u201cThe word by which they express this\nSupreme Being answers exactly to our word of God. Like the Jehovah of the\nHebrews, like that word in masonry which is only known to masters, and\nnever pronounced but in a whisper and in full lodge, this word they seldom\ndare to speak; and they display uneasiness if it is uttered before them.\nTwice only,\u201d says Mr. Reade, \u201cI remember having heard it. Once when we\nwere in a dangerous storm, the men threw their clenched hands upwards and\ncried it twice. And again, when I was at Ngambi, taking down words from an\nAshira slave, I asked him what was the word for God in the language of his\ncountry. He raised his eyes, and pointing to heaven, said in a soft voice,\n_Njambi_.\u201d\n\nEpileptic diseases, in almost all uncivilised countries, are assumed to be\nthe result of demoniac possession. In Africa the sufferer is supposed to\nbe possessed by Mbwiri, and he can be relieved only by the intervention of\nthe medicine-man or fetich. In the middle of the street a hut is built for\nhis accommodation, and there he resides until cured, or maddened, along\nwith the priest and his disciples. There for ten days or a fortnight a\ncontinuous revel is held; much eating and drinking at the expense of the\npatient\u2019s relatives, and unending dances to the sound of flute and drum.\nFor obvious reasons the fetich gives out that Mbwiri regards good living\nwith aversion. The patient dances, usually shamming madness, until the\nepileptic attack comes on, with all its dreadful concomitants--the\nfrenzied stare, the convulsed limbs, the gnashing teeth, and the\nfoam-flecked lips. The man\u2019s actions at this period are not ascribed to\nhimself, but to the demon which has control of him. When a cure has been\neffected, real or pretended, the patient builds a little fetich-house,\navoids certain kinds of food, and performs certain duties. Sometimes the\nprocess terminates in the patient\u2019s insanity; he has been known to run\naway to the bush, hide from all human beings, and live on the roots and\nberries of the forest.\n\n\u201cThese fetich-men are priest doctors, like those of the ancient Germans.\nThey have a profound knowledge of herbs, and also of human nature, for\nthey always monopolize the real power in the state. But it is very\ndoubtful whether they possess any secrets save that of extracting virtue\nand poison from plants. During the first trip which I made into the bush I\nsent for one of these doctors. At that time I was staying among the\nShekani, who are celebrated for their fetich. He came attended by\nhalf-a-dozen disciples. He was a tall man, dressed in white, with a girdle\nof leopard\u2019s skin, from which hung an iron bell, of the same shape as our\nsheep bells. He had two chalk marks over his eyes. I took some of my own\nhair, frizzled it with a burning glass, and gave it to him. He popped it\nwith alacrity into his little grass bag; for white man\u2019s hair is fetich of\nthe first order. Then I poured out some raspberry vinegar into a glass,\ndrank a little of it first, country fashion, and offered it to him,\ntelling him that it was blood from the brains of great doctors. Upon this\nhe received it with great reverence, and dipping his fingers into it as if\nit was snap-dragon, sprinkled with it his forehead, both feet between the\ntwo first toes, and the ground behind his back. He then handed his glass\nto a disciple, who emptied it, and smacked his lips afterwards in a very\nsecular manner. I then desired to see a little of his fetich. He drew on\nthe ground with red chalk some hieroglyphics, among which I distinguished\nthe circle, the cross, and the crescent. He said that if I would give him\na fine \u2018dush,\u2019 he would tell me all about it. But as he would not take\nanything in reason, and as I knew that he would tell me nothing of very\ngreat importance in public, negotiations were suspended.\u201d\n\nThe fetich-man seldom finds a native disposed to question his claim to\nsupernatural powers. He is not only a doctor and a priest,--two capacities\nin which his influence is necessarily very powerful; he is also a\nwitch-finder, and this is an office which invests him with a truly\nformidable authority. When a man of worth dies, his death is invariably\nascribed to witchcraft, and the aid of the fetich-man is invoked to\ndiscover the witch.\n\n\u201cWhen a man is sick a long time,\u201d said Mongilombas, \u201cthey call _Ngembi_,\nand if she cannot make him well, the fetich-man. He comes at night, in a\nwhite dress, with cock\u2019s feathers on his head, and having his bell and\nlittle glass. He calls two or three relations together into a room. He\ndoes not speak, but always looks in his glass. Then he tells them that the\nsickness is not of Mbwiri, nor of Obambo, nor of God, but that it comes\nfrom a witch. They say to him, \u2018What shall we do?\u2019 He goes out and says,\n\u2018I have told you: I have no more to say.\u2019 They give him a dollar\u2019s worth\nof cloth; and every night they gather together in the street, and they\ncry, \u2018I know that man who witch my brother. It is good for you to make him\nwell.\u2019 Then the witch makes him well. But if the man do _not_ recover,\nthey call the bush doctor from the Shekani country. He sings in the\nlanguage of the bush. At night he goes into the street; all the people\nflock about him. With a tiger-cat skin in his hand, he walks to and fro,\nuntil, singing all the while, he lays the tiger skin at the feet of the\nwitch. At the conclusion of his song the people seize the witch, and put\nhim, or her, in chains, saying, \u2018If you don\u2019t restore our brother to\nhealth, we will kill you.\u2019\u201d\n\nOne evening, as Mr. Reade was sitting in a mission house at Corisco, with\nthe windows open, he heard a wild and piteous cry rising from a village at\na short distance. A sudden silence fell upon his friends. The school was\nin the next room, and two girls who belonged to that village lifted up\ntheir voices and wept. It was the death-knell, and the knell of more lives\nthan one. A chieftain for some time had been lying in a hopeless\ncondition, and a woman had been denounced for having bewitched him. She\nhad a son of about seven years of age, and fearing lest when he reached\nmanhood, he should become her avenger, the accusers included him also in\ntheir denunciation. Both had been made prisoners, and on the death of the\nchief would be killed.\n\nThe following day was Sunday, and Mr. Reade accompanied Mr. Mackay, the\nmissionary, to the village. The man was not dead; but he had suddenly\nbecome speechless, and his attendants had concluded that the spirit had\ndeparted. Entering the house, Mr. Reade found him lying on the bamboo\nbedstead in a state of stupor. The house was thronged with women, who had\nstripped off their garments and shaved the heads in token of mourning, and\nwere \u201craining tears\u201d in their purchased and admirably acted grief.\nSometimes one of them would sit by his side, and flinging her arms around\nhim, would shriek--almost in the very words of the Irish death-wail,--\u201cWhy\ndid ye die, darling? why did ye die?\u201d For they regarded him as really\ndead, when he could neither look at them nor speak to them.\n\nIn contrast to their loud sorrow was the silent mourning of the men who,\nhushed and fasting, sat in the chief house of the town. In their midst\ncrouched the seven years old boy, the marks of a severe wound visible on\nhis arm, and his wrists securely bound together. The dogged expression of\nthe child\u2019s face was something wonderful. It wore that look of stolid\nendurance which seems natural to the negro. One of the men with horrible\npleasantry held an axe below his eyes; but the boy contemplated it without\nemotion--he displayed all the cold indifference of the ancient Stoicism.\nWhen his name was first mentioned, his eyes flashed; but this indication\nof passion was only momentary. He showed the same indifference when a plea\nwas put in for his life, as when, just before, he had been threatened and\ntaunted with death.\n\nMr. Reade did not see the unfortunate mother, but was afterwards told that\nshe had been flogged into confessing that she and she only had bewitched\nthe man. Her son had acknowledged the crime as soon as he was charged with\nit. It is well known that such confessions amount to nothing. During the\nwitch epidemic in Medi\u00e6val Europe, scores of unhappy creatures confessed\nto the practice of witchcraft, though by so doing they doomed themselves\nto death. The imagination in some way or other is powerfully excited, and\ncompletely overcomes the judgment; or it may be from a fear of torture or\na thirst for notoriety that such confessions are made.\n\nMr. Mackey, the missionary, said that he had come to speak to Okota, the\nnearest kinsman of the dying chief, upon whom, in all such cases, the\nresponsibility rests. Okota came out from the throng, placed his stool\nnear the feet of the missionary, and listened to him attentively.\n\n\u201cDeath,\u201d said the missionary, \u201cmust come to all. It is foolish to think\nthat because a man dies he has been bewitched.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d replied Okota, \u201cdeath must come to all, but not always from GOD.\nSometimes it comes from the hand of man.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut how do you know that in this instance it comes from the hand of man?\u201d\n\n\u201cThe woman has been given _quai_ (the drink of ordeal) to drink, and the\n_quai_ says that she bewitched him.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut the _quai_ is not always right. When Cabinda went to the Muni, he was\na long time lost. All people said that he was dead. A man you declared was\nthe witch, you gave him _quai_; _quai_ said that the man had killed\nCabinda, but Cabinda came back alive, and _quai_ was wrong.\u201d\n\nA roar of laughter acknowledged the force of this pertinent reply.\n\n\u201cIt is not only _quai_,\u201d said Okota, \u201cthe woman confesses that she has\nused the arts of witchcraft. Will any man come to you and say, \u2018I have\nstolen your fowl,\u2019 if he has not stolen it? This woman is killing my\nbrother, when my brother is dead I will kill her.\u201d\n\nAfter so decisive a declaration, further argument was useless, and Mr.\nMackey was compelled to retire, unsuccessful.\n\nThe ordeal drink of Equatorial Africa is not identical with the\n\u201cred-water\u201d of Northern Guinea. It is prepared from the root of a small\nshrub called _Nkazya_, or _Quai_. Half a pint of the decoction is given to\nthe accused, and small sticks being laid down on the ground at a distance\nof two feet apart, he is compelled to step over them five times. If the\npotion act upon him as a diuretic, he is pronounced innocent; but in some\npersons it produces vertigo. The sticks before his dizzy eyes rise like\ngreat logs, and in his awkward efforts to stride across them, he reels,\nfalls to the ground, and is immediately assumed to be guilty.\n\nUltimately the chief died, and the woman and boy both suffered death. The\nwoman was taken out to sea in a boat, killed with an axe, and thrown\noverboard. The boy was burnt alive, bags of gunpowder being tied to his\nlegs to shorten his sufferings.\n\nApart from these superstitions, Mr. Reade asserts that the negroes possess\nthe remnants of a noble and sublime religion, though they have forgotten\nits precepts, and debased its ceremonies. They still retain their belief\nin GOD, the One, the Supreme, the Creator. He has made mankind and the\nworld; He thunders in the air, He destroys the wicked with His bolts. He\nrewards the good with long life; He gives them the rain, the fruits of the\nearth, and all things that are good. He is far above all the other gods.\n\nIn some parts of Guinea the daily prayer is, \u201cO GOD, I know Thee not, but\nThou knowest me, Thy aid is necessary to me.\u201d At meals they say, \u201cO GOD,\nThou hast given me this, Thou hast made it grow.\u201d And when they work, \u201cO\nGOD, Thou hast caused that I should have strength to do this.\u201d And another\nof their prayers runs, \u201cO GOD, help us, we do not know whether we shall\nlive to-morrow; we are in Thy hand.\u201d[40]\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER X.\n\n_THE ZULU WITCH-FINDERS._\n\n\nEnglish Law now reigns in Zululand, and the occupation of the\nWitch-finders is almost gone; but in times past they were potent\npersonages, whom an enslaving superstition had armed with despotic\ninfluence. The Zulu witch-finders are regular Amazons--perfectly fearless,\nwith a martial gait, and grave composure of mien. It is their pride,\naccording to Lady Barker, to be looked upon as men when once they embrace\ntheir dread profession, which the men sometimes share with them. They are\npermitted to bear shield and spear as warriors, and they hunt and kill\nwith their own hands the wild beasts and reptiles whose skins they wear.\n\u201cIt is not difficult to understand,\u201d says Lady Barker,[41] \u201cbearing in\nmind the superstition and cruelty which existed in remote parts of England\nnot so very long ago--how powerful such women become among a savage\npeople, or how tempting an opportunity they could furnish of getting rid\nof an enemy. Of course they are exceptional individuals; more observant,\nmore shrewd, and more dauntless, than the average fat, hard-working Kafir\nwomen; besides possessing the contradictory mixture of great physical\npowers and strong hysterical tendencies. They work themselves up to a\npitch of frenzy, and get to believe as firmly in their own supernatural\ndiscernment as any individual among the trembling circle of Zulus to whom\na touch from the whisk they carry is a sentence of instant death.\u201d\n\nThe magician, like the melodramatist, must have his accompaniment of\nmusic, and the Zulu witch-finders are attended by a circle of black girls\nand women, who, like a Greek chorus, clap their hands together, and drone\nthrough a low monotonous chant, the measure and rhythm of which change at\ntimes with a stamp and a swing. Not less necessary is a ceremonial dress;\nfor such things appeal directly to the imagination of the crowd, and\nprepare them to be readily influenced by the necromancer\u2019s devices. The\n\u201cIsinyanga,\u201d \u201cAbangoma,\u201d or \u201cwitch-finders,\u201d whom Lady Barker describes\nfor us, were attired with an eye for effect which would have done credit\nto a London theatre. It will suffice to depict one of them, by name\nNozinyanga. Her fierce face, spotted with gouts of red paint on cheek and\nbrow, was partly overshadowed by a helmet-like plume of the tall feathers\nof the sakabula bird. In her right hand she carried a light sheaf of\nassegais or lances, and on her left arm was slung a small and pretty\nshield of dappled ox-hide. Her petticoat, made of a couple of large gay\nhandkerchiefs, was worn kilt-wise. But if there were little decoration in\nher skirts, the deficiency was more than compensated by the bravery of the\nbead-necklaces, the goat\u2019s-hair fringes, and the scarlet tassels which\ncovered her from throat to waist. Her ample chest rose and fell beneath a\nbaldric of leopard skin, fastened across it with huge brazen knobs; while\ndown her back hung a beautifully dried and flattened skin of an enormous\nboa-constrictor.\n\nThe interest attaching to these women is derived from the fact that it was\nof old the custom, among the Zulu and other South African tribes, to\nattribute all mishaps or catastrophes, political or social, to the agency\nof witches. It is not for Englishmen to look down with contempt upon this\nmanifestation of barbarism and ignorance, considering that a similar\nbelief prevailed very generally among us up to the reign of Charles I.,\nand, in truth, is not wholly extinct even now: while the extent to which\nthe science of witch-finding was developed in New England will be known to\nevery reader of Cotton Mather.\n\nWhen the community had resolved that a certain misfortune was due to the\nwitches, the next step obviously would be to detect and punish them. For\nthis purpose the king would summon a great meeting, and cause his subjects\nto sit on the ground in a ring or circle, for four or five days. The\nwitch-finders took their places in the centre, and as they gradually\nworked themselves up to a frantic state of frenzy, resembling demoniacal\npossession, they lightly switched with their quagga-tail one or other of\nthe trembling spectators, who was immediately dragged away and butchered\non the spot. And not only he, but all the living things in his hut--wives\nand children, dogs and cats--not one was left alive, nor was a stick left\nstanding. Sometimes a whole kraal would be exterminated in this way; and\nthe reader will perceive how terribly the cruel custom could be made to\ngratify private revenge or to work out the king\u2019s tyrannical inclinations.\n\nA terrible little sorceress is described under the name of Nozilwane,[42]\nwhose weird wistful glance had in it something uncanny and uncomfortable.\nShe was really dressed beautifully for her part, in lynx skins folded over\nand over from waist to knee, the upper part of her body being covered by\nstrings of wild beasts\u2019 teeth and fangs, beads, skeins of gaily-coloured\nyarn, strips of snake\u2019s skin, and fringes of Angora-goat fleece. This, as\na decoration, was both graceful and effective; it was worn round the body\nand above each elbow, and fell in soft white flakes among the brilliant\ncolouring and against the dusky skin. Lynx-tails depended like lappets on\neach side of her face, which was overshadowed and almost hidden by a\nprofusion of sakabula feathers. \u201cThis bird,\u201d says Lady Barker, \u201chas a very\nbeautiful plumage, and is sufficiently rare for the natives to attach a\npeculiar value and charm to the tail-feathers; they are like those of a\nyoung cock, curved and slender, and of a dark chestnut colour, with a\nwhite eye at the extreme tip of each feather.\u201d Among all this thick,\nfloating plumage were interspersed small bladders, and skewers or pins\nwrought out of tusks. Each witch-finder wore her own hair, or rather wool;\nhighly greased, and twisted up with twine until it ceases to wear the\nappearance of hair, and hangs around the face like a thick fringe, dyed\ndeep red.\n\nBent double, and with a creeping, cat-like gait, as if seeking a trail,\nout stepped Nozilwane. Every movement of her undulating body kept time to\nthe beat of the girls\u2019 hands and their low crooning chant. Presently she\npretended to find the thing she sought, and with a series of wild\npirouettes leaped into the air, shaking her spears and brandishing her\nlittle shield like a Bacchante. Nowamso, another of the party, was\ndetermined that her companion should not carry off all the applause, and\nshe too, with a yell and a leap, sprang into the dance to the sound of\nlouder grunts and harder hand-claps. Nowamso showed much anxiety to\ndisplay her back, where a magnificent snake skin, studded in a regular\npattern with brass-headed nails, floated like a stream. She was attired\nalso in a splendid kilt of leopard skins, decorated with red rosettes, and\nher toilette was considered more careful and artistic than any of the\nothers. Brighter her bangles, whiter her goat-fringes, and more\nelaborately painted her face. Nozilwane, however, had youth and a\nwonderful self-reliance on her side. The others, though they all joined in\nand hunted out an imaginary enemy, and in turn exulted over his discovery,\nsoon became breathless and spent, and were glad when their attendants led\nthem away to be anointed and to drink water.\n\n\u201cAs for another of the \u2018witch-finders,\u2019 the great, big Nozinyanga, she\ndanced like Queen Elizabeth, \u2018high and disposedly,\u2019 and no wonder, for I\nshould think she weighed at least fifteen stone. Ungiteni, in a petticoat\nof white Angora-goat skin, and a corsage of bladders and teeth, beads and\nviper skins, was nothing remarkable; neither was Um-\u00e0-noujozzla, a\nmelancholy-looking personage, with an enormous wig-like coiffure of red\nwoollen ringlets and white skewers. The physiognomy, too, was a trifle\nmore stolid and commonplace than that of her comrades, and altogether she\ngave me the impression of being a sensible, respectable woman, who was\nvery much ashamed of herself for playing such antics. However, she\nbrandished her divining brush with the rest, and cut in now and then to\n\u2018keep the fleer\u2019 with the untiring Nozilwane.\u201d\n\nLady Barker and her friends grew tired of this imaginary \u201cwitch-finding,\u201d\nand to end the affair it was proposed to test the professed power of the\n\u201cweird women\u201d to discover lost property. A silver pipe stem had recently\n\u201cgone a-missing,\u201d and they were requested to find what had been lost, and\nwhere. They set to work in a curious and interesting way. In front,\nsquatted on heels and haunches, a semicircle of about a dozen men, who\nwere supposed to have invited the assistance of the sisterhood. They had\nno idea of what was asked for, and were told to go on with their part\nuntil a signal was given that the article had been named.\n\n\u201cWhat is it the Inkos has lost?\u201d they cried; \u201cdiscover, reveal, make plain\nto us.\u201d\n\nThe witch-finders, by their singing and dancing, had wrought themselves up\nto a highly-excited and enthusiastic condition, so that they\nunhesitatingly accepted the challenge, Nowamso crying, \u201cSing for me: make\na cadence for me.\u201d Then, after a moment\u2019s pause, she went on rapidly, in\nher own language.\n\n\u201cIs this real? is it a test? is it but a show? Do the white chiefs want to\nlaugh at our pretensions? Has the white lady called us only to show other\nwhite people that we can do nothing? Is anything really lost? is it not\nhidden? No, it _is_ lost. Is it lost by a black person? No, a white person\nhas lost it. Is it lost by the great white chief? No, it is lost by an\nordinary white man. Let me see what it is that is lost. Is it money? No.\nIs it a weighty thing? No, it can be always carried about--it is not\nheavy. All people like to carry it, especially the white Inkosi: it is\nmade of the same metal as money. I could tell you more, but there is no\nearnestness in all this,--it is only a spectacle.\u201d\n\nBetween each of these ejaculations she made a pause, looking eagerly into\nthe faces of the men before her, who, for sole answer, gave a loud,\nsimultaneous snap of finger and thumb, pointing towards the ground as they\ndid so, and shouting the one word, \u201cYiz-ora,\u201d (the first syllable strongly\naccented and much prolonged;) \u201cdiscover, reveal!\u201d They can say nothing\nmore to urge her on, because they themselves are ignorant: but the weird\nwomen watch their countenances eagerly, to detect, if they can, some\nunconscious sign or token that their guesses are near the truth.\nSuspecting a trick, Nowamso lapses into silence; but Nozilwane rushes\nabout like one possessed, sobbing and quivering with excitement, \u201cIt is\nthis--it is that!\u201d The tall Nozinyanga strikes her lance firmly into the\nground, and cries haughtily, in her own tongue, \u201cIt is his watch!\u201d\nthrowing around a haughty glance, as if daring any one to contradict her.\nThe others then join hands, and gallop round and round, making a\nsuggestion here and a suggestion there, all alike improbable; the\n\u201cinquirers,\u201d as the kneeling men are called, affording them no assistance.\nAt last Nozilwane strikes home: \u201cHis pipe!\u201d she exclaims; \u201cYoziva, yoziva,\na thing which has come off his pipe.\u201d\n\nAnd so it is. Nozilwane\u2019s pluck, and perseverance, and cunning scrutiny of\nour faces at each hit she made, have brought her off victoriously.\n\nA murmur, or rather grunt, of admiration goes around. The \u201cinquirers\u201d jump\nup, and \u201csubside into ebony images of impassive respectability.\u201d The weary\nchorus disperses in small groups, and the exhausted sisterhood drop, as if\nby one consent, on their knees, sitting back on their heels, and raise\ntheir right hands in salutation.[43]\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XI.\n\n_ZABIANISM AND SERPENT-WORSHIP._\n\n\nThere can be no question as to the antiquity or universality of\nSerpent-Worship, whatever may be the difference of opinion as to its\norigin. According to Bryant it began in Chaldea, and was \u201cthe first\nvariation from the purer Zabaism.\u201d But this statement requires from us a\nbrief preliminary explanation of that ancient form of worship.\n\nZabaism, or Zabism, has had its two sects,--first the Chaldean Zabians of\nthe Kuran,--the \u201cParsified\u201d Chaldee heathen, or non-Christian\nGnostics,--the ancestors of the present Mendaites, or so-called Joannes\nChristians, who reside in the neighbourhood of the Persian Gulf, and speak\na corrupt form of Chaldee-Aramaic. And second, the Pseudo-Zabians, or\nSyrian Zabians, in Harran, Edessa, Rakkah, and Bagdad. It is the latter\nwho now chiefly represent Zabism.\n\nThe first named, or Chaldean Zabians, who transferred the name to the\nHarranic, and greatly influenced the development of the peculiar system of\nthe latter, are the people so designated in the Kuran, and by the\nMohammedans of to-day. The Harranians, who rose about A.D. 830, profess to\nderive their denomination from one Z\u00e2bi, who is variously called a son of\nSeth, son of Adam, or a son of Enoch or Idris, or a son of Methuselah, or\nof some fictitious Badi or Mari, a supposed companion of Abraham; while\nMohammedan writers trace it to the word _ssaba_, \u201cto turn, to move,\u201d\nbecause its professors turned from the path of true religion, that is,\nIslam, or, as the Zabians say, because they have turned _to_ the proper\nfaith.\n\nThe Zabian creed, as professed by the Harranic Zabians, would appear to\nresolve itself into the following elements:--\n\nIt teaches that the Creator is, in His essence, primitivity, originality,\nand eternity, One; but in His numerous manifestations in bodily figures,\nmanifold. Chiefly He is personified by the seven principal planets, and by\nthe good, knowing, excellent earthly bodies. This, however, is without any\ndisturbance of His unity. It is, say the Zabians, as if the seven planets\nwere His seven limbs, and as if our seven limbs were His seven spheres in\nwhich He manifests Himself,--so that He speaks with our tongues, sees with\nour eyes, hears with our ears, touches with our hands, comes and goes with\nour feet, and acts through our members.\n\nIt teaches further, that GOD is too great and too sublime to occupy\nHimself directly with the affairs of this world; that its government He\nhas therefore entrusted to other gods, and that it is only to the highest\nthings of destiny He Himself devotes His attention,--an attribution of\ncold superiority and intellectual indifference in striking contrast to the\nidea of GOD _the Father_ developed by Christianity, that all-loving, as\nwell as all-powerful GOD, Who watches over the fall of a sparrow, and\nlistens with tender ear to the prayer of even the meanest of His\ncreatures. Moreover, Zabism inculcates the chilling doctrine that man is\ntoo feeble to offer his homage directly to the Supreme, and must therefore\naddress the inferior deities to whom the regimen of the world has been\nhanded. In this way we see that the veneration shown to the planets and\nthe worship of idols are only a symbolism resulting from the humiliating\ndoctrines just defined.\n\nZabism is a polytheistic system,--it absolutely revels in gods and\ngoddesses. There are the spirits that direct and guide the planets, the\nspirits that originate or represent every action in this world,--not a\nnatural effect, great or little, which does not emanate from a deity.\nWhatever appears in the air, whatever is formed near the sky or springs\nfrom the earth, must be traced to certain gods that govern these\nmanifestations, so that every flake of snow, every drop of rain has its\npresiding spirit.\n\nThese spirits also \u201cmould and shape everything bodily from one form into\nthe other, and gradually bring all created things to the state of their\nhighest possible perfection, and communicate their powers to all\nsubstances, beings, and things. By the movement and guidance of these\nspiritual beings, the different elements and natural compositions are\ninfluenced in such a way that the tenderest plant may pierce the hardest\ncliff. He who guides this world is called the first spirit. These gods\nknow our most secret thoughts, and all our future is open to them. The\nfemale deities seem to have been conceived as the feeling or passive\nprinciple. These gods or intelligences emanate directly from GOD without\nHis will, as rays do from the sun. They are, further, of abstract forms,\nfree of all matter, and neither made of any substance or material. They\nconsist chiefly of a light in which there is no darkness, which the senses\ncannot conceive by reason of its immense clearness, which the\nunderstanding cannot comprehend by reason of its extreme delicacy, and\nwhich fancy and imagination cannot fathom.\u201d\n\nFree from all animal desires, these spirits are created wholly for love\nand harmony, for friendship and unity. They are unaffected by local and\ntemporal changes, and control the planetary spheres, without finding the\nmotion of the heaviest too heavy, or of the lightest too light. Their\nnever-ending existence is a prolonged happiness, owing to their nearness\nto the Supreme GOD; whom they praise day and night, like the Angels, with\nno sense of fatigue or satiety, and whose will they ever obey with the\nkeenest joy. Free agents, they are never inclined towards the evil. They\nturn towards the good as readily as the flower towards the light.\n\nPassing on to the cosmogonical part of the Zabian system, we find that it\nis based on the existence of five prim\u00e6val principles,--the Creator,\nReason, the Soul, Space, and the Void. These are the constituents of all\ncreation. But apart from these, or comprehending these, the Zabians seem\nto have regarded two principles, GOD and the Soul, as specially active and\never-living. Some writers represent them as believing also in a passive\nprinciple, Matter; and in two principles which are neither living nor\npassive, Time and Space. They appear to have regarded Matter as primeval\nand everlasting, and to have ascribed to it the origin and duration of\nEvil. GOD Himself created only the spheres, and the heavenly bodies which\nthey contain. These spheres (fathers) convey the types or ideas to the\nelementary substances (mothers), and out of the combination, conjunction,\nand motion of these spheres and elements are produced the various earthly\nthings (children). According to the Zabians, the world is renewed with\nevery \u201cworld-year,\u201d or cycle, that is once every 36,425 ordinary years.\nAnd at the close of each cycle, the life, vegetable, animal, and human\nthat had flourished within it cease to multiply, and new forms or types\nspring into existence.\n\nThe vacillating and contending nature of man is due to the contradictory\nelements of which he is composed. The desires and passions which sway him\nto and fro, depress him to the low standard of the brute creation, and his\nfall would be complete but for such religious rites as purifications,\nsacrifices, and other means of grace. Through these he is able again to\ndraw near to the great gods, and to attain a resemblance unto them. The\nhuman soul is dual, that is, it consists partly of the nature of the\nanimal soul and partly of that of the angelic soul. It is immortal, and\nsubject to future recompense and punishment, but not for ever, nor in any\nworld but this, though at different epochs of existence. Hence, our\npresent happiness is a reward for the good deeds done by us in an earlier\nstage of existence; and our present suffering the just chastisement for\nevil actions committed in the past. In its nature they hold that the soul\nis primitive, because otherwise it must be material, and a material soul\nis an impossibility.\n\n\u201cThe soul,\u201d says Kathibi, one of the Zabian teachers, \u201cis thus immaterial,\nand exists from eternity; is the involuntary reason of the first types, as\nGOD is the First Cause of the Intelligences. Once on a time the soul\nbeheld matter and loved it. Glowing with the desire of assuming a bodily\nshape, it would not again separate itself from that matter of which the\nworld was created. Since that time, the soul forgot itself, its\neverlasting existence, its original abode, and knew nothing more of what\nit had formerly known. But GOD, who converts all things to the best,\nunited it to matter, which it loved, and out of this union the heavens,\nthe elements, and other composite things arose. In order that the soul\nmight not wholly perish within matter, He endowed it with intelligence,\nwhereby it conceived its high origin, the spiritual world, and itself. It\nfurther conceived through it that it was but a stranger in this world, in\nwhich it was subject to many sufferings, and that even the joys of this\nworld are but the sources of new sufferings. As soon as the soul had\nperceived all this, it began to yearn again for its spiritual home, as a\nman who is away from his birthplace pines for his homestead. It then also\nlearned, that, in order to return to its primitive state, it had to shake\noff the fetters of sensuous desires, and liberate itself from all\nmaterialistic tendencies. Far from them all, it would once more regain its\nheavenly sphere, and enjoy the bliss of the spiritual world.\u201d[44]\n\nSuch is an outline of the religious system which flourished from the\nmiddle of the ninth to the middle of the eleventh century, under the name\nof Zabism.\n\nEvidently, out of _this_ Zabaism Serpent-worship could not spring, because\nit is of much greater antiquity. What then is the Zabism to which Bryant\nalludes? A purely imaginary creed, which the medi\u00e6val, Jewish, Arabic, and\nPersian writers identified with star-worship. The Mohammedan and other\nwriters of the twelfth century bestowed the name of Zabians indifferently\nupon the ancient Chaldeans, the Buddhists, even the ante-Zoroastrian\nPersians; and Bryant has followed their mistaken example. As a matter of\nfact, Serpent-worship is a relic of nature-worship,--more particularly of\nthe old solar worship,--and the Serpent at first was unquestionably an\nemblem of the Sun.\n\nIn Babylon large serpents of silver supported the image of the goddess\nRhea, in the temple of Bel, or Belus; and the name Bel itself is thought\nby some writers to be an abbreviation of Ob-el, \u201cthe Serpent-God.\u201d In the\nApocryphal book of Bel and the Dragon, we read: \u201cIn that same place there\nwas a great Dragon, which they of Babylon worshipped. And the king said\nunto Daniel: Wilt thou say that this is of brass? lo, he eateth and\ndrinketh: thou canst not say he is no living god: therefore worship him.\u201d\n\nSpeaking of the earlier stage of the Persian religion, Eusebius remarks\nthat all the Persians worshipped the First Principles under the form of\nSerpents, having dedicated to them temples in which they performed\nsacrifices, and held festivals and orgies, esteeming them the greatest of\nGods, and governors of the Universe.\n\nThese first principles were the principles of Good and Evil, or Ormuzd and\nAhriman, whose terrible struggle for the supremacy of the universe was\nsymbolised in Persian mythology by two serpents contending for the mundane\negg. They are represented as standing upon their tails, and each of them\nhas fastened its teeth upon the disputed prize. But, more generally, the\nEvil Principle alone was represented by the serpent, and a fable in the\nZendavesta recalls to our recollection the opening of the Book of Genesis;\nfor it says that Ahriman assumed a serpent\u2019s form in order to destroy the\nfirst of the human race, whom he accordingly poisoned.\n\nIn the Saddu, or Suddu, it is said: \u201cWhen you kill serpents, you shall\nrepeat the Zendavesta, whereby you will obtain great merit; for it is the\nsame as if you had killed so many devils.\u201d\n\nMithras, the Persian sun-god, was represented encircled by a serpent; and\nin his rites a custom was observed similar to that practised in the\nmysteries of Sebazius: a serpent was cast into the bosom of the neophyte,\nand taken out at the lower part of his garments.[45]\n\nThe hierogram of the winged circle and serpent is a remarkable and\nsignificant emblem of Ophiolatreia, and is found in almost every country\nwhere Serpent-worship prevailed. It is to be traced in the Egyptian, the\nPersian, and even the Aztec hieroglyphics; and on the monuments of China,\nGreece, Italy, Asia Minor, and India. Enthusiasts allege that it has been\ndiscovered in Britain. It seems to have been a general symbol of\n_consecration_, and as such mention is made of it by the poet Persius:\n\n  \u201cPinge duos angues; pueri sacer est locus.\u201d\n                                _Satir._ i. 113.\n\nReference is here made to _two_ snakes, which, as we have seen, is the\nhierogram of the worshippers of the Two Principles, each being represented\nby a serpent. Generally, however, it is one serpent only that issues from\nthe winged circle, and sometimes the circle is without wings. As a\nconsecrating symbol, the ophite hierogram was inscribed upon the massive\nportals of the Egyptian temples. Mr. Deane contends that the Druids \u201cwith\nthe consistent magnificence which characterised their religion,\u201d\ntransferred the symbol from the portal to the temple; and instead of\nplacing the circle and serpent over the entrance into their sanctuaries,\nerected the whole building in the form of the ophite hierogram, as at\nAbury in Wiltshire, and Stanton Drew in Somersetshire. The former\nrepresents the ophite hierogram with one serpent, the latter is double; in\nboth cases the circle has no wings.\n\nIn Argyllshire, near Oban, exists a huge serpent-shaped mound, discovered\nby Mr. Phen\u00e9 in 1871, which must be mentioned in this connection. Looking\ndown upon it from the high ground to the westward, you see it rising\nconspicuously from the flat grassy plain, which extends for some distance\non either side, with scarcely an undulation, save two artificial circular\nmounds, in one of which lie several large stones forming a cromlech. A\nrecent visitor writes:\n\n\u201cFinding ourselves in the very presence of the Great Dragon, we hastened\nto improve our acquaintance, and in a couple of minutes had scrambled on\nto the ridge which forms his backbone, and thence perceived that we were\nstanding on an artificial mound three hundred feet in length, forming a\ndouble curve like a huge letter S, and wonderfully perfect in anatomical\noutline. This we perceived the more perfectly on reaching the head, which\nlies at the western end, whence diverge small ridges, which may have\nrepresented the paws of the reptile. On the head rests a circle of stones,\nsupposed to be emblematic of the solar disc, and exactly corresponding\nwith the solar circle as represented on the head of the mystic serpents of\nEgypt and Ph\u0153nicia, and in the great American Serpent Mound. At the time\nof Mr. Phen\u00e9\u2019s first visit to this spot there still remained in the centre\nof this circle some traces of an altar, which, thanks to the depredations\nof cattle and herd-boys, have since wholly disappeared....\n\n\u201cThe circle was excavated on the 12th of October, 1871, and within it were\nfound three large stones, forming a chamber, which contained burnt human\nbones, charcoal, and charred hazel-nuts. Surely the spirits of our Pagan\nancestors must rejoice to see how faithfully we, their descendants,\ncontinue to burn our hazel-nuts on Hallow-e\u2019en, their old autumnal Fire\nFestival, though our modern divination is practised only with reference to\nsuch a trivial matter as the faith of sweethearts! A flint was also found,\nbeautifully and minutely serrated at the edge; nevertheless, it was at\nonce evident, on opening the cairn, that the place had already been\nransacked, probably in secret, by treasure-seekers, as there is no\ntradition of any excavation for scientific purposes having ever been made\nhere.\n\n\u201cOn the removal of the peat-moss and heather from the ridge of the\nserpent\u2019s back, it was found that the whole length of the spine was\ncarefully constructed with regularly and symmetrically placed stones, at\nsuch an angle as to throw off rain; an adjustment to which we doubtless\nowe the preservation, or at least the perfection, of this most remarkable\nrelic. To those who know how slow is the growth of peat-moss, even in damp\nand undrained places, the depth to which it has here attained, though in a\ndry and thoroughly exposed situation and raised from seventeen to twenty\nfeet above the level of the surrounding moss, tells of many a long century\nof silent undisturbed growth, since the days when the serpent\u2019s spine was\nthe well-worn path daily trodden by reverent feet. The spine is, in fact,\na long narrow causeway, made of large stones, set like the vertebr\u00e6 of\nsome huge animal. They form a ridge sloping off in an angle at each side,\nwhich is continued downwards with an arrangement of smaller stones,\nsuggestive of ribs.\u201d\n\nThis strange memorial of a departed age and a vanished faith, lying in the\nsilence and solitude of the lonely shore of Loch Nell, recalls to mind\nthe eloquent lines of an American poet:[46]\n\n  \u201cAll desolate their ruins rest,\n  Like bark that in mid-ocean rolls,\n  Her name effaced, her masts o\u2019erthrown,\n  And none remaining of the souls\n  That once sailed in her, to relate\n  From what far distant port she came;\n  Whither she sailed and what her fate,\n  And what her nation and her name.\n  But only may conjecture guess\n  The fancied story of this place,\n  And from these crumbling ruins gain\n  Some knowledge of the vanished race.\u201d\n\nIt must be noticed that the serpent-mound has been so disposed that the\nworshipper standing at the altar would naturally look eastward, directly\nalong the whole length of the great reptile, and across the dark lake, to\nthe threefold peaks of Ben Cruachan. That this position was intentionally\nselected is evident from the fact that the three peaks are visible from no\nother point.\n\nAnd hence arises the not wholly fanciful conjecture that the people who\nerected the great mound had some dim idea of the Triune character of GOD.\nThe serpent was the emblem of His wisdom, as the solar circle was of His\nEternal Unity; and this marked reverence for the triple-peaked mountain\nseems to indicate that with a knowledge of His unity was combined a\nrecognition of His threefold manifestation.