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-The Project Gutenberg eBook, Curiosities of Superstition, by W. H.
-Davenport Adams
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-Title: Curiosities of Superstition
-       And Sketches of Some Unrevealed Religions
-
-
-Author: W. H. Davenport Adams
-
-
-
-Release Date: December 5, 2012  [eBook #41566]
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-***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CURIOSITIES OF SUPERSTITION***
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@@ -12172,362 +12137,4 @@ plaids, was carried to the Castle of Blair.--_Macaulay_, chap. xiii.
 
 [73] Milton.
 
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+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 41566 ***
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-The Project Gutenberg eBook, Curiosities of Superstition, by W. H.
-Davenport Adams
-
-
-This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
-almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
-re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
-with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
-
-
-
-
-
-Title: Curiosities of Superstition
-       And Sketches of Some Unrevealed Religions
-
-
-Author: W. H. Davenport Adams
-
-
-
-Release Date: December 5, 2012  [eBook #41566]
-
-Language: English
-
-Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
-
-
-***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CURIOSITIES OF SUPERSTITION***
-
-
-E-text prepared by the Online Distributed Proofreading Team
-(http://www.pgdp.net) from page images generously made available by
-Internet Archive (http://archive.org)
-
-
-
-Note: Images of the original pages are available through
-      Internet Archive. See
-      http://archive.org/details/curiositiesofsup00adam
-
-
-Transcriber's note:
-
-      The original text includes Greek words or phrases that have
-      been replaced with transliterations and displayed in this form:
-      [Greek: transliteration].
-
-      The original text includes Arabic characters that have been
-      replaced with [Arabic].
-
-
-
-
-
-CURIOSITIES OF SUPERSTITION,
-
-And Sketches of some Unrevealed Religions.
-
-by
-
-W. H. DAVENPORT ADAMS,
-
-Author of "Heroes of the Cross," etc.
-
-  "To my mind there is no study more absorbing than that of
-  the Religions of the World,--the study, if I may so call
-  it, of the various languages in which man has spoken to
-  his Maker, and of that language in which his Maker 'at
-  sundry times and in divers manners' spake to man."--MAX MÜLLER.
-
-  "Primus in orbe Deos fecit timor."--STATIUS, _Thebaid_, 661.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-London:
-J. Masters and Co., 78, New Bond Street.
-MDCCCLXXXII.
-
-London:
-Printed by J. Masters and Co.,
-Albion Buildings, Bartholomew Close.
-
-
-
-
-CONTENTS.
-
-
-  CHAPTER                                                             PAGE
-
-      I. BUDDHISM, ITS ORIGIN AND CEREMONIES                             1
-
-     II. MAGIANISM: THE PARSEES                                         43
-
-    III. JEWISH SUPERSTITIONS                                           68
-
-     IV. BRAHMANISM                                                     84
-
-      V. HINDU MYTHOLOGY, AND THE VISHNU PURANA                         99
-
-     VI. IN CHINA: CONFUCIANISM, TAOUISM, AND BUDDHISM                 119
-
-    VII. AMONG THE MALAYS, THE SLAMATAN BROMOK, THE DYAKS, THE
-         PAPUAN TRIBES, THE AHETAS                                     142
-
-   VIII. THE SAVAGE RACES OF ASIA: THE SAMOJEDES; THE MONGOLS;
-         THE OSTIAKS; IN TIBET                                         155
-
-     IX. SOME AFRICAN SUPERSTITIONS                                    171
-
-      X. THE ZULU WITCH-FINDERS                                        180
-
-     XI. ZABIANISM AND SERPENT-WORSHIP                                 186
-
-    XII. POLYNESIAN SUPERSTITIONS                                      214
-
-   XIII. THE FIJI ISLANDERS                                            230
-
-    XIV. THE RELIGION OF THE MAORIES                                   241
-
-     XV. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS                                    254
-
-    XVI. AMONG THE ESKIMOS                                             274
-
-   XVII. A MEDIÆVAL SUPERSTITION: THE FLAGELLANTS                      279
-
-  XVIII. SCOTTISH SUPERSTITIONS: HALLOWEEN                             288
-
-    XIX. SECOND SIGHT: DIVINATION: UNIVERSALITY OF CERTAIN
-         SUPERSTITIONS: FAIRIES IN SCOTLAND                            300
-
-
-
-
-CURIOSITIES OF SUPERSTITION.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER I.
-
-_BUDDHISM: ITS ORIGIN AND CEREMONIES._
-
-
-PRAYER-WHEELS OF THE BUDDHISTS.
-
-Travelling on the borders of Chinese Tartary, in the country of the Lamas
-or Buddhists, Miss Gordon Cumming remarks that it was strange, every now
-and again, to meet some respectable-looking workman, twirling little brass
-cylinders, only about six inches in length, which were incessantly
-spinning round and round as they walked along the road. What could they
-be? Not pedometers, not any of the trigonometrical instruments with which
-the officers of the Ordnance Survey go about armed? No; she was informed
-that they were prayer-wheels, and that turning them was just about
-equivalent to the telling of beads, which in Continental lands workmen may
-often be seen counting as homeward along the road they plod their weary
-way.
-
-The telling of beads seems to the Protestant a superfluous piece of
-formalism: what then are we to think of prayer by machinery? The prayers,
-or rather invocations, to Buddha--the Buddhists never pray, in the
-Christian sense--are all closely written upon strips of cloth or paper;
-the same sentence being repeated some thousands of times. These strips are
-placed inside a cylinder, revolving on a long spindle, the end of which is
-the handle. From the wind-cylinder depends a small lump of metal, which,
-whirling round, communicates the necessary impetus to the little machine,
-so that it rotates with the slightest possible effort, and continues to
-grind any required number of acts of worship, while the owner, with the
-plaything in his hand, carries on his daily work. His religion requires
-that he should be all his time immersed in holy contemplation of the
-perfections of Buddha, but to a busy man no such self-absorption is
-possible. He is content, therefore, to say the sentences aloud at the
-beginning and end of his devotions, and in the interval twirls slowly,
-while a tiny bell marks each rotation, and reminds him if he should
-unconsciously quicken his pace.
-
-Tennyson finely speaks of Prayer as that by which
-
-  "The whole round world is every way
-  Bound by gold chains around the feet of GOD;"
-
-but no such efficacy can be ascribed to the cylinders of brass, copper, or
-gold, which are fashionable among the Buddhists. Yet we must not condemn
-too unreservedly: Prayer, even among Christians, is apt to degenerate into
-a dull, mechanical uniformity, and to become scarcely less perfunctory
-than that which the Tibetans grind out of their prayer-machine.
-
-In a Lama temple, Miss Gordon Cumming once saw a colossal prayer-wheel,
-which might almost have sufficed for the necessities of a nation. It was
-turned by a great iron crank, which acted as a handle. The cylinder
-measured about twelve feet in height, and six to eight feet in diameter.
-Circular bands of gold and vermilion adorned it, each band bearing the
-well-known Buddhist ascription, or invocation, "To the jewel on the
-Lotus." Of this inscription, multiplied on strips of paper and cloth, the
-cylinder was full, and each time that it revolved on its axis, the devotee
-was accredited with having uttered the pious invocation just as often as
-it was repeated within the cylinder. The whole history of Superstition
-offers scarcely any fact more curious or suggestive than this method of
-prayer by machinery; and that such a grotesque extravagance should have
-emanated from so subtle and metaphysical a faith as Buddhism is an anomaly
-not easily to be explained.
-
-Each votary who is too poor to possess a prayer-wheel of his own, attends
-the temple, does homage to the head Lama, receives his benediction, and
-then, squatting in front of the great wheel, he turns the crank on behalf
-of himself and his family. But if there be a considerable number of
-worshippers, the priest himself works the handle, that all may participate
-simultaneously in the act of prayer.
-
-The use of these machines is traced back for fully fourteen centuries, and
-is supposed to have originated in the belief that it was a meritorious
-act, and a patent cure for sin, to be continually reading or reciting
-portions of the sacred books of Buddha. But as many of the people could
-not read, a substitute had to be found, and it came to be considered
-sufficient if they turned over the rolled manuscripts which embodied the
-invaluable precepts. And as a vast amount of time and trouble was saved by
-this process, a further simplification became possible and popular,--the
-invention of wheels termed _Tehu-Chor_,--great cylindrical bands full of
-prayers; a cord being attached to the base of the band, which, when the
-cord was pulled, twirled like a children's toy. Prayer-wheels of this kind
-are set up in all public places in Tibet, so that the poor who do not
-possess little pocket Wheels of Devotion may not lose their chance of
-accumulating merit. In some of the monasteries the rows of small cylinders
-are so arranged, that the priest, or any passer-by can set them all in
-simultaneous motion, by just drawing his hand along them.
-
-According to Miss Cumming, who is confirmed by other travellers, the
-cylinders vary in size, from tiny hand-mills, about as big as a
-policeman's rattle, to huge machines, eight or ten feet in diameter,
-worked by a heavy iron crank, or sometimes by wind or water power. The
-wind prayer-mills are turned by wings, which, like the cylinder, are
-plentifully covered with prayers. The water-mills are placed over streams,
-so as to dispense with human aid, and allow the running water to turn them
-for the general welfare of the village. Through the cylinder passes a
-wooden axle, which is fastened to a horizontal wheel, whose cogs are
-turned diagonally to the water.
-
-"One such group of little mills we noticed," says Miss Cumming,[1] "set in
-a clear stream half-way between Rarung and Pangi, a lively, rapid river,
-rushing headlong down the mountain side to join the Sutlej. Having never
-then heard of prayer-mills, we assumed them to be for corn, as perhaps
-they were. At all events, we passed them without inspection, to our
-subsequent infinite regret. These wheels rotate with the action of the
-water, and so turn the cylinder, which must invariably stand upright.
-Sometimes several of these are placed almost across the stream, and the
-rudest form of temple is built over them.
-
-"They are so placed that the wheel must invariably turn from right to
-left, following the course of the sun; to invert that course would not
-only involve ill-luck, but would amount to being a sin. Hence the
-exceeding unwillingness of the people we met to let us tend their little
-wheels, knowing from sad experience that the English sahibs rather enjoy
-the fun of turning them the wrong way, and so undoing the efficacy of all
-their morning's work.
-
-"Some of the little pocket cylinders are very beautifully wrought; some
-are even inlaid with precious stones. I saw one great beauty which I
-coveted exceedingly. The owner would on no account sell it. I returned to
-the temple next morning, wishing at least to make a drawing of it, but I
-think he mistrusted me, for he and his plaything had both vanished, and I
-had to be content with a much simpler one of bronze, inlaid with copper.
-The people have the greatest reluctance to sell even the ugliest old
-mills. They cling to them as lovingly as you might do to your dear old
-Bible; but, as I said before, not merely from the charm of association,
-but from a dread lest a careless hand should turn them against the sun,
-and so change their past acts of merit into positive sin. So there was a
-great deal of talk, and many irons in the fire, before I was allowed to
-purchase two of these, at a price which would have supplied half the
-village with new ones."
-
-The prayer-mill sometimes contains the Tibetan prayer, or litany, for the
-six classes of living creatures, namely, the souls in heaven, the evil
-spirits in the air, men, animals, souls in purgatory, and souls in hell;
-but, as a rule, the Lama worship begins and ends in the famous inscription
-to which we have already alluded--_Aum Mani Padmi Hoong_ (to the jewel in
-the lotus.) These mystic words are raised in embossed letters on the
-exterior of the cylinder, and are closely written on strips of paper
-inside. All the sacred places are covered with them; the face of the rock,
-the walls of the temple; just as the Alhambra glitters with its
-_azulejos_, its blazoned inscriptions from the Kúran.
-
-This mystic sentence is composed as follows: _Aum_ or _Om_, equivalent to
-the Hebrew JAH or JEHOVAH, the most glorious title of the Almighty;
-_Mani_, the jewel, one of Buddha's appellations; _Padmi_, the lotus, in
-allusion to his lotus-throne; and _Hoong_, synonymous with _Amen_. The
-Buddhists regard this "six-syllabled" charm as a talisman of never-failing
-efficacy; but by some of the sects it is more or less varied. For
-instance: the Chinese Fo-ists read it as _Aum-mi-to-fuh_, which is also
-one of Buddha's titles; and every devout Fo-ist aims at repeating it at
-least three hundred thousand times in the course of his life. Some of
-their priests will shut themselves up in the temples for months at a time,
-and devote themselves to the dreary task of repetition, hour after hour,
-day and night. Sometimes, ten or twelve devotees will voluntarily
-sequester themselves, and continue all day to cry aloud in chorus; and at
-night they undertake the task successively, one person droning through the
-monotonous chant while the others sleep. Thus do they think to be heard
-for their much speaking! Similar excesses of formalism, however, are
-recorded in the history of mediæval Christianity,--in the biographies of
-saints and ascetics who have substituted for a practical Christianity and
-the active performance of social duties the dreary vanity of an
-unprofitable solitude, spent in the discharge of useless penances.
-
-The Buddhist prayer which is consecrated to Buddha as the Chakravarta
-Rajah, or King of the Wheel, proves, on examination, to be closely related
-to that Sun-worship which prevailed in the early ages of the world. The
-wheel is, in many creeds, the symbol of the sun's chariot, that is, of the
-revolution of the heavenly bodies. In a sculpture, nearly two thousand
-years old, on the Bilsah Tepe, Buddha is represented simply by a wheel,
-overshadowed by the mystic _chattah_, or golden umbrella, which is a
-common emblem of his power. His worshippers are represented as making
-their offerings to the King of the Wheel. "This sacred Wheel of the Law,
-or Wheel of Faith, is found again and again among the fain and Buddhist
-sculptures in the caves of Ellora and Ajunta, in most cases projecting in
-front of Buddha's Lotus-Throne. In one instance an astronomical table is
-carved above the wheel. In another it is supported on either side by a
-stag, supposed to represent the fleetness wherewith the sun runs his daily
-circuit, 'going forth from the uttermost part of the heaven, and running
-about unto the end of it again.'"
-
-
-THE HINDU TEMPLES.
-
-Visiting the Temples at Hardwar, one of the sacred cities of India, Miss
-Gordon Cumming remarks upon the number of their hideous idols, painted and
-carved, their multitudinous brass bells, their brazen horns, their sacred
-courts all covered with elaborate carving, and their mythological
-sculptures.
-
-She says:--"I frankly confess that there is something startling in the
-rapidity with which one gets quite at home amongst all this paraphernalia
-of heathenism, and how very soon idolatry ceases to shock the mind, and
-becomes merely a curious study with picturesque adjuncts. Six months
-previously the sight of a veritable temple with its hideous idols and
-devout worshippers was a thing from which one shrank in shuddering pity."
-But she soon became a connoisseur, and "lounged from one temple to
-another, inspecting jewels and exquisite stone carving, and anything
-wonderful the priests had to show, and quite forgot to be shocked, it was
-all so perfectly natural, and seemed so entirely in keeping with the
-tastes of the people." In this remark there is a wonderful _naïveté_; for
-it may reasonably be supposed that the tastes of the people would be in
-accord with a religion which, during its career of two thousand years,
-must have exercised so great an influence in forming them!
-
-In some of the temples, according to the same writer, there are sacred
-bulls, carved in white marble and adorned with costly necklaces. In others
-the attendant priests spend the whole day in pouring single drops of
-precious oil on holy pebbles brought from the Nerbudda and other sacred
-streams, and here arranged in little trays. Amongst the privileged
-inhabitants are the monkeys, who frolic about incessantly with their
-babies in their arms, or sitting on their backs, and twining their little
-arms round the parental necks.
-
-The ceremonies in the different temples are, on the whole, very similar;
-and the following description, taken from the Rão Mãlã, applies, except in
-minor details, to all.
-
-The day is marked by five services: the first at sunrise, when bells are
-rung in the temple, and drums or conch-shells sounded, to rouse the Du, or
-god, from his slumbers. After performing copious ablutions, the
-officiating priest enters the holy place, and swings before the idol a
-lamp with five or seven branches. An hour or two later, the Du is attired
-in raiment appropriate to the season. He wears a quilted coat in cold
-weather, and has a lighted brazier placed beside him; whereas, in hot
-weather, he is anointed with sandal-wood dust and water, clothed in fine
-linen, and decked out with gems and flowers. Placed close to a cool
-fountain, he is assiduously fanned by his attendants. In rainy weather, he
-is wrapped about in scarlet cloth and shawls. When he is dressed, a light
-breakfast of rice and milk is served up, and his votaries perform "the
-sixteen acts of worship." At noon a third service takes place. The Du is
-again rubbed with oil of sandal-wood, or sandal-dust and water, and
-adorned with fresh flowers. The lamps are trimmed; incense is burned; and
-his dinner is set before him: after which he is supposed to indulge in his
-noonday sleep, and profound silence is maintained throughout the temple.
-
-At three in the afternoon a drum beats, and the god awakes! His attendants
-hasten to serve fruits and sweetmeats, and perform various games for his
-amusement. At sunset he is enshrined: his feet are basted, he is sprinkled
-with water, his mouth is washed, and another offering is made of
-sandal-wood dust, and flowers, and incense. He is once more clothed; an
-elaborate dinner is spread before him; betel leaves are presented; and
-again the many-branched candlestick is waved, while all the votaries
-present for the second time perform "the sixteen acts of worship."
-
-The last service takes place at night, when the image is supposed to sup
-on bread and water. After receiving the usual oblations of incense and
-flowers, he is undressed, and if he be movable, put to bed, or if not, is
-warmly covered with shawls and quilts.
-
-Not the least remarkable objects in the Hindu temples are their great
-statues of bulls in marble or in metal. It is worthy of note that "in the
-great Brazen Laver, which Solomon was commanded to make for the use of the
-Temple at Jerusalem, the symbols selected for the adornment of that
-consecrated Molten Sea should have been those which in later ages were to
-hold so prominent a place in the symbolism of faiths so widely spread as
-those of Brahma and Buddha. That huge laver was supported by twelve oxen
-of cast metal, three looking to each point of the compass, while the brim
-of the great sea itself was all wrought with flowers of lilies, much the
-same as the pattern of lotus or water-lily with which the shrine of Buddha
-is invariably edged." The bull is another symbol which seems to connect
-the creed of the Hindu with the old nature-worship; for the vernal equinox
-takes place when the sun enters the sign of Taurus, and this event was
-always and everywhere a signal for feasting and rejoicing.
-
-But, as Max Müller observes, the ancient religion of the Aryan inhabitants
-of India started, like the religion of Greece and Rome, of the Germans,
-Slavs, and Celts, with a simple and intelligible mythological
-phraseology.[2] In the Veda, the names of all the so-called gods or Devas
-undisguisedly betray their original physical character and meaning. Under
-the name of Agni (ignis) was praised and invoked the fire; the earth by
-that of Prithvî (the brave); the sky by the name of Dyu (Zeus, Jupiter),
-and afterwards of Indra; the firmament and the waters by the name of
-[Greek: Ouranos]. Under many appellations was the sun invoked, such as
-Sûrya, Savitri, Vishnu, or Mitra; and the dawn by the titles of Ushas,
-Urvasî, Ahanâ, and Sûrya. Nor was the moon forgotten: for though not often
-mentioned under its usual name of Kandra, reference is made to it under
-its more sacred appellation of Soma; and a particular denomination was
-reserved for each of its phases. There is hardly any fact of nature, if it
-could impress the human mind in any way with the ideas of a higher power,
-of order, eternity, or beneficence,--whether the woods, or the rivers, or
-the trees, or the mountains,--without a name and representative in the
-early Hindu Pantheon. No doubt there existed in the human mind, from the
-very beginning, something, whether we call it a suspicion, an innate idea,
-an intuition, or a sense of the Divine. What distinguishes man from the
-rest of the animal creation is chiefly his ineradicable feeling of
-dependence and reliance upon some higher power; that consciousness of
-bondage, from which the very name of "religion" was derived. "It is He
-that hath made us, and not we ourselves." The presence of that power was
-felt everywhere, and nowhere more clearly and strongly than in the rising
-and setting of the sun, in the change of day and night, of spring and
-winter, of birth and death. But although the Divine Presence was felt
-everywhere, it was impossible, in that early period of thought, and with a
-language incapable as yet of defining anything but material objects, to
-conceive the idea of God in its purity and fulness, or to assign to it an
-adequate and worthy expression.
-
-It must also be remembered that the influence of the genius and forces of
-Nature would necessarily be greater in an age when the human mind was
-occupied by few objects of thought, than now when it ranges over the whole
-world of art and science. Moreover, to the eye of ignorance everything
-seems large and portentous, or dim and inscrutable. The fire from heaven,
-the reverberating thunder, the gale that crashed down the mountain ravines
-and felled great trees before it, the planetary bodies steadily revolving
-in their courses, the stream with its glow and its ripple, the dense
-shadows of the haunted forest, the recurring rush and roll of the
-sea,--all these were things which for early man had a constant novelty and
-strangeness, and seemed incessantly to claim his reverent consideration.
-He could not account for them: whether a bane or a delight they were
-equally unintelligible. They represented, therefore, some Power which he
-could regard only with awe and reverence. And of that Power the sun would
-necessarily be the chief type and symbol. All life and love seemed
-dependent upon it. The trees throve, and the flowers bloomed, and the
-banks rippled, and the birds sang, and the harvests ripened, through the
-sun. It was the source of light and heat, of the vigour and activity of
-nature. While it shone men's hearts leaped with joy, and the wheels of
-labour revolved with pleasant toil; but when it disappeared, and the
-darkness usurped the heavens, the spirits sank, and humanity felt in the
-change of scene a presentiment and presage of the darkness of death. All
-vitality, all motion centred in the sun. "It was like a deep furrow," says
-Max Müller, "which that heavenly luminary drew, in its silent procession
-from east to west, over the fallow mind of the gazing multitude; and in
-the impression left there by the first rising and setting of the sun,
-there lay the dark seed of a faith in a more than human being, the first
-intimation of a life without beginning, of a world without end." Who can
-wonder that the Chaldean, and the Celt, alike ascended to the high places,
-and paid their worship of symbolic fires to the great fountain of life and
-light, the central force of the universe? Who can wonder that all the
-Aryan tribes made it, so to speak, the nucleus of their religious systems?
-The Hindu peasant, centuries ago, addressed it in his heart in much the
-same language which Gawain Douglas afterwards employed. As its glorious
-orb rose above the gleaming horizon, he sent forth to it a message of
-welcome:
-
-  "Welcome, the lord of light and lamp of day;
-  Welcome, fosterer of tender herbis green;
-  Welcome, quickener of flourished flowers' sheen;
-  Welcome, support of every root and vein;
-  Welcome, comfort of all kind fruits and grain;
-  Welcome, the bird's green beild upon the brier;
-  Welcome, master and ruler of the year;
-  Welcome, welfare of husbands at the ploughs;
-  Welcome, repairer of woods, trees, and boughs;
-  Welcome, depainter of the bloomit meads;
-  Welcome, the life of everything that spreads."
-
-And because it was all this, and more, the Hindu saw in it something
-greater than a mere luminary,--a planetary body; he endowed it with Divine
-attributes, he made it a god, he gave it his worship, and by an elaborate
-symbolism kept it ever before him.
-
-A necessary consequence of this deification of the sun was the
-deification of the other bodies that shared with him the firmament; but as
-they were inferior in splendour and utility, they naturally became
-recognized as inferior gods. And when once the religious feeling of
-humanity had gone thus far, its further development became only a question
-of time. The homage given to the stars was soon extended to the winds and
-streams and groves. A legion of gods sprang into existence, and for a
-while they seemed to satisfy the needs and aspirations of humanity. But as
-the thoughts of men expanded, as their intellect ripened with the ages,
-and grew strong enough to doubt, and bold enough to question the
-conclusions of the common faith, a revolt took place against "the
-contradictions of a mythological phraseology, though it had been hallowed
-by sacred customs and traditions." Men grew tired of so complex and
-cumbrous a religious system, and having observed a definite fundamental
-unity of nature in spite of the diversity of its operations, they came to
-believe in a similar unity of the Divine Power. The idea of a supreme
-authority once entertained, men soon understood that supremacy meant
-oneness; that if there were a God over all, He must be one and
-indivisible. One of the earliest proclamations of this sublime truth is
-found in the Rig-Veda, which says:[3]--
-
-"That which is one the sages speak of in many ways--they call it Agni,
-Yama, Malarisvan."
-
-And again:[4]--
-
-"In the beginning there came the Source of golden light--He was the only
-true Lord of all that is--He stablished the earth and this sky:--Who is
-God to whom we shall offer our sacrifice?
-
-"He who gives life, He who gives strength; whose blessing all the bright
-gods desire; whose shadow is immortality; whose shadow is death:--Who is
-the God to whom we shall offer our sacrifice?
-
-"He who through His power is the only King of the breathing and awakening
-world; He who governs all, man and beast:--Who is the God to whom we shall
-offer our sacrifice?
-
-"He whose power these snowy mountains, whose power the sea proclaims,
-with the distant river--He whose these regions are, as it were, His two
-arms:--Who is the God to whom we shall offer our sacrifice?
-
-"He through whom the sky is bright and the earth firm--He through whom
-heaven was stablished--nay, the highest heaven--He who measured out the
-light in the air:--Who is the God to whom we shall offer our sacrifice?
-
-"He to whom heaven and earth, standing firm by His will, look up,
-trembling inwardly--He over whom the rising sun shines forth:--Who is the
-GOD to whom we shall offer our sacrifice?
-
-"Wherever the mighty water-clouds went, where they placed the reed and lit
-the fire, thence even He, who is the only life of the bright gods:--Who is
-the GOD to whom we shall offer our sacrifice?
-
-"He, who of His might looked even over the water-clouds, the clouds which
-gave strength and lit the sacrifice, He _who is God above all gods_:--Who
-is the God to whom we shall offer our sacrifice?
-
-"May He not destroy us--He the creator of the earth; or He, the righteous,
-who created Heaven; He who also created the bright and mighty waters:--Who
-is the God to whom we shall offer our sacrifice?"
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-The creed of a plurality of gods was one that carried in itself the seeds
-of its destruction. But there was another cause of weakness in their
-mortal attributes. Deriving their existence from the life of nature, they
-were subject to the accidents which that life involved. Thus, the sun at
-noonday might glow with splendour, but at night it was conquered by the
-shadows, and in winter it seemed to yield to some stronger Power. The moon
-waxed and waned, and was frequently eclipsed. As nature is subject to
-change, so also must be the gods that represent its forces and aspects.
-Such instability, such inherent weakness could not long satisfy the human
-mind; having risen to the height of the idea of one God, it next demanded
-that that God should be immutable. What rest, what contentment would it
-find in the supposition of deities as changeful as the winds? Tossed about
-by the currents of passion and feeling, buffeted by adverse circumstances,
-the soul yearns intensely for something fixed, something absolute,
-something unaffected by vicissitude, and finds it in the Divine Being, the
-same to-day as yesterday, and the same to-morrow as to-day.
-
-These two opposite principles did not come into immediate collision; the
-priests of heathendom laboured long and earnestly to avert such a
-catastrophe. In Greece they succeeded by transferring the mortal or
-changeable element from "the gods" to "the heroes."[5] The human details
-in the characters and lives of Zeus and Apollon were transferred to the
-demi-gods or heroes represented as the sons or favourites of the gods. The
-two-fold character of Herakles as a god and a hero is recognized even by
-Herodotus; and indeed, some of the epithets applied to him sufficiently
-indicate his solar and originally divine personality. But to make some of
-the solar myths of which Herakles was the centre intelligible and
-conceivable, it became needful to depict Herakles as a mere human being,
-and to raise him to the seat of the Immortals only after he had endured
-toils and sufferings incompatible with the dignity of an Olympian
-divinity.
-
-In Peru the same treatment was adopted, but with different results. A
-thinking, or, as he was called, a free-thinking Inca, remarked that the
-sun's perpetual travelling--he knew nothing, of course, of the Copernican
-theory--was a sign of servitude, and he threw doubts on the divine nature
-of aught so restless as the great luminary appeared to him to be. These
-doubts led to a tradition, which, even if unhistorical was not wholly
-untrue, that in Peru had existed an earlier worship--that of an Invisible
-Deity, the Creator of the World--Pachacamac.
-
-"In Greece, also, there are signs of a similar craving after the 'Unknown
-God.' A supreme God was wanted, and Zeus, the stripling of Creta, was
-raised to that rank. He became God above all gods--[Greek: hapantôn
-kyrios], as Pindar calls him. Yet more was wanted than a mere Zeus; and
-then a supreme Fate or Spell was imagined before which all the gods, and
-even Zeus, had to bow. And even this Fate was not allowed to remain
-supreme, and there was something in the destinies of man which was called
-[Greek: hypermoron] or 'beyond Fate.' The most awful solution, however,
-of the problem belongs to Teutonic mythology. Here, also, some heroes were
-introduced; but their death was only the beginning of the final
-catastrophe. 'All gods must die.' Such is the last word of that religion
-which had grown up in the forests of Germany, and found a last refuge
-among the glaciers and volcanoes of Iceland. The death of Sigurd, the
-descendant of Odin, could not avert the death of Balder, the son of Odin,
-and the death of Balder was soon to be followed by the death of Odin
-himself, and of all the immortal gods."
-
-Such a catastrophe was inevitable, so that Prometheus, the man of
-forethought, could safely predict the fall of Zeus.[6]
-
-A similar issue was worked out in India, but with this difference; that
-the seeming triumph of reason threatened to end in the destruction of all
-religious belief. At the outset no vehement contention took place. On the
-basis of the old mythology arose two new formations,--the Brahmanical
-philosophy and the Brahmanical ceremonial; the former opening up all
-avenues of philosophical inquiry, the latter immuring religious sentiment
-and sympathy within the narrowest possible barriers. Both, however,
-claimed to find their origin and antiquity in the sacred book of the Veda.
-
-It was in the sixteenth or fifteenth century before CHRIST that the
-Brahmans, a branch of the white Aryans, passed into Hindustan from the
-north-west, and mixed with a more numerous race of coloured and barbarous
-aborigines. Among their immigrants the sacerdotal and the royal or noble
-classes already occupied an authoritative and a distinct position; and
-soon after their settlement in India, the lower classes, by a natural
-process, sank into the markedly inferior condition of the aborigines. Thus
-was established a singularly rigorous system of caste,--the priesthood
-and the aristocracy combining to oppress and keep down the two inferior
-orders of the Brahmans and the aborigines. Intermarriage was strictly
-forbidden, and every device adopted which could be made useful in
-strengthening and perpetuating the class-distinction.
-
-This revolution in the social world assisted the revolution in the
-religious; and the educated classes rapidly abandoned their nature worship
-in favour of the idea of an infinite and everlasting Godhead, which soared
-far above the feeblenesses and sins of humanity. To become one with this
-Godhead by throwing off the personality linked with a mind that was mean
-and miserable, thenceforth constituted the religious aspiration of the
-Brahman. And in attaining this object he was instructed to seek the help
-of the Brahmanical priesthood; nay, he was taught that without that help
-he would never succeed, and for this purpose a complex and comprehensive
-ceremonial was enjoined upon him. From his cradle to his grave it dogged
-his footsteps. Put forward as a stay and support, it was really a clog, an
-encumbrance. Not an event in his life could take place for which a formula
-of praise or prayer was not invented. Thanksgiving and sacrifice were
-alike minutely regulated. For the benefit of the inferior castes the old
-Pantheon of gods and demons had been retained, and the priesthood allotted
-to each his share of the worshipper's offerings and oblations. Each was
-represented as insisting so strongly on certain observances, and punishing
-so heavily any neglect or violation of them, that the votary feared to
-approach their shrine unless under the protection and guidance of their
-priests. Otherwise he might unwittingly rush into all kinds of sins. They
-alone knew what food might be eaten, what dress might be worn, what god
-might be addressed, what sacrifice paid. An error in pronunciation, a
-mistake about clarified butter, an unauthorised arrangement of raiment or
-hair, might involve the unassisted worshipper in pains and penalties of
-the most awful character. Never was so complete and absolute a ceremonial
-system known as that by which the Hindu priesthood obtained an entire
-mastery over the Hindu people. Never was any law more minute in its
-provisions, or more Draconic in the severity with which it punished their
-violation.
-
-Yet, strange to say, this ceremonial did not interfere with liberty of
-thought. Any amount of heresy was compatible with its observance. A man
-might think as he liked so long as he complied with its various
-conditions. In some of the Brahmanical schools of thought the names of the
-devs or gods were never heard; in others their existence was ignored, was
-virtually contradicted. Thus, one philosophical system maintained the
-existence of a single Supreme Being, and asserted that everything else
-which seemed to exist was but a dream and an illusion which might and
-would be dispelled by a true knowledge of the One God. Another contended
-for two principles,--first, a Mind, subjective and self-existent; second,
-Matter endowed with qualities; and explained that the world with its cloud
-and sunshine, its sorrows and joys, was the result of the subjective self,
-reflected in the mirror of Matter, and that the freedom of the soul could
-be secured only by diverting the gaze from the shows and phantasms of
-Nature, and becoming absorbed in the knowledge of the true and absolute
-self. A third system allowed the existence of atoms, and referred every
-effect, including the elements and the mind, gods, men, and animals to
-their fortuitous concourse. This was identical with the Lucretian system,
-which in its turn was related to the Epicurean. Hence it has been said
-that the history of the philosophy of India is an abridgment of the
-history of philosophy. Each of these systems was traced back to the sacred
-books of the Vedas, Brâhmanas and Upanishads; and those who believed in
-any one of them was considered as orthodox as the most devout worshipper
-of Agni,--if the latter were saved by works and faith, the former was
-saved by faith and knowledge,--a distinction not unknown in the Christian
-philosophy.[7]
-
-Out of this condition of the Hindu mind arose Buddhism, springing from it
-as naturally as the flower from the seed.
-
-The remarkable man[8] who founded this wide-spread religion is reputed to
-have been a prince of the name of Siddhartha, son of Suddhodana, king of
-Kapilavastu, a territory supposed to have been situated on the borders of
-Oudh and Nipal. He is often called Sakya, after his family, and also
-Gautama, from the great "Solar" race of which the family was a branch.[9]
-Having at an early age exhibited an ascetic and contemplative tendency,
-his father fearing he might be induced to abandon his high station as
-Kshatriga, found him a wife in a princess of great personal charms, and
-involved him in all the pomp and luxury of a magnificent court. But
-Siddhartha drank of the cup only to taste the bitter in the draught; and
-each year's experience of the world convinced him of its inability to
-satisfy the aspirations of the soul; so that, like Solomon, he would
-exclaim, "Vanity, vanity, all is vanity." The joys of life could not
-render him forgetful of its sorrows. The thought would force itself upon
-him that at any moment he might be afflicted with some loathsome or
-torturing disease; that his friends might be suddenly snatched away; that
-however sunny and bright the present, it could not prevent the inevitable
-approach of old age, with its grey hairs, its wrinkled brow, and its
-tottering limbs; and that the moral of the whole show was to be sought in
-the darkness of the grave. Unable to endure any longer the mental conflict
-begotten of his keen sense of the realities as compared with the illusions
-of the world, he stole from the guarded palace, and at the age of 29 or
-30, went forth as a beggar, or religious mendicant, to study in the
-schools of the Brahman priests. He underwent their penances; he mastered
-their philosophy; but dissatisfied with their cumbrous code of
-superstitious ceremonial, he withdrew into the forest, and adopted a
-course of religious asceticism.
-
-This lasted for six or seven years, but brought him no repose. Then he
-resolved on returning once more to human companionship. Beset by the
-Spirit of Evil he fought long and bravely against temptation, and having
-triumphed, prepared to attain the secret of happiness by giving himself up
-to abstruse meditation. Week after week he was absorbed in thought,
-continually investigating the origin of things, and the mystery of
-existence. All the evils under which he, in common with his fellow-men,
-groaned, he traced back to birth. Were we not born, we could not suffer.
-But whence comes birth or continued existence?... We have no room,
-however, to dwell on his processes of thought; enough to say that he came
-to the conclusion that the ultimate cause of existence is ignorance, and
-that the removal of ignorance means, therefore, the termination of
-existence, and of all the pain and sorrow which existence implies and
-induces. Realising this absolute unconsciousness of the outer world in his
-own self, he claimed and assumed the name of the Buddha, or "Enlightened."
-
-The scene of his victory over life and the world received the name of
-Bodhimanda, (the seat of intelligence,) and the tree under which the
-religious reformer sat in his hour of moral and intellectual triumph was
-called Bodhidruma, (the tree of intelligence,) whence Bo-tree. The
-Buddhists believe that it marks the centre of the earth. Hiouen-thsang,
-the Chinese pilgrim, professes to have found the Bodhidruma, or some tree
-that passed for it, twelve hundred years after Buddha's death, at a spot
-near Gaya Proper, in Bahar, where still may be seen an old dagoba, or
-temple, and some considerable ruins.
-
-Having at last attained to a knowledge of the causes of human suffering,
-and of the method of removing and counteracting them, the Buddha felt that
-the task was imposed upon him of communicating that knowledge to others.
-He began "to turn the wheel of the law,"--that is to preach,--at Benares;
-and among his earliest disciples was Bimbisara, the ruler of Magadha. His
-career as a teacher extended over forty years, during which period he
-travelled over almost every part of Northern India, making a large number
-of converts, and firmly establishing his religious system. He died at
-Kusinagara in Oudh, in 543 B.C., at the age of eighty, and his body being
-burned, the relics were distributed among numerous claimants, who raised
-monumental tumuli, or topes, for their preservation.
-
-All the expositions and teachings of the Buddha were oral, and the task of
-committing them to writing was undertaken by the chief of his disciples
-shortly after his death. These canonical books are divided into three
-classes, forming the "Tripitaka," or "three-fold basket." In the first
-class we find the _Soutras_, or Sermons of the Buddha; in the second, the
-_Vinaya_, or book of discipline; in the third, the _Abhidharma_, or
-philosophy. After a period of a century or so, the Buddhist leaders met
-and revised the Tripitaka, and a third revision took place in 250 or 240
-B.C., since which date the text has remained without alteration.
-
-The doctrine of Buddha has been defined as a development of four main
-principles, (or "Sublime Verities.") 1st. That every kind of existence is
-painful and transitory; 2nd. That all existence is the result of passion;
-3rd. That, therefore, the extinction of passion is the one means of escape
-from existence and from the misery necessarily attendant upon it; 4th.
-That all obstacles to this existence must be swept away.
-
-But what is meant by existence? That separation from the general Being of
-the world which is involved in individual life, and in the opposition of
-the subject which thinks, and the object which is thought about. And what
-is meant by its extinction? Not so much annihilation, as the becoming one
-with nature, wherein that form of consciousness which separates subject
-and object is set aside. This extinction Buddha called Nirvâna, or "the
-blowing out of the lamp;" it does not necessarily mean the annihilation of
-consciousness altogether, but only of a finite form of it, which may be as
-the light of a lamp compared with the light of day.
-
-Buddha's doctrine has been stigmatised as Atheism and Nihilism, and was
-unquestionably liable on its metaphysical side to both charges. It was
-Atheistic, not because it denied, for it simply ignored, the existence of
-such gods as Indra and Brahma, but because, like the Sankhya philosophy,
-it admitted but one subjective Self, and considered creation as an
-illusion of that Self, imaging itself for a while in the mirror of Nature.
-If there were no reality in nature, there would be no real Creator.
-
-Says Max Müller,[10] stating with his usual clearness a problem which has
-perplexed most students of the history of religion: "How a religion which
-taught the annihilation of all existence, of all thought, of all
-individuality and personality, as the highest object of all endeavours,
-could have laid hold of the minds of millions of human beings, and how at
-the same time, by enforcing the duties of morality, justice, kindness, and
-self-sacrifice, it could have exercised a decided beneficial influence,
-not only on the natives of India, but on the lowest barbarians of Central
-Asia, is one of the riddles which no philosophy yet has been able to
-solve. The morality which it teaches is not a morality of expediency and
-rewards. Virtue is not enjoined because it necessarily leads to happiness.
-No; virtue is to be practised, but happiness is to be shunned, and the
-only reward for virtue is, that it subdues the passions, and thus prepares
-the human mind for that knowledge which is to end in complete
-annihilation."