\n\nThe writer whom we have already quoted remarks that, whatever doubts may\narise on speculative points, the clearly defined outlines of the great\nSerpent-mound of Oban are beyond dispute; though it may long prove a\nfertile subject for discussion, whether its serpentine, or rather, Saurian\nform is to be accepted as direct evidence of ophiolatry in this land, or\nwhether we should regard it as simply the representative of some\ntribe,--as, in short, a Totem of some extinct British race answering to\nthe Nagas, or snake-tribes of the East. The former supposition seems the\nmore reasonable, when we remember that the serpent and the serpent\u2019s egg\nwere held sacred by the Druids. Serpent-worship prevailed in every nation\nof antiquity. It flourished in Greece and Rome, in Egypt and Chaldea, in\nArabia and Central Asia; it extended throughout the Indian peninsula from\nCape Comorin to Kashmir; it was practised in Ceylon and the islands of the\neastern seas; in Mexico and Peru; throughout the whole of Africa. Passing\nnorthward, we find that it existed in Scythia and Scandinavia, as also\namong vast tribes near the Oural mountains and throughout Northern Europe,\nand particularly among the tribes on the Ob or Obi river, which owes its\nname, it is said, to the veneration paid to the reptile. Until the end of\nthe fourteenth century, when Christianity was introduced, the people of\nPoland worshipped domestic serpents, which were allowed to run free in\nevery house, and carefully tended, every mishap that occurred being\nattributed to some negligence in their service. The Lapps, the Finns, the\nNorwegians, the Swedes, the Danes, all fostered these strange household\ngods, and shared with them the children\u2019s milk. The Vandals also kept\nthem; some lived in hollow trees, and thither repaired the women, with\ntheir offerings of milk, as is common at the present day in Ceylon and\nmany parts of India. Long after they had accepted the faith of CHRIST, the\nLombards continued a form of serpent-worship, adoring, or paying homage\nto, a golden viper and a tree. In 663, Barbatus, Bishop of Benevento,\nfinding the custom still observed, made a successful appeal to the\nworshippers to cut down the tree, and allow him to melt the golden viper\ninto a sacramental chalice.\n\nOne of the most interesting of the supposed Serpent-temples, or\n_dracontia_, is that of Karnak. It is situated half a mile from the\nvillage of that name, in the department of the Morbihan in Brittany, and\nabout nine miles from the picturesque town of Auray. It is also within a\nmile of the Bay of Quiberon.\n\nThe whole length of \u201cthe Stones of Karnak,\u201d as the temple is called,\nmeasures, if we include its sinuosities, eight miles. The width varies\nfrom 250 to 350 feet. The highest stones are as much as seventeen feet\nhigh, and from thirty to forty feet in circumference. Vacant spaces have\nunfortunately been cleared by ruthless spoliators for the erection of the\nadjacent villages of Ploermel and Karnak, and the boundary walls of the\nneighbouring fields. But what toil and time must have been originally\nexpended on its construction, we may infer from the fact that it consisted\nof eleven rows of stones, about ten thousand in number, of which upwards\nof three hundred averaged from fifteen to seventeen feet in height, and\nfrom sixteen to twenty or thirty feet in girth; one stone even measuring\nthe huge circumference of forty-two feet.\n\nA glance at any engraving of this famous antiquity will show that the\ncourse of the avenues is distinctly sinuous, and that it defines the\nfigure of an enormous serpent undulating over the ground. Necessarily,\nhowever, the resemblance is more striking to one who views the original\n_in situ_. To such, the alternations of the high and low stones, regularly\ndisposed, may seem to mark with sufficient accuracy \u201cthe swelling of the\nserpent\u2019s muscles as he moves along,\u201d though this seems rather a flight of\nimagination. But at all events the spectator will acknowledge the evidence\nof design which clearly appears in the construction of the avenues.\n\nThe Dracontium contains ten regularly defined areas; one near the village\nof Karnak, which is shaped like a bell or horse-shoe; the other, towards\nthe eastern extremity, which approaches the figure of a rude circle, and\nis in reality a parallelogram with rounded corners.\n\nThe circle and the horse-shoe were both sacred figures in the Druidical\nreligion, as may be seen in Stonehenge, where they are united, the outer\ncircles enclosing inner horse-shoes. The connection between the latter\nsymbol and the Celtic faith is not very clear, unless it be intended as a\nrepresentation of the moon. It has been conjectured that from this symbol,\nwhatever may have been its signification, arose the superstition--even not\nnow wholly defunct--of nailing a horse-shoe over a door as a protection\nagainst evil spirits.\n\nIt is curious that at Erdeven, where the temple begins, an annual dance,\ndescriptive of the Ophite hierogram of the circle and serpent, is still\ncelebrated by the peasants at the Carnival. But the only tradition which\nsurvives respecting the stones is one which lingers in various parts of\nEngland where similar memorials are found, that they were originally\nendowed with life, and were petrified as they stand. Some of the Bretons\nbelieve they were the Roman army who pursued the centurion Cornelius on\naccount of his conversion to Christianity, and were stricken into stone\nthrough his prayers. Others imagine that certain supernatural dwarfs\nerected them in a single night, and that each still inhabits the stone he\nreared.\n\nMr. Deane tells us that near the Karnak side of the dracontium rises a\nsingular mound of great elevation, which has once been conical, and the\nupper portion of which is evidently artificial.[47] He regards it as\nanalogous to the remarkable hill of Silbury, which occupies much the same\nposition towards the Albury dracontium. Probably these mounds served as\naltars, on which, in conformity with the practices of the Solar worship,\nwas kept burning the perpetual fire kindled by the sun. They are of common\noccurrence in Persia, and seem to be identical with \u201cthe high places\u201d of\nScripture where the priests of Baal celebrated their sacrifices. The\nconical mound near Karnak--which may be seen for miles around--has been\nconsecrated by the Christians to the Archangel Michael, who is the patron\nsaint of every height, hill, or cone, natural or artificial, in Brittany.\nThe reason of this dedication has been conjectured to be that S. Michael\nis the assailant and conqueror of the spiritual Dragon of the Apocalypse.\nThe mutilated image of that great serpent lies prostrate below the mound;\nand when its worshippers were converted to the religion of CHRIST, they\nnaturally erected on the Solar mount a chapel consecrated to its\narchangelic slayer. This consecration indicates, therefore, the triumph of\nChristianity over Ophiolatry; and it is but consistent, says Deane, that\nthe people who allegorised the conversion of the Ophites by the metaphor\nof a victory over _serpents_, should, in token of the victory, erect upon\nthe high places of idolatry chapels to the great Archangel.\n\nIt is possible that the mound gave name to the adjacent village: that is,\nKarn-ak, or Carnac, from \u201c_cairn_\u201d a hill, and \u201c_hac_,\u201d a snake. The\n\u201cserpent\u2019s hill\u201d would be no unsuitable title for Mont S. Michel. In the\nsame manner the group of pillars called _Lemaenac_, may have been named\nfrom _maen_, stones, and _hac_.\n\nIt is curious to find proofs of the existence of Serpent-worship in the\nNew World as in the Old; to meet with its traces in Mexico as well as in\nEgypt or Chaldea. But certain it is that the religion of Mexico had many\nfeatures which were common to the Egyptian and Chaldean creeds; the same\nSolar Worship, the same pyramidal monuments, and the same Ophiolatrous\nsymbols.\n\nFor instance, we learn that the temple of Huitziliputli, in Mexico, was\nbuilt of great stones, in the fashion of snakes tied one to another, and\nthat the circuit was called \u201cthe circuit of snakes,\u201d because the walls of\nthe enclosure were covered with the figures of snakes. This\ntruculent-looking deity held in his right hand a staff cut in the fashion\nof a serpent; and the four corners of the ark or tabernacle, in which he\nwas seated, terminated each with a carved effigy of a serpent\u2019s head.\n\nThe Mexican astronomers represented a century by a circle, with a sun in\nthe centre, surrounded by the symbols of the years. The circumference was\na serpent twisted into four knots at the cardinal points.\n\nThe Mexican month was divided into twenty days, two of which were\nsymbolised by the serpent and dragon. Further, the doorway of the temple,\ndedicated to \u201cthe god of the air,\u201d was so wrought as to resemble a\nserpent\u2019s mouth.\n\nThe Mexicans, however, went beyond the _symbolical_ worship of the sacred\nserpent, and like many other branches of the Ophite family, they fostered\nliving serpents in their dwellings as household gods. Mr. Bullock asserts\nthat they make the rattlesnake an object of their worship and veneration;\nand that representations of this reptile, and of others of its species,\nare very commonly met with among the remains of their ancient idolatry. He\nsays that the finest known to be in existence may be seen in a deserted\npart of the cloister of the Dominican convent, opposite to the Palace of\nthe Inquisition. It is curled up in an irritated, erect position, with the\njaws extended, and is represented in the act of gorging a woman, richly\ndressed, who lies between its fangs, crushed and lacerated.\n\nThe Conquistadors, or Spanish followers of Cortez, all assert that the\nAztecs, or inhabitants of Mexico, worshipped an idol wrought into the\nshape of a serpent. Bonal Dias del Castello, one of the Spanish invader\u2019s\nveteran captains, and the chronicler of the expedition, describes the\ninterior of the principal temple, to which he and his leader were\nconducted by the Emperor Montezuma: \u201cWhen we had ascended to the summit of\nthe temple, we observed on the platform as we passed, the large stones on\nwhich were placed the victims intended for sacrifice. Here was a great\nfigure representing a Dragon, and much blood lay spilled. Cortez,\naddressing Montezuma, requested him to do him the favour to show his gods.\nAfter consulting the priests, Montezuma led them into a tower where was a\nkind of hall. Here were two altars, highly adorned with richly-wrought\ntimbers on the roof; above the roof, spread gigantic figures like unto\nmen. The one on the right hand was Huitzilopochtli, their war god, with a\ngreat face and terrible eyes. This figure was entirely covered with gold\nand jewels, and his body wreathed about with golden serpents. Before the\nidol smoked a pan of incense, in which the hearts of three human victims\nwere burning, mixed with copal. The other great figure, on the left, with\na face like a bear\u2019s, was the god of the infernal regions. His body was\neverywhere covered with figures of devils, having serpents\u2019 tails. In this\nplace was kept a drum of most enormous dimensions, the head of which was\nmade of the skins of large serpents. At a short distance from the temple\nstood a tower, and at the door grinned frightful idols, like serpents and\ndevils: in front of these were tables and knives for sacrifice.\u201d\n\nMr. Bullock, who made a valuable collection of Mexican antiquities,\ndescribes an idol, \u201cthe goddess of war,\u201d on which Cortez and his followers\nmay possibly have looked:\n\n\u201cThis monstrous idol,\u201d he says, \u201cis, with its pedestal, twelve feet high,\nand four feet wide. Its form is partly human and partly composed of\nrattlesnakes and the tiger. The head, enormously wide, seems that of two\nrattlesnakes united; the fangs hanging out of the mouth, on which the\nstill-palpitating hearts of the unfortunate victims were rubbed as an act\nof the most acceptable oblation. The body is that of a deformed man, the\nplace of arms being supplied by the heads of rattlesnakes, placed on\nsquare plinths, and united by fringed ornaments. Round the waist is a\ngirdle, which was originally encrusted with gold; and beneath this,\nreaching nearly to the ground, and partly covering its deformed cloven\nfeet, a drapery entirely composed of wreathed rattlesnakes, which the\nnatives call \u201ca garment of serpents.... Between the feet, descending from\nthe body, another wreathed serpent rests his head upon the ground.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe only worship,\u201d says Mr. Deane,[48] \u201cwhich can vie with that of the\nSerpent in antiquity or universality, is the adoration of the SUN. But\nuniformly with the progress of the Solar superstitions has advanced the\nsacred serpent from Babylon to Peru. If the worship of the Sun, therefore,\nwas the first deviation from the truth, the worship of the Serpent was one\nof the first innovations of idolatry. Whatever doubt may exist as to which\nwas the first error, little doubt can arise as to the primitive and\nantediluvian character of both. For in the earliest heathen records we\nfind them inexplicably interwoven as the first of superstitions. Thus\nEgyptian mythology informs us, that Helios (the Sun) was the first of the\nEgyptian gods; for in early history, kings and gods are generally\nconfounded. But Helios married Ops, the serpent deity, and became father\nof Osiris, Isis, Typh\u0153us, Apollo, and Venus: a tradition which would make\nthe superstitions coeval. This fable being reduced to more simple laws,\ninforms us, that the Sun, having married the Serpent, became, by this\nunion, the father of Adam and Eve, the Evil Spirit, the Serpent-solar\ndeity, and Lust; which appears to be a confusion of Scriptural truths, in\nwhich chronological order is sacrificed from the simplification of a\nfable. But--_ex pede Herculem_--from the small fragments of the truth\nwhich are here combined, we may judge of the original dimensions of the\nknowledge whose ruins are thus heaped together. We may conclude that,\nsince idolatry, lust, the serpent, and the evil spirit, are here said to\nhave been synchronous with the First Man and Woman, the whole fable is\nlittle more than a mythological version of the events in Paradise.\u201d\n\nMr. Deane, who lived before the days of Comparative Mythology, read into\nthe old fables a meaning which they are hardly capable of bearing. It is\nclear enough that Serpent-worship had an astronomical origin; but we may\nagree with him that it was as ancient and universal as the worship of the\nSun, with which, indeed, it was closely connected.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nWe shall now borrow a few illustrations of the character, extent, and\nsignificance of Serpent-worship from Mr. Fergusson\u2019s elaborate work,[49]\nin which he deals particularly with the Topes at Sanchi and Amravati. But,\nfirst, a word or two in explanation of the origin and purpose of the Topes\nwill be desirable.\n\nThe era of stone architecture in India seems to have begun with the reign\nof Asoka about 250 B.C. It is contemporaneous with the rise of Buddhism,\nwhose followers gradually usurped the place formerly occupied by the\nAryans. The Buddhist buildings then erected may be divided into three\nprincipal classes:\n\n1st. _Topes_ or _Stupas_, with their surrounding rails and lats:\n\n2nd. _Chaityas_, which, in form and purpose, closely resemble the early\nChurches of the Christians, though several of those cut in the rock were,\nin all probability, excavated before the Christian era: and,\n\n3rd. _Viharas_, or Monasteries, forming in the earliest times the\ndwellings of the monks or priests who ministered in the Topes or Chaityas,\nbut afterwards becoming the independent abode of monastic communities, who\nhad chapels or oratories appropriated to their use within the walls of\ntheir monasteries.\n\nWe are here concerned only with the Tope or Stupa.\n\nIn its origin we suspect that it simply took the place of the mound or\ntumulus which the Turanian and other races had from earliest ages been\naccustomed to raise over the last resting-place of their dead. No such\ntumuli now exist in India, having probably been washed away by the\ntropical rains or river-floods; but some are still found in Afghanistan.\nThe Indian type is distinguished from the tumulus of other countries by\nits material and its shape. It is built of brick or stone, in a rounded or\nconical form. It is distinguished also by the circumstance that instead of\nbeing the place of interment of a corpse, it is the depository of relics.\n\nBesides being used as a relic-shrine, the Tope was frequently employed as\na memorial tower to indicate a sacred spot. Of the 84,000 Stupas which,\naccording to tradition, Asoka erected, fully one half would seem to have\nbeen raised to mark the scenes where Buddha or some B\u00f4dhisatwa had\nperformed a miracle or done something worthy of being remembered by the\nfaithful.\n\nThe \u201crails,\u201d or stone-circles, surrounding the Indian Topes are often of\nas much importance as the Topes themselves; and in the case of Sanchi and\nAmravati, are even _more_ important. As with the Topes, they are\nsepulchral in origin. \u201cThe circles of rude stones found all over Europe\ncertainly are so in most cases. They may sometimes enclose holy spots, and\nmay possibly have in some instances places of assembly, though this is\nimprobable. Their application to the purposes of ancestral worship is,\nhowever, not only probable, but appropriate. Sometimes a circle of stones\nencloses a sepulchral mound, as at New Grange in Ireland, and very\nfrequently in Scandinavia and Algeria. In India rude stone circles are of\nfrequent occurrence.\u201d Some hundreds are found in the neighbourhood of\nAmravati alone, and all are sepulchral; but like the Topes when adopted by\nthe Buddhists, they were \u201csublimated into a symbol instead of a reality.\u201d\n\nReference must briefly be made to another group of early Buddhist\nmonuments, the lats or stembhas, of which very few are now extant in\nIndia, the British engineer having used them for his roads, and the native\nzemindar for his rice or sugar mills. Those erected by Asoka are uniform\nin character: circular stone shafts, monoliths, thirty or forty feet high,\nand surmounted by a capital of a bell-shaped or falling leaf form,\nimitated from the later Grecian architecture. They were erected in order\nthat certain edicts might be engraved upon them, which Asoka desired to\nkeep constantly in the remembrance and before the eyes of his subjects.\nBut in the fifth century, those raised by the Guptas had no other object\nthan to perpetuate the name and fame of their royal founders.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThe Topes at Sanchi form part of a large group of Topes situated between\nthe towns of Bhilsa and Bhopul in Central India. They range over an area\nabout seventeen miles from east to west, and about ten miles from north to\nsouth, in five or six different clusters, and number in all between forty\nand fifty of various dimensions. It is believed that the smallest are\nmerely the places of interment of local chiefs; others are strictly\nDagobas, or relic-shrines; while the largest is a chaitya or stupa,\ndesigned apparently to consecrate some sacred spot, or perpetuate the\nmemory of some remarkable event in Buddhist history.\n\nArchitecturally speaking, it consists, first, of a basement 121 feet in\ndiameter and 14 feet in height. This is surmounted by a platform or\nprocession path, within which the dome or tumulus itself rises in the\nshape of a truncated hemisphere to a height of 39 feet. The summit is a\nlevel area, measuring 34 feet across, and surrounded by a circular railing\nor barrier of stones, which enclosed a square Tu or reliquary, 11\u00bd feet\nsquare, and this in its turn enclosed a circular support for the sacred\nand symbolic umbrella that always crowned these edifices.\n\nAt a distance of 9\u00bd feet from the base, the tope is encircled by a rail,\neleven feet high, and consisting apparently of one hundred pillars,\nexclusive of the gateways. Each pillar seems to have been the gift of an\nindividual, and even the rails between them have apparently been\ncontributed by different persons. The rail or circle is devoid of\nsculpture; but four gateways which were added to it about the Christian\nera are covered with sculptured work of the most elaborate kind.\n\nThe human figures represented in these sculptures belong in the main to\ntwo great races. One of them is easily recognised as \u201cHindus,\u201d--\u201cmeaning\nby that term the civilized race who formerly occupied the valley of the\nGanges, and who, from their capitals of Ayodhy\u00e2 and Indraprastha or\nP\u00e2taliputra (Palibothra), had been the dominant class in India for at\nleast two thousand years before the time to which we are now referring.\u201d\nIt may be taken as proved that these people were originally pure\nimmigrant Aryans, but by intermixture with other races their blood took,\nas it were, a new colouring, though they did not lose the civilisation and\npre-eminence which they owed to their intellectual superiority.\n\nWe know them in the sculptures by their costume; by the dhoti, wrapped\nround the loins exactly as it is worn now-a-days; the chadder over their\nshoulders; and the turban on their heads. So much for the dress of the\nmen; of the undress of the women it is more difficult to speak. They are\nalways decorated with enormous bangles about the wrists and ankles, and\nstrings of beads round the neck; but with the exception of a bead belt\nround the body below the waist they wear little body clothing. From this\nbelt slips of cloth are sometimes suspended, more generally at the sides\nor behind than in front,--and sometimes also a cloth not unlike a dhoti,\ninvariably of transparent texture. This scantiness of attire can hardly be\nregarded as finding compensation in the dimensions and amplitude of the\nhead-dress, which, consisting of two long plaits of hair mixed with beads,\nand a thick roll of cloth, forms almost a kind of tippet, covering the\nwhole of the woman\u2019s back.\n\nMr. Fergusson remarks:[50]\n\n\u201cIt is, however, not only in the Topes that this absence of dress is so\nconspicuous. In all the sculptures at Karli, or Ellora, or Mahavellipore,\nor in the paintings in Ajanta, the same peculiarity is observable.\nEverywhere, indeed, before the Mahometan conquest, nudity in India\nconveyed no sense of indecency. The wife and mother of Buddha are at times\nrepresented in this manner. The queen on her throne, the female disciples\nof Buddha, listening to his exhortations, and on every public occasion on\nwhich women take part in what is going on, the costume is the same. It is\nequally remarkable that in those days those unveiled females seem to have\ntaken part in every public transaction and show, and to have mixed with\nthe men as freely as women do in Europe at the present day.\n\n\u201cAll this is the more remarkable, as in Buddhist books modesty of dress in\nwomen is frequently insisted upon. In the Dulva, for instance, a story is\ntold of the King of Kalinga presenting to the King of Kos\u00e1la (probably\nPadh), a piece of muslin, which afterwards fell into the hands of a lewd\npriestess. She, it is said, wore it in public, while it was so thin that\nshe, notwithstanding this, appeared naked to the great scandal of all who\nwitnessed the exhibition.[51] The probability is, that the story and the\nbook that contains it are of very much more modern date than our\nsculptures. It certainly is in direct conflict with their evidence.\u201d\n\nThe want of shame in women, to which this exposure of the person bears\nwitness, is always the mark and sign of inferior civilisation.\n\nThe other race depicted in the sculptures has its distinctive\ncharacteristics. The male costume consists of a kilt,--not a cloth wrapped\nround the loins, but a kilt, shaped, sewn, and fastened by buckle or\nstring;--and also of a cloak or tippet, which seems to be similarly shaped\nand sewn. As for the hair, it is twisted into a long rope or plait like a\nChinaman\u2019s, and then folded round the head in a conical form, or a piece\nof cloth or rope was treated in this way. The beard is worn, whereas no\nsingle individual of the Hindu race, either at Sanchi or Amravati, has any\ntrace of beard or moustache; a circumstance the more remarkable, because,\naccording to Nearchus, the Hindus dyed their beards with various colours,\nso that some were red, some white, some black, others purple, some green.\nThe female dress differs from that of the Hindus even more than the male.\nA striped petticoat is gathered in at the knees so as to form a neat and\nmodest garb, and a cloak or tippet like that of the men is thrown\ngenerally over one shoulder so as to leave one breast bare, but sometimes\nboth are covered. The head-dress is a neat and elegant turban.\n\nWho then are these people? From the peculiarities of their costume, and\ntheir living in the woods, some authorities are inclined to regard them as\npriests or ascetics, though, it is to be noted, they are nowhere\nrepresented as worshipping Topes, hero-wheels, or the disc and crescent\nsymbols (the sun and moon.) In one compartment, however, they are\nevidently worshipping the serpent in a fire-temple. Fergusson concludes\nthat they were the aboriginal inhabitants of Malwa, to whom came the\nHindus as conquerors or missionaries (or both?) The Topes were erected\nand the sculpture wrought by the conquering race, and the others are\nalways represented as inferior and engaged in servile employments, but not\nas converts to Buddhism. The only act of adoration in which we see them\nconcerned is the adoration of the five-headed Naga. Mr. Fergusson proposes\nto call them Dasyus, not because such a name has any local or traditional\nauthority, but because in the Vedas and the heroic poems it seems to be\napplied to the aboriginal people of India as opposed to the Aryans.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nProceeding now to a consideration of the sculptures, we find that one half\nof those at Sanchi represent religious acts, such as the worship of the\nDagoba or of Trees. Once or twice the Wheel is the object of adoration,\nand once the Serpent. Other bas-reliefs represent events in history, and\nsome again are devoted to the ordinary incidents of every man\u2019s life.\nTheir general execution is vigorous though rude. Those at Amravati \u201care\nperhaps as near in scale of excellence to the contemporary art of the\nRoman empire under Constantine, as to any other that could be named; or,\nrather, they should be compared with the sculptures of the early Italian\nRenaissance, as it culminated in the hands of Ghiberti, and before the\ntrue limits between the provinces of painting and sculpture were\nunderstood.\u201d\n\nLet us describe an upper bas-relief which has been found on the eastern\ngateway.\n\nHere the people whom Mr. Fergusson calls Dasyus are represented\nworshipping the five-headed Naga, or Serpent, which appears in a small\nhexagonal temple, raising its head over something very like an altar. In\nfront stands a pot of fire,--probably a fire-altar,--and in spite of Mr.\nFergusson\u2019s doubts, we think both the Serpent and the Fire are connected\nwith the old Sun-worship.[52]\n\nIn the foreground an old man is seated in a circular leaf-thatched hut,\nwith, according to a frequent Indian custom, a scarf bound round his knees\nand loins. Behind him in the hut is suspended his upper garment, and in\nfront a bearded senior, of his own tribe, is, to all appearance,\naddressing him. Near this individual stands another pot of fire, with\nthree pairs of tongs or ladles, and a bundle of sticks to feed the flame.\nClose beside him we see one elephant, two buffaloes, sheep, and deer. The\nscene takes place in a forest. Above are trees and cocks, with monkeys and\npeacocks; below, a reedy marsh opens into a lake blooming with\nlotus-flowers and occupied by geese.\n\nA lower bas-relief in the same gateway puts before us a very different\nscene:\n\nIn the centre of the upper part blooms the sacred Buddhist Tree, behind\nits altar, with its Chattee and garlands, occupying a position similar to\nthat of the serpent in the other bas-relief. Two Garudas or Devas, or\nflying figures, present garlands, and two females, instead of griffins,\napproach it on either side.\n\nIn the lower part of the picture, the Inja, or chief male personage, sits\nenthroned upon the Naga, and is sheltered by its five-headed hood. On his\nright crouch three women on stools, eating and drinking, and each with her\ntutelary or snake behind her; and above them are a female Chaori bearer\nand a woman with a bottle--there are snakes behind both. On the other side\nare two women playing on drums, two on harps, one on a flute, and a fifth\ndancing, but all likewise with snakes, and all in the costume which Mr.\nFergusson defines as that of the Hindus.\n\nThe worship of the Naga by the bearded Dasyus as represented in the upper\nbas-relief, does not occur again at Sanchi, and occurs only once at\nAmravati. There, however, the five-headed snake is seen very frequently in\nfront of the dagoba, and in a position which is designed to command the\nworship, not only of the Dasyus, but of the whole world.\n\nThe Hindu male or chief canopied by the Naga, as shown in the lower\nbas-relief, occurs at least ten times at Sanchi, and must have occurred\nseveral hundred times at Amravati.\n\nMr. Fergusson asks, what are we to infer from these facts? Is it that the\nNaga, or serpent, was the god of the aborigines, whom the conquering\nHindus adopted as their own deity, and pretended that it was for _them_ he\nreserved his patronage and support? We must recollect that the Topes were\nbuilt and the sculptures carved by Hindus, and that there is no\nrepresentation of a Hindu doing honour to a snake; on the contrary, the\nsnake always does homage to the Hindu.\n\nShall we conclude, then, that the Hindus were the real Naga-worshipping\npeople, and that it was they who enforced serpent-worship on the Dasyus? A\nconquered people have not infrequently imposed their language, laws, and\nreligion on their conquerors.\n\nIt is, perhaps, impossible to answer these questions: a cloud of obscurity\nhangs over the whole subject of Snake-worship; but we take it to have been\nthe old and prevalent faith of the aborigines of India prior to the Aryan\nimmigration, and we believe that the Aryans adopted it more and more\ngenerally as they mixed more and more widely with the Hindus, and their\nblood became less and less pure. It is not mentioned in the Vedas; there\nis scarcely an allusion in the R\u00e2m\u00e2yana; in the Mah\u00e2b\u00e2hrata it occupies a\nconsiderable space; it appears timidly at Sanchi in the first century of\nthe Christian era; is triumphant at Amravati in the fourth; and might have\nbecome the dominant faith of India had it not been elbowed from its pride\nof place by Vishnuism and Sivaism, which took its position when it fell\ntogether with the Buddhism to which it had allied itself so closely.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nWe turn to the celebrated Tope at Amravati, a town situated on the river\nKishna. The dimensions of the Tope are 195 feet for inside diameter of the\nouter circle, and 165 feet for that of the inner. The procession path is\npaved with slabs 13 feet long, and the inner rail is 2 feet wide. It has\nfour gateways, and projecting about 30 feet beyond the outer rail; but\nthese are in so dilapidated a condition that their size cannot be\naccurately ascertained.\n\nThese circles, or circular bas-reliefs, from the intermediate rails of the\nouter enclosure are thus described:\n\nIn the upper circle on the right hand side a group of Buddhist priests,\nin their yellow robes, may be seen worshipping. In front two supple women,\nsuch as so frequently occur in these sculptures, bend in attitudes of\nadoration, and on the left a chief in the ordinary Hindu\ncostume--surrounded by the women of his family--presents his little son to\nthe Buddha-emblem.\n\nIn the lower circle the same structural arrangements occur up to the\nTrisul (or emblem), but the whole is surmounted by the Chakra, or Wheel,\nwhich we know to be the symbol of Dharma or the Law. Here all the\nworshippers are men; it is, we are told, one of the very few scenes in\nthese sculptures from which women are entirely excluded. Whether it was\nconsidered that the study of the Law was unsuited for women, or whether\nsome other motive governed the designers, certain it is that, contrary to\nthe usual rule, the whole of the worshippers are of one sex and one race.\nThe only other noticeable peculiarity is the introduction of two\nantelopes, one on each side of the throne.\n\nThe second circle represents the Trisul ornament, or emblem, not on a\nthrone, but behind an altar. The sacred feet of Buddha are depicted, but\nthere are no relics. In the upper compartment the principal worshippers\nare two men with seven-headed snake-hoods, and two women with single\nsnakes.\n\nIn the centre of the bas-relief sits the principal personage, with a\nnine-headed snake-hood, between two of his wives, and beyond, on both rims\nof the circle, stands a female figure, supporting herself by the branches\nof a tree. On each a young girl waits; one of these girls has a snake at\nthe back of her head. In front are three musicians, also with snakes; and\non their right a lady _without_ a snake receives the assistance of a girl\n_with_ a snake.\n\n\u201cThis distinction,\u201d says Mr. Fergusson, \u201cbetween people with snakes and\nthose without is most curious and perplexing. After the most attentive\nstudy I have been unable to detect any characteristic either of feature or\ncostume by which the races can be distinguished, beyond the possession or\nabsence of this strange adjunct. That those with snakes are the Naga\npeople we read of, can hardly be doubted; yet they never are seen actually\nworshipping the snake like the Dasyus, but rather as protected by it. The\nsnake seems their tutelary genius, watching over, perhaps inspiring them;\nbut whether they borrowed this strange emblem from the natives of the\ncountry, or brought it with them from the north-west, are questions we are\nhardly yet in a position to answer satisfactorily.\u201d\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nWe have thus abundant evidence of the prevalence of Serpent-worship in\nIndia in \u201colden times;\u201d the reader will, perhaps, be surprised to hear\nthat it lingers still throughout the peninsula. Dr. Balfour, who had an\nintimate acquaintance with the habits and customs of the natives, asserts\nthat the worship both of the sculptured form and the living creature, is\ngeneral. The sculpture invariably represents the Nag or Cobra, and almost\nevery hamlet owns its Serpent deity. Sometimes it is a single snake, with\nthe hood spread open. Occasionally the sculptured figures are nine in\nnumber, forming the _Nao Nag_, which is designed to represent a parent\nsnake and eight of its young, but the prevalent form is that of two snakes\ntwining in the manner of the Esculapian rod of classical antiquity.\n\nIt is the opinion of some Hindus that the living snake is not worshipped\nas a devata, or deity, but simply reverenced in commemoration of some\nancient event--possibly of some astronomical occurrences. Others, however,\ndistinctly assert that it is worshipped as a devata. However this may be,\nthere can be no doubt that the living snake is worshipped throughout all\nSouthern India. On their feast days the worshippers resort to the snake\u2019s\nlair, which they bedaub with vermilion streaks and patches of turmeric and\nof wheat flour, and close at hand they suspend garlands of flowers, strung\nupon white cotton thread, and laid over wooden frames. During the rainy\nseasons occurs the great Nagpanchanic festival, when the Hindus go in\nsearch of snakes, or have them brought to their houses by the Sanpeli, the\nsnake-charmers who ensnare them. The snakes are then worshipped, and\nofferings of milk are made to them, and in almost every house figures of\nsnakes, drawn on paper, are affixed to the walls, and worshipped. Those\nwho visit the snakes\u2019 abodes, or tents, plant sticks around the hole, and\nabout and over these sticks wind white cotton thread. A bevy of Mahrathi\nwomen repair to the h\u00fbt, and joining hands, wind round it in a circle five\ntimes, singing songs; after which they prostrate themselves. They pour\nmilk into the hole; hang festoons of Chembela flowers and cucumber fruit,\nand sprinkle a mixture of sugar and flour.\n\nIn reference to this festival, Colonel Meadows Taylor writes:--\n\nOn this occasion, Nags or Cobras are worshipped by most of the lower\nclasses of the people in the Dekhan, and more particularly in the\nShorapore country. The ceremonies are very simple: the worshippers bathe,\nsmear their foreheads with red colour, and in small parties,--generally\nfamilies acquainted with one another,--resort to the places known to be\nfrequented by snakes. In such places there are generally sacred stones, to\nwhich various offerings are made, and they are anointed with red colour\nand ground turmeric, and invocations are addressed to the local genius and\nto the serpents. Near the stones are placed small new earthen saucers,\nfilled with milk; for cobras are fond of milk, and are believed to watch\nthe ceremony, coming out of their holes and drinking the milk, even while\nthe worshippers are near, or are lingering in the distance to see if their\nofferings be received. It is considered a fortunate augury for the\nworshippers if the snake should appear and drink. Should the snake _not_\nappear, the worshippers, after waiting awhile, return to the place next\nmorning, to ascertain the result: if the milk have disappeared, the rite\nhas been accepted, but not under such favourable auspices as if the\nreptile had come out at once. These ceremonies end with a feast.\n\nColonel Meadows Taylor (whose language we are partly adopting)\ncontinues:--\n\nIt is on behalf of children that Snake-worship is particularly practised;\nand the women and children of a family invariably accompany the male head,\nnot only at the annual festival, but whenever a vow has been made to a\nSerpent Deity. The first hair shaved from a child which has passed\nteething, and gone through the other infantile ailments, is frequently\ndedicated to a Serpent. On such occasions the child is taken to the\nlocality of the vow, the usual ceremonies are performed, and with the\nother offerings is included the child\u2019s hair. In every case a feast\nfollows, served near the spot, and the attendant Brahmins receive alms and\nlargess.\n\n\u201cIn the Shakti ceremonies, Pooma-elhish\u00e9k, which belong, I think, to\naboriginal customs, the worship of the Snake forms a portion, as\nemblematical of energy and wisdom. Most of these ceremonies are, however,\nof an inconceivably obscene and licentious character. They are not\nconfined to the lowest classes, though rarely perhaps resorted to by\nBrahmins; but many of the middle class sects, of obscure origin and\ndenomination, practise them in secret, under the strange delusion that the\ndivine energy of nature is to be obtained thereby, with exemption from\nearthly troubles.\n\n\u201cAlthough Snake-worship ordinarily belongs professedly to the descendants\nof aboriginal tribes, yet Brahmins never or rarely pass them over, and the\nNagpanchani is observed as a festival of kindly greeting and visiting\nbetween families and friends--as a day of gifts of new clothes or\nornaments to wives or children, &c.\n\n\u201cThe worship of Gram Deotas, or village divinities, is universal all over\nthe Dekhan, and indeed I believe throughout India. These divinities have\nno temples nor priests. Sacrifice and oblation is made to them at sowing\ntime and harvest, for rain or fine weather, in time of cholera, malignant\nfever, or other disease or pestilence. The Nag is always one of the Gram\nDeota, the rest being known by local names. The Gram Deota are known as\nheaps of stones, generally in a grove or quiet spot near every village,\nand are smeared some with black and others with red colour.\n\n\u201cN\u00e2g is a common name both for males and females among all classes of\nHindus, from Brahmins downwards to the lowest classes of Sudras and\nMl\u00e9chhas. N\u00e2go Rao, N\u00e2goju, &c., are common Mahratta names, as Nagappa,\nNagowa, and the like are among the Canarese and Telugu population.\n\n\u201cNo Hindu will kill a Nag or Cobra willingly. Should any one be killed\nwithin the precincts of a village, by Mahomedans or others, a piece of\ncopper money is put into its mouth, and the body is burned with offerings\nto avert the evil.\n\n\u201cIt is, perhaps, remarkable, that the Snake festival is held after the\nseason or at the season of casting the skin, and when the Snake, addressed\nor worshipped, is supposed to have been purified. Some Brahmins always\nkeep the skin of a Nag in one of their sacred books.\n\n\u201cIn reference to the lower castes alluded to, I may mention those who\npractise Snake-worship with the greatest reverence:--1, Beydars. 2,\nDhungars or shepherds, Ahens or milkmen, Waddiwars or stone-masons,\nKhungins or rope-makers, Brinjaras and other wandering tribes, Mangs,\nDh\u00e9rs, and Chennars, Ramorsers, Bhils, Ghonds, and Kohs, all which I\nbelieve, with many others, to be descendants of aboriginal tribes, partly\nreceived within the pale of Hinduism.\n\n\u201cLingayots, who are schismatics from Hinduism, and who deny _in toto_ the\nreligious supremacy of the Brahmins, are nevertheless Snake-worshippers,\nmany of them bearing the name Nag, both male and female.\n\n\u201cI cannot speak of the North of India, but in the whole of the South of\nIndia, from the Nerbudda to Cape Comorin, Snake-worship is now\nexistent.\u201d[53]\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XII.\n\n_POLYNESIAN SUPERSTITIONS._\n\n\nWhen Captain Cook first visited those beautiful islands of the South\nPacific which are now included under the general name of Polynesia, he\nfound their inhabitants given over to the lowest and coarsest idolatry.\nMany of their rites and ceremonies were as lewd as any practised in\nancient times under the auspices of the Paphian Venus. Gradually they were\nbrought within the influence of the missionary work of the Christian\nChurch; and though, if we may credit the testimony of recent observers,\nmuch heathenism still prevails, and gross superstitions are still secretly\nnourished, there cannot be a doubt, that, on the whole, their moral\ncondition has been materially elevated.