-
-Probably no religious system has ever attained a wide-spread influence
-over the minds of men which has held out so few of those inducements most
-alluring to human nature. The idea of complete annihilation might
-recommend itself to a philosopher, but would hardly have been regarded as
-likely to attract the masses. We suppose the explanation is to be found in
-the particularity of ritual enjoined by the Buddhist priests, this
-particularity of ritual having always had a fascination for the multitude.
-
-"There are ten commandments which Buddha imposes on his disciples. They
-are--not to kill, not to steal, not to commit adultery, not to lie, not to
-get intoxicated, to abstain from unseasonable meals, to abstain from
-public spectacles, to abstain from expensive dresses, not to have a large
-bed, not to receive silver or gold. The duties of those who embraced a
-religious life were most severe. They were not allowed to wear any dress
-except rags collected in cemeteries, and these rags they had to sew
-together with their own hands; a yellow cloak was to be thrown over these
-rags. Their food was to be extremely simple, and they were not to possess
-anything except what they could get by collecting alms from door to door
-in their wooden bowl. They had but one meal in the morning, and were not
-allowed to touch any food after midday. They were to live in forests, not
-in cities, and their only shelter was to be the shadow of a tree. There
-they were to sit, to spread their carpet, but not to lie down, even during
-sleep. They were allowed to enter the nearest city or village in order to
-beg, but they had to return to their forest before night, and the only
-change which was allowed, or rather prescribed, was, when they had to
-spend some nights in the cemeteries, there to meditate on the vanity of
-all things. And what was the object of all this asceticism? Simply to
-guide each individual towards that path which would finally bring him to
-Nirvâna, to utter extinction or annihilation. The very definition of
-virtue was that it helped man to cross over to the other shore, and that
-other shore was not death, but the cessation of all being. Thus charity
-was considered a virtue; modesty, patience, courage, contemplation, and
-science, all were virtues, but they were practised only as a means of
-arriving at deliverance."
-
-Buddha himself was an incarnation of the virtues. His charity, for
-example, was melting as day. When he saw a tigress standing, and unable to
-feed her cubs, he offered up his body to be devoured by them. The Chinese
-pilgrim, visiting the spot on the banks of the Indus where this miracle
-was supposed to have occurred, remarks that the soil was still red with
-the blood of Buddha, as were also the trees and flowers.
-
-Then as to his modesty, it was as supreme as that of a virgin who has
-never seen men. One day Prasenagit, his royal disciple and protector,
-besought him to work some miracles in order to silence his adversaries,
-the Brahmans. Buddha complied, and performed the required miracles; but at
-the same time he exclaimed, "Great King, I do not teach the law to my
-pupils, telling them, Go, ye saints, and before the eyes of the Brahmans
-and householders perform, by means of your supernatural powers, miracles
-greater than any man can perform. I tell them, when I teach the law, Live,
-ye saints, hiding your good works and showing your sins." And yet, all
-this self-sacrificing charity, all this self-sacrificing humility by which
-the life of Buddha was distinguished throughout, and which he preached to
-the multitudes that came to listen to him, had but one object, and that
-object was final annihilation.[11]
-
-Annihilation! what drearier prospect can be opened to the heart, or soul,
-or mind of man? The utter cessation of that individuality of which the
-meanest and wretchedest among us feels proudly conscious; of the thoughts
-which animate, the desires which warm, the dreams that delight, the hopes
-that stimulate, the affections that inspire! Do we indeed suffer all the
-sorrows and uncertainties of life,--do we indeed strive, and endure, and
-struggle,--do we, indeed, learn to labour and to wait, to bear the burden
-of the day and the torture of the night, for no other purpose, with no
-other prospect, than when the brief fever is over, to pass away into
-nothingness? With so much difficulty can the mind reconcile itself to such
-a dreary hypothesis that the creed of almost every race and people has
-contemplated a future stage of existence, even when it has failed to
-attain to anything like a clear and full conviction of the immortality of
-the soul. The law of compensation seems to demand that a future life shall
-redress the inequalities of the present.
-
-Yet this doctrine of Annihilation was preached by Buddha, and apparently
-accepted by the millions who became his disciples. But did they really
-accept it as he preached it? No; the truth is, they read into it, as it
-were, their own innate, unconquerable belief in a hereafter, and converted
-his Nirvâna into a Paradise, which they embellished with the bright
-colours of imagination. It can hardly be doubted that this was not the
-meaning or intention of Buddha himself. Look, for a moment, at his "Four
-Verities." The first of these, as we have already stated, asserts the
-existence of pain; the second, that the cause of pain is sin; the third,
-that the cessation of pain may be secured by Nirvâna; the fourth, that the
-way to this Nirvâna consists of eight things: right faith or orthodoxy,
-right judgment or logic, right language or veracity, right purpose or
-honesty, right practice or religious life, right obedience or lawful life,
-right memory, and right meditation.
-
-These precepts may be understood as the usual laws of an elevated
-morality, pointing to and terminating in a state of meditation on the
-highest object of thought, such as has been enjoined by several
-philosophical or religious systems;--such as was revived in France and
-Germany in the seventeenth century under the name of Pietism. There is
-nothing in this teaching incompatible with a belief in the immortality of
-the soul and the existence of a GOD. But with the Buddhist Nirvâna it is
-otherwise. Its motive principle, by the way, is a mean and cowardly one,
-for it makes happiness depend upon the cessation of pain; represents as
-the highest purpose of human effort the escape from pain. The Buddhist
-insists that life is a prolonged misery; that birth is the cause of all
-evil; and he adds that even death cannot deliver him from this evil,
-because he believes in transmigration, or an eternal cycle of existence.
-To escape from it we must free ourselves from the bondage, not of life
-only, but of existence; and this must be done "by extirpating the cause of
-existence."
-
-But what _is_ that cause?
-
-The Buddhist teacher, involving himself in a cloud of metaphysics,
-answers, that it is attachment; an inclination towards something, having
-its root in thirst or desire. "Desire presupposes perception of the object
-desired; perception presupposes contact; contact, at least a sentient
-contact, presupposes the senses; and as the senses can only perform what
-has form and name, or what is distinct, distinction is the real cause of
-all the effects which end in existence, birth, and pain. Now this
-conception is itself the result of conceptions or ideas; but these ideas,
-so far from being, as in Greek philosophy, the true and everlasting forms
-of the Absolute, are in themselves mere illusions, the effects of
-ignorance. Ignorance, therefore, is really the primary cause of all that
-seems to exist. To know that ignorance, as the root of all evil, is the
-same as to destroy it, and with it all effects that flowed from it."
-
-In Buddha's own case we may see how such teaching operated upon the
-individual.
-
-He entered into the first stage of meditation when he became conscious of
-freedom from sin, acquired a knowledge of the nature of all things, and
-yearned after nothing but Nirvâna. But he was still open to the sensation
-of pleasure, and could employ his powers of discrimination and reasoning.
-
-In the second stage he ceased to use those powers, and nothing remained
-but the desire of Nirvâna, and the satisfaction inherent to his
-intellectual perfection.
-
-In the third stage indifference succeeded to satisfaction; but
-self-consciousness remained, and a certain amount of physical
-gratification.
-
-These, too, faded away in the fourth stage, along with memory, and all
-sense of pain; and before the neophyte opened the doors of Nirvâna.
-
-After having gone through the four stages once, Buddha began them a second
-time, but died before he attained the fourth stage.
-
-After passing through the four stages of meditation, every Buddhist enters
-into the infinity of space; thence rises into the infinity of
-intelligence; to soar, afterwards, into the region of Nothing. But even
-there he finds no repose; something still remains--the idea of the Nothing
-in which he rejoices. This is annihilated in the fourth and last region,
-and then he enjoys absolute, perfect rest, "undisturbed by nothing, or
-what is not nothing."
-
-Buddha taught that this Nirvâna--which to most persons will seem a
-metaphysical incomprehensibility--could be attained by all men. As there
-is no difference between the body of a prince and the body of a beggar, so
-is there none between their spirits. Every man is equally capable of
-coming to a knowledge of the truth, and if he but _will_ to do so, of
-working out his own emancipation.
-
-It is important to observe the absence of any theological element in
-Buddhism. Its founder seems never to have spoken of God, and his Nirvâna
-is wholly different from the Brahmanic idea of absorption into the Divine
-Essence. Of the gods of the people he taught that they were, like men,
-subject to the law of Metempsychosis, or Transmigration, and therefore
-that as they were unable to deliver, they were unworthy to be worshipped.
-A recent writer thinks it would be incorrect to speak of Buddha either as
-a theist or an atheist, and asserts that he simply describes a condition
-of absolute rest as an escape from the popular metempsychosis, which may
-be interpreted either in a theistic or an atheistic sense. But a careful
-examination of his system shows, we think, that it was wholly alien to a
-belief in a Supreme Spirit.
-
-"Buddhism," says Barthélémy Saint-Hilaire, "has no God; it has not even
-the confused and vague notion of a Universal Spirit, in which the human
-soul, according to the orthodox doctrine of Brahmanism, and the Sânkhya
-philosophy, may be absorbed. Nor does it admit Nature, in the proper sense
-of the word, and it ignores that profound division between spirit and
-matter which forms the system and the glory of Kapila. It confounds man
-with all that surrounds him, all the while preaching to him the laws of
-virtue. Buddhism, therefore, cannot unite the human soul, which it does
-not even mention, with a God, whom it ignores; nor with nature, which it
-does not know better. Nothing remained but to annihilate the soul; and in
-order to be quite sure that the soul may not re-appear under some new
-guise in this world, which has been cursed as the abode of illusion and
-misery, Buddhism destroys its very elements, and never wearies of glorying
-in this achievement. What more is wanted? if this be not the Absolute
-Nothing, what is Nirvâna?"
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-Repellent as seems to us the central doctrine of Buddhism, it extended
-rapidly. This extension was due, however, to the simplicity of the ritual
-which Buddha enjoined; the pure morality which he advocated; the equality
-of all men on which he insisted; and the spirit of love, tenderness,
-gentleness, compassion, and toleration which he inspired. Hence it came to
-pass that his disciples multiplied in the north-western territories of
-Hindustan, and his creed found acceptance, at a later period, probably
-about three centuries before CHRIST, all over India. In Ceylon it was
-adopted at a very early period; but it was not until the second century
-before CHRIST that it made its way into China and Tibet. From Ceylon it
-spread into Birmah and Siam, and the islands of the Indian Archipelago,
-and from China it penetrated into Japan. It is now the religion of more
-than one fifth of the whole human race.
-
-Its influence has been very considerable, and may distinctly be traced in
-some of the Gnostic teaching and in the Alexandrine or Neo-Platonic
-philosophy. It modified the old Brahmanic religion, which, acting under
-its impulse, threw off its human sacrifices and more barbarous rites. The
-festival of Juggernaut, which for the time places in abeyance all caste
-distinctions, and adopts many Buddhist symbols, shows that the Brahmans,
-even when they drove it out of India, were compelled to retain some of
-its relics, just as they were under the necessity of recognising Buddha as
-one of the Avatars of their god Vishnu. Buddhism may be described as "the
-parent of Indian architecture," which, fashioned at first on the Greek
-patterns, speedily assumed a character of its own, as may be seen in its
-colossal temples.
-
-But, as is the case with all religious systems of purely human origin,
-Buddhism gradually fell away from the standard of its founder. The heart
-craves an object of worship, a something or some one on which or on whom
-to rest its hopes and fears, and the Buddhists, untaught to reverence a
-Supreme Being, transferred their adoration to Buddha himself, whose life
-and work they involved in a cloud of myth and legend. His relics came to
-be worshipped, and reliquary towers for their preservation were everywhere
-erected.
-
-The enthusiasm which fired the Buddhists, and largely contributed to the
-rapid extension of their creed, for Buddhism, unlike Brahmanism, is a
-proselytising religion, finds a striking illustration in the career of
-Hiouen-thsang, the Chinese pilgrim, who, in the middle of the seventh
-century, crossed the deserts and mountains which separate China from
-India, and visited the principal cities of the Indian Peninsula.
-
-
-HIOUEN-THSANG, A BUDDHIST PILGRIM.[12]
-
-Hiouen-thsang was born in a provincial town of China, in one of the
-revolutionary and anarchical periods of the Chinese Empire. His father,
-having quitted the public service, was able to devote his leisure to the
-education of his four children, one of whom, Hiouen-thsang, was
-distinguished at an early age by his genius and his thirst for knowledge.
-After receiving instruction at a Buddhist monastery, he was admitted as a
-monk, when only thirteen years old. During the next seven years, he
-travelled about with his brethren from place to place, in order to profit
-by the lectures of the most eminent professors; but his peaceful studies
-were frequently interrupted by the horrors of war, and he was forced to
-seek refuge in the more remote provinces of the empire.
-
-At the age of twenty he took priest's orders, having already become famous
-for his multifarious learning. He had studied the chief canonical book of
-the Buddhist faith, the records of Buddha's life and teaching, the system
-of ethics and metaphysics, and had completely mastered the works of
-K'ung-fu-tze and Lao-tse. But, like many inquiring minds, he was tortured
-by doubt. For six years more he prosecuted his studies in the principal
-places of learning in China, and was frequently solicited to teach when he
-had come to learn. Baffled in all his efforts to satisfy his anxious and
-restless intellect, he resolved at last on paying a visit to India, the
-parent-land of Buddhism, where he knew he should find the original of the
-works, which, in their Chinese translation, had proved so dubious and
-excited so much mistrust. From the records of his pilgrim predecessors he
-was aware of the dangers of his journey; yet the glory, as he says, of
-recovering the Law, which was to be a guide to all men, and the means of
-their salvation, seemed to him worthy of attainment. In common with
-several other priests, he applied for the Imperial permission to travel
-out of China. It was refused, and his companions lost heart. But
-Hiouen-thsang was made of sterner stuff. His mother had often told him
-how, before his birth, she had had visions of her future offspring
-travelling to the Far West in search of the law; and he himself had been
-similarly encouraged.
-
-Having no worldly pleasures to enfeeble him, and believing only in one
-object as worth living for, he resolved to face danger and difficulty;
-made his way to the Hoang-Ho, and the place of departure of the caravans
-for the West, and, eluding the vigilance of the Governor, succeeded in
-crossing the frontier. He was without friends or helpers; but after
-spending the night in fervent prayer, found a guide in a person who, next
-morning, unexpectedly presented himself. For some distance this guide
-conducted him faithfully, but abandoned him when they reached the Desert.
-There were still five watch-towers to be passed, and the uncertain track
-through the Desert was indicated only by skeletons and the hoof-marks of
-horses. Bravely went the pilgrim on his way, and though misled by the
-"mirage" of the Desert, he safely reached the first tower. There he
-narrowly escaped death from the arrows of the watchman, but the officer in
-command was himself a devout Buddhist, and he not only allowed
-Hiouen-thsang to proceed, but gave him letters of recommendation to the
-governors of the other towers. At the last tower, however, he was refused
-leave to pass, and neither bribes nor entreaties proved of any avail. He
-was compelled to retrace his steps, and make a long détour, in the course
-of which he lost his way. His water-bag burst, and for the first time his
-courage wavered. Should he not return? But no; he had taken an oath never
-to make a step backward until he had reached India. It were better to die
-with his face to the West, than return to the East and live.
-
-For four nights and five days he traversed the Desert, without a drop of
-water to quench his thirst, with no other refreshment than that which he
-derived from his prayers; and that these should afford any hope or
-consolation seems strange enough, when we remember that Buddhism held out
-to him no hope of a God or a Saviour. "It is incredible in how exhausted
-an atmosphere the Divine spark within us will glimmer on, and even warm
-the dark chambers of the human heart." Comforted by his prayers, he
-resumed his onward march, and in due time arrived at a large lake in the
-country of the Oigom Tatars, by whom he was received with an abundant
-hospitality. One of the Tatar Khans insisted that he should reside with
-him and teach his people; and as he would listen to no remonstrances or
-explanations, Hiouen-thsang was driven to a desperate expedient. The king,
-he said, might fetter his body, but had no power over his mind and will;
-and he refused all food, with a view to put an end to a life which he no
-longer regarded as of value. In this resolution he persisted for three
-days, and the Khan, afraid that he would perish, was compelled at last to
-yield. But he extracted from him a promise that on his return to China he
-would visit him, and abide with him for three years. At last, after a
-month's detention, during which the Khan and his court daily attended the
-lectures of the pious monk, he resumed his journey, attended by a strong
-escort, and furnished with letters of introduction to the twenty-four
-princes whose dominions he must cross.
-
-His route lay through what is now called Dsungary, across the
-Musur-dabaghan mountains, the northern chain of the Belur-tag, the valley
-of the Yaxartes, Bactria, and Kabulistan. The pilgrim's description of the
-scenes through which he passed is interesting and vivid; he was a keen
-observer, and gifted with considerable powers of expression.
-
-Of the Musur-dabaghan mountains he says:--
-
-"The crest of these heights rises to the sky. Since the beginning of the
-world the snow has been accumulating, and it is now transformed into
-masses of ice, which never melt, either in spring or summer. Hard shining
-sheets of snow are spread out until they vanish into the infinite, and
-mingle with the clouds. If one looks at them, one's eyes are dazzled by
-the splendour. Frozen peaks impend over both sides of the wood, some
-hundred feet in height, and some twenty or thirty feet in thickness. It is
-not without difficulty and danger that the traveller can clear them or
-climb over them. Sudden gusts of hurricane and tornadoes of snow attack
-the pilgrims. Even with double shoes, and in thick furs, one cannot help
-trembling and shivering."
-
-But as Max Müller justly observes, what is more important in the early
-portion of our traveller's narrative than any descriptions of scenery, is
-his account of the high degree of civilisation that then obtained among
-the tribes of Central Asia. Historians have learned to believe in the
-early civilisation of Egypt, Babylon, China, India; but they will have to
-abandon all their old ideas of barbarism and barbarians now that they find
-the Tatar hordes possessing, in the seventh century, "the chief arts and
-institutions of an advanced society." The theory of M. Oppert, who gives
-to a Turanian or Scythian race the original invention of the cuneiform
-letters and a civilisation anterior to that of Babylon and Nineveh, ceases
-to be improbable; since no new wave of civilisation could have touched
-these countries between the cuneiform period of their literature and
-history and the epoch of Hiouen-thsang's visit.[13]
-
-"In the kingdom of Okini, on the western portion of China, Hiouen-thsang
-found an active commerce, gold, silver, and copper coinage; monasteries,
-where the chief works of Buddhism were studied, and an alphabet derived
-from Sanskrit. As he travelled on he met with mines, with agriculture,
-including pears, plums, peaches, almonds, grapes, pomegranates, rice, and
-wheat. The inhabitants were dressed in silk and woollen materials. There
-were musicians in the chief cities who played on the flute and the guitar.
-Buddhism was the prevailing religion, but there were traces of an earlier
-worship, the Bactrian fire-worship. The country was everywhere studded
-with halls, monasteries, monuments and statues. Samarkand formed at that
-early time a kind of Athens, and its manners were copied by all the tribes
-in the neighbourhood. Balkh, the old capital of Bactria, was still an
-important place on the Oxus, well-fortified, and full of sacred buildings.
-And the details which our traveller gives of the exact circumference of
-the cities, the number of their inhabitants, the products of the soil, the
-articles of trade, can leave no doubt in our minds that he relates what he
-had seen and heard himself. A new page in the history of the world is here
-opened, and new ruins pointed out, which would reward the pickaxe of a
-Layard."
-
-Hiouen-thsang passed into India by way of Kabul. Shortly before he reached
-Pou-lou-cha-pou-lo, the Sanskrit Purushapura, the modern Peshawer, he was
-informed of a remarkable cave, where Buddha had converted a dragon, and
-had promised to leave it his shadow, in order that, whenever the fierce
-passions of its dragon-nature should awake, it might be reminded of its
-vows by the presence of its master's shadowy features. The promise was
-fulfilled, and the dragon-cave became a favourite resort for pilgrims. Our
-traveller was warned that the roads to the cave were haunted by robbers,
-so that for three years no pilgrim had been known to return from it. But
-he replied that it would be difficult during a hundred thousand Kalpas to
-meet once with the true shadow of Buddha, and that having come so near it
-in his pilgrimage, he could not pass on without paying the tribute of his
-adoration.
-
-He left his companions in their security, and having, with some
-difficulty, obtained a guide, proceeded on his way. They had accomplished
-but a few miles when they were attacked by five robbers. Hiouen-thsang
-showed them his shaven head and priestly robes. "Master," said one of the
-fraternity, "where are you going?" "I desire," replied Hiouen-thsang, "to
-adore the shadow of Buddha." "Master," said the robber, "do you not know
-that these roads are full of bandits?" "Robbers are men," was the answer,
-"and as for me, when I am going to adore the shadow of Buddha, though the
-roads might be full of wild beasts, I shall walk on fearless. And inasmuch
-as I will not fear you, because you are men, you will not be insensible to
-pity." These words, in their simple faith, produced a strange effect upon
-the robbers, who opened their minds to the enlightenment of the wise man's
-teaching.
-
-Hiouen-thsang resumed his journey, with his guide, and passed a stream
-which rushed tumultuously between the walls of a precipitous ravine. In
-the rock was a door opening into a depth of darkness. With a fervent
-prayer the pilgrim entered boldly, advanced towards the east, then moved
-fifty steps backwards, and began his devotions. He made one hundred
-salutations, but saw nothing. This he conceived to be a punishment for his
-sins; he reproached himself despairingly and wept bitter tears, because he
-was denied the happiness of seeing Buddha's shadow. At last, after many
-prayers and invocations, he saw on the eastern wall a dim patch of light.
-But it passed away. With mingled joy and pain he continued to pray, and
-again he saw a light, and again it vanished swiftly. Then, in his ecstasy
-of loving devotion, he vowed that he would never leave the place until he
-had seen the "Venerable of the age." After two hundred prayers, he saw the
-cave suddenly fill with radiance, and the shadow of Buddha, of a brilliant
-white colour, rose majestically on the wall, as when the clouds are riven,
-and all at once flashes on the wondering eye the marvellous image of the
-"Mountain of Light." The features of the divine countenance were
-illuminated with a dazzling glow. Hiouen-thsang was absorbed in wondering
-contemplation, and from an object so sublime and incomparable he could not
-turn his eyes away.
-
-After he awoke from his trance, he called in six men, and bade them kindle
-a fire in the cave, that he might burn incense; but as the glitter of the
-flame made the shadow of Buddha disappear, he ordered it to be
-extinguished. Five of the attendants saw the shadow, but the sixth saw
-nothing; and the guide, when Hiouen-thsang told him of the vision, could
-only express his astonishment. "Master," he said, "without the sincerity
-of your faith and the energy of your vows, you could not have seen such a
-miracle."
-
-Such is the account which Hiouen-thsang's biographers give of his visit to
-Buddha's cave; but Max Müller remarks, to the credit of Hiouen-thsang
-himself, that in the _Si-yu-hi_, which contains his own diary, the story
-is told much more simply. After describing the cave, he merely
-adds:--"Formerly, the shadow of Buddha was seen in the cave, bright, like
-his natural appearance, and with all the marks of his divine beauty. One
-might have said, it was Buddha himself. For some centuries, however, it
-has not been possible to see it completely. Though one does perceive
-something, it is only a feeble and doubtful resemblance. If a man prays
-with sincere faith, and if he have received from above a secret
-impression, he sees the shadow clearly, but cannot enjoy the sight for any
-length of time."
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-From Peshawer the undaunted pilgrim proceeded to Kashmir, visited the
-principal towns of Central India, and arrived at last in Magadha, the Holy
-land of the Buddhists. There, for a space of five years, he devoted
-himself to the study of Sanskrit and Buddhist literature; he explored
-every place which was consecrated by memories of the past. Passing through
-Bengal, he travelled southward, with the view of visiting Ceylon, the
-chief seat of Buddhism. But, unable to carry out his design, he crossed
-the peninsula from east to west, ascended the Malabar coast, reached the
-Indus, and after numerous excursions to scenes of interest in
-North-Western India, returned to Magadha to enjoy, with his old friends,
-the delights of learned leisure and intellectual companionship.
-
-Eventually, his return to China became necessary, and traversing the
-Punjab, Kabulistan, and Bactria, he struck the river Oxus, following its
-course nearly up to its springhead on the remote Pamir tableland; and
-after a residence of some duration in the three chief towns of Turkistan,
-Khasgar, Yarkand, and Khoten, he found himself again, after sixteen years
-of varied experience, in his native land. By this time he had attained a
-world-wide reputation, and he was received by the Emperor with the honours
-usually accorded to a military hero. His entry into the capital was marked
-by public rejoicings; the streets were decked with gay carpets, festoons
-of flowers, and waving banners. The splendour of martial pomp was not
-wanting; the civic magistrates lent the dignity of their presence to the
-scene; and all the monks of the district issued forth in solemn
-procession.
-
-If this were a triumph of unusual character, not less unaccustomed were
-the trophies which figured in it.
-
-First, 150 grains of Buddha's dust;
-
-Second, a golden statue of Buddha;
-
-Third, another statue of sandal-wood;
-
-Fourth, a statue of sandal-wood, representing Buddha as descending from
-heaven;
-
-Fifth, a statue of silver;
-
-Sixth, a golden statue, representing Buddha victorious over the dragon;
-
-Seventh, a statue of sandal-wood, representing Buddha as a preacher; and
-
-Eighth, a collection of 657 Buddhist works in 520 volumes.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-Admitted to an audience of the Emperor in the Phoenix Palace, he was
-offered, but declined, a high position in the Government. "The doctrine of
-Confucius," he said, "is still the soul of the administration;" and he
-preferred to devote his remaining years to the study of the Law of Buddha.
-The Emperor invited him to write a narrative of his travels, and placed at
-his disposal a monastery where he might employ himself in peaceful and
-happy seclusion in translating the works he had brought back from India.
-He quickly wrote and published his travels, but the translation of the
-Sanskrit MSS. occupied the rest of his life. It is said that the number of
-the works he translated, with the assistance of a large staff of monks,
-amounted to 740, in 1335 volumes. Often he might be seen pondering a
-passage of difficulty, when suddenly a flash of inspiration would seem to
-enlighten his mind. His soul was cheered, as when a man walking in
-darkness sees all at once the sun piercing the clouds and shining in its
-full brightness; and, unwilling to trust to his own understanding, he used
-to attribute his knowledge to a secret inspiration of Buddha and the
-Bôdhisattvas.
-
-When his last hour approached, he divided all his property among the poor,
-invited his friends to come and see him, and take a cheerful farewell of
-the impure body of Hiouen-thsang. "I desire," he said, "that whatever
-merits I may have gained by good works may fall upon other people. May I
-be born again with them in the heaven of the blessed, be admitted to the
-family of Mi-le, and serve the Buddha of the future, who is full of
-kindness and affection. When I descend again upon earth to pass through
-other forms of existence, I desire at every new birth to fulfil my duties
-towards Buddha, and arrive at the last at the highest and most perfect
-intelligence." He died in the year 664.
-
-The life of Hiouen-thsang, and his narrative of travel, have been
-translated into French by M. Stanislas Julien.[14] The foregoing
-particulars have been borrowed from a review of M. Julien's work, by Max
-Müller, which originally appeared in the "Times" of April 17 and 20, 1857.
-
-We translate from Stanislas Julien's "Vie et Voyages de Hiouen-thsang" the
-Chinese narrative of the pilgrim's last days:--
-
-"After completing his translation of the Pradjñâ, the Master of the Law
-became conscious that his strength was failing, and that his end was near
-at hand. Accordingly he spoke to his disciples: 'If I came into the palace
-of Yu-hoa-kong, it was, as you know, on account of the sacred book of the
-Pradjñâ. Now that the work is finished, I feel that my thread of life is
-run out. When after death you remove me to my last resting-place, see that
-everything be done in a modest and simple manner. You will wrap my body
-in a mat, and deposit it in some calm and solitary spot in the bosom of a
-valley. Carefully avoid the neighbourhood of palace or convent; a body so
-impure as mine should be separated from it by a great distance.'
-
-"On hearing these words, his disciples broke out into sobs and cries.
-Drying their tears, they said to him: 'Master, you have still a reserve of
-strength and vigour; your countenance is in no wise altered; why do you
-give sudden utterance to such miserable words?'
-
-"'I know it through and in myself,' replied the Master of the Law; 'how
-would it be possible for you to understand my presentiments?'
-
-"On the first day of the first moon in the spring of the first year
-_Lin-te_ (664), the neighbouring interpreters and all the religious of the
-convent, came to solicit him, with the most pressing earnestness, to
-translate the collection of the _Ratnakoûta soûtra_.
-
-"The Master of the Law, yielding to their fervid persistency, made an
-effort to overcome his weakness, and translated a few lines. Then, closing
-the Hindu text, he said: 'This collection is as great as that of the
-_Pradjñâ_, but I feel I have not sufficient strength to complete such an
-enterprise. My last moments have arrived, and my life can be only of short
-duration. To-day I would fain visit the valley of Lantchi, to offer my
-last homages to the statues of the innumerable Buddhas.'
-
-"Accordingly, he set forth with his disciples. The monks, at his
-departure, did not cease to shed tears.
-
-"After this pious excursion he returned to the convent. Thenceforward he
-ceased to translate, and occupied himself solely in his religious duties.
-
-"On the eighth day, one of his disciples, the monk Hiouen-Khio, originally
-of Kao-tch'ang, related to the Master of the Law a dream which he had had.
-He had seen a _Fesu-thou_ (or _Stoûpa_,) of imposing aspect and prodigious
-height, crumble suddenly to the ground. Awakened by the fall, he ran to
-inform the Master of the Law. 'The event does not concern you,' said
-Hiouen-thsang; 'it is the presage of my approaching end.'
-
-"On the evening of the ninth day, as he crossed the bridge of a canal in
-the rear of his residence, he fell, and injured his leg. From that moment
-his strength declined perceptibly.
-
-"On the sixteenth day he cried out, as if awaking from a dream: 'Before my
-eyes I see an immense lotus-flower, charming in its freshness and purity.'
-
-"He had another dream on the seventeenth day, in which he saw hundreds and
-thousands of men of tall stature, who, decorated with garments of
-embroidered silk, with flowers of marvellous beauty, and jewels of great
-price, issued from the sleeping-chamber of the Master of the Law, and
-proceeded to set out, both internally and externally, the hall consecrated
-to the translation of the holy books. Afterwards, in the rear of that
-hall, on a wooded mountain, they everywhere planted rich banners of the
-most vivid colours, and created an harmonious music. He saw moreover,
-without the gate, an innumerable multitude of splendid chariots loaded
-with perfumed viands and fruits of more than a thousand kinds, as
-beautiful in form as in colour; no fruits were there of terrestrial
-growth! The people brought them to him, one after the other, and offered
-him a profusion; but he refused them, saying: 'Such viands as these belong
-only to those who have obtained the superior intelligence. Hiouen-thsang
-has not yet arrived at that sublime rank: how could he dare to receive
-them?' In spite of his energetic refusal they continued to serve him
-without intermission.
-
-"The disciples who watched by him happening to make some slight sound, he
-opened his eyes suddenly, and related his dream to the sub-director
-(_Karmmadana_), a certain Hoeï-te."
-
-"'And from these omens,' added the Master, 'it seems to me that such
-merits as I have been able to acquire during my life have not fallen into
-oblivion, and I believe, with an entire faith, that it is not in vain one
-practises the doctrine of the Buddha.'
-
-"Immediately, he ordered the master Kia-chang to make a written list of
-the titles of the sacred books and the treatises which he had translated,
-forming altogether seven hundred and forty works and thirteen hundred and
-thirty-five volumes (_livres_). He wrote down also the _Kôti_ (ten
-millions) of paintings of the Buddha, as well as the thousand images of
-_Mi-le_ (_Mâitrêya bôdhisattva_), painted on silk, which he had caused to
-be executed. There were, moreover, the _Kôtis_ (one hundred millions) of
-statuettes of uniform colour. He had also caused to be written a thousand
-copies of the following sacred books:
-
-    _Nong-touan-pan-jo-king (Vadjra tchhêdika pradjñâ parâmitâ soûtra)._
-
-    _Yo-sse-jou-laï-pou-youen-kong-te-king (Arya bhagavati bhâichadja
-    gourou poûrwa pranidhâna nâma mahâ yâna soûtra)._
-
-    _Lou-men-t'o-lo-ni-king (Chat moukhi dhârani)._"
-
-He had ministered to the wants of upwards of twenty thousand persons among
-the faithful and heretical; he had kindled a hundred thousand lamps, and
-purchased thousands upon thousands (_ocean_) of creatures.
-
-When Kia-chang had finished this long catalogue of good works, he was
-ordered to read it aloud. After hearing it, the religious crossed their
-hands and loaded the Master with congratulations. Then he said to
-them:--"The moment of my death approaches; already my mind grows feeble
-and seems to be on the point of quitting me. Distribute at once in alms my
-clothes and goods; let statues be fabricated; and order the religious to
-recite some prayers."
-
-On the twenty-third day, a meal was given to the poor, at which alms were
-distributed. On the same day, he ordered a moulder named Song-kia-tchi, to
-raise, in the Kia-cheou-tien palace, a statue of the Intelligence
-(Buddha); after which he invited the population of the convent, the
-translators, and his disciples, to bid "a joyous farewell to that impure
-and contemptible body of Hiouen-thsang, who, having finished his work,
-merited no longer existence. I desire," he added, "to see poured back upon
-other men the merits which I have acquired by any good works; to be born
-with them in the heaven of the Touchitas; to be admitted into the family
-of _Mi-le_ (_Mâitrêya_); and to serve the Buddha, full of tenderness and
-affection. When I shall return to earth to pass through other existences,
-I desire, at each new birth, to discharge with boundless zeal my duties
-towards the Buddha, and finally to arrive at the Transcendent Intelligence
-(_Anouttara samyak sambôdhi_)."
-
-After having made these adieux, he was silent, and engaged in meditation;
-then with his dying tongue he faltered forth his bitter regret that he did
-not enjoy more of the "world of the eyes" (the faculty of seeing), of the
-"world of the thought" (the faculty of thinking), of "the world of the
-knowledge which springs from observation" (the knowledge of sensible
-objects); of the "world of the knowledge which springs from the
-mind"--_l'esprit_ (the perception of spiritual things); and that he did
-not possess the fulness of the Intelligence. Finally, he pronounced two
-_gubhas_, which he caused to be repeated to the persons near him:--
-
-"Adoration to _Maitrêya Tathagata_, gifted with a sublime intelligence! I
-desire, with all men, to see your affectionate visage.
-
-"Adoration to _Maitrêya Tathagata_! I desire, when I quit this life, to be
-born again in the midst of the multitude who surround you."
-
-The Master of the Law, after having long fixed his gaze upon Te-hoeï, the
-sub-director of the convent (_Karmmadana_), raised his right hand to his
-chin and his left upon his breast; then he stretched out his legs, crossed
-them, and lay down on the right side.
-
-He remained thus, immovable, without taking anything, until the fifth day
-of the second moon. In the middle of the night his disciples asked him:
-
-"Master, have you at length obtained to be born in the midst of the
-assembly of _Maitrêya_?"
-
-"Yes," he replied, with a failing voice. And having spoken, his breathing
-grew rapidly weaker, and in a few moments, his soul passed away.
-
-His servants, feeling quietly, found that his feet were already cold, but
-that the back part of the head retained its warmth.
-
-On the seventh day (of the second moon) his countenance had not undergone
-any alteration, and his body exhaled no odour.
-
-The religious of the convent having passed several days in prayers, it was
-not until the morning of the ninth day that the sad news reached the
-capital.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-The Master of the Law was seven _tchi_ high; his face was of a fresh
-complexion. His eyebrows were wide apart, his eyes brilliant. His air was
-grave and majestic, and his features were full of grace and vivacity. The
-quality or tone (_timbre_) of his voice was pure and penetrating, and his
-language at times soared to a lofty eloquence, so noble and so harmonious
-that one could not refuse to listen. When he was surrounded by his
-disciples, or animated by the presence of an illustrious guest, he would
-often speak for half-a-day, while his hearers sat riveted in an immovable
-attitude. His favourite attire was a robe of fine cotton stuff,
-proportioned to his height and figure; his gait was light and easy; he
-looked straight before him, throwing his glances neither to the right nor
-to the left. He was majestic as those great rivers which embrace the
-earth; calm and shining as the lotus which springs in the midst of the
-waters. A severe observer of discipline, he was unchanged and
-unchangeable. Nothing could equal his affectionate benevolence and tender
-pity, the fervour of his zeal or his inviolable attachment to the
-practices of the Law. He was reserved in his friendship, made no hasty
-bonds, and when once he had entered his convent, nothing but an imperial
-decree could have drawn him from his pious retreat.
-
-On the third day of the second moon (of the period _Lin-te_,--664), the
-Master of the Law had sent Hiu-hiouen-pi to inform the Emperor of the
-wound he had received, and of the malady it had induced.
-
-On the seventh day of the same month the Emperor, by a decree, ordered one
-of the imperial physicians to take with him medicaments and attend upon
-the Master of the Law, but by the time he arrived, the Master was already
-dead. Teou-sse-lun, governor of Fang-tcheou, announced by a report this
-melancholy event.
-
-At the news, the Emperor shed tears copiously, and cried aloud in his
-sorrow, declaring that he had just lost the treasure of the empire. For
-several days he suspended the usual audiences.
-
-All the civil and military functionaries abandoned themselves to groans
-and tears: the Emperor himself was unable to repress his sobs or moderate
-his grief. On the next day but one, he spoke to his great officers as
-follows:
-
-"What a misfortune for my empire is the loss of Thsang, the Master of the
-Law! It may well be said that the great family of Cakya has seen its sole
-support shattered beneath it, and that all men remain without master and
-without guide. Do they not resemble the mariner who sees himself sinking
-into the abyss, when the storm has destroyed his oars and his shallop? the
-traveller astray in the midst of the darkness, whose lamp dies out at the
-entrance to a bottomless gulf?"
-
-When he had uttered these words, the Emperor groaned again, and sighed
-many times.
-
-On the twenty-sixth day of the same month, the Emperor issued the
-following decree:
-
-"In accordance with a report addressed to me by Teou-sse-lun on the death
-of the Master of the Law, Hiouen-thsang, of the convent _Yu-hoa-sse_, I
-order that his funeral take place at the expense of the State."
-
-On the sixth day of the third moon, he issued a new decree as follows:
-
-"By the death of Thsang, the Master of the Law, the translation of the
-sacred books is stopped. In conformity to the ancient ordinances, the
-magistrates will cause the translations already completed to be copied
-carefully: as for the (Indian) manuscripts which have not yet been
-translated, they will be handed over in their entirety to the director of
-the convent _Ts'e'-en-sse_ (of the Great Beneficence,) who will watch over
-their safety. The disciples of Hiouen-thsang and the translators' company,
-who previously did not belong to the convent _Yu-hoa-sse_, will all return
-to their respective convents."
-
-On the fifth day of the third moon appeared the following decree:
-
-"On the day of the funeral of the Master of the Law, Hiouen-thsang, I
-permit the male and female religious of the capital to accompany him _with
-banners and parasols_ to his last resting-place. The Master of the Law
-shone by his noble conduct and his eminent virtues, and was the idol of
-his age. Wherefore, now he is no more, it is just that I should diffuse
-again abundant benefits to honour the memory of a man who has had no equal
-in past times."
-
-His disciples, faithful to his last wishes, formed a litter of coarse
-mats, removed his body to the capital, and deposited it in the convent of
-the Great Beneficence, in the middle of the hall devoted to the labours
-of translation. United by the sentiment of a common sorrow, they uttered
-such cries as might have shaken the earth. The religious and the laics of
-the capital hastened to the spot, and poured out tears mingled with sobs
-and cries. Every day the crowd was swollen by fresh arrivals.