\n\nAmong the pioneers of the Cross in these \u201cSummer-isles of Eden\u201d one of the\nmost eminent and successful was the Rev. John Williams; a missionary of\nthe true type, of an enlightened mind and broad sympathies, who, after a\nlong career of noble labour, sealed his witness to the truth with his\nblood, and lives in the Gospel record as the Martyr of Erromanga. From the\nplain, unvarnished, and effective chronicle of his \u201cMissionary\nEnterprises\u201d we glean much interesting information respecting the\nidolatrous ways of the islanders, revealing their identity with the\nsuperstitions that from all times have dominated over uncivilised man. In\nRarotonga as in Mexico, for instance, the gods were supposed to be\npropitiated by human sacrifices; and in many of the islands cannibalism\nexisted in its most disgusting form and under the sanction of a religious\nordinance.\n\nFrom the chief of Aitutaki Mr. Williams obtained some curious relics of\nidolatry. As for example:--an idol named _Te-rongo_, one of the great\ndeities, called a _Kaitangata_, or man-eater. The priests of this idol\nwere supposed to be inspired by the shark.\n\nTangarou, the great national god of Aitutaki, and of almost all the\nadjacent islands. He holds the net with which he catches the spirits of\nmen as they fly from their bodies, and a spear with which he kills them.\n\nA rod, with snares at the end, made of the fibres of the cocoa-nut husk,\nwith which the priest caught the spirit of the god. It was used in cases\nof pregnancy, when the female was ambitious that her child should be a\nson, and become a famous warrior. It was also employed in wartime to catch\nthe god by his leg, to secure his influence on the side of the party\nperforming the ceremony.\n\nRuanu; a chief from Raiatea, who, ages ago, sailed in a canoe from that\nisland, and settled at Aitutaki. From him a genealogy is traced. He died\nat Aitutaki, and was deified as _Te atua taitai tere_, or the conductor of\nfleets.\n\nTanu; with his fan and other appendages; the god of thunder. The natives,\nwhen they heard a peal of thunder, were accustomed to say that this god\nwas flying: and produced this sound by the flapping of his wings.\n\nThe Rarotongan idols were of a singular character. From their size they\nmight have suited Swift\u2019s nation of Brobdingnagians, for the smallest\nseems to have been about fifteen feet high. Each was wrought out of a\npiece of _aito_, or iron wood, about four inches in diameter, carved with\na rude imitation of the human hand at one end, and with an obscene figure\nat the other; round it were wrapped numerous folds of native cloth, until\nit measured two or three yards in circumference. Near the wooden image\nsome red feathers were strewn, and a string of small pieces of polished\npearl shells was regarded as the _manava_, or soul of the god.\n\nAn idol, somewhat resembling a Chinese joss, was placed in the fore-part\nof every fishing-canoe; and prior to their departure on a fishing\nexcursion, the boatmen aways presented it with offerings, and invoked it\nto grant them a successful issue.\n\nA striking scene was that when Papeiha, a converted islander, lifted up\nhis voice against idolatry, for the first time, among the banana-groves of\nRarotonga.\n\nThe Rarotongans had assembled in great numbers at a _marae_, or sacred\nenclosure, for the purpose of making offerings of food to the gods. Many\npriests, pretending to be inspired, were filling the air with shouts and\nyells; whilst around them gathered the deluded worshippers, some with one\nside of their face and body blackened with charcoal; others were painted\nwith stripes of various colours; others figured as warriors, wearing large\ncaps adorned with white cowrie shells and birds\u2019 feathers. Breaking into\ntheir midst, Papeiha boldly addressed them on their folly in devoting such\nlarge quantities of food to a log of wood which they had carved and\ndecorated and called a god. This challenge was immediately accepted by one\nof the priests, who springing to his feet, protested that their god was a\nreal god, and a very powerful god, and that they were that day celebrating\na very sacred feast.\n\nPapeiha replied that the day was at hand when their folly would be\nrevealed to them by the true GOD JEHOVAH, who would make their so-called\ngods \u201cfuel for the fire.\u201d This strong declaration greatly perplexed the\ncrowd, but they continued to listen attentively while Papeiha commented on\nthe love of GOD in giving HIS SON to die for sinners. After he had ceased,\nthe people asked him many questions; among others,--\u201cWhere does your GOD\nlive?\u201d He answered, that Heaven was His dwelling-place, but that both\nHeaven and Earth were filled with the majesty of His presence. They\nrejoined, in their inability to conceive of an Invisible but Omnipresent\nDeity;--\u201cWe cannot see Him, but ours are here before our eyes, and, if the\nearth was full of your GOD, He would surely be big enough to be seen.\u201d\n\u201cAnd,\u201d said another, \u201cwhy do we not run against Him?\u201d To which Papeiha\ningeniously responded:--\u201cThat the earth was full of air, but we did not\nrun against it: that we were surrounded by light, but it did not impede\nour progress.\u201d\n\nFive months later, a priest came to Papeiha and his associate missionary\nTiberio, announcing his resolve to burn his idols; and he brought with him\nhis eldest son, a boy of ten years old, to place under their care, lest\nthe gods in their wrath should destroy him. Evidently, in spite of his\niconoclastic purpose, the priest still cherished a belief in the power of\nhis wooden deities. Leaving the child with the two teachers, he returned\nhome, and next day at early dawn returned, staggering under the weight of\nhis cumbrous idol. A crowd followed him, shouting at him as a madman, and\nlooking upon him as one pre-doomed to destruction by his own folly; but he\nheld fast to his resolve to embrace the word of JEHOVAH, and declared that\nhe had no fear of the issue. He threw his idol at the feet of the\nteachers, one of whom fetched his saw to cut it up; but the crowd, as soon\nas they saw the instrument applied to the head of the god, were stricken\nwith panic fear, and fled away. As no catastrophe occurred, they gradually\nreturned impelled by curiosity, which is sometimes stronger than fear; and\nin their presence, amidst profound excitement, the first rejected idol of\nRarotonga was committed to the flames.\n\nTo convince the people of the absurdity of their apprehensions, the\nteachers, as soon as the idol was converted into ashes, roasted some\nbananas upon them, of which they ate, and invited the spectators to\npartake. None however were brave enough to admit so dangerous a morsel\ninto their mouths, and they waited, open-eyed, for the expected result of\nthe profane audacity of the two teachers. But, like the inhabitants of\nMelita, \u201cafter they had looked a great while and saw no harm come to them,\nthey changed their minds,\u201d and in less than ten days after this event no\nfewer than fourteen idols were destroyed. Soon afterwards, the chief\nTinomana sent for the missionaries, and on their arrival at his\nmountain-home, informed them that after much deliberation, he had resolved\nto become a Christian, and to place himself under their direction. He\ntherefore wished to know what was the first step he ought to take. They\ninformed him that he must destroy his maraes and burn his idols; to which\nhe immediately replied, \u201cCome with me and see them destroyed.\u201d On reaching\nthe place he desired some person to take a firebrand and set fire to the\ntemple, the _ataraw_, or altar, and the _unus_, or sacred pieces of carved\nwood by which the marae was decorated. Four huge idols were then deposited\nat the feet of the teachers, who, having read a portion of the tenth\nchapter of S. Luke\u2019s Gospel, which was peculiarly appropriate, especially\nfrom verse 17 to 20, stripped them of their linen wrappings, which they\ndistributed among the people, and threw them into the flames.\n\nSome of the spectators waxed wroth with the chief, and expressed\nthemselves with great violence, denouncing him as a fool and a madman for\nburning his gods, and listening to worthless fellows who \u201cwere drift-wood\nfrom the sea, washed on shore by the waves of the ocean.\u201d The women were\nspecially vehement in their grief, and broke out into the loudest and\ndolefulest lamentations imaginable. Many of them inflicted deep gashes on\ntheir heads with sharp shells and shark\u2019s teeth, and ran wildly to and\nfro, smeared with the blood which streamed from their wounds, and crying\nin tones of the deepest melancholy, \u201cAlas, alas, the gods of the madman\nTinomana, the gods of the insane chief are given to the flames!\u201d Others,\nblackened with charcoal, were not less demonstrative.\n\nIn the course of a few days a clean sweep was made of the idols of the\ndistrict; never were Iconoclasts, not even our Puritan forefathers, more\nthorough or more resolute. The teachers then advised Tinomana and their\nother converts to prepare their food for the Sunday, and attend worship at\nthe mission station. This they did,--but they came armed as for battle,\nwith war-caps, slings, and spears, fearing lest the irate _Satanus_ (as\nthey called the idolaters) should attack them. Neither in coming nor\ngoing, however, were they molested.\n\n\u201cAt this time,\u201d says Mr. Williams,[54] \u201ca ludicrous circumstance occurred,\nwhich will illustrate the ignorance and superstition of this people. A\nfavourite cat had been taken on shore by one of the teachers\u2019 wives on our\nfirst visit, and not liking his new companions, Tom fled to the mountains.\nThe house of the priest Tiaki, who had just destroyed his idol, was\nsituated at a distance from the settlement, and at midnight while he was\nlying asleep on his mat, his wife, who was sitting awake by his side\nmusing upon the strange events of the day, beheld with consternation two\nfires glistening in the doorway, and heard with surprise a mysterious\nvoice. Almost petrified with fear, she awoke her husband, and began to\nupbraid him for his folly in burning his god, who, she declared, was now\ncome to be avenged of them. \u2018Get up and pray, get up and pray,\u2019 she said.\nThe husband arose, and on opening his eyes beheld the same glaring lights,\nand heard the same ominous sound. Impelled by the extreme urgency of the\ncase, he commenced, with all possible vehemence, vociferating the alphabet\nas a prayer to GOD to deliver them from the vengeance of Satan. On hearing\nthis, the cat, as much alarmed as the priest and his wife, of whose\nnocturnal peace he had been the unconscious disturber, ran away, leaving\nthe poor people congratulating themselves on the efficacy of their\nprayer.\u201d\n\nAfterwards, in the course of his wanderings, Puss reached the district of\nthe _Satanus_; and, as the marae was situated in a sequestered corner, and\novershadowed by the luxuriant foliage of patriarchal trees, the graybeards\nof the wood, he was well pleased with the place. In order to keep the best\nof company, he took up his abode with the gods; and as he met with no\nopposition from within, he little expected any from without. But some few\ndays after came the priest, accompanied by a number of worshippers, to\npresent some offerings to the god; on his opening the door, Tom\nrespectfully welcomed him with a _miaou_. At this unwonted salutation he\nrushed back in terror, shouting to his followers: \u201cHere\u2019s a monster from\nthe deep! here\u2019s a monster from the deep!\u201d\n\nWhereupon the whole party hastened home, assembled several hundreds of\ntheir companions, assumed their war-caps, equipped themselves with spear,\nclub, and sling, blackened their bodies with charcoal, and in all this\npomp and circumstance of Polynesian war, rushed, with yells, cries, and\nshouts, to attack poor Puss. He, however, daunted by their grim and\nstrange array, did not await their approach. The moment the door was open,\na leap and a bound--he was gone! _Abiit, evasit, erupit._ As he darted\nthrough the assembled warriors, they fled precipitately in all directions.\n\nThe religious system of the Samoans, according to Mr. Williams, differed\nin essential respects from that which prevailed at the Tahitian, Society,\nand other Polynesian groups. They had neither maraes nor temples, nor\naltars nor offerings; and consequently none of the barbarous and\nsanguinary rites to which we have alluded. They shed no human blood; they\nstrewed no maraes with the skulls and bones of their victims; they\ndedicated no sacred groves to brutal and sensual observances. Hence the\nRarotongans denounced them for their impiety, and \u201ca godless Samoan\u201d was a\nproverbial phrase. Yet they were not without their superstitions; they had\nlords many and gods many; and their credulity was as marked as that of any\nother savage race on whom the light of Christianity and civilisation had\nnever shone.\n\nIn considering the religion of the Polynesians, there are four points to\nbe glanced at; 1, their gods; 2, their cultus; 3, their ideas of\nimmortality; and 4, the means by which they hoped to secure future\nhappiness.\n\n1. Their gods consisted of three kinds: their deified ancestors, their\nidols, and their etus.\n\nSome of their ancestors were deified, after the Greek fashion, for the\nsupposed boons they had conferred upon mankind. For example, it was\nbelieved that the world was formerly in darkness; but that the sun, moon,\nand stars were created by one of their progenitors in a manner too absurd\nto be described. Also, that the heavens were of old so close to the earth\nthat men could not walk erect, and were compelled to crawl; until a great\nman conceived the idea of elevating them to their present height; which he\neffected by the employment of almost Herculean energy. By his first effort\nhe raised them to the top of a tender plant, called _teve_, about four\nfeet high. There they remained until he had refreshed and rested himself.\nA second effort, and he upheaved them to the height of a tree called\n_kanariki_, which is as tall as the sycamore. His third attempt carried\nthem to the summits of the mountains; and after a long period of repose,\nand another tremendous struggle, he raised them to their present altitude,\nat which they have ever since remained. This wonderful personage was\nappropriately apotheosized; and down to the date of the introduction of\nChristianity, was everywhere worshipped as \u201cthe Elevator of the Heavens.\u201d\n\nThe fisherman had his god; so had the husbandman, the voyager, the\nwarrior, the thief; mothers dedicated their offspring to one or other of\nthese numerous Powers, and chiefly to Hero, the god of thieves, and to\nOro, the god of war. \u201cIf to the former, the mother, while pregnant, went\nto the marae with the requisite offerings, when the priest performed the\nceremony of catching the spirit of the god with the snare previously\ndescribed, and infusing it into the child even prior to its birth, that it\nmight become a clever and desperate thief. Most parents, however, were\nanxious that their children should become brave and renowned warriors.\nThis appears to have been the very summit of a heathen mother\u2019s ambition,\nand to secure it, numerous ceremonies were performed before the child was\nborn; and after its birth it was taken to the marae, and formally\ndedicated to Oro. The spirit of the god was then caught, and imparted to\nthe infant, and the ceremony was completed by numerous offerings and\nprayers. At New Zealand, stones were thrust down the throat of the babe,\nto give it a stony heart, and make it a dauntless and desperate warrior.\u201d\n\nThis dedication of the child to the sanguinary war-god points to a\ncondition of society in which life was verily and indeed a battle, and\nevery one had to hold his own by right of a strong arm and a reckless\nspirit. There was no room for the feeble in such a system; they crawled\naside to die; or were trampled to death in the rush and press of the\ncrowd. Civilisation has its victims; but assuredly they are few in\ncomparison to the thousands and tens of thousands destroyed by the\nmerciless tyranny of Heathenism. Civilisation does at least teach us our\nduties towards our neighbours; while Savage Man had little sentiment of\ncompassion or affection for father or brother, daughter or wife.\n\nThe second class of objects regarded with religious veneration was\n_Idols_. In every island and district these were different; but in every\nisland and district they abounded. Some were large, some small; some\nhideous in the extreme, others were almost comely. No fixed pattern\nappears to have been before the idol-makers; each man followed his own\nfancy.\n\nThe third object of worship was the _Etu_,--that is, some bird, fish, or\nreptile, in which the natives believed that a spirit resided. This form of\nidolatry was more in vogue in the Samoas than in any other island-group.\nAmong the Samoans, the objects regarded as _etus_ were, indeed, almost\ninnumerable, and frequently they were of extraordinary triviality. It was\nnot unusual to see a chief, in other matters really intelligent, muttering\nhis prayers to a fly, an ant, or a lizard, if such chanced to crawl or\nalight in his presence.\n\n\u201cOn one occasion,\u201d says Mr. Williams, \u201ca vessel from New South Wales\ntouched at the Samoas, the captain of which had on board a cockatoo that\ntalked. A chief was invited to the ship, and shortly after he entered the\ncabin the captain began a colloquy with the bird. At this he was struck\nwith amazement, trembled exceedingly, and immediately sprang upon deck,\nleaped into the sea, and called aloud to the people to follow him,\naffirming the captain had his _devolo_ on board, which he had both seen\nand heard. Every native dashed at once into the sea, and swam to shore\nwith haste and consternation; and it was with much difficulty that they\ncould be induced to revisit the ship, as they believed that the bird was\nthe captain\u2019s _etu_, and that the spirit of the devil was in it.\u201d\n\nAnother illustration is given by Mr. Williams:--\n\n\u201cWhile walking,\u201d he says, \u201con one occasion, across a small uninhabited\nisland, in the vicinity of Tongatabu, I happened to tread upon a nest of\nsea snakes. At first I was startled at the circumstance, but being assured\nthat they were perfectly harmless, I desired a native to kill the largest\nof them as a specimen. We then sailed to another island, where a number of\nheathen fishermen were preparing their nets. Taking my seat upon a stone\nunder a tou tree, I desired my people to bring the reptile, and dry it on\nthe rocks; but as soon as the fishermen saw it, they raised a most\nterrific yell, and, seizing their clubs, rushed upon the Christian\nnatives, shouting: \u2018You have killed our god, you have killed our god!\u2019 I\nstepped in between them, and with some difficulty stayed their violence,\non the condition that the reptile should be immediately carried back to\nthe boat.\u201d\n\nThe Polynesian islanders, or most of them, seem to have cherished a\ngeneral idea of a Supreme Being, whom they regarded as the Creator of all\nthings and the Author of their mercies. They called him Tangatoa; and at\ntheir great feasts, before the food was distributed, an orator would\nrise, and after enumerating each viand on the board, would say: \u201cThank you\nfor this, great Tangatoa!\u201d\n\nThe worship or _cultus_ observed by the islanders included prayers,\nofferings of pigs, fish, vegetables, canoes, native cloth, and the like,\nand incantations. To these must be added the dread rite of human\nsacrifice. Of the style of their addresses to the gods one may form an\nidea from the formula with which they were accustomed to conclude it.\nHaving presented the gift, the priest would say: \u201cNow, if you are a god of\nmercy, come this way, and be propitious to our offering; but if you are a\ngod of anger, go outside the world,--you shall have neither temples,\nofferings, nor worshippers here.\u201d\n\nAs in other savage countries, they sought to propitiate the gods by\ninflicting physical injuries upon themselves. The Sandwich Islanders, in\nperforming some of their rites, would knock out their front teeth; the\nFriendly Islanders would cut off one or two of the bones of their little\nfingers. So common was the latter practice, that few were to be found who\nhad not in this way mutilated their hands. One missionary relates that, on\none occasion, a chief\u2019s daughter,--a fine young woman about eighteen years\nof age,--was standing by his side, when he observed by the condition of\nthe wound that she had recently performed the ceremony. Taking her hand,\nhe asked why she had cut off her finger? There was a touch of pathos in\nher reply. Her mother was ill, and fearing lest she should die, she had\nmutilated herself in the hope the gods would preserve her life. \u201cWell, and\nhow did you do it?\u201d \u201cI took a sharp shell, and worked it about until the\njoint was separated, and then I allowed the blood to stream from it. This\nwas my offering to persuade the gods to restore my mother.\u201d One cannot\ndoubt the genuineness of the filial affection which could make such a\nsacrifice, though we may wish that it had been more wisely exercised.\n\nWhen a second offering was required, the votary severed the second joint\nof the same finger. If a third or fourth were demanded, he amputated the\nsame bones of the other little finger; and when he had no more joints that\nhe could conveniently spare, he would rub the stumps of his mutilated\nfingers with rough stones, until the blood again streamed from the wounds.\n\nHuman sacrifices, as we have said, were very numerous, especially in the\nHenry, the Tahitian, and the Society island groups. At the so-called Feast\nof Restoration (_Raumatavchi raa_,) no fewer than seven victims were\nrequired. It was always celebrated after an invading army had forced the\ninhabitants to retreat to the mountains, and had desecrated the maraes by\ncutting down the branches of the sacred trees, and cooking their food with\nthem, and with the wooden altars and decorations of the sacred place.\n\nAt the inauguration of their greatest kings, the islanders used what was\ncalled _Maro ura_, or the red sash. This was a piece of network, about six\nfeet long and seven inches wide, upon which the red feathers of the\nparroquet were neatly fastened. A chief could receive no more honourable\nappellation than that of _Arii maro ura_, \u201cKing of the Red Sash.\u201d A new\npiece, about eighteen inches long, was attached at every sovereign\u2019s\ninauguration; and on all such occasions several human victims were\nrequired. A sacrifice was made, first for the _mau raa tite_, or the\nextension of the network upon pegs, in order to attach to it the new\npiece. A second was necessary for the _fatu raa_, or actual attachment;\nand a third for the _piu raa_, or twitching the sacred relic off the pegs.\nThese ceremonies not only invested the sash itself with peculiar\nsolemnity, but also rendered the chiefs who wore it more important in the\neyes of the people. Well might it be so, when the thing was dyed, as it\nwere, in innocent human blood.\n\nHuman sacrifices were also offered on the breaking out of war. Mr.\nWilliams remarks that a correct idea of the extent to which this system is\ncarried may be obtained from a relation of the circumstances under which\nthe last Tahitian victim fell, immediately prior to the introduction of\nChristianity. Pomare, king of Tahiti, was on the point of fighting a\nbattle which would assure his supremacy or deprive him of his dominions.\nIt became to him, therefore, a matter of the highest concern to propitiate\nthe gods by the most valuable offerings he could command. For this\npurpose, rolls of native cloth, pigs, fish, and immense quantities of\nother food were presented at the maraes; but the gods (or their priests)\nwould not be satisfied; a human victim was demanded. Pomare, therefore,\nsent two of his messengers to the house of the victim, whom he had marked\nfor the occasion. On reaching the place they inquired of the wife where\nher husband was, and she, in her innocence, gave the required explanation.\n\u201cWell,\u201d they continued, \u201cwe are thirsty; give us some cocoa-nut water.\u201d\nShe had no nuts in the house, she replied, but they were at liberty to\nclimb the trees, and take as many as they desired. They then requested her\nto lend them the _O_,--a piece of ironwood, about four feet long and an\ninch and a half in diameter, with which the natives open the cocoa-nut.\nShe cheerfully consented, little suspecting that she was placing in their\nmurderous hands the instrument which, in a few moments, was to inflict a\nfatal blow on her husband\u2019s head. Upon receiving the _O_, the men left the\nhouse, and went in search of their victim; and the woman, her suspicions\nbeing excited, followed them shortly afterwards, reaching the scene just\nin time to see the blow inflicted, and her husband fall.\n\nShe rushed forward to take a last embrace, but was immediately seized and\nbound hand and foot, while her husband\u2019s body was placed in a long basket\nmade of cocoa-nut leaves, and carried from her sight. The sacrificers were\nalways exceedingly careful to prevent the wife, or daughter, or any female\nrelative from touching the corpse; for so polluting were females\nconsidered, that a victim would have been desecrated by a woman\u2019s touch or\nbreath, to such a degree as to have rendered it unfit for an offering to\nthe gods.\n\nWhile the men were bearing their victim to the marae, he recovered from\nthe stunning effect of the blow, and, bound as he was in the cocoa-nut\nleaf basket, said to his murderers: \u201cFriends, I know what you are about to\ndo with me; you are about to kill me, and offer me as a _tabu_ to your\nsavage gods; and I also know that it is useless for me to beg for mercy,\nfor you will not spare my life. You may kill my body, but you cannot hurt\nmy soul; for I have begun to pray to Jesus, the knowledge of Whom the\nmissionaries have brought to our island: you may kill my body, but you\ncannot hurt my soul.\u201d\n\nThis address did not move the compassion of his murderers. Laying their\nvictim on the ground with a stone under his head, they crushed it to\npieces with another. It appears that he had been selected as a victim\nbecause he had \u201cbegun to pray for JESUS;\u201d and it is not unjust, therefore,\nto claim for this poor Tahitian savage a place in the noble army of\nmartyrs.\n\n\u201cThe manner in which human victims were sought,\u201d says Williams, \u201cis\nstrikingly illustrative of many passages of Scripture which portray the\ncharacter of heathenism. As soon as the priest announced that such a\nsacrifice was required, the king despatched messengers to the chiefs of\nthe various districts, and upon entering the dwelling they would inquire\nwhether the chief had a _broken calabash_ at hand, or a _rotten\ncocoa-nut_. These and sinister terms were invariably used, and well\nunderstood, when such applications were made. It generally happened that\nthe chief had some individual on his premises whom he intended to devote\nto this horrid purpose. When, therefore, such a request was made, he would\nnotify, by a motion of the hand or head, the individual to be taken. The\nonly weapon with which these procurers of sacrifices were armed, was a\nsmall round stone concealed in the hollow of their hand. With this they\nwould strike their victim a stunning blow upon the back of the head, when\nothers who were in readiness would rush in and complete the horrid work.\nThe body was then carried, amid songs and shouts of savage triumph, to the\nmarae, there to be offered to the gods. At other times, the king\u2019s gang of\ndesperadoes would arm themselves with spears, surround the house of their\nvictim, and enjoy the sport of spearing him through the apertures between\nthe poles which encircled the house. In these circumstances, the object of\ntheir savage amusement, frenzied with pain and dread, would rush from one\npart of the house to the other; but wherever he ran he found the spear\nentering his body; and at length, perceiving no possibility of escape, he\nwould cover himself in his cloth, throw himself upon the floor, and wait\nuntil a spear should pierce his heart.\u201d\n\nThe Polynesian ideas of a future state were sufficiently curious. While\nbelieving in its existence, the natives had no conception of the value and\nimmortality of the soul, no conception of the Everlasting. According to\nthe Tahitians, there were two places of existence for separated spirits:\none called _Roohutu noanoa_, or sweet-scented Roohutu, which in many\npoints resembled the paradise of the Rarotongans; and the other was\n_Roohutu namu-namua_, or foul-scented Roohutu, of which it is impossible\nto furnish a description. According to the Rarotongans, paradise was a\nvery long house, surrounded with beautiful shrubs and flowers, unfading,\nand of perpetual sweetness; its inmates enjoyed a beauty which never\nwaned, and a youth which never waxed old, while passing their days,\nwithout weariness, in dancing, merriment, and festivity. This was the\nhighest idea of Heaven and future blessedness to which they could attain,\nand was as materialistic as that of the Mohammedans.\n\nIt was not necessary that a man should live a pure, true, and noble life\nto gain admission to the Polynesian paradise, nor was he excluded from it\non account of his sins. In order to pass the departed spirit into elysium,\nthe corpse was dressed in the best attire the relatives could provide, the\nhead was wreathed with flowers, and other decorations were added. A pig\nwas then baked whole, and placed on the deceased\u2019s body, surrounded by a\npile of vegetable food. After this, supposing the departed to have been a\nson, the father would deliver some such speech as the following:--\u201cMy son,\nwhen you were alive I treated you with kindness, and when you were taken\nill I did my best to restore you to health; and now you are dead, there\u2019s\nyour _momoe o_, or property of admission. Go, my son, and with that gain\nan entrance into the palace of Tiki, and do not come to this world again\nto disturb or alarm us.\u201d Body, pig, and food would then be buried; and, if\nthe kinsman received no contrary intimation within a few days of the\ninterment, they believed that the offerings had obtained for the departed\nthe desired admission. But if a cricket were heard on the premises, it was\nconsidered an ill omen, and they would utter the dismalest howls, and such\nexpressions as the following: \u201cOh, our brother! his spirit has not entered\nthe Paradise; he is suffering from hunger, he is shivering with cold!\u201d The\ngrave would immediately be opened, and the offering repeated,--generally\nwith success.\n\nThe sacrifices of the Fijians are of a costlier character. The Fijian\nchiefs had from twenty to a hundred wives, according to their rank; and at\nthe interment of a principal chief, the body was laid in state \u201cupon a\nspacious lawn,\u201d in the presence of a great crowd of interested spectators.\nAfter the natives had exercised all the taste and skill at their command\nin adorning her person, the principal wife would walk out and take her\nseat near her husband\u2019s body. A rope was passed round her neck; eight or\nten powerful men pulled at it with all their strength until she died of\nsuffocation; and the body was then laid by that of the chief. This done, a\nsecond wife seated herself in the same place; the process of strangulation\nwas repeated, and she, too, died. A third and a fourth became voluntary\nsacrifices in the same manner; and all were interred in a common grave,\none above, one below, and one on either side of the husband. The motive of\nthis barbarous practice was said to be, that the spirit of the chief might\nnot be lonely in its passage to the invisible world, and that by such an\noffering its happiness might be at once secured.[55]\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThe Earl of Pembroke, in his light, gossipy book entitled, \u201cSouth Sea\nBubbles,\u201d describes a visit which he paid to one of the old sacrificial\n_maraes_, or inclosures, in the island of Raiatea.\n\n\u201cStrange places they were,\u201d he says; \u201cbuilt of enormous slabs of rock or\ncoral, arranged in an oblong shape, and the space inside them filled with\nshingle and coral, so as to form a platform about eight feet high. I think\nthe largest was about fifty yards long; we scrambled up on to it by help\nof a tree, and stood on the spot stained with so much blood shed in the\n_name_ of religion. What horrible stories those stones could tell if they\ncould speak!...\n\n\u201cWhat made the human sacrifices of the Society Islands so strangely\nghastly and horrible, was the fact that the wretched victim was always\nchosen from one of certain families, set apart for that special purpose\nfor generation after generation for ever. How this caste originated I do\nnot know. Many of these families used to put to sea secretly in canoes,\npreferring an almost certain death by drowning or starvation to the\nterribly uncertain fate that was always hanging over their heads.\n\n\u201cWhen a man came to the priests to beg some heavenly, or rather infernal,\nfavour, they would tell him, either from whim, malice, or some reason best\nknown to themselves, that the god required a human sacrifice, and naming\nthe victim, present the supplicant with the death-warrant in the shape of\na sacred stone. He hides this carefully somewhere about him, and\ncollecting a few friends, seeks out the doomed man. At last they find him\nsitting lazily under a tree or mending his canoe, and squatting down round\nhim begin talking about the weather, fishing, or what not. Suddenly a hand\nis opened--the death stone discovered to his horrified view. He starts up\nterror-stricken, and tries to escape--one short, furious struggle and he\nis knocked down, secured, and carried off to the merciless priests. Ugh!\nit is an ugly picture.\u201d[56]\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIII.\n\n_THE FIJI ISLANDERS._\n\n\nThe annexation of the Fiji Islands to the British empire lends to the\npractices and beliefs of their inhabitants a peculiar interest, though to\na great extent these have been abandoned since the establishment of\nChristianity.\n\nTheir creed is undiluted polytheism; their pantheon is full of all kinds\nof gods, differing in rank and power, and very widely represented on earth\nby some animate or inanimate object. Each Fijian has a god of his own,\nunder whose care he supposes himself to be placed. They do not seem to\nhave any religious teaching; but they have a priesthood, and that\npriesthood has, of course, its traditional formulas of worship. But\nnothing like regular worship, as Christians understand the phrase, is\naccepted or observed, and the Fijian religion is really a superstition,\nbecause its sole inspiring motive is fear. This motive the priests\ncarefully develope, making it the basis of their claims and the source of\ntheir influence.\n\nNo man can gain access to the gods except through the priests; and the\npriests insist upon liberal offerings. When the worshipper comes upon\nquestions of importance, the _Soro_ or sacrifice consists of whales\u2019 teeth\nand large quantities of food. For matters of inferior moment, the god is\ncontent with a mat, a club, a spear, or a tooth, or even young nuts coated\nwith turmeric powder. On one occasion, when the chief Tuikilakila\nsolicited the help of the Somo-somo gods in war, he built a large new\ntemple to the war-god, and presented a quantity of cooked food, numerous\nturtles, and whales\u2019 teeth.\n\nPart of the offering, or _sogaria_, is set apart for the god, and the rest\nforms a feast to which everybody is invited. The god\u2019s portion, as the\nreader will immediately conclude, is eaten by the priest and old men, but\nto the younger members of the community is strictly _tapu_.\n\nStrangers who desire to consult a god begin by cutting a pile of firewood\nfor the table. Sometimes only a whale\u2019s tooth and a dish of yams are\npresented. It is not necessary that the offering should be made in the\ntemple. Mr. Williams speaks of priests to whom the inspiration came in a\nprivate house or in the open air.\n\nHe who designs to consult the oracle dresses and anoints himself, and,\nattended by his friends, goes to the priest, who, we will suppose, has\nbeen previously informed of the intended visit, and is lying near the\nsacred corner, preparing his response. When the votary arrives, the priest\nrises and sits so that his back is near the white cloth by which the god\nvisits him, while the others occupy the opposite side. The votary presents\na whale\u2019s tooth, states the object of his visit, and expresses a hope that\nthe god will regard him with favour. Sometimes in front of the tooth is\nplaced a dish of scented oil, with which the priest anoints himself, and\nthen receives the tooth, eyeing it with deep and serious attention.\n\nUnbroken silence follows. The priest, says Mr. Williams, grows absorbed in\nthought, and all gaze upon him with unwavering steadfastness. In a few\nminutes he trembles; his face appears slightly distorted, and twitching\nmovements are seen in his limbs. These increase to a violent muscular\naction, which spreads until the whole frame is strongly convulsed, and the\nman shivers as with an ague fit. In some islands, adds Mr. Williams, this\nis accompanied with sobs and murmurs, the veins expand, and the\ncirculation of the blood is quickened.\n\nThe priest is now possessed by his god, and all his words and actions are\nhenceforth considered as the god\u2019s and not his own. Shrill cries of \u201cKoi\nau! Koi au!\u201d (It is I! It is I!) fill the air, and are supposed to\nindicate the deity\u2019s approach. While delivering the oracle, the priest\u2019s\neyes stand out and roll, as if a frenzy had seized him; his voice is\nunnatural and his face pallid; his lips turn white; his breathing is\nlaboured; and his whole appearance resembles that of \u201ca furious madman.\u201d\nThe perspiration streams from every pore; the tears start from his\nstrained eyes. But by degrees the symptoms disappear, and the priest\nstares around with purposeless gaze. Then as the god says \u201cI depart,\u201d he\nthrows himself down violently on the mat, or suddenly beats the ground\nwith a club; whereupon those at a distance are informed by blasts on the\nconch, or the discharge of a musket, that the deity has returned into the\nworld of spirits.\n\nIt would be a mistake to conclude that in these scenes the priest-actor is\nalways a conscious impostor; he is frequently the victim of his own\nimagination, which he stimulates into an excess of frenzy.\n\nThe Fijians conceive that the way to Buruto, or Heaven, is impeded by many\ndifficulties, except for the great chiefs, and that, therefore, the only\ncertain plan for a man of inferior rank is to impose upon the god with a\nlie,--declaring himself to be a chief with so much earnestness that the\ngod believes him, and allows him to pass! Probably in no other creed is\nadmission to heaven made to depend upon a lie! With his war club and a\nwhale\u2019s tooth on his shoulder, the spirit journeys to the world\u2019s end.\nThere grows the sacred pine, at which the spirit hurls his whale\u2019s tooth.\nIf he miss the mark, his journey comes to an abrupt termination; if he hit\nit, he travels onward until he reaches the spot where the spirits of the\nwomen murdered at his death await his arrival.\n\nWith these faithful attendants he goes forward, but is opposed by a god\ncalled Ravuyalo, against whom he employs his club. If he be defeated, the\ngod kills and eats him; if he conquer, he again goes forward until he\nfalls in with a canoe. Embarking, he is conveyed to the celestial heights\nwhere dwells the supreme god, Ndengei. Over the brink of the cliff\nstretches the long-steering oar of the god\u2019s canoe. He is asked his name\nand rank, and to this inquiry he replies with a detailed and very\nimaginative recital of his greatness and opulence, the heroic deeds he has\nachieved, the devastation he has effected, and the realms over which he\nhas ruled. He is then commanded to seat himself on the blade of the oar,\nand, if his story have met with credence, he is borne aloft into Buruto;\nif Ndengei disbelieves it, the oar is tilted up, and he is hurled down for\never into the watery depths of blackness.\n\nBachelors are not admitted into Buruto, because as we have stated, the\nspirit waits for his wives, to prove that he is married. And if an\nunmarried man venture on the journey, a goddess called the Great Woman,\nthrows herself in his way. She bears towards bachelors an implacable\nhatred, and no sooner sees one than she springs upon him and tears him to\npieces. In her haste she sometimes misses him; but even then he has to\ncontend against another god, who conceals himself by the side of the path,\nand as the bachelor spirit passes by, leaps upon him, and dashes him\nagainst a stone.\n\nThere is a ghastliness about the funeral ceremonies of the Fijians which\nfar surpasses even the dreary desolation of those in vogue among\nourselves.\n\nIn common with several other savage tribes they hold that men and women\nwho have grown decrepit and infirm have lived their lives, and should\nwithdraw from this world of activity. Accordingly though they may be\nneither dead nor dying, preparations are made for their interment. And it\nseems that the moribund themselves do not object to this summary\nanticipation of the moment of dissolution; on the contrary, when they\nbecome sensible of infirmity, they invite their sons to strangle them.\nWhile the sons, far from objecting to an act of parricide, will intimate\nto their aged parents, if they delay the request, that they have lived\nlong enough, and that it will be well for them to enjoy the rest of the\ngrave. On both sides this singular conduct is due apparently to the Fijian\nbelief that the condition of the spirit in the next world will exactly\nresemble that of the individual in this; and consequently everybody is\ndesirous to cross the threshold while he retains some degree of activity\nof body.\n\nAlone we must die, but we need not pass alone into the spirit-world! Such\nis the conviction of the Fijians, and accordingly they provide a dead\nchief with attendants, by strangling at his grave his favourite wives. And\nthey slay a valiant warrior that he may precede him on his journey, and do\nbattle for him with all evil spirits or demons. These victims are called\n\u201cgrass,\u201d and lie at the bottom of the chieftain\u2019s grave; the wives decked\nout in fleecy folds of the softest masi, the servants with their various\nimplements in their hands, and the warrior equipped for the strife, with\nhis favourite club by his side. No resistance is offered by any one of the\nsufferers; no attempt is made to escape; all seem to contend for the\nhonour of escorting their chief into the other world.