-
-On the fourteenth day of the fourth month, preparations were made for his
-interment in the capital of the West. The male and female religious, and a
-multitude of the men of the people, prepared upwards of five hundred
-objects necessary for the celebration of his obsequies; parasols of smooth
-(_unia_) silk, banners and standards, the tent and the litter of the
-_Ni-ouan_ (Nirvâna;) the inner coffin of gold, the outer one of silver,
-the _so-lo_ trees (_salas_,) and disposed them in the middle of the
-streets to be traversed by the procession. The plaintive cadences of the
-funereal music, and the mournful dirges of the bearers resounded even to
-Heaven. The inhabitants of the capital and of the districts situated
-within a radius of five hundred _li_ (fifty leagues,) who formed the
-procession, exceeded one million in number. Though the obsequies were
-celebrated with pomp, the coffin of the Master nevertheless was borne upon
-a litter composed of rude coarse mats. The silk manufacturers of the East
-had employed three thousand pieces of different colours in making the
-chariot of the Nirvâna, which they had ornamented with flowers and
-garlands, loaded with precious stones. They had asked permission to place
-the body of the Master of the Law upon this resplendent catafalque; but
-afraid of infringing his dying command, his disciples had refused. So it
-went first, bearing the Master's three robes and his religious mantle, of
-the value of one hundred ounces of silver; next came the litter
-constructed of coarse mats. Not one of the assistants but shed copious
-tears or was almost choked with grief!
-
-Upwards of thirty thousand religious and laics spent the night near his
-tomb.
-
-On the morning of the fifteenth day the grave was closed; then, at the
-place of sepulture, an immense distribution of alms was made, and the
-crowd afterwards dispersed in silence.
-
-On the eighth day of the fourth moon of the second year of the
-Tsong-tchang period (669,) the Emperor decreed that the tomb of the Master
-of the Law should be transported into a plain, situated to the west of the
-_Fan-tch'ouen_ valley, and that a tower should be erected in his
-honour.[15]
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER II.
-
-_MAGIANISM: THE PARSEES._
-
-
-THE ZENDAVESTA.[16]
-
-When the pure morality of Christianity is adduced as a proof of its high
-origin, one of the favourite devices of Modern Unbelief is to claim an
-equally high standard for the morality inculcated by the primitive creeds,
-and to rain praises upon the ethical systems embodied in the Soûtras of
-the Buddhists, the Rig-Veda of the Brahmans, or the Zendavesta of the
-Parsees. In making this claim our philosophers probably calculate on the
-little knowledge which the multitude possess of any creeds but their own.
-They are well aware that, to the popular mind, the teaching of Buddha or
-Zoroaster is necessarily a sealed book, and that the whole extent of its
-purport is known only to a few scholars. Hence, when they come to support
-their thesis by quotations, they are able to select those isolated
-passages which shine with the lustre of genuine diamonds, and produce an
-absolutely false impression of the general character of the writings in
-which they occur; thin veins of precious metal shining here and there
-through masses of worthless ore. No doubt the Veda contains numerous
-utterances of the highest beauty, in which the soul's devotion to a
-Supreme Power is expressed with a lyrical fervour inferior only to that of
-the Sweet Singer of Israel. No doubt the Zendavesta, or the books of
-K'ung-fu-tze, like the works of later and maturer intellects--a Xenophon
-and a Plato, a Seneca and a Marcus Aurelius--are enriched with thoughts of
-the loftiest description, and frequently breathe the most exalted
-aspirations. But what we have to remember is, that these are wholly
-exceptional; that they are the most arduous efforts of each self-absorbed
-thinker, and the indications of his boldest flights. At other times the
-wing grows feeble; at other times the music is faint and even discordant;
-the bird can do no more than creep along the ground. In the sayings of our
-Lord, however, or in the writings of His Apostles, the tone is always
-sustained, clear, definite. There is no uncertainty or hesitation. Nothing
-mean or unworthy is woven in their texture. No concessions are made to
-man's coarser desires or grosser passions. The system set before us is
-rounded in perfection, and shows not a flaw from beginning to end. We feel
-that He who speaks, whether in His own Person or through His disciples,
-speaks as never man spoke before; and that the Voice which fills our ears
-and stirs our hearts is, in deed and in truth, a Voice from Heaven.
-
-We propose to furnish in this chapter a general view of the construction
-and teaching of the Parsee Scriptures, with the view of showing the signal
-inferiority of the creed it embodies to Christianity in all that can
-elevate the mind and satisfy the soul. At the same time we admit that the
-Parsee creed, and all similar creeds, possess an intrinsic value, apart
-from their ethical deficiencies, as illustrating the recognition of an
-Almighty Will, an Eternal and Supreme Force, by all the higher races of
-mankind. They show us the hopes, fears, and desires of great tribes and
-peoples which existed in the days before men wrote history; and they show
-us how their wisest teachers groped in the dark, and stumbled in the
-thorny path,--favoured occasionally, it is true, with a wonderful glimpse
-of light, and striking now and again into the pleasant places, but never
-rejoicing in the glory which rose upon earth with the Sun of
-Righteousness, never treading in that narrow but secure way which leads to
-Eternal Life. We see in them the great minds of the early world, like
-children on the seashore, perplexed by a music which they could not
-comprehend, and astonished by a power which they were unable to define.
-Yet happier and wiser they than the cold materialist of a later age, who
-resolves all mysteries, all phenomena, into the working of a blind
-inflexible Law, and takes out of creation its light, beauty, and joy by
-denying the existence of an all-powerful and all-loving Creator.
-
-The religion professed by the ancient Persians, and still accepted by the
-Parsees of Western India, and by a scattered population in Yezd and
-Kerman, is taught in the books known as the Zend-Avesta. This title comes
-from the Sassanian term _Avesta_ or _Apusta_, that is, the text;[17] and
-_Zend_, or _Zand_, that is, the commentary upon it. The meaning of the
-latter word, however, seems to have varied at different periods.
-Originally it signified the interpretation of the sacred texts handed down
-from Zoroaster (or Zarathustra) and his disciples. In course of time the
-interpretation came to be esteemed not less authoritative and sacred than
-the original text, and both were called _Avesta_. But the language in
-which they were written having died out, they became unintelligible to the
-majority of the people, and a new _Zend_ or commentary was required before
-they could be understood. The new "Zend" was the work of the most learned
-priests of the Sassanian period, and consisted of a translation of the
-double "Avesta" into the vernacular language then in vogue.[18] And as
-this translation is the only key which the priests of modern Persia
-possess to the old creed as taught by Zarathustra, it has usurped the
-place of the original Zend, and is now the recognised official commentary.
-
-But, anciently, the word "Zend" implied something more than a simple
-interpretation of the "Avesta," or sacred texts. That interpretation was
-the source of certain new doctrines, the whole of which were considered
-orthodox, and designated _Zandi-agahi_, or Zend doctrines; doctrines
-which, it can hardly be doubted, supplied Plutarch and some other of the
-Greeks with ethical suggestions. The name _Pazend_, which frequently
-occurs in connection with _Avesta_ and _Zend_, denotes a further
-exposition of Zarathustrian teaching, as contained in the Vendidad, to
-which we shall shortly refer.
-
-Thus far we have been indebted to Dr. Haug's account of the origin of the
-Zendavesta. His views are confirmed by Westergaard, who asserts that the
-sacred books belong to two epochs; that is, that they are written in one
-age, and collected and systematised in another, in much the same way as,
-according to Wolf, the Homeric poems were produced and assumed their
-present form. All the earlier traditions ascribe their origin to
-Zarathustra; but modern philologists affirm that they could not have
-sprung from any single mind, because they present no defined or
-self-consistent system of religious belief or moral economy. Like the
-hymns of the Vedas, and the strains of the Norse Edda, the several
-portions of the Zendavesta, so they say, must have been composed by
-different bards, each of whom coloured his particular theme according to
-the hues of his lively imagination. This theory, however, though it may
-have an element of truth in it, is hardly the whole truth. The Zendavesta
-is unquestionably wanting in unity and completeness. But it seems to us
-that traces of a dominant mind are everywhere visible; that the various
-parts are held together as on a thread by the teaching of Zarathustra
-himself; and that the additions made by later and inferior writers are not
-such as wholly to obscure the original work.
-
-It is to the celebrated Frenchman, Anquetil Duperron, that the scholars of
-the West owe their knowledge of these remarkable books. Happening to see a
-facsimile of a few pages written in Zend characters, he resolved on
-setting out for India in order to purchase manuscripts of all the sacred
-books of the Zarathustrian religion, to acquire a thorough insight into
-their signification, and to obtain a knowledge of the rites and religious
-observances of the Parsees. His means being limited, he entered himself as
-a sailor on board a ship of the Dutch Indian Company, and worked his way
-out to Bombay in 1754. With money supplied by the French Government to
-assist him in his ingenious researches, he bribed one of the most learned
-_dustoors_ or priests, Dustoor Darat, or Surat, to procure the treasures
-he desired, and to instruct him in the Zend and Pehlvi languages. As soon
-as he had acquired the requisite proficiency, he addressed himself to the
-task of translating the whole of the Zendavesta into French. This was in
-1759. Returning to Europe, he convinced himself of the genuineness of his
-purchases by comparing them with MSS. in the Bodleian Library; and, after
-several years of arduous labour, produced the first European version in
-1771. At the outset, the authenticity of his work was challenged both in
-England and Germany; but all doubts have been set at rest by the inquiries
-of Rask and others; and thus, through the fanciful enterprise of a young
-Frenchman, the veil has been lifted which for so long a period shrouded
-the mysterious religion of the Magi.
-
-We do not, however, possess the whole of the Avesta. It is asserted by an
-Arabian writer that Zarathustra himself covered with his verses no fewer
-than twelve thousand parchments, and who shall compute the extent of the
-literature accumulated by his disciples? Whether this literature perished
-at the epoch of the Macedonian conquest of Persia, or whether it was
-destroyed by Alexander the Great, or whether it gradually perished as the
-influence of the Greek philosophy prevailed over the Zarathustrian
-theology, it is impossible to determine. The remains of the sacred books,
-however, with short summaries of their contents, have been handed down to
-us. Originally they were twenty-one in number, called _Nosks_, and each
-_Nosk_ consisting of "Avesta" and "Zend"--text and commentary. The number
-twenty-one corresponded to the number of words composing the "Honovar," or
-most sacred prayer, of the Zarathustrians. It is, we may add, a magical
-number, being the result of the multiplication of the sacred numbers,
-_three_ and _seven_.
-
-Of these divisions the _précis_ now extant, and collected for the first
-time by the Danish scholar Westergaard, comprise the following books:
-First, the _Yasna_, which sets before us the devotions proper to be
-offered in connection with the sacrificial ceremonies. This Yasna is
-divided into seventy-two chapters, representing the six Yahânhârs, or
-"seasons" during which Ahura-Mazda, the Good Principle, created the world.
-The reader will here note the coincidence between the six creative seasons
-of the Magian seer, and the six creative days of the Hebrew lawgiver. The
-Yasna consists of two parts, the older of which is written in what is
-called the Gâtha dialect, and had acquired a peculiar sanctity prior to
-the date of composition of the other books. It may be described as a
-treasury of songs, hymns, and metrical prayers, which embody a variety of
-abstruse reflections upon subjects of metaphysical inquiry, and are much
-better adapted to stimulate the intellect of the student than to foster
-the devotion of the worshipper. They are rhymeless, like the poetical
-effusions of Cædmon, and in their metrical structure bear a curious
-resemblance to the Vedic hymns. Of these collections, or Gâthas, there are
-five, and their leading title seems to be: "The Revealed Thought, the
-Revealed Word, and the Revealed Deed of Zarathustra the Holy." It is added
-that the Archangels first sang the Gâthas. Their general purport is an
-exposition of the work and teaching of the great founder of Magianism, who
-is represented as inveighing against a belief in the _devas_, or gods, and
-exhorting his disciples to lift up their hearts only to Ahura-Mazda, the
-Supreme Goodness.
-
-Now it seems necessary to correct a popular error, that the Zendavesta is
-largely liturgical: an error confirmed by the assertion of Gibbon, who
-says: "Every mode of religion, to make a deep and lasting impression on
-the human mind, must exercise our obedience, by enjoining practices of
-devotion for which we can assign no reason; and must acquire our esteem by
-inculcating moral duties analogous to the dictates of our own hearts. The
-religion of Zoroaster was abundantly provided with the former, and
-possessed a sufficient portion of the latter." But Zarathustra himself, in
-one of his best-known precepts, warns his followers that "he who sows the
-ground with care and diligence, acquires a greater stock of religious
-merit than he would gain by the repetition of ten thousand prayers." It is
-the tendency of all ethico-religious systems, at least in their earliest
-stage of development, to discourage purely liturgical observances, and to
-enjoin on the disciple a state of self-concentration and self-absorption
-varied only by physical activity. Unaided by a divine Revelation, their
-founders never rise higher than the passive virtues of endurance and
-patience. As time passes away, and the new creed falls into the hands of a
-special school of expounders, minute rites and rigid practices are
-accumulated in order to impose upon the neophyte, and deepen the influence
-of those who alone possess a clue to their meaning. The formalities which
-encumber the Zarathustrian worship were invented long after the death of
-the master, and no indication of them appears in the oldest section of
-the Zendavesta. They are to be found chiefly in the much later pages of
-the _Sadder_, where fifteen different genuflexions and prayers are
-required of the devout Persian every time he cuts his finger-nails!
-
-To return to the Yasna. The Gâthas, of which we have been speaking, were
-not improbably composed by Zarathustra himself, and may be held to express
-his belief and his thoughts in his own words. The second part, or "Younger
-Yasna," is of a much later date and less lofty tone. The invention of some
-of the Master's disciples or priests, it re-establishes the Polytheism
-which Zarathustra so strenuously condemned; and furnishes the believer
-with a manual of prayers and incantations (in prose) to the genii of the
-woods and streams and hills, the powers of fire and earth and water, and
-all the invisible spirits which haunt the luminous air.
-
-We come next to the _Visparad_, a collection of prayers in
-three-and-twenty chapters, written in Zend, and of a similar tenour to
-those in the younger Yasna. These prayers refer to the preparation of the
-sacred water, and the consecration of certain offerings--such as the
-sacred bread--which are carried round about the sacred fire, and after
-having been exhibited to it, are eaten by the priest and by the votary on
-whose behalf the ceremony is performed.
-
-The _Yashts_ (Yêsti)--that is, worship by prayers and sacrifices--fall to
-be considered in the third place. Of these devotions, which are
-consecrated to the praise and worship of one Divine Being, and of a
-certain limited group of inferior deities, twenty-four are extant. In
-using them the votary endeavours, by a wearisome enumeration of the
-glorious achievements of the deity he is addressing, and of the miracles
-he has wrought, to induce him to come and enjoy the meal prepared for him,
-and then to bestow on his fervid worshipper a blessing not inferior to the
-boons bestowed on his children in bygone times. So far as concerns the
-legendary history of the ancient Iranians, and in connection with their
-belief in the pantheon of Magianism, the Yashts are of great value, and
-indeed, from this point of view, are the most precious portion of the
-Zendavesta.
-
-While the three parts already described exhibit more or less of a
-liturgical character, the fourth division, known as the _Vendidad_, forms
-a collection of customs, observances, laws, pains, and penalties, the
-growth of a period much later than that of Zarathustra, when Ritual began
-its encroachments on Religion. It is the essence of all _genuine_ Ritual
-that it should illustrate and explain Doctrine, but this is never found to
-be the case in the primitive creeds. In all such it becomes merely the
-ingenious invention of a subtle priesthood, by which its members
-established their influence over an ignorant community. In the eyes of the
-unlearned its complex character invested it with an air of mystery; they
-were led to look upon the "form" as of greater importance than the
-"spirit," and to attribute a strange, a wonderful potency to rites and
-ceremonies which they could not understand. While it is the special
-feature of the faith of CHRIST that it appeals in its sweet simplicity to
-every heart, and that it requires of the believer to present himself
-before the altar with the innocence and trustfulness of a little child;
-that it seeks not to confuse by a multiplicity of minute observances, and
-even sums up its leading tenets in two brief and easily intelligible
-commandments; Magianism, conscious of its inherent defects, unable to fall
-back on the redeeming sacrifice of a SAVIOUR, deficient in any enduring
-principle of vitality, sought to build up its structure on a foundation of
-ceremonies and formalities. And when it could not feed the soul with the
-bread of truth, it dazzled the senses by imposing spectacles, and confused
-the imagination with a cumbrous code of the most complicated ritualistic
-frivolities; so that the Persian worship, with its incantations and
-devices, laid the foundation of the later Magic.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-Turning our attention now to that portion of the Zendavesta which is
-called the Vendidad, we find that it is divided into twenty-two Fargards,
-or chapters.
-
-In the first of these we find an account of the creation by Ahura-Mazda,
-of sixteen holy regions, sinless spotless Edens, localities of perfect
-bliss; each of which is destroyed in succession by Ahriman, the Spirit of
-Evil,--a fable evidently suggested by the Mosaic history of Paradise. The
-second treats of a certain king, Yimo Vivaugham, who introduced
-agriculture into the land of Iran. The third sets forth the various means
-by which Zoma, or the Earth, may be rendered happy. You must beware of
-excavating deep holes in it, for through these the _devs_, or demons, pass
-to and fro between hell and earth; nor must you bury within it the dead
-bodies of men or dogs, or other animals. The fourth chapter enumerates six
-categories of crime, and the several punishments connected with them. The
-fifth and sixth are occupied with a description of various kinds of
-impurity. The seventh and eighth contain liturgical directions in
-reference to the disposal of the carcases of men and dogs;[19] and it is
-stated that whoever eats of flesh so unclean can never be purified, but
-that hell will undoubtedly be his portion. Even the house in which a man
-or a dog dies must immediately be purified by the use of incense or
-sweet-smelling odours; a sanitary precaution of some importance in hot
-climates. In the ninth occurs an elaborate detail of the rite of
-purification denominated the _Barathium_, to be performed by, and on
-behalf of a person who shall have been unwittingly defiled by touching the
-dead. The tenth and eleventh are not less minute in their directions what
-word must be repeated twice, and thrice, and four times at the different
-Gâthas, in order that Ahriman and his lieutenants may be expelled from men
-and women who have been in contact with the dead, and from houses, cities,
-and provinces into which they have obtained an entrance.
-
-The twelfth Fargard treats of various funeral ceremonies, and repeats a
-number of injunctions relative to the cleansing of places, of clothes and
-other articles, polluted by lifeless bodies. It concludes with elaborate
-warnings against a two-footed _dev_, called Ashmog. The thirteenth and
-fourteenth run riot in praise of the noble qualities of dogs, and severe
-in their rebuke of the "superior animals" who ill-use them. The fifteenth
-reads like a Commination Service, in its denunciation of certain crimes
-which can never be undone even by the profoundest penitential offices, and
-are punished by Ahura-Mazda with eternal condemnation. The seventeenth,
-like the sixteenth, is tediously liturgical, and discusses such minutiæ as
-the arrangement of the hair of the head, the extraction of bad or gray
-hairs, and the cutting of nails. If these operations are performed
-without certain prescribed ceremonies, the devs come upon earth, and
-parasitical organisms are produced to the great discomfort and injury of
-man. The eighteenth lays down the distinctions which should characterise
-an _Athrava_, or priest. He must wear the _padan_, a mouth-cover, of two
-fingers' breadth; must carry an instrument for disposing of parasitical
-insects; devote his nights to study, keep alive the sacred fire, and
-succour the distressed. The nineteenth chapter recounts the perils to
-which Zarathustra was exposed, when he had left the south on his mission,
-from the murderous assaults of Ahriman and his host, who hastened up from
-the north; the north, to an inhabitant of the warm sunny south, naturally
-appearing the fit home and haunt of the Spirit of Evil. The twentieth is
-devoted to the praise of Taneslied, who is represented as having swept
-away disease, death, bloodshed, war, evil-doers, falsehood, and all kinds
-of wickedness. The twenty-first enjoins the salutations to be paid to the
-sacred Bull, and extols some of its illustrious qualities. Finally, the
-twenty-second narrates the mission of Zarathustra, and describes the evil
-he will dispel through the influence of the Word; Ahura-Mazda having
-ordered him to establish his worship in the region called Airya-Mava, or
-Irman, so that it may become bright, pure, and happy as the abode of
-Ahura-Mazda himself, free from sin, and, consequently, free from sorrow
-and suffering.
-
-From this brief summary it will be seen that the religion of the Parsees
-in its present form is a definite Dualism, recognizing the existence of
-two distinct principles, Good and Evil, impersonated by spirits of equal
-power, named Ahura-Mazda, (or Spento-Manyus,) and Ahriman, (or
-Angro-Manyus.) But no such doctrine was taught by Zarathustra himself. His
-creed, like all the earliest creeds, was purely Monotheistic. He set
-before men, as the sole object of their love and adoration, one Supreme
-Being, Ahura-Mazda, the great "Life-Giver" or the "Living Wisdom," as the
-name is variously explained. Nor was his conception of this one God
-altogether unworthy of the Founder of a Religion. He does not represent
-Him, indeed, as the "Father," loving, sympathetic, compassionate, and so
-full of condescension, that He is willing to give His Son to die for the
-salvation of erring Humanity; for he did not enjoy that fuller revelation
-of the Divine Nature which was vouchsafed to the Hebrew race. But he shows
-Him as the "Lord over all lords, the Forgiving, the Omniscient." He is
-ineffably pure, the source of all Truth, the Holy God. In the Khordah
-Avesta, Zarathustra is introduced as inquiring: "Tell me the name, O pure
-Ahura-Mazda, which is Thy greatest, best, and fairest name?" Ahura-Mazda
-replies: "My name is He who may be questioned: the Gatherer of the people:
-the Most Pure: He who takes account of the actions of men. My name is God
-(Ahura); My name is the Great Wise One (Mazdas.) I am the All-Seeing, the
-Desirer of Good for My creatures, He who cannot be deceived: the
-Protector: the Tormentor of tormentors: He who smiteth once and only once:
-the Creator of All."
-
-His happiness, like His holiness, is without spot or blemish; every
-blessing is His that man can imagine--health and wealth, virtue, wisdom,
-prosperity, immortality; and these blessings He is willing to bestow on
-His creatures if in thought and word and deed they eschew impurity. But we
-nowhere read that He will assist them in the struggle against sin by
-creating in them a new heart, or by vouchsafing the grace of His Holy
-Spirit. The mystery of the Atonement was beyond the reach of the soul and
-intellect even of Zarathustra; and the highest conception of God to which
-he could attain was that of a Being of perfect Goodness, sitting enthroned
-in a strange awful loneliness, with no other feeling than that of approval
-of Good and disapproval of Evil. He is, of course, the supreme type of
-Power: all that _is_ flows from Him, as light from the Sun: He creates
-both the shadow and the brightness of the human existence, good and ill,
-fortune and misfortune. So far above all human intelligence is He placed,
-that images of Him are forbidden, though He is understood to be symbolised
-by the sun and by fire. He can be served only by prayers and offerings, by
-a life of purity and truth, by abstinence from sinful passions, by the
-banishment of sinful thoughts. Thus Herodotus says of the Zarathustrians,
-that they reject the use of temples, of altars, and of statues. "They
-smile," he says, "at the folly of those nations who imagine that the Gods
-are descended from, or have any affinity with, human nature. The loftiest
-mountain-tops are the places chosen for their sacrifices. Hymns and
-prayers are their principal forms of worship. And the Supreme God, who
-fills the vast sphere of Heaven, is the object to whom they are
-addressed."
-
-The service of Ahura-Mazda consisted, then, as we see, in the performance
-of good works, in the cultivation of virtue, and in the due offering up of
-prayer and praise. It was an intellectual worship that Zarathustra
-prescribed; a worship that might assist in the development of a high
-morality, but could not inculcate a deep and true religious feeling. Of
-contrition for sin, of humbling oneself before God, of self-sacrifice and
-self-abnegation, of love, and faith, and hope, the creed of Zarathustra
-took no account. And here, as well as elsewhere, we observe its vast
-inferiority to the religion of CHRIST. It made no provision for the
-awakening and fostering of those tender emotions of profound humility,
-thankful adoration, and unutterable gratitude which are awakened in the
-Christian's heart by the name of JESUS. It could never have called forth
-such an utterance of the son's glad submission to the will of the FATHER
-as we find, for example, in the ejaculatory verse of Ben Jonson:
-
-  "Hear me, O GOD!
-    A broken heart
-    Is my best part:
-  Use still Thy rod,
-    That I may prove
-    Therein Thy love.
-
-  "If Thou hadst not
-    Been stern to me,
-    But left me free,
-  I had forgot
-    Myself and Thee.
-
-  "For sin's so sweet,
-    As minds ill-bent
-    Rarely repent,
-  Until they meet
-    Their punishment."
-
-Such lines as these indicate a relation between man and his GOD which
-could never obtain between the Zarathustrian and his Ahura-Mazda. His was
-a cold, unimpassioned, logical creed, warmed by no single heart-throb of
-Divine love and mercy; a creed which demanded human worship for a sinless
-God, but did not invite human faith in a loving Redeemer; and,
-consequently, a creed which left untouched the deepest springs and most
-responsive chords of our humanity.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-Both the excellencies and the short-comings of Magianism are shown in the
-confessions and prayers included in the Zendavesta. For example, there is
-much that is elevated and noble in the following, yet its tone is
-curiously Pharisaical, and may be contrasted with that of Ben Jonson's
-verses. Instead of being the aspiration of a sinful soul after
-forgiveness, and a reaching forth towards love and light, it is the
-self-eulogium of a mind confident in its own sustaining power, and to
-appreciate its weakness we need only to contrast it with the fervour of a
-David or a S. Paul. We remember that the Hebrew king exclaimed: "My heart
-panteth, my strength faileth me: as for the light of mine eyes, it also is
-gone from me," and how the Apostle confessed himself "the chief of
-sinners." With no such aching consciousness of weakness does the
-Zarathustrian bow himself before God. There is all the pride of
-self-righteousness in his prayer. Thus:
-
-"I remain standing fast in the statutes of the law which Ahura-Mazda gave
-to Zarathustra. As long as life endures I will stand fast in good thoughts
-in my soul, in good words in my speech, in good deeds in my actions. With
-all good am I in harmony, with all evil am I at variance. With the
-punishments of the future life I am content. I have taken hold of good
-thoughts, words, and works. I have forsaken evil thoughts, words, and
-works. May the power of Ahriman be broken! may the reign of Ahura-Mazda
-increase!"
-
-And again:
-
-"I am steadfast in this faith, and turn myself not away from it, for the
-sake of a happy life, or for the sake of a longer life, nor for power, nor
-for a kingdom. If I must give up my body for the sake of my soul, I give
-it willingly. I believe firmly in the good Mazda-yusaian faith; in the
-Resurrection; in the bridge of souls,[20] in the invariable reward of good
-deeds and punishment of bad deeds, in the everlasting continuance of
-paradise and the annihilation of hell; and I believe that, at the last,
-Ahura-Mazda will be victorious, and Ahrimanes will perish with the Devs,
-and all the children of darkness.... I am full of hope that I shall attain
-to Paradise and the shining Garathânan, where all majesty dwelleth. I make
-this confession in the hope that I may hereafter become more zealous to
-accomplish good works and keep myself more from sin; and that my good
-deeds may serve for the diminution of evil and the increase of good till
-the rising again."
-
-We know the form of prayer taught us by JESUS CHRIST; how simple it is,
-how complete, how absolute in its renunciation of self, how comprehensive
-in its charity. "Thy will be done".... "Forgive us our trespasses as we
-forgive them who trespass against us".... "Lead us not into temptation."
-Such are its leading thoughts: submission before GOD, charity before Man;
-both implying and demanding the conquest and humiliation of self. Let us
-contrast it with a Zarathustrian prayer:
-
-"In the name of God the Giver and Forgiver, Rich in Love, praise be to
-Ahura-Mazda, the God with the name ... 'Who always was, always is, and
-always will be.'... Ahura-Mazda the Wise, the Creator, the Over-seeing
-God, pure, good, and just! With all strength bring I thank-offerings and
-praise to the Lord, the completer of good works, who made men greater than
-all earthly beings, and through the gift of speech created them to rule
-over the creatures and to war against the evil spirits. Praise to the
-omniscience of God who has sent through the holy Zarathustra power and
-knowledge of the law. All good do I accept at Thy command, O God, and
-think, speak, and do it. I believe in the pure law, and by every good work
-I seek forgiveness for sins. I keep pure the six powers--thought, speech,
-act, memory, reason, understanding. According to Thy will am I able to
-fulfil (these resolutions.) O Accomplisher of Good, to Thy honour are good
-thoughts, good words, and good works. I enter on the shining way to
-Paradise. May the terror of hell not overcome me! May I pass the bridge
-Chinavat and attain to Paradise, the bright and odoriferous, where are all
-joys. Praise to the Lord who awards those who accomplish good deeds
-according to His will, who purifies the obedient, and at last purifies the
-wicked in hell. All praise be to the Creator, Ahura-Mazda, the All-Wise,
-the Mighty, the Rich in Love."
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-Prayer, according to Zarathustra, is not the humbling of the soul before
-its Creator, not the aspirations of the spirit towards the Source of all
-Love and Mercy, not the desire of the creature to be at peace with GOD,
-but the renunciation of will,--a noble and worthy aim in itself, but not
-fulfilling the Christian idea of prayer. To do good and to shun evil is,
-no doubt, the motive of the Christian life; but prayer is something more
-and something higher, the sacrifice of an humble and a contrite heart.
-
-  "Heaven is the magazine wherein GOD puts
-  Both good and evil; prayer's the key that shuts
-  And opens this great treasure; 'tis a key
-  Whose wards are Faith, and Hope, and Charity.
-  Wouldst thou prevent a judgment due to sin?
-  Turn but the key and thou mayst lock it in.
-  Or wouldst thou have a blessing fall upon thee!
-  Open the door and it will shower on thee."[21]
-
-But no such conception as this is discernible throughout the length and
-breadth of the Parsee Scriptures, which here, as elsewhere, and in
-relation to other matters, attain a lofty, but not the loftiest, level;
-rise above earth, but do not soar to Heaven. They seem instinct with
-echoes of the original revelation vouchsafed to man, but those echoes are
-faint and imperfect; whereas, in the Hebrew creed, the voices of GOD are
-repeated with a fulness and a power which leaves the heart nothing to
-desire. In this vast superiority we cannot fail to see a strong and
-striking proof of its authenticity. If it be found difficult to account
-for the moral excellence and æsthetic beauty of Zarathustrianism without
-tracing it back in some indirect way to a Divine origin; how shall we
-explain the sublimity and grandeur of the Hebrew Theism, unless we admit
-that it is all it professes to be,--is, in very truth, the expression of
-the will of the everliving GOD?
-
-We have spoken of Zarathustra's religion as originally monotheistic; its
-purity, however, was not long preserved, and the cause of its corruption
-lay in itself. Zarathustra could not deny the existence of Evil, and to
-explain it was driven to concoct an extraordinary hypothesis. As in every
-electrified object there are two poles, a positive and a negative, so,
-according to the Prophet, in Ahura-Mazda, and in all rational beings, man
-included, are present a good and holy Will, and its shadow or negative,--a
-higher and a lower nature,--the Positive and the Negative Mind. How
-Zarathustra reconciled this idea with his conception of Ahura-Mazda, as
-Perfect Goodness, we are unable to comprehend. At all events, it contained
-the germs of the future Dualism of the Persian religion. The Negative Mind
-soon came to be separated from the good and holy Will, and was quickly
-personified as an independent evil being, a Power of Night and Darkness,
-Ahriman (Angro-Manyus,) equal in might to Ahura-Mazda, and disputing with
-him the possession of the world. Thus arose the myth of the constant
-struggle between the two powers, as between Day and Night; the servants of
-Ahura-Mazda being sent forth to encounter, resist, and overcome the slaves
-and works of Ahriman, thereby bringing about the end of all things, when
-Ahriman himself should be vanquished and reconciled.
-
-In course of time the difficulties of this dual theory were detected by
-acute intellects, and at the Sassanian Revival an attempt was made to
-dispose of them by introducing the doctrine of Monotheism under a new
-form, that of a Great Primal Cause (Zervana Akarana), the Boundless Time
-or Uncreated Whole, such as we trace in the later Greek poetry, and
-apparently rather a "metaphysical abstraction," like the Greek [Greek:
-Anagkê], or the Roman Nemesis, than "an active and presiding deity."
-Thence proceeded both the Good and the Evil Principles; the two antagonist
-creators who balanced against each other in perpetual conflict a race of
-spiritual and material beings, light and darkness, good and evil. The wise
-benevolence of Ahura-Mazda formed men capable of virtuous impulses, and
-endowed each with everything that could contribute to his happiness. He
-preserved by his watchful providence the harmonious movements of the
-planets, and the temperate combination of the elements. But the malice of
-Ahriman has long since pierced Ahura-Mazda's "egg;" in other words,
-violated the sweet accord and bounteous beauty of His works. Since that
-fatal irruption, the most minute articles of good and evil are alternately
-commingled and agitated together; the most poisonous herbs spring up among
-the most wholesome plants; the warfare of deluges, earthquakes, and
-conflagrations disturbs the serenity of nature; and humanity is subjected
-to all the blighting influences of sin, suffering, and sorrow. While the
-rest of mankind were led away captive in the chains of their terrible
-enemy, the faithful Persian alone remained constant in his faith in
-Ahura-Mazda, and fought under his banner of light, looking forward to a
-triumphant day when Good should prevail over all the world.
-
-It seems to us impossible to doubt that, in this later development of the
-Zoroastrian faith, its priests and teachers were largely indebted to the
-Sacred Writings, though into what they borrowed they introduced much
-original and fanciful speculation.
-
-A Parsee, with a firm faith in Ahura-Mazda, and conscious of having obeyed
-the law, offered up prayer and praise, and renounced, in intention at
-least, evil thoughts and deeds and words, lay down on his death bed in a
-certain hope and expectation of the Eternal life. We have seen that the
-Zendavesta appointed a variety of penances, by the performance of which
-the believer obtained immediate pardon for ordinary transgressions; and
-therefore, full of the self-righteousness which his creed was so well
-adapted to inculcate, he faced the passage of the Dark River without fear.
-He knew not of any need to implore the mercy of a Redeemer, to humble
-himself in sackcloth and ashes, to base his hope on the infinite love of
-GOD made man, on the glorious sacrifice of the Cross; his soul passed
-straight to Paradise, as an arrow flies towards its mark. In the Khordah
-Avesta we can follow the stages of its journey:--On the first night after
-death the soul dwelt near the head of the inanimate body it had just
-deserted, and sat there praying, rejoicing in as much joy as is vouchsafed
-to the whole living world. And so did it dwell on the second night,
-praying. And so did it dwell on the third night, praying. But when the
-third night verged upon dawn, the soul of the pure man went forward. A
-wind, sweeter than all other winds, blew to meet it from the south. And in
-that wind came to embrace the pilgrim _his own law_, under the figure of a
-maiden beautiful and shining, fair as the fairest of created beings. The
-pilgrim then took the first step in his celestial progress, and arrived in
-the paradise _Hamata_; he took the second, and reached the paradise
-_Hûkhta_; he took the third, and arrived at the paradise _Hvarsta_. The
-beatified wanderer made yet another step, and gained the presence of the
-Eternal Light. There was he addressed by an already beatified soul: "How
-art thou, O pure deceased, who hast come from the perishable world hither
-to the imperishable?" Ahura-Mazda here interrupted: "Ask him not, for he
-has come on the fearful trembling way, the separation of soul and body.
-Bring him hither of the food of the full fatness, that is, of the filling
-food for those who think, speak, and do good, for the pure after death."
-
-A recent writer says of this notion of a progressive advance to the
-"Eternal Light," of the welcome received from the blessed, and from the
-gentle words of Ahura-Mazda himself; and of the conducting angel who
-represents the man's own earthly faith and life, (like Bunyan's Mr.
-Good-Conscience meeting old Honest beside the River of Death,) "all
-these," he says, "are beautiful thoughts." Surely fanciful, rather than
-beautiful; and better adapted to amuse religious sentimentalists than to
-satisfy healthy and earnest believers. The obvious reference to the three
-days and nights spent by our LORD "in prison" appears to indicate that
-this is a comparatively modern portion of the Zendavesta, founded upon
-some vague knowledge of the mystery of the Resurrection.
-
-While the pure soul proceeded, as we have seen, by three stages or
-gradations to the Paradise of Light and Sweetness, the evil and unclean
-soul, on the other hand, descended, also by three stages, to the terrors
-of Douzakh, the dark abode of Ahriman and the Devs. There it suffered
-according to its sinfulness until the general day of Resurrection. At that
-great epoch these nights of indescribable woe will be undergone by all who
-have not expiated their earthly offences; woe so terrible, that the
-Blessed, looking down upon it from their celestial battlements, will be
-moved to tears of pity. And then the massive mountains and the solid rocks
-shall be melted by the heat, and streams of liquid gold shall flow, in
-which both the pure and evil shall receive a regenerating bath. Ahriman
-and his devs shall share in the universal happiness, and all created life
-shall swell the song of praise sent up in honour of Ahura-Mazda.
-
-While we are unable to doubt that in the Zendavesta, as it has come down
-to us, may be traced the direct influence of the Hebrew creed, and that
-ideas and principles of a still later date were borrowed more or less
-closely from Christianity, we can as little doubt that Zarathustrianism
-had no inconsiderable effect on the Jewish popular belief. The Jewish
-prophets, after the Captivity, would seem to have adopted much of what may
-be called their poetic language and machinery from the writings of the
-Magian teachers. The Talmud contains unmistakable evidence of its
-indebtedness to the same source. The Angelology of the Jewish doctors
-originated, probably during the captivity of the Tribes in Babylonia, in
-the Magian superstitions; and it was then that the complete angelic
-hierarchy was evolved, with its seven great archangels corresponding to
-the seven Amchaspands of the Zendavesta. It was then that for the first
-time the Jewish popular creed recognised the existence of two antagonistic
-hosts of spiritual beings, arrayed against each other in everlasting
-battle. Then was developed the fancy of a guardian angel attending every
-individual to shelter him from the malignant hostility of his Dev or
-demon. So that much of the mythology which Milton employs so effectively
-in "Paradise Lost," having borrowed it from the traditions and legends of
-the Hebrew race, came originally from the far East, and was invented by
-the followers of Zarathustra. The Miltonic and popular conception of
-Satan, so unlike the Biblical representation of the great Destroyer, was
-largely coloured from the Magian sketch of Ahriman, the Power of Darkness.
-
-It is certain that the grand and lofty Hebrew revelation of the One GOD
-was modified and debased by its contact with the Magian teaching. It has
-been well remarked that wherever any approximation had been made to this
-sublime truth of the existence of the one great First Cause, either "awful
-religious reverence" or "philosophic abstraction" had removed the Creative
-Power absolutely out of the range of human sense, and supposed that the
-intercourse of the Divinity with man, the moral government, and even the
-actual creative work, had been carried on by the intermediate agency of,
-in Oriental phrase, an Emanation, or, in Platonic language, of the
-"Wisdom," "Reason," or "Intelligence" of the Supreme. The Jews, under the
-influence of their intercourse with the Persians, adopted that conception,
-and, departing from the path laid down for them by Revelation, interposed
-one or more intermediate beings as the channels of communication between
-GOD and man. The Apostle seizes on the popular fancy, and endeavours to
-restore from it the original truth, when he tells his readers that the
-"Word" of which they spoke so vaguely and presumptuously was none other
-than GOD Himself,--the SON of GOD, but equal with the FATHER,--the
-brightness of His glory and the express image of His person. He showed
-them that the mediation between the lofty spiritual nature of GOD and the
-intellectual and moral being of Man was not to be accomplished through any
-independent agency, but by the revelation of GOD Himself in the person and
-presence of His beloved SON. That this, the essential and central truth of
-Christianity, was one which the unassisted human intellect could never
-have developed we know, from the fact that it is found in no creed of
-admittedly human origin, and that it is never clearly set forth even in
-any religious system which has borrowed from Christianity.
-
-We can imagine the ability of man to shape out for himself an idea of some
-awful Power, some mighty First Cause, which created and ordered the
-universe, and controlled and shaped its destinies. Looking around upon
-creation, he might, perhaps, without any severe intellectual effort,
-attain to the thought of a Creator. This conception once realised, he
-might in due time come to believe that the Creator could be pleased or
-angered by the doings of His creatures; and that the anger of One so
-powerful would be something to dread and avoid. But the idea of this grand
-and terrible Creator sending from Heaven His own Son to take upon Himself
-humanity, and thereby save the creature from the just wrath it had
-provoked, and the dread retribution it had deserved,--an idea, so glorious
-and consoling, could never, we believe, have been grasped by the loftiest
-human intellect, unless aided by a revelation from above.