\n\nMr. Williams was present at the funeral of the King of Somo-somo in\nAugust, 1845. Age was beginning to tell upon him, but there was no\nimmediately dangerous symptom, and on the 21st, when Mr. Williams visited\nhim, he was better than he had been for two or three days before. Judge,\nthen, of the missionary\u2019s surprise, when, on the 24th, he was informed\nthat the king was dead, and that preparations were being made for his\ninterment, he could scarcely believe the report. The ominous word\n\u201cpreparations\u201d induced him to hasten at once to the scene of action, but\nhis utmost speed failed to bring him to Nasima, the king\u2019s house, in time.\nThe moment he entered it was evident that, as far as concerned two of the\nwomen, he was too late to save their lives. The effect of that ghastly\nscene was overwhelming. Scores of deliberate murderers in the very act\nsurrounded him; yet was there no confusion, and the unearthly horrid\nstillness was broken only by an occasional word from him who presided.\nNature seemed to lend her aid to enhance the impression of horror; there\nwas not a breath in the air, and the half subdued light in that hall of\ndeath revealed every object with unusual distinctness.\n\n\u201cAll was motionless as sculpture, and\u201d--writes Mr. Williams--\u201ca strange\nfeeling came upon me, as though I was myself becoming a statue. To speak\nwas impossible; I was unconscious that I breathed; and involuntarily, or\nrather against my will, I sank to the floor, assuming the cowering posture\nof those who were actually engaged in murder. My arrival was during a\nhush, just at the crisis of death, and to that strange silence must be\nattributed my emotions; and I was but too familiar with murders of this\nkind, neither was there anything novel in the apparatus employed.\nOccupying the centre of that large room were two groups, the business of\nwhom could not be mistaken.\n\n\u201cAll sat on the floor; the middle figure of each group being held in a\nsitting posture by several females, and hidden by a large veil. On either\nside of each veiled figure was a company of eight or ten strong men, one\ncompany hauling against the other a white cord which was passed twice\nround the neck of the doomed one, who thus in a few minutes ceased to\nlive. As my self-command was returning to me the group furthest from me\nbegan to move; the men slackened their hold, and the attendant women\nremoved the large covering, making it into a couch for the victim.\u201d\n\nMr. Williams now repaired to the hut of the deceased king, to intercede\nwith his successor on behalf of the other intended victims. Judge of his\nsurprise and horror to find the king still alive. He was very feeble, it\nwas true, but he retained complete consciousness, and occasionally put his\nhand to his side as his cough shook and tortured him. The young king\nseemed overcome with grief, and embracing Mr. Williams, said: \u201cSee, the\nfather of us two is dead.\u201d He regarded his father\u2019s movements, even his\nspeaking and taking food, as mechanical; in his view, the spirit had\ndeparted, and nothing remained but an infirm, and, therefore, valueless\nbody. The preparations for the funeral were not interrupted, and Mr.\nWilliams could obtain no hearing for his expostulations. The young chief\u2019s\nprincipal wife and an attendant busily dusted his body with black powder,\nas if dressing him for the war-dance; and bound his arms and legs with\nlong rolls of white masi, tied in rosettes, with the ends streaming on the\nground. He was attired in a new masi robe, which fell about him in ample\nfolds; his head was decorated with a scarlet handkerchief, arranged\nturban-wise, and ornamented with white cowrie-shells, strings of which\nflashed on his dusky arms; while round his neck depended an ivory\nnecklace, composed of long curved claw-like pieces of whale\u2019s teeth.\n\nAt the sound of a couple of conch-shells the chiefs present did homage, so\nto speak, to their new king, who was still deeply affected, and gazing on\nthe body of one of the murdered women, his father\u2019s eldest and most loving\nwife, exclaimed: \u201cAlas, Moalivu! There lies a woman truly unwearied, not\nonly in the day but the night also; the fire consumed the fuel gathered by\nher hands. If we awoke in the still night, the sound of her feet reached\nour ears, and if harshly spoken to, she continued to labour only.\nMoalivu! alas, Moalivu!\u201d\n\nThe bodies of the victims were then wrapped up in mats, placed on a bier,\nand carried out of the door; but the old king was borne through a gap\npurposely made in the wall of the house. On arriving at the seaside, they\nwere deposited in a canoe, the old king reclining on the deck, attended by\nhis wife and the chief priest, who fanned away the insects. The place of\nsepulture was at Weilangi. There, in a grave lined with mats, were laid as\n\u201cgrass\u201d the murdered women. Upon them was stretched the dying king, who\nwas stripped of his regal ornaments, and completely enveloped in mats.\nLastly, the earth was heaped over him, though he was still alive. At the\nend of the ceremony the new king returned to his \u201cpalace,\u201d not unmindful\nof the fact that in the course of time a similar fate awaited himself.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nSince the annexation of the Fiji Islands, such a scene as this has, of\ncourse, become impossible. Cannibalism, to which the Fijians were largely\naddicted, has also, been prohibited. Lord George Campbell, in his \u201cLog of\nthe Challenger,\u201d written in 1876, says that those who lived in the\ninterior still cherished cannibalistic tendencies, and he seems to have\nbeen of opinion that cannibalism prevailed in those parts to which\nmissionaries or civilisation had not yet penetrated. But under the firm\nrule of Sir Arthur Gordon it was doubtless extirpated.\n\nEven in Lord George Campbell\u2019s time the change effected by the sacred\ninfluence of Christianity had been \u201cgreat indeed.\u201d A party of English\nofficers made a boat-excursion to the large island of Bau, where the king\nlived. They found him dressed in a waist-cloth, lying on his face in a\nhut, reading the Bible. Not far distant were the great stones against\nwhich they used to kill the sacrificial victims, battering their heads\nagainst them till dead. There too they saw a great religious \u201cmaki-maki,\u201d\nhundreds of men and women dancing, and singing New Testament verses before\nWesleyan missionaries, who, sitting at a table, received the\nmoney-offerings of their converts as they defiled before them dancing and\nsinging.\n\nWe have sketched a hideous scene belonging to the past, and associated\nwith the darkest superstitions of the Fijians. We shall adapt from Lord\nGeorge Campbell a more pleasing picture, in which the past mingles with\nthe present, and the old and the new are not unhappily blended.\n\nThe chronicler of the cruise of the \u201cChallenger\u201d was witness of a native\ndance or \u201cmaki-maki,\u201d given at Kandavu in honour of the English officers.\nWhen he landed the first \u201cset\u201d had already begun, and torches, consisting\nof bundles of palm branches tied together, threw a lurid light over the\nsavage scene. On a strip of grass in front of the huts were gathered the\ndancers, and close around grouped picturesquely on the top of great piles\nof cocoa-nuts, or squatting on the ground, were the natives of Kandavu and\nthe neighbouring villages, officiating as critics, but prepared in their\nturn to take part in the wild revelry.\n\n\u201cGlorious Rembrandt effects, as the torches\u2019 flames leapt and fell in the\nstill night air, bathing with ruddy glow that strange scene around,--the\nsemi-nude dusky natives chattering, laughing, glistening eyes and white\ngleaming teeth, on the reed-built huts, on the foliage above, and flushing\nredly up the white trunks of the cocoa-palms. Round a standing group of\ntawny-hued boys and girls who formed the band, some two dozen men, dressed\nin fantastic manner, their faces blackened, and skins shiny with cocoa-nut\noil, were dancing. Wound round their waists they wore great rolls of\ntappa, or white cloth, falling nearly to the knees, and over these, belts\nfringed with long narrow streamers of brightly coloured stuff--red,\nyellow, and white, surging and rustling with every movement; on their\nheads turbans of finely-beaten tappa, transparent and gauzy, piled high in\na peak; gaiters of long black seaweed or grass, strung with white beads;\nanklets and armlets of large bone rings, or of beads worked in patterns;\ntortoiseshell bracelets and bead necklaces, from which hung in front one\ngreat curled boar\u2019s tusk. Some are dressed better than others, but all in\nthe same wild style. Moving slowly in a circle round and round the band,\nwhose clapping and rollicking strain they accompanied by a loud droning\nkind of chant, at the end of each stave chiming in with the band with a\nsimultaneous shout, a sudden swaying of the body, a loud hollow clap of\nthe hands, once or twice repeated, and a heavy stamp, stamp of the feet;\na moment\u2019s halt and silence, broken plaintively by one of the singers,\nquickly taken up by the remainder to a clapping, rattling, and vowely\nmeasure, and again the dancers circle slowly round, swinging their arms\nand bodies, clapping, shouting, and droning in faultless time together.\u201d\n\nThe first dances were dances of peace; pantomimic representations of the\nchief pursuits of a Fijian\u2019s life, as, for instance, fishermen hauling in\ntheir lines, or the tillers of the field planting tare and gathering in\ntheir crops.\n\nNext came the war dances, which reproduced the incidents of the past,\nincidents never likely to be repeated under British rule. A solitary\nsinger began the strain, and the others gradually joined in,--clappingly,\njinglingly, bubblingly, slightly nasally, a strange ring audible\nthroughout, and not less audible the stirring boom of a bamboo drum.\nSuddenly, from out the surrounding gloom, against which in strong contrast\nstood the white stems of the cocoa-trees, and into the red light of the\ntorches, merged slowly one after another, in Indian file, a string of\n\u201cmad, savage-looking devils.\u201d Crouching and bounding, now backwards, now\nforwards, from side to side, they gradually approached. Their hands\ncarried great clubs, the tips of which were decked with white plumes of\nsilvery \u201creva-reva,\u201d flashing whitely as they were whirled around; their\nfantastic finery rustling loudly with every wild movement, eyeballs\nglaring out from blackened faces, their motions sudden and simultaneous,\ntheir splendid stalwart forms swelling with muscles and shining with\noil,--they looked \u201cawfully savage and fine;\u201d and to a captive bound and\nabout to be eaten, one would imagine well that the whole performance would\nbe thoroughly enjoyable.\n\n\u201cNow stealthily working their arms and clubs, as if feeling their victim,\nthen with a shout bounding forward, brandishing aloft their clubs,\nsuddenly, as if struck by some unseen hand, falling to the ground on\nbended knee, swaying first to the right, then to the left, and bringing\ntheir clubs down with an ominous thud; again leaping up, bounding back,\nfrom side to side, then to the right-about, and all over the place; it is\nimpossible for me to attempt describing them, so I won\u2019t. They were, I\nsuppose, braining enemies by the dozen, and as they worked themselves\ninto mad excitement, so the more they bounded, smashed their enemies\u2019\nheads, and were happy. Their drilling was admirable; standing in line with\nthe string, every club whirled as one, every bound and frantic motion went\ntogether, and we are told they make fine soldiers, as far as drill is\nconcerned, from this idea of time that they have. In their dances they\nwere led by a small boy--a chief\u2019s son, this function being their\nprerogative,--a lithe tawny little savage, with a great mop of frizzled\nyellow hair, and his face dabbed with charcoal. In his hands he carried an\nenormous palm-leaf fan, with which he directed the dancers. Going through\nall the movements of the dance, he at the same time careered over the\nground, now shouting loud words of command to the singers, and now to the\ndancers, yards away on their flanks. He was simply splendid, flying about\nlike a demented demon, here, there, and everywhere, the dancers, whether\ntheir backs were turned or not, all keeping exact time with him. As these\nmen appeared, so, slowly, still bounding voicelessly, terrifically about,\nand whirling their clubs, they vanished into the darkness.\u201d\n\nOut of darkness cometh light, and a future, irradiated by the light of\nChristianity, succeeds to the ghastly past of Fiji, with all its cruel and\nodious superstitions.\n\n\nNOTE ON THE POLYNESIAN ISLANDS.\n\n_Exorcism._\n\nWhen Captain Moresby, of H.M.S. Basilisk, visited Shepherd Isle, near the\nTorres group, he found himself compelled to submit to a curious process of\nexorcism before he was permitted to land.\n\nA \u201cdevil-man,\u201d fantastically painted, and adorned with leaves and flowers,\nwaded out to meet his boat, waving a bunch of palm leaves round his head,\nand as the captain jumped on shore, the devil-man rushed at him, and\ngrasping his right hand, waved the palms round his head in the same\nmanner. It was evident that he meant no harm, and the captain therefore\noffered no resistance. He placed the leaves in the captain\u2019s right hand\nand a small twig in his own mouth, and then, as if with a great effort,\ndrew out the twig,--which was supposed to extract the evil spirit,--and\nblew violently, as if to hurry it away. Afterwards the captain held a twig\nbetween _his_ teeth, and the devil-man repeated the process, all the while\nshowing signs of strong excitement.\n\n\u201cHe led me then,\u201d says Captain Moresby, \u201cto the edge of the bush, and I\nbegan to feel rather reluctant, and doubtful as to how all was going to\nend, but thought I had better see it out. Here two sticks, ornamented with\nleaves, were fixed in the ground, and bent to an angle at the top, with\nleaves tied to the point, and round these sticks the devil-man and I raced\nin breathless circles till I was perfectly dizzy. He, however, did not\nseem to mind it at all, and presently flew off with me up a steep path\ninto the bush, where at a short distance we came to two smaller sticks\ncrossed; here he dropped my hand, and taking the bunch of palm leaves from\nme, waved them, and sprang over the sticks and back again. Then placing\nboth his hands on my shoulders, he leaped with extraordinary agility,\nbringing his knees to the level of my face at each bound, as if to show\nthat he had conquered the devil, and was now trampling him into the earth.\nWhen he had leaped for awhile, he made signs that all was over, and we\nwalked back together to the officers, who had been rather anxiously\nwatching these singular proceedings. The natives, who had kept quietly\naloof, now came freely about us, and showed by their manner that they\nconsidered us free of the island.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIV.\n\n_THE RELIGION OF THE MAORIES._\n\n\nWe meet in New Zealand with that curious system of \u201ctaboo\u201d or \u201ctapu\u201d which\nprevails throughout the greater part of the Polynesian Archipelago; a\nsystem evidently conceived in the interest of the priesthood, and forming,\nto a great extent, the basis of its power.\n\nWe meet also with a recognition of the two Principles of Good and Evil,\nwhose antagonism colours the creed of almost every race.\n\nThe Good Spirit of the Maories is called Atua; the Evil Spirit, Wairua.\nAll evil spirits, or all the objects representing them, are known as\nWairuas, and all the emblems or types of the Good Spirit as Atuas; but\nthere is one supreme Goodness, one great and overruling God, to which the\nname of Atua is also applied.\n\nAccording to Mr. Angas, the _Kakariki_, or green lizard, is specially\nvenerated as an Atua. On one occasion, during the early days of Christian\nmission work in New Zealand, a missionary was examining a phial of green\nlizards, and a Maori entering the room, the missionary showed it to him.\nWhereupon the Maori immediately exhibited all the signs of extreme terror,\nand exclaiming, \u201cI shall die! I shall die!\u201d proceeded to crawl away on his\nhands and knees. Any novel object, any object beyond the intelligence of\nthe Maories, they convert into an Atua. Thus, a barometer is an Atua,\nbecause it indicates changes of weather; a compass, because it points to\nthe north; a watch, because it mysteriously records the progress of time.\nNot to these typical atuas, however, does the Maori render the homage of\nprayer and praise; this he reserves for the supreme and unseen Atua, and\noffers through the agency of his priests or tohungas. It is to be feared\nthat these prayers are often unintelligible to those on whose behalf they\nare offered, but the Maories do not the less heartily believe in them;\nand, indeed, the history of religion all over the world presents\ninnumerable illustrations of the fact that faith is not incompatible with\nignorance. It is the very essence and secret of Superstition. Whether they\nunderstand the prayers of the tohungas or not, they delight in their\nfrequent repetition, and insist upon their use in almost every\ncircumstance of life. They are generally accompanied by offerings of\nanimal and vegetable food, which, of course, become the perquisites of the\ntohungas.\n\nThe Maori priesthood is hereditary, father transmits his office to son,\nafter carefully educating him in its duties. Dr. Dieffenbach was present\nwhen an aged tohunga was giving a lesson to a neophyte. The old priest, he\nsays, was sitting under a tree, with part of a man\u2019s skull, filled with\nwater, by his side. At intervals he dipped a green branch into the water,\nand sprinkled the hand of a boy, who reclined at his feet, and listened\nattentively to his recital of a long string of words. Dr. Dieffenbach\ndoubts the common statement that the prayers are often without meaning,\nwhile agreeing that they are unintelligible to the majority of the\nworshippers. He thinks they are couched in a language now forgotten; or,\nwhat is more probable, that among the Maories as among many of the nations\nof antiquity, the religious mysteries are carefully confined to a certain\nclass of men, who conceal them from the _profanum vulgus_, or reveal only\nsuch portions as they think proper. The claims of the exponents of an\nartificial creed must necessarily depend in a great degree upon the amount\nof mystery in which they involve it. With the common people familiarity\nbreeds contempt; they venerate that only which they do not understand; it\nis darkness and not light which moves their wonder, and excites their awe.\n\nDevoid as it is of elevated attributes, the religion of the Maori rises\nabove some of the Polynesian creeds in its acknowledgment of the\nimmortality of man, though on this point its teaching is very vague.\n\nThe Maori believes that, after death, his soul enters the Reinga, or abode\nof departed spirits; and, with an unwonted touch of poetry, he looks upon\nshooting and falling stars as souls passing swiftly to this undiscovered\nbourne; the entrance to which he supposes to lie beneath a precipice at\nCape Maria Van Diemen. The spirits in falling are supposed to rest\nmomentarily, in order to break the descent, against an ancient tree, which\ngrows about half way down. The natives were wont to indicate a particular\nbranch as being the halting-place of the spirits; but a missionary having\ncut it off, the tree has of late diminished in sanctity.\n\nThe entrance to the Reinga is not accomplished by all spirits in the same\nmanner. Those of the chiefs ascend in the first place to the upper\nheavens, where each chief leaves his left eye, this left eye becoming a\nnew star. Hence the custom in Maori warfare for the victor to eat the left\neye of a chief slain in battle, in the conviction that by this process he\nabsorbed into his own system the skill, sagacity, and courage of the\ndeparted.\n\nIt is humiliating, perhaps, to record these illustrations of human folly;\nbut they are valuable as proofs of the depths to which Humanity descends\nwhen unaided by the elevating influence of revealed religion.\n\nAccording to the Maories, the soul is not confined absolutely within the\nlimits of the Reinga, but may at its will revisit \u201cthe glimpses of the\nmoon,\u201d and converse with its former friends and kinsmen,--of course, only\nthrough the medium of the tohungas. The latter are sometimes favoured with\na view of the spiritual visitor, who takes the form of a sunbeam or a\nshadow, and speaks with a low whistling voice, like the sound of a light\nair passing through trees. This voice is occasionally heard by the\nuninitiated, but the language it speaks can be comprehended by none but\nthe tohungas.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nRespecting the wairuas, it is difficult to gather any satisfactory\ninformation. The word \u201cwairua\u201d means either \u201ca dream,\u201d or \u201cthe soul,\u201d and\nDr. Dieffenbach says it is chiefly used to signify the spirit of some\ndead man or woman who is supposed to cherish a malignant feeling towards\nthe living. The wairuas frequent certain localities, such as\nmountain-tops, which the Maori consequently takes good care not to visit.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nIt is a necessary result of the Maori belief in atuas and wairuas that\nthese should foster a belief in witchcraft. Individuals of bolder and\nstronger minds than the majority will always claim a special relationship\nto the unseen Powers, and avail themselves of this pretended relationship\nto work upon the popular imagination. Convince the ignorant of the\nexistence of evil deities, and he will listen readily to any who tell him\nthat they can shield him from their malignant influence. And then it\nnaturally follows, \u201cas the night the day,\u201d that all misfortunes arising\nfrom unseen or unintelligible causes, will be attributed to witchcraft. A\nvast--an almost boundless field is thus opened up to the practice of human\nunscrupulousness and the weakness of human incredulity.\n\nLet a Maori chief lose some valued article, or suffer from an attack of\nillness, and he immediately concludes that he has been bewitched. Who has\nbewitched him? He fixes, as a matter of course, on the individual whom he\nconceives to be his enemy, and orders him to be put to death. Or he\nresorts to some potent witch, and bribes her to exercise her influence to\nremove the maleficent spell under which he is labouring.\n\nAccording to Dr. Dieffenbach, the particular haunt of the witches is--or\nrather _was_, for Christianity has rapidly extended its blessed power over\nthe population of New Zealand--a place called Urewera, in the North\nIsland, between Hawkes Bay and Taupo. The natives of this wild and\ndeserted district are reported to be the greatest witches in the country;\nare much feared and studiously avoided by the neighbouring tribes. When\nthey come down to the coast, the natives there are almost afraid to oppose\ntheir most extravagant demands, lest they should incur their displeasure.\nIt is said that they use the saliva of the people they design to bewitch,\nand, therefore, visitors carefully conceal it, so as to deprive them of\nthe opportunity of working mischief. Yet, like the witches and sorcerers\nof medi\u00e6val England, they appear to be more sinned against than sinning,\nand by no means to deserve the ill reputation which attaches to them.\n\nIt is a curious fact, says Dr. Dieffenbach, which has been noticed in\nTahiti, Hawaii, and the Polynesian islands generally, that the first\nintercourse of their inhabitants with Europeans produces civil war and\nsocial degradation, but that a change of ideas is rapidly effected, and\nthe most ancient and apparently inveterate prejudices soon become a\nsubject of ridicule, and are swept away. The grey priest, or tohunga,\nskilled in all the mysteries of witchcraft and native medical treatment,\nreadily yields in his attendance on the sick to every European who\npossesses, or affects to possess, a knowledge of the science of surgery or\nmedicine, and laughs at the former credulity of his patient. It is evident\nthat, while deceiving others, he never deceived himself, and was well\naware of the futility of his pretended remedies.\n\nWhen a New Zealand chief or his wife fell sick, the most influential\ntohunga, or some woman enjoying a special odour of sanctity, was instantly\ncalled in, and waited night and day upon the patient, sometimes repeating\nincantations over him, and sometimes sitting in front of the house, and\npraying. The following is the incantation which the priests profess to be\na cure for headache. The officiant pulls out two stalks of the _Pteris\nesculenta_, from which the fibres of the root must be removed, and beating\nthem together over the patient\u2019s head, says this chant. It is entitled, \u201cA\nprayer for the sick man, when his head aches: to Atua this prayer is\noffered, that the sick man may become well.\u201d\n\nOn the occasion of a chiefs illness, all his kith and kin gather around\nhis house, and give way to the loudest lamentations, in which the invalid\nis careful to join. When the weeping and wailing capacities of one village\nhave been exhausted he is carried to another, and the process is repeated.\nBut in New Zealand, as elsewhere, the common lot cannot be averted by\nsorrowing humanity; the sick man dies; and then all that remains to the\nsurvivors is to show their respect and regret by such funeral pomp as they\nare able to devise. They assemble round the dead body, after it has been\nequipped in its bravest attire, and indulge in the most violent\ndemonstrations of grief,--partly feigned, no doubt, but partly sincere.\nThis luxury of woe, however, is chiefly accorded to the women, who display\nthat extravagance of passion we are accustomed to regard as characteristic\nof the Southern nations. They throw themselves upon the ground, wrap their\nfaces and bodies in their mantles, shriek and sob aloud, wave their arms\nfrantically in the air, and finally gash and scar their skin with long,\ndeep cuts, which they fill in with charcoal until they become indelible\nrecords of the loss they have sustained. Funeral orations, full of the\nmost vehement eulogies, and interrupted by complaints and reproaches\nagainst the dead man for his unkindness in going away from them, are\nincessantly delivered. These ceremonies completed, they place the corpse\nin a kind of coffin, along with various emblems of the rank of the\ndeparted, and leave it to decay.\n\nThe process of decomposition is completed in about seven or eight months;\nthe ceremony of the _hahunga_ then takes place. The friends and relatives\nassemble; the bones are removed from the coffin, and cleaned; a supply of\nprovisions is passed around; a new series of funeral panegyric is spoken;\nand the _tiki_, _merai_, and other symbols of the departed chieftain\u2019s\nheadship are handed over to his eldest son, who is thus invested with his\nfather\u2019s power and privileges.\n\nThe place where the dead body lies while undergoing decomposition, the\nwaki-tapu, as it is called, is frequently distinguished by peculiar signs,\nand the neighbourhood left uninhabited. Mr. Angas describes a visit which\nhe paid to the village of Huriwonua. Its chief had died about six weeks\nbefore the visit, and Mr. Angas, on arriving there, found it entirely\ndeserted. \u201cFrom the moment the chief was laid beneath the upright canoe,\non which were inscribed his name and rank, the whole village, he says,\nbecame strictly tapu, or sacred, and not a native, on pain of death, was\npermitted to trespass near the spot. The houses were all fastened up, and\non most of the doors were inscriptions denoting that the property of such\nan one remained there. An utter silence pervaded the place. After\nascertaining,\u201d says Mr. Angas, \u201cthat no natives were in the vicinity of\nthe forbidden spot, I landed, and trod the sacred ground; and my footsteps\nwere probably the first, since the desertion of the village, that had\nechoed along its palisaded passages.\n\n\u201cOn arriving at the tomb, I was struck with the contrast between the\nmonument of the savage and that of the civilised European. In the erection\nof the latter, marble and stone and the most durable of metals are\nemployed, while rapidly-decaying wood, red ochre, and feathers form the\ndecorations of the Maori tomb. Huriwonua having been buried only six\nweeks, the ornaments of the _waki-tapu_, or sacred place, as those\nerections are called, were fresh and uninjured. The central upright canoe\nwas thickly painted with black and red, and at the top was written the\nname of the chief; above which there hung in clusters bunches of _kaka_\nfeathers, forming a large mass at the summit of the canoe. A double fence\nof high palings, also painted red, and ornamented with devices in\narabesque work, extended round the grave, and at every fastening of flax,\nwhen the horizontal rails were attached to the upright fencing, were stuck\ntwo feathers of the albatross, the snowy whiteness of which contrasted\nbeautifully with the sombre black and red of the remainder of the\nmonument.\u201d\n\nWe have entered at some length into an explanation of the system of Tapu,\nor Taboo, in our remarks on the religion of the Polynesians. It prevails,\nas we have already stated, in New Zealand; and though its disadvantages\nare many, and it is capable of great abuse, it serves nevertheless as a\nsubstitute for law, and to a large extent protects both life and property.\nFor, supported and enforced as it is by the superstitious feelings of the\npeople, it erects an insuperable barrier between possession and\nacquisition; it plays the part of a social police; it maintains the moral\nstandard; it shields the feeble from the oppression of the strong. A man\nquits his dwelling for his day\u2019s work: he places the tapu mark on his\ndoor, and thenceforward his dwelling is inviolate. Or he selects a tree\nwhich will fashion into a good canoe; he distinguishes it with the tapu\nmark, and it becomes his own. Civilisation has designed no more effectual\nprotection.\n\nBut like all restrictive and prohibitive systems, it is easily pushed to\nan inconvenient excess, and made an instrument of extortion or oppression\nin the hands of the chief or priest. It is much in favour, says Mr.\nWilliams, among the chiefs, who adjust it so that it sits easily on\nthemselves, while they use it to gain influence over those who are nearly\ntheir equals; by means of it they supply their most important wants, and\ncommand at will all who are beneath them. If any object touch a chief\u2019s\ngarment it becomes tapu; so, too, if a drop of his blood fall upon it;\nand, more particularly, it consecrates his head. To mention or refer to a\nchief\u2019s head is an insult. Mr. Angas says that a friend of his, in\nconversing with a Maori chief about his crops, inadvertently said: \u201cOh, I\nhave some apples in my garden as large as that little boy\u2019s head!\u201d\npointing at the same time to the chief\u2019s son. This reference was felt and\nresented as a deadly insult, and it was only with the greatest difficulty\nthat the incautious speaker obtained forgiveness. So very much _tapu_ is a\nchiefs head that, should he touch it with his own fingers, he must touch\nnothing else until he has applied the hand to his nostrils and smelt it,\nand thus restored to the head the virtue that departed from it when first\ntouched. The hair is likewise sacred; it is cut by one of his wives, who\nreceives every particle in a cloth, and buries it in the ground. The\noperation renders _her_ tapu, for a week, during which time she is not\nallowed to make use of her hands.\n\nThe carved image of a chief\u2019s head is not less sacred than the head\nitself. Dr. Dieffenbach says: \u201cIn one of the houses of Te Puai, the head\nchief of all the Waikato, I saw a bust, made by himself, with all the\nserpentine lines of the aroko, or tattooing. I asked him to give it to me,\nbut it was only after much pressing that he parted with it. I had to go to\nhis house to fetch it myself, as none of his tribe could legally touch it,\nand he licked it all over before he gave it to me; whether to take the\ntapu off, or whether to make it more strictly sacred, I do not know. He\nparticularly engaged me not to put it into the provision-bag, nor to let\nthe natives see it at Rotu-rua, whither I was going, or he would certainly\ndie in consequence.\u201d\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nCannibalism is now extinct in New Zealand, having been crushed out by the\nstrong arm of British authority, and the ever-increasing influence of\nBritish civilisation. But it was hard to die, and lingered down to a very\nrecent date. As practised by the Maories, it lost few of its repulsive\nfeatures. We must admit, however, that they did not indulge in it from a\ncraving after human flesh, nor in time of peace, but after battles, from a\nbelief that he who ate the flesh or blood, or even the left eye, of a\nslain warrior assimilated in his system all his martial and manly\nqualities. When the fight was at an end, the dead bodies were collected,\nand with much rejoicing carried into the villages, where they were roasted\nin the cook-houses, and duly eaten. But, first, the tohunga cut off a\nportion of the flesh, and with certain incantations and mystic gestures,\nsuspended it upon a tree or pole, as an offering to the gods.\n\nMr. Angas describes one of the cooking-houses set apart for this horrid\norgy. It was erected by a Maori chief in the Waitahanui Pah; and when\nvisited by Mr. Angas, had happily ceased for some time to be used. The Pah\nstands on a low swampy peninsula, which is washed on one side by the river\nWaikato and on the other by the Taupo Lake. \u201cThe long fa\u00e7ade of the Pah\npresents an imposing appearance when viewed from the lake; a line of\nfortifications, composed of upright poles and stakes, extending for at\nleast half a mile in a direction parallel to the water. On the top of many\nof the posts are carved figures, much larger than life, of men in the act\nof defiance, and in the most savage postures, having enormous protruding\ntongues; and, like all the Maori carvings, these images, or waikapokos,\nare coloured with kokowai, or red ochre.\n\n\u201cThe entire pah is now (1863) in ruins, and has been made tapu by Te\nHeuhen since its destruction. Here, then, all was forbidden ground; but I\neluded the suspicions of our natives, and rambled about all day amongst\nthe decaying memorials of the past, making drawings of the most striking\nand peculiar objects within the pah. The cook-houses, where the father of\nTe Heuhen had his original establishment, remained in a perfect state; the\nonly entrances to these buildings were a series of circular apertures, in\nand out of which the slaves engaged in preparing the food were obliged to\ncrawl.\n\n\u201cNear to the cook-houses stood a carved patuka, which was the receptacle\nof the sacred food of the chief; and nothing could exceed the richness of\nthe elaborate carving that adorned this storehouse.... Ruined\nhouses--many of them once beautifully ornamented and richly\ncarved--numerous _waki-tapu_, and other heathen remains with images and\ncarved posts, occur in various portions of this extensive pah; but in\nother places the hand of Time has so effectually destroyed the buildings\nas to leave them but an unintelligible mass of ruins. The situation of\nthis pah is admirably adapted for the security of the inmates: it commands\nthe lake on the one side, and the other fronts the extensive marshes of\nTukanu, where a strong palisade and a deep moat afford protection against\nany sudden attack. Water is conveyed into the pah through a sluice or\ncanal for the supply of the besieged in times of war.\n\n\u201cThere was an air of solitude and gloomy desolation about the whole pah,\nthat was heightened by the screams of the plover and the tern, as they\nuttered their mournful cry through the deserted coasts. I rambled over the\nscenes of many savage deeds.\u201d\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nCannibalism, or to use the scientific term, anthropophagy, has its origin\nin different causes, and assumes different forms. Among some of the savage\npeoples it is, as among the Maories, simply the expression of a sanguinary\ninstinct, of an atrocious sentiment of revenge. Among others it originates\nin a chronic condition of misery and famine. Yet, again, it is sometimes\nconnected with the custom of human sacrifices, as among the Aztecs, and\nthose who practise it come to esteem it a sacred duty, pleasing to their\ndeities, or even to the _manes_ of their hapless victims.\n\nUnknown among the simple Eskimos, and, indeed, among all the hyperborean\nraces, anthropophagy prevails with more or less intensity among peoples\nwhich have attained a rudimentary civilization.\n\nLet us take, for example, the Khonds of Orissa, who keep up a system of\nhuman sacrifice, absolutely elaborate in its details. Its primary\ncondition is that the victim, or Meriah, should be _bought_. Even if taken\nin war, he must be sold and purchased before the priest will accept him.\nNo distinction is made as to age or sex; but the efficiency of the victim\nseems to depend on the sum he costs, and therefore the healthy are\npreferred to the feeble, and adults to children. The number consumed in a\ntwelvemonth must be very considerable; as the Khonds do not believe in the\nsuccess of any undertaking, or in the promise of their fields, unless a\nMeriah is first offered.\n\nThe victims are kindly treated during the period of their captivity, which\nis sometimes of considerable duration. In truth, a Meriah or dedicated\nmaiden is sometimes allowed to marry a Khond, and to live until she has\nbecome twice or thrice a mother. Her children as well as herself are\ndestined to the sacrificial altar; but must never be slain in the village\nin which they are born. To overcome this difficulty, one village exchanges\nits Meriah children with another.\n\nThere are various modes of accomplishing the sacrifice. In Goomten the\noffering is made to the Earth-god, Tado Pumor, who is represented by the\nemblem of a peacock. For a month previous to the day of doom, the people\nmaintain an almost continuous revel, feasting and dancing round the\nMeriah, who seems to enter into the festivity with as much zest as they\ndo. On the last day but one he is bound to a stout pole, the top of which\ncarries the peacock emblem of the Tado Pumor; and around him wheel and\nwheel the revellers, protesting in their wild rude songs that they do not\nmurder a victim, but sacrifice one who has been fairly purchased, and\nthat, therefore, his blood will not be upon their heads. The Meriah, being\nstupefied with drink, makes no answer; and his silence is interpreted as a\nwilling assent to his immolation. Next day he is anointed with oil, and\ncarried round the village; after which he is brought back to the post, at\nthe bottom of which a small pit has been dug. A hog is killed, and the\nblood poured into the pit, and mixed with the soil until a thick mud is\nformed. Into this mud the face of the Meriah is pressed until he dies from\nsuffocation. It should be added that he is always unconscious from\nintoxication when brought to the post.\n\nThe zani, or officiating priest, cuts off a fragment of the victim\u2019s\nflesh, and buries it near the pit; as an offering to the earth; after\nwhich the spectators precipitate themselves upon the body, hack it to\npieces, and carry away the fragments to bury in their fields as a\npropitiation to the rural deities.\n\nIn Sumatra exists a tribe, that of the Battas, which has not only a\nreligion and a ceremonial worship, but a literature, a kind of\nconstitution, and a penal code. This code condemns certain classes of\ncriminals to be eaten alive. After the sentence has been pronounced by the\nproper tribunal, two or three days are suffered to elapse, to give the\npeople time to assemble. On the day appointed, the criminal is led to the\nplace of execution, and bound to a stake. The prosecutor advances, and\nselects the choicest morsel; after which the bystanders in due order\nchoose such pieces as strike their fancy, and, terrible to relate! hack\nand hew them from the living body. At length the chief releases the poor\nwretch from his long agony by striking off his head. The flesh is eaten on\nthe spot, raw or cooked, according to each man\u2019s taste.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nWe have seen that in some of the \u201csunny Eden-isles\u201d of the Pacific, the\nnatives consider that they render a service to their aged and infirm\nparents by putting them to death, and that, by eating them, they provide\nthe most honourable mode of sepulture. In others, as in New Zealand, the\nbelief prevails that a man, by devouring his enemy, gains possession of\nall the virtues with which the latter may have been gifted. This\nconviction is cherished by certain tribes on the river Amazon.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nBut it seems clear that in the majority of cases, anthropophagy originates\nin a constant scarcity of food, and in the lack of cattle and game; though\nin some it may be true that the cannibals are attracted by the delicious\nsavour of human flesh, which they prefer to every other. Maury asserts\nthat among the Cobens of the Uaupis, man is regarded as a species of game,\nand that they declare war against the neighbouring tribes solely for the\npurpose of procuring a supply of human flesh. When they obtain more than\nthey require for their present need, they dry it and smoke it, and store\nit away for future use.\n\nIn Africa, Captain Richard Burton discovered, on the shores of Lake\nTangauyika, a cannibal people, named the Worabunbosi, who fed upon\ncarrion, vermin, larv\u00e6, and insects, and even carried their brutality to\nsuch an extent as to eat raw and putrid human flesh. Although you may see\non every countenance, says this enterprising traveller,[57] the expression\nof chronic hunger, the poor wretched, timid, stunted, degraded, foul, seem\nfar more dangerous enemies to the dead than to the living.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nWe are speaking however of a barbarous custom which, from whatever cause\nit may have arisen, is rapidly dying out. Owing to the constant advance of\nthe wave of civilisation, and to the vigorous efforts of our missionaries,\nthe practice of cannibalism, against which our better nature instinctively\nrebels, is decaying even in the darkest and remotest regions of the globe.\nIn Polynesia, for instance, as in New Zealand, it is almost extinct. And\nif we owed no other service to the heroic Soldiers of the Cross, this\nresult would of itself entitle them to our gratitude, the extermination of\nAnthropophagy being the first step towards teaching man to reverence\nhumanity.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XV.\n\n_THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS._\n\n\nThe general characteristics of the North American Indians, or the Red Men,\nhave been made familiar to us through the writings of travellers, and the\npicturesque romances of Fenimore Cooper, the American novelist; though of\nthe latter it may be said, perhaps, that he has used bright colours too\nuniformly, and introduced into his sketches too little shadow. The name by\nwhich they are popularly known is, of course, ethnologically incorrect.\nJust as, in speaking of the great Western Continent, our forefathers\nemployed the expression \u201cthe West Indies,\u201d or the \u201cGreat Indies,\u201d from a\nmistaken conception of its geographical position, so they christened by\nthe term \u201cIndians\u201d all its aboriginal races; and the term has survived in\nour common speech owing to its convenience.\n\nSays De Maury: From the North Pole to Tierra del Fuego almost every shade\nof human colouring, from black to yellow, finds its representatives.\nAccording to their tribe, the Aborigines are of a brown-olive, a dark\nbrown, bronze, pale yellow, copper yellow, red, brown, and so on. Nor do\nthey differ less in stature. Between the dwarf-like proportions of the\nChangos, and the tall stature of the Patagonians, we meet with a great\nnumber of intermediary \u201csizes.\u201d The contours of the body present the same\ndiversity. Some peoples, like those of the Pampas, are very long in the\nbust; others, like the inhabitants of the Peruvian Andes, are short and\nbroad. So, too, with the shape and size of the head. Yet we recognize\nbetween the various American populations an air of kinship, or certain\npredominant and general features which distinguish them from the races of\nthe old world. As, for example, the pyramidal form of the head and the\nnarrowness of the forehead, characteristics of great antiquity among the\nAmerican populations, having been found in skulls discovered by Mr. Lund\nin the caves of Brazil, in association with the bones of animals now\nextinct.\n\nIn spite of this variety of type, we may divide the Aborigines of America\ninto two great races, of which one, at least, the Red Skins, is remarkable\nfor its complete homogeneity. The Red Skins,--with whom alone we shall\nconcern ourselves,--were formerly distributed over all the upper portion\nof the American Continent; that is, over the territory of Canada and the\nUnited States and the northern districts of Mexico. In the sixteenth\ncentury they numbered, it is said, a million and a half of souls. The\n\u201cadvance of civilisation,\u201d--in other words, the greed and cruelty of the\nwhite man,--have reduced them now to a few thousand families. A few years\nmore, and American rifles, brandy, poverty, and disease will have\nvirtually effected the extermination of a race, which has assuredly\nmerited the respect and recognition we are generally prone to render to\ncourage and endurance. True it is that our estimate of the Red Skins must\nnot be taken entirely from the imaginative pages of Chateaubriand and\nFenimore Cooper. The Deerskins, the Hawkeyes, and the Leatherstockings of\nthe novelist are ideal creations, the like of which have never been found\nin the wildernesses of the West. Yet we cannot deny to the Indians a\ncharacter of true nobility and exceptional manliness. Their scorn of death\nand pain, their stoical composure under tortures, the mere description of\nwhich makes the blood of ordinary men run cold, their disdain of the\nallurements of civilisation, their stern refusal of foreign supremacy,\ntheir haughty pride, even their cold and calculated ferocity, are so many\ntraits which raise them to a higher platform than that occupied by most\nsavage races.\n\nA hundred times in song, and romance, and drama have been portrayed the\nmanners of this remarkable people, their subtle stratagems in war and the\nchase, the perseverance with which they hunt down their prey or enemy,\ntheir astuteness, their impassiveness, their brooding revenge. Who has\nnot eagerly followed them in their unwearied wanderings across the rolling\nprairies, and through the interminable forests? Who has not listened\neagerly, when seated round the watch-fire, with the calumet to their lips,\nthey have meditated on the chances of peace and war,--chief after chief\nrising, with regal attitude and deliberate eloquence to take his part in\nthe stern debate? Who has not watched them in their furious\nbattle-charges, brandishing the dreadful tomahawk, and carrying off the\nscalps of their defeated enemies to hang up in their wigwams as the\ntrophies of their prowess? Who has not breathlessly tracked them in their\npursuit of a flying foe, or in their skilful escape through the thick\nbrushwood from the pressure of some persistent antagonist? Assuredly this\nwas a race well worthy of attentive study; and their history, or the\nnarrative of their adventures, none can peruse without interest. There was\na strain of poetry in their faith, in their customs, in their language at\nonce laconic and picturesque, even in the names full of meaning which they\nbestowed on each tribe, and chief, and warrior. We can hardly suppress a\nfeeling of regret that so much wild romance should have been swept off the\nearth, unless we bring our minds to dwell upon the deep dark shades of the\npicture, on their cruelty, perfidiousness, and lust. Even then our\nhumanity revolts from the treatment they have received at the hands of the\nwhite man. Hunted from place to place like wild beasts, driven back from\none hunting-ground to another, brutalised by misery or drunkenness,\ndecimated by the diseases of civilisation, incapable of labour, the Red\nSkins have struggled in vain against the irresistible onward movement of a\ncivilisation without bowels; a civilisation ill-adapted to attract and\npersuade them, and more anxious to destroy than to assimilate.\n\nThe treatment of the Indians is a dark chapter in the history of the\nUnited States. The great nations which were formerly the valued allies or\ndreaded enemies of the European settlers, the Hurons, the Algonquins, the\nIroquois, the Natchez, the Leni-Lenapes, have entirely disappeared. The\nwrecks of other but less important tribes still linger on the shores of\nthe great Northern lakes, in the woods and wildernesses of the Far West,\nat the base of the Rocky Mountains, in Texas, in Arkansas, in California,\nand in the northern provinces and deserts of Mexico. Such are the Sioux,\nthe Dacotahs, the Flatheads, the Big-Bellies, the Blackfoot, the Apaches,\nthe Comanches. The two latter people have been the most successful in\npreserving their vitality. Their characteristics however are very diverse.\nThe Comanches are of a mild gentle nature, and eager to live on peaceable\nterms with the whites. The Apaches, on the other hand, have vowed a\nrelentless hatred against the Pale Faces; they are the terror of the\n_hacienderos_ (or farm proprietors) and gold seekers of Upper Mexico, and\nthe American journals to this day are full of their incursions, and their\nacts of cruelty and brigandage.\n\nPhysiologically, the distinctive features of the Red Men are, in addition\nto the colour of their skin and the pyramidal form of the head, the\nprominency and arched outline of the nose, the width of the nasal\napertures, corresponding to a remarkable development of the olfactory\nnerve, and the absence of beard.\n\nThe superstitions, or religious customs, of the Red Men are in themselves\na sufficiently interesting subject of study. We begin with an account of\nthe ceremony through which every one of their youths has to pass before he\nis acknowledged to have entered upon manhood. Our knowledge of it is due\nto Mr. Catlin, who, as a reputed \u201cmedicine-man,\u201d lived for some time with\nthe Mandan tribe, and became acquainted with their most secret customs.\n\nThe object of this rite, which for savage cruelty seems unparalleled, is,\nfirst, to propitiate the Great Spirit on behalf of the neophyte who\nundergoes it, so that he may become a successful hunter and a valiant\nwarrior; and, second, to enable the leader and chief of the tribe, to\nwatch his behaviour, and determine whether he will be likely to maintain\nits character and renown.\n\nThe Mandans, we must premise, cherish a legend of a flood which in times\nlong past inundated the earth, and of which only one man, who escaped in a\nlarge canoe, was the survivor. In a large open space in the centre of the\nvillage a representation of this canoe, a kind of tub, bound with wooden\nhoops, and set up on one end, is carefully preserved.\n\nThe ceremony of initiation occurs once a year, at the season when the\nwillow-leaves under the river-bank burst from their shade, and bloom in\nall their greenness. Early in the morning of the great day, a figure is\nseen on the distant ridge of hills, slowly approaching the village.\nImmediately the whole village is alive! The dogs are caught and muzzled;\nthe horses are brought in from the meadows; the bravos paint their faces\nas if for battle, string their bows, feather their arrows, and grasp their\npointed spears. Then into the central area strides the visitor, his body\npainted white, a plume of raven\u2019s feathers waving on his head, a white\nwolf\u2019s skin flung across his stalwart shoulders, and in his hand a\nmystery-pipe. The chief and his leading warriors immediately greet the new\ncomer, Nu-mohk-muck-a-nah, or the First Man, as he is called,--and conduct\nhim to the great medicine-lodge, which is open only on this occasion, and\nnow reeks with the fragrant odours of various aromatic herbs. The skulls\nof men and bisons are solemnly laid on the floor; over the beams of the\ntimber roof are hung several new ropes, with a heap of strong wooden\nskewers underneath them; and in the centre is raised a small da\u00efs or\naltar, on which the First Man deposits the medicine or mystery of the\ntribe,--a profound, a sacred secret, known to none but himself.\n\nTo every hut in the village next stalks the First Man, pausing at the door\nof each to weep aloud, and when the owner comes out, relating to him the\nold, old story of the Flood, and of his own escape from it, and requiring\naxe or knife as an offering to the Great Spirit. The demand is never\nrefused; and loaded with edged tools of various kinds, he returns to the\nmedicine-lodge. There they remain until the conclusion of the ceremonies,\nwhen they are thrown into the river\u2019s deepest pool.\n\nThus passes the first day, during which, as during the whole period of the\nceremony, an absolute silence prevails in the village. None know the place\nwhere he sleeps, but on the second morning he re-enters the village, and\nmarches to the medicine-lodge, followed by a long train of neophytes, and\ncarrying his bow and arrows, shield, and medicine-bag, and each painted in\nthe most fantastic fashion. Hanging his weapons over his head, each man\nsilently seats himself in front of the lodge, and for four days maintains\nhis position, speaking to none, and neither eating, drinking, nor\nsleeping. At the outset, the First Man kindles his pipe at the fire that\nburns in the centre of the lodge, and harangues the neophytes, exhorting\nthem to be brave and patient, and praying the Great Spirit to grant them\nstrength to endure their trial.\n\nSummoning an old medicine-man, he then appoints him to the charge of the\nceremonies, and as a symbol of office hands him the mystery-pipe. After\nwhich he takes leave of the chiefs and their people, promising that he\nwill return next year to re-open the lodge, and with slow and stately step\npasses out of the village, and disappears beyond the hills.\n\nThe master of the ceremonies hastens to put himself in the centre of the\nlodge, where he re-lights the pipe, and with every whiff of smoke utters a\npetition to the Great Spirit in behalf of the candidates.\n\nDuring the three days\u2019 silence of the neophytes, the tribe indulge in a\nvariety of pastimes.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nFirst and foremost is the buffalo dance, in which eight persons are\nengaged, each wearing the skin of a bison, and carrying on his back a\nlarge bundle of faggots. In one hand they hold a mystery-rattle, in the\nother a small staff. In four couples they place themselves round the Big\nCanoe, each couple facing one of the cardinal points of the compass, and\nbetween them dances a young man,--two being got up in black, dotted with\nwhite stars, to represent day, and two in red, to represent night.\n\nA couple of medicine-men, dressed in the hides of grizzly bears, sit\nbeside the Big Canoe, and profess their intention of devouring the whole\nvillage. To satiate their voracity, the women convey to them abundant\nsupplies of meat, which men, painted black all over, except their heads,\nwhich are white, in imitation of the bald-headed eagle, carry off\nimmediately to the prairie, pursued by a number of little boys, painted\nyellow, with white heads, who are called antelopes. After a swift chase\nthey overtake the eagle-men, seize the food, and devour it.\n\nThis rude frolic is repeated several times a day, the performers being\nsummoned by the master of the ceremonies, who, followed by his assistants,\nissues from the medicine-lodge, and takes up his post against the Big\nCanoe, pouring forth many tears.\n\nOn the first day the dance is four times repeated, on the second eight\ntimes, on the third twelve times, and on the fourth sixteen; the dancers\nissuing from the hut in which they attire themselves immediately that the\nold man lifts up his head, and weeps.\n\nDuring each performance, the old medicine-men keep up a rattle of drums,\nexcept when they pause to announce to the crowd that the Great Spirit is\npleased with their offerings, and has given them peace; that even their\nwomen and children can hold the mouths of grizzly bears, and the Evil One\ndoes not appear to disturb them.\n\nThis bold declaration is repeated thirty-two times during the four days,\nand repeated without challenge; but at the thirty-third, the Evil Spirit\nmakes his appearance, threads his way through the village, and breaks into\nthe circle,--an uncanny creature, entirely naked, his body painted black,\nbut with white rings, and his mouth blotched with white indentations like\nso many tusks. Carrying in his hand a long magic staff tipped with a red\nball, which he slides before him on the ground, this Evil Spirit makes a\nrush at each group of females in the excited crowd. They shriek for\nassistance.\n\nThe master of the ceremonies straightway abandons his station by the Big\nCanoe, and presents his magic pipe to the intruder, who stands immediately\nas if petrified into stone, each limb quiescent, each muscle rigid,--a\nstatue, rather than a man.\n\nThe women take advantage of this sudden pause to escape from the Evil\nSpirit\u2019s clutch; and as soon as they are out of danger, though their\nhearts still beat with excitement, they resume their ordinary quietude,\nonly laughing loudly and gleefully at the sudden discomfiture of their\nantagonist, and at the awkward and ridiculous attitude in which he was\nsurprised.\n\nThe old man stands upright by his side, with his eyeballs glaring him in\nthe face, while the medicine-pipe holds under its mystic spell his Satanic\nMajesty, neutralises all the powers of his magic wand, and deprives him\nof the power of locomotion.\n\nNo two human beings, says Mr. Catlin, can ever present a more striking\ngroup than is presented by those two individuals, with their fierce eyes\nfixed in well-simulated hatred on each other; both contending for the\nsupremacy, both relying on the potency of their mystery or medicine; the\none, with dismal black body, pretending to be O-ku-hu-de, the Evil Spirit,\nand pouring everlasting vengeance on the other, who sternly gazes back\nwith a look of contemptuous exultation, as he holds him bound by the\ninfluence of his sacred mystery-pipe. Truly, these Red-skinned Mandans are\naccomplished actors and pantomimists.\n\nA repetition of this performance takes place until the power of the\nmystery-pipe has been sufficiently proved; and the women, gaining\nconfidence in it, proceed to turn the tables on their persecutor, jeering\nhim, and overwhelming him with shrieks of laughter. At last, one of the\nboldest dashes a handful of sand in his face; an insult which completely\noverwhelms him, so that he begins to weep abundantly. Another woman takes\ncourage to seize his magic staff, and snaps it across her knee. Other\nwomen pick up the broken halves and break them into fragments, which they\nfling at O-ku-hu-de\u2019s head. Bereft of all his power, he incontinently\nturns tail, and dashes across the prairie, followed for half a mile or so\nby volleys of mud and stones and slates.\n\nThus ends the battle of Armageddon. The Evil Spirit has come, and fought,\nand been conquered. The next step is to remove the little altar and its\nmysterious deposit from the centre of the great medicine-lodge, and pass\nthe hide ropes through openings in the roof to men stationed without. Then\nthe master of the ceremonies and his assistants, together with the chiefs\nand bravos of the tribe, re-enter the lodge, and take up their positions.\n\nWorn and wasted by four days of abstinence from food, drink, and sleep,\nthe first neophyte enters the lodge, when called, and takes his stand in\nfront of two of the executioners. One of them, with a blunt and jagged\ndouble-edged knife, pinches up an inch or so of the flesh of the breast\nor shoulder, inserts the knife, and through the incision thus\naccomplished, forces a wooden skewer; repeating the process on the other\nshoulder or breast, on each arm just below the shoulder and below the\nelbow, upon each thigh, and upon each leg just below the knee.\n\nPainful as the operation must be, the neophyte bears it unflinchingly; not\na sigh escapes him; his countenance remains as calm and unruffled as if he\nwere wrapped in a pleasant dream.\n\nTwo of the hide ropes are now let down from the roof, and twisted round\nthe skewers on the breast or shoulders. To the others are hung the\nneophyte\u2019s weapons, while the skulls of bisons depend from those of the\nlower arm or leg. At a given signal the neophyte is hauled aloft, and\nallowed to swing, at a height of six or eight feet from the ground,\nsuspended only by the two skewers, while he sustains, not only his own\nweight, but that of the heavy skulls. With almost incredible fortitude, he\nendures this protracted agony, until exhausted nature gives way, and he\nfalls into a swoon.\n\nThe bystanders seem no longer men, but demons intent on increasing his\ntortures. They surround him, a dozen or more at a time, and consider what\nnew inventions can be adopted. At length, one advances towards the poor\nwretch, and begins to turn him round with a pole, which he has brought for\nthe purpose. This is done very gently at first, but by degrees with more\nrapidity and increasing violence, until the neophyte breaks down in his\nself-control, and bursts forth into \u201cthe most lamentable and heart-rending\ncries that the human voice is capable of producing,\u201d imploring the Great\nSpirit to support and protect him in his agony, and repeatedly expressing\nhis belief in that protection.\n\nIn this condition he revolves faster and faster, without the least hope of\nescape or relief, until he again falls into a swoon; his voice falters,\nhis strugglings cease; he hangs a still and apparently lifeless thing.\n\u201cWhen he is by turning gradually brought to this condition, which is\ngenerally done within ten or fifteen minutes, there is a close scrutiny\npassed upon him among his tormentors, who are checking and holding each\nother back as long as the least struggling or tremor can be discovered;\nlest he should be removed, before he is, as they term it, dead.\u201d\n\nHaving satisfied themselves that their victim is not feigning, they give a\nsignal; he is lowered to the ground; the skewers which passed through his\nbreast are removed, and the ropes attached to another candidate. He is\nallowed to lie where he fell; none dare to touch him; to do so would be a\nsacrilege, because he has placed himself under the protection of the Great\nSpirit.\n\nAfter awhile he partially recovers, and crawls to another part of the\nlodge, where, with gleaming axe in hand and a bison\u2019s skull before him,\nsits a medicine-man. Holding up the little finger of his left hand as a\nsacrifice to the Great Spirit, the neophyte lays it upon the skull, and,\nin a moment, the medicine-man\u2019s axe severs it. Sometimes the fore-finger\nof the same hand is also offered, and only the thumb and two middle\nfingers, which are necessary in holding the bow, are left.\n\nThen comes the last scene of this strange, eventful history, bringing the\nneophyte\u2019s sufferings to a climax. The skewers by which he is suspended to\nthe roof are removed when he is lowered, but eight still remain; two in\neach arm, and two in each leg. To each is attached a heavy weight, such as\na bison\u2019s skull, and they must not be _drawn_ out, but must be _torn_ out\nby sheer force. With this view he is required to run the last race,--which\ntakes place in the open air, and in the presence of a concourse of excited\nspectators. Leaving the medicine-lodge, the master of the ceremonies leans\nhis head against the Big Canoe, and fills the air with a loud long wail.\nImmediately a score or so of young men, all matched in height, wearing\nbeautiful dresses of eagle-quills, and carrying in one hand a wreath of\nwillow-boughs, issue from the dressing-hut. On arriving at the Big Canoe\nthey assemble round it in a circle, holding on to each other\u2019s\nwillow-wreath, and then race around it at their utmost speed, screaming\nand shouting until the air is filled with their uproar.\n\nThe candidates then come out of the medicine-lodge, dragging the heavy\nweights attached to their limbs, and are stationed at equal intervals\noutside the ring of runners. As each takes his place, two powerful young\nmen take charge of him, who pass round each of his wrists a broad\nleathern strap, which they grasp very firmly, but without tying it.\n\nWhen all the preliminaries are completed, a signal is given, and the\nneophytes begin to race round the Big Canoe, outside the inner circle,\neach man being dragged along by his custodians, until the skulls and other\nweights drag out the skewers to which they are fastened. The bystanders\nscream and yell and shout in a frenzy of excitement; eager, moreover, to\ndrown the groans of the sufferers, should the instincts of nature prevail\nover their self-control, and desirous of encouraging them in their final\ntrial.\n\nSometimes the neophyte\u2019s flesh proves to be so tough that the skewers\ncannot be dragged out, and in such cases their friends jump on the skulls\nas they rattle along the ground, so as to increase their weight.\n\nHumanity cannot long endure a torture so horrible: the sufferers quickly\nfaint, though they are still hauled round in the barbarous race, nor set\nfree until the last weight is dragged from the quivering, bleeding body.\nThen the unconscious wretch is released, and left, for the second time, in\nthe care and protection of the Great Spirit. In due time he recovers his\nsenses, struggles to his feet, totters through the crowd, is received by\nhis friends, and conducted to his own hut.\n\nMr. Catlin supplies two illustrations of the rigorous tenacity with which\nthe Indians adhere to the rule that the skewers must be _dragged_, not\n_removed_, from the sufferer\u2019s flesh.\n\nIn one case the skewer had chanced to pass under a sinew, and the neophyte\nwas dragged round and round the ring in vain. In vain his friends added\ntheir weight to that of the bison\u2019s skulls. The scene became so horrible\nthat even the spectators could no longer endure it, and in sympathy with\ntheir cries the master of the ceremonies stopped the race, leaving the\nyouth, unconscious, on the ground. As soon as he regained his senses, he\ncrawled away to the prairie on his hands and knees, and there remained,\nwithout food or drink, for three hours longer, until suppuration took\nplace, and he was enabled to get rid of the skewer. Then he crawled home,\nand strange to say, notwithstanding the agony he had undergone, and his\nloss of strength, recovered in a few days.\n\nIn the second case, two of the weights attached to the arms refused to\nyield, and the hapless neophyte crept as best he could to the steep bluff\noverhanging the river, where he drove a stake into the ground. Fastening\nthe weights to this stake by a couple of ropes, he lowered himself about\nmidway down the cliff, and so hung suspended for more than two days, until\nthe obstinate flesh gave way, and allowed him to drop into the water. He\nswam to the side, crawled up the acclivity, and returned to his village.\nIt gives one a vivid idea of the remarkable vitality and physical force of\nthe Indian race, when one reads that this man, too, recovered!\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThe Indian has a vague idea of God and immortality. He believes in a Great\nSpirit, who, after death, admits the brave to his happy hunting-grounds,\nwhere game is inexhaustible, and the pleasure of the chase is ever open to\nthe hunter. Beyond this dim and dubious conception, his imagination never\ncarries him.\n\nHe is prone, as might be supposed, for such proneness is the cause of\nignorance, and ignorance is the Red Man\u2019s bane, to the wildest and\ncoarsest superstitions, and he is always at the mercy of the medicine-man\nof his tribe. One of his most potent superstitions is that connected with\nthe \u201cmedicine-bag,\u201d which he firmly believes to be his sole \u201csecret of\nsuccess,\u201d his all-powerful charm and talisman, without which he would fail\nin every undertaking and be defeated and disgraced in battle.\n\nAt the age of fourteen or fifteen, the young Indian goes forth into the\nwoods in search of his medicine. On a litter of leaves and twigs he lies\nfor some days--as long, in fact, as his physical powers hold out--neither\neating nor drinking; for in proportion to the duration of his fast will be\nthe potency of his \u201cmedicine.\u201d His endurance at length gives way, and he\ngoes to sleep. The bird, beast, or reptile of which he dreams becomes his\n\u201cmedicine.\u201d He returns home, and as soon as he has recovered his strength,\nhe sallies forth in quest of the charm; having found and killed the\nanimal, he preserves the skin in such shape as his fancy\nsuggests,--usually in the form of pouch or bag. If small, he slings it\nround his neck, and wears it concealed. In other cases, it hangs from his\nwaist or shoulder.\n\nHowever he may wear it, the Indian never parts from it. He would be\ndisgraced and defeated in battle--he would fail in his undertakings--if it\nwere absent from his person. Should he be deprived of it in battle, he is\noverwhelmed with shame, until he can kill an enemy, and take _his_\nmedicine-bag to replace his own. If, without losing his own, he captures\nthat of an enemy, he is entitled to assume a \u201cdouble medicine,\u201d and with\ntwo medicine-bags about him he stalks to and fro, the observed of all\nobservers. To take a medicine-bag is not less honourable than to take a\nscalp, and the successful bearer has all the advantage of the double\nprotection afforded by the double charm.\n\nIt is seldom that an Indian will voluntarily part with his medicine-bag,\nand if he does, he forfeits his reputation almost irretrievably. Now and\nthen he is persuaded by the white man to bury it, but its place of\ninterment immediately assumes an air of sanctity in his eyes. He frequents\nthe spot as if drawn thither by an irresistible influence, will throw\nhimself on the sod, and talk to the buried treasure as if it were alive.\nSometimes he will offer sacrifices to it, and if he be a rich man, will\neven offer a horse. On the latter occasion, the whole tribe take part in\nthe ceremony, and march forth to the prairie in picturesque procession,\nled by the owner of the medicine-bag, who drives before him his most\nvalued and valuable steed, decked with coloured devices. At the appointed\nspot, he delivers a long prayer or oration to the Great Spirit, and sets\nfree the horse, which thenceforth enjoys the free life of the wild horses\nof the prairie, and if at any time recaptured is immediately released.\n\nThe position which in most savage tribes is held by the priest, among the\nAmerican Indians is held by the \u201cmedicine-man.\u201d His influence is\nconsiderable, and his powers are supposed to be vast. He is called upon to\nheal the sick and save the dying, and, above all, to bring down the genial\nrain from heaven when it is needed for the growth of the crops.\n\nWe owe to Mr. Catlin an interesting description of the rain-making\nceremony. A drought had withered the maize-fields for some weeks, and\napplication for help having been made to the medicine-men they duly set to\nwork. On the first day one Wah-ku, or the Shield, came to the front; but\nfailed--that day an equally unsuccessful experiment was made by Om-pah, or\nthe Elk. The third day was devoted to Wa-rah-pa, or the Beaver, and on the\nfourth recourse was had to Wak-a-dah-ha-ku, the White Buffalo Hair, who\nwas strong in the possession of a shield coloured with red lightnings, and\nin the arrow which he carried in his hand.\n\nTaking his station by the medicine-lodge, he harangued the people,\nprotesting that for the good of his tribe he was willing to sacrifice\nhimself, and that if he did not bring the much-desired rain, he was\ncontent to live for the rest of his life with the old women and the dogs.\nHe asserted that the first medicine-man had failed, because his shield\nwarded off the rain-clouds; the second, who wore a head-dress made of a\nraven\u2019s skin, because the raven was a bird that soared above the storm,\nand cared not whether the rain came or stayed; and the third, because the\nbeaver was always wet, and required no rain. But as for him,\nWak-a-dah-ha-ku, the red lightnings on his shield would attract the\nrain-clouds, and his arrow would pierce them, and pour the water over the\nthirsty fields.\n\nIt chanced that, as he ended his oration, a steamer, the first that had\never ploughed the Missouri river, fired a salute from a twelve-pounder\ngun, as she passed the Mandan village. To the Indians the roar of the\ncannon was like the voice of thunder, and their joy knew no bounds. The\nsuccessful medicine-man was loaded with valuable gifts; mothers hastened\nto offer their daughters to him in marriage; and the elder medicine-men\nissued from the lodge, eager to enrol him in their order. But, from the\nroof of the lodge, where he had taken his stand, Wak-a-dah-ha-ku\ndiscovered the steamer, as she dashed up the river, and discharged her gun\nagain and yet again. He hastened to address the chiefs and people,\nexplaining that the sounds they heard were not those of thunder, but that\nhis potent medicine had brought a thunder-boat to the village. To the\nriver-bank rushed the wondering population, and the rest of the day was\nspent in a fever of excitement, in which the rain-maker was forgotten.\nJust before sunset his quick eyes discovered a black cloud, which,\nunobserved by the noisy multitude, swiftly came up from the horizon. At\nonce he assumed his station on the roof of the lodge; strung his bow and\nmade ready his arrow; arrested the attention of his fellows by his loud\nand exultant speech; and as the cloud impended over the village, shot his\narrow into the sky. Lo, the rain immediately descended in torrents,\nwetting the rain-maker to the skin, but establishing in everybody\u2019s mind a\nfirm and deep conviction of his power.\n\nAll night raged the storm; but unhappily a flash of lightning penetrated\none of the wigwams, and killed a young girl. The newly-made medicine-man\nwas sorely terrified by this catastrophe, which he feared the chiefs would\nimpute to him, making him responsible for the girl\u2019s death, and punishing\nhim accordingly.\n\nBut he was a man of much astuteness, and early in the morning, collecting\nthree of his best horses, he mounted the lodge-roof again, and for a third\ntime addressed the people of his tribe.\n\n\u201cFriends,\u201d he said, \u201cmy medicine was too strong, I am young, and I did not\nknow where to stop. I did not regulate its power. And now the wigwam of\nMah-sish is laid low, and many are the eyes that weep for Ko-ka, the\nantelope. Wak-a-dah-ha-ku gives three horses to rejoice the hearts of\nthose who sorrow for Ko-ka. His medicine is great. His arrow pierced the\nblack cloud, and the lightning came, and with it the thunder-boat. Who\nsays that the medicine of Wak-a-dah-ha-ku is not strong?\u201d\n\nThis artful address was received with much favour, and thenceforward\nWak-a-dah-ha-ku was known as the \u201cBig Double Medicine.\u201d\n\nOf the medical practices of these medicine-men Mr. Kane, in his\n\u201cWanderings of an Artist,\u201d furnishes a striking illustration.\n\n\u201cAbout ten o\u2019clock at night,\u201d he says, \u201cI strolled into the village, and\non hearing a great noise in one of the lodges, I entered it, and found an\nold woman supporting one of the handsomest Indian girls I had ever seen.\nShe was in a state of nudity. Cross-legged and naked, in the middle of the\nroom, sat the medicine-man, with a wooden dish of water before him;\ntwelve or fifteen other men were sitting round the lodge. The object in\nview was to cure the girl of a disease affecting her side. As soon as my\npresence was noticed, a space was cleared for me to sit down.\n\n\u201cThe officiating medicine-man appeared in a state of profuse perspiration,\nfrom the exertions he had used, and soon took his seat among the rest, as\nif quite exhausted; a younger medicine-man then took his place in front of\nthe bowl, and close beside the patient.\n\n\u201cThrowing off his blanket, he commenced singing and gesticulating in the\nmost violent manner, whilst the others kept time by beating with little\nsticks in hollow wooden bowls and drums, singing continually. After\nexercising himself in this manner for about half an hour, until the\nperspiration ran down his body, he darted suddenly upon the young woman,\ncatching hold of her side with his teeth, and shaking her for a few\nminutes, while the patient seemed to suffer great agony. He then\nrelinquished his hold, and cried out he had got it, at the same time\nholding his hands to his mouth; after which he plunged them in the water\nand pretended to hold down with great difficulty the disease which he had\nextracted, lest it might spring out and return to its victim.\n\n\u201cAt length, having obtained the mastery over it, he turned round to me in\nan exulting manner, and held up something between the finger and thumb of\neach hand, which had the appearance of a piece of cartilage; whereupon one\nof the Indians sharpened his knife, and divided it in two, having one in\neach hand. One of the pieces he threw into the water and the other into\nthe fire, accompanying the action with a diabolical noise which none but a\nmedicine-man can make. After which he got up perfectly satisfied with\nhimself, although the poor patient seemed to me anything but relieved by\nthe violent treatment she had undergone.\u201d\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nA considerable amount of superstition attaches to the calumet, or\nmedicine-pipe, by which all the great questions of peace and war are\nsettled. This pipe is borne by an individual specially selected for the\nhonour, who, during his term of office, is not less sacred than the pipe\nhe carries. His seat is always on the right side of the lodge, and no one\nis suffered to interpose between him and the fire. He is not even allowed\nto cut his own food, but his wives cut it for him, and place it in an\nofficial food-bowl, specially reserved for his use. As for the calumet, it\nis hung outside the lodge in a large bag, which is picturesquely and gaily\nembroidered. Much ceremony attends its uncovering. Whatever the weather,\nor the time of year, the bearer begins by stripping off all his garments\nexcept his cloth, and he then pours upon a red-hot coal some fragrant gum,\nwhich fills the air with perfumed smoke. Removing the different wrappers,\nhe fills the bowl with tobacco, and blows the smoke to the four points of\nthe compass, to the earth, and to the sky, with each breath uttering a\nprayer to the Great Spirit for assistance in war against all enemies, and\nfor bison and corn from all parts. With equal ceremony the pipe, which no\nwoman is allowed to see, is restored to its bag. The whole proceeding\ntakes place in the deepest silence.\n\nThe bowl of the calumet is made of a peculiar stone, found in the Red\nPipe-stone Quarry, on the Citeau des Prairies, a place to which the\nfollowing tradition attaches. We give it as related by Mr. Catlin:\n\nHere, he says, according to the Indian traditions, happened the mysterious\nbirth of the red pipe, which has blown its fumes of peace and war to the\nremotest corners of the continent, which has visited every warrior, and\npassed through its reddened stem the irrevocable oath of war and\ndesolation. And here, also, the peace-breathing calumet was born, and\nfringed with the eagle\u2019s quills, which has shed its thrilling fumes over\nthe land, and soothed the fury of the relentless savage.\n\nAt a remote period the Great Spirit here called the Indian nations\ntogether, and, standing on the precipice of the red pipe-stone rock, broke\nfrom its wall a piece, and made a huge pipe by turning it in his hand,\nwhich he smoked over them, to the north, the south, the east, and the\nwest, and told that this stone was red,--that it was their flesh,--that\nthey must use it for their pipes of peace,--that it belonged to them\nall,--and that the war-club and scalping-knife must not be raised on its\nground. At the last whiff of his pipe his head went into a great cloud,\nand the whole surface of the rock for several miles was melted and\nglazed. Two great ovens were opened beneath, and two women (guardian\nspirits of the place) entered them in a blaze of fire; and they are heard\nthere yet, (Tso-mec-cos-tu and Tso-me-cos-te-won-du,) answering to\ninvocations of the high priests or medicine-men, who consult them when\nthey are visitors to this sacred place.\n\nThe reader will remember, perhaps, the allusion to the Peace-pipe in\nLongfellow\u2019s \u201cHiawatha,\u201d--\n\n  \u201cOn the mountains of the Prairie,\n  On the great Red Pipe-stone quarry,\n  Gitche Manito, the Mighty,\n  He the Master of Life, descending,\n  On the red crags of the quarry\n  Stood erect, and called the nations,\n  Called the tribes of men together.\n    From his footprints flowed a river,\n  Leaped into the light of morning,\n  O\u2019er the precipice plunging downward,\n  Gleamed like Ishkoodah, the comet.\n  And the Spirit, stooping earthward,\n  With his finger on the meadows,\n  Traced a winding pathway for it,\n  Saying to it, \u2018Run in this way!\u2019\n    From the red stone of the quarry\n  With his hand he broke a fragment,\n  Moulded it into a pipe-head,\n  Shaped and fashioned it with figures;\n  From the margin of the river\n  Took a long reed for a pipe-stem,\n  With its dark green leaves upon it;\n  Filled the pipe with bark of willow;\n  With the bark of the red willow;\n  Breathed upon the neighbouring forest,\n  Made its great boughs chafe together,\n  Till in flame they burst and kindled;\n  And erect upon the mountains,\n  Gitche Manito, the mighty,\n  Smoked the calumet, the Peace-pipe,\n  As a signal to the nations.\u201d\n\nSome of the legends of the Indian tribes are of a very picturesque, and\neven poetical character, as may be seen in Mr. Schoolcraft\u2019s \u201cAlgic\nResearches.\u201d Take, as an example, the graceful tradition of the Red Swan.\n\nThree brothers went out to the chase, excited by a wager to see who would\ncarry home the first game. But the binding and limiting condition was,\nthat each was to shoot no other animal than those he was in the habit of\nkilling.\n\nThey set out in different directions. Odjebwa, the youngest, had not gone\nfar before he saw a bear, an animal which by the agreement he had no right\nto kill. He followed him close, however, and drove an arrow through him,\nwhich brought him to the ground. Although contrary to the bet, he\nimmediately began to skin him, when suddenly something red tinged all the\nair around him. He rubbed his eyes, thinking he was perhaps deceived, but\nwithout effect, for the red hue continued. At length he heard a strange\nnoise in the distance. It first resembled a human voice; but after\nfollowing it up for some time, he reached the shores of a lake, and then\ndiscovered the object he was in search of. Far out on the shining waters\nsat a most beautiful Red Swan, whose plumage glittered in the sunshine;\nand ever and anon he made the noise which had before attracted Odjebwa\u2019s\nattention. He was within longbow range, and pulling the arrow from the\nbow-string up to his ear, he took deliberate aim, and shot. The arrow took\nno effect, and he shot again and again until his quiver was empty. Still\nthe swan remained statelily circling round and round, stretching its long\nneck, and dipping its bill into the water, indifferent to the missiles\naimed at it. Odjebwa ran home, secured all his own and his brother\u2019s\narrows, and these too, ineffectually shot away: then stood and gazed at\nthe beautiful bird.\n\nWhile thus standing, he remembered a saying of his brother\u2019s, that in\ntheir deceased father\u2019s medicine-bag were three magic arrows. Off he\nstarted, his anxiety to kill the swan overcoming every scruple. At any\nother time he would have deemed it a sacrilege to open his father\u2019s\nmedicine-bag, but now he hastily violated it, seized the three magic\narrows and ran back. The swan was still floating on the lake. He shot the\nfirst arrow with great precision, and came very near his mark. The second\nflew still nearer; and as he took the third and last arrow, he felt his\narm strengthen, and drawing it up with vigour, sent the shaft right\nthrough the neck of the swan, a little above the breast. Still even this\ndeath-stroke did not prevent the bird from flying off,--which it did very\nslowly, flapping its wings, and rising gradually into the air, until it\npassed far away into the sunset.\n\nQuoting again from Longfellow, we place before the reader his allusion to\nthis pretty legend:--\n\n  \u201cCan it be the sun descending\n  O\u2019er the level plain of water?\n  Or the Red Swan, floating, flying,\n  Wounded by the magic arrow,\n  Staining all the waves with crimson,\n  With the crimson of its life-blood,\n  Filling all the air with splendour,\n  With the splendour of its plumage?