-
-The exact relation of Zarathustrianism to Christianity it is somewhat
-difficult to define, because a cloud of doubt and uncertainty hangs over
-the compilation of the later portions of the Zendavesta. While the great
-antiquity of the Gâthas cannot be disputed, while there is clear evidence
-that they contain much of the original teaching of Zarathustra,--teaching
-nobler and more exalted than that of his followers,--it seems not less
-certain that the doctrines of the Resurrection and the Future Life were
-borrowed from the Hebrews. What then is left to justify a comparison with
-Christianity? The keynote of its scheme is intellectual pride; that of the
-Christian religion, spiritual abasement. The former urges on its disciples
-the necessity of good thoughts, words, and deeds in order to please
-Ahura-Mazda; the latter, as a proof of faith in the mission of its
-Founder. The former teaches an excellent code of morals, so far as relates
-to the individual; the latter lays down one golden rule, "Do unto others
-as thou wouldest they should do unto thee." The former enforces the law of
-self-control; the latter of self-renunciation. It is impossible to pretend
-that Magianism shows the same insight into man's wants, failings,
-passions, temptations, as Christianity shows; or provides a system so
-capable of adaptation to every age, and rank, and character.
-
-We see no reason to doubt the authenticity and antiquity of the
-Zendavesta; but it is somewhat surprising that scholars who make haste to
-accept _it_ as genuine, should show so much scepticism in reference to the
-Christian Scriptures. Surely, as regards the latter, the evidence of
-genuineness is infinitely stronger than as regards the former. We know
-that they were implicitly accepted by men who lived almost in the very
-time of those who recorded them; on the other hand, of Zarathustra and his
-contemporaries or successors we know absolutely nothing. Some authorities
-represent him to have flourished as early as 2200 B.C.; others as late as
-500 B.C. Some consider him to have been the founder of a dynasty; others
-invest him with a supernatural personality. But at the best he remains
-_nominis umbra_; as indistinct and shadowy, as in his teaching he is cold
-and clear. Of the authenticity of his writings the principal proofs are
-those derivable from the writings themselves. But if we allow that such
-proofs are admissible, what shall we say of those to be found in the
-Gospels and Epistles? As their morality is so much more elevated than that
-of the Zendavesta, so is the certainty of their Divine origin infinitely
-more assured. The class of testimony which asserts the authenticity of the
-one not less convincingly affirms the genuineness of the other. And if the
-Gospels are all that they purport to be, how can we avoid the conclusion
-that they are truthful also in the witness they bear to the life and
-character of CHRIST?
-
-We may point to a remarkable contrast between Magianism and
-Christianity,--that the former has undergone an almost complete revolution
-of meaning and doctrine, while, in spite of sectarian glosses, the latter
-remains virtually unaltered. The faith once for all delivered to the
-saints is held by believers to-day in all its original purity. We repeat
-the Creed just as it fell from the rapt lips of martyrs, saints and
-confessors. But the monotheism of Zarathustra has been broken up into a
-curious Dualism; and upon the religious system of the Gâthas has been
-accumulated such a burden of ritual, of novel teaching, of borrowed
-dogmas, and alien mysteries, that the acutest students are almost baffled
-in their endeavours to distinguish the false from the true, and the new
-from the old. It is almost impossible to determine what belongs to the
-Zarathustrian original, and what to perversions or adaptations from the
-Jewish Scriptures.
-
-It is an indisputable testimony to the living force and divine genius of
-Christianity, that it occupies a void which no one of the primitive
-religions has ever been able to fill. We find it difficult to conceive
-that any man who has once been a Christian could voluntarily embrace
-Zarathustrianism or Buddhism, and attempt to satisfy his soul with it, any
-more than with the philosophy of the Stoics. We are tempted to ask,
-indeed, whether either could at any time have satisfied the cravings of
-humanity. We know that all their ethical schemes could not lift the sages
-of Greece and Rome out of the deep, the intense sadness which possessed
-them, nor respond to their yearnings after a something they could neither
-describe nor define. Their state of thought and feeling has been expressed
-by a modern poet, Matthew Arnold, with what seems to us a wonderful
-fidelity:--
-
-            "Nor only in the intent
-            To attach blame elsewhere,
-            Do we at will invent
-            Stern powers who make their care
-  To embitter human life, malignant deities.
-
-            "But next, we would reverse
-            The scheme ourselves have spun,
-            And what we made to curse
-            We now would lean upon,
-  And feign kind gods who perfect what man vainly tries....
-
-            "We pause, we hush our heart,
-            And then address the gods:
-            'The world hath failed to impart
-            The joy our youth forebodes,
-  Failed to fill up the void which in our breasts we bear!'"
-
-Their principles of thought were pure, but they felt that there existed a
-purity which was beyond their reach; their standard of conduct was high,
-but they were inwardly conscious that it ought to be higher. On that
-golden "ladder of sunbeams" which rises from earth to the angel-guarded
-battlements of heaven, they had ascended a few timid steps, but above and
-beyond they could see a glory to which it was not given them to rise.
-Hence it has often been said, and justly, that the men were greater than
-their system; and such, so far as Magianism was concerned, may well have
-been the case with the loftier minds of Bactria and Persia. But it can
-never be pretended that the Christian is greater than Christianity. Let
-him be ever so holy in his living, ever so exalted in his aspirations, he
-will not seek for something _beyond_ and _out of_ Christianity, because he
-feels and knows that he cannot exhaust all its capabilities; that it soars
-far higher than he can ever soar. It has truths which the profoundest
-psychologist cannot fathom; it opens up visions which the boldest
-imagination cannot comprehend; it contains a wealth of emotion and
-sympathy which the most passionate soul can never exhaust. After we have
-said and done all we can, after we have mastered all that has been said
-and done by other men, we still find in the life and character of CHRIST
-that which may well engage, and yet never weary our attention. And here we
-touch upon a feature which no human system of religion or morality has
-ever matched. Strip the Zendavesta, if you will, of all its later and less
-worthy adjuncts, and yet it cannot, any more than the Rig-Veda, present us
-with the divine beauty of the Man of Sorrows. But this it is which fills,
-soothes, blesses, inspires the aching, restless, craving human heart. When
-it can no longer satisfy itself with the cold moralities of philosophy,
-when it pines for a deeper and a warmer life, when it is weary with
-problems which it cannot solve, and disappointed in hopes which it has
-seen fade away like dreams of the night, it turns to the Cross and is
-comforted. The mysteries which perplexed it vanish in the light that
-emanates from the Divine history of the SON of GOD. The awe with which it
-regards the passionless abstraction of a great First Cause, a supreme
-entity of Power and Wisdom without Love, passes into reverent admiration
-and joyous thanksgiving when it looks up into the face of the Good
-Shepherd, and reposes in the shadow of the Vine, and learns how that He
-Who was with the FATHER before the beginning, has suffered even as we
-suffer, has borne the heavy burden of the flesh even as we have borne it,
-and now sits on the right hand of GOD,--not an idea, not a principle, not
-a Spirit, but a PERSON, bidding all who believe to come unto Him and be at
-rest.
-
-This, indeed, is the cardinal merit of Christianity,--it has given us
-CHRIST.
-
-GOD forbid that we should deny a certain value even to the "unconscious
-prophecies of heathendom," or refuse to see something of the spirit of
-CHRIST in the teaching of the ancient sages and philosophers; but when an
-attempt is made to raise Magianism to an equal rank with Christianity, and
-the cold intellectual utterances of the Zendavesta to rank with the
-living voices of Holy Writ, it is essential to point out how vast, how
-impassable is the gulf between them; how little Magianism did or could do
-to elevate man's spiritual nature; and how largely Christianity surpasses
-it, in and through the manifestation of the Divine love in the mystery of
-GOD made Man.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER III.
-
-_JEWISH SUPERSTITIONS._
-
-
-THE TALMUD.
-
-The Talmud, (from the Hebrew _lamad_, to learn,) is the name given to the
-great code of the Jewish civil and canonical law. It is divided, like the
-Zendavesta, into two parts, the Mishna and the Gemara; the former being,
-as it were, the text, and the latter the commentary and supplement. Of
-late years public attention has been exceptionally drawn to it by the
-writings of the late Emanuel Deutsch, and it has obtained, as we think, a
-wholly undeserved amount of panegyric.
-
-Deutsch, an enthusiast in his attachment to the land and religion of his
-forefathers, put it forward as a wondrous treasure, the real value of
-which had been wholly overlooked. It contained, he seemed to say, a
-complete _corpus juris_; and, as an encyclopædia of law, should be
-compared with the corresponding collections of Roman or of English law,
-with the Pandects of Justinian and the Commentaries of Blackstone. Herein
-lies the excuse for rules that have been considered unduly subtle, or in
-other ways offensive to modern taste. But it contains something more than
-a body of law; it is also a collection of Jewish poetry and legend, of
-Jewish science, and Jewish metaphysical speculation. The Mishna is a
-development of the laws contained in the Pentateuch. The members of the
-Sanhedrim, who were chiefly concerned in the formation of this law, were
-obliged (so argues Deutsch) to be accomplished men. It was necessary that
-they should possess some knowledge of physical science, or at least of
-zoology, botany, and geography in their then condition. It was necessary
-also that they should be good linguists, having some acquaintance with
-Latin and Greek, as well as with Aramaic, Syriac, and Hebrew. Disreputable
-men were kept out, and all were compelled to be married men and fathers of
-families. "The origin of the Talmud," he says, "is coeval with the return
-from the Babylonish captivity." And though it is the glory of Christianity
-to have carried into the heart of humanity at large the golden germs of
-thought previously hidden in the schools of the learned, yet numerous
-precepts, supposed to be purely Christian, lie enshrined in the pages of
-the Talmud. It would be difficult to find a penal legislation more
-distinctly humane. As for its myths, its allegories, its apparent
-absurdities, they should be read in the spirit in which Christians read
-Bunyan's "Pilgrim's Progress." The Talmud insists upon the pre-existence
-of the soul, on the dogmas of Immortality and the Resurrection, it denies
-the doctrine of everlasting damnation; it excludes no human being from the
-world to come. And as the Talmud, continues Deutsch, although redacted at
-a later period, is, in point of time, prior to the New Testament, the
-beautiful maxims of the former cannot have been borrowed from the latter.
-In a word, it is a collection which took nearly a thousand years to form,
-and has been commented upon for a thousand years since. It breathes
-charity to all men. If we except a few items of coarseness, such as must
-occur in every legal code, it is all good; at least, it is never bad; it
-deserves all possible respect and even reverence. Such, in a condensed
-form, is the account of the Talmud which Deutsch asks us to accept.
-
-But it cannot be admitted that the defects of the Talmud are trivial, any
-more than that the spirit of the Rabbins towards Christianity was
-tolerant. Nor can it be admitted that the Talmud owes nothing to the
-Christian Scriptures.
-
-On the first point hear what Professor Hurwitz says:--"The Talmud contains
-many things which every enlightened, nay, every pious Jew, must sincerely
-wish had never appeared there, or should at least long ago have been
-expunged from its pages. Some of these Agadatha are objectionable _per
-se_; others, indeed, are susceptible of explanations, but without them are
-calculated to produce false and erroneous impressions." So much may be
-said, we think, of the legends in the Talmud; such as the size of
-Leviathan and the way in which he is to be killed and cooked for the
-chosen people, and the marriage of Adam with Lilith before the creation of
-Eve, with the diabolic progeny which sprang from them.
-
-Another point to be considered is the influence of the Alexandrian books,
-commonly known by us as the Apocrypha. Of these the Books of Wisdom and
-Ecclesiasticus at any rate exhibit the reflections of singularly devout
-and thoughtful minds, which had exercised themselves in the contemplation
-of the writings of Moses and the prophets in combination with no
-inconsiderable tincture of Greek philosophy. It would be a question of
-great interest to see how far ideas suggested in those very remarkable
-compositions have found their way into the Talmud.
-
-As regards the sentiments of the Rabbins towards Christianity: in the
-reign of Domitian, (that is, about A.D. 90,) the Sanhedrim took measures
-against the Minim, that is to say, the degenerated; for so they called the
-Jews who had been converted to Christianity. The Rabbi Tarphon said:--"The
-Gospels and all the books of the Minim deserve to be burnt, for Paganism
-is less dangerous: the Pagans misunderstand the truths of Judaism from
-ignorance, the Minim deny them with full knowledge of the case. Better to
-seek an asylum in a Pagan temple than in the synagogues of the Minim." The
-Sanhedrim of Jamnia and other similar bodies adopted the like tone. And it
-was men like these who helped to form the Talmud.
-
-Not the less it remains true, that every powerful movement which has
-occurred in the world's history has shown a part of its power in the way
-it has influenced opponents. The Reformation, as the Ultramontane De
-Maistre is compelled to admit, wrought a very perceptible change even
-among Roman Catholics. The French Revolution of 1793 did not leave
-Legitimists in the position they had occupied before its outbreak. Now
-Christianity is the greatest movement the world has ever seen. Dean
-Merivale in his excellent "History of the Romans under the Empire," states
-with no less eloquence than truth the immense indirect influence which it
-had begun to exercise on heathen thought by the end even of the first
-century. We can trace it in Pagan literature. But Deutsch and similar
-Talmudophilists would have us believe that it had no influence whatever
-upon the Talmud, and that whenever we find kindred thoughts in the
-teaching of Christianity, and in the teaching of their favourite work, it
-is the Gospel which is indebted to the Talmud and not the Talmud to the
-Gospel.
-
-But for our part we wholly dissent from this extraordinary theory, which,
-indeed, cannot be supported by any chronological evidence. There are
-occasions, of course, in which dates become of comparatively trifling
-importance. A man feels troubled, for example, with the enigmas of life,
-and finds light and consolation in reading the book of Job; that most
-beautiful book--_quel bellissimo libro_, as the Italian poet Giusti called
-it. Some friend, finding him thus engaged, begins to argue in favour of
-Bishop Warburton's view, that it is a composition of comparatively late
-date, perhaps of the age of Jeremiah, and not (as used to be generally
-supposed) as early as the time of Moses. In such a case a man may well
-reply, that without any wish to discourage critical inquiry in its proper
-place, he is content for the present to go on reading for his soul's
-health, to accept the words before him as a message from above, and to
-feel sure that whenever GOD gave it, it was given at the time when it was
-most needed. But in the case of the Talmud dates are of real and living
-importance, though we own that it is difficult to fix them with accuracy.
-We believe, however, with one of Deutsch's critics, that Christian
-elements _have_ found their way into the Talmud, though doubtless,
-pre-Christian ideas, similar to those which are met with in the Books of
-Wisdom and Ecclesiasticus, are also to be found there. Is it not true that
-the Mishna was brought into its present form by Rabbi Jehudah, surnamed
-the Holy, about A.D. 200, and that the Gemara was not completed until A.D.
-500? Deutsch, indeed, appeals to the article in the "Novellæ
-Constitutiones" (or _Novels_, as they are commonly called) of Justinian
-against the Talmud. The reference is correct enough, but the _Novels_
-belong to the later parts of Justinian's reign, and were not promulgated
-before the year 534.
-
-It is well known that at the present time there are three parties among
-the Jews who differ widely as to the amount of respect which ought to be
-paid to the legislation contained within the pages of the Talmud. Two out
-of these parties would greatly modify it, or actually sweep it away. We
-believe that its influence upon practice is not destined to endure; and
-that though there _is_ a book which will continue so to influence life,
-that book is not the Talmud, but the Bible. The Talmud has its curiosities
-and even beauties, as well as its gross absurdities and defects; but,
-after all, it will be found, we believe, that it often reflects but too
-truly the mind of those of whom it was said, "Ye have made the commandment
-of GOD of none effect by your traditions."
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-With these preliminary observations, we pass on to a more particular
-description of the Talmud.
-
-There are two Talmuds, the one called the Talmud of the Occidentals, or
-the "Jerusalem" Talmud, and the other the "Babylonian" Talmud. The former
-of these originally included the whole of the first five _Sedarim_ (or
-portions,) but now consists of only thirty-nine treatises. Its final
-redaction is supposed to have taken place towards the close of the fourth
-Christian century, but the authorities engaged in the work cannot now be
-determined. But it is certainly distinguished by more accuracy of
-expression and precision of statement than the second or Babylonian, or
-"our" Talmud, which makes use of its predecessor, and was not completed
-for a century later. Its editor is generally considered to be Rabbi Ashi,
-president of the Academy of Syro in Babylon (A.D. 365-427.) Both the
-Mishna, though revised in A.D. 219, and the "Palestine" Gemara, had become
-greatly corrupted through the interpolation of gross traditions and the
-critical judgments of different schools, when Rabbi Ashi, with the
-assistance of his friend and disciple, Abina, undertook the labour of
-sifting the old from the new, and introducing order into chaos.
-
-Ashi was appointed to the headship of the school of Sora at the age of
-twenty-three, and under his rule Sora became the head-quarters of
-Rabbinism in the East. When he entered on the redaction of the Mishna and
-Gemara, he began by assembling yearly at the great feasts the most learned
-Hebrews, and examining them with respect to their traditional practices
-and expositions. He then called together his disciples every spring, and
-gave out to them a particular treatise of the Mishna; in the autumn they
-again came before him with all the information relative to it they had
-collected in the interval. This he personally investigated, and reduced
-into shape. The Mishna being composed of sixty-three treatises, he was
-thus engaged for upwards of thirty years. The final revision occupied him
-twenty-two years. At the time of his death (in his seventy-fifth year) the
-work was all but completed; the last touches were given by his friend,
-Rabbi Abina.
-
-The Mosaic is the written law of the Jews; the Mishna, the oral. The
-latter is the very basis of Judaism, is its civil, religious, and
-juridico-political code,--an explanation and amplification of the Mosaic.
-It was developed out of the authoritative decisions of the schools and of
-certain distinct and well-authenticated traditions which were traced back
-to Sinai itself. Thus there were two chief sections, or parts: _Halacoth_,
-the rabbinical decisions, and _Haggadah_, the traditional narratives and
-popular illustrations. Of the great bulk of the former the reputed author
-is Hillel, the head of the Sanhedrim in the early part of Herod the
-Great's reign, but, probably, he only collected them. Maimonides arranges
-them under five heads:--
-
-    _a._ Mosaic and Scriptural;
-
-    _b._ Mosaic and traditional;
-
-    _c._ Dicta and decisions generally received, but doubtful;
-
-    _d._ Decisions of the wise, given by them as "hedges of the law;" and
-
-    _e._ Counsels of prudence, which it was well to follow, though they
-    had no legal authority.
-
-The Haggadic narratives are generally of a light and amusing character,
-though occasionally a deep significance underlies them, converting them
-into allegories and fables and parables well worthy the attention of the
-student, though he may not think so highly of them as Frankel, who
-exclaims: "They are as vivid flashes: or as those spirits of light in
-Jewish myth, that flow forth in daily myriads from GOD'S throne, and then
-vanish to make way for others."
-
-The Halacoth and Haggadoth accumulated rapidly after the Captivity,
-representing in due time "a body of traditional exposition of high
-authority, which increased rapidly, and required the life-long study of a
-numerous body of Sopherim, or Scribes, to digest and hand on without loss
-to succeeding generations." Soon it outgrew the grasp of even the
-strongest memory and the profoundest application, and it became evident
-that, unless put upon record, all that was valuable would perish, and only
-that be preserved which chanced to be in accordance with popular
-sentiment. To the digest made by Hillel, Simon ben Gamaliel added the
-worthiest of the later material; and his son, Jehudah the Holy, entered on
-a complete redaction and revision, which he published in A.D. 219. Hillel,
-grandfather of the Gamaliel at whose feet S. Paul sat, had arranged the
-traditional Halacoth under eighteen heads; Jehudah re-arranged them into
-six Sedarim, or sections:--
-
-    1. _Zeraïm_ (Seeds,) on Agriculture;
-
-    2. _Moed_ (Feast,) on the Sabbath, Festivals, and Fasts;
-
-    3. _Nashim_ (Women,) on Marriage, Divorce, &c., including the laws on
-    Vows and the Nazirship;
-
-    4. _Nizikin_ (Damages,) chiefly civil and penal law, including the
-    ethical treatise Aboth;
-
-    5. _Kadashim_ (Sacred things,) Sacrifices, &c., a description of the
-    Temple at Jerusalem, &c.;
-
-    6. _Tehoroth_ (Purifications,) on pure and impure persons and things.
-
-We now see that, about A.D. 221 Jehudah the Holy created the Mishna, we
-have already seen that three centuries later, the same exhaustive work of
-redaction and revision was done for the Gemara,--the two forming what is
-now known as the Talmud. The two "editors" received each his peculiar
-title of honour; Jehudah was styled Rabbina, Ashi Rabban.
-
-Of the language of the Babylon Talmud it is said that it is debased with
-foreign and barbarous terms and grammatical solecisms to a much greater
-extent than the "Jerusalem Talmud." Mr. Blunt asserts that "the Haggadic
-narratives resemble more closely the vernacular Aramaic, showing their
-origin in ordinary folk lore. The Halacoth are in Mishnic Hebrew, carrying
-evidence of higher date. The style is so exceedingly concise as to make
-the sense that it contains a microscopic study. The difficulties indeed
-of the Gemara are so great, that no one need think to master them
-thoroughly who has not drawn in Gemara with his mother's milk. The study
-of the Talmud presumes a thorough knowledge also of the Hebrew Bible, a
-single word often indicating an entire passage. The wonderful moral
-confusion of the Talmud, the mixed character of which may be detected in
-every page, is nowhere more strikingly exemplified than in the prayer put
-by the Gemarist into the mouth of Rabbi Nechoniah ben Hakakana, on
-entering the school, or Beth Midrash, and quitting it again in the
-evening."
-
-The morning prayer was as follows:--
-
-"I beseech Thee that no scandal may occur through fault of mine, and that
-I err not in matters of Halacah, so as to cause my colleagues to exult.
-May I not call impurity pure, or purity impure; and may my colleagues not
-blunder in matters of Halacah, that I may have no cause to triumph over
-them."
-
-The spirit of this prayer, in its meekness and modesty, is truly
-commendable, and presents a striking contrast to that of the evening
-prayer:--
-
-"I thank Thee that Thou hast given me my portion among those who have a
-seat in the Beth Midrash, and that Thou hast not cast my lot among those
-who sit in the corner. I early rise, and they early rise; but I rise to
-the service of the law, they to vanity. I labour, and they also labour,
-but I labour and receive a recompense; they labour, but receive nothing. I
-hasten, and they also hasten; but I hasten in the direction of the world
-to come, they hasten towards the pit of destruction."
-
-It is impossible to believe that both these prayers come from the same
-source; "sweet waters and bitter" do not alike flow from the fountain of
-Marah.
-
-With respect to the general character of the Talmud, with all its weakness
-and strength, its beauty and deformity, its poetry and commonplace, its
-tender wisdom and glaring absurdity, we cannot do better than quote the
-moderate opinion of the writer already cited, as infinitely more
-trustworthy than the dithyrambic utterances of Deutsch and his imitators.
-He says:--
-
-"In its origin it was the result of an almost necessary development.
-Starting with the axiom that the law of Moses is binding on the children
-of Abraham in every generation, its precepts have been applied to the
-changing habits and customs of the Jews in different ages and under
-various climates, by a literal interpretation when possible, otherwise on
-the _ci-près_ principle, rarely by giving a new direction to its
-enactments, as instanced under the Hillel _régime_. It is this application
-of the Law to the needs of Jewish Society, by a process slow and gradual,
-that has made each successive stage of development, in Jewish opinion,
-more valuable than its predecessors. Thus if the Law has been likened to
-water, the Mishna, which gives a later direction to its precepts, is as
-wine; and the Gemara, declaring as it does the sense in which the Mishnic
-Hilkoth are to be taken, is as hippocras. It is not that the Law is less,
-or that the traditional decisions and expository matter are more sacred,
-but the latest phase of judicial interpretation is the most binding; and
-where the rule of action is clear and decisive, no antecedent utterance
-need trouble the inquirer. Yet the Talmud has always been antiquated. It
-has never known the sunshine of youth. It has still been the mouldering,
-moss-grown ruin. In its origin it presupposed vital action where there was
-nothing but death; Temple service with the Temple hopelessly in ruins,
-'not one stone upon another;' sacrificial rites that were impossible
-without an altar, and for which certain prayers were substituted,
-carefully numbered out, and made binding on the individual in lieu of
-public offering.... Nothing can be more completely out of place than
-strict Talmudism amid the complications of modern society; it is
-impossible to make its precepts consist with the social and political
-duties of the highly educated Jew. Our LORD, Who came not to destroy the
-Law, but to fulfil it, has pointed out those modes of dealing with the Law
-in its higher and more spiritual bearings, that in the end must be
-accepted by Israel as his truest wisdom."
-
-Mr. Deutsch gives the following account of the six sections of the
-Mishna:--
-
-"Section I. _Seeds_: of Agrarian laws, commencing with a chapter on
-Prayers. In this section the various tithes and donations due to the
-Priests, the Levites, and the poor, from the products of the lands, and
-further the Sabbatical year, and the prohibited mixtures in plants,
-animals, and garments, are treated of.
-
-"Section II. _Feasts_: of Sabbaths, Feast and Fast days, the work
-prohibited, the ceremonies ordained, the sacrifices to be offered, on
-them. Special chapters are devoted to the Feast of the Exodus from Egypt,
-to the New Year's Day, to the Day of Atonement (one of the most impressive
-portions of the whole book,) to the Feast of Tabernacles, and to that of
-Haman.
-
-"Section III. _Women_: of betrothal, marriage, divorce, &c.; also of vows.
-
-"Section IV. _Damages_: including a great part of the civil and criminal
-law. It treats of a law of trades, of buying and selling, and the ordinary
-monetary transactions. Further, of the greatest crime known to the law,
-viz., idolatry. Next of witnesses, of oaths, of legal punishments, and of
-the Sanhedrim itself. This section concludes with the so-called 'Sentences
-of the Fathers,' containing some of the sublimest ethical dicta known in
-the history of religious philosophy.
-
-"Section V. _Sacred Things_: of sacrifices, the first-born, &c.; also of
-the measurements of the Temple (Middoth).
-
-"Section VI. _Purifications_: of the various Levitical and other Hygienic
-laws, of impure things and persons, their purification, &c."[22]
-
-In defence of the Haggadah, with all its incongruities, puerilities, and
-absurdities, it is only just to hear what Deutsch, its enthusiastic
-apostle, has to say. And first he applies to it the rhyming apology which
-Bunyan put forward on behalf of his great allegory,--which, by the way,
-Mr. Deutsch surely misrepresents and misunderstands when he speaks of it
-as Haggadistic:--
-
-  "... Wouldst thou divert thyself from melancholy?
-  Wouldst thou be pleasant, yet be far from folly?
-  Wouldst thou read riddles and their explanation?
-  Or else be drownèd in thy contemplation?
-  Dost thou love picking meat? Or wouldst thou see
-  A man in the clouds, and hear him speak to thee?
-  Wouldst thou be in a dream, and yet not sleep?
-  Or wouldst thou in a moment laugh and weep?
-  Wouldst lose thyself, and catch no harm?
-  And find thyself again without a charm?
-  Wouldst read thyself, and read thou know'st not what
-  And yet know whether thou art blest or not
-  By reading the same lines? O then come hither,
-  And lay this book, thy head and heart together."
-
-Mr. Deutsch thus seeks to disarm antagonists by a skilful concession. He
-does not wonder--not he--that the so-called "Rabbinical stories,"
-submitted at intervals to the English public, should have met with an
-unflattering reception. The Talmud, which has always at hand a drastic
-word, says of their collectors:--"They dived into an ocean, and brought up
-a potsherd." But then, he says, these follies form only a small item in
-the vast mass of allegories, parables, and the like, that compose the
-Haggadah. And, besides, they are partly ill-chosen, partly ill-translated,
-and partly did not even belong to the Talmud, but to some recent Jewish
-story books. Herder--to name the most famous critic of the "Poetry of
-Peoples"--has spoken most eulogistically of what he saw of the genuine
-specimens. And, indeed, "not only is the entire world of pious biblical
-legend which Islam has said and sung in its many tongues to the delight of
-the wise and simple for twelve centuries, now to be found either in embryo
-or fully developed in the Haggadah, but much that is familiar among
-ourselves in the circles of mediæval sagas, in Dante, in Boccaccio, in
-Cervantes, in Milton, in Bunyan, has consciously or unconsciously flowed
-out of this wondrous realm, the Haggadah. That much of it is overstrained,
-even according to Eastern notions, we do not deny. But," argues Mr.
-Deutsch, "there are feeble passages even in Homer and Shakespeare." To
-this it may be replied, that in Homer and Shakespeare such passages are
-rare, and do not form the bulk of their writings; and, moreover, that for
-the Iliad or for Hamlet we do not claim the position of authority which is
-claimed for the Talmud.
-
-Let us glance briefly at the cosmogony of the Talmud. It assumes that the
-universe has been developed by means of a series of cataclysms; that world
-was destroyed after world, until GOD made "this world, and saw that it
-was very good." It assumes also that the kosmos was wrought out of some
-original substance, itself created by GOD. "One or three things were
-before this world,--Water, Fire, and Wind; Water begat the darkness, Fire
-begat light, and Wind begat the spirit of Wisdom."
-
-"The _how_ of the creation was not mere matter of speculation. The
-co-operation of angels, whose existence was warranted by Scripture, and a
-whole hierarchy of whom had been built up under Persian influences, was
-distinctly denied. In a discussion about the day of their creation, it is
-agreed on all hands that there were no angels at first, lest men might
-say, 'Michael spanned out the firmament on the south, and Gabriel to the
-north.'" There is a distinct foreshadowing of the Gnostic Demiurgos--that
-antique link between the Divine Spirit and the world of matter--to be
-found in the Talmud. What with Plato were the Ideas, with Philo the Logos,
-with the Kabbalists the "World of Aziluth," what the Gnostics called more
-emphatically the wisdom ([Greek: sophia]), or power ([Greek: dynamis]),
-and Plotinus the [Greek: nous], that the Talmudical authors call Metation.
-There is a good deal, in the post-captivity Talmud, about the Angels,
-borrowed from the Persian. The Archangels or Angelic princes are seven in
-number, and their Hebrew names and functions correspond almost exactly to
-those of their Persian prototypes. There are also hosts of ministering
-angels, the Persian _Yazatas_, whose functions, besides that of being
-messengers, were twofold,--to praise GOD, and to be guardians of man. In
-their first capacity they are daily created by GOD'S breath out of a
-stream of fire that rolls its waves under the supernal throne. In their
-second, two of them accompany every man, and for every new good deed man
-acquires a new guardian angel, who always watches over his steps. When a
-righteous man dies, three hosts of angels descend from the celestial
-battlements to meet him. One says, (in the words of Scripture,) "He shall
-go in peace;" the second takes up the strain and says, "Who has walked in
-righteousness;" and the third concludes, "Let him come in peace and rest
-upon his bed." In like manner, when the wicked man passes away, three
-hosts of wicked angels are ready to escort him, but their address is not
-couched in any spirit of consolation or encouragement.
-
-There are various indications in the Talmud of a belief in the
-resurrection and immortality of the soul. The resurrection, it teaches, is
-to be brought about by the mystic influence of the "Dew of life" in
-Jerusalem. It does not uphold the dogma of everlasting damnation, though
-it allows that the punishment of apostates, idolaters, and traitors will
-endure for "generations upon generations."
-
-In conclusion, it is but fair that we should present the brighter and
-better aspect of this extraordinary book, its ethical side, and afford
-some illustrations of the moral and religious philosophy which pervades
-it,--which is its salt, and preserves its savour. The following sayings
-have been translated by Deutsch.[23] Many of them bear a striking
-resemblance to the great and glorious sayings of the Gospels; and to us it
-seems impossible to doubt that they evidence the influence of the former.
-It is true that the Talmud as a whole preceded the New Testament, but as
-its redaction took place at a much later period, we see nothing absurd in
-the hypothesis that its redactors had felt the spell of the Christian
-teaching, and occasionally introduced some of its rare and precious
-threads of purest silk into the coarse woof woven by traditionalists,
-scholiasts, and commentators:--
-
-The house that does not open to the poor shall open to the physician; even
-the birds in the air despise the miser. He who gives charity in secret is
-greater than Moses himself. Honour the sons of the poor, it is they who
-bring science into splendour.
-
-Let the honour of thy neighbour be to thee like thine own. Rather be
-thrown into a fiery furnace than bring any one to public shame.
-
-Hospitality is the most important part of divine worship. There are three
-crowns: of the law, the priesthood, the kingship; but the crown of a good
-name is greater than they all.
-
-Iron breaks the stone, fire melts iron, water extinguishes fire, the
-clouds drink up the water, a storm drives away the clouds, man withstands
-the storm, fear unmans man, wine dispels fear, sleep drives away wine, and
-death sweeps all away--even sleep. But Solomon the Wise says, Charity
-saves from death.
-
-The dog sticks to you on account of the crumbs in your pocket.
-
-The camel wanted to have horns, and they took away his ears.
-
-The soldiers fight, and the kings are the heroes.
-
-He in whose family there has been one hanged should not say to his
-neighbour, Pray hang this little fish up for me.
-
-The cock and the owl both await the daylight. The light, says the cock,
-brings delight to me; but what are _you_ waiting for?
-
-When the thief has no opportunity for stealing, he considers himself an
-honest man.
-
-If thy friends agree in calling thee an ass, go and get a halter round
-thee.
-
-Fools are no proof.
-
-One eats, another says grace.
-
-He who is ashamed will not easily commit sin. There is a great difference
-between him who is ashamed before his own self, and him who is only
-ashamed before others. It is a good sign in man to be capable of being
-ashamed. One contrition in man's heart is better than many flagellations.
-
-How can you escape sin? Think of three things,--whence thou camest,
-whither thou goest, and to whom thou wilt have to account for all thy
-deeds,--even to the King of kings, the All-holy, praised be He.
-
-Love your wife like yourself, honour her more than yourself. Whosoever
-lives unmarried lives without joy, without comfort, without blessing.
-Descend a step in choosing a wife. If thy wife is small, bend down to her
-and whisper into her ear. He who forsakes the love of his youth, GOD'S
-altar weeps for him. He who sees his wife die before him, has, as it were,
-been present at the destruction of the sanctuary itself, around him the
-world grows dark. It is woman alone through whom GOD'S blessings are
-vouchsafed to a house. She teaches the children, speeds the husband to the
-place of worship and instruction, welcomes him when he returns, keeps the
-house godly and pure, and GOD'S blessings rest upon all these things. He
-who marries for money, his children shall be a curse to him.
-
-After the thief runs the theft; after the beggar, poverty.
-
-While thy foot is shod, smash the thorn.
-
-When the ox is down, many are the butchers.
-
-Luck makes rich, luck makes wise.
-
-If you wish to hang yourself, choose a big tree.
-
-When the pitcher falls upon the stone, woe unto the pitcher; when the
-stone falls upon the pitcher, woe unto the pitcher; whatever befalls, woe
-unto the pitcher.
-
-Youth is a garland of roses, age a crown of thorns.
-
-Be thou the cursed, not he who curses. Be of them that are persecuted, not
-of them that persecute. Look at Scripture, there is not a single bird more
-persecuted than the dove, yet GOD has chosen her to be offered up on His
-altar. The bull is hunted by the lion, the sheep by the wolf, the goat by
-the tiger. And GOD said, "Bring Me a sacrifice not from them that
-persecute, but from them that are persecuted."
-
-"Hath GOD pleasure in the meat and blood of sacrifices?" asks the prophet.
-No; He has not so much ordained as permitted them. It is for yourselves,
-He says, not for Me that you offer, Like a king, who sees his son
-carousing daily with all manner of evil companions: You shall henceforth
-eat and drink entirely at your will at my own table, he says. They offered
-sacrifices to demons and devils, for they loved sacrificing, and would not
-do without it. And the LORD said, "Bring your offerings to Me, you shall
-then at least offer to the true GOD."
-
-Even when the gates of heaven are shut to prayer, they are open to tears.
-
-The reward of good works is like dates, sweet and late to ripen.
-
-Life is a passing shadow, says the Scripture. Is it the shadow of a tower,
-of a tree? A shadow that prevails for a while? No, it is the shadow of a
-bird in his flight,--away speeds the bird, and there is neither bird nor
-shadow.
-
-Repent one day before thy death. There was a king who bade all his
-servants to a great repast, but did not indicate the hour; some went home
-and put on their best garments, and stood at the door of the palace;
-others said, There is ample time, the king will let us know beforehand.
-But the king summoned them of a sudden; and those that came in their best
-garments were well received, but the foolish ones, who came in their
-slovenliness, were turned away in disgrace. Repent to-day, lest to-morrow
-you might be called.
-
-He who has more learning than good works is like a tree with many branches
-but few roots, which the first wind throws on its face; whilst he whose
-works are greater than his knowledge, is like a tree with many roots but
-fewer branches, but which all the winds of heaven cannot uproot.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER IV.
-
-_BRAHMANISM._
-
-
-THE BRAHMANS.
-
-In the "Book of Sir Marco Polo" occurs a quaint description of the
-_Abraiaman_ or Brahmans, which, though inaccurate in some of its details,
-seems worth quotation here:--
-
-You must know, he says, that these Abraiaman are the best merchants in the
-world [an obvious misconception!] and the most truthful, for they would
-not tell a lie for anything on earth. If a foreign merchant who does not
-know the ways of the country apply to them, and place his goods in their
-hands, they will take charge of them most loyally, selling them to the
-best advantage, seeking jealously the profit of the foreigner, and asking
-no commission except what he pleases to bestow. They eat no flesh, drink
-no wine, and live a life of great chastity; nor would they on any account
-take what belongs to another, for so their law commands. And they are all
-distinguished by wearing a thread of cotton over one shoulder and tied
-under the other arm, so that it crosses the breast and the back.
-
-They have a rich and powerful king, who is eager to purchase precious
-stones and large pearls; and he sends these Abraiaman merchants into the
-kingdom of Maabar called Soli, which is the best and noblest Province of
-India, and where the best pearls are found, to fetch him as many of these
-as they can get, and he pays them double the cost price for all. So in
-this way he has a vast treasure of such valuables.
-
-These Abraiaman are idolaters; and they give greater heed to signs and
-omens than any people that exist. I will mention one of their customs as
-an example. To every day of the week they assign a special augury. Suppose
-some purchase is on foot; he who proposes to become the buyer takes note,
-when he rises in the morning, of his shadow in the sun, which ought, he
-says, on that day to be of such and such a length; and should his shadow
-be of the proper length for that day he completes his purchase; if it be
-not, he will on no account do so, but waits till his shadow reaches the
-prescribed measurement. For there is a certain length fixed for every day
-in the week; and the merchant will not complete any business unless he
-finds his shadow of the length set down for that particular day. Also to
-each day in the week they assign one hour as unlucky, which they term
-_Choiach_. For example, on Monday the hour of Half-tierce (7 to 8 a.m.),
-on Tuesday that of Tierce, (9 to 10 a.m.), on Wednesday Nones (12 to 1
-p.m.), and so on.
-
-Again, if one of them be in the house, and, while meditating a purchase,
-should see a tarantula (such as is very common in that country) on the
-wall, provided that it advance from a quarter which he deems lucky, he
-will complete his purchase at once; but if it come from a quarter which he
-considers unlucky, he will not do so on any inducement. Moreover, if, on
-going forth, he hear any one sneeze, he will proceed if he consider it a
-good omen; but, if the reverse, he will straightway sit down in his place
-for as long as he thinks it well to tarry. Or if, in travelling along the
-road, he see a swallow fly past, should its direction be lucky he will
-proceed, but, if not, he will turn back again: in fact, they are worse, in
-these vagaries, than so many Patarins! (i.e. heretics.)
-
-These Abraiaman are very long-lived, owing to their extreme abstinence in
-eating. And they never allow themselves to let blood in any part of the
-body. They have capital teeth, which is due to a certain herb they chew;
-it greatly improves their appearance, and is also very good for the
-health.
-
-There is another class of people called _Chugi_ [Jogi], who are indeed
-properly Abraiaman, but they form a religious order devoted to the Idols.
-They are extremely long-lived, every man of them living to 150 or 200
-years. They eat very little, but what they do eat is good; rice and milk
-chiefly. And these people make use of a very strange beverage; for they
-brew a potion of mixed sulphur and quicksilver, and drink it twice every
-month. This, they say, gives them long life; and they are used to take it
-from their childhood.
-
-Certain members of this Order lead the most ascetic life imaginable, going
-completely naked; they worship the Ox. Most of them wear a small image of
-an ox, in brass, pewter, or gold, tied over the forehead. Moreover, they
-take cow-dung, and burn it, and make a powder of it; and then they make it
-into an ointment, with which they daub themselves as devoutly as
-Christians use holy water. Further, if they meet any person who treats
-them well, they daub a little of this powder on the middle of his
-forehead.
-
-They do not eat from bowls or trenchers, but place their food on leaves of
-the Apple of Paradise and other large leaves; these, however, they use
-dry, never green. For they say the green leaves have a soul in them, and
-so it would be a sin. And they would rather die than do what their Law
-pronounces to be sin. If any one ask how it comes that they are not
-ashamed to go about in their nudity, they say:--"We go naked because naked
-we came into the world, and we desire to have nothing about us that is of
-this world. Moreover, we have no sin of the flesh to be conscious of, and
-therefore we are not ashamed of our nakedness, any more than you are to
-show your hand or your face. You who are conscious of the sins of the
-flesh do well to be ashamed, and to cover your nakedness."
-
-On no account would they kill an animal, not even a fly, or a flea, or a
-louse, or anything in fact that has life; for they say all these have
-souls, and it would be sinful to do so. They eat no vegetables in a green
-state, only when they are dry. And they sleep on the ground, naked,
-without a rag of clothing over them or under them; so that it is a marvel
-they do not all die, instead of living so long as I have told you. They
-fast every day in the year, and drink nothing but water. And when a novice
-has to be received among them they keep him awhile in their convent, and
-make him follow their rule of life.
-
-They are such cruel and perfidious idolaters that it is very devilry! They
-say that they burn the bodies of the dead, because if they were not burnt,
-worms would generate and consume them; and when no more food remained for
-them, they would die, and the souls belonging to those bodies would bear
-the sin and the punishment of their death.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-In another part of his immortal work, Marco Polo speaks of the
-fish-charmers of Ceylon as Brahmans (or _Abraiaman_.) The pearl-fishers,
-he says, pay one twentieth part of all that they take to these men, who
-charm the great fishes, and prevent them from injuring the divers whilst
-engaged in seeking pearls under water. Their charm holds good only for the
-day; at night they dissolve it, so that the fishes can work mischief at
-their will. These Abraiaman, he adds, know also how to charm beasts and
-birds and every living thing.
-
-Commenting on this statement, Colonel Yule observes that the modern
-snake-charmers do not seem entitled to the distinctive appellation of
-Abraiaman, or Brahmans, though they may have been so in former days. At
-the diamond-mines of the Northern Circars Brahmans are employed in the
-similar task of propitiating the tutelary genii. The snake-charmers are
-called in Tamul _Kadal-kalti_, "Sea-binders," and in Hindustani,
-_Haibanda_, or "Shark-binders." At Aripo they belong to one family,
-supposed to enjoy monopoly of the charm. The chief operator is (or was,
-not many years ago) paid by Government, and he also received two oysters
-from each boat daily during the fishery. Turnoub, on his visit, found the
-incumbent of the office to be a Roman Catholic Christian, but that did not
-seem to affect the exercise or the validity of his practices. It is
-remarkable that when Turnoub wrote, not more than one authenticated
-accident from sharks had taken place, during the whole period of the
-British occupation.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-Among the shepherds, or hillmen, in the neighbourhood of Rampore (or "City
-of Rama,")--the Paharis, as they are called,--a curious custom lingers,
-which resembles the strange old Highland ceremony of the sunwise turn, or
-Deisul, round any particular object, partly for luck, partly as a survival
-of the sun-worship of the men of old. Sometimes the villagers gather their
-flocks into one great herd, and, walking at the head, lead them slowly
-round the village, following the solar course. Gradually they quicken
-their pace to a run, and in this fashion perambulate the village thrice or
-even oftener.
-
-This sunwise turn is practised in other cases, as in sickness or accident.
-Sheep and goats are solemnly paraded round the sufferer; after which they
-lose their heads. If the sufferer be wealthy, the number so sacrificed to
-the demons is often considerable. But the Paharis very firmly hold that
-though the lesser spirits may be thus propitiated, no sacrifice is
-acceptable to the Supreme Deity; that all He claims is devout worship.
-
-They believe in the existence of three and thirty millions of good and
-evil spirits, but their special adoration seems to be reserved for the
-spirit which watches over their particular village, and in their temples
-they reserve for him a kind of ark or shrine, wherein his veiled image is
-carefully preserved. Every day this ark is slung upon long poles, and
-taken out for an airing; and once a year it is borne through the country
-side in solemn procession, and the people assemble and dance before it, as
-the Israelites of old danced before the tabernacle. The said ark is gaily
-decorated with bright-coloured hangings, and upon it is set a brazen head,
-with four or more faces, overshadowed by yaks' tails, like huge plumes of
-dark or scarlet wool. Sometimes the whole structure is adorned with faces
-of polished metal, which gleam and reflect like mirrors in the sun.
-Moreover, it is usually draped all around with a deep fringe of silky
-white yaks' tails, depending almost to the ground, and concealing the
-bodies of the bearers, so that the tabernacle seems to crawl along upon
-its own feet.
-
-To the service of the temple certain people are set apart in every
-village. In the morning they sound an alarm in honour of the god with
-bell, and conch, and cymbal, and again in the evening with a similar din
-they announce the close of day. Ablutions are ignored by the villagers in
-their own case, but they will have their goddess washed and dressed
-daily. They burn incense before her, and serve her with offerings of
-leaves of wild mint.
-
-Occasionally, all the tribes assemble at a religious festival, and each
-village sends forth its ark, with the men and women attired in their
-brightest colours, and glittering with all their jewels. The various
-processions, with dance and song and gambol, proceed towards the appointed
-rendezvous; one of their little temples, of rudely carved cedar-wood,
-situated in the calm shade of a group of forest-trees. Near this temple is
-usually prepared a neatly-levelled space, covered with green turf, or,
-perhaps, paved; and here the Khudas, or arks, are solemnly deposited. For
-three days the festivities are kept up, and the sound of singing and
-dancing seems continuous. Every now and then each village-company raises
-its Khuda from the ground, and carries it in a little circle, sunwise,
-while the nodding plumes seem to keep time to the rude chant of the simple
-worshippers, and an outer ring of men, joining hands, follow the rhythm in
-fantastic dance. Then the idol is set down; the people prepare their
-homage; the dance goes on; and the women, in a long undulating chain,
-sunwise revolve around the mystic Khuda.
-
-Each woman, throwing one arm around her neighbour's waist, keeps the other
-free, and waves a plume-like chowni or yak's tail, as she bows to the
-Khuda. They do not all wave simultaneously, but in swift succession, so as
-to produce the effect of a continuous graceful motion. If one of the women
-retire, from fatigue, another slips into her place: sometimes the men form
-the circle, then both men and women join, always carrying on the same
-evolutions, the same circular motion. At nightfall the huge fires are
-kindled, and the lurid gleams of pine-wood torches flicker athwart the
-darkness, while the echoes ring incessantly with the monotonous clang of
-great trumpet-shells and tomtoms.
-
-When they have expended all their energies the revellers bring the
-festival to a close, and each village-company bears back its
-patron-goddess to her own little sanctuary.
-
-Whether, as some surmise, this ceremony is associated with any tradition
-of Noah's Ark, we cannot pretend to determine. But it is certain that some
-legends of the Flood still linger among the hillmen. There is a popular
-myth which tells of a mighty ship built by Manu and the Seven Sages, in
-which they stored the seed of all kinds of life, and of its being rescued
-by Brahma when the Deluge overwhelmed the primitive earth. Brahma, it
-says, drew the great vessel for many days until he reached a high peak of
-the Himalayas, where he moored it securely. In memory whereof, the peak
-has ever since borne the name of _Naubandhana_.
-
-Mr. W. Simpson, who has seen much of India and the Indians, describes an
-Ark-festival which he witnessed in a Himalayan valley. After indulging in
-the usual ceremonial ablutions, the people of the district assembled at
-the village of Coatee to do honour to its patron-goddess. The Khuda was
-brought out, and with dance and music, conducted in noisy procession
-through the deep shades of the forest and its lonesome glens, until they
-reached a certain grove, in which a small temple was situated. The Khuda
-was then deposited on the paved space in front; and an aged priest washed
-all the brazen faces with mint leaves and water previous to offering up
-incense, flowers, fruit, and bread.
-
-A number of playful young kids were next brought forward. The priest
-sprinkled them with water. On the ground lay a large flat brazen dish, and
-one of the villagers stood beside it with a sacred hatchet, rudely
-ornamented. At a single blow he struck off the head of a kid. The priest's
-assistant raised the head, and muttering certain words, presented it to
-the Khuda. Dipping his finger into the blood, he flicked some drops upon
-the carven image, and placed the head with the other offerings. Meanwhile,
-the kid's body had been so disposed that all its blood dripped into the
-brazen vessel; and when two or three animals had been sacrificed and the
-dish was full, one of the men lifted it up, and, first presenting it to
-the Khuda, turned round, and swang the body against the whitewashed wall
-of the temple, so as to empty it of blood. This ceremony was thrice
-repeated.
-
-The festival is known as the _Akrot-ka-pooja_, or Walnut Festival, from
-the pastime that follows the sacrificial scene. The priest, with a few
-companions, takes his place in the balcony of the temple, and all the
-young men present pelt them liberally with walnuts and green pine-cones,
-which the group in the balcony rapidly collect and return in plentiful
-volleys. For about half-an-hour this severe encounter lasts, when the
-assailed descend, and once more mingle with the crowd.
-
-By this time the sacrificial kids have been cooked, and the people seating
-themselves on the paved space in front of the Khuda, cakes and flesh are
-served out among them. In opposition to the usual Eastern custom, the
-women are helped before the men. It is now time for the homeward journey,
-but the mysterious oscillation of the Khuda is understood to signify its
-desire to visit the neighbouring village of Cheenee; and thither the
-multitude at once proceed, dancing, singing, shouting, while the forest
-glades resound with the trumpets and the tomtoms, and a few of the
-nimbler-footed speed ahead to give notice to the authorities at Cheenee of
-the honour in store for them. When near the latter village, the procession
-is met by the goddess of Cheenee, with her retinue, and an exchange of
-courtesies takes place. Next morning, the goddess of Kothi, or Coatee,
-returns to her own charge.
-
-
-SHAMANISM: DEVIL-DANCING.
-
-In many parts of Central and Southern India the rite of Devil-Dancing is
-practised, and Bishop Caldwell gives a striking description of it as it
-exists among the Shawars of Tinnevelly:[24]
-
-"When the preparations are completed and the devil-dance is about to
-commence, the music is at first comparatively slow; the dancer seems
-impassive and sullen, and he either stands still or moves about in gloomy
-silence. Gradually, as the music becomes quicker and louder, his
-excitement begins to rise. Sometimes, to help him to work himself up into
-a frenzy, he uses medicated draughts, cuts and lacerates himself till the
-blood flows, lashes himself with a huge whip, presses a burning torch to
-his breast, drinks the blood which flows from his own wounds, or drains
-the blood of the sacrifice, putting the throat of the decapitated goat to
-his mouth. Then, as if he had acquired new life, he begins to brandish his
-staff of bells, and to dance with a quick but wild unsteady step.
-Suddenly the afflatus descends; there is no mistaking that glare, or those
-frantic leaps. He snorts, he swears, he gyrates. The demon has now taken
-bodily possession of him, and though he retains the power of utterance and
-motion, both are under the demon's control, and his separate consciousness
-is in abeyance. The bystanders signalize the event by raising a long
-shout, attended with a peculiar vibratory noise, caused by the motion of
-the hand and tongue, or the tongue alone. The devil-dancer is now
-worshipped as a present deity, and every bystander consults him respecting
-his diseases, his wants, the welfare of his absent relatives, the
-offerings to be made for the accomplishment of his wishes, and, in short,
-everything for which superhuman knowledge is supposed to be available."
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-Before we quit this subject, it may be for the interest and convenience of
-the reader, if we offer a brief account of the doctrines and rites of
-Brahmism. This movement against the old Hindu faith, initiated by Rammohun
-Roy, and developed by Babu Keshub Chunda Sen, owes its origin, however
-unconsciously, to the influence of Christianity, which the Hindu mind, on
-awaking from its long sleep of centuries, found, as it were, by its side,
-and the pure and elevated character of which it could not but recognise.
-
-Rammohun Roy was born in the district of Moorshadabad in 1772, and was
-upwards of forty years of age when he undertook the part of a religious
-reformer. A man of considerable natural powers, he had cultivated them
-carefully, acquired a thorough knowledge of Sanskrit and Arabic, and
-accompanied his meditations on the Sastras, or Hindu religious books, with
-a close study of the English Scriptures. Removing to Calcutta in 1814, he
-endeavoured to engage his friends in the same pursuits, and as this effort
-led him naturally to new inquiries, he soon came to abandon his belief in
-traditional Hinduism. A cry of 'infidel!' was immediately raised against
-him; he became the subject of an incessant hostility; was on one occasion
-mobbed in the streets of Calcutta; and owed his life to the protection of
-the British Government. Persecution, however, could not quench his thirst
-after knowledge. He applied himself to the study of Greek and Hebrew,
-that by reading the Bible in its original languages, he might penetrate
-more thoroughly into the spirit of Hebrew and Christian devotion.
-
-Having dismissed the authority of the Puranas, he rested his faith on the
-Vedas, the oldest of the Hindu sacred books, in the conviction (an
-erroneous one) that the old creed of Hinduism was monotheistic, and the
-belief (a justifiable one) that the Puranas represented the degeneracy of
-a later age. Strange to say, he did not detect the Pantheism that
-overflows the Vedas: in the Upanishads or treatises attached to them, he
-fancied that he saw a pure Deism, and to diffuse this among his
-countrymen, he published numerous translations and organised a society of
-believers, who recited texts from the Vedas, and chanted Christian hymns.
-In 1830 he went further; founding a prayer-meeting, which proved the seed
-of what is now known as the Brahma Samáj. The building erected for the
-purpose of holding the meetings was, according to the trust deed, to be
-open to people of all sorts and conditions, "who shall behave and conduct
-themselves in an orderly, sober, religious, and devout manner, for the
-worship and adoration of the Eternal, Unsearchable, and Immutable Being,
-who is the Author and Preserver of the Universe, but not under and by any
-other name, designation, or title, peculiarly used for and applied to any
-particular Being or Beings by any man or set of men whatsoever." It
-provided also, in direct opposition to the practices of Hinduism, that no
-graven image, sculpture, carving, picture, painting, portrait, or likeness
-of anything, should "be admitted within the walls of this building;" that
-no animal sacrifices should take place there; that no eating or drinking,
-feasting or rioting, should be permitted; that evil speaking against the
-beliefs of men should be prohibited; and that no prayer, or sermon, or
-teaching should be allowed, unless it had "a tendency to the contemplation
-of the Author and Preserver of the Universe, or to the promotion of
-charity, morality, piety, benevolence, virtue, and the strengthening of
-the bonds of union between men of all religious persuasions and creeds."
-
-Here we have a distinct advance on Brahmanism and even on Buddhism, but
-the religious system indicated in the closing sentence is nevertheless as
-vague as it is cold; and lacks that vital element which Christianity
-derives from its recognition of GOD the FATHER and CHRIST the SAVIOUR.
-However, Rammohun Roy, in his fashion, was a sincere "seeker after GOD;"
-and in his vague endeavour to grasp the truth he persevered in the face of
-an intolerant opposition. He still continued to give a foremost place to
-the Vedas as channels of religious instruction, but he introduced the
-Psalms of David; and as time wore on, he separated himself more and more
-completely from the traditions of orthodox Hinduism. Even his faith in the
-Vedas came to be much shaken; and finding himself at last in that state of
-isolation which is the suffering and martyrdom of the man in advance of
-his age, he quitted India and went to live in England. At Bristol he
-resided, much esteemed, until his death in 1833.
-
-For awhile the torch which he had lighted flickered ominously near to
-extinction, until, in 1841, it passed into the hands of Babu Debendronath
-Tagore. By him it was again lighted up; and as much had happened since
-Rammohun Roy's departure, as education had gradually weakened the old
-traditional prejudices, it became the rallying-point of a crowd of earnest
-inquirers. Debendronath Tagore devoted himself with eager unselfishness,
-giving unsparingly of his time, his money, and his talents. His work
-derived no inconsiderable moral support from his unblemished personal
-character. He provided the Samáj with a printing-press, expended much
-money in fitting up their place of worship, and collected a valuable
-library of the Hindu sacred books, besides providing for the support of
-poor but promising students, sent to Benares to prosecute their studies.
-
-A remarkable change, however, soon came over the faith and teaching of the
-Samáj. Hitherto, as we have seen, they had been based upon the Vedas, as
-the authorized rule of Hindu theology; but inquiry and criticism had
-gradually disclosed their Pantheistic character, and their consequent
-incompatibility with the creed of the Samáj. Thus it came to pass that
-about 1850 the Vedas had to go; and the members of the Samáj no longer
-called themselves Vedantists but Brahmoists, or Brahmists (from _Brahm_,
-or Brahma, the Supreme Being.) In other words, they openly became
-Theists.
-
-A religious sect, brought together by a common monotheism and accepting a
-common covenant, was naturally impelled towards an expansion of their
-creed. But this expansion in the case of the Brahma Samáj, was probably
-hastened by the number of branch Samájes that sprang up in the
-neighbourhood of the metropolis and in some of the larger towns of the
-Bengal presidency. These branches, constantly increasing in number through
-the accessions of educated young men from the colleges and zillah schools,
-naturally looked to the parent Samáj to define and establish their creed;
-and what must be regarded as an authoritative exposition of it was
-published in 1868. The following is a summary of it:--
-
-"1. The book of Nature and Intuition form the basis of the Brahmaic faith.
-
-"2. Although the Brahmas do not consider any book written by man the basis
-of their religion, yet do they accept with pleasure and respect any
-_truth_ contained in any book.
-
-"3. The Brahmas believe that the religious condition of man is
-progressive, like the other facts of his condition in this world.
-
-"4. They believe that the fundamental doctrines of their religion are at
-the basis of every religion followed by man.
-
-"5. They believe in the existence of One Supreme GOD--a GOD endowed with a
-distinct personality, and attributes equal to His nature, and intelligence
-befitting the Governor of the Universe; and worship Him--Him alone. They
-do not believe in His incarnation.
-
-"6. They believe in the immortality and progressive state of the soul, and
-declare that there is a state of conscious existence succeeding life in
-this world, and supplementary to it as respects the action of the
-universal moral government.
-
-"7. They believe that atonement is the only way to salvation. They do not
-recognise any other mode of reconcilement to the offended but loving
-Father.
-
-"8. They pray for _spiritual_ welfare, and believe in the _efficacy_ of
-real prayers.
-
-"9. They believe in the Providential care of the Divine Father.
-
-"10. They avow that love towards Him, and performing the works He loveth,
-constitute His worship.
-
-"11. They recognise the necessity of public worship, but do not believe
-that they cannot hold communion with the Great Father without resorting to
-any fixed place at any fixed time. They maintain that we can adore Him at
-any time and at any place, provided that time and that place are
-calculated to compose and direct the mind towards Him.
-
-"12. They do not believe in pilgrimages, but declare that holiness can be
-attained only by elevating and purifying the mind.
-
-"13. They do not perform any rites and ceremonies, or believe in penances,
-as instrumental in obtaining the grace of GOD. They declare that moral
-righteousness, the gaining of wisdom, Divine contemplation, charity, and
-the cultivation of devotional feelings, are their rites and ceremonies.
-They further say, Govern and regulate your feelings, discharge your duties
-to GOD and to man, and you will gain everlasting blessedness; purify your
-hearts, cultivate devotional feelings, and you will see Him who is Unseen.
-
-"14. Theoretically, there is no distinction of caste among the Brahmas.
-They declare that we are all the children of GOD, and, therefore, must
-consider ourselves as brothers and sisters."
-
-Briefly speaking, the religious system herein set forth may be described
-as Christianity without CHRIST; and yet it was unwilling to acknowledge
-its obligations to Christianity. Its apostles sought to persuade
-themselves and others that they derived everything from the Vedas and
-nothing from the Bible; and when they were compelled to abandon the Vedas,
-they fell back upon Nature as a Divine Revelation. But, as an Anglo-Indian
-authority contends, it is certain that but for the new life which at this
-time flowed in with the tide of Western thought, and the study of a
-literature "saturated at every pore" with Christian sentiment and the high
-Gospel morality; and but for the strong and ceaseless opposition
-maintained by Christianity in the person of its missionaries against the
-Atheism, which was the first, though a short-lived result of the sudden
-intellectual quickening the young men of Calcutta experienced when Western
-science was substituted for Oriental myths, neither would the study of the
-Vedas have been revived, nor would the great lessons of nature have
-appeared so intelligible as they then became.[25]
-
-We have seen that Brahmanism made one advance under Rammohun Roy; it was
-led still further forward by Debendronath Tagore; and then he too suddenly
-halted, as his predecessor had done. The leadership next devolved upon a
-man of higher courage, not less fitted to lead a great movement by his
-enthusiasm than by his ability, Babu Keshub Chunda Sen. Keshub was
-determined that the challenge should be thrown down to orthodox Hinduism:
-and persuaded Debendronath Tagore, when his daughter was married, to
-celebrate the occasion without the usual idolatrous ceremony. After this,
-he purified of their idolatrous element the rites observed at birth and
-death. Still, Debendronath Tagore supported him; but, at last, when an
-attempt was made to eliminate not only what was purely idolatrous, but
-also everything offensive to enlightened feeling and a purer taste,
-Debendronath and the conservative party opposed, and a schism was the
-result.
-
-"The time had arrived," says the writer already quoted, "when Brahmism, if
-it was a power and not mere talk, must do battle with the system of caste
-distinctions. The first step in this direction taken by Keshub Chunda Sen,
-was the celebration of a marriage between persons belonging to different
-castes. That was an innovation such as might well startle the venerable
-pundits of Nuddea and Benares. There could henceforward be no doubt as to
-the more than heretical tendency of the theistic doctrine. An electric
-shock ran through society: all Hindudom was roused from its slumber, and
-began suspiciously to ponder what Brahmism meant by such daring. But the
-real test of principle was yet to come. It was comparatively safe to make
-a few modifications in domestic religious rites: the marriage of people of
-different castes compromised the principals chiefly: it was necessary that
-the entire Brahma community should by some act be universally committed to
-war against the evils and iniquities of caste. Keshub and his party
-accepted this necessity, threw off the sacred thread that distinguished
-them as Brahmans, and insisted that all who desired membership with their
-Samáj should consent to renounce caste. There could be no greater triumph
-than this, of principle over traditionalism: it stamped Brahmism as a
-power in the land, and not an idle theological speculation."
-
-Thenceforward, Keshub Chunda Sen became the recognised leader of "the
-Brahma Samáj of India," and the new sect adopted an active proselytism.
-Branch Samájes have been established all over the country; missionaries
-have been sent as far as Madras and Bombay and the Punjab. Tracts and
-lectures have been freely circulated. In Calcutta a so-called "church" has
-been built, and is well attended every Sunday evening, not only by men,
-but by women, for whom special accommodation is provided. The services are
-conducted in the vernacular, so as to be intelligible to all worshippers.
-Brahmist hymns are sung to the accompaniment of the harmonium, and the
-solemn _mridong_ (a kind of drum): passages are read from a book of
-selections in which the extracts from the Bible greatly outnumber those
-from any other source; extemporaneous prayers are offered with an
-intensity of spiritual feeling that could do no disgrace to a Christian
-congregation; and discourses are delivered which breathe a pure and noble
-tone of sentiment and feeling. Two weekly periodicals, one Bengali and the
-other English, the "Dharma Tattwa" and the "Indian Mirror," are the
-recognised exponents of the views and teaching of the Samáj.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER V.
-
-_THE HINDU MYTHOLOGY: AND THE VISHNU PURANA._
-
-
-The word _Purana_ means "old," and the original object of the Puranas
-would seem to have been the preservation of ancient mythological fictions
-and historical traditions. But in the form in which they have come down to
-us they do something more than this. They comprehend, more or less
-thoroughly, the five following subjects:--1, Primary creation, or
-cosmogony; 2, Secondary creation, or the destruction and renovation of
-worlds, including chronology; 3, Genealogy of gods and patriarchs; 4,
-Reigns of the Manus, or periods called Manwantaras; and 5, History, or
-such particulars as are extant of the princes of the solar and lunar
-races, and of their descendants to modern times. According to Professor
-Wilson, they are evidently derived from the same religious system as the
-Rámáyana and Mahábhárata, or from what he calls the mytho-heroic stage of
-Hindu belief. "They present, however, peculiarities which designate their
-belonging to a later period, and to an important modification in the
-progress of opinion. They repeat the theoretical cosmogony of the two
-great poems; they expound and systematise the chronological computations;
-and they give a more definite and connected representation of the
-mythological fictions and the historical traditions. But besides these and
-other particulars, which may be derivable from an old, if not from a
-primitive era, they offer characteristic peculiarities of a more modern
-description, in the paramount importance which they assign to individual
-divinities, in the variety and purport of the rites and observances
-addressed to them, and in the invention of new legends illustrative of the
-power and graciousness of those deities, and of the efficacy of implicit
-devotion to them."
-
-The form of composition adopted in the Puranas is that of a dialogue, in
-which its contents are related by one imaginary individual in reply to
-another. Several dialogues are eventually woven together; and they purport
-to have been held on different occasions between different individuals, in
-consequence of similar questions having been asked. Usually the immediate
-narrator is Lomaharshaná or Romaharshána, the disciple of Vyasa, who, as
-Plato did for Socrates, communicates to the reader his great master's
-utterances. The Vyasa or compiler here meant was Krishna Dwaipáyana, the
-son of Parásara; it is said of him that he taught the Vedas and Puranas to
-various pupils, but it seems more probable that he was at the head of a
-school or college, the members of which moulded the sacred literature of
-the Hindus into its present form.
-
-There appear to have been eighteen Puranas: namely, 1, Brahma; 2, Padma;
-3, Vaishnava; 4, Saiva; 5, Bhagavata; 6, Náradíya; 7, Márkándeya; 8,
-Agneya; 9, Bhavishya; 10, Brahma Vaivarta; 11, Lainga; 12, Váráha; 13,
-Skánda; 14, Vámana; 15, Kaurma; 16, Mátsya; 17, Gáruda; 18, Bráhmanda.
-
-The Vishnu Purana is described as that in which Parásara, beginning with
-the events of the Varáha Kalpa, expounds man's moral and religious
-obligations in about seven thousand stanzas. It is divided into six
-books:--
-
-The first deals chiefly with the details of creation, primary (Sarga) and
-secondary (Pratisarga); the first explaining how the universe proceeds
-from Prakriti or eternal crude matter; the second, in what way "the forms
-of things are developed from the elementary substances previously evolved,
-or how they reappear after their temporary destruction." Both these
-creations are periodical; the first does not end until the life of Brahma
-ends, when not only the gods and all other forms are annihilated, but the
-elements are resolved into the primary substance, besides which one only
-spiritual being exists. The latter occurs at the end of every Kalpa, æon,
-or day of Brahma, and is wholly limited to the forms of inferior creatures
-and the lower worlds; leaving untouched sages and gods and the substance
-of the heavens. A description of the ages or periods of time on which
-these events depend is involved in the explanation; and it is given
-accordingly in wearisome detail. Their character has been a source of very
-unnecessary perplexity to European writers; for they belong to a wholly
-mythological scheme of chronology, which has no reference to any real or
-supposed history of the Hindus, but prefigures, according to their system,
-the infinite and eternal revolutions of the universe.
-
-By a singular incongruity the existence of Pradhána, or crude matter, is
-identified with Vishnu, who is declared to be both spirit and crude
-matter, and not only crude matter, but all visible substance, and Time. He
-is Purusha, "spirit;" Pradhána, "crude matter;" Vyakta, "visible form;"
-and Kála, "time." "This," says Professor Wilson, "cannot but be regarded
-as a departure from the primitive dogmas of the Hindus, in which the
-distinctness of the Deity and His works was enunciated; in which, upon His
-willing the world to be, it was; and in which His interposition in
-creation, held to be inconsistent with the quiescence of perfection, was
-explained away by the personification of attributes in action, which
-afterwards came to be considered as real divinities, Brahma, Vishnu, and
-Siva, charged severally, for a given season, with the creation,
-preservation, and temporary annihilation of material forms." In the Vishnu
-Purana, these divinities are declared to be no other than Vishnu.
-
-The earth having been duly prepared for the reception of living creatures,
-it was peopled by the will-begotten sons of Brahma, the Prajapatis or
-patriarchs. But it was necessary to provide these "grey forefathers" of
-the early world with wives. For this purpose, the Manu Swayambhuva and his
-wife Satarupa, were invented; and their daughters supplied the patriarchs
-with female partners. Numerous legends were built up on this basis, and
-the whole story assumed an allegorical form. Swayhambhuva, the son of the
-self-born or uncreated, and his wife Satarupa, the hundred-formed or
-multiform, are themselves allegories; and their female descendants, who
-became the wives of the Rishis, are Faith, Devotion, Content,
-Intelligence, Tradition, and the like; whilst among their posterity are
-found the different phases of the moon and the sacrificial fires. There
-are other legends in explanation of the peopling of the earth. All seem to
-indicate that the Prajapatis and Rishis were "real personages, the authors
-of the Hindu system of social, moral, and religious obligations, and the
-first observers of the heavens, and teachers of astronomical science."
-
-The genealogy is traced of the royal personages of this first race or
-dynasty, and is continued into the second book; after which comes a detail
-of the geographical system of the Puranas, with Mount Meru, the seven
-circular continents, and their surrounding oceans, to the limits of the
-world. This (except so far as India or Bharata is concerned) is purely
-mythological. In the early portion of the third book, the arrangement of
-the Vedas and other sacred writings of the Hindus is described. Then
-follows an account of the principal Hindu institutions, the duties of
-castes, the obligations of different stages of life, and the celebration
-of funeral rites, in a brief but primitive strain, and in harmony with the
-laws of Manu. "It is a distinguishing feature of the Vishnu Purana, and it
-is characteristic of its being the work of an earlier period than most of
-the Puranas, that it enjoins no sectarial or other acts of supererogation;
-no Vratas, occasional self-imposed observances; no holy days, no birthdays
-of Krishna, no nights dedicated to Lakshmi; no sacrifices or modes of
-worship other than those conformable to the ritual of the Vedas. It
-contains no Máhálinyas or golden legends, even of the temples in which
-Vishnu is adored."
-
-The fourth book contains a tolerably full list of royal dynasties and
-individuals, with a dull chronicle of events, the authenticity of which
-cannot always be accepted. In the fifth book we have the life of Krishna,
-one of the avatars or manifestations of Vishnu; and in the last an account
-of the dissolution of the world, "in both its major and minor cataclysms,"
-which, "in the particulars of the end of all things by fire and water, as
-well as in the principle of their perpetual renovation, presents a
-faithful exhibition of opinions that were general in the ancient world."
-
-We now proceed to give a few specimens of the contents of this remarkable
-work.
-
-
-_Origin of Rudra_ (Bk. i. c. 8.)
-
-In the beginning of the Kalpa, as Brahma proposed to create a son, who
-should be like himself, a youth of a purple complexion appeared; crying
-with a low cry, and running about. Brahma, when he beheld him thus
-afflicted, said to him: "Why dost thou weep?" "Give me a name," replied
-the boy. "Rudra be thy name," rejoined the great father of all creatures:
-"be composed; desist from tears." But, though thus addressed, the boy
-still wept seven times; and Brahma therefore gave to him seven other
-denominations: and to these eight persons regions and wives and posterity
-belong. The eight manifestations, then, are named Rudra, Bhava, Sarva,
-Isana, Pasaputi, Bhima, Ugra, and Mahádeva, which were given to them by
-their great progenitor. He also assigned to them their respective
-stations, the sun, water, earth, air, fire, ether, the ministrant Brahman,
-and the moon; for these are their several forms. The wives of the sun and
-the other manifestations, termed Rudra and the east, were, respectively:
-Suvarchalá, Ushá, Vikésí, Sívá, Swáhá, Disas, Dikshá, and Rohini. Now hear
-an account of their progeny, by whose successive generations this world
-has been peopled. Their sons were severally: Sawaischara (Saturn,) Sukra
-(Venus,) the fiery-bodied (Mars,) Mamjava, Skanda, Swarga, Santána, and
-Budha (Mercury.)
-
-
-_Sacrifice of Daksha._
-
-(This remarkable legend, according to Professor Wilson, is intended to
-allegorise a struggle between the worshippers of Siva and of Vishnu, in
-which the former, after a temporary defeat, obtained the victory.)
-
-There was formerly a peak of Meru, named Sávitra, abounding with gems,
-radiant as the sun, and celebrated throughout the three worlds; of immense
-extent, difficult of access, and an object of universal adoration. Upon
-that glorious eminence, rich with mineral treasures, as upon a splendid
-couch, the deity Siva reclined, accompanied by the daughter of the
-sovereign of mountains, and attended by the mighty Adityas, the powerful
-Vasus, and by the heavenly physicians, the sons of Aswini; by Kubera,
-surrounded by his train of Guhyakas, the lord of the Yakshas, who dwells
-on Kailása. There also was the great Muni Usanas: there were Rishis of the
-first order, with Sanatkumará at their head, divine Rishis, preceded by
-Angiras; Viswavasu, with his bands of heavenly choristers; the sages
-Nárada and Parvata; and innumerable troops of celestial nymphs.
-
-The breeze blew upon the mountain, bland, pure, and fragrant; and the
-trees were decorated with flowers that blossomed in every season.
-
-The Vidyadharas and Siddhas, affluent in devotion, waited upon Mahádeva,
-the lord of living creatures; and many other beings, of various forms, did
-him homage. Prákshasas of terrific semblance, and Pisáchas of great
-strength, of different shapes and features, armed with various weapons,
-and blazing like fire, were delighted to be present, as the followers of
-the god. There stood the royal Naudin, high in the favour of his lord,
-armed with a fiery trident, shining with inherent lustre; and there the
-best of rivers, Ganga, the assemblage of all holy waters, stood adoring
-the mighty deity. Thus worshipped by all the most excellent of sages and
-of gods, abode the omnipotent and all-glorious Mahádeva.
-
-In former times Daksha commenced a holy sacrifice on the side of Himavat,
-at the sacred spot Gangádwara, frequented by the Rishis. The gods,
-desirous of assisting at this solemn rite, came, with Indra at their head,
-to Mahádeva, and intimated their purpose, and having received his
-permission, departed, in their splendid chariots, to Gangádwara, as
-tradition reports. They found Daksha, the best of the devout, surrounded
-by the singers and nymphs of heaven, and by numerous sages, beneath the
-shade of clustering trees and climbing plants; and all of them, whether
-dwellers on earth, in air, or in the regions above the skies, approached
-the patriarch with outward gestures of respect. The Adityas, Vasus,
-Rudras, Maruts, all entitled to partake of the oblations, together with
-Jishnu, were present.
-
-The (four classes of Pitris) Ushmapas, Somapas, Ajyapas, and Dhúmapas, (or
-those who feed upon the flame, the acid juice, the butter, or the smoke of
-offerings,) the Aswins, and the progenitors, came along with Brahmá.
-Creatures of every class, born from the womb, the egg, from vapour, or
-vegetation, came upon their invocation; as did all the gods, with their
-brides, who, in their resplendent vehicles, blazed like so many fires.
-
-Beholding them thus assembled, the sage Dadhicha was filled with
-indignation, and observed: "The man who worships what ought not to be
-worshipped, or pays not reverence where veneration is due, is guilty, most
-assuredly, of heinous sin." Then, addressing Daksha, he said to him: "Why
-do you not offer homage to the god who is the lord of life (Pasubhartri?)"
-Daksha spake: "I have already many Rudras present, armed with tridents,
-wearing braided hair, and existing in eleven forms. I recognise no other
-Mahádeva." Dadhicha spake: "The invocation that is not addressed to Isa
-is, for all, but a solitary (and imperfect) summons. Inasmuch as I behold
-no other divinity who is superior to Sankhara, this sacrifice of Daksha
-will not be completed." Daksha spake: "I offer in a golden cup, this
-entire oblation, which has been consecrated by many prayers, as an
-offering ever due to the unequalled Vishnu, the sovereign lord of all...."
-
-(After a conversation between the mighty Maheswara and his spouse, whom he
-addresses in epithets which have quite an Homeric sound:)
-
-The mighty Maheswara created, from his mouth, a being like the fire of
-fate; a divine being, with a thousand heads, a thousand eyes, a thousand
-feet; wielding a thousand clubs, a thousand shafts; holding the shell, the
-discus, the mace, and bearing a blazing bow and battle-axe; fierce and
-terrific, shining with dreadful splendour, and decorated with the crescent
-moon; clothed in a tiger's skin dripping with blood, having a capacious
-stomach, and a vast mouth armed with formidable tusks. His ears were
-erect, his lips were pendulous; his tongue was lightning; his hand
-brandished the thunderbolt; flames streamed from his hair; a necklace of
-pearls wound round his neck; a garland of flame descended on his breast.
-
-Radiant with lustre, he looked like the final fire that consumes the
-world. Four tremendous tusks projected from a mouth which extended from
-ear to ear.
-
-He was of vast bulk, vast strength, a mighty male and lord, the destroyer
-of the universe, and like a large fig tree in circumference; shining like
-a hundred moons at once; fierce as the fire of love; having four heads,
-sharp white teeth, and of mighty fierceness, vigour, activity, and
-courage; glowing with the blaze of a thousand fiery suns at the end of the
-world; like a thousand undimmed moons; in bulk like Himádri, Kailása, or
-Sumnu, or Mundara, with all its gleaming herbs; bright as the sun of
-destruction at end of ages; of irresistible prowess and beautiful aspect;
-irascible, with lowering eyes, and a countenance burning like fire;
-clothed in the hide of the elephant and lion, and girt round with snakes;
-wearing a turban on his head, a moon on his brow: sometimes savage,
-sometimes mild; having a chaplet of many flowers on his head, anointed
-with various unguents, adorned with different ornaments and many sorts of
-jewels, wearing a garland of heavenly Karnikara flowers, and rolling his
-eyes with rage. Sometimes he danced; sometimes he laughed aloud; sometimes
-he stood wrapt in meditation; sometimes he trampled upon the earth;
-sometimes he sang; sometimes he wept repeatedly. And he was endowed with
-the faculties of wisdom, dispassion, power, penance, truth, endurance,
-fortitude, dominion, and self-knowledge.
-
-This being then knelt down upon the ground, and raising his hands
-respectfully to his head, said to Mahádeva: "Sovereign of the gods,
-command what it is that I must do for thee;" to which Maheswara replied:
-"Spoil the sacrifice of Daksha." Then the mighty Virabhadra, having heard
-the pleasure of his lord, bowed down his head to the feet of Prajápati,
-and starting like a lion loosed from bonds, despoiled the sacrifice of
-Daksha; knowing that he had been created by the displeasure of Devi. She,
-too, in her wrath, as the fearful goddess Rudrakáli, accompanied him, with
-all her train, to witness his deeds. Virabhadra, the fierce, abiding in
-the region of ghosts, is the minister of the anger of Devi. And he then
-created, from the pores of his skin, powerful demigods, the mighty
-attendants upon Rudra, of equal valour and strength, who started by
-hundreds and by thousands into existence. A loud and confused clamour
-straightway filled all the expanse of ether, and inspired the denizens of
-heaven with dread. The mountains tottered, and earth shook; the winds
-roared, and the depths of the sea were disturbed; the fires lost their
-radiance, and the sun grew pale; the planets of the firmament shone not,
-neither did the stars give light; the Rishis ceased their hymns, and gods
-and demons were mute; and thick darkness eclipsed the chariot of the
-skies.