\n    Yes; it is the sun descending,\n  Sinking down into the water;\n  No; it is the Red Swan floating,\n  Diving down beneath the water;\n  To the sky its wings are lifted,\n  With its blood the waves are reddened!\u201d\n\nThe Indians regard the maize, or Indian corn, with almost superstitious\nveneration,--which is not wonderful, perhaps, when its immense importance\nto them is taken into consideration. They esteem it, says Schoolcraft, so\nimportant and divine a grain, that their story-tellers invented various\ntales, in which this idea is symbolised under the form of a special gift\nfrom the Great Spirit. The Odjebwa-Algonquins, who call it Mon-da-min, or\nthe Spirit\u2019s grain or berry, cherish a legend, in which the stalk in full\ntassel is represented as descending from the sky, under the guise of a\nhandsome youth; in response to the prayers of a young man offered at his\nfast of virility, or coming to manhood.\n\n  \u201cAll around the happy village\n  Stood the maize-fields, green and shining,\n  Waved the green plumes of Mondamin,\n  Waved his soft and sunny tresses,\n  Filling all the land with plenty.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVI.\n\n_AMONG THE ESKIMOS._\n\n\nThe success which has attended the labours of the Lutheran and Moravian\nMissionaries among the Eskimos has been well deserved by their\nself-denying devotedness. Few of the Arctic tribes are now outside the\npale of Christianity; and all have been more or less directly influenced\nby its elements of purification and elevation. But prior to the coming of\nthe pioneers of the Cross, the moral code of the Eskimo was curiously\nimperfect, and did not recognise murder, infanticide, incest, and the\nburial of the living among its crimes. Woe to the unfortunate vessel which\ntouched upon the coast! The Eskimos were not less treacherous than the\nPolynesians of the Eastern Seas. And Krantz relates the story of a Dutch\nbrig that was seized by the natives at the port of Disco in 1740. The\nwhole crew were murdered. Two years later a similar fate befell the crew\nof another vessel that had accidentally stranded.\n\nThe religion or creed of the aborigines seems to have been very vague and\nimperfect. It is certain, however, that they believed in the immortality\nof the spirit, and in a heaven and a hell. It was natural enough that\ntheir conception of the latter should be affected by the conditions under\nwhich they lived; that their experience of the miseries of an Arctic\nclimate should lead them to think of hell as a region of darkness and of\nice, traversed by endless snow-storms, and without any seals.\n\nThey placed implicit confidence in their angekoks, or angekos, or\n\u201cmedicine-men,\u201d ascribing to them almost unlimited powers over the things\nof earth and sea, this world and the next. When setting out for the chase,\nor prostrated by illness, they always sought the assistance of the\nangekoks, who, on such occasions, indulged in a variety of strange\nceremonies. The nature of these may be inferred from what was witnessed by\nCaptain Lyon, who, during his famous Arctic voyage, bribed an angekok,\nnamed Toolemak, to summon a Tomga, or familiar demon, in the cabin of his\nship.\n\nAll light having been carefully excluded from the scene of operations, the\nsorcerer began by vehemently chanting to his wife, who, in her turn,\nresponded with the Amna-aya, the favourite song of the Eskimo. This lasted\nthroughout the ceremony. Afterwards, Toolemak began to turn himself round\nvery rapidly, vociferating for Tomga, in a loud powerful voice and with\ngreat impatience, at the same time blowing and snorting like a walrus. His\nnoise, agitation, and impatience increased every moment, and at length he\nseated himself on the deck, varying his tones, and making a rustling with\nhis clothes.\n\nSuddenly the voice seemed smothered, and was so managed as to give the\nidea that it was retreating beneath the deck, each moment becoming more\ndistant, and ultimately sounding as if it were many feet below the cabin,\nwhen it ceased entirely. In answer to Captain Lyon\u2019s queries, the\nsorcerer\u2019s wife seriously declared that he had dived and would send up\nTomga.\n\nAnd, in about half a minute, a distant blowing was heard approaching very\nslowly, and a voice differing from that which had first been audible was\nmixed with the blowing, until eventually both sounds became distinct, and\nthe old beldame said that Tomga had come to answer the stranger\u2019s\nquestions. Captain Lyon thereupon put several queries to the sagacious\nspirit, receiving what was understood to be an affirmative or a favourable\nanswer by two loud slaps on the deck.\n\nA very hollow yet powerful voice, certainly differing greatly from that of\nToolemak, then chanted for some time; and a singular medley of hisses,\ngroans, shouts, and gobblings like a turkey\u2019s, followed in swift\nsuccession. The old woman sang with increased energy, and as Captain Lyon\nconjectured that the exhibition was intended to astonish \u201cthe Kabloona,\u201d\nhe said repeatedly that he was greatly terrified. As he expected, this\nadmission added fuel to the flame, until the form immortal, exhausted by\nits own might, asked leave to retire. The voice gradually died away out of\nhearing, as at first, and a very indistinct hissing succeeded. In its\nadvance it sounded like the tone produced by the wind upon the bass cord\nof an \u00c6olian harp; this was soon changed to a rapid hiss, like that of a\nrocket, and Toolemak, with a yell, announced the spirit\u2019s return. At the\nfirst distant sibilation Captain Lyon held his breath, and twice exhausted\nhimself; but the Eskimo conjuror did not once respire, and even his\nreturning and powerful yell was uttered without previous pause or\ninspiration of air.\n\nWhen light was admitted, the wizard, as might be expected, was in a state\nof profuse perspiration, and greatly exhausted by his exertions, which had\ncontinued for at least half an hour. Captain Lyon then observed a couple\nof bunches, each consisting of two strips of white deerskin and a long\npiece of sinew, attached to the back of his coat. These he had not seen\nbefore, and he was gravely told that they had been sewn on by Tomga while\nhe was below.\n\nDuring his absence, the angekok professes to visit the dwelling-place of\nthe particular spirit he has invoked, and he will sometimes astonish his\naudience with a description of the nether-world and its inhabitants. For\ninstance, there is a female spirit called Aywilliayoo, who commands, by\nmeans of her right hand, all the bears, whales, seals, and walruses.\nTherefore, when a lack of provisions is experienced, the angekok pays a\nvisit to Aywilliayoo, and attacks her hand. If he can cut off her nails,\nthe bears are immediately released; the loss of one finger-joint liberates\nthe small seals; the second joint dismisses the larger seals; the knuckles\nplace at liberty the whole herds of walruses, while the entire hand\nliberates the whale.\n\nAywilliayoo is tall, with only one eye and one pigtail, but as this\npigtail is as large as a man\u2019s leg, and descends to her knee, she may well\nbe contented with it. She owns a splendid house, which, however, Toolemak\nrefrained from entering, because it was guarded by a huge dog, with black\nhindquarters and no tail. Her father, in size, might be mistaken for a\nboy of ten years old; he has but one arm, which is always encased in a\nlarge bear-skin mitten.\n\nDr. Kane considers it a fact of psychological interest, as it shows that\ncivilised or savage wonder-workers form a single family, that the angekoks\nhave a firm belief in their own powers. \u201cI have known,\u201d he says, \u201cseveral\nof them personally, and can speak with confidence on this point. I could\nnot detect them in any resort to jugglery or natural magic: their\ndeceptions are simply vocal, a change of voice, and perhaps a limited\nprofession of ventriloquism, made more imposing by the darkness.\u201d They\nhave, however, like the members of the learned professions everywhere\nelse, a certain language or jargon of their own, in which they communicate\nwith each other.\n\nWhile the angekoks are the dispensers of good, the issintok, or evil men,\nare the workers of injurious spells, enchantments, and metamorphoses. Like\nthe witches of both Englands, the Old and the New, these malignant\ncreatures are rarely submitted to trial until they have suffered\npunishment--the old \u201cJeddart justice\u201d--_castigat auditque_. Two of them,\nin 1818, suffered the penalty of their crime on the same day, one at\nKannonak, the other at Upernavik. The latter was laudably killed in\naccordance with the \u201cold custom\u201d ... custom being everywhere the apology\nfor any act revolting to moral sense. He was first harpooned, then\ndisembowelled; a flap letdown from his forehead \u201cto cover his eyes and\nprevent his seeing again\u201d--he had, it appears, the repute of an evil eye;\nand then small portions of his heart were eaten, to ensure that he should\nnot come back to earth unchanged.\n\nWhen an Eskimo has injured any one of his countrymen,--has cut his\nseal-lines, or lamed his dogs, or burned his bladder-float--or perpetrated\nsome equally grievous offence--the angekok summons him to meet the\ncountryside before the tribunal of the hunapok. The friends of the\nparties, and the idlers for miles around, assemble about the justice-seat;\nit may be at some little cluster of huts, or, if the weather permit, in\nthe open air. The accuser rises, and strikes a few discords with a\nseal-rib on a tom-tom or drum. \u201cHe then passes to the charge, and pours\nout in long paragraphic words all the abuse and ridicule to which his\noutrageous vernacular can give expression. The accused meanwhile is\nsilent; but, as the orator pauses after a signal hit, or to flourish a\ncadence on his musical instrument, the whole audience, friends, neutrals,\nand opponents signalise their approval by outcries as harmonious as those\nwe sometimes hear in our town meetings at home. Stimulated by the\napplause, and warming with his own fires, the accuser renews the attack,\nhis eloquence becoming more and more licentious and vituperative, until it\nhas exhausted either his strength or his vocabulary of invective. Now\ncomes the accused, with defence, and counter-charge, and retorted abuse;\nthe assembly still listening and applauding through a lengthened session.\nThe Homeric debate at a close, the angekoks hold a powwow, and a penalty\nis denounced against the accused for his guilt, or the accuser for his\nunsustained prosecution.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVII.\n\n_A MEDI\u00c6VAL SUPERSTITION: THE FLAGELLANTS._\n\n\nAmong the extraordinary delusions of the human mind, none is more hateful\nthan the conviction cherished among so many sects, that the Supreme Being\ncan be propitiated by the self-imposed torture of His worshippers. And\nnothing more vividly illustrates the difference between the GOD of the\nChristian religion and the stern deity of so many human creeds, than the\naspect of the former as man\u2019s Heavenly FATHER, Who requires from him no\nother offering than that of a contrite and humble heart,--Who asks not\nthat the Indian Fakir should cramp his limbs and lacerate his body, or\nthat S. Simeon Stylites should stand night and day, in the scorching sun\nof summer, and the freezing cold of winter, on his lonely pillar. It is a\nproof of our wider and deeper knowledge of GOD that we are beginning to\nemancipate ourselves from the thraldom of this evil idea, and to recognise\nin Him a tender, compassionate Guide and Friend, Who, unto them that love\nHim, causeth all things to work for the best. In modern Calvinism the\nsuperstition still lingers, and it is supposed that a gloomy life,\nunrelieved even by the most innocent pleasures, must needs be acceptable\nto the Almighty Love; but this shadow in the Christian\u2019s faith is rapidly\nreceding before the growing and broadening light. We are sons of GOD, and\nheirs; and what He asks from us, what alone He will receive, is the\noffering of affection and the sacrifice of fear. And the greatest claim\nwhich Christianity puts forward to the hearts and minds of men is that it\nhas delivered, or will deliver them, when rightly understood, from the\ndegrading superstition of the ascetic solitary and the self-torturer.\n\u201cIts true dignity is, that unseen it has ever gone about doing good. Link\nafter link has it struck from the chain of every human thraldom; error\nafter error has it banished; pain after pain has it driven from body or\nfrom mind; and so silently has the blessing come, that (like the sick man\nwhom the SAVIOUR made to walk) \u2018he that was healed wist not who it was.\u2019\u201d\n\nBut error is slow to die; and long after the introduction of Christianity\nmen continued to think that GOD would not hear them, unless, like the\npriests of Baal, they approached Him in blood and tears. At the bottom of\nit lay, no doubt, a truth, that the spirit could be exalted and purified\nonly by contempt of the flesh:--and not perceiving that what was demanded\nof them was a moral and spiritual victory, they sought, by sore treatment\nof the body, to conquer its sinful appetites. They forgot that CHRIST had\nspoken of the body as \u201ca temple,\u201d--the temple of the HOLY GHOST; that it\nwas as much the creation of GOD as the immortal soul, and as His wondrous\nhandiwork should be treated with the reverence due to all that He has\nmade. And they came to look upon the body as a deadly enemy, the slave and\naccomplice of the devil, which could be subdued only by a regimen of pain\nand terror. And so, when an evil suggestion tempted them, they scourged\nthemselves until the blood ran from their mangled flesh, or they plunged\nnaked into the deep winter snow, or barefooted they trod the flinty soil,\nor they fasted until the exhausted brain sank into the stupor of delirium.\n\nThus we read of S. Hilarion:--\n\nCovering his limbs only with a sackcloth, and having a cloak of skin, he\nwandered forth into the desert that lies beyond Gaza, and enjoyed the\n\u201cvast and terrible solitude,\u201d feeding on only fifteen figs after the\nsetting of the sun; and because the region was of ill repute from\nrobberies, no man had ever before stayed in that place. The devil, seeing\nwhat he was doing, and whither he had gone, was tormented. And he who of\nold boasted, saying: \u201cI shall ascend into heaven, I shall sit above the\nstars of heaven, and shall be like unto the Most High,\u201d now saw that he\nhad been conquered by a boy, and trampled under foot by him, who, on\naccount of his youth, could commit no sin. He therefore began to tempt his\nsenses; but he, enraged with himself, and beating his breast with his\nfist, as if he would drive out thoughts by blows, \u201cI will force thee, mine\nass,\u201d said he, \u201cnot to kick; and feed thee with straw, not barley. I will\nwear thee out with hunger and thirst; I will burden thee with heavy loads;\nI will hunt thee through heat and cold, till thou thinkest more of food\nthan of play.\u201d He therefore sustained his sinking spirit with the juice of\nherbs and a few figs, after each three or four days, praying frequently,\nand singing psalms, and digging the ground with a mattock, to increase the\nlabour of fasting by that of work. At the same time, by weaving baskets of\nrushes, he imitated the discipline of the Egyptian monks, and the\nApostle\u2019s saying, \u201cHe that will not work, neither let him eat,\u201d till he\nwas so attenuated, and his body so exhausted, that his flesh scarce clung\nto his bones.\n\n\u201cFrom his sixteenth to his twentieth year,\u201d says Kingsley, \u201che was\nsheltered from the heat and rain in a tiny cabin, which he had woven of\nrush and sedge. Afterwards he built a little cell, four feet wide and five\nfeet high,--that is lower than his own stature, and somewhat longer than\nhis small body needed,--so that you would believe it a tomb rather than a\ndwelling. He cut his hair only once a year, on Easter Day, and lay till\nhis death on the bare ground and a layer of rushes, never washing the sack\nin which he was clothed, and saying that it was superfluous to seek for\ncleanliness in hair-cloth. Nor did he change his linen until the first was\nutterly in rags. He knew the Scriptures by heart, and recited them after\nhis prayers and psalms as if GOD were present.\u201d\n\nOf S. Simeon Stylites we read that, having gone to the well one day to\ndraw water, he took the rope from the bucket, and wound it round his body\nfrom his loins to his neck, and going in, he adventured an audacious\nfalsehood, for he said to his brethren, \u201cI went out to draw water, and\nfound no rope on the bucket.\u201d And they said, \u201cHold thy peace, brother,\nlest the Abbot know it, till the thing has passed over.\u201d But the tightness\nand roughness of the rope wore grievous wounds in his body, as the\nbrethren at last discovered. Then with great trouble they took off the\nrope, and his flesh with it, and attending to his wounds, healed them.\n\nFor twenty-eight years of his life he was continually experimenting in\nlong fasts--forty days at a time. Custom gradually made it comparatively\neasy to him. For on the first days he used to stand and praise GOD; after\nthat, when through emptiness he could stand no longer, he would sit and\nperform the divine office, and on the last day even lie down. For when his\nstrength failed slowly, he was forced to lie half dead. But after he stood\non the column he could not bear to lie down, but invented another way by\nwhich he could stand. He fastened a beam to the column, and tied himself\nto it by ropes, and so passed the forty days. But afterwards, when endued\nwith greater grace from on high, he did not need even that assistance, but\nstood for the whole forty days, dispensing with food, but strengthened by\neagerness of soul and the divine help.\n\nAt length he caused a pillar to be built, first of six cubits, then of\ntwelve, next of twenty-two, and finally of thirty-six, and upon the top of\nthis he took his station. The sun beat upon his bare head in the summer,\nand the winter snows fell upon him, and the pitiless rains soaked him to\nthe skin,--but still he endured his self-imposed penance. He bowed himself\nfrequently, offering adoration to GOD; so frequently that a spectator\ncounted 1244 adorations, and then missing gave up counting; and each time\nhe bowed himself, he touched his feet with his forehead. And ever in\nspirit he deprecated the wrath of an offended GOD, to Whom, as a meet\nsacrifice, he offered up his poor, wounded, tortured, emaciated body.\n\n  \u201cI will not cease to grasp the hope I hold\n  Of saintdom, and to clamour, mourn and sob,\n  Battering the gates of heaven with storms of prayer.\n  Have mercy on me, LORD, and take away my sins,\n  Let this avail, just, dreadful, mighty GOD,\n  This not be all in vain, that thrice ten years\n  Thrice multiplied by superhuman pangs....\n  A sign between the meadow and the cloud,\n  Patient on this tall pillar I have borne\n  Rain, wind, frost, heat, hail, damp, and sleet, and snow;\n  And I had hoped that ere this period closed,\n  Thou wouldst have caught me up into Thy rest,\n  Denying not these weather-beaten limbs\n  The meed of saints, the white robe, and the palm.\n  O take the meaning, LORD: I do not breathe\n  Nor whisper any murmur of complaint.\u201d[58]\n\nWe turn from these pictures of human error,--error based, it must be\nowned, on a substratum of truth,--to put together a few particulars of the\nSect of the Flagellants, which practised on a curiously elaborate scale\nthe science of self-punishment.\n\nThis sect first made its appearance in Italy in 1210. The following\naccount of its origin is taken by Mr. Cooper from the \u201cChronicon Ursitius\nBasiliensis\u201d of the monk of Padua, S. Justin:[59]\n\n\u201cWhen all Italy was sullied with crimes of every kind, a certain sudden\nsuperstition, hitherto unknown to the world, first seized the inhabitants\nof Perusa, afterwards the Romans, and then almost all the nations of\nItaly. To such a degree were they affected with the fear of GOD, that\nnoble as well as ignoble persons, young and old, even children five years\nof age, would go naked about the streets without any sense of shame,\nwalking in public, two and two, in the manner of a solemn procession.\nEvery one of them held in his hand a scourge, made of leather thongs, and\nwith tears and groans they lashed themselves on their backs till the blood\nran: all the while weeping and giving tokens of the same bitter\naffliction, as if they had really been spectators of the passion of our\nSAVIOUR, imploring the forgiveness of GOD and His Mother, and praying that\nHe, Who had been appeased by the repentance of so many sinners, would not\ndisdain theirs. And not only in the daytime, but likewise during the\nnights, hundreds, thousands, and ten thousands of these penitents ran,\nnotwithstanding the rigour of winter, about the streets, and in churches,\nwith lighted wax candles in their hands, and preceded by priests who\ncarried crosses and banners along with them, and with humility prostrated\nthemselves before the altars: the same scenes were to be seen in small\ntowns and villages; so that the mountains and fields seemed to resound\nalike the voice of men who were crying to GOD.\n\n\u201cAll musical instruments and love-songs ceased to be heard. The only music\nthat prevailed both in town and country was that of the lugubrious voice\nof the penitent, whose mournful accents might have moved hearts of flint:\nand even the eyes of the obdurate sinner could not refrain from tears. Nor\nwere women exempt from the general spirit of devotion we mention; for not\nonly those among the common people, but also matrons and young ladies of\nnoble families, would perform the same mortifications with modesty in\ntheir own rooms.\n\n\u201cThen those who were at enmity with one another became again friends.\nUsurers and robbers hastened to restore their ill-gotten riches to their\nright owners. Others, who were contaminated with different crimes,\nconfessed them with humility, and renounced their vanities. Gaols were\nopened; prisoners were delivered; and banished persons permitted to return\nto their native habitations. So many and so great works of sanctity and\nChristian charity, in short, were then performed by both men and women,\nthat it seemed as if an universal apprehension had seized mankind, that\nthe divine power was preparing either to consume them by fire, or destroy\nthem by shaking the earth, or some other of those means which Divine\njustice knows how to employ for avenging crimes. Such a sudden repentance,\nwhich had thus diffused itself all over Italy, and had even reached other\ncountries, not only the unlearned, but wise persons also admired. They\nwondered whence such a vehement fervour of piety could have proceeded:\nespecially since such public penances and ceremonies had been unheard of\nin former times, had not been approved by the sovereign pontiff, nor\nrecommended by any preacher or person of eminence; but had taken their\norigin among simple persons, whose example both learned and unlearned\nalike had followed.\u201d\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nIn 1260, the sect was reconstituted by Rainer, a hermit of Perugia, and it\nsprang up with such vigour and alacrity, that its members soon numbered\n10,000, who marched in procession, carrying banners and crosses. The folly\nsoon crossed the Alps into Germany, and found its disciples in Bohemia and\nPoland, Alsatia and Bavaria. It was sternly repressed by the different\ngovernments, but in 1349, when the plague broke out in Germany, it again\nlifted up its head. Albert of Strasburg relates[60] that two hundred came\nfrom Schwaben to Speier, under one chief and two lieutenants, whom they\nalmost slavishly obeyed. Their form of proceedings was always the same:\nplacing themselves within a circle drawn on the ground, they removed their\nclothing, until nothing was left but a covering for the loins. Then they\nwalked, with arms outstretched like a cross, round and round the circle\nfor a time, finally prostrating themselves on the ground. Springing to\ntheir feet, each struck his neighbour with a scourge, armed with knots and\nfour iron points, regulating his blows by his singing of psalms. At a\ngiven signal the discipline ceased, and the fanatics threw themselves\nfirst on their knees, then flat upon the ground, groaning and sobbing. The\nleader, on rising, gave a brief address, exhorting them to ask the mercy\nof God upon their benefactors and enemies, and also on the souls in\npurgatory. This was followed by another prostration, and then another\ndiscipline. Those who had taken charge of the clothes now came forward,\nand performed the same ceremonies.\n\n\u201cPenance took place twice a day: in the morning and evening the\nflagellants went abroad in pairs, singing psalms amid the ringing of\nbells, and when they arrived at the place of flagellation they stripped\nthe upper part of their bodies, and took off their shoes, wearing only a\nlinen dress from the waist to the ankles. Then they lay down in a large\ncircle in different positions, according to the nature of their crime: the\nadulterer with his face to the ground; the perjurer on one side, holding\nup three of his fingers, &c., and were then castigated, more or less\nseverely by the master, who gave the order to rise in the words of a\nprescribed formula:\n\n  \u2018Stant uf durch der reinen Martel ere;\n  Und h\u00fcte dich vor der S\u00fcnden mere.\u2019\u201d\n\nAfter which they scourged themselves, chanting psalms and uttering prayers\nfor deliverance from the plague.\n\nHecker, quoted by Mr. Cooper, thus describes the resuscitation of the\nsect:\n\n\u201cWhile all countries were filled with lamentations and woe, there first\narose in Hungary, and afterwards in Germany, the Brotherhood of the\nFlagellants, called also the Brotherhood of the Cross, or Cross-Bearers,\nwho took upon themselves the repentance of the people for the sins they\nhad committed, and offered prayers and supplications for the averting of\nthis plague. The order consisted chiefly of the lowest class, who were\neither actuated by sincere contrition, or joyfully availed themselves of\nthis pretext for idleness, and were hurried along with the tide of\ndistracting frenzy. But as these brotherhoods gained in repute, and were\nwelcomed by the people with veneration and enthusiasm, many nobles and\necclesiastics ranged themselves under their standard, and their bands were\nnot unfrequently augmented by children, honourable women, and nuns, so\npowerfully were minds of the most opposite temperaments enslaved by this\ninfatuation. They marched through the cities in well-organised\nprocessions, with leaders and singers; their heads covered as far as their\neyes, their looks fixed on the ground, accompanied by every token of the\ndeepest contrition and mourning. They were robed in sombre garments with\nred crosses on the breast, back, and cap, and bore triple scourges tied in\nthree or four knots, in which points of iron were fixed. Tapers and\nmagnificent banners of velvet and cloth of gold were carried before them;\nwherever they made their appearance they were welcomed by the ringing of\nbells, and crowds of people came from great distances to listen to their\nhymns and to witness their penance with devotion and tears. In the year\n1349, two hundred flagellants first entered Strasburg, where they were\nreceived with great joy and hospitality, and lodged by the citizens. Above\na thousand joined the brotherhood, which now assumed the appearance of a\nwandering tribe, and separated into two bodies for the purpose of\njourneying to the north and to the south.\u201d\n\nThe Flagellants, however, did not secure the favour of the ecclesiastical\nauthorities; who discerned only too clearly the demoralising effect of\ntheir practices and pretensions. Pope Clement VI. issued a bull against\nthem, and their influence gradually waned and seemed on the point of\ndying out, when, in 1414, it was revived by one Conrad, who, of course,\nprofessed to have received a Divine commission. The terrors of the\nInquisition were now hurled against the sect, and ninety-one deluded\nwretches were burned alive at Sangerhausen, besides numbers at other\nplaces. It continued, however, to exhibit occasional signs of vitality;\nand in the sixteenth century broke, in France, into three great branches,\nthe White, Black, and Grey Penitents, companions of whom were scattered\nover the whole kingdom, but chiefly in the southern provinces. Catherine\nde Medicis, at Avignon, in 1574, assumed the lead of the Black Penitents,\nand took part in their disgusting ceremonies. Henry III., in 1585,\nestablished a White Penance brotherhood, which paraded in public\nprocession through the streets of Paris. The better members of the clergy\npreached against the fanaticism; the wits of Paris levelled their ridicule\nat it; and finally, in 1601, the Parliament of Paris passed an act to\nabolish a fraternity of Flagellants, called the Blue Penitents, in the\ntown of Bourges, and afterwards against all whipping brotherhoods without\ndistinction, declaring the members to be not only heretics, traitors, and\nregicides, but unchaste. The fraternity thereafter declined, and finally\ndisappeared from France.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVIII.\n\n_SCOTTISH SUPERSTITIONS: HALLOWEEN._\n\n\nThe imaginative element in the character of the Celtic race naturally\npredisposes them to the reception and retention of fanciful ideas in\nconnection with our relations to the unseen. Keenly sensible of the\nexistence of supernatural influences, they are morbidly curious as to the\nmode in which they act upon humanity, and ever desirous to propitiate or\nguard against them. There is something in the presence of the sea and the\nmountains which fosters a habit of reverie; and the mind, awed and\nperplexed by the vastness of the forces of Nature, is led to give them an\nactual and definite embodiment, and to associate them directly with the\nincidents of our mortal life. Granted the existence of invisible\ncreatures, there is no reason why man, who looks upon the universe as a\ncircle of which he is the centre, should not suppose them to be interested\nin all that interests himself; and when this is once admitted, it follows\nas an inevitable result, that he will endeavour to make them the agents of\nhis inclination or his will, unless he fears them as powers whose anger\nmust be reverently deprecated. It will be found that most of the popular\nsuperstitions to which we refer are based upon these motives; that most of\nthem originate in the desire to bribe and cajole Fortune, or to command\nand defeat it. Others will be found to have had their rise, as we have\nhinted, in the feelings of awe and wonder awakened by the mystery or the\ngrandeur of Nature. The wail of waters against a rocky coast has suggested\nthe cries of the ocean maiden who seeks to lure the mariner to his\ndestruction; the wreathing mists floating in fantastic shapes across the\nmountain valleys, has peopled their depths with a world of spirits or\nfriendly or inimical to mortals. The imagination, which has been quickened\nby Nature, proceeds in turn to breathe into Nature a new life.\n\nTo some of the superstitions which haunt the glens, and peaks, and\ntorrents of the Scottish Highlands, the poet Collins has alluded in one of\nhis most beautiful odes. He speaks of the North as fancy\u2019s land, where\nstill, it is said, the fairy people meet, beneath the shade of the\ngraceful birches, upon mead or hill. To the belief in a tribe of\nhobgoblins, tiny creatures, visiting the peasant\u2019s hut in the silence of\nthe night, he also refers:--\n\n  \u201cThere, each trim lass, that skims the milky store,\n    To the swart tribes their creamy bowls allots;\n  By night they sip it round the cottage door,\n    While airy minstrels warble jocund notes.\u201d\n\nThe malicious disposition of the elves is thus insisted upon:--\n\n  \u201cThere every herd, by sad experience, knows\n    How, wing\u2019d with fate, their elf-shot arrows fly,\n  When the sick ewe her summer food foregoes,\n    Or, stretch\u2019d on earth, the heart-smit heifers lie.\u201d\n\nTo superstitions of higher import the poet alludes in the following noble\nlines:--\n\n  \u201c\u2019Tis thine to sing, how, framing hideous spells,\n    In Skye\u2019s lone isle, the gifted wizard seer,\n  Lodged in the wintry cave with fate\u2019s fell spear,\n    Or in the depth of Uist\u2019s dark forest dwells:\n  How they, whose sight such dreary dreams engross,\n    With their own vision oft astonished droop,\n  When, o\u2019er the watery strath, or quaggy moss.\n    They see the gliding ghosts\u2019 unbodied troop.\n  Or, if in sports, or on the festive green,\n    Their destined glance some fated youth descry,\n  Who now, perhaps, in lusty vigour seen,\n    And rosy health, shall soon lamented die.\n  For them the viewless forms of air obey;\n    Their bidding heed, and at their beck repair:\n  They know what spirit brews the stormful day,\n    And heartless, oft like moody madness, stare\n  To see the phantom train their secret work prepare.\u201d\n\nWe may allow ourselves one more quotation, in which the poet accumulates\ninstances of the \u201csecond sight,\u201d or power of divination, to which the\nHighland seers laid claim:--\n\n  \u201cTo monarchs dear, some hundred miles astray,\n    Oft have they seen fate give the fatal blow!\n    The sea, in Skye, shrieked as the blood did flow,\n  When headless Charles warm on the scaffold lay!\n  As Boreas threw his young Aurora forth,\n    In the first year of the first George\u2019s reign,\n  And battles raged in welkin of the North,\n    They mourned in air, fell, fell rebellion slain!\n  And as, of late, they joyed in Preston\u2019s fight,\n    Saw, at sad Falkirk, all their hopes near crowned!\n  They raved, divining through their second sight,\n    Pale-red Culloden where these hopes were drowned.\u201d\n\nThis same power of second sight forms the groundwork of Campbell\u2019s poem of\n\u201cLochiel\u2019s Warning,\u201d in which the poet represents the aged seer or\nsoothsayer in the act of warning the ferocious Highland chieftain against\nthe consequences of joining Prince Charles Edward\u2019s expedition of the\n\u201945:--\n\n  \u201cLochiel, Lochiel, beware of the day\n  When the Lowlands shall meet thee in battle array.\n  The sunset of life gives me mystical lore,\n  And coming events cast their shadows before!\u201d\n\nA curious superstition respecting \u201cthe non-giving of fire\u201d lingers still\nin some parts of Scotland, more particularly in the North, and seems to be\nconnected with the old sun-worship: a survival of the Pagan past which is\nstrange enough in this matter-of-fact and prosaic Present of ours. \u201cAt\nCraigmillar, near Edinburgh, a woman, not long ago, refused to give a\nneighbour \u2018a bit peat\u2019 to light her fire, because she was supposed to be\nuncanny. The old woman muttered, as she turned away, that her churlish\nneighbour might yet repent of her unkindness. This speech the other\nrepeated to her husband on his return from work, whereupon he went\nstraight to the old woman\u2019s house, and gave her a sharp cut on the\nforehead, for which he was duly called to account, and pleaded his belief\nthat scoring the witch above the breath would destroy her glamour.\u201d\n\nOn certain days, such as Beltane (or S. John\u2019s Eve,) Midsummer, Halloween,\nand New Year\u2019s Day, it is regarded as most unlucky to allow a neighbour to\ntake a brand from your hearth, or even to light his pipe.\n\nEvil-disposed persons, desirous of doing their neighbours an ill turn,\nwill apply to them for \u201ca kindling.\u201d Thus, in Ross-shire, an old beldame\nrepaired to a neighbour\u2019s house with this intent. There was only a child\nof eight years old at home, but she was thoroughly acquainted with the\npopular superstition, and stoutly refused the applicant tinder, match, or\nlighted stick. When the old woman had departed, the girl fetched two\nfriends, who straightway followed her home, to find there a blazing fire\nand a boiling pot. \u201cSee you,\u201d exclaimed the lassie, \u201cgin the _cailliach_\nhad gotten the kindling, my father would not get a herring this year.\u201d\n\nA poor tinker\u2019s wife walked one morning into a house in Applecross--this\nwas as late as July, 1868--and snatched a live peat from the hearth to\nkindle her own fire. Before she had gone any distance, she was observed,\nand the gudewife sped after her, overtook her, and snatched away her\nprize. To a stranger who remonstrated with her for the unkindness, the\ngudewife exclaimed, \u201cDo you think I am to allow my cow to be dried up? If\nI allowed her to carry away the fire, I would not have a drop of milk\nto-night to wet the bairns\u2019 mouths.\u201d And she flung the peat into a pail of\nwater in order to undo the evil charm so far as possible.\n\nAllusions to this \u201cnon-giving of fire\u201d abound in the old legends, but a\nsingle illustration will suffice. Of old two brother giants, Akin and\nRhea, who dwelt on the Scottish mainland, were wont to pay frequent visits\nto the Isle of Skye by leaping across the Straits. They reared for\nthemselves two strong towers in the Glenelg country, and there they lived\nin peace and good fellowship, until one day, the younger brother,\nreturning from one of his excursions, found his hearth dark and cheerless,\nand passed on therefore, to his brother\u2019s castle. Stirring the smouldering\nfire into a hearty blaze, he warmed himself luxuriously, and then returned\nto his own tower, carrying with him a burning peat. Unhappily, at this\nmoment, his elder brother came in from the chase, and discovering the\ntheft, broke out into a violent passion. Off sped the culprit, and after\nhim went his brother, hurling rock after rock in his rage, until he\nperceived that further pursuit was useless. The truth of this story is\nattested by the boulders which to this day lie strewn all over the\nvalley-side.\n\nA survival of the old Paganism is, undoubtedly, this apprehension of\nill-luck connected with the giving or stealing of fire; and it recalls to\nus the days when every mountain-peak was as an altar raised to Baal, and\nSun and Moon were worshipped with solemn mysterious rites. On the great\nFire-festival the priests kindled fire by friction, and the people carried\nit to their cottages, where it was kept alive all round the year and\nextinguished only when a new supply was ready. \u201cAs the purchase of the\nfire was a source of profit to the priests, it would naturally be\nconsidered criminal for one neighbour to give it to another at the seasons\nwhen every man was bound to purchase it for himself. Of course, though the\nold customs are still retained, their original meaning is utterly\nforgotten; and the man who throws a live peat after a woman who is about\nto increase the population, or he who on Halloween throws a lighted brand\nover his own shoulder without looking at whom he aims, little dreams\nwhence sprang these time-honoured games.\u201d It is said that in many parts of\nthe remote glens of Perthshire there are women still living who on Beltane\nmorn always throw ashes and a live peat over their heads, repeating a\ncertain formula of words to bring them back. But the strictest secrecy is\nobserved, lest such practices should reach the ear of \u201cthe minister:\u201d so\nthe stronger their belief, the less willing are they to confess to any\nknowledge of such matters.\n\nWe cannot pass from this subject without an allusion to the Fire-Churn or\nNeed-Fire, which is held a sovereign charm against cattle-plague. When in\na Highland district an invasion of murrain was apprehended, a small shanty\nor hut was erected near loch or river, and in it were placed various\nwooden posts, vertical and horizontal: the horizontal were provided with\nseveral spokes, and being rapidly turned round against the upright,\nquickly generated a flame by the friction. Then all other fires upon the\nfarm were extinguished, to be re-lighted from the Need-fire, which all the\ncattle were afterwards made to smell, until the charm was complete.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nIt was on Halloween, or All Hallows\u2019 Eve--the evening of the 31st of\nOctober--that Superstition ran riot, because on that particular evening\nthe supernatural influences of the other world were supposed to be\nspecially prevalent, and the power of divination was likewise believed to\nbe at its height. Spirits then walked about with unusual freedom, and\nreadily responded to the call of those armed with due authority. In the\nprehistoric past, the Druids at this time celebrated their great autumn\nFire-Festival, insisting that all fires, except their own, should be\nextinguished, so as to compel men to purchase the sacred fire at a certain\nprice. This sacred fire was fed with the peeled wood of a certain tree,\nand that it might not be polluted, was never blown with human breath.\n\nNeedless to say that the sacred fire has vanished with the Druids, but the\nHalloween customs which still survive may be traced back to a hoar\nantiquity. For instance, various kinds of divination are practised, and\nchiefly with apples and nuts. Apples are a relic of the old Celtic fairy\nlore. They are thrown into a tub of water, and you endeavour to catch one\nin your mouth as they bob round and round in provoking fashion. When you\nhave caught one, you peel it carefully, and pass the long strip of peel\nthrice, _sunwise_, round your head; after which you throw it over your\nshoulder, and it falls to the ground in the shape of the initial letter of\nyour true love\u2019s name.\n\nAs for the nuts, they would naturally suggest themselves to the dwellers\nin mighty woods, such as covered the land of old. Brand says it is a\ncustom in Iceland, when the maiden would know if her lover be faithful, to\nput three nuts upon the bar of the grate, naming them after her lover and\nherself. If a nut crack or jump, the lover will prove faithless; if it\nbegin to blaze or burn, it\u2019s a sign of the fervour of his affection. If\nthe nuts named after the girl and her swain burn together, they will be\nmarried.\n\nThis lover\u2019s divination is practised in Scotland, as everybody knows who\nhas read Burns\u2019s poem of \u201cHalloween:\u201d--\n\n  \u201cThe auld guidwife\u2019s weel hoordet nits\n    Are round and round divided,\n  An\u2019 monie lads and lasses\u2019 fates\n    Are there that night decided:\n  Some kindle, couthie, side by side,\n    An\u2019 burn thegither trimly;\n  Some start awa wi\u2019 saucy pride,\n    And jump out-owre the chimlie\n          Fu\u2019 high that night.