-
-Then from the gloom emerged fearful and numerous forms, shouting the cry
-of battle; who instantly broke or overturned the sacrificial columns,
-trampled upon the altars, and danced amidst the oblations. Running wildly
-hither and thither, with the speed of wind, they tossed about the
-implements and vessels of sacrifice, which looked like stars precipitated
-from the heavens. The piles of food and beverage for the gods, which had
-been heaped up like mountains;[26] the rivers of milk; the tanks of curds
-and butter; the masses of honey, and butter-milk, and sugar; the mounds of
-condiments and spices of every flavour; the undulating knolls of flesh and
-other viands; the celestial liquors; pastes and confections which had been
-prepared; these the spirits of wrath devoured, or defiled, or scattered
-abroad. And, falling upon the host of the gods, these vast and resistless
-Rudras beat or terrified them, mocked and insulted the nymphs and
-goddesses, and quickly put an end to the rite, although defended by all
-the gods; being the ministers of Rudra's wrath, and similar to himself.
-Some then made a hideous clamour, whilst others fearfully shouted, when
-Yajna was decapitated. For the divine Yajna, the lord of sacrifice, began
-to fly up to heaven, in the shape of a deer; and Virabhadra, of
-immeasurable spirit, apprehending his power, cut off his vast head, after
-he had mounted into the sky.
-
-Daksha, the patriarch, his sacrifice being destroyed, overcome with
-terror, and utterly broken in spirit, fell prone upon the ground, where
-his head was spurned by the feet of the cruel Virabhadra. The thirty
-scores of sacred divinities were all presently bound, with a band of fire,
-by their lion-like foe; and they all addressed him, crying: "O Rudra, have
-mercy upon thy servants! O lord, dismiss thine anger!" This spake Brahma,
-and the other gods, and the patriarch Daksha; and, raising their hands,
-they said: "Declare, mighty being, who thou art."
-
-Virabhadra said: "I am not a god, nor an Aditya, nor am I come hither for
-enjoyment, nor curious to behold the chiefs of the divinities. Know that I
-am come to destroy the sacrifice of Daksha, and that I am called
-Virabhadra, the issue of the wrath of Rudra. Bhadrakali, also, who has
-sprung from the anger of Devi, is sent here, by the god of gods, to
-destroy this rite. Take refuge, king of kings, with him who is the lord of
-Uma. For better is the anger of Rudra than the blessings of other gods."
-
-Having heard the words of Virabhadra, the righteous Daksha propitiated the
-mighty god, the holder of the trident, Maheswara. The hearth of sacrifice,
-deserted by the Brahmans, had been consumed; Yajna had been metamorphosed
-to an antelope; the fires of Rudra's wrath had been kindled; the
-attendants, wounded by the tridents of the servants of the god, were
-groaning with pain; the pieces of the uprooted sacrificial posts were
-scattered here and there; and the fragments of the meat-offerings were
-carried off by flights of hungry vultures and herds of howling jackals.
-
-Suppressing his vital airs, and taking up a posture of meditation, the
-many-sighted victor of his foes, Daksha, fixed his eyes everywhere upon
-his thoughts. And the god of gods appeared from the altar resplendent as a
-thousand suns, and smiling upon him, said, "Daksha, thy sacrifice has been
-destroyed through sacred knowledge, I am well pleased with thee." And he
-smiled again, and exclaimed, "What shall I do for thee? Declare, together
-with the preceptor of the gods."
-
-And Daksha, frightened, alarmed, and agitated, his eyes suffused with
-tears, raised his hands reverently to his brow, and said, "If, lord, thou
-art pleased; if I have found favour in thy sight; if I am to be the object
-of thy benevolence; if thou wilt confer upon me a boon, this is the
-blessing I solicit, that all these provisions for the solemn sacrifice
-which have been collected with much trouble and during a long time, and
-have now been eaten, drunk, devoured, burnt, broken, scattered abroad, may
-not have been prepared in vain." "So let it be," replied Hara, the subduer
-of Indra. And thereupon Daksha knelt down upon the earth, and praised
-gratefully the author of righteousness, the three-eyed god Mahádeva,
-repeating the eight thousand names of the deity whose emblem is a bull.
-
-
-_Public Games._ (Bk. v., c. 10.)
-
-As Krishna and Rama proceeded along the high road, they saw coming towards
-them a young girl, who was crooked, carrying a pot of unguent. Addressing
-her sportively, Krishna said, "For whom are you carrying that unguent?
-Tell me, lovely maiden, tell me truly." Spoken to as it were through
-affection, Kubja[27], well disposed towards Hari, replied to him also
-mirthfully, being smitten by his appearance, "Know you not, beloved, that
-I am the servant of Kamsa, and appointed, crooked as I am, to prepare his
-perfumes? Of unguent ground by any other he does not approve, and hence I
-am enriched through his liberal rewards." Then said Krishna, "Fair-faced
-damsel, give us of this unguent,--fragrant and fit for kings,--as much as
-we may rub upon our bodies." "Take it," answered Kubja. And she gave them
-as much of the unguent as was sufficient for their persons. And they
-rubbed it on various parts of their faces and bodies, till they looked
-like two clouds, one white and one black, decorated by the many-tinted bow
-of Indra.
-
-And Krishna, skilled in the curative art, took hold of her under the chin
-with the thumb and two fingers, and lifted up her head, whilst with his
-feet he pressed down her feet, and in this way he made her straight.
-
-When she was thus relieved from her deformity, she was a most beautiful
-woman; and filled with gratitude and affection, she took Govinda by the
-garment, and invited him to her house. Promising to come at some other
-time, Krishna smilingly dismissed her, and then laughed aloud on beholding
-the countenance of Baladeva.
-
-Dressed in blue and yellow garments, and anointed with fragrant unguents,
-Krishna and Rama proceeded to the hall of arms, which was hung round with
-garlands. Inquiring of the warders which bow he was to try, and being
-directed to it, Krishna took it, and bent it. But drawing it with
-violence, he snapped it in two, and all Mathura resounded with the noise
-which its fracture occasioned. Abused by the warders for breaking the bow,
-Krishna and Rama retorted, and defied them, and left the hall.
-
-When Kamsa knew that Akrura had returned, and heard that the bow had been
-broken, he then said to Chanura and Mushtika, his boxers, "Two youths,
-cowherd boys, have arrived. You must kill them both, in a trial of
-strength, in my presence; for they practise against my life. I shall be
-well pleased if you kill them in the match, and will give you whatever you
-wish, but not otherwise. These two foes of mine must be killed by you,
-fairly or unfairly. The kingdom shall be ours in common when they have
-perished."
-
-Having given them their orders, he sent next for his elephant driver, and
-desired him to station his great elephant, Kuvalayapida,--who was as vast
-as a cloud charged with rain,--near the gate of the arena, and drive him
-upon the two boys when they should attempt to enter. When Kamsa had issued
-these commands, and ascertained that the platforms were all ready (for the
-spectators), he awaited the rising of the sun, unconscious of impending
-death.
-
-In the morning the citizens assembled on the platforms set apart for them;
-and the princes, with the ministers and courtiers, occupied the royal
-seats. Near the centre of the circle, judges of the games were stationed
-by Kamsa, whilst he himself sat apart close by, upon a lofty throne.
-Separate platforms were erected for the ladies of the palace, for the
-courtesans, and for the wives of the citizens. Nanda and the cowherds had
-places appropriated to them, at the end of which sat Akrura and Vasudeva.
-Amongst the wives of the citizens appeared Devaki, mourning for her son,
-whose lovely face she longed to behold, even in the hour of his
-destruction.
-
-When the musical instruments sounded, Chanura sprang forth, and the people
-cried, "Alas!" and Mushtika slapped his arms in defiance. Covered with
-blood and mud from the elephant, which, when goaded upon them by its
-driver, they had slain, and armed with its tusks, Balabhadra and Janardana
-confidently entered the arena, like two lions amidst a herd of deer.
-Exclamations of pity arose from all the spectators, along with expressions
-of astonishment. "This, then," said the people, "is Krishna. This is
-Balabhadra. This is he by whom the fierce night-walker Putana was slain;
-by whom the waggon was overturned, and the two Arjuna trees felled. This
-is the boy who trampled and danced on the serpent Kaliya; who upheld the
-mountain Govardhana for seven nights; who killed, as if in play, the
-iniquitous Arishta, Dhenuka, and Kisra. This, whom we see, is Achyuta.
-This is he who has been foretold by the wise, skilled in the sense of the
-Puranas, as Gopala, who shall exalt the depressed Yadava race. This is a
-portion of the all-existing, all-generating Vishnu, descended upon earth,
-who will, assuredly, lighten her load."
-
-Thus did the citizens describe Rama and Krishna, as soon as they appeared:
-whilst the breast of Devaki glowed with maternal affection; and Vasudeva,
-forgetting his infirmities, felt himself young again, on beholding the
-countenances of his sons as a season of rejoicing. The women of the
-palace, and the wives of the citizens, wide opened their eyes, and gazed
-intently upon Krishna.
-
-"Look, friends," said they to their companions; "look at the face of
-Krishna. His eyes are reddened by his conflict with the elephant; and the
-drops of perspiration stand upon his cheeks, outvying a full-blown lotus
-in autumn, studded with glittering dew. Avail yourself, now, of the
-faculty of vision. Observe his breast,--the seat of splendour, marked
-with the mystic sign,--and his arms, menacing destruction to his foes. Do
-you not notice Balabhadra, dressed in a blue garment,--his countenance as
-fair as the jasmine, as the moon, as the fibres of the lotus-stem? See how
-he gently smiles at the gestures of Mushtika and Chanura, as they spring
-up.
-
-"And now behold Hari advance to encounter Chanura. What! Are there no
-elders, judges of the field? How can the delicate form of Hari,--only yet
-in the dawn of adolescence,--be regarded as a match for the vast and
-adamantine bulk of the great demon? Two youths, of light and elegant
-persons, are in the arena, to oppose athletic fiends, headed by the cruel
-Chanura. This is a great sin in the judges of the games, for the umpires
-to suffer a contest between boys and strong men."
-
-As thus the women of the city conversed with one another, Hari, having
-tightened his girdle, danced in the ring, shaking the ground on which he
-trod. Balabhadra also danced, slapping his arms in defiance. Where the
-ground was firm, the invincible Krishna contended, foot to foot, with
-Chanura. The practised demon Mushtika was opposed by Balabhadra. Mutually
-entwining, and pushing, and pulling, and beating each other with fists,
-arms, and elbows, pressing each other with their knees, interlacing their
-arms, kicking with their feet, pressing with their whole weight upon one
-another, fought Hari and Chanura.
-
-Desperate was the struggle, though without weapons, and one for life and
-death, to the great gratification of the spectators. In proportion as the
-contest continued, so Chanura was gradually losing something of his
-original vigour, and the wreath upon his head trembled from his fury and
-distress; whilst the world-comprehending Krishna wrestled with him as if
-but in sport. Beholding Chanura losing, and Krishna gaining strength,
-Kamsa, furious with rage, commanded the music to cease.
-
-As soon as the drums and trumpets were silenced, a numerous band of
-heavenly instruments was heard in the sky; and the unseen gods exclaimed:
-"Victory to Govinda! Kesava, kill the demon Chanura!" Madhusudana, having,
-for a long time, dallied with his adversary, at last lifted him up, and
-whirled him round, with the intention of putting an end to him. Having
-whirled Chanura round a hundred times, until his breath was expended in
-the air, Krishna dashed him on the ground, with such violence as to smash
-his body into a hundred fragments, and strew the earth with a hundred
-pools of gory mire.
-
-Whilst this took place, the mighty Baladeva was engaged, in the same
-manner, with the demon bruiser, Mushtika. Striking him on the head with
-his fists, and on the breast with his knees, he stretched him on the
-ground, and pummelled him there till he was dead. Again, Krishna
-encountered the royal bruiser Tosaluka, and felled him to the earth with a
-blow of his left hand. When the other athletes saw Chanura, Mushtika, and
-Tosaluka killed, they fled from the field; and Krishna and Sankarshana
-danced, victorious, on the arena, dragging along with them, by force, the
-cowherds of their own age. Kamsa, his eyes reddening with wrath, called
-aloud to the surrounding people:--"Drive those two cowboys out of the
-assembly: seize the villain Nanda, and secure him with chains of iron; put
-Vasudeva to death with tortures intolerable to his years: and lay hands
-upon the cattle, and whatever else belongs to those cowherds who are the
-associates of Krishna."
-
-Upon hearing these orders, the destroyer of Madhu laughed at Kamsa, and,
-springing up to the place where he was seated, laid hold of him by the
-hair of his head, and struck his tiara to the ground. Then, casting him
-down upon the earth, Govinda threw himself upon him. Crushed by the weight
-of the upholder of the universe, the son of Ugrasena (Kamsa), the king,
-gave up the ghost. Krishna then dragged the dead body, by the hair of the
-head, into the centre of the arena; and a deep furrow was made by the vast
-and heavy carcase of Kamsa, when it was dragged along the ground by
-Krishna, as if a torrent of water had rushed through it.
-
-Seeing Kamsa thus treated, his brother Sunaman came to his succour: but he
-was encountered, and easily killed, by Balabhadra. Then arose a general
-cry of grief from the surrounding circle, as they beheld the King of
-Mathura thus slain, and treated with such contumely, by Krishna. Krishna,
-accompanied by Balabhadra, embraced the feet of Vasudeva and of Devaki:
-but Vasudeva raised him up; and he and Devaki recalling to recollection
-what he had said to them at his birth, they bowed to Janardana; and the
-former thus addressed him: "Have compassion upon mortals, O god,
-benefactor, and lord of deities. It is by thy favour to us two that thou
-hast become the present upholder of the world. That, for the punishment of
-the rebellious, thou hast descended upon earth in my house, having been
-propitiated by my prayers, sanctifies our race. Thou art the heart of all
-creatures; thou abidest in all creatures; and all that has been, or will
-be, emanates from thee, O universal spirit. Thou, Achyuta, who
-comprehendest all the gods, art eternally worshipped with sacrifices: thou
-art sacrifice itself, and the offerer of sacrifices. The affection that
-inspires my heart, and the heart of Devaki, towards thee, as if thou wert
-our child, is, indeed, but an error and a great delusion.
-
-"How shall the tongue of a mortal such as I am call the creator of all
-things, who is without beginning or end, son? Is it consistent that the
-lord of the world, from whom the world proceeds, should be born of me,
-except through illusion? How should he, in whom all fixed and moveable
-things are contained, be conceived in the womb and born of a mortal being?
-Have compassion, therefore, indeed, O supreme lord, and, in thy descended
-portions, protect the universe. Thou art no son of mine. This whole world,
-from Brahma to a tree, thou art. Wherefore dost thou, who art one with the
-Supreme, beguile us? Blinded by delusion, I thought thee my son, and for
-thee, who art beyond all fear, I dreaded the anger of Kamsa; and,
-therefore, did I take thee, in my turn, to Gokula, where thou hast grown
-up. But I no longer claim thee as mine own. Thou, Vishnu,--the sovereign
-lord of all, whose actions Rudra, Maruts, the Aswins, Indra, and the gods
-cannot equal, although they behold them; thou, who hast come amongst us,
-for the benefit of the world,--art recognised; and delusion is no more."
-
-We shall furnish but one other specimen:--
-
-
-_Anecdotes of Khandikya and Kesidhwaja._
-
-Maitreya, addressing Parasara, says: "Reverend teacher, I am desirous of
-being informed what is meant by the term meditation (_yoga_), by
-understanding which I may behold the Supreme Being, the upholder of the
-universe."
-
-Parasara, in reply, says that he will repeat the explanation formerly
-given by Kesidhwaja to the magnanimous Khandikya, also called Janaka.
-
-Whereupon Maitreya replies: "Tell me, first, Brahman, who Kandikya was and
-who Kesidhwaja; and how it happened that a conversation relating to the
-practice of Yoga occurred between them."
-
-Thereupon follows Parasara's narrative:
-
-There was Janaka, named Dharmadhwaja, who had two sons, Mitadhwaja and
-Kritadhwaja; and the latter was a king ever intent upon existent supreme
-spirit: his son was the celebrated Kesidhwaja. The son of Mitadhwaja was
-Janaka, called Khandikya. Khandikya was diligent in the way of works, and
-was renowned, on earth, for religious rites. Kesidhwaja, on the other
-hand, was endowed with spiritual knowledge. These two were engaged in
-hostilities; and Khandikya was driven from his principality by Kesidhwaja.
-Expelled from his dominions, he wandered, with a few followers, his
-priest, and his counsellors, amidst woods and mountains, where, destitute
-of true wisdom, he performed many sacrifices, expecting, thereby, to
-obtain divine truth, and to escape from death by ignorance.
-
-Once, while the best of those who are skilled in devotion (Kesidhwaja) was
-engaged in devout exercises, a fierce tiger slew his milch-cow, in the
-lonely forest. When the Raja heard that the cow had been killed, he asked
-the ministering priests what form of penance would expiate the crime. They
-replied, that they did not know, and referred him to Kaseru. Kaseru, when
-the Raja consulted him, told him that he, too, knew not, but that Sunaka
-would be able to tell him. Accordingly, the Raja went to Sunaka; but he
-replied: "I am as unable, great king, to answer your question as Kaseru
-has been; and there is no one now, upon earth, who can give you the
-information, except your enemy Khandikya, whom you have conquered."
-
-Upon receiving this answer, Kesidhwaja said: "I will go, then, and pay a
-visit to my foe. If he kill me, no matter; for, then, I shall obtain the
-reward that attends being killed in a holy cause. If (on the contrary) he
-tell me what penance to perform, then my sacrifice will be unimpaired in
-efficacy."
-
-Accordingly, he ascended his car, having clothed himself in the deer skin
-of the religious student, and went to the forest where the wise Khandikya
-resided. When Khandikya beheld him approach, his eyes reddened with rage,
-and he took up his bow and said to him: "You have armed yourself with the
-deer skin to accomplish my destruction; imagining that, in such an attire,
-you will be safe from me. But, fool, the deer upon whose backs this skin
-is seen are slain, by you and me, with sharp arrows. So will I slay you:
-you shall not go free, whilst I am living. You are an unprincipled felon,
-who have robbed me of my kingdom, and are deserving of death."
-
-To this Kesidhwaja answered: "I have come hither, Khandikya, to ask you to
-solve my doubts, and not with any hostile intention. Lay aside, therefore,
-both your arrow and your anger."
-
-Thus spoken to, Khandikya retired awhile, with his counsellors and his
-priest, and consulted them what course he should pursue. They strongly
-urged him to slay Kesidhwaja while he was in his power, since by his death
-he would again become the monarch of the whole world.
-
-Khandikya replied to them:--"It is, no doubt, true that, by such an act, I
-should become the monarch of the whole earth. He, however, would thereby
-conquer the world to come; whilst the earth would be mine. Now, if I do
-not kill him, I shall subdue the next world, and leave him this earth. It
-seems to me that this world is not of more value than the next: for the
-subjugation of the next world endures for ever; the conquest over this is
-but for a brief season. I will, therefore, not kill him, but tell him what
-he wishes to know."
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-Accordingly, Kesidhwaja proceeds to describe the benefits which result
-from the Yoga or contemplative devotion.
-
-The sage, or Yogin, when first applying himself to contemplative devotion,
-is called the novice or practitioner (Yoga-yuj); when he has attained
-spiritual union, he is termed the adept, or he whose meditations are
-accomplished. Should the thoughts of the former be unvitiated by any
-obstructing imperfection, he will obtain freedom, after practising
-devotion through several lives. The latter speedily obtains liberation in
-that existence in which he reaches perfection, all his acts being consumed
-by the fire of contemplative devotion. The sage who would bring his mind
-into a fit state for the performance of devout contemplation must be
-devoid of desire, and observe invariably continence, compassion, truth,
-honesty, and disinterestedness: he must fix his mind intently on the
-supreme Brahma, practising holy study, purification, contentment, penance,
-and self-control. These virtues, respectively termed the five acts of
-restraint (Yama) and five of obligation (Niyama), bestow excellent
-rewards, when practised for the sake of reward, and eternal liberation,
-when they are not prompted by desire of transient benefits. Endowed with
-these merits, the sage, self-restrained, should sit in one of the modes
-termed Bhadrasana,[28] and engage in contemplation.
-
-Bringing his vital airs, called Prana, under subjection, by frequent
-repetition, is thence called a Pranayama, which is, as it were, a seed
-with a seed. In this, the breath of expiration and that of inspiration are
-alternately obstructed, constituting the act twofold; and the suppression
-of both modes of breathing produces a third. The exercise of the Yogin,
-whilst endeavouring to bring before his thoughts the gross form of the
-Eternal, is denominated Alambana.[29] He is then to perform the
-Pratyahara, which consists in restraining his organs of sense from
-susceptibility to outward impressions, and directing them entirely to
-mental perceptions. By these means the entire subjugation of the unsteady
-senses is effected; and, if they are not controlled, the sage will not
-accomplish his devotions. When, by the Pranayama, the vital airs are
-restrained, and the senses are subjugated by the Pratyahara, then indeed
-the sage will be able to keep his mind steady in its perfect asylum.
-
-The sage now plunges into transcendentalism which would be barely
-intelligible, and certainly uninteresting to the reader, and we shall
-therefore decline to follow him, concluding our extract with the
-description of Vishnu which Kesidhwaja furnishes to his inquiring guest.
-
-Think of him as having a pleased and lovely countenance, with eyes like
-the leaf of the lotus, marble cheeks, and a broad and brilliant forehead;
-ears of equal size, the lobes of which are decorated with splendid
-pendants; a painted neck; and a broad breast, on which shines the Srivatsa
-mark; a belly falling in graceful folds, with a deep-seated navel; eight
-long arms, or else four; and firm and well-knit thighs and legs, with
-well-formed feet and toes. Let him, with well-governed thoughts,
-contemplate, as long as he can persevere in unremitting attention, Hari,
-as clad in a yellow robe, wearing a rich diadem on his head, and brilliant
-armlets and bracelets on his arms, and bearing in his hands the bow, the
-shell, the mace, the sword, the discus, the rosary, the lotus, and the
-arrow.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER VI.
-
-_IN CHINA:--CONFUCIANISM, TAOUISM, AND BUDDHISM._
-
-
-The creeds in vogue amongst the Chinese may be regarded as
-three:--_Confucianism_, the religion of the state; _Taouism_, the religion
-of the philosophers; and _Buddhism_, the religion of the people.
-
-It has been justly said that a religion which, like Confucianism, has
-exercised for twenty-four centuries a potent influence over the Chinese
-mind, though owing its name and origin to a simple citizen, must possess
-in it something well worthy of consideration. There must be in it a spell
-which strongly attracts the popular sympathies. This spell is said to be,
-though possibly we ought to search deeper and farther for it, the purely
-practical character of its tenets, and the harmony which exists between
-those tenets and the patriarchal character of the government and the
-institutions of the country. And in fact it is not so much a religion as
-an ethical system,--something such as Christianity would be, if we took
-out of it JESUS CHRIST. Or we may distinguish it as "a system of
-ceremonies on a moral basis," and, as such, admirably adapted to the
-tastes and needs of so ceremonial-loving a people as the Chinese. To this
-day the Ly-pou watch with jealous vigilance the maintenance of all the old
-traditional rites, and rigidly enforce the observance of the traditional
-details in the construction of the temples. Moreover such particulars as
-the six kinds of sceptres, the five kinds of mats, and the five kinds of
-stools are strictly insisted upon; and it is known that the innumerable
-prescribed sacrifices offered to the various gods of the heaven and the
-earth, to a man's forefathers, to the hills and the rivers, the sea and
-the central mount, the god of the south pole and the god of thunder, are
-the same now as they have been for upwards of 2,000 years.
-
-The founder of Confucianism, Kong-foo-tse, or Confucius, (as the Jesuits
-latinised the name,) was born about 550 B.C. in the state Loo, within the
-district now called Keo-fou Hien, lying to the eastward of the great
-Imperial canal, in the province of Shang-tung.
-
-Tradition asserts that his father was a descendant of the imperial family
-of Hoang-ty, of the dynasty of Chang (2,000 B.C.), and the chief minister
-of his native kingdom. At an early age, as is common with most who are
-destined to rise to greatness, Confucius gave indisputable proof of no
-ordinary mental capacity, and these budding powers were carefully
-developed by the training and tuition of the ablest masters. He was still
-young when he made himself acquainted with the literature of the period,
-and especially with the canonical and classical books attributed to the
-ancient legislators Yam Chun, and others. His amiability of temper is
-warmly commended, and no shadow of reproach rests upon his moral
-character; except in so far as he exposed himself to censure by divorcing
-his wife, after she had borne him a son, in order, it is said, "that he
-might devote himself the more absolutely to his studies." It is some
-excuse for him that, at this time, he was only twenty. In the same year he
-was appointed "superintendent of cattle,"--not exactly the ideal office
-for a philosophical student. However his assiduity and fidelity soon
-secured the approbation of his superiors; he was promoted to a more
-influential position; and there seemed every probability of his attaining
-to the highest rank, when a sudden revolution in the state for a time
-obscured his prospects.
-
-The next eight years of his life he spent in travel, assuming the role of
-a religious reformer, and everywhere gathering round him a crowd of ardent
-disciples, whom he instructed in the rules and principles of his ethical
-system. It is said that they numbered as many as 3,000, of whom
-seventy-two were specially distinguished by their devotion to their
-master and their rigid observance of his tenets. Returning to Loo, when he
-was about forty-three years old, he was again called to the service of the
-state, and from grade to grade rose to the post of Prime Minister, or
-"governor of the people." Invested with plenary power, he proceeded, with
-the ardour of an enthusiast, to realise his ideas, and rapidly brought
-about a vast improvement in both the moral and physical condition of the
-country. The poor were the particular objects of his care: he provided
-them with plentiful supplies of cheap and good food, and released them
-from the thraldom in which the nobles had held them. His energy and wisdom
-extended to every department of the state; and with extraordinary
-fertility of resource, he initiated measures for the extension of
-commerce, the improvement of the bridges and highways, the impartial
-administration of justice, and the extirpation of the robber bands which
-infested the mountains. But the neighbouring sovereigns regarded with
-alarm the progress of his bold reforms. No doubt they talked about
-communistic and socialistic doctrines, and the advancing flood of
-democracy, as timid people do in our own day. At all events they contrived
-to put such a pressure upon the King of Loo that he was compelled to part
-with his great minister, who fled from his enemies northward, and found
-refuge in the kingdom of Tsi, on the Gulf of Petchali. For twelve, or, as
-some say, fourteen years he wandered from place to place, adding to the
-number of his proselytes; until spent with fatigue, and bowed down with
-years, he retired with a few favourite disciples to a quiet valley in his
-native land, and devoted the remainder of his life to the task of revising
-and improving the famous writings which for so many centuries have been
-consecrated by the devout acceptance of the Chinese. He died at the age of
-seventy-three, in 477 B.C.,[30] "on the eighteenth day of the second
-moon," after a seven days' illness. Like many other great reformers,
-though but indifferently treated in his lifetime, he became after death
-the object of universal admiration, and to this day the Chinese pay homage
-to the memory of the "Great Master," the "Chief Doctor," the "Wise King of
-Literature," the "Saint," the "Instructor of Emperors and Kings." His
-descendants have been loaded with honours and privileges, and now
-constitute the only hereditary nobility in the Chinese empire. Like the
-princes of the blood, they are exempt from taxation. And in every city of
-the first, second, and third rank, stands at least one temple dedicated to
-Confucius, where the emperor himself and the mandarins are bound to
-worship, with offerings of wine, fruit, and flowers,--with burning of
-fragrant gums, frankincense, and tapers of sandal wood,--and with singing
-of appropriate hymns. The eighteenth day of the second moon is kept sacred
-by the Chinese as the anniversary of his death.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-We have already said that the system of Confucius was ethical rather than
-religious. It is absolutely free from any theological strain, and, indeed,
-makes no mention of a Creator. "How should I know God," he would say,
-"when as yet I know not man?" "His system was essentially conservative; he
-aimed at the correction of new vices which had crept into the body politic
-by endeavouring to restore the old customs of the country; and hence the
-high favour in which his system has ever been held by the rulers and
-magnates of the empire. It inculcated the most perfect subordination, the
-most servile obedience, and the most scrupulous adherence to ancient
-usage; every social, civil, and political duty is set forth in it with the
-greatest precision; but inasmuch as all the parts of the great machine of
-empire are not absolutely deprived of volition, a rebellious cog-wheel or
-insignificant pinion will sometimes disarrange and impede the entire
-machinery."
-
-Confucius held that the universe had been generated by the union of two
-material principles,--a heavenly and an earthly, Yang and Ya. He
-represents man as having fallen by his own act from his original purity
-and happiness, and asserts that by his own act he can recover that
-condition. For this purpose he must lead a life of obedience to the law,
-and he must not do unto others that which he would not have others do unto
-him. He made the supremacy of parental authority the basis of his
-political teaching, and strongly advocated that the son's submission to
-the father must be as complete as that of the servant to the master, of
-the master to the magistrate, of the magistrate to the crown, and of the
-crown to the law. Of course this implied that the reciprocal obligations
-must be observed. This rigid application of the family ideal to the
-administration of the government, and the consequent creation of a pure
-despotism, has been the cause of all that is most perplexing to Europeans
-in the Chinese civilisation, and explains why it has never advanced beyond
-the standard or mark to which it had attained in the era of Confucius.
-
-The Confucian doctrines are set forth in _Gze-Chou_, "The Four Books," and
-_King_, "The Five Canonical Works," of which the following particulars may
-interest the reader.
-
-
-_The Ta-heo, or "Great Study."_
-
-The _Ta-heo_, or "School of Adults," has been translated by Dr. Marshman,
-in the "Clavis Sinica." It is a treatise, in two chapters, on politics and
-morals, rising gradually from the government of oneself to the government
-of a family, thence to the government of a province, and finally to the
-control of the affairs of an empire. Its leading principle is
-self-improvement, self-culture. In one of the sections an eulogium is
-bestowed upon the beauty of virtue as a means of self-enjoyment. And the
-book closes with a fine exhortation to be just, and truthful, and honest,
-to those whom fortune places at the head of the state.
-
-
-_The Chung-Yung, or "The Invariable in the Mean,"_
-
-Also translated as "the Safe Middle Course," and "the Infallible Medium,"
-describes the golden mean, the due medium by which a man should regulate
-his conduct. He is not to be lifted up by prosperity, nor cast down by
-adversity. Through thirty-three sections, in language sometimes clear and
-strenuous, sometimes obscure, the subject is pursued, and the whole duty
-of man inculcated. Here is a passage describing a kingly man which may be
-compared with one in Seneca:--
-
-"It is only the man supremely holy, who, by the faculty of knowing
-thoroughly, and comprehending perfectly the primitive laws of living
-beings, is worthy of possessing supreme authority, and governing men; who
-by possessing a soul, grand, firm, constant, and imperturbable, is capable
-of making justice and equity reign; who by his faculty of being always
-honest, simple, upright, grave, and just, is able to attract respect and
-veneration; who by his faculty of being clothed with the ornaments of the
-mind, and the talents procured by assiduous study, and by the
-enlightenment that springs from an exact investigation of the most hidden
-things, and the most subtle principles, can with accuracy discern the true
-from the false, and the good from the evil."
-
-
-_The Lun-Yu, or "Philosophical Conversation."_
-
-This is the Chinese _Phædo_, and contains a record of the conversations
-held between Confucius and his disciples, but the author lacked the
-eloquence and imagination of Plato. It is interesting however from its
-anecdotes of the Great Teacher. In introducing his guests, it seems that
-he kept his arms extended, like the wings of a bird; that he never ate
-meat which had not been cut in a straight line; that he never used his
-fingers to point to anything; and that he would not occupy the mat spread
-for him as a seat unless it was regularly placed.
-
-
-_The Meng-tze, or "Mencius,"_
-
-Is a Commentary upon Confucius, written about a century after his death by
-his disciple Meng-tze. The subjects treated in it are of various nature.
-In one part the virtues of individual life and of domestic relations are
-discussed; in another, the order of affairs. Here are investigated the
-duties of superiors, from the sovereign to the lowest magistrate, for the
-attainment of good government. There are expounded the labours of
-students, peasants, traders, artisans, while, in the course of the work,
-the laws of the physical world, of the heavens and the earth, the
-mountains and rivers, of birds, fishes, quadrupeds, insects, plants, and
-trees, are occasionally described. The great number of affairs which
-Mencius managed, in the course of his life, in his intercourse with men,
-his occasional conversations with people of rank, his instructions to his
-pupils, his expositions of books, ancient and modern,--all these details
-are incorporated in this publication. It is a collection of historical
-facts, and of the words of ancient ages, put together for the instruction
-of mankind.
-
-Mencius died when he was eighty-four years of age; his memory is revered
-by the Chinese next to that of Confucius, and his descendants are treated
-with a distinction inferior only to that which is accorded to those of
-Confucius.
-
-
-_King; or, The Five Canonical Works._
-
-These, which were either written or compiled by Confucius, are the most
-venerable existing monuments of Chinese literature, and embody the
-fundamental principles of the earliest creeds and customs of China.
-
-The first is the _Y-King_, or "Sacred Book of Changes," which may be
-termed a Chinese Cyclopædia, and contains a great variety of subjects,
-morals, physics, and metaphysics. It is founded on the combinations of
-sixty-four lines,--some entire, and some broken,--and called _Koua_; the
-discovery of which has been attributed to Fo-hi, the traditional founder
-of Chinese civilisation. He found them, it is said, on the shell of a
-tortoise, and asserted that they were capable of explaining all things. It
-does not seem easy, however, to explain _them_, and the commentaries upon
-them are more numerous than even the commentaries upon Shakespeare. The
-Imperial Library at Peking contains no fewer than 1450.
-
-Second in order comes the _Shu-King_, or "Book of History," which, despite
-its imperfect and fragmentary condition, is full of interest. It contains
-a concise narrative of Early Chinese history, down to the eighth century
-before our era; including the speeches addressed by several emperors to
-their high officers, and numerous valuable documents of great antiquity.
-Reference is made in its pages to a great deluge, which some suppose to be
-the Flood recorded in the book of Genesis, but others, with more
-probability, identify with one of the early and extensive inundations of
-the Hoang-Ho.
-
-The third is the _Shi-King_, or "Book of Sacred Songs," a collection of
-311 poems, ancient, national, and official, the best of which every
-well-educated Chinaman commits to memory. They range from the eighteenth
-to the third century before our era, and are divided into four parts:
-first, the Ku-fung, or songs of "the manners of different states;" second
-and third, songs for state occasions; and fourth, Soong, a collection of
-eulogies on the various emperors of the Chow dynasty. This book is
-described as replete with very interesting and probably authentic
-information on the ancient manners of China, and is frequently quoted by
-both Confucius and Mencius, and by them recommended to the study of their
-disciples.
-
-Fourth comes the _Li-King_, or "Book of Rites and Ceremonies," in which we
-find a mass of fragments dating from the time of Confucius downwards, and
-throwing a vivid light on the permanent characteristics of the Chinese
-civilisation, and on the causes which made it what it is in all its iron
-immutability. The ceremonial usages of China, as prescribed in this
-ritual, number about 3000; and one of the six tribunals, the Ly-pou, is
-specially charged with their custody and interpretation.
-
-Fifth and last is the _Chun-tsien_, or _Tchuntsiou_, or "Book of Spring
-and Autumn," so called from the seasons in which it was respectively begun
-and ended by Confucius. Here the Great Teacher has simply written down the
-earlier history of his native land of Loo; with the view of recalling the
-princes of his age to a conservative spirit of reverence for the customs
-of the past by indicating the misfortunes that took place after they fell
-into neglect.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-Strictly speaking, Confucianism has no priests, no distinct sacerdotal
-order; the emperor himself is the patriarch or head, and every magistrate,
-within the sphere of his jurisdiction is a religious official or
-hierophant. "Generally, all literary persons, and those who propose to
-become such, in attaching themselves to it do not necessarily renounce
-practices borrowed from other religions. But, in fact, faith does not seem
-to have anything to do with the matter; and habit alone induces them to
-conform to ceremonies which they themselves turn into ridicule--such as
-divinations, horoscopes, and calculating lucky and unlucky days, all of
-which superstitions are in great vogue throughout the empire."
-
-China possesses an enormous number of pagodas, or idol-temples; Peking
-boasts of 10,000; every village has several, and they are distributed all
-along the roads and all over the fields. Some are remarkable for their
-splendour; but the majority do not differ in appearance, or very slightly,
-from other buildings. Often they are nothing more than small chapels, in
-which are niches containing idols and vases filled with burning perfumes,
-or the ashes of gilt paper on which prayers have been printed, these
-papers having been burnt, as a religious rite, by devotees. The
-worshippers, if such they may be called, display the utmost indifference
-of behaviour in these temples: they enter them to enjoy a rest or a sleep;
-or they walk about with their hats on, whistling, smoking, laughing,
-chattering. Round the sides are seated the vendors of the aforesaid gilt
-paper prayers and pastiles; ever and anon they demand attention to their
-wares by striking a gong; while the people incessantly burn paper models
-of clothing, shoes, money, junks, and the like, to assist their deceased
-friends on their long journey. For though the Chinese have no distinct
-recognition of a future state, the worship of the dead is a prominent
-element of their religion. Noble and peasant alike bring offerings, or
-send them by proxy, and kneel before the shades of their ancestors: this
-duty at least is always remembered, whatever other may be forgotten.
-
-The following may be given as an example of the prayers used upon such
-occasions:--
-
-"I, Lea Kwang, second son of the third generation, presume to come before
-the grave of my ancestors. Revolving years have brought again the season
-of Spring; I sweep your tomb with reverence, and, prostrate, beg you to be
-spiritually present, and grant that your posterity may be illustrious. At
-this season I desire to recompense the root of my existence, and
-reverently, therefore, before your holy spirit present the five-fold
-offering of pork, fowl, duck, goose, and fish; with five fruits and the
-drink _samshu_;[31] entreating that you will condescend to inspect them.
-This announcement is presented on high."
-
-Such offerings as are not accepted by the priests are generally taken home
-again to furnish full the worshipper's own table.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-The Ritual State Worship, which concerns the Emperor and his court, but
-affects not the great body of the people, we must glance at very briefly.
-It may be defined as the ceremonial of a philosophical pantheism,
-unconnected with any theological doctrine. Three classes of natural
-objects are distinguished, to which the "Great," the "Medium," and the
-"Lesser" Sacrifices are offered. The first class, the _Ta-sze_, includes
-the Heaven and the Earth, and along with and equal to these, the great
-Temple of Imperial Ancestors. Among the _Chung-sze_, or "Medium
-Sacrifices," are the Genii, the Great Light and the Evening Light (that
-is, the Sun and the Moon), the Gods of Land and Grain, the God of Letters,
-and the Inventors of Agriculture, Manufactures, and the Useful Arts. To
-the "Lesser Sacrifices," or _Scaou-sze_, belong the Founder of the Art of
-Healing, as well as the spirits of statesmen, scholars, and persons of
-eminent virtue. They are offered also to various natural phenomena, such
-as the clouds, the rain, the wind, the thunder. The God of War, and Lung
-Wang, the dragon-king, who represents the rivers and streams, have their
-worshippers; nor is Tien-How, the Queen of Heaven, forgotten. There are,
-besides, a host of household deities, like the Lares and Penates of the
-ancients, who are propitiated by domestic sacrifices at the new year, when
-they are supposed to pay a brief visit to the Other World, and report, as
-it were, the doings and misdoings of the families over which they preside.
-
-The chief sacrificial seasons are these: the winter solstice for all
-offered to heaven, the summer season for all offered to earth. The others
-have their appointed dates. Then, in the course of the year, numerous
-festivals of a more or less religious character are held. First among them
-is the Imperial Ploughing of the Sacred Field, which takes place towards
-the end of March. The Emperor, attended by some of the princes of the
-blood and his chief ministers, then proceeds to a field on one side of the
-central street in Peking, where fitting preparations have, of course, been
-made. After certain sacrifices, consisting chiefly of grain preserved from
-the produce of the same field, the Emperor takes the plough, and drives a
-few furrows. His example is followed by the princes and ministers in
-succession: a red tablet indicating the space allotted to each
-distinguished amateur. The "five sorts of grain" are then sown; and when
-the Emperor has seen the work completed by the attendant husbandmen, the
-field is committed to the charge of an officer whose business it is to
-collect and store the produce with a view to future sacrifices to the Gods
-of the Harvest.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-Of the _Shae-tung_, or Feast of Lanterns, every traveller has spoken.