\n\n  \u201cJean slips in twa wi\u2019 tentie e\u2019e;\n    Wha \u2019twas, she wadna tell;\n  But this is _Jock_, an\u2019 this is _me_,\n    She says in to hersel\u2019:\n  He bleez\u2019d owre her an\u2019 she owre him,\n    As they wad never mair part;\n  Till, fuff! he started up the lum,\n    An\u2019 Jean had e\u2019en a sair heart\n          To see\u2019t that night.\u201d\n\nIn some places, on this mystic night, a stick is suspended horizontally\nfrom the ceiling, with a candle at one end, and an apple at the other.\nWhile it is made to revolve rapidly, the revellers successively leap up\nand endeavour to grasp the apple with their teeth--the hands must not be\nused--if they fail, the candle generally swings round in time to salute\nthem disagreeably. The reader will note the resemblance between this\npastime and the game of quintain, to which our forefathers were partial.\n\nAnother amusement is to dive for apples in a tub of water.\n\nIn Strathspey, a lass will steal away from the kitchen fire, make her way\nto the kiln where the corn is dried, throw a ball of thread into it, and\nwind it up slowly, while uttering certain words. The form of her future\nlover will take hold of the end of the thread, and reveal itself to her.\nThe most arduous part of this charm is, that no speaking is allowed either\non the outward journey or the return.\n\nAnother mode of lover\u2019s divination is for the young people, after being\nduly blindfolded, to go forth into the kailyard, or garden, and pull the\nfirst stalks they meet with. Returning to the fireside, they determine,\naccording as the stalk is big or little, straight or crooked, what the\nfuture wife or husband will be. The quantity of earth adhering to the root\nis emblematic of the dowry to be expected; and the temper is indicated by\nthe sweet or bitter taste of the _motoc_ or pith. Lastly, the stalks are\nplaced in order, over the door, and the Christian names of persons\nafterwards entering the house signify in the same order those of the wives\nand husbands _in futuris_.\n\nBurns describes another custom:\n\n  \u201cIn order on the clean hearth-stane,\n    The luggies[61] three are ranged,\n  And every time great care is ta\u2019en\n    To see them duly changed:\n  And uncle John wha wedlock\u2019s joys\n    Sin\u2019 Mar\u2019s-year did desire,\n  Because he gat the toom-dish[62] thrice,\n    He heav\u2019d them on the fire\n          In wrath that night.\u201d\n\nFor this amusement three dishes are taken: one filled with clean and one\nwith dirty water, and the other empty. They are set upon the hearth, and\nthe parties, blindfolded, advance in succession to dip their fingers. If\nthey chance upon the clean water, it is understood that they will marry a\nmaiden; if upon the foul, they will marry a widow; if upon the empty dish,\nthey will not marry at all.\n\nAgain: if a damsel eat an apple in front of a looking-glass, she will\nshortly see her future husband peeping over her shoulder. So Burns:\n\n  \u201cWee Jenny to her Grannie says,\n    \u2018Will ye go wi\u2019 me, Grannie?\n  I\u2019ll eat the apple at the glass\n    I gat frae uncle Johnie.\u2019\n  She fuff\u2019t[63] her pipe wi\u2019 sic a lunt,\n    In wrath she was sae vap\u2019rin\u2019,\n  She notic\u2019t na an aizle[64] brunt,\n    Her braw new worset apron,\n          Out thro\u2019 that night.\n\n  \u201c\u2018Ye little skelpie limmer\u2019s[65] face!\n    How daur you try sic sportin\u2019,\n  As seek the foul thief ony place,\n    For him to spae your fortune:\n  Nae doubt but ye may get a sight!\n    Great cause ye hae to fear it;\n  For mony a ane has gotten a fright,\n    An\u2019 liv\u2019d an\u2019 di\u2019d deleeret,\n          On sic a night.\u2019\u201d\n\nA shirt-sleeve may be wetted, and hung before the fire to dry: then if\n_he_ or _she_ lie in bed and watch it until midnight, _he_ or _she_ will\nbehold _his_ or _her_ future partner\u2019s phantasm come in and turn it!\n\nChildren born on Halloween were formerly supposed to be gifted with\ncertain mysterious endowments, such as the power of perceiving and\nconversing with the \u201cdwellers on the threshold,\u201d the inhabitants of the\nWorld Invisible.\n\nOnce upon a time, all over Scotland a bonfire was lighted on every farm;\nand often the bonfire was surrounded by a circular trench, symbolical of\nthe sun. Every year these bonfires decrease in number; but within the\nrecollection of living men no fewer than thirty could be seen on the high\nhilltops between Dunkeld and Abergeldy. And a strange weird sight it was,\nworthy of the pencil of a Rembrandt,--the dusky figures of the lads and\nlasses dancing wildly around them, to the hoarse music of their own\nvoices! Miss Cumming writes that in the neighbourhood of Crieff, the\nbale-fires, as the people call them, still blaze as brightly as ever; and\nfrom personal observation we can assert that they are still lighted in\nmany parts of Argyllshire.\n\nA remarkable Halloween story is recorded in Dr. Robert Chambers\u2019s valuable\nmiscellany, \u201cThe Book of Days.\u201d Mr. and Mrs. M., we are told, were a happy\nyoung couple, who, in the middle of the last century, resided on their own\nestate, in a pleasant part of the province of Leinster. Possessed of a\nhandsome fortune, they spent their time in various rural avocations, until\nthe birth of a child, a little girl, seemed to crown their felicity. On\nthe Halloween following this notable event, the parents retired to rest at\ntheir usual hour, Mrs. M. cradling her infant on her bosom that she might\nbe roused if it showed the least sign of uneasiness. From teething or some\nother ailment, the child, about midnight, became very restless, and not\nreceiving the usual attention from its mother, woke up Mr. M. by its\ncries. He at once called his wife, and told her the baby was unwell; she\nmade no answer. She seemed in an uneasy slumber, and in spite of all her\nhusband\u2019s efforts continued to sleep on, until he was compelled to take\nthe child himself and endeavour to soothe it to rest. From sheer\nexhaustion it at last sank into silence, while the mother slumbered until\na much later hour than usual. When she at last awoke, her husband told her\nof what had happened, and of the extent to which his night\u2019s rest had been\ndisturbed. \u201cI, too,\u201d she replied, \u201chave passed the most miserable night I\never experienced: I now see that sleep and rest are two different things,\nfor I never felt so unrefreshed in my life. How I wish you had been able\nto awake me--it would have spared me some of my fatigue and anxiety! I\nthought I was dragged against my will into a strange part of the country,\nwhere I had never been before, and, after what appeared to me a long and\nweary journey on foot, I arrived at a comfortable looking house. I went in\nlonging to rest, but had no power to sit down, although there was a nice\nsupper laid out before a good fire, and every appearance of preparations\nfor an expected visitor. Exhausted as I felt, I was only allowed to stand\nfor a minute or two, and then hurried away by the same road back again;\nbut now it is over, and after all it was only a dream.\u201d\n\nHer husband listened with deep interest to this strange narrative, and\nthen, sighing deeply, said, \u201cMy dear Sarah, you will not long have me\nbeside you; whoever is to be your second husband played last night some\nevil trick, of which you have been the victim.\u201d\n\nShocked as she naturally was by this assertion, she sought to subdue her\nown emotion, and to rally her husband\u2019s spirits, hoping that the\nimpression would pass from his mind as soon as he entered into the\nevery-day work of life.\n\nMonths passed away, and both husband and wife had almost forgotten the\nHalloween dream, when Mr. M.\u2019s health began to fail, and to fail so\nrapidly, that in spite of loving care and the best medical skill, he sank\ninto a premature grave. His wife mourned him sincerely, but her natural\nenergy and activity prevented her from yielding to a hopeless sorrow. She\ncontinued to farm her husband\u2019s estate, and in this employment, and in the\neducation of her little girl was able to divert her thoughts. Not less\nadmired for her conspicuous ability, than beloved for her benevolence and\namiability, she was more than once solicited to lay aside her widow\u2019s\nweeds; but she persisted in a calm refusal. Her uncle, a man of much\nkindness of heart and clearness of judgment, frequently visited her,\ninspected her farm, and gave her advice and assistance. He had a nephew,\nwhom we will call C., a prudent and energetic young man, in whom he had\nevery confidence, and whenever they met, he would strongly recommend him\nto take to himself a wife, and \u201csettle.\u201d On one occasion C. replied that\nit was not his fault he still remained a bachelor, but he had never yet\nmet with any woman whom he would care to call his wife. \u201cWell, C.,\u201d said\nhis uncle, \u201cyou seem difficult to please, but I think I know a lady who\nwould approve herself even to _your_ fastidious taste.\u201d After a\ngood-humoured exchange of quip and repartee, the uncle invited the nephew\nto ride over with him next day, and be introduced to his niece, whom C.\nhad never yet seen.\n\nThe invitation was accepted; the two friends set out early on the\nfollowing morning, and after a pleasant ride drew near their destination.\nAt a short distance they caught sight of Mrs. M. retiring towards her\nhouse after her usual daily inspection of her farm. Mr. C. started\nviolently, and displayed a considerable agitation. Pointing towards the\nlady, he exclaimed, \u201cUncle, we need go no further, for if ever I am to be\nmarried, yonder goes my wife!\u201d \u201cWell, C.,\u201d replied his uncle, \u201cthat is\nfortunate, for yonder lady is my niece, to whom I am about to introduce\nyou. But tell me,\u201d he continued, \u201cis this what you call love at first\nsight? Or what do you mean by such a sudden decision in favour of a lady\nwith whom you have never exchanged a word?\u201d \u201cWell, sir,\u201d was the reply,\n\u201cas I have betrayed myself, it is well that I should make full confession.\nA year or two ago, I was foolish enough to try a Halloween spell,--and sat\nup all night to watch the result. I declare to you most solemnly that the\nfigure of that lady, as I now see her, entered my room, and looked at me.\nShe stood a minute or two by the fire, and then disappeared as suddenly\nand as silently as she had entered. I was wide awake, and felt\nconsiderable remorse at having thus ventured to tamper with the powers of\nthe Unseen World; but I assure you that every particular of her features,\ndress, and figure have been so present to my mind ever since, that I could\nnot possibly make a mistake, and the moment I saw your niece I was\nconvinced that she was indeed the woman whose image I saw on that\nnever-forgotten Halloween.\u201d\n\nIt is unnecessary to say that the uncle was considerably astonished at\nthis extraordinary narrative, but he forbore to comment upon it, as by\nthis time they had arrived at Mrs. M.\u2019s house. The lady was delighted to\nsee her uncle, and made his friend heartily welcome, discharging the\nduties of hostess with a simplicity and grace that fascinated her guest.\n\nAfter her visitors had rested and refreshed themselves, her uncle walked\nout with her to inspect the farm, and seized the opportunity, in the\nabsence of Mr. C., to bespeak for him his niece\u2019s favourable\nconsideration. Many words were unnecessary, for the impression produced\nhad been mutually agreeable. Before leaving the house Mr. C. obtained Mrs.\nM.\u2019s permission to visit her in the character of a suitor for her\nhand,--and after a brief courtship they were married. The story ends, as\nall such stories _should_ end, with the affirmation that they lived long\nand happily together, and it was from their daughter that Dr. Chambers\u2019s\ninformant derived his knowledge of the preceding remarkable episode in\ntheir career.\n\nDr. Chambers assures us that the leading incidents of the narrative may be\nrelied on as correct; but we think the reader will exercise a wise\nincredulity: that at all events his belief will not go beyond the\nadmission of some possible resemblance, entirely accidental, between Mrs.\nM. and the lady whom the imaginative Mr. C. had seen in his Halloween\ndream, and whose image he had so carefully treasured in his memory.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIX.\n\n_SECOND SIGHT: DIVINATION: UNIVERSALITY OF CERTAIN SUPERSTITIONS: FAIRIES\nIN SCOTLAND._\n\n\nThere are many aspects of the Past which have an interest for the\npsychological student as well as for the antiquary, and there are not a\nfew to which everybody may occasionally direct their attention with\nadvantage. We are too much inclined to put it aside as a \u201csealed book,\u201d\nwhich none but the scholar can open,--which, when opened, is hardly worth\nthe reading. Or we are attracted only by its picturesque and romantic\nside, and take no heed of the valuable lessons which may be deduced upon a\ncareful examination. Yet, as all history is more or less the history of\nhuman error and human folly, those chapters which treat of the credulities\nand superstitions of the Past, must surely embody many warnings and much\ncounsel for the present.\n\nOur glance at Halloween superstitions in Scotland reminds us of other old\nScottish practices, which serve to point a moral, if not to adorn a tale.\nWe have met with a volume by a Mr. Walter Gregor, which furnishes some\ncurious illustrative instances. On his vivid picture of the gloom and\ndesolation of a Scottish Sabbath, we will not dwell, for our readers will\nprobably have gathered from other sources, or even from personal\nexperience, an idea of the dreariness of that sombre institution in the\ndays when bigotry was mistaken for zeal, and the spirit was killed\noutright by the letter. It is pleasanter to read of the strong yearning\nfor knowledge that then possessed the hearts of our Scottish youth; and\nhow, in the age before School Boards were conceived of, the parish school\nsupplied for twenty shillings per annum an education which fitted the\nscholar for entering the University. No Royal Road to Learning had as yet\nbeen discovered; and with much sweat of brain did the aspiring student\nbrood over his Homer or Virgil by the flickering light of the peat-fire.\nWhen the time came for his removal to Glasgow or Aberdeen, thither he\ntrudged afoot with his little \u201call\u201d in a knapsack slung from his sturdy\nshoulders; and during the \u201csessions\u201d it was a hard hand-to-hand fight with\npoverty which he stoutly fought, while delving deep into classical and\nmathematical lore; not forgetting occasional excursions into that vague\nmetaphysical region which has always had so keen an attraction for the\nstrong Scotch intellect. Our \u201cpresent-day\u201d students would too often\nshrink, we suspect, from the sacrifices demanded of their forefathers, and\ngive way under the hardships which they endured, when a few potatoes and a\nsalt herring served for dinner, and all the expenses of the academical\nyear were covered by some twelve to sixteen pounds! We are by no means\nsure that knowledge was not more valued when it was attainable only at\nsuch a cost of self-denial and rigid effort; and we certainly believe that\nit was more thorough, more entirely a man\u2019s own, because it was wrung, so\nto speak, from the reluctant goddess by strenuous, steadfast work and\nsheer mental travail. To the Age of Gold and the Age of Iron has succeeded\nthe Age of Veneer; and we trouble ourselves too little now-a-days, in\nspite of the teaching of Ruskin and Carlyle, about the solidness and\ndurability of the material, so long as it will take a ready polish.\n\nBut what a strange world was that of the Scotch peasant in those far off\ndays--far off at least they _seem_, on account of the immense social\nrevolution that has taken place, and set between the _now_ and the _then_\na profound chasm. Men often speak of the hard-headedness and\nmatter-of-fact stolidity of the Scotch nature; but is it not true that\nbelow the surface lies an abundant fountain of wild, quaint, original\nfancy? And how, in the olden time, it surrounded itself with signs and\nomens and wonders! How it loved to put itself in communion, as it were,\nwith that _other_ world which lies beyond and yet around us, which\nperplexes us with its subtle intelligence, which we cannot discern,\nthough of its presence we are always sensible! From the cradle to the\ngrave the Scotch peasant went his way attended by the phantoms of this\nmysterious world; always recognising its warnings, always seeing the\nshadows which it cast of coming events, and so burdening himself with a\nweight of grim and e\u00ebry superstition, that we marvel he did not stumble\nand grow faint, seeing that his dreary Calvinistic creed could have\nbrought him little hope or comfort. Nay, it is a question whether his\nsuperstition did not partly grow out of, or was fostered by, his hard,\ncold religion. Superstition is the shadow of Religion, and from the shadow\nwe may infer the nature of the substance or object that casts it.\n\nBut of these darker things we shall not speak. Let us trace a few of the\ncommon traditions and customs of the people, though in doing so we\ndigress, perhaps, from the main lines of the present volume. While less\nimpressive than the mere mystical practices, they proceeded from the same\nsource,--an imagination haunted by the formidable presence of Nature, by\nthe forms of lofty mountains, by the mysteries of pine-clad ravines, and\nthe murmurs of storm-swept lochs and falling waters. For it has been truly\nsaid that the Scotch people have been made what they are by Scotland; that\nthe Land has moulded and fashioned the People; and that in their\nliterature, their religion, their manners, their history, the influence is\nseen of the physical characteristics of the country.\n\nOn the birth of a child--to begin at the beginning--we read that both\nmother and offspring were \u201csained,\u201d a lighted fir-candle being carried\nthree times round the bed, and a Bible, with a bannock or bread and cheese\nbeing placed under the pillow, while a kind of blessing was indistinctly\nuttered. Sometimes a fir-candle was set on the bed to keep off fairies. If\nthe new-born showed any symptoms of fractiousness, it was supposed to be a\nchangeling; and to test the truth of the supposition, the child was placed\nsuddenly before a peat-fire, when, if really a changeling, it made its\nescape by the \u201clum,\u201d throwing back words of scorn as it disappeared. Great\nwas the eagerness to get the babe baptised, lest it should be stolen by\nthe fairies. If it died unchristened, it wandered in woods and solitary\nplaces, bewailing its miserable fate. In Ramsay\u2019s \u201cGentle Shepherd,\u201d\nBauldy, describing Manse the witch, says of her:--\n\n  \u201cAt midnight hours o\u2019er the kirkyard she raves,\n  And howks unchristened weans out of their graves.\u201d\n\nIt was considered \u201cunlucky\u201d to mention the name of an \u201cunchristened wean;\u201d\nand even at baptism the name was commonly written on a slip of paper,\nwhich was handed to the officiating minister. What care was taken that the\nconsecrated water should not enter the child\u2019s eyes! For if such a mishap\noccurred, his future life, wherever he went and whatever he did, would be\nconstantly marred by the presence of wraiths and phantoms. If the babe\nremained quiet at the font, it was supposed to be destined to a brief\ncareer; and hence, to extort a cry, the woman who received it from the\nfather would handle it roughly or even pinch it. If a boy and girl were\nbaptised together, much anxiety was evinced lest the girl should first\nreceive the rite. And why? In the \u201cStatistical Account of Scotland,\u201d the\nminister of an Orcadian parish says: \u201cWithin these last seven years the\nminister has been twice interrupted in administering baptism to a female\nchild before the male child, who was baptised immediately after. When the\nservice was over, he was gravely told he had done very wrong, for, if the\nfemale child was first baptised, she would, on her coming to the years of\ndiscretion, most certainly have a strong beard, and the boy would have\nnone.\u201d\n\nFollowing up the course of human life through the honeyed days of \u201cwooing\nand wedding,\u201d we find it darkened still by the clouds of Superstition. If\na maiden desired to call up the image of her future husband, she read the\nthird verse, seventeenth chapter of the Book of Job after supper, washed\nthe supper dishes, and retired to bed without uttering a single word,\nplacing before her pillow the Bible, with a pin thrust through the verse\nshe had read. It is curious to observe the use of the Bible in these wild\nand foolish customs: was it not an indirect testimony to the reverence,\nnot always intelligent, perhaps, but certainly sincere, in which the holy\nbook was held? Nor are we certain that it is not sometimes turned to worse\npurposes in these \u201cenlightened days,\u201d when a pseudo-science seeks to\nconvert it into the battle-field of audacious theories, and an ignorant\nintolerance too often professes to discover in its bright and blessed\npages an excuse for its uncharitable follies.\n\nBut we must continue our _resum\u00e9_. It is curious to read that the\nwedding-dress might not be \u201ctried on\u201d before the wedding-day, and if it\ndid not fit, it might not be cut or altered, but was adjusted in the best\nmanner possible. The bride, on the way to church, was forbidden to look\nback, for to do so was to ensure a succession of disasters and quarrels in\nthe married state. It was considered inauspicious, moreover, if she did\nnot \u201cgreet\u201d or weep on the marriage-day; a superstition obviously\nconnected with the wide-spread idea of the necessity of propitiating the\nFates which inspired the advice of Amasis to the too fortunate\nPolycrates,[66] that he should fine himself for his success by throwing\nsome costly thing into the sea. It was thought well to marry at the time\nof the growing moon, and among fisher-folk a flowing tide was regarded as\n\u201clucky.\u201d These customs were puerile enough, undoubtedly, but before we\ncensure them too severely we may ask whether our modern bridals are wholly\nfree from superstitious observances; whether we do not still pretend to\n\u201cbribe\u201d the fickle Fortune by showers of rice and old slippers rained on\nthe departing couple!\n\nIt is needless to say that the \u201clast scene of all\u201d was invested with all\nthe attributes of grotesque terror the wayward popular imagination could\ninvent. Before it took place the light of the \u201cdeath-candle\u201d--the Welsh\ncall it the \u201ccorpse-candle\u201d--might be seen hovering from chamber to\nchamber; or the cock crowed before midnight; or the \u201cdead-drap,\u201d a sound\nas of water falling monotonously and lingeringly, broke the silence of the\nnight; or three dismal and fatal knocks were heard, at regular intervals\nof one or two minutes\u2019 duration; or over the doomed person fluttered the\nimage of a white dove. And when the spirit had departed, the doors and\nwindows were immediately opened wide; the clocks were stopped; the mirrors\nwere covered; and it was held to disturb the rest of the dead, and to be\nfatal to the living, if a tear fell upon the winding sheet. And thus, from\nthe cradle to the grave, Superstition dogged the steps of life; nor even\nat the grave did it cease to vex and worry the minds of men with the\nfancies and visions born of excited imaginations.\n\nThat such fancies, that customs so wild and grotesque, should have existed\nin Scotland, and among a well-educated people, down to a comparatively\nrecent date, might be matter of wonder, if we were not aware of the\ntenacity with which the heart clings to the \u201cuse and wont\u201d of the Past.\nNor trivial as some, and inexcusable as all of them seem to the\nphilosophic eye, is it wise to regard them too contemptuously. They seem\nto us to show how difficult man found it to realise to himself the idea of\na living, personal GOD,--of a GOD, a FATHER, ever watching over the\nwelfare of His children, chastening them in His mercy, but never refusing\nthem the light of His countenance when they have sought Him with faith in\nthe hour of sorrow and darkness. For want of this strengthening,\nconsoling, elevating idea, he has endeavoured to support himself by the\nfeeble prop of superstitious credulity, and instead of yielding wholly and\ntrustfully to the love of GOD the FATHER, has vainly striven to secure\nsome glimpse or foreshadowing of the Future, and to avert evil by peurile\npractices and idle traditions.\n\nWe may next be allowed to point out the kinship in superstition which\nprevails all over the world; so that the observance or custom which seems\npeculiar to England or Scotland, is found in India or Tartary. This\nremarkable similarity indicates a certain general tendency to attach an\n\u201cominous significance\u201d to particular things and events. Take as an\nillustration, the act of sneezing. In Asia as well as Europe, among\nSemitic peoples as well as among Aryan, it is usual to connect with the\nact some form of blessing. Sometimes the sneezer is blessed by the\nbystander; sometimes he blesses himself; if a Mohammedan, he blesses GOD.\nIn Italy, for example, the salutation addressed to him runs: \u201cMay GOD\npreserve you!\u201d or \u201cMay you have children!\u201d In Hindi it takes the form of\n\u201cSad\u00e0ji\u2019s\u201d (May you live for ever!) and a similar salutation is used by\nthe Jews of Austria.\n\nBut in different places and at different times sneezing has been made to\ncarry a very different meaning. Among the Arabs, if, while a person is\nmaking an assertion which some may think hazardous or dubious, another\nsneezes, the speaker appeals to the omen as a confirmation of what he is\nsaying. A writer in the \u201cCalcutta Review\u201d thinks this notion as old as the\nGreeks of the time of Xenophon, as appears from a well known passage in\nChap. ii. Book iii. of the Anabasis: \u1f18\u03c0\u03b5\u1f76 \u03c0\u03b5\u03c1\u03af \u03c3\u03c9\u03c4\u03b7\u03c1\u1f76\u03b1\u03c2 \u1f21\u03bc\u1ff6\u03bd \u03bb\u03b5\u03b3\u03cc\u03bd\u03c4\u03bf\u03bd\n\u03bf\u1f30\u03c9\u03bd\u1f78\u03c2 \u03c4\u03bf\u1fe6 \u0394\u03b9\u1f78\u03c2 \u03c4\u03bf\u1fe6 \u03c3\u03c9\u03c4\u1fc6\u03c1\u03bf\u03c2 \u1f10\u03c6\u03ac\u03bd\u03b7. Sneezing among the Hindus, if it occur\nbehind your back, is regarded as so unfavourable an omen, that they at\nonce abandon the work on which at the time they may have been engaged.\n\nVarious but not satisfactory attempts have been made to explain these\ncustoms. Thus, the Mohammedan accounts for his \u201cAl hamdu-l Allah\u201d by the\ntradition that, when the breath of life was breathed into the nostrils of\nAdam, he sneezed, and immediately uttered those words. While in Europe the\ncustom of blessing the sneezer has been traced to the occurrence in Italy\nin the middle ages of some fatal epidemic, of which one of the symptoms\nwas sneezing.\n\nThe superstition which regards as a favourable omen the throbbing of the\neye, was well known to the ancient Greeks, is common in England, and\nflourishes all over India. In England, it is the man\u2019s right eye and the\nwoman\u2019s left that is auspicious; and so it was in the Greece of\nTheocritus, and so it is in India and Persia.\n\nThe curious superstition that ghosts are visible to dogs, to which we find\nan allusion in Homer\u2019s Odyssey, still flourishes in India. It may have\noriginated in the place given to the dog in the mythology of both Greek\nand Hindu, or in the position enjoyed by the watch-dog among all the\nshepherd peoples of the world. The belief belongs to the Semitic as well\nas the Aryan races; and its true origin after all may be the apparently\ncauseless howling of the dog at night,--the time when \u201cspirits walk\nabroad.\u201d Whatever the ground of the belief, it is probably in itself the\ncause of the superstition that the howling of dogs presages death or\nmisfortune.\n\nAnother singular coincidence of this kind is furnished \u201cby the custom of\nspitting on the breast as a charm against fascination.\u201d In his \u201cGreek\nAntiquities,\u201d Potter notes that it was an ancient Greek custom to spit\nthree times on the breast at the sight of a madman; and Theocritus has,--\n\n  \u03c4\u03bf\u03b9\u03ac\u03b4\u03b5 \u03bc\u03c5\u03b8\u03af\u03b6\u03bf\u03b9\u03c3\u03b1 \u03c4\u03c1\u1f76\u03c2 \u03b5\u1f30\u03c2 \u1f11\u1f78\u03bd \u1f14\u03c0\u03c4\u03c5\u03c3\u03b5 \u03ba\u03cc\u03bb\u03c0\u03bf\u03bd.\n\n\u201cPrecisely the same effect is attributed to the act among the Aryan\ninhabitants of India, where its threefold repetition is also insisted on.\nNo sort of reason that we can imagine, can be found for this belief; and\nin this case the idea is a complex one.\n\n\u201cThe notion of a hiccough being an indication that some one is thinking of\nthe person affected, is equally common in Europe and in India.\n\n\u201cThe same may be said of the superstition regarding an itching of the palm\nof the hand; and further the idea that the palm should be rubbed against\nsomething to make the event the more sure, prevails both in India and in\nEngland. In England it should be \u2018rubbed against wood,\u2019 in India on the\nforehead.\u201d[67]\n\nWe supply but one more illustration, and that shall be in folk lore; a\nnursery story which presents virtually the same features in the East as in\nthe West. The following is the Hindu parallel to the old Saxon nursery\ntale of \u201cThe Woman that found a Silver Penny.\u201d The coincidence will be\nseen to be complete.\n\n\u201cOnce upon a time, a little bird, on its way through the woods, picked up\na pea, and took it to the _barbhunja_ to be split; but, as ill luck would\nhave it, one half of it stuck fast in the mill-handle, and the _barbhunja_\nbeing unable to get it out, the little bird went off to the carpenter, and\nsaid, \u2018Carpenter, carpenter, come and cut the mill-handle; my pea is in\nthe mill-handle; what shall I eat, what shall I drink, and what shall I\ntake to foreign countries?\u2019 \u2018Be off,\u2019 said the carpenter, \u2018is it likely I\nshall come and cut the mill-handle for the sake of a single pea?\u2019\n\n\u201cThen the little bird went to the king, and said, \u2018King, king, chide the\ncarpenter; the carpenter won\u2019t cut the mill-handle; my pea has stuck in\nthe mill-handle; what shall I eat, what shall I drink, and what shall I\ntake to foreign countries?\u2019 \u2018Be off with you,\u2019 said the king, \u2018do you\nthink that for the sake of a single pea I am going to chide the\ncarpenter?\u2019\n\n\u201cThen the little bird went to the queen, and said, \u2018Queen, queen, speak to\nthe king; the king won\u2019t chide the carpenter; the carpenter won\u2019t cut the\nmill-handle; my pea is in the socket of the mill-handle; what shall I eat,\nwhat shall I drink, and what shall I take to foreign countries?\u2019 But the\nqueen said, \u2018Be off with you, do you think that for the sake of a single\npea I am going to talk to the king?\u2019\n\n\u201cThen the little bird went to the snake, and said, \u2018Snake, snake, bite the\nqueen; the queen won\u2019t talk to the king; the king won\u2019t chide the\ncarpenter; the carpenter won\u2019t cut the mill-handle; my pea is in the\nsocket of the mill-handle; what shall I eat, what shall I drink, and what\nshall I take to foreign countries?\u2019 But the snake said, \u2018Be off with you,\ndo you think that for the sake of a single pea I am going to bite the\nqueen?\u2019\n\n\u201cThen the little bird went to the stick, and said, \u2018Stick, stick, beat the\nsnake; snake won\u2019t bite queen; queen won\u2019t talk to king; king won\u2019t chide\ncarpenter; carpenter won\u2019t cut mill-handle; my pea is in the socket of the\nmill-handle; what shall I eat, what shall I drink, and what shall I take\nto foreign countries?\u2019 But the stick said, \u2018Be off with you, do you think\nthat for the sake of a single pea I am going to beat the snake?\u2019\n\n\u201cThen the little bird went to the fire, and said, \u2018Fire, fire, burn stick;\nstick won\u2019t beat snake; snake won\u2019t bite queen; queen won\u2019t talk to king;\nking won\u2019t chide carpenter; carpenter won\u2019t cut mill-handle; my pea is in\nthe socket of the mill-handle; what shall I eat, what shall I drink, and\nwhat shall I take to foreign countries?\u2019 But the fire said, \u2018Be off with\nyou, do you think that for the sake of a single pea I am going to burn the\nstick?\u2019\n\n\u201cThen the little bird went to the sea, and said, \u2018Sea, sea, quench fire;\nfire won\u2019t burn stick; stick won\u2019t beat snake; snake won\u2019t bite queen;\nqueen won\u2019t talk to king; king won\u2019t chide carpenter; carpenter won\u2019t cut\nmill-handle; my pea is in the socket of the mill-handle; what shall I eat,\nwhat shall I drink, and what shall I take to foreign countries?\u2019 But the\nsea said, \u2018Be off with you, do you think that for the sake of a single pea\nI am going to quench the fire?\u2019\n\n\u201cThen the little bird went to the elephant, and said, \u2018Elephant, elephant,\ndry up the sea; sea won\u2019t quench fire; fire won\u2019t burn stick; stick won\u2019t\nbeat snake; snake won\u2019t bite queen; queen won\u2019t talk to king; king won\u2019t\nchide carpenter; carpenter won\u2019t cut mill-handle; my pea is in the socket\nof the mill-handle; what shall I eat, what shall I drink, and what shall I\ntake to foreign countries?\u2019 But the elephant said, \u2018Be off with you, to\ndry up the sea would take the whole host of elephants; do you think that\nfor the sake of a single pea I am going to assemble all of my kith and\nkin?\u2019\n\n\u201cThen the bird went to the _bhaunr_, (a tangled creeping plant,) and said,\n\u2018_Bhaunr_, _bhaunr_, snare the elephant; elephant won\u2019t drink up sea; sea\nwon\u2019t quench fire; fire won\u2019t burn stick; stick won\u2019t beat snake; snake\nwon\u2019t bite queen; queen won\u2019t talk to king; king won\u2019t chide carpenter;\ncarpenter won\u2019t cut mill-handle; my pea is in the socket of the\nmill-handle; what shall I eat, what shall I drink, and what shall I take\nto foreign countries?\u2019 But the _bhaunr_ said, \u2018Be off with you, do you\nthink that for the sake of a single pea I am going to snare the elephant?\u2019\n\n\u201cThen the bird went to the mouse, and said, \u2018Mouse, mouse, cut _bhaunr_;\n_bhaunr_ won\u2019t snare elephant; elephant won\u2019t drink up sea; sea won\u2019t\nquench fire; fire won\u2019t burn stick; stick won\u2019t beat snake; snake won\u2019t\nbite queen; queen won\u2019t talk to king; king won\u2019t chide carpenter;\ncarpenter won\u2019t cut mill-handle; my pea is in the socket of the\nmill-handle; what shall I eat, what shall I drink, and what shall I take\nto foreign countries?\u2019 But the mouse said, \u2018Be off with you, do you think\nthat for the sake of a single pea I am going to cut the _bhaunr_?\u2019\n\n\u201cThen the bird went to the cat, and said, \u2018Cat, cat, eat mouse; mouse\nwon\u2019t cut _bhaunr_; _bhaunr_ won\u2019t snare elephant; elephant won\u2019t drink up\nsea; sea won\u2019t quench fire; fire won\u2019t burn stick; stick won\u2019t beat\nsnake; snake won\u2019t bite queen; queen won\u2019t talk to king; king won\u2019t chide\ncarpenter; carpenter won\u2019t cut mill-handle; my pea is in the socket of the\nmill-handle; what shall I eat, what shall I drink, and what shall I take\nto foreign countries?\u2019 And the cat said, \u2018By all means; the mouse is my\nnatural prey, why should I not eat it?\u2019\n\n\u201cSo the cat went to eat the mouse; and the mouse went to cut the _bhaunr_,\nsaying,--\n\n  \u2018Hamko khao, a o, mat koi,\n  Ham bhaunr ko katat loi.\u2019\n\n\u2018Oh, oh, eat, oh! eat me no one, I will take and cut the _bhaunr_.\u2019 And\nthe _bhaunr_ went to snare the elephant, saying, \u2018Oh, cut, oh! cut me no\none, I\u2019ll take and snare the elephant.\u2019 And so on with each one, till it\ncame to the carpenter, who extracted the pea, and the bird took it, and\nwent away rejoicing.\u201d\n\nThe close resemblance between this fable and the English one of \u201cThe\nSilver Penny,\u201d attests a common origin. For it cannot be supposed that\neither was conveyed by means of oral communication from one country to the\nother; and the only feasible conclusion seems to be that they are\ndifferent versions of a nursery tale which belonged to our common Aryan\nforefathers. There can be no doubt as to its antiquity.[68]\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nAmong the earlier superstitions of Scotland was a belief in the efficacy\nof charms, or metrical incantations; a belief prevailing in almost every\ncountry and period, and indirectly attesting man\u2019s strong inward\nconviction of the existence of another world. That communications could be\nmaintained with the unseen creatures that live in the air, and \u201cthe ooze;\u201d\nabove, beneath, and around us; that they could be made to assume a bodily\nform and presence; that storms could be raised or dispelled, evil\nprevented, secrets discovered, diseases cured, love engendered,--and that\nall this was possible by the utterance of certain words arranged in\nmetrical form, though generally perfectly meaningless, was never doubted.\nMany of those used in Scotland evidently had their origin in the reputed\nefficacy of verses among the ancients; and being of an early date, they\nare often \u201cintermixed with the formula of the Roman Catholic ritual.\u201d Thus\nwe read that one Elspeth Reoch (in 1616) had been supernaturally\ninstructed to cure distempers by resting on her right knee while pulling a\ncertain herb \u201cbetwixt her midfinger and thumb, and saying of, _In nomine\nPatris, Filii, et Spiritus Sancti_.\u201d An old and popular charm for curing\ncattle (1607), is given by Dalyell as follows:--[69]\n\n              \u201cI charge thee for arrow shot,\n              For deer shot, for womb shot,\n              For eye shot, for tongue shot,\n              For liver shot, for lung shot,\n              For heart shot,--all the most:\n  In the Name of the FATHER, the SON, and HOLY GHOST.\n              To wind out of flesh and bone,\n              Into oak and stone:\n  In the Name of the FATHER, the SON, and HOLY GHOST.\n                                                Amen.\u201d\n\nSometimes these invocations were accompanied by the administration of\nmedicinal herbs which had been gathered before sunrise. A woman accused of\nwitchcraft, in 1588, declared that she saw \u201cthe guid nychtbours makand\nthair sawis with pains and fyres, and gadderit thair herbis before the\nsone rysing as sche did.\u201d Among the various remedies prescribed for \u201cthe\ntrembling fever,\u201d or ague, by Katharine Oswald, one related to plucking up\na nettle by the root, three successive mornings, before sunrise. A\nfavourite time for this herb-gathering rite was Midsummer; a relic of the\nold Pagan superstition connected with the sun\u2019s position in the Zodiac.\nThe metrical charm then made use of was popular also in England,--\n\n  \u201cHaile be thou, holie hearte,\n    Growing on the ground;\n  All in the Mount Calvarie\n    First wast thou found.\n  Thou art good for manie a sore,\n    And healest manie a wound;\n  In the Name of Sweet JESUS,\n    I take thee from the ground.\u201d\n\n\u201cBleeding at the touch,\u201d has been accepted in several countries as a\nrevelation of guilt. A man suspected of murder was brought to the side of\nthe murdered man\u2019s body, and forced to touch it; if the suspicions were\njust, blood immediately oozed from the wound, or at the mouth, or nose.\nEven at the man\u2019s approach this sign of crime would appear. It is easy to\nsee how precarious and dangerous a test was this; how readily it might\nrelease the guilty, and betray the innocent. Naturally therefore it was\nnot accepted without reluctance. A man and his sister had quarrelled; he\ndied suddenly, and his body was found in his own house, naked, and with a\nwound on the face, but bloodless. \u201cAlthough many of the neighbours in the\ntown came into the house to see the dead corpse, yet she, the sister,\nnever offered to come, howbeit her dwelling was next door, nor had she so\nmuch as any seeming grief for his death. But the minister and bailiffs of\nthe town taking great suspicion of her in respect of her carriage,\ncommanded that she should be brought in. But when she came, she came\ntrembling all the way to the house; she refused to come nigh to the\ncorpse, or to touch, saying, that she never touched a dead corpse in her\nlife. But being earnestly entreated by the minister and bailiffs, and her\nbrother\u2019s friends, who was killed, that she would but touch the corpse\nsoftly, she granted to do it. But before she did it, the sun shining in at\nthe house, she expressed herself thus: \u2018Humbly desiring, as the LORD made\nthe sun to shine and give light into that house, that also He would give\nlight in discovering that murder.\u2019 And with these words, she touching the\nwound of the dead man very softly, it being white and clean, without any\nspot of blood or the like, yet immediately, while her finger was upon it,\nthe blood rushed out of it, to the great admiration of all the beholders,\nwho took it as one discovery of the murder, according to her own prayer.\u201d\n\nIt will seem astonishing to readers of the present day that a poor\ncreature\u2019s life could be taken away on such fanciful and uncertain\nevidence.\n\nWe read that a Sir James Standsfield was found lying dead in a stream. His\nbody was interred precipitately. Two days afterwards it was exhumed and\npartially dissected, the neck in particular being laid open, in order to\nascertain the cause of death. After being well cleansed, blood burst from\nthat side supported by his son Philip, on returning the body to the coffin\nfor re-interment--not an unlikely result from the straining of the\nincisions--and it deeply stained his hand. He was arraigned, on this\nslight ground, for parricide; and in the course of the trial it was\ngravely argued that it was the will of Providence to disclose by this\npeculiar incident a secret crime.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThe preservation of health and the prolongation of life are necessarily\nobjects of interest to all mankind, and it was natural enough that around\nthem should flourish a rank growth of superstitions.