-There are also the _Too-te-tan_, or birthdays of the familiar gods of the
-city; the _Tsing-ming-tsee_, or Feast of Tombs; the festivals of all and
-sundry deities; and the birthdays of the living Emperor and Empress, as
-well as the anniversaries of the deaths of their predecessors, which,
-however, are observed only by the mandarins. So numerous are the festivals
-that were they celebrated everywhere by everybody there would be neither
-"time" nor "hands" for the works of agriculture or commerce, trade,
-science, or the arts.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-We pass on to a brief account of
-
-
-TAOUISM.
-
-The founder of Taouism, the doctrine of Tao, or Reason, was a celebrated
-philosopher named Lao-tsze, who was born in the third year of the Emperor
-Ting-wang, of the Chow dynasty (B.C. 604) in the state of Tseu, now known
-as Hoo-pih and Hoo-nan. He preceded Confucius by half a century. His
-family name was _Le_, or Plum, and his youthful name, _Urh_, or Ear, in
-allusion to the exceptional size of his "auricular appendages." The events
-of his career are so obscured in an atmosphere of legend and fable,
-created by admiring disciples, that it is difficult to get at any
-authentic particulars; but he seems to have been an assiduous student, and
-the historian or chronologist of a king of the Chow dynasty. Visiting,
-about B.C. 600, the western parts of China, he gained there a knowledge of
-the system of Fo, or Buddha, and soon afterwards began to develope his own
-religious teaching. So great was his fame that Confucius went to see him;
-but the interview was hardly of the character that might have been
-expected when two religious philosophers met. Lao-tsze reproached the
-younger sage with pride and ostentation and vanity, affirming that
-philosophers loved retirement and seclusion, and made no boast of virtue
-and knowledge. It speaks well for the good nature of Confucius that he
-replied to this tirade by highly commending Lao-tsze to his followers, and
-describing him as a dragon soaring to the clouds of Heaven, unsurpassed
-and unsurpassable.
-
-Lao-tsze inquired of Confucius if he had discovered the _Taou_, the "path"
-or "reason" by which Heaven acts, and was informed that the philosopher
-had searched for it unsuccessfully. Lao-tsze replied that the wealthy
-dismissed their friends with presents, and sages theirs with good counsel;
-and that for himself, he humbly claimed to be thought a sage--an indirect
-way of advising Confucius to continue his quest of the _Taou_. Retiring to
-Han-kwan, he wrote there his _Taou-tih-king_, or Book of Reason and
-Virtue. He died, or as his followers say, ascended to Heaven on a black
-buffalo, in the twenty-first year of the reign of King-wang of the Chow or
-Cheu dynasty, or B.C. 523, having attained the age of 119 years.[32]
-
-The contrast between the system of Lao-tsze and that of Confucius may be
-indicated in a word: the former was _speculative_, the latter _practical_,
-and it is no wonder, therefore that the latter, addressing itself to man's
-actual necessities and daily duties, prevailed over the former. But, in an
-abstract sense, Lao's, as originally defined by himself, was the purer and
-more elevated; for it aimed at securing the immortality of man through the
-contemplation of GOD, the subjugation of the passions, and the absolute
-tranquillity of the soul. He taught that Silence and the Void generated
-the Taou, the "Logos" or reason by which movement was produced; and that
-all beings containing in themselves the duality of male and female sprang
-from them.
-
-Man, he said, was composed of two principles, the material and the
-spiritual: from the latter he emanated, and to it he ought to return, by
-throwing off the fetters and snares of the world, crushing out the
-material passions, the desires of the soul, and the pleasures of the body,
-and abandoning riches, honours, and the ties of life.
-
-Before Lao-tsze's time, the Chinese seem to have worshipped the
-_Shang-te_, or Supreme Ruler, and the _Tien_, or Heaven: but Lao-tsze
-preached in their place the _Taou_, or "reason" of the Kosmos. Of a
-Supreme Creative and Eternal Power he had no conception. There was as
-little theology in his system as in that of Confucius; but its morality
-was not less admirable; it insisted on the practice of those virtues which
-form the moral code of all the higher religions,--charity, benevolence,
-chastity, and the free-will, moral agency, and responsibility of man. But
-there was an obscurity about Lao-tsze's teaching, which enabled his
-followers successfully to pervert it, and it gradually assumed a form
-which the Teacher himself would undoubtedly have been the first to
-repudiate. The Taossi, as they were called, professed to have discovered
-the drink of immortality, and practised divination, alchemy, the
-invocation of spirits, and other superstitious rites. These follies were
-gravely ridiculed by the Joo-Keaou, or sect of Confucius, and gradually
-were abandoned by all but the most illiterate.
-
-Among the host of deities worshipped by this sect we may instance the
-_San-tsing_, or "Three Pure Ones," the three-fold ruler of the assembled
-gods in heaven, the sun, the moon, and the stars, who delivers his name
-and benevolent commands to be promulgated amongst mankind, that all who
-see and recite that name may be delivered from all evil, and obtain
-infinite happiness. "It is impossible to doubt," says a writer, "that we
-see here traces of a Divine revelation, corrupted though it has now
-become. China has her Trinity in Taouism as well as in Buddhism; as other
-Pagan nations have had theirs in the Orphic mythology, where there were
-'counsel, and light, and life;' in the Platonic theology, which had its
-'good, and mind, and the soul of the world,' as in the Egyptian mysteries
-there were 'On, and Isis, and Neith;' and in that of Fo, 'Brahma, Vishnu,
-and Seeva.'"
-
-The Taossi, Tien-sze, or "Celestial Doctors,"--the priests of
-Taouism,--are outwardly distinguished amongst the Chinese by the manner in
-which they dress their hair. They shave the sides of the head, and coil
-the remaining hair in a tuft on the crown. Moreover, they wear
-slate-coloured robes. There are two orders; one, the keepers of the
-temples, vowed to celibacy; the others, who are free to marry, live in
-their own houses, or wander about the country selling charms and medical
-nostrums. In the feast of one of their deities, the "High Emperor of all
-the Sombre Heavens," they assemble before his temple, and having kindled a
-huge fire, about fifteen or twenty feet in diameter, go over it barefoot,
-carrying the gods in their arms. "They firmly assert," says Williams,
-"that if they possess a sincere mind they will not be injured by the fire;
-but both priests and people get miserably burnt on these occasions."
-Escayrac de Lauture says that they leap, dance, and whirl round the fire,
-striking at the devils with a straight Roman-like sword, and sometimes
-wounding themselves as the priests of Baal and Moloch were wont to do.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-Some interesting particulars of the Buddhist temples of China are supplied
-by Mr. Fortune. He speaks of the temple of Tien-tung as a congeries of
-temples, a collection of spacious structures, which occupy the site of
-former buildings. All of these are crowded with idols, or images of the
-favourite gods, such as the "Three precious Buddhas," "the Queen of
-Heaven," represented as sitting on the celebrated lotus or nelumbium--"the
-God of War," and many other deified kings and great men of former days.
-Many of these images are from thirty to forty feet in height, and have a
-striking appearance as they stand arranged in the spacious lofty halls.
-The priests themselves reside in a range of low buildings, erected at
-right angles with the different temples and courts that divide them. Each
-has a little temple under his own roof; a family altar crowded with petty
-images, where he is often engaged in private devotion.
-
-Mr. Fortune, after inspecting the various temples and the belfry, which
-contains a noble bronze bell of large dimensions, was conducted to the
-house of the principal priest, where dinner was already spread upon the
-table. The Buddhist priests are not permitted to eat animal food at any of
-their meals. The dinner, therefore, consisted entirely of vegetables,
-served _à la Chinoise_, in numerous small round basins, the contents of
-each--soups excepted--being cut up into small square bits, to be eaten
-with chopsticks. The Buddhist priests contrive to procure a quantity of
-vegetables of different kinds, which, by a peculiar mode of preparation,
-are rendered very savoury. "In fact," says Mr. Fortune,[33] "so nearly do
-they resemble animal food in taste and in appearance, that at first we
-were deceived, imagining that the little bits we were able to get hold of
-with our chopsticks were really pieces of fowl or beef. Such, however, was
-not the case, as our good host was consistent on this day at least, and
-had nothing but vegetable productions at his table. Several other priests
-sat with us at table, and a large number of others of inferior rank with
-servants, crowded around the doors and windows outside."
-
-During dinner, Mr. Fortune learned that about a hundred priests were
-connected with the monastery, but that many were always about on missions
-to various parts of the country. A considerable portion of land in the
-vicinity belonged to the temple, and supplied its revenue: large sums were
-raised every year from the sale of bamboos, which are here very excellent,
-and of the branches of trees and brushwood, which are made up in bundles
-for firewood. Many rice and tea farms also belong to the priests and are
-cultivated by them. In addition to the sums thus raised, a considerable
-revenue must accrue from the contributions of the devotees who frequent
-the temple, as well as from the alms and donations collected by the
-mendicant priests of the order, who are sent out on begging excursions at
-stated periods of the year. There are, of course, all grades of priests;
-some being merely the servants of the others, both domestic and
-agricultural.
-
-The temple forms the centre of a fine landscape. It stands at the head of
-a fertile valley, with green hills all around it; this valley echoes with
-the music of several bright mountain streams, and yields abundant crops of
-rice. On the lower slopes of the more fertile hills grow masses of tea
-shrubs, with dark green leaves, lending a fine background to the picture.
-A long avenue of Chinese pine trees leads up to the temple. At first it is
-straight, but near the temple it winds picturesquely round the edges of
-the artificial lakes, to end at a flight of stone steps. Behind, and on
-each side, the mountains rise in irregular ridges, from 1,000 to 2,000
-feet above the sea level; not bare and desolate like the mountains of the
-south, but clothed to their tops with a dense tropical-looking growth of
-brushwood, shrubs, and trees. Some of the finest bamboos of China flourish
-in the ravines, and the sombre-coloured pine attains to a large size on
-the acclivities.
-
-A quaint account of the origin of the monastery was given by one of the
-head priests:--
-
-"Many hundred years ago a pious old man retired from the world, and came
-to dwell in these mountains, giving himself up entirely to the performance
-of religious duties. So earnest was he in his devotions that he neglected
-everything relating to his temporal wants, even to his daily food.
-Providence, however, would not suffer so good a man to starve. Some boys
-were sent in a miraculous manner, who daily supplied him with food. In the
-course of time the fame of the sage extended all over the adjacent
-country, and disciples flocked to him from all quarters. A small range of
-temples was built, and thus commenced the extensive buildings which now
-bear the name of 'Tien-tung,' or the 'Temple of the Heavenly Boys;' _Tien_
-signifying heaven, and _tung_, a boy. At last the old man died, but his
-disciples supplied his place. The fame of the temple spread far and wide,
-and votaries came from the most distant parts of the empire--one of the
-Chinese kings being amongst the number--to worship and leave their
-offerings at its altars. Larger temples were built in front of the
-original ones, and these again in their turn gave way to those spacious
-buildings which form the principal part of the structure of the present
-day."
-
-Mr. Fortune remarks that a large number of Buddhist temples are scattered
-over all this part of the country. Their architects have shown as keen a
-sympathy with nature as the Cistercian founders in Europe, always building
-them in the most lovely and picturesque situations, amongst the green
-hills, and in the shelter of spreading woods--the leafy enclosures that in
-England indicate the presence of an old manor house, or "ancestral hall."
-_Poo-to_, or the Worshipping Island, as foreigners call it, is one of the
-eastern islands in the Chusan Archipelago, and seems to be one of the
-great Buddhist centres. The principal group of temples is situated in a
-fine romantic glen, and from the high ground above it, seems like a town
-of considerable size. As the traveller approaches nearer, he finds the
-view of great interest. In front extends a large artificial pond, filled
-with the broad green leaves and noble red and white flowers of the
-nelumbium speciosum,--a plant in high favour with the Chinese. Access to
-the monastery is obtained by a very ornamental bridge thrown across this
-piece of water.
-
-The temples or halls containing the idols are extremely spacious; many of
-the idols are thirty or forty feet high, generally made of wood or clay,
-and then richly gilt. In a temple of far less pretentious character than
-any of the others Mr. Fortune met with some exquisite bronze statues, of
-undoubted value.
-
-Having examined these temples, our traveller made his way towards another
-group of them, about two miles to the eastward, and close on the sea
-shore. Entering the courts through a kind of triumphal arch, which looked
-out upon the sapphire sea, he found that these temples were constructed on
-the same plan.
-
-On the following day he inspected various parts of the island. In addition
-to the larger temples just noticed, about sixty or seventy smaller ones
-are built on all the hill sides, each containing three or four priests,
-who are all under the abbot, or superior, residing near one of the large
-temples. "Even on the top of the highest hill," he says, "probably 1,500
-or 1,800 feet above the level of the sea, we found a temple of
-considerable size and in excellent repair. There are winding stone steps
-from the sea-beach all the way up to this temple, and a small
-resting-place about half-way up the hill, where the weary devotee may
-rest and drink of the refreshing stream which flows down the sides of the
-mountain, and in the little temple close at hand, which is also crowded
-with idols, he can supplicate Buddha for strength to enable him to reach
-the end of his journey. We were surprised to find a Buddhist temple in
-such excellent order as the one on the summit of the hill proved to be in.
-It is a striking fact, that almost all these places are crumbling fast
-into ruins. There are a few exceptions, in cases where they happen to get
-a good name amongst the people from the supposed kindness of the gods; but
-the great mass are in a state of decay."
-
-The island of Poo-to is nothing but a residence for Buddhist priests, and
-no other persons are allowed to live there but their servants and
-attendants. No women are admitted, as the principles of Buddhism insist
-upon sacerdotal celibacy. There are about 2,000 priests, many of whom are
-constantly absent on begging expeditions for the maintenance of their
-religion. On certain high days, at different periods of the year, many
-thousands of both sexes, but more particularly females, visit these
-temples, clothed in their gayest attire, to pay their vows and engage in
-the other practices of heathen worship. In the temples or at the doorways
-stand little stalls, for the sale of incense, candles, paper made up to
-resemble ingots of Sycee-silver, and other holy things, which are regarded
-as acceptable offerings to the gods, and are either consumed in the
-temples or carried home to bring, it is supposed, a blessing upon the
-homes and families of their purchasers. The profits of these sales go, of
-course, to the maintenance of the establishment. Whatever we may think of
-the superstitious character of Buddhism, it is impossible to doubt the
-sincerity of its disciples, when we find them sometimes travelling a
-distance of several hundred miles to worship in their temples.
-
-"I was once staying," says Fortune,[34] "in the temple of Tien-tung when
-it was visited for three days by devotees from all parts of the country.
-As they lined the roads on their way to the temple, clad in the graceful
-and flowing costumes of the East, the mind was naturally led back to
-those days of Scripture History when Jerusalem was in its glory, and the
-Jews, the chosen people of God, came from afar to worship in its temple."
-
-Mr. Gutzlaff, the missionary, is of opinion that the priests and devotees
-of Buddhism entertain no sincere conviction of the truth of their creed.
-Describing a visit to Poo-to, he says: "We were present at the vespers of
-the priests, which they chanted in the Pali language, not unlike the Latin
-service of the Romish Church. They held rosaries in their hands, which
-rested folded upon their breasts. One of them had a small bell, by the
-tinkling of which their service was regulated; and they occasionally beat
-the drum and large bell to rouse Buddha's attention to their prayers. The
-same words were a hundred times repeated. None of the officiating persons
-showed any interest in the ceremony, for some were looking round laughing
-and joking, while others muttered their prayers. The few people who were
-present, not to attend the worship, but to gaze at us, did not seem, in
-the least degree, to feel the solemnity of the service." But to condemn
-the whole Buddhist sect from this solitary instance would be as reasonable
-as to pronounce all Protestants insincere because a West-end congregation
-in London may have shown signs of frivolity and indifference! Mr. Fortune,
-on the contrary, declares that he was much impressed by the solemnity with
-which the devotional exercises of the Buddhists were generally conducted.
-"I have often walked," he says, "into Chinese temples when the priests
-were engaged in prayer, and although there would have been some apology
-for them had their attention been diverted, they went on in the most
-solemn manner until the conclusion of the service, as if no foreigner were
-present. They then came politely up to me, examining my dress and
-everything about me with the most earnest curiosity. Nor does this apply
-to priests only; the laity, and particularly the female sex, seem equally
-sincere when they engage in their public devotions. Whether they are what
-they appear to be, or how often they are in this pious frame of mind, are
-questions which I cannot answer. Before judging harshly of the Chinese,
-let the reader consider what effect would be produced upon the members of
-a Christian church by the unexpected entrance of a small-footed Chinese
-lady, or a Mandarin, with the gold button and peacock feather mounted on
-his hat, and his long tail dangling over his shoulders. I am far from
-being an admirer of the Buddhist priesthood; they are generally an
-imbecile race, and shamefully ignorant of everything but the simple forms
-of their religion, but nevertheless there are many traits in their
-character not unworthy of imitation."
-
-The superstitious credulity of the Chinese is demonstrated by the nature
-of their various religious ceremonies. In all the southern towns every
-house has its temple or altar, both within and without. In the interior
-the altar generally occupies the end of the principal hall or shop, as the
-case may be; is raised a few feet from the ground, and adorned with an
-effigy of the household god, enveloped in gaudy tinsel paper. By the way,
-of what we call "taste," the Chinese do not seem to know even the
-rudiments; nor do they appear to have any feeling for harmony of colour or
-proportion. On the first day of the Chinese month, and other festivals,
-candles and incense flare and smoke on the table in front of it. The altar
-outside the door is like to a small furnace, and here the same ceremonies
-are regularly performed.
-
-The traveller, as he passes in the neighbourhood of small villages, or in
-even more sequestered localities, comes upon little joss-houses or
-temples, all glaringly decorated in the same style with paintings and
-tinsel paper, and stuck round about with bits of candles and sticks of
-incense. Shops for the sale of idols of all kinds and sizes, but of
-unvarying ugliness, at prices varying from a few pence to many pounds, are
-found in all the large towns. Some are evidently very ancient, and have
-passed through the hands of a long succession of proprietors. It is a
-capital custom--is it not?--when you are tired of your god, because he
-does not fulfil your wishes, to purchase another and a more powerful at a
-slight increase of price! A deity who would really gratify _all_ our
-petitions would be worth--so far as this world is concerned--a heavy sum!
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-Nothing in China is more remarkable than the periodical offerings of a
-Chinese family to its gods. The traveller already cited witnessed such a
-ceremony in a house at Shanghai. The principal hall was duly set out at an
-early hour in the morning; a large table was placed in the centre; and
-shortly afterwards covered with small dishes filled with the various
-articles commonly used as food by the Chinese. All these were of the very
-best description which could be procured. After a certain time had elapsed
-numerous candles were lighted, and from the burning incense rose columns
-of fragrant smoke. The inmates of the house and their friends were all
-clothed in their best attire, and came in turn to _ko-too_, or bow lowly
-and repeatedly in front of the table and the altar. "The scene," says our
-authority, "although it was an idolatrous one, seemed to me to have
-something very impressive about it, and whilst I pitied the delusion of
-our host and his friends, I could not but admire their devotion. In a
-short time after this ceremony was completed a large quantity of tinsel
-paper, made up in the form and shape of the ingots of Sycee silver common
-in China, was heaped on the floor in front of the tables, the burning
-incense was then taken from the table and placed in the midst of it, and
-the whole consumed together. By-and-by, when the gods were supposed to
-have finished their repast, all the articles of food were removed from the
-tables, cut up, and consumed by people connected with the family."
-
-On another occasion, Mr. Fortune, when at Ning-po, having been abroad all
-day, did not return to the city until nightfall. The city gates were
-closed, but, on knocking, he was admitted by the warder. Passing into the
-widest and finest street in the city, he observed a blaze of light and a
-general liveliness very unusual in any Chinese town after dark. The sounds
-of music fell upon his ear, the monotonous beat of the drum and gong, and
-the more pleasing and varied tones of several wind instruments. On
-approaching nearer he discovered that a public offering was being made to
-the gods, and it proved to be a more striking scene than he could have
-anticipated. The table was spread in the open street, and all the
-preparations were on a large and expensive scale. Instead of small dishes,
-whole animals were sacrificed. On one side of the table was placed a pig,
-on the other a sheep; the former, scraped clean in the usual fashion, the
-latter skinned; of both the entrails had been removed, and on both were
-placed flowers, an onion, and a knife. The other parts of the table
-"groaned" with the delicacies in vogue among the more respectable Chinese,
-such as fowls, ducks, numerous compound dishes, fruits, vegetables, and
-rice. At one end of the table, when the gods were supposed to sit during
-the meal, chairs were set; and chopsticks were laid in order by the side
-of every dish. The whole place glared with light, and wreaths of incense
-filled the air with sweet odours. At intervals, bands of musicians struck
-up the favourite national airs, which are all of a plaintive cast, and
-altogether the scene was a strange and curious revelation of human
-superstition.[35]
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-Processions in honour of the gods are of frequent occurrence. Mr. Fortune
-speaks of one which he saw at Shanghai as at least a mile in length. The
-gods, or josses, arrayed in the finest silks, were carried about in
-splendid sedan-chairs, in the centre of a long train of devotees, all
-superbly dressed for the occasion, and all bearing their different
-insignia of office. The dresses of the officials exactly resembled those
-of some of the attendants who figure in the suite of the higher mandarins.
-Some wore on the sides of their hats a broad fan, composed of
-peacock-feathers; others strutted in gaudy theatrical costumes, with two
-long black feathers stuck, like horns, in their low caps. The scowling
-executioners carried long conical black hats on their heads, and whips in
-their hands, for the prompt chastisement of the refractory. Bands of
-music, in different parts of the procession, played at intervals as it
-marched along.
-
-On arriving at a temple in the suburbs, it came to a halt. The gods were
-taken out of the sedan-chairs, and with a great exhibition of reverence,
-replaced in the temple, from which they had been removed in the morning.
-Then their worshippers bent low before their altars, burning incense, and
-depositing their gifts. Numerous groups of well-dressed ladies and their
-children were scattered over the ground in the neighbourhood of the
-temple; all were kneeling, and apparently they conducted their devotions
-with great earnestness. A large quantity of paper, in the shape of the
-Sycee silver ingots, was piled up on the grass by the different devotees,
-and when the ceremonies of the day were being brought to a conclusion, the
-whole was burned in honour of, or as an offering to, the gods.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER VII.
-
-_AMONG THE MALAYS: THE SLAMATAN BROMOK; THE DYAKS; THE PAPUAN TRIBES; THE
-AHETAS._
-
-
-THE SLAMATAN BROMOK.
-
-A religious ceremony exists in Java which has an obvious affinity to the
-old Nature-Worship, and finds its excuse in the dread with which the
-uncivilised races regarded the mysterious forces of Nature, unseen in
-themselves, but palpable in their results. About three miles from the town
-of Tosari, rises the barren cone of the Bromok, a still active volcano,
-which is strangely situated in the bosom of green wooded hills and
-mountains,--a significant blur upon the landscape. The traveller who
-desires to accomplish its ascent climbs up the rough and almost
-precipitous slope by a path winding through immense breadths of a tall
-yellow grass called the alang-alang. When he has attained to the brink of
-the Monegal, an enormous extinct crater, reputed to be the largest in the
-world, he will do well to pause, and survey the landscape before him. Of
-the knot of mountains on which his eye rests, the foremost is called the
-Batok, or Butak, that is, the Bald; in allusion, probably, to its barren
-summit, for its sides are well clothed with herbage. It is shaped like a
-cone, with deep grooves down its declivities, indicating the course taken
-by the lava-streams formerly ejected from its interior. To its right, a
-little in the rear, stretches the sharp pointed chain of the Dedari and
-Widadarea, or "abode of fairies;" while, on the left, shrouded in smoke
-clouds, which partially conceal its bulk, is situated the mass of the
-dreary Bromok.
-
-Descending into the crater, we cross its sandy floor, the Dasar,--or, as
-it is appropriately called, the Sandy Sea,--where grows not tree nor
-shrub, and the only signs of vegetation are a few scattered patches of
-dried and scrubby grass. The surface is strangely corrugated or ridged,
-like the sea-sand at ebb of tide; and the whole landscape is as full of
-gloom as the waste of the African Sahara.
-
-Like many other volcanoes, the Bromok is a truncated cone. From one of its
-sides project numerous irregular masses, or mounds of mud and sand,
-incrusted in a baked clay like red lava. Some of these have been largely
-reduced in size by the heavy tropical rains, which have ploughed deep
-broad fissures in the Sandy Sea; while others, still supplied with liquid
-matter from the volcano, are encroaching on the Dasar, and covering so
-much of it as lies within the more immediate neighbourhood of the crater.
-Large blocks of lime and limestone lie embedded in these mounds; also huge
-black stones veined like marble and glittering like granite. These, as
-well as the scoriæ which abound in every direction, were products, it is
-supposed, of the last eruption of the Bromok.
-
-Climbing to the summit of the ridge, and looking down into the abyss of
-the crater, the traveller at first is tempted to suppose that before him
-lies one of the "circles" of Dante's mediæval Inferno. A yawning pit in
-the centre belches dense volumes of sulphureous smoke, accompanied by
-terrific sounds, like groans and shrieks and yells. The inner crater forms
-a large basin, about 350 feet in diameter, with irregular broken sides,
-descending to a depth of fully 250 feet. The sides, as well as the bottom,
-are encrusted with deposits of yellow sulphureous matter.
-
-The ceremony of the benediction of this dread volcano takes place two or
-three times a year; it is not without its picturesque details. Groups of
-pilgrims are scattered about the Sandy Sea; some eating, others praying;
-some singing, others laughing, talking, chaffering. Men are selling, and
-finding a ready market for, amulets, charms, and volcanic stones, which,
-in language as extravagant as that of the European proprietor of a patent
-pill, they declare to be sovereign remedies for every human malady.
-Provisions of all kinds are on sale, and lie exposed upon roughly
-constructed stands, resembling those which are seen at English fairs; a
-plank or two, supported on a couple of stone trestles. "Wodonos and
-Mantries"--the Javanese nobles--parade up and down in gay attire, their
-burnished krisses glittering amidst the folds of their sarong. Old men and
-old women, who have come to pay their last homage to the shrine, totter
-along feebly; watching with delight, however, the frolics of their
-grandchildren as they scamper about in unchecked glee.
-
-At one part of the Sandy Sea twenty mats are ranged in a row, and upon
-each a young priest kneels, having before him a box of myrrh,
-frankincense, aloes, and other spices, which are sold for offerings. At
-right angles runs another row, with the same number of priests, all
-kneeling in the Arab fashion, their bodies partly resting on the calves of
-their legs. These are older than the former group, and may be regarded as
-the patriarchs of their respective villages. Behind each stands a
-payong-bearer, shading his master from the sun with a large umbrella.
-Their dress consists of a white gown worn over the sarong, which is tied
-to the waist by a broad red belt. Over the shoulders hang two bands of
-yellow silk, bound with scarlet, and their ends ornamented with tassels
-and gold coins. The head-dress consists of a large turban, adorned with
-gay silken scarfs. In front of each priest are spread small packets made
-of plantain leaves, containing incense, sandal-wood chips, and other
-preparations; wooden censers, throwing forth jets of fragrant smoke; and a
-vessel, made of plaited ratan, for holding water.
-
-At a short distance from the priests a motley crowd is assembled, waiting
-for the various offerings they have deposited upon specially prepared
-bamboo stands, to be consecrated. These offerings consist of cocoa-nuts,
-plantains, pine-apples, mangoes, and other fruits; of baskets of young
-chickens; of trays loaded with all kinds of cakes; of strips of silk and
-calico; of gold, silver, and copper coins.
-
-After spending a few minutes in prayer, the priest dips his goupillon or
-cup into the vessel of water before him, mutters a few unintelligible
-words, and sprinkles the oblations as they are successively presented.
-Then all the holy men bow their heads, and repeat loudly and distinctly a
-ritual prayer.
-
-The oldest rises up, followed in succession by his sacerdotal companions,
-uttering a phrase which sounds like "Ayo, ayo, Bromok!" and probably
-means, "Forward, forward to the Bromok!" At this signal all the crowd rush
-to the Bromok, impressed with a belief that he who first gains the ridge
-will be the favourite of fortune, and presently meet with some exceptional
-stroke of good luck. At intervals some of the older priests come to a
-halt, spread their mats, and prostrate themselves in prayer for five or
-ten minutes, thus securing an interval of rest at the same time that they
-win a reputation for special devoutness.
-
-On reaching the summit of the volcano, the various families and
-individuals again present their offerings to the priests, who mumble over
-them a few additional words: they are then thrown into the crater, each
-person eagerly repeating some prayer or wish. And thus concludes the
-strange ceremony by which the spirits of the Bromok are supposed to be
-propitiated. The crowd descend from the volcano to join in various games
-and pastimes; towards evening they begin to disperse, and as the night
-spreads its cloud of darkness over the scene, the Sea of Sand resumes its
-ordinary aspect of loneliness and desolation.
-
-
-THE DYAKS OF BORNEO.
-
-It is not certain that the Dyaks possess any religion. Temminck asserts
-that they _have_, and that it bears a close resemblance to "fetichism."
-The god Djath, he says, rules the sublunar world, and the god Sangjang
-presides over hell. These gods wear the human form, but are invisible; the
-Dyaks invoke them by sprinkling rice on the ground, and offering various
-sacrifices. In the houses of the Dyaks, adds Temminck, wooden idols are
-frequently met with.
-
-Other travellers are of opinion that they profess a kind of Pantheism, and
-represent them as believing, like the ancient Greeks, in a multitude of
-gods, gods above and gods below the world, as well as innumerable good and
-evil spirits, of whom Budjang-Brani is undoubtedly the most wicked. All
-diseases are caused by the agency of evil demons, and all misfortunes; and
-therefore the Dyaks make vigorous efforts to drive them away by shouts,
-and shrieks, and the discordant gong. So in some of the West Indian
-islands the natives, during an eclipse, would seek, by a horrible clamour,
-to frighten away the monster they supposed to be devouring the moon.
-
-Some authorities go so far as to represent the Dyaks as cherishing vague
-ideas of the Unity of the Godhead and the immortality of the soul.
-
-Madame Ida Pfeiffer was by no means a philosophical traveller, but she was
-an honest observer; and as the result of her explorations in Borneo, she
-positively affirms that among the tribes she visited are neither temples
-nor idols, priests nor sacrifices. On the occasions of their births,
-marriages and funerals they perform certain ceremonies, but these appear
-to be devoid of all religious character. Usually on such occasions they
-kill fowls as well as hogs. When concluding treaties of peace they always
-slaughter swine, but they do not eat them, and in this custom we may trace
-perhaps the propitiatory idea. A few tribes burn their dead, and preserve
-the ashes in hollow trees; others inter them in the least accessible
-localities, such as the summits of lofty mountains; others bind the corpse
-to the trunk of a tree in the position in which S. Peter was crucified,
-that is, with the feet upwards and the head downwards.
-
-
-IN BOURU.
-
-The inhabitants of Bouru, one of the islands of the Malay Archipelago,
-profess a creed which was taught them by one called Nabiata. From some of
-its articles he would seem to have been a Mohammedan, or acquainted with
-Mohammedanism; but whence he came, or how, or when he made his way to
-Bouru, it is impossible to ascertain. The natives say that there is one
-Supreme Being, Who created all things, and is the source of both good and
-evil. He permits the existence of evil spirits. Those who pray to Him He
-rewards with prosperity; those who neglect this duty He never fails to
-punish. It was owing to His infinite love for man that He sent him this
-inspired teacher Nabiata, who resided among the mountains, and delivered
-his Master's will in seven commandments:--
-
-    1. Thou shalt not kill nor wound.
-
-    2. Thou shalt not steal.
-
-    3. Thou shalt not commit adultery.
-
-    4. Thou shalt not set thyself up against thy _fenna_ (priest.)
-
-    5. A man shall not set himself up against the chief of his tribe.
-
-    6. A chief shall not set himself up against him who is over his or
-    other tribes.
-
-    7. The chief over more than one tribe shall not set himself up against
-    him who is placed over all the tribes.
-
-Nabiata also taught that though the body perishes, the soul will live for
-ever; that those who keep the foregoing commandments, (and all the acts of
-men are duly recorded by the Supreme Being,) shall dwell in His presence
-far above the firmament; while those who have lived wickedly shall never
-rise to the abode of the happy, nor shall they remain upon earth, but for
-ever and ever, lonely and in sorrow, wander among the clouds, yearning
-with a desire that can never be fulfilled, to join their brethren in the
-heaven above or on the earth beneath.
-
-Nabiata also introduced the rite of circumcision, and ordained that it
-should be performed on children of both sexes when they attained the age
-of eight or ten years.
-
-
-THE PAPUAN TRIBES.
-
-Among the Dorians, or the inhabitants of the north coast of New Guinea,
-near Port Dory, an almost childish superstition prevails. Always and
-everywhere they carry about with them a variety of charms and talismans,
-such as bits of bone, or quartz, or carved wood, to which, for some reason
-or other, an artificial value has come to be attached. Those among them
-who have acquired a slight knowledge of Mohammedanism use verses of the
-Koran written upon narrow strips of paper by the Mohammedan priests of
-Ceram and Tidore. But most of the Dorians are pagans, and worship an idol
-called "Karwar," a clumsy figure of which, carved in wood, holding a
-shield, and distinguished by an exceptionally large head, with a sharp
-nose and a wide mouth, is kept in every house, and plays the part of a
-dumb oracle. Its owner, when involved in any difficulty or danger, hastens
-to crouch before it, bowing or salaaming repeatedly, with his hands
-clasped upon his forehead. If while thus engaged he experiences an emotion
-of doubt or despondency, it is considered an evil sign, and he proceeds to
-abandon whatever may have been his wish or object. It will thus be seen
-that everything depends upon the votary's temperament or natural
-disposition,--if he be a sanguine and resolute man, it is not likely that
-he will be conscious of any untoward sensation; and, in such a case, he of
-course concludes that he has the sanction of his "Karwar." In other words,
-his will fortifies him to carry out his wishes. But even among civilised
-nations a similar method of "consulting the oracle,"--of soliciting the
-advice of another with the intention of following it only if it coincides
-with one's own desires,--is sometimes heard of!
-
-The Dorians appear to maintain a priestly caste; but its functions are
-confined to the interpretation of dreams and omens; besides which its
-members act as "medicine men." There are no religious rites, no
-sacrifices. The two notable events of marriage and death pass with little
-show. In the former, the intending bride and bridegroom sit down before
-the Karwar, the woman offers the man homage in the shape of tobacco and
-betel-leaf; then they join hands, rise up, and are recognised as man and
-wife. When a death occurs, the corpse is wrapped in a white calico shroud,
-and interred in a pit about five feet deep. There it lies upon its side in
-the midst of its weapons and ornaments, and a porcelain dish under its
-ear. The grave is afterwards filled up with earth, roofed over with dried
-grass, and crowned with the Karwar of the departed.
-
-The Aruans, like the Papuans, belong to the Australo-Malay division of the
-Archipelago, and their religious system is but a little more developed.
-And here we may note that as we recede from Asia and advance through the
-great chain of the Eastern islands to Australia, we observe a gradual
-religious decadence, until the depth of barbarism is reached in the
-wretched aboriginal tribes of the great "island continent." The Aruans
-have no idea of a heaven or a hell; no sense of any "world beyond the
-grave," but their funeral rites are conducted on an extensive scale.
-
-When an Aruan dies, his kinsmen at once assemble and destroy all the goods
-and chattels he has accumulated during his lifetime; breaking even the
-gongs in pieces, which are carefully thrown away. The body is next laid
-out on a small mat, and propped up against a ladder for three or four
-days; after which the relatives again assemble, and apparently to prevent
-further decay, cover the exposed parts with lime. Meanwhile the hut is
-filled with the fumes of burning dammar or resin, and the guests sit in
-the perfumed atmosphere drinking large draughts of arrack, and of a spirit
-which they contrive to distil from the juice of some indigenous fruit. The
-stimulant soon does its work; they give vent to their feelings in violent
-shouts, which mingle with the howls and wails of the women and the hoarse
-discord of the gongs. Food is offered to the deceased, and the mouth
-crammed with various kinds of edibles, rice, and arrack.
-
-By this time all the friends and relatives of the departed have
-assembled--as at a Scotch funeral; the body is placed on a kind of bier,
-which is strewn with numerous pieces of cloth according to the wealth of
-the deceased; while large dishes of China porcelain are set beneath to
-catch any moisture that may fall from it. A high value is afterwards set
-upon these dishes. Being taken out of the house, the body is supported
-against a post, and another effort made to induce it to eat. The hollow
-jaws are again stuffed with lighted cigars, rice, fruit, and arrack; and
-the mourners join in a loud chant, inquiring whether the sleeper will not
-awake at the sight of so many friends and fellow-villagers. Alas, the long
-slumber continues! The body is again placed upon its bier, which is
-carried into the forest, and it is hoisted upon the summit of four posts.
-A tree, usually the _Pavetta Indica_, is then planted near it; and at this
-final ceremony none, it is said, but naked women are allowed to be
-present. This is called the _sudah buang_, and signifies that the body is
-thenceforth abandoned to the silence of the wilderness as unable any
-longer to see, hear, think, or feel.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-The religion of savage or uncivilised men is, necessarily, coloured and
-determined by the natural influences that surround them, and according as
-they live in the African desert or the American forest, among the snows of
-Siberia or on the table-land of Tibet, will bear its distinctive and
-appropriate character. We do not doubt, therefore, but that Sherard Osborn
-is right in the explanation he offers of the superstitious credulity of
-the Malays, that the wonderful phenomena peculiar to the seas and islands
-of the great Eastern Archipelago could never be intelligible to an
-uneducated and highly imaginative race except on the supposition of
-supernatural agency. Of course, this superstitious temperament is not
-confined to the Malayan race. It is found, as we have said, in all savage
-peoples, and springs from that profound though often vague and undefinable
-sense of an overruling and mysterious Power which the influence of Nature
-impresses on the heart of man.
-
-There were proofs by the thousand among the Malays with whom Admiral
-Sherard Osborn came in contact, of that connection with the Unseen World
-which men in every stage of civilisation seem to accept and to be desirous
-of developing. And he relates a striking instance of their great
-credulity, which we may quote here as not wholly without illustrative
-value.
-
-Sherard Osborn's gunboat was lying one night close to the southern point
-of the Quedah river, where it flows into the Strait of Malacca. The air
-was chill and damp, and the sky obscured with clouds, through which a
-young moon sped occasional shafts of silver light.
-
-About eleven o'clock his attention was directed to his look-out man, a
-Malay, who, seated upon the fore-deck gun, was spitting violently, and
-giving rapid utterance to expressions apparently of reproof or defiance.
-Another Malay quickly joined him; pointed towards the jungle-loaded shore;
-and then he too began the spitting and ejaculatory process. After awhile,
-with an evident air of relief, the second Malay went down below. Unable
-any longer to restrain his curiosity, Sherard Osborn walked forward. The
-look-out man had turned his back to the jungle, but ever and anon threw a
-furtive glance over his shoulder, and uttered sentences in which the name
-of "Allah" frequently occurred. He seemed delighted at the coming of his
-captain, and, springing to his feet, saluted him.
-
-"Anything new?" said Osborn; "any prahus in sight?"
-
-"Teda, Touhan--no, sir," was the reply; and then observing that his
-officer was looking in the direction of the jungle, he made signs that it
-was better to look anywhere but there.
-
-Calling Jamboo, his interpreter, Osborn desired him to ask the Malay what
-he saw in the jungle. Judge his astonishment at the reply:
-
-"He says he saw a spirit, sir."
-
-"Nonsense. Ask him how or where? It may be some Malay scouts."
-
-Again came the answer: that the man had distinctly seen an _untoo_, or
-spirit, moving about among the trees close to the margin of the water; and
-that he had been assiduously praying and expectorating, in order to
-prevent it from approaching the gunboat, as it was evidently a very bad
-spirit, very dangerous, and clothed in a long dress.