\n\nTo ailing or diseased persons all kinds of potions, pills, and powders\nwere administered in the past as they are in the present; but whereas we\nare now content with the mystic characters endorsed on his formula by the\nphysician, our ancestors were not satisfied unless certain mystical words,\nnumbers, or ceremonies accompanied them. The sign of the cross was in\nconstant requisition; or the medicine was to be taken according to\nmystical numbers--thrice or nine times, as the case might be. For\nhooping-cough was prescribed a draught from the horn of a living ox, nine\ntimes repeated. The patient was also put \u201cnine several times\u201d in the\nmiller\u2019s hopper.\n\nThe importance ascribed to the figure of a circle is probably a relic of\nthe influence of the old sun-worship. Consumptive invalids, or children\nsuffering from hectic fever, were thrice passed through a circular wreath\nof woodbine, cut during the increase of the March moon, and let down over\nthe body from head to foot. We read of a sorceress who healed sundry women\nby \u201ctaking a garland of green woodbine, and causing the patient to pass\nthrice through it.\u201d Afterwards, the garland was cut in nine pieces, which\nwere cast into the fire--generally an indispensable particular in\nceremonies of this kind. Another passed her patient through a heap of\ngreen yarn, which the nurse shook, and then divided it into nine pieces,\nwhich were buried in the lands of three owners. A certain Thomas Grieve\ndirected a patient to pass thrice through a heap of yarn, which he duly\nburned. He also cured the wife of a Michael Glanis by having a hole broken\non the north side of the chimney, and putting a hoop of yarn thrice\nthrough it, and taking it back at the door; and thereafter compelling the\npatient to go nine times through the said hoop of yarn.\n\nWhite of Selborne tells us of a custom, prevalent in his time in the south\nof England, of stripping feeble and diseased children, and transmitting\nthem head foremost through an artificial cleft in a young tree, the\nseveral parts of which were held forcibly asunder. The wound was then\nbound up carefully, and it was expected that the child would recover as\nthe tree healed. If the cleft did not unite, the remedy proved abortive;\nand if the tree were cut down, the patient relapsed or died.\n\nBorlase speaks of a similar custom in Cornwall, except that a perforated\nstone was used instead of a cleft tree.\n\nIn Persia, according to Alexander, passage through a long fissure or\ncrevice in a rock, by crawling on hands and knees, is employed as a test\nof legitimate birth. And in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem,\nto pass between the pillars supporting an altar and the neighbouring wall,\nwas practised as a like test. It has been suggested, as the meaning of\nthese various transmissions through cleft, aperture, skein of yarn, and\ngarland, that they are symbolical of regeneration; a second birth, whereby\na living soul is cleansed from its former impurities and imperfections.\nWilford speaks of a sanctified fissure in a rock in the East, to which\npilgrims resort \u201cfor the purpose of regeneration, by the efficacy of a\npassage through this sacred type.\u201d\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThe faculty of divining events, passing at a distance from the seer, or of\npassively receiving a knowledge that such events are taking place, is the\nwell-known \u201csecond sight,\u201d which plays so important a part in many\nScottish stories. \u201cIn the stricter acceptation of this faculty,\u201d we are\ntold, \u201ccontemporary objects and incidents are beheld at the time, however\nremote their locality, but neither those which have passed, nor those\nwhich have yet to come. If extending to futurity, the subject of the\nvision is about to be realised. Therefore the second sight borders only on\nprognostication. It is affirmed to be more peculiar to Scotland, for very\nfaint analogy to such a property has been claimed for other countries: and\nthat the highlanders chiefly, together with the inhabitants of the insular\ndistricts, or that portion of the kingdom less advanced, have enjoyed it\nin the highest perfection. Marvellous to be told, they have said that\ntheir cattle are gifted with it as well as themselves.\u201d\n\nThe faculty was one which knew no distinction of age or sex, or class; it\nwas enjoyed by man and woman, young and old, rich and poor, high-born and\nplebeians, and in many cases was inherited. It might occasionally be\nimparted by a gifted person, or acquired by study and preparation. It is a\nproof, were proof needed, of the living influence of the imagination, that\nthe vision beheld by one individual only, might be revealed to a companion\nvisionary, thus confirmed in his belief in the value of his new\nprerogative; simply by the pressure of the seer\u2019s right foot on the\nnovice\u2019s left, holding one hand on his head, while he was admonished to\nlook over the master\u2019s right shoulder. Thus, Lilly, the\nastrologer--Butler\u2019s \u201chight Sidrophel\u201d--relates how one John Scott desired\nWilliam Hodges, an astrologer in Staffordshire, to show him the person and\nfeatures of the person he should marry. Hodges carried him into a field\nnot far from his home; pulled out his magic crystal; bade Scott set his\nfoot against his, and after awhile desired him to inspect the crystal, and\nobserve what he saw there. Of course he saw exactly what his fevered\nwishes were resolved to see.\n\nCeremonies of a more fantastic character were sometimes involved, and\nround the novice\u2019s body was coiled a hair rope with which a corpse had\nbeen bound to its bier. He was then required to look through a hole left\nby the removal of a fir knot; and, on stooping, he was instructed to look\nback between his legs, until an advancing funeral procession should cross\nthe boundary of the estates of two different owners. The inconvenience of\nthis complicated performance is obvious; it might also be dangerous; for\nif the wind changed while the novice was girded with the mystical cord, he\nwas liable to the penalty of death.\n\nA seer gifted with this wonderful faculty could not divest himself of it,\nthough often he would fain have done so. However acquired, it was a\nperilous endowment, fraught with physical and mental suffering, and\nreputed to be no gift from on high, but to have come from the Father of\nEvil.\n\nThe objects seen were generally sad and sorrowful; calamities to persons\nor nations. Woodrow says that before the Marquis of Argyll went to London\nin 1660, he was playing \u201cat the bullets,\u201d or bowls, with some Scottish\ngentlemen; when one of them, as the Marquis stooped down to lift the\nbullet, \u201cfell pale,\u201d and said to those about him: \u201cBless me, what is this\nI see? my lord with his head off, and all his shoulder full of blood?\u201d\n\nOn one occasion, a gentleman joined a company, all of whom were very frank\nand cheerful. He had no sooner entered than one of the guests, who had not\npreviously known him, showed much depression of spirit. Without taking any\nnotice of it the new-comer quickly rose, and went his way. The other\nthereupon showed great concern, and wished he would remain; for he saw\nhim, he said, with a shroud up to his neck, and he knew that this sign\nforeboded his death. In vain some of the company would have persuaded the\ndoomed man to take warning, but he departed, and having ridden a short\ndistance, he and his horse fell, and he broke his neck.\n\nOn the morning of the battle of Bothwell Bridge, that sore defeat to the\nCovenanters--so vigorously described by Scott in his \u201cOld Mortality\u201d--Mr.\nJohn Cameron, minister at Lochhead in Kintyre, fell into a fit of\nmelancholy, so that Mr. Morison, of his elders, observing him through his\nchamber door, sore weeping and wringing his hands, knocked until he opened\nto him. Then he asked what was the matter? Were his wife and children\nwell? \u201cLittle matter for them,\u201d he answered; \u201cour friends at Bothwell are\ngone.\u201d Mr. Morison told him it might be a mistake, and the offcome of his\ngloomy thoughts: \u201cNo, no,\u201d said he, \u201cI see them flying as clearly as I see\nthe wall.\u201d As near as they could calculate by the accounts they afterwards\nobtained, this incident at the Lochhead of Kintyre was contemporaneous\nwith the flight of the Covenanters at Bothwell.\n\nMunro, the Scotch soldier of fortune, who bore himself so gallantly in the\nwars of Gustavus Adolphus, tells a story of a vision that was seen by a\nsoldier of his company on the morning of the storm of Stralsund in 1628.\nOne Murdo Macleod, born in Assen, a soldier of tall stature and valiant\ncourage, being sleeping on his watch, awoke at break of day, and \u201cjogged\u201d\ntwo of his comrades lying by him, much to their indignation at his\n\u201cstirring them.\u201d He replied: \u201cBefore long, you shall be otherwise\nstirred.\u201d A soldier called Allan Tough, a Lochaber man, recommending his\nsoul to GOD, asked him what he had seen: \u201cThat you shall never behold your\ncountry again.\u201d The other replied, the loss was but small, if the rest of\nthe company were well. He answered: \u201cNo, for there was great hurt and\ndearth of many very near.\u201d The other again asked, what others he had seen\nwho would perish. He then told by name sundry of his comrades who would be\nkilled. The other asked, what would become of himself. Eventually, he\ndescribed by their clothes all the officers who would be hurt. \u201cA pretty\nquick boy near by,\u201d asked him, what would become of the Major (that is,\nMunro himself?) \u201cHe would be shot, but not deadly,\u201d was the answer,--and\nso it proved.\n\nA good deal is said of this _Taisch_, or \u201cSecond Sight,\u201d in Dr. Johnson\u2019s\n\u201cJourney to the Hebrides,\u201d and some striking anecdotes are told. It was\njust the thing to interest his moody temperament, with its terrible dread\nof death and its longing to lift the curtain that hides from us the\nUnseen. He seems, however, to have been unable to convince himself of the\nactual existence of such a power; all the evidence he could collect failed\nto advance his curiosity to conviction, so that he could not believe,\nwhile remaining willing to believe. To use the noble words of Goethe,\nnobly rendered by Coleridge:\n\n                            \u201cAs the sun,\n  Ere it is risen, sometimes paints its image\n  In the atmosphere, so often do the spirits\n  Of great events stride on before the events,\n  And in To-day already walks To-morrow.\u201d\n\n_This_ it is not difficult to accept. It seems fitting that presages\nshould herald the death of kings and the revolutions of nations; but the\nmind cannot convince itself that the spirits of the dead will cross the\nshadowy borders to foretell the trivial accidents that chequer ordinary\nlives. Yet, as Johnson says: \u201cA man on a journey far from home falls from\na horse; another who is perhaps at work about the house, sees him bleeding\non the ground, commonly with a landscape of the place where the accident\nbefalls him. Another seer, driving home his cattle, or wandering in\nidleness, or musing in the sunshine, is suddenly surprised by the\nappearance of a bridal ceremony or funeral procession, and counts the\nmourners or attendants, of whom, if he knows them, he relates the names,\nif he knows them not he can describe the dresses.\u201d\n\nWoodrow tells of \u201ca popish lady,\u201d living near Boroughbridge, who dreamed\nthat she saw a coach, and a lady in it, almost lost in the river. She\ndirected her servants to watch during two nights, to guard against an\naccident, but nothing happened. \u201cOn the third night, pretty late, the Lady\nShawfield came, and of a sudden the coach was overturned, and filled with\nwater. The coachman got upon one of the horses, to save his life. The good\nand religious Lady Shawfield was for some time under water: and upon the\ncry rising, the popish lady\u2019s servants came to their assistance. With much\ndifficulty, the coach and lady in it were got out of the water.\u201d And the\nLady Shawfield, being laid upon the bank, gradually recovered her senses.\n\nIn the early months of the Commonwealth, while Mackenzie of Tarbat,\nafterwards Earl of Cromarty, was riding in a field among his tenants, who\nwere manuring barley, a stranger \u201ccalled that way on his foot, and stopped\nlikewise, and said to the countrymen, \u2018You need not be so busy about that\nbarley, for I see the Englishmen\u2019s horses tethered among it; and other\nparts mowed down for them.\u2019 Tarbet asked him how he knew them to be\nEnglishmen, and if he had ever seen any of them? He said, \u2018No; but he saw\nthem strangers, and heard the English were in Scotland, and guessed it\ncould be no other than they.\u2019 In the month of July, the thing happened\ndirectly as the man said he saw it.\u201d\n\nThe influence exercised on the imagination by events in which we are\ndeeply interested, and the manner in which our hopes or fears are mistaken\nfor predictions, may be illustrated by two examples from antiquity. On the\nday that C\u00e6sar and Pompey contended at Pharsalia for the mastery of the\nworld, Cornelius, a priest and patrician of Padua, declared, under a\nsudden impulse of passion, that he beheld the eddies and currents of a\ndesperate battle, and the fall and flight of many of the combatants,\neventually exclaiming: \u201cC\u00e6sar has conquered!\u201d His hearers laughed at him,\nbut his words were afterwards verified, and it appeared that he had\nforetold not only the day, but the incidents, and the result of the famous\nbattle in Thessaly. The anecdote is related on the authority of the\n\u201cNoctes Attic\u00e6\u201d of Aulus Gellius.\n\nDio Cassius tells a similar story about the assassination of the Emperor\nDomitian at Rome, by his freedman Stephanus. \u201cIt is to be admired,\u201d he\nsays, \u201cthat, as accurately proved by persons in either place, Apollonius\nThyan\u00e6us, ascending an eminence at Ephesus or elsewhere, cried out before\nthe multitude: \u2018Well done, Stephanus, well done! Strike the murderer! thou\nhast struck him, thou hast wounded him, he is slain!\u2019\u201d But it may well be\nsupposed that a secret understanding existed between Apollonius and the\nmurderer.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nFrom \u201csecond sight\u201d we pass on to \u201cprediction\u201d or \u201cdivination,\u201d another of\nthe superstitious modes by which humanity has endeavoured to read the book\nof the Future. In the north this power of prophecy was largely assumed by\nwomen, a circumstance of which Scott has made ample and picturesque use in\nmore than one of his admirable fictions.\n\nA woman foretold the tragical end of James I. of Scotland, in 1436. In the\nearly stage of a journey from Edinburgh to Leith, and in the midst of the\nway, arose a woman of Ireland, who claimed to be a soothsayer, and as soon\nas she saw the king, she cried with a loud voice, saying, \u201cMy lord king,\nan ye pass this water, ye shall never turn again to live.\u201d The king was\nastonished at her words, for but shortly before he had fallen in with a\nprophecy, that in the self-same year the King of Scots should be slain.\nAnd as he rode onward, he called to him one of his knights, and commanded\nhim to return and speak with this woman, and ask of her what she would,\nand what she meant by her loud crying: and she began and told him what\nwould befall the king if he passed that water. The king asked her how she\nknew so much, and she said that Huthart told her so. \u201cSire,\u201d quoth the\nknight, \u201cmen may gallantly talk, nor take heed of yonder woman\u2019s words,\nfor she is but a drunken fool, and wots not what she saith.\u201d And so with\nhis folk he passed the water called the Scottish Sea, towards S. John\u2019s\ntown [Perth,] about four miles from the country of the wild Scots, and\nthere, in a convent of Black Friars, outside the town, he held a great\nfeast. In the course of the revel came \u201cthe said woman of Ireland, who\ncalled herself a divineress,\u201d and made several vain attempts to gain\naccess to the king. Meanwhile the conspirators matured their plot, removed\nthe king\u2019s guards, attacked him, and slew him.[70]\n\nAll the predictions which come true are preserved; we hear nothing of\nthose which fail, for no one has an interest in recording or repeating\nthem; hence an undue importance is gradually attached to what are nothing\nmore than remarkable coincidences. Many others are prophecies \u201cafter the\nevent.\u201d Others are based on a careful calculation of probabilities. As in\nthe following example: An Orkney warlock, full of displeasure with James\nPaplay, a proud and haughty chief, with whose character, doubtless, she\nwas well acquainted, broke forth into a torrent of predictive utterances:\n\u201cThou art now the highest man that ever thou shalt be! Thou art gone to\nshear thy corn, but it shall never do you good! Thou art going to set\nhouse with thy wife,--ye shall have no joy of one another. Oil shall not\nkeep you and her; ye shall have such a meit-will [craving,] and shall have\nnothing to eat, but be fain to eat grass under the stones and wair\n(sea-weed) under the rocks.\u201d It was seriously asserted that not only were\nthese predictions--or menaces--uttered, but that they were all fulfilled;\nand it is possible that the prophet may have had something to do with\ntheir fulfilment.\n\nA curious anecdote is related of a Scottish minister, who, on the day of\nthe battle of Killiecrankie, was preaching at Anworth, and in his preface\nbefore his prayer, according to his usual mode of homely expression, began\nto this purpose: \u201cSome of you will say, What news, minister? What news\nabout Clavers, who has done so much mischief in this country? That man\nsets up to be a young Montrose, but as the LORD liveth, he shall be cut\nshort this day. Be not afraid,\u201d added he, \u201cI see them scattered and\nflying: and as the LORD liveth, and sends this message by me, Claverhouse\nshall no longer be a terror to GOD\u2019S people. This day I see him\nkilled--lying a corpse.\u201d And on that day, and at that hour, Claverhouse\nfell[71] (July 27th, 1689.)\n\nIn their anxiety to obtain a glimpse of the dread writing in the Book of\nFate, men have resorted to divers strange expedients, applying to warlocks\nand witches, or seeking to wring a response to their questionings from the\ncreatures of the Invisible World. The ceremony known as _Taghairm_, or\n\u201cEcho,\u201d seems to have been peculiar to Scotland. The inquirer was wrapped\nin a cow\u2019s hide, his head being left free, and was carried by assistants\nto a solitary spot, or left under the liquid arch formed by the \u201csheeted\ncolumn\u2019s silvery perpendicular\u201d in waterfall or cataract: there he\nremained during the watches of the night, with phantoms fluttering round\nabout him, from whence he was supposed to derive the burden of the\noracular response he delivered to his comrades on the following day.\n\nIt is probable that this ceremony is the relic of some ancient form of\nritual. At all events, the skins of animals played an important part in\nthe old worship. When the Thebans slew a cow on the festival of Jupiter\nAmmon, his image was clothed with the skin: all present in the temple then\nstruck the carcase, which was buried in a consecrated place.\n\nPausanias records that a temple in honour of the soothsayer Amphiaraus,\nthe reputed son of Apollo, stood in the territory of Oropus in Attica.\nVotaries who resorted thither for the purpose of divination, underwent\ncertain lustrations, or purifying rites, sacrificed a ram, and, in\nexpectation of seeing visions, slept upon its skin.\n\nVirgil, in one of the most elaborate scenes of the \u00c6neid, represents to us\na similar oblation as being offered at a consecrated fountain, where the\npriest, to prepare himself for the delivery of responses, slept on the\nskin:--\n\n                \u201cEt c\u00e6sarum ovium sub nocte silenti\n  Pellibus incubuit stratis, somnosque petivit;\n  Multa modis simulacra videt volitantia miris\n  Et varias audit voces.\u201d[72]\n\nIt seems to have been an important part of the heathen ritual to make use\nof the skin of the sacrificed animal for the purposes of clothing. Lucian,\ndescribing the ceremonies practised in the temple of Hierapolis, says\nthat, on his arrival, the head and eyebrows of the novice were shaved; a\nsheep was then sacrificed; he knelt on the skin, and covering his own head\nwith the head and feet of the animal, prayed that his offering might be\naccepted while promising a worthier one.\n\nThe Spanish invaders of the New World discovered that the religion of its\nmost civilised race, the Aztecs, was founded upon human sacrifices. The\nnumber of victims offered up to the Aztec gods is stated in figures which\nseem almost incredible. Peculiar to the Aztec kingdom was the horrid\nceremony entitled \u201cthe flaying of men.\u201d The Aztecs having demanded the\ndaughter of some neighbouring potentate as their queen, she was flayed on\nthe very night of her arrival by command of their deity, and a young man\nclothed in her skin. In this originated the custom that a captive slave,\ndistinguished by the name, the honours, and the ornaments of the divinity,\nshould be sacrificed after a certain time; and another, clothed with his\nskin, then exacted contributions for the service of the gods, which no\none, says Acosta, dared to refuse.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nWe have no space to dwell on the various forms of divination that were\nwont to prevail. Almost everything in nature, from the stars of heaven to\nthe clods of earth, was made to give indications of coming events. The\nhistorian of the darker Superstitions of Scotland brings together a few\nstriking illustrations.\n\nIf a certain worm in a medicinal spring on the top of a hill in Strathdon,\nwere found alive, it was a sign that the patient would live; and in a well\nof Ardwacloich, in Appin, if the patient were to die, a dead worm was\nfound in it, and a live one, if he were to recover. In the district of\nLorn, the figures assumed by an egg dropped into water were supposed to\nindicate the appearance of a future spouse. \u201cAlso, one of four vessels\nbeing filled with pure, and another with muddy water, the third with milk,\nand the fourth with meal and water; if the diviner blindfold dips his hand\nin the first, it augurs that his spouse shall be led to the nuptial couch\nin all her pristine purity; but otherwise if dipping in the second: if\nfinding his way to the milk, a widow shall fall to his lot; and an old\nwoman awaits him from the meal and water. Three vessels are used in the\nsouth of Scotland; one of them empty; and should fate direct the diviner\nhither, it augurs perpetual celibacy.\u201d\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nA belief in Fairies was widespread, and has survived, in remote districts,\ndown even to our own time:\n\n                    \u201cOft fairy elves\n  Whose midnight revels by a forest side\n  Or fountain, some belated peasant sees,\n  Or dreams he sees, while overhead the moon\n  Sits arbitress, and nearer to the earth\n  Wheels her pale course, they on their mirth and dance\n  Intent, with jocund music charm his ear:\n  At once with joy and fear his heart rebounds.\u201d[73]\n\nIt is not easy to reconcile the conflicting details of the disposition,\nmanners, habits, and influence of these liliputian spirits which we meet\nwith in the early writers. But on a general survey it appears that they\nwere very diminutive; in their intercourse with mortals sometimes\ngood-tempered, sometimes malignant; that they loved and married, and had\noffspring; that they were very merry, and loved to dance upon the green,\nand fill the air with choral music; that they possessed stores of gold and\nsilver, which they distributed freely; that they were invisible, but could\nat will present themselves to mortals; that they were very timid, and\nwould inflict a summary punishment upon intruders. Their influence was at\nits highest on Friday, at noon, and at midnight.\n\nKirk, the Scotch minister of Aberfoyle, who died in 1688, relates some\nother particulars of the \u201cgood people.\u201d Their substance, he says, is\ndenser than air; too subtle to be pierced, and, like that of Milton\u2019s\nangels, reuniting when divided, or when any attempt is made to cleave it\nasunder. Their voice is like unto whistling. They change their places of\nabode every quarter of the year, floating near the surface of the earth;\nand persons gifted with the second sight have often had fierce encounters\nwith them. The Highlanders, to preserve themselves and their cattle\nagainst them, went regularly to church on the first Sunday of every\nquarter, though they might not return during the interval. At the name of\nGOD or JESUS they vanished into thin air. They were of both sexes, and\nlike mankind, they were mortal.\n\n\u201cSome meagre allusions appear to the Queen of the Fairies, and especially\nby King James, whose immediate knowledge may have been derived from the\nvignettes in Olaus Magnus, and the words of his own unhappy subjects, who\nperished on account of their credulity. Alexoun Perisoma was convicted, on\nher confession, of repairing to the \u2018queen of Elfame,\u2019 with whom she was\nfamiliar. Jean Wire (1670) declared that, while she taught a school at\nDalkeith, a woman desired to be employed \u2018to speik to the Queen of Fairie,\nand strike ane battell in hir behalf with the said Queen.\u2019\u201d The name of\nTitania is familiar enough to all lovers of English literature. There was\na necromancer or wizard, in the reign of Charles I., who affirmed he had\nan incantation--\u201cO Micol, Micol, regina Pigmiorum, veni,\u201d--that Titania\ncould not resist. Lilly tells us that when it was tested at Hurst wood,\nfirst a gentle murmurous sound was heard; then rose a violent whirlwind,\nwhich swelled into a hurricane; and lastly the Fairy Queen appeared in all\nher radiance.\n\nFairies generally dwelt in subterraneous abodes; in the interiors of\ngrassy hillocks, whence issued dulcet sounds and flashes of weird light;\nsometimes the side of a hill opened, and exposed them to the gaze of the\nbelated wayfarer. No doubt they were seen everywhere by the potent gaze of\nimagination; on the meads and in the groves, or curled up among the\nbending flowers; for\n\n            \u201cVisions as poetic eyes avow,\n  Hang from each leaf, and cling to every bough.\u201d\n\nThey were reputed to be well skilled in the medical art, and to favoured\nmortals they sometimes imparted their knowledge. It is difficult to\nunderstand why they were credited with the abstraction of children, and\nwith the substitution of other beings in their place. For this curious\nkind of theft was commonly attributed to them. A \u201cwise woman\u201d--a dealer in\nsimples and herbal potions--having failed to cure a child, declared that\n\u201cthe bairn had been taken away, and an elf substituted.\u201d\n\nBesides the fairies, Scotland could boast of its spirits of the waters,\njust as Germany had its Loreleys and Ondines.\n\nWe can gather, however, no definite information respecting the\nwater-kelpie, the water-horses, or the water-bull, or of another anomalous\nanimal called shelly-coat. Describing Lochlomond, Graham says:--\u201cIt is\nreported by the countrymen living thereabouts, that they sometimes see the\nhippopotam or water-horse, where the river Cudrie falls into it, a mile\nwest of the church of Buchanan.\u201d A river known as the Ugly Burn, in the\ncounty of Ross, springing from Loch Glaish, was regarded with awe by all\nthe countryside, as the retreat of the water-horse and other spiritual\nbeings. Shetland is represented as having possessed a handsome water-horse\nwhich, when mounted, carried the rider into the sea. Mr. Dalyell, writing\nin 1835, says, that the water-bull is still believed to reside in Loch Awe\nand Loch Rannoch, nor, he adds, are witnesses wanting to bear testimony to\nthe fact. It was reputed to be invulnerable against all except silver\nshot; though no one had put it to the proof. In the Isle of Man certain\npersons who saw the water-bull in a field were unable to distinguish him\nfrom one of the ordinary terrestrial species, nor did the cows show any\ndisposition to avoid him. But his progeny always turned out to be a rude\nlump of flesh and skin, without bones.\n\nThe spirit of the sea was believed to be malicious, and capable of\ninflicting injury. Allusions are frequent to \u201csea-trowis, meermen,\nmeermaids, and a number of little creatures coming from the sea\u201d in\nresponse to spell and charm. Nor must we forget the practice of pouring\nout libations to the aquatic divinities. A century ago, in Crawford Muir,\nwhen a tenant was evicted and another took his place, he cut the throat of\na black lamb and threw it into a stream, with a malediction both upon\nstream and lamb.\n\nTo this futile department of human error we can, however, devote no more\nspace. To treat it adequately we should need at least a couple of volumes\nas closely printed as the present.\n\n\n\n\nINDEX.\n\n\n  Aborigines, the, of North America, 254.\n\n  African Superstitions, 171.\n\n  Ahetas, the, 153.\n\n  Ancestors, Worship of, 220.\n\n  Anecdotes of Khandikya and Kesidhwaja, 114.\n\n  Apples, Halloween, 293.\n\n  Ark-festival, an Indian, 90.\n\n  Ashi, the Rabbi, 72.\n\n  Asia, savage races of, 155.\n\n\n  Babylonian Talmud, the, 72.\n\n  Bouru, 146.\n\n  Brahman Religion, the, 14, 84.\n\n  Buddhism, 16.\n\n  Buddhists, Prayer-wheels of the, 1.\n\n  Buffalo-dance, the, 259.\n\n\n  Cannibalism, 250.\n\n  Caste, Brahman, 14.\n\n  Cat, adventures of a, 218.\n\n  Ceremonies, Hindu, 6;\n    Eskimo, 275.\n\n  Chandu, Palace of, 163.\n\n  Charms, Scottish, 310.\n\n  China, in, 119.\n\n  Chinese offerings to gods, 139.\n\n  Chinese temples, 132.\n\n  Chunda Sen, Babu Keshub, 97.\n\n  Chung-Yung, 123.\n\n  Confucianism, 119.\n\n  Confucius, Life of, 120.\n\n  Court of Justice, an Eskimo, 277.\n\n  Cumming, Miss Gordon, Experiences of, 1;\n    quoted, 3.\n\n\n  Daksha, sacrifice of, 103.\n\n  Debendunath Tagore, 97.\n\n  Devil-dancing, 91.\n\n  Divination, 319.\n\n  Dorians, the, 147.\n\n  Dyaks, the, 145.\n\n\n  Egg-trick, the, 169.\n\n  Equatorial Savage, the, 172.\n\n  Eskimos, the, 274.\n\n  Etu, the, 221.\n\n\n  Fairies, belief in, 323.\n\n  Feast of Lanterns, the, 129.\n\n  Fetich-man, the, 174.\n\n  Fiji-islanders, the, 230.\n\n  Fire-superstitions, 290.\n\n  Fish-charmers, Brahman, 87.\n\n  Flagellants, the, 279.\n\n\n  Gemara, the, 69.\n\n  Gods, belief in, 12.\n\n\n  Halloween, 288.\n\n  Health-superstitions, 313.\n\n  Hilarion, S., 280.\n\n  Hindu Mythology, the, 99.\n\n  Hindus, the, 203.\n\n  Hindu Temples, Ceremonies of the, 6.\n\n  Hiouen-thsang, Career of, 26.\n\n\n  Idol Worship, 221.\n\n  Indians, North American, 254.\n\n\n  Jerusalem Talmud, the, 72.\n\n  Jewish Superstitions, 68.\n\n  Jugglery, 163.\n\n\n  Khudas, the, 89.\n\n  King, or, the Five Canonical Works, 125.\n\n\n  Lao-tsze, the Chinese Philosopher, 129.\n\n  Lun-Yu, the, 124.\n\n\n  Magianism, 43.\n\n  Maize, Indian reverence for the, 273.\n\n  Malays, among the, 142.\n\n  Maories, the, 241.\n\n  Medicine-bag, the Indian, 265.\n\n  Medicine-man, the Indian, 174;\n    the Eskimo, 274.\n\n  Meng-tze, the, 124.\n\n  Mishna, the, 68.\n\n  Mongols, the, 157.\n\n  M\u00fcller, Max, quoted, 10.\n\n\n  N\u00e2gpanchanic Festival, the, 210.\n\n  New Zealand, 241.\n\n  North American Indians, the, 254.\n\n  Nursery tale, a Hindu, 307.\n\n\n  Old age, African veneration of, 172.\n\n  Orang-lauts, the, 152.\n\n  Ormuzd and Ahriman, 191.\n\n  Ostiaks, the, 158.\n\n\n  Paharis, the Customs of, 87.\n\n  Papeiha\u2019s witness to Christianity, 215.\n\n  Papuan Tribes, the, 147.\n\n  Parsees, the, 43.\n\n  Peace-pipe, the Indian, 270.\n\n  Polo, Marco, 161.\n\n  Polynesian Sacrifices, 228.\n\n  Polynesian Superstitions, 214.\n\n  Prayer-Wheels of the Buddhists, 1.\n\n  Public Games, 109.\n\n  Puranas, the, 99.\n\n\n  Rammohun Roy, Life of, 92.\n\n  Red Men, the, 257.\n\n  Religion, Brahman, 14, 84;\n    Buddhism, 16;\n    Parsee, 43;\n    Chinese, 119;\n    among the Malays, 142;\n    the Dyaks, 145;\n    in Bouru, 146;\n    among the Papuan tribes, 147;\n    the Orang-lauts, 152;\n    Savage nations of Asia, 155;\n    in Tibet, 161;\n    Zabianism, 186;\n    in Polynesia, 214;\n    among the Fiji-islanders, 230;\n    the Maories, 241;\n    North American Indians, 254.\n\n  Rudra, Origin of, 103.\n\n\n  Samoans, the, 219.\n\n  Samojedes, 155.\n\n  San-tsing, the Chinese deity, 131.\n\n  Scottish Superstitions, 288.\n\n  Second Sight, 290, 300, 314.\n\n  Serpent-worship, 186.\n\n  Shae-tung, the, 129.\n\n  Shamanism, 91.\n\n  Shang-te, the, of the Chinese, 131.\n\n  Slamatan Bromok, the, 142.\n\n  Snake-charmers, 87.\n\n  Stylites, S. Simeon, 281.\n\n  Sun-worship, 8, 200.\n\n  Superstitions, African, 171.\n\n  Supreme Being, belief in a, 11.\n\n\n  Taboo, or Tapu, 241.\n\n  Tadibe, the, 156.\n\n  Ta-heo, the, 123.\n\n  Talmud, the, 68.\n\n  Taossi, the, 132.\n\n  Taouism, 129.\n\n  Tehu-Chor, the, 3.\n\n  Thibetan Prayer or Litany, the, 4.\n\n  Tibet, in, 161.\n\n  Topes, the, 203.\n\n  Typhon and Osiris, 173.\n\n\n  Vishnu Purana, the, 100.\n\n\n  Weather-conjuring among the Mongols, 159.\n\n  Williams, Rev. John, 214.\n\n\n  Yadageri, 160.\n\n\n  Zabianism, 186.\n\n  Zendavesta, the, 43.\n\n  Zoroaster, 45.\n\n  Zulu Witch-finders, 180.\n\n\nJ. MASTERS AND CO., PRINTERS, ALBION BUILDINGS, BARTHOLOMEW CLOSE.\n\n\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[1] Miss Gordon Cumming, \u201cFrom the Hebrides to the Himalayas,\u201d ii. 226,\n227.\n\n[2] Max M\u00fcller, Buddhism and Buddhist Pilgrims, pp. 5, 6.\n\n[3] Rig-Veda, i. 164, 46.\n\n[4] Rig-Veda, x. 121, by Max M\u00fcller.\n\n[5] The thought in this paragraph, and several of the expressions, are\nfrom Max M\u00fcller.\n\n[6] So in Shelley\u2019s lyrical drama of \u201cPrometheus Unbound:\u201d--\n\n  \u201c_Mercury_ (addressing Prometheus.) Once more answer me:\n                Thou knowest not the period of Jove\u2019s power?\n  _Prometheus._ I know but this, that it must come.\n  _Mercury._                                       Alas!\n                Thou canst not count thy years to come of pain.\n  _Prometheus._ They last while Jove must reign; nor more nor less\n                Or I desire or fear.\u201d\n\n[7] Max M\u00fcller, pp. 13, 14.\n\n[8] Professor Wilson propounded a theory to the effect that there never\nwas any such man as Buddha, but the theory has found few supporters.\n\n[9] The name \u201cSakya\u201d is made into \u201cSakya-muni,\u201d--_muni_ in Sanskrit\nmeaning \u201csolitary,\u201d (Greek, \u03bc\u03cc\u03bd\u03bf\u03c2,) alluding to his solitary habits; and\nto Gautama is often prefixed \u201cSramana,\u201d or \u201cascetic.\u201d\n\n[10] Max M\u00fcller, pp. 14, 15.\n\n[11] Max M\u00fcller, pp. 15, 16, 17.\n\n[12] The following sketch is founded on M. Stanislas Julien\u2019s \u201cVoyages des\nP\u00e9lerins Buddhistes,\u201d and on Max M\u00fcller\u2019s review of that valuable work.\n\n[13] Max M\u00fcller, p. 36.\n\n[14] Voyages des P\u00e9lerins Bouddhistes. Vol. I. Histoire de la Vie de\nHiouen-thsang, et ses Voyages dans l\u2019Inde, depuis l\u2019an 629 jusqu\u2019en 645,\npar Hoe\u00ef-li et Yen-thsong; traduite du Chinois par Stanislas Julien.\n\nVol. II. M\u00e9moires sur les Contr\u00e9es Occidentales, traduits du Sanscrit en\nChinois, en l\u2019an 648, par Hiouen-thsang, et du Chinois en Fran\u00e7ais, par\nStanislas Julien. Paris, 1853-1857. B. Duprat.\n\n[15] Hoe\u00ef-li terminates the last book of his biography of the Master with\na long and pompous panegyric of Hiouen-thsang. This _morceau_, which forms\n(says Stanislas Julien,) twenty-five pages in the Imperial edition and ten\nin the _Nan-king_, offers an analysis of the life and voyages of the\nMaster of the Law; but it contains no new fact or one of any interest in\nrelation to the history and geography of India or the Buddhist literature.\nNo English version has appeared of M. Julien\u2019s elaborate translation of\nthe Chinese History of Hiouen-thsang.\n\n[16] More correctly, Avesta-Zend.\n\n[17] Sanscrit, _Avasth\u00e2_. This is Haug\u2019s conjecture.\n\n[18] The Pazend language was identical with the Parsi, i.e., the ancient\nPersian.\n\n[19] Dogs are here associated with man on account of their high value in\nan early stage of civilisation. Zarathustra protected them by special\nordinances and penalties.\n\n[20] The bridge _Chinavat_ by which the souls of the good crossed into\nParadise; a fancy afterwards adopted by Muh\u00e1mad.\n\n[21] Quarles.\n\n[22] Emanuel Deutsch, \u201cLiterary Remains,\u201d (edit. 1874, pp. 32, 33.)\n\n[23] E. Deutsch, Literary Remains, p. 55, sqq.\n\n[24] The Tinnevelly Shawars, by R. Caldwell, Madras, 1849.\n\n[25] Calcutta Review, lii. 112, 113.\n\n[26] We are reminded by this extravagance of great King Arthur\u2019s sumptuous\nfeast at Carlisle, as described by Mr. Frere (\u201cWhistlecraft\u201d):--\n\n  \u201cThey served up salmon, venison, and wild boars\n  By hundreds, and by dozens, and by scores.\n\n  \u201cHogsheads of honey, kilderkins of mustard,\n  Muttons, and fatted beeves, and bacon swine;\n  Herons and bitterns, peacock, swan and bustard,\n  Teal, mallard, pigeons, widgeons, and in fine\n  Plum-puddings, pancakes, apple-pies and custard;\n  And therewithal they drank good Gascon wine,\n  With mead, and ale, and cyder of our own;\n  For porter, punch and negus were not known.\u201d\n\n[27] That is, the crooked. One of the other Puranas calls her Trivakra (or\nthrice-deformed.)\n\n[28] The Yoga philosophy prescribes about eighty-four postures. The one to\nwhich allusion is made in the text consisted of sitting with your legs\ncrossed underneath you, and laying hold of your feet, on each side, with\nyour hands.\n\n[29] That is, the silent repetition of prayer.\n\n[30] Others say in 479 B.C., at the age of seventy.\n\n[31] A strong spirituous liquor, distilled from wine.\n\n[32] In Rashiduddin\u2019s \u201cHistory of Cathay\u201d we read: \u201cIn the reign of\nDin-Wang, the twentieth King of the eleventh dynasty, _Tai Shang Lao Kun_\nwas born. This person is stated to have been accounted a prophet by the\npeople of Khita; his father\u2019s name was Han; like Shak-muni (Buddha) he is\nsaid to have been conceived by light, and it is related that his mother\nbore him in her womb no less a period than eighty years. The people who\nembraced his doctrine were called \u0634 \u0634 _Shan-shan_ or _Shin-shin_.\u201d The\ntitle used by Rashiduddin signifies \u201cthe Great Supreme Venerable Ruler.\u201d\n\n[33] Robert Fortune, \u201cThree Years\u2019 Wanderings in the Northern Provinces of\nChina,\u201d p. 170, et sqq.\n\n[34] \u201cThree Years\u2019 Wanderings,\u201d p. 185.\n\n[35] Fortune, pp. 190, 191.\n\n[36] M. de la Gironiere, cit. in \u201cThe Eastern Archipelago,\u201d pp. 522, 526,\n527.\n\n[37] Col. Yule, \u201cBook of Sir Marco Polo,\u201d Vol. I. pp. 306, 307.\n\n[38] Edward Melton, \u201cEngelsch Edelmans Zeldzaame en Gedenkwaardige Zee en\nLand Reizen,\u201d &c., 1660, 1677, p. 468.\n\n[39] Miss Gordon Cumming. \u201cFrom the Hebrides to the Himalayas,\u201d ii. 68,\n69.\n\n[40] This chapter is adapted from Mr. Winwood Reade\u2019s \u201cSavage Africa,\u201d\n(Edit. 1863.)\n\n[41] \u201cA Year\u2019s Housekeeping in South Africa,\u201d p. 173.\n\n[42] Lady Barker, \u201cA Year\u2019s Housekeeping in South Africa,\u201d p. 179.\n\n[43] Abridged from Lady Barker, \u201cA Year\u2019s Housekeeping in South Africa,\u201d\npp. 181-184.\n\n[44] Quoted from Chwolson (\u201cDie Ssabier und der Ssabismus,\u201d 1856,) by\nChambers.\n\n[45] Deane, p. 49.\n\n[46] Isaac McLellan.\n\n[47] Deane, pp. 370-373.\n\n[48] Deane, pp. 446, 447.\n\n[49] \u201cTree and Serpent-worship,\u201d by James Fergusson, (edit. 1868.)\n\n[50] \u201cAsiatic Researches,\u201d Vol. XX. p. 85.\n\n[51] Fergusson, \u201cTree and Serpent-worship,\u201d p. 93.\n\n[52] \u201cWe know,\u201d says Mr. Fergusson, \u201cthat two of the principal Vedic\ngods--Indra (the firmament) and Agni (fire)--were adopted into their\npantheon by the early Buddhists, and it seems more reasonable to connect\nthis appearance of fire with the pre-existing worship of Agni than with\nany far-fetched allusion to solar worship.\u201d But what was Agni but a type\nof the sun?\n\n[53] Col. Meadows Taylor, Appendix to Fergusson\u2019s \u201cTree and\nSerpent-worship,\u201d pp. 236, 237.\n\n[54] John Williams, \u201cMissionary Enterprises,\u201d p. 48.\n\n[55] Rev. J. Williams, \u201cMissionary Enterprises,\u201d pp. 143-146 (edit. 1841.)\n\n[56] \u201cSouth Sea Bubbles,\u201d by the Earl and the Doctor, pp. 114-117.\n\n[57] R. F. Burton, \u201cLake Regions of Equatorial Africa.\u201d\n\n[58] Tennyson.\n\n[59] Cooper, pp. 102, 104.\n\n[60] Cooper, p. 105.\n\n[61] Dishes.\n\n[62] Empty.\n\n[63] Puffed.\n\n[64] Ash, or cinder.\n\n[65] Saucy child.\n\n[66] The unbounded good fortune of Polycrates, King of Samos, awakened the\nfear of his friend, Amasis, King of Egypt, who wrote to warn him of the\njealousy of the gods:--\n\n  \u201cThis counsel of thy friend disdain not--\n          Invoke Adversity!\n  And what of all thy worldly gear,\n  Thy deepest heart esteems most dear,\n          Cast into yonder sea!\u201d\n\n[67] Calcutta Review, LI. iii.\n\n[68] Calcutta Review, LI., 118. In the Gaelic we find a similar story,\ncalled \u201cMoorochug and Meenachug.\u201d\n\n[69] We have Anglicised Mr. Dalyell\u2019s version. See his \u201cDarker\nSuperstitions of Scotland,\u201d p. 22. (Edit. 1835.)\n\n[70] This is the subject of D. G. Rossetti\u2019s fine poem, \u201cThe King\u2019s\nTragedy.\u201d\n\n[71] At the beginning of the action he had taken his place in front of his\nlittle band of cavalry. He bade them follow him, and rode forward. But it\nseemed to be decreed that, on that day, the lowland Scotch should in both\narmies appear to disadvantage. The horse hesitated. Dundee turned round,\nstood up in his stirrups, and, waving his hat, invited them to come on. As\nhe lifted his arm, his cuirass rose, and exposed the lower part of his\nleft side. A musket ball struck him: his horse sprang forward, and plunged\ninto a cloud of smoke and dust, which hid from both armies the fall of the\nvictorious general. A person named Johnstone was near him, and caught him\nas he sank down from the saddle. \u201cHow goes the day?\u201d said Dundee. \u201cWell\nfor King James,\u201d answered Johnstone; \u201cbut I am sorry for your lordship.\u201d\n\u201cIf it is well for him,\u201d answered the dying man, \u201cit matters the less for\nme.\u201d He never spoke again: but when, half an hour later, Lord Dunfermline\nand some other friends came to the spot, they thought that they could\nstill discover some faint remains of life. The body, wrapped up in two\nplaids, was carried to the Castle of Blair.--_Macaulay_, chap. xiii.\n\n[72] \u00c6neid. lib. vii. l. 87.\n\n[73] Milton.","title":"Curiosities of Superstition, and Sketches of Some Unrevealed Religions","tradition":"folklore-oral-tradition","translated_text":null,"word_count":120122}