-
-Sherard Osborn reprimanded his interpreter for repeating so ridiculous a
-fancy, and ordered him to explain to the man that there were no such
-things as "spirits," and that if he had seen anything, it must have been
-an animal or a man. But he was earnestly assured by Jamboo, the
-interpreter, that Malays frequently saw untoos; that some were dangerous,
-and some harmless; and that as for the untoo he had just seen, the captain
-would see it too, if he looked carefully.
-
-Accordingly, the English captain sat down by the side of the Malay sailor,
-and looked in the same direction. The gunboat lay at anchor about one
-hundred and fifty yards from the jungle; the water flowed up to its very
-margin; among the spreading roots of the mangrove trees lay small ridges
-of white shingle and broken shells, which receded into darkness or shone
-out into distinct relief as the moonlight fell upon them. When these white
-gleams became visible, Osborn immediately pointed to them, and hinted that
-these were the Malay's "spirit."
-
-"No, no!" he answered vehemently, and Jamboo added, "He says he will warn
-you immediately he sees _it_."
-
-Suddenly he touched his officer, and pointing earnestly, exclaimed, "Look,
-look!"
-
-Sherard Osborn _did_ look, and for a moment yielded to the delusion as he
-caught sight of what appeared to be, and probably was, the figure of a
-female with drapery thrown around her. Gliding out of the dark forest
-shadows, it halted at a hillock of white sand not more than three hundred
-yards distant. Osborn rubbed his eyes; the interpreter called vigorously
-on a Romish saint, and the Malay spat energetically, as if some unclean
-animal had crossed his path. Again the captain looked, and again he saw
-the form, which had passed a dense clump of trees, and was slowly crossing
-another avenue in the forest.
-
-"Feeling the folly," says Sherard Osborn, "of yielding to the impression
-of reality which the illusion was certainly creating in my mind, I walked
-away, and kept the Malay employed in different ways until midnight; he,
-however, every now and then spat vehemently, and cursed all evil spirits
-with true Mohammedan fervour."
-
-
-THE ORANG-LAUTS.
-
-Of this singular race of Malays, the Orang-Lauts, "Men of the Seas," or
-"Sea-Gipsies," it is said that they do not seem to know anything of a
-Creator. "A fact so difficult to believe," says Mr. Thomson, "when we find
-that the most degraded of the human race, in other quarters of the globe,
-have an intuitive idea of this unerring and primary truth imprinted on
-their minds, that I took the greatest care to find a slight image of the
-Deity within the chaos of their thoughts, however degraded such might be,
-but was disappointed. They knew neither the God nor the Devil of the
-Christians or Mohammedans, although they confessed they had been told of
-such; nor any of the demi-gods of Hindu mythology, many of whom were
-recounted to them."
-
-The three great epochs of individual life, birth, marriage, death, pass
-unnoticed by them. At birth, the mother's joy is the only welcome to a
-world it is not likely to find very bright or happy. At marriage, the sole
-solemnity is the exchange between the male and the female of a mouthful of
-tobacco and a cheepah, or gallon, of water. At death, the body of the
-deceased is wrapped in his rags and tatters, and with, perhaps, a few
-tears from the attendant women, committed to the earth. They have none of
-that exquisite enjoyment of life which is felt by a cultured race; and
-neither the entrance upon it nor the passage from it seems to them an
-event calculated to awaken any emotion of interest. And as they are
-absolutely without religion, so are they wholly free from superstition;
-the solemn influences of Nature seem to produce no effect upon their
-stolid dispositions. Of the pârus, and dewas, and nambangs, and other
-phantom forms which, in the quick imagination of the Malay, haunt each
-mountain, rock, and tree, they nothing know; and knowing nothing, they do
-not fear. Terror is as often the result of knowledge as of ignorance. The
-mind that has no conception of an unseen world or a supernatural force,
-must necessarily be free from all apprehension of it.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-Passing on to the Philippine Islands, we meet there with the Ahetas, who,
-like the Orang-Lauts, have no religious system, but, unlike the
-Orang-Lauts, cherish at least a religious sentiment. It appears that they
-have learned from--or have taught--the Tanguianes, a brave race dwelling
-in the vicinity, the practice of worshipping--for a day--the trunk of a
-distorted tree, or a fragment of rock, in which they trace some fancied
-resemblance to an animal. Then they turn away from it, and think no more
-about gods until they encounter another strange and fantastical form, for
-the existence of which they are unable to account: this, in turn, they
-make the object of a fugitive devotion. For the dead their reverence is
-pathetic. Year after year they visit their graves, with as much fidelity
-as a Christian mourner, though without the Christian's faith in a future
-reunion, and place there a modest offering of tobacco and betel. The bows
-and arrows of the departed are suspended above his grave on the day of
-interment, and the Ahetas fondly believe that every night he rises from
-his resting-place to pursue the shadowy hunt in the haunted glades of the
-forest.
-
-In the case of an aged person afflicted with a mortal illness, they adopt
-too often a summary procedure, not waiting for him to die before they bury
-him. But no sooner has the body been deposited in the grave, than it
-becomes imperative, according to their traditions, that his death
-should be avenged; and, accordingly, the warriors of the tribe sally
-forth, with lance and arrow, to slay the first living creature they
-encounter,--whether man, or stag, or wild hog, or buffalo. When thus in
-quest of an expiatory victim, they take the precaution of breaking off the
-young shoots of the shrubs as they pass by, and leave the broken ends
-hanging in the direction of their roots, as a warning to travellers or
-neighbours to shun the path they are taking; for were one of their own
-people to be the first to come across the avengers, they dare not suffer
-him to escape any more than Agamemnon could spare his daughter Iphigenia.
-As she suffered for her father's vow, so must the ill-fated Aheta suffer
-for the custom of his tribe.
-
-Their superiority to many savage races is attested by their faithfulness
-in marriage; they practise monogamy. When a young man has chosen his
-future partner, his friends or relatives ask the consent of their parents,
-which is never refused. The marriage day is fixed, and in the morning,
-before sunrise, the maiden is despatched into the forest, where she
-conceals herself or not, according to her inclinations towards her suitor.
-An hour's grace is allowed, and the young man then goes in search of her:
-if he succeed in finding her, and bringing her back to her friends before
-sunset, she becomes his wife; but if he fail, he is required to abandon
-all further claim to the damsel. A strange custom! But there is this much
-at least to be said for it, that it allows the maiden more liberty of
-choice than she always enjoys in civilised society!
-
-Whether the Ahetas (or Negritos) sprang from a mixture of Malay and Papuan
-blood, or are of purely Papuan origin, our ethnologists do not seem to
-have determined. But in their present development they are certainly
-superior to the Papuan races.[36]
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER VIII.
-
-_THE SAVAGE RACES OF ASIA: THE SAMOJEDES; THE MONGOLS; THE OSTIAKS; IN
-TIBET._
-
-
-THE SAMOJEDES.
-
-The Samojedes are a people of Arctic Asia, where they inhabit the forests
-and stony tundras of Northern Russia and Western Siberia; driving their
-herds of reindeer from the banks of the Chatanga to the ice-bound shores
-of the White Sea, or hunting the wild beasts in the thick forests which
-extend between the Obi and the Yenisei.
-
-Their superstition is of a very coarse and degrading character. It is true
-that they recognise the existence of a Supreme Deity, named
-Jilibeambaertje, or Num, who resides in the air, and, like the Greek Zeus,
-sends down rain and snow, thunder and lightning; and they afford a proof
-of that latent capacity for poetical feeling, which some of even the most
-barbarous tribes possess, in their description of the rainbow as "the hem
-of his garment." To them, however, he seems so elevated above the things
-of earth, so indifferent to the woes or joys of humanity, that they regard
-it as useless to seek to propitiate him either by prayer or sacrifice; and
-accordingly they appeal to the inferior gods who have, as they believe,
-the control of human affairs, and can be affected by incantations, vows,
-or special homage.
-
-The bleak and lonely island of Waigatz is still, as in the days of the
-Dutch adventurer, Barentz, supposed to be the residence of the chief of
-these minor divinities. There a block of stone, pointed at the summit,
-bears a certain resemblance to a human head, having been wrought into
-this likeness by a freak of Nature. The Samojede image-makers have taken
-it for their model, and multiplied it in wood and stone; and the idols
-thus easily manufactured they call _sjadæi_, because they wear a human (or
-semi-human) countenance (_sja._) They attire them in reindeer skins, and
-embellish them with innumerable coloured rags. In addition to the
-_sjadæi_, they adopt as idols any curiously contorted tree or irregularly
-shapen stone; and the household idol (_Hahe_) they carry about with them,
-carefully wrapped up, in a sledge reserved for the purpose, the
-_hahengan_. One of the said Penates is supposed to be the guardian of
-wedded happiness, another of the fishery, a third of the health of his
-worshippers, a fourth of their herds of reindeer. When his services are
-needed, the Hahe is removed from its resting-place, and erected in the
-tent or on the pasture-ground, in the wood, or on the river's bank. Then
-his mouth is smeared with oil or blood, and before him is set a dish of
-fish or flesh, in return for which repast it is expected that he will use
-his power on behalf of his entertainers. When his aid is no longer needed,
-he is returned to the hahengan.
-
-Besides these obliging deities, the Samojede believes in the existence of
-an order of invisible spirits which he calls _Tadebtsois_. These are ever
-and everywhere around him, and bent rather upon his injury than his
-welfare. It becomes important, therefore, to propitiate them; but this can
-be done only through the intervention of a _Tadibe_, or sorcerer; who, on
-occasion, stimulates himself into a wildly excited condition, like the
-frenzy of the Pythean or Delphic priestess. When the credulous Samojede
-invokes his assistance, he attires himself in full necromantic costume: a
-kind of shirt, made of reindeer leather; and trimmed with red cloth. Its
-seams are similarly trimmed; and the shoulders are decorated with red
-cloth tags, or epaulettes. A visor of red cloth conceals his face, and
-upon his breast gleams a plate of polished metal.
-
-Thus imposingly arrayed, the Tadibe takes his drum of reindeer skin,
-ornamented with brass rings, and, attended by a neophyte, walks round and
-round with singular stateliness, while invoking the presence of the
-spirits by a discordant rattle. This gradually increases in violence, and
-is accompanied by the droning incantation of the words of enchantment. In
-due time the spirits are supposed to appear, and the Tadibe proceeds to
-consult them: beating his drum more gently, and occasionally pausing in
-his lugubrious chant,--which, however, the novice is careful not to
-interrupt,--to listen, as he pretends, to the answers of the deities. At
-length the interrogations cease; the chant breaks into a fierce howl; more
-and more loudly rattles the drum: the Tadibe appears possessed by a
-supernatural influence; his body writhes; the foam-drops gather on his
-lips. All at once the wild intoxication ceases; and the Tadibe delivers
-the supposed will of the Tadebtsois: advises how a stray reindeer may be
-recovered, or the disease of the Samojede worshipper relieved, or the
-fisherman's labour may secure a plenteous "harvest of the sea."
-
-The Tadibe's office is usually hereditary; but occasionally some outsider,
-predisposed by nature to hysteric manifestations, and gifted with a warm,
-irregular imagination, is initiated into its mysteries. His morbid fancy
-is intensified by long solitary self-communings and protracted fasts and
-vigils; and his frame debilitated by the use of pernicious narcotics and
-stimulants, until he comes to believe that he has been visited by the
-spirits. He is then received as a Tadibe, with numerous ceremonies, which
-take place at midnight, and is invested with the magic drum. It is
-evident, therefore, that the Tadibe, if he deceive others, is the victim
-to some extent of self-deception. But, in order to impose upon his
-ignorant countrymen, he does not disdain to resort to the commonest cheats
-of the conjuror. Among these is the notorious rope-trick, introduced into
-England by the performers known as the "Davenport Brothers," and since
-repeated by so many "professional artists." With hands and feet to all
-appearance securely fastened, he sits down on a carpet of reindeer skin,
-and, the lights being put out, summons the spirits to his assistance.
-Their presence is speedily made known by singular noises; squirrels seem
-to rustle, snakes to hiss, bears to growl. At length the disturbance
-ceases; the lights are rekindled; and the Tadibe steps forward unbound;
-the spectators of course believing that he has been assisted by the
-Tadebtsois.
-
-Not less barbarous than the poor creatures who submit to his guidance,
-the Tadibe is incapable, and probably not desirous, of improving their
-moral condition. Similar impostors, claiming and exercising a similar
-spiritual dictatorship,--_Schamans_, as the Tungusi call them, _Angekoks_
-among the Eskimos, _Medicine-men_ among the Crees and Chepewyans,--we find
-among all the Arctic tribes of the Old and New World, where their
-authority has not been overthrown by Christianity or Buddhism; and this
-dreary superstition still prevails over at least half a million of souls,
-from the White Sea to the extremity of Asia, and from the Pacific to
-Hudson's Bay.
-
-Like the peoples of Siberia, the Samojedes offer up sacrifices to the
-dead, and perform various ceremonies in their honour. Like the North
-American Indians, they believe that the desires and pursuits of the
-departed continue exactly the same as if they were still living; and
-hence, that they may not be in want of weapons or implements, they deposit
-in or about the graves a sledge, a spear, a knife, an axe, a cooking-pot.
-
-At the funeral, and for several years afterwards, the kinsmen sacrifice
-reindeer over the grave.
-
-When a chief or Starochina dies,--the owner, it may be, of several herds
-of reindeer,--his nearest relatives fashion an image, which is kept in the
-tent of the deceased, and receives the same measure of respect that was
-paid to the man himself in his lifetime. At every meal it occupies his
-accustomed seat; every evening it is solemnly undressed, and duly laid
-down in his bed. For three years these honours are regularly paid; after
-which the image is buried, in a belief that the body must by that time
-have decayed, and lost all recollection of the past. Only the souls of the
-Tadibes, and of those who have died a violent death, are in the enjoyment
-of immortality, and hover about the air as disembodied spirits.
-
-
-THE OSTIAKS.
-
-Further to the east, and occupying the northernmost part of Siberia from
-the Oural Mountains to Kamtschatka, are the Ostiaks.
-
-The Russians have imposed upon this people the Christian religion, as
-taught by the Greek Church; but it seems probable that the majority adhere
-in secret to their heathen creed. Madame Felinska, a Polish lady, who for
-some years lived in exile in Siberia, relates that, one day, when she was
-seeking a pathway through a wood, she came upon a couple of Ostiaks, on
-the point of performing their devotions. These are certainly of a much
-simpler kind than the rites enjoined by the Greek Church: the worshipper
-simply places himself before a tree--he appears to prefer the larch--in
-some sequestered forest-nook, and performs in rapid succession the most
-extravagant contortions and gestures. As the practice is prohibited by the
-Russian Government, it is necessarily made a matter of secresy.
-
-An Ostiak generally carries about him a rude image of one of the deities
-or demons which he adores under the name of Schaïtan; but he conforms to
-Russian customs by wearing a small crucifix of copper on his breast. The
-Schaïtan is a rude imitation of the human figure, carved in wood. It is of
-different sizes, according to the uses for which it is intended; if for
-wearing on the person, it is a miniature doll; but as part of the
-furniture of an Ostiak's hut it is made on a large scale. It is always
-attired in seven pearl-broidered chemises, and suspended to the neck by a
-string of silver coins. In every hut it fills the place of
-honour,--sometimes in company with an image of the Virgin Mary or some
-Russian saint; and when they sit down to their meals, the Ostiaks are
-careful to offer it the daintiest morsels, smearing its lips with fish or
-raw game; this sacred duty fulfilled, they attack with eagerness the
-viands set before them.
-
-The Ostiak priests are called _Schamans_. Their influence is very great,
-but is wholly employed in the promotion of their own selfish interests,
-through the encouragement of the basest superstitions.
-
-
-WEATHER-CONJURING AMONG THE MONGOLS.
-
-There are many allusions in Mongol history to the practice of
-weather-conjuring. The operation was performed by means of a stone
-supposed to be endowed with magical virtues, called _Yadah_ or _Jadah
-Tásh_; this was suspended over or hung in a basin of water with sundry
-ceremonies. Ibn Mohalhal, an early Arab traveller, asserts that the
-_Kímák_, a great tribe of the Turks, possessed such a stone. In the war
-waged against Chinghiz and Aung Khan by a powerful tribal confederation in
-1202, it is recorded that Sengun, the son of Aung Khan, who had been
-despatched to arrest the enemy's advance, caused them to be enchanted, so
-that all the movements they attempted against him were defeated by dense
-mists and blinding snow-storms. So thick was the mist, so intense was the
-darkness, that men and horses stumbled over precipices, and many also
-perished with cold.
-
-The celebrated conqueror, Timur, in his _Memoirs_, records that the Jets
-resorted to incantations to produce heavy rains which hindered his cavalry
-from acting against them. A _Yadachi_, or weather-conjuror, was taken
-prisoner, and after he had been beheaded the storm ceased.
-
-Babu refers to one of his early friends, Khwaja ka Mulai, as conspicuous
-for his skill in falconry and his knowledge of _Yadageri_, or the science
-of inducing rain and snow by means of enchantment. The Russians were much
-distressed by heavy rains in 1552, when besieging Kazan, and universally
-ascribed the unfavourable weather to the arts of the Tartar queen, who was
-an enchantress.
-
-Early in the 18th century, the Emperor Shi-tsung issued a proclamation
-against rain-conjuring, addressed to the Eight Banners of Mongolia. "If,"
-indignantly observes the Emperor, "if I, offering prayers in sincerity,
-have yet cause to fear that it may please heaven to leave MY prayer
-unanswered, it is truly intolerable that mere common people wishing for
-rain should of their own fancy set up altars of earth; and bring together
-a rabble of Hoshang (Buddhist Bonzes) and Taossi to conjure the spirits to
-gratify their wishes."
-
-The belief in the efficacy of weather-conjuring prevailed all over Europe.
-In the _Cento Novelle Antiche_, certain necromancers gave specimens of
-their skill before the Emperor Frederic Barbarossa; and the weather began
-to be overcast; and lo, of a sudden rain fell with continued thunders and
-lightnings, as if the world were come to an end, and hailstones of the
-size and appearance of steel caps.
-
-
-IN TIBET.
-
-Marco Polo, describing his visit to the Kaan's Palace at Chandu, once
-known as Kaipingfu, speaks of the immense stud of pure white mares which
-the Kaan kept there, and adds:--"When the Kaan sets out from the Park on
-the 28th of August, the milk of all those mares is taken and sprinkled on
-the ground. And this is done on the injunction of the Idolaters and
-Idol-priests, who affirm that it is an excellent thing to sprinkle that
-milk on the ground every 28th of August, so that the Earth and the Air and
-the False Gods shall have their share of it, and likewise the spirits that
-inhabit the Air and the Earth. And then those beings will protect and
-bless the Kaan and his children and his wives and his folk and his gear,
-and his cattle and his horses, his corn and all that is his."
-
-Marco Polo proceeds:--"But I must now tell you a strange thing which
-hitherto I have forgotten to mention. During the three months of every
-year that the Emperor resides at that place, if it should happen to be bad
-weather, there are enchanters and astrologers in his train, who are such
-adepts in necromancy and diabolic arts, that they are able to prevent any
-cloud or storm from passing over the spot on which the Emperor's Palace
-stands. The sorcerers who do this are called Tebet and Kesimar, which are
-the names of two nations of idolaters. Whatever they do in this way is by
-the help of the Devil, but they make those people believe that it is
-compassed by dint of their own sanctity and the help of GOD....
-
-"There is another marvel performed by those Bacsi of whom I have been
-speaking as knowing so many enchantments. For when the great Kaan is at
-his capital and in his great palace, seated at his table, which stands on
-a platform some eight cubits above the ground, his cups are set before him
-on a great buffet in the middle of the hall pavement, at a distance of
-some ten paces from the table, and filled with wine, or other good spiced
-liquor such as they use. Now when the Kaan desires to drink, these
-enchanters by the power of their enchantments cause the cups to move from
-their place without being touched by anybody, and to present themselves to
-the Emperor! This every one present may witness, and there are oftentimes
-more than ten thousand persons thus present. 'Tis a truth and no lie! and
-so will tell you the sages of our own country who understand necromancy,
-for they also can perform it."
-
-On the occasion of one of these Idol Festivals, the Bacsi would go to the
-Prince and say:--"Sire, the feast of such a god is come." And he would
-continue:--"My Lord, you know that this god, when he gets no offering,
-always sends bad weather and spoils our seasons. So we pray you to give us
-such and such a number of black-faced sheep," (naming any number they
-please). "And we beg also, good my Lord, that we may have such a quantity
-of incense, and such a quantity of lign-aloes, and"--so much of this or so
-much of that, according to the measure of their cupidity or the
-probability of their expectations being gratified--"that we may perform a
-solemn service and a great sacrifice to our Idols, and that so they may be
-induced to protect us and all our property."
-
-When the Bacsi have obtained from the Kaan the fulfilment of their
-desires, they make a great feast in honour of their god, and hold great
-ceremonies of worship with grand illuminations and quantities of incense
-of a variety of odours, which they make up from different aromatic spices.
-And when the viands are cooked, they set them before the idols, and
-sprinkle the bush about, affirming that in this way the idols obtain a
-sufficiency. Thus it is that they keep their festivals. Each idol, we must
-add, has a name of his own, and a feast-day, just as the Saints of the
-Christian Church have their anniversaries.
-
-Large minsters and abbeys are theirs, some of them of the size of a small
-town, with upwards of 2,000 monks in a single abbey. These monks dress
-more decorously than the rest of the people, and have the head and the
-beard shaven. Among them a limited number are, by their rule, allowed to
-marry.
-
-Another kind of devotees were called the Seusin, men of extraordinary
-abstemiousness, who led a life of extreme endurance. Their sole food was
-bran mixed with hot water, so that one might call their lives a prolonged
-fast. They had numerous idols, and idols of a monstrous size, but they
-also worshipped fire. Idolaters not belonging to this sect naturally
-called them "heretics," on the old principle that "my doxy" is
-"orthodoxy," and "your doxy" "heterodoxy." Their dresses were made of
-hempen stuff, black and blue, and they slept upon mats. In fact, says
-Marco Polo, "their asceticism is something remarkable."
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-Chandu, or Xanadu, and its palace, suggested to Coleridge one of his most
-exquisite passages of description:--
-
-  "In Xanadu did Kubla Kaan
-    A stately pleasure dome decree:
-  Where Alph, the sacred river, ran,
-  By caverns measureless to man,
-    Down to a sunless sea.
-  So twice five miles of fertile ground,
-  With walls and towers were girdled round:
-  And there were gardens bright with sinuous rills,
-    Where blossomed many an incense-bearing tree;
-  And here were forests, ancient as the hills,
-    Enfolding sunny spots of greenery."
-
-Xanadu has disappeared, and so has its palace, but the superstitions
-practised in it are still in vogue among the Mongolian peoples. The word
-"Bakhshi," however, has come to have a different meaning in different
-districts; among the Kirghiz Kazzaks it is applied, as Marco Polo applied
-it, to a conjuror or medicine-man; among the modern Mongols it signifies
-"a teacher," and is bestowed on the oldest and most learned priest of a
-community; in Western Turkestan it means "a bard;" in our Indian army it
-is "a paymaster."
-
-The jugglery of the goblets, to which Marco Polo refers, was not uncommon
-in Mediæval Europe. Colonel Yule cites[37] the Jesuit Delrio as lamenting
-the credulity of certain princes, otherwise of pious repute, who allowed
-diabolic tricks to be played in their presence; as for instance that
-things of iron, and silver goblets, or other heavy articles, should be
-moved by bounds from one end of a table to the other, without the use of a
-magnet or of any attachment. The pious prince appears to have been Charles
-IX., and the conjuror a certain Cesare Maltesio. In old legends this
-trick is one of the sorceries ascribed to Simon Magus. "He made statues to
-walk; leapt into the fire without being burnt; flew in the air; made bread
-of stones; changed his shape; assumed two faces at once,"--an
-accomplishment not confined to conjurors,--"converted himself into a
-pillar; caused closed doors to fly open of their own will; and made the
-vessels in a house seem to move of themselves."
-
-Colonel Yule asserts that the profession and practice of exorcism and
-magic in general is much more prominent in Lamaism, or Tibetan Buddhism,
-than in any other known form of that religion. "Indeed," he says, "the old
-form of Lamaism, as it existed in Marco Polo's day, and till the reforms
-of Tsongkhapa (1357-1419), and as it is still professed by the _Red_ sect
-in Tibet, seems to be a kind of compromise between Indian Buddhism and the
-old indigenous Shamanism. Even the reformed doctrine of the Yellow sect
-recognises an orthodox kind of magic, which is due in great measure to the
-combination of Sivaism with the Buddhist doctrines, and of which the
-institutes are contained in the vast collection of the _Jud_ or Tantras,
-recognised among the holy books. The magic arts of this code open even a
-short road to the Buddhahood itself. To attain that perfection of power
-and wisdom culminating in the cessation of sensible existence, requires,
-according to the ordinary paths, a period of three _asankhyas_ (or say
-Unaccountable Time × 3), whereas by means of the magic arts of the
-_Tantras_, it may be reached in the course of three _rebirths_ only, nay,
-of one! But from the Tantras also can be learned how to acquire miraculous
-powers for objects entirely selfish and secular, and how to exercise these
-by means of _Dhárani_, or mystic Indian charms."
-
-The commonplace and vulgar exhibition of such exploits as blowing fire,
-cutting off heads, and swallowing knives, is formally repudiated by the
-orthodox Yellow Lamas; but as the crowd cannot be satisfied without them,
-each of the great Yellow Lama monasteries in Tibet maintains a conjuror,
-as of old each European sovereign kept his jester. This conjuror is not a
-member of the monastic fraternity, and lives in a particular part of the
-convent, out of the atmosphere of their sanctity. He is called _Choicong_,
-or protector of religion, and is free to marry. The Choicong hand down
-their magic lore from generation to generation orally, and by their cries
-and howls, and their frenzied gestures, and their fantastic dress, are
-connected with the Shamanist devil dancers.
-
-Magic seems to have always borne the same character in every country. The
-marvels accomplished by the Indian mystic charms, or _Dhárani_, are
-exactly those which the Mediæval magicians of Europe professed to achieve.
-To make water flow backwards, to resuscitate the dead, to fly through the
-air, to read a man's inmost thoughts, these were the wonders done by Simon
-Magus in his day, and by Albertus Magnus and his followers in their day;
-and form what may be called the ordinary stock-in-trade of the old
-necromancers. The Bakhshis included them in their series of performances.
-"There are certain men," says Ricold, "whom the Tartars honour above all
-in the world, viz., the _Baxitæ_, (or _Bakhshis_), who are a kind of idol
-priests. These are men from India, persons of deep wisdom, well conducted,
-and of the gravest morals. They are usually acquainted with magic arts,
-and depend on the counsel and aid of demons; they exhibit many illusions,
-and predict some future events. For instance, one of eminence among them
-was said to fly; the truth however was (as it proved) that he did not fly,
-but did walk close to the surface of the ground without touching it; and
-would seem to sit down without having any substance to support him." Ibn
-Batuta describes a performance of this kind as witnessed by him at Delhi,
-in the presence of Sultan Mahomed Tughlak. Francis Valentyn, at a later
-date, speaks of it as common in India. He was told, he says, that a man
-would first go and sit upon three sticks which had been so put together as
-to form a tripod, after which, first one stick, then a second, then a
-third would be removed from under him, and yet the man would not fall, but
-would remain suspended in the air. He could not bring himself to believe
-it, so manifestly contrary was it to reason, yet he had spoken with two
-friends who had both seen it done on the same occasion, and one of them
-mistrusting his own eyes, had felt about with a long stick to ascertain if
-there were not something on which the body rested, but could discover
-nought.
-
-Superstition, like history, repeats itself,--some of the marvels with
-which the Lama conjurors and the Tartar Bakhshis deluded their people are
-repeated by the spiritualistic "mediums," of the present day and put
-forward by them as the credentials of their pretended mission.
-
-They fall short, however, of the extraordinary feats performed by the
-professional jugglers who laid no claim to a religious character, if we
-may credit the accounts of the early travellers. Ibn Batuta, for instance,
-gravely describes what he saw, or thought he saw, at a great entertainment
-given by the Viceroy of Khansa:--
-
-A juggler, he says, one of the Kaan's slaves, made his appearance, and at
-the Amir's bidding, began to display his surprising accomplishments.
-Taking a wooden ball, with several holes in it, through which long thongs
-were passed, he laid hold of one of these, and slung the ball into the
-air. It went so high, that the spectators wholly lost sight of it.
-Observe, that the scene was the palace-court, _sub Jove_. There remained
-only a little of the end of the thong in the juggler's hand, and of this
-he desired a juvenile assistant to lay hold, and mount. He did so,
-climbing by the thong, and was speedily lost to sight also. The conjuror
-called him thrice, but receiving no answer, snatched up a knife, as if in
-a great rage, laid hold of the thong, and in _his_ turn disappeared.
-By-and-by he threw down one of the boy's hands, then a foot, then the
-other hand, the other foot, the trunk, and lastly, the head! Finally, he
-himself came down, all puffing and panting, and with blood-besmeared
-clothes kissed the ground before the Amir, addressing him in Chinese. The
-Amir made some reply; and straightway the juggler took the boy's _disjecta
-membra_, laid them in their places, gave a kick, and lo and behold, the
-boy arose and stood erect, "clothed and in his right mind." "All this,"
-says Ibn Batuta, "astonished me beyond measure,"--and no wonder!--"and I
-had an attack of palpitation like that which overcame me once before in
-the presence of the Sultan of India, when he showed me something of the
-same kind. They gave me a cordial, however, which cured the attack. The
-Kazi Afkharuddin was next to me, and quoth he, 'Wallah! 'tis my opinion
-there has been neither going up nor coming down, neither maiming nor
-mending; 'tis all hocus pocus!'"
-
-Impartial scientific observers have passed a similar verdict on the
-proceedings of the "mediums," who, however, have never achieved anything
-so surprising as the feat here recorded. Before we incredulously reject
-the Arab traveller's narrative, let us compare it with an account
-furnished by Edward Melton, an Anglo-Dutch traveller, of the performances
-of some Chinese conjurors, which he saw at Batavia. Passing over the
-basket-murder trick, which Houdin and others have made familiar to the
-English public, we come to "a thing which surpasses all belief;" which,
-indeed, Mr. Melton would scarcely have ventured to relate had not
-thousands witnessed it at the same time as himself.
-
-One of the gang took a ball of cord, and grasping one end in his hand
-hurled the other up into the air with such force that it was entirely lost
-to sight. He then climbed up the cord as rapidly as a sailor up his ship's
-rigging, and to such a height that he became invisible. Melton stood full
-of astonishment, and at a loss to know what next would happen; when,
-behold, a leg tumbled out of the air! A conjuror who was on the watch for
-it immediately snatched it up, and threw it into a basket. Down came a
-hand, and then another leg, and, in short, all the members of the body
-successively fell from the air, to find shelter in the basket. The last of
-the ghastly shower was the head; and no sooner had it touched the ground
-than the man who had gathered the limbs and stowed them in the basket,
-turned them all out again topsy-turvy. Straightway they began to creep
-together, until they composed a whole man, who stood up and walked about
-just as before, having sustained apparently no damage! "Never in my life,"
-says Melton, "was I so astonished as when I beheld this wonderful
-performance, and I doubted now no longer that those misguided men did it
-by the help of the Devil. For it seems to me totally impossible that such
-things should be accomplished by natural means."[38]
-
-The Emperor Jahángir in his "Memoirs" (cited by Yule) describes the
-exploits of some Bengali jugglers, who exhibited before him. Two of them
-bear a close resemblance to the foregoing. Thus: they produced a man whom
-they divided limb from limb, actually severing his head from the body.
-These mutilated members they scattered along the ground, where they
-remained for some time. A sheet or curtain was extended over the spot, and
-one of the men placing himself under it, in a few minutes reappeared, in
-company with the individual supposed to have been so roughly dissected, in
-such perfect health and condition, that one might have safely sworn he had
-never received the slightest wound or injury.
-
-Again: they produced a chain, fifty cubits long, and one end of it threw
-towards the sky, when it remained as if fastened to something in the air.
-A dog was then brought forward, and being placed at the lower end of the
-chain, ran up it to the other end, and immediately vanished. In the same
-manner a boy, a panther, a lion, and a tiger were successively sent up the
-chain to disappear, in their turn, at the other end of it. And, lastly,
-the chain was taken down and put away in a bag, without any of the
-spectators discovering in what manner the different animals had been
-spirited into space!
-
-The surprising dexterity of these jugglers is emulated by their
-descendants, and many of the Indian conjurors produce illusions scarcely
-less wonderful than any we have described.
-
-Take the pretty mango-trick. The juggler who exhibits has no other drapery
-than half a yard of cotton, and no other apparatus than a handful of
-common toys. He has none of those elaborate mechanical contrivances, on
-which the European professors of legerdemain mostly rely for their
-effects.
-
-He takes a mango-stone, buries it in a little mud, and covers it with a
-jar.
-
-A few minutes later, the jar is lifted up; and lo, a tender green
-seed-leaf has delicately sprouted. Another peep into the magic hotbed, and
-we see that the tiny leaf has withered, and that a flourishing young tree
-has sprung into sudden existence.
-
-Or we have the egg-trick, which an eye-witness thus describes:--[39]
-
-"One of the party, a very handsome woman, fixed on her head a fillet of
-strong texture, to which were fastened, at equal distances, twenty pieces
-of string of equal length, with a common noose at the end of each. Under
-her arm she carried a basket, in which were carefully deposited twenty
-eggs. Her basket, the fillet, and the nooses were carefully examined by
-us. There was evidently no deception.
-
-"The woman advanced alone, and stood before us. She then began to move
-rapidly round on one spot, whence she never for one instant moved,
-spinning round and round like a top.
-
-"When her pace was at its height, she drew down one of the strings, which
-now flew horizontally round her head, and, securing an egg in the noose,
-she jerked it back to its original position, still twirling round with
-undiminished velocity, and repeating the process until she had secured the
-whole twenty eggs in the nooses previously prepared for them. She
-projected them rapidly from her hand the moment she had secured them,
-until at length the whole twenty were flying round her in an unbroken
-circle. Thus she continued spinning at undiminished speed for fully five
-minutes; after which, taking the eggs one by one from their nooses, she
-replaced them in her basket; and then in one instant stopped, without the
-movement of a limb, or even the vibration of a muscle, as if she had been
-suddenly transformed into marble. The countenance was perfectly calm, nor
-did she exhibit the slightest distress from her extraordinary exertions."
-
-The basket-murder trick, to which we have already referred, is as
-follows:--
-
-The juggler stepping forward, invites your examination of a light wicker
-basket, and when you profess yourself satisfied, he places it over a
-child, about eight years old, who is perfectly naked. He then asks the
-child some indifferent question, and you hear her reply to it from the
-basket. Question and answer are repeated frequently, each time in a louder
-and more impassioned manner, until the juggler, in a seeming fit of rage,
-threatens to kill the girl, who vainly supplicates for mercy.
-
-The dramatic character of the scene is as perfect in its realism as it is
-horrible. The man plants his foot furiously on the frail basket, and
-plunges his sword into it again and again, while the ears of the
-spectators are rent and their hearts touched by the child's cries of
-agony. For a moment it is impossible to believe that you are witnessing a
-deception, as you listen to the passionate shrieks and watch the man's
-furious face. Blood flows in a stream from the basket, and by degrees the
-groans of the victim grow fainter and fainter, until all is hushed in a
-silence so intense that you hear your heart beat. You are about to rush on
-the murderer, and inflict summary punishment, when he mutters a few
-cabalistic words, takes up the basket, and shows you--only a little
-blood-stained earth; while the child, you know not how or whence, has come
-to mingle with the crowd, and ask for baksheesh.
-
-Two simpler exploits may be recorded:--
-
-Taking a large, wide-mouthed, earthen vessel, filled with water, the
-conjuror turns it upside down, and, of course, the contents run out.
-
-He then reverses the jar, which to your amazement is seen to be perfectly
-full, while all the earth round about is--dry! The jar is again emptied,
-and submitted to the inspection of the spectators. He asks you to fill it
-to the brim; after which he reverses it: not a drop of water flows, and
-yet when you look into it, it is perfectly empty. At last the conjuror
-breaks the jar by way of a practical demonstration of the fact that it is
-made of common earthenware.
-
-A large basket is produced: the conjuror raises it, and a Pariah dog
-appears crouching on the ground. The basket-cover is replaced; and a
-second examination shows you a bitch with a litter of seven puppies. A
-goat, a pig, and various other animals, come forth in due time from this
-inexhaustible cornucopia.
-
-All these exploits are performed by a single exhibitor, who stands quite
-alone, and at a distance of several feet from the crowd, so that collusion
-with confederates would seem to be impossible.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER IX.
-
-_SOME AFRICAN SUPERSTITIONS._
-
-
-Africa is the land of superstition,--dark, cruel, ghastly superstition. It
-accompanies its victim from the cradle to the grave; throws its fell
-shadow over every scene and incident of life. We cannot attempt, nor do we
-desire, to paint it in all its horrors. For our purpose it will be
-sufficient to glance at some of the ceremonies, hideous or grotesque,
-which are practised by the Equatorial Savage.
-
-In his childhood he has to be initiated into certain mysteries. What those
-are Mr. Winwood Reade learned from a negro steward, who informed him that
-he was taken into a fetich, or idol house, severely flogged, and plastered
-with goat-dung: this ceremony, like the rites of masonry, being conducted
-to the sound of music. Afterwards from behind a kind of screen or shrine
-issued uncouth and terrible sounds such as he had never before heard.
-These, he was told, emanated from the spirit called Ukuk. He afterwards
-brought to Mr. Winwood Reade the instrument with which the fetich-man
-produces the noise. It may be described as a whistle made of hollowed
-mangrove wood, about two inches long, and covered at one end with a scrap
-of bat's wing. For a period of five days after initiation the novice wears
-an apron of dry palm leaves.
-
-He is next instructed in the science of fetich; and afterwards he learns
-what kinds of food are forbidden to his tribe, for one tribe may not eat
-crocodile, another hippopotamus, nor a third buffalo. He learns to
-reverence and dread the spirit _Ukuk_, which dwells, it is said, in the
-bowels of the earth, and visits the upper world only when he has some
-business to perform. On the occasion of his visits, he abides in the
-fetich-house, which is built in a peculiar form, roofed with dry plantain
-leaves, and always kept in darkness. Thence strange dread sounds, like the
-growling of a tiger, are heard to proceed, so that the women and children
-shudder as they listen. When the mangrove-tube is thus at work, the
-initiated hasten to the house, and a "lodge" or "council" is held.
-
-"The natives of Equatorial Africa worship also the spirits of their
-ancestors; a worship for which their minds are prepared by the veneration
-which they pay to old age. Young men never enter the presence of an aged
-person without curtseying (a genuine curtsey like that of a charity-school
-girl), and passing in a stooping attitude, as if they were going under a
-low door. When seated in his presence, it is always at a humble distance.
-If they hand him a lighted pipe, or a mug of water, they fall on one knee.
-If an old man, they address him as _rora_--father; if an old woman as
-_ngwe_--mother. It is customary for only the old people to communicate bad
-news to one another; and it is not to be wondered at that we find the
-negroes such perfect courtiers, since it is the etiquette of the country
-that the aged should only be addressed in terms of flattery and adulation.
-
-"When they die their relics are honoured. In the Congo country their
-bodies are dried into mummies. Here, their bones are sometimes stored up
-and visited at set periods. Or, when a person noted for his wisdom has
-died, his head, when partially decomposed, is often cut off and suspended,
-so as to drip upon a mass of chalk placed underneath. This matter is
-supposed to be the wisdom which formerly animated the brain, and which,
-rubbed upon the foreheads of others, will communicate its virtue."
-
-It can easily be understood how this reverence paid to the relics of one's
-ancestors would develope into the worship of their spirits. The Equatorial
-Savage believes that the manes of his forefathers influence his life and
-fortunes entirely to his advantage, and by a dying friend or relative will
-often send messages to them. Mr. Reade adds that a son has been known to
-kill his aged mother from a conviction that her spirit would be of more
-service to him than her substance; a reason for matricide which would
-hardly be accepted as conclusive in civilised countries! The savage lives,
-however, in constant communion and sympathy with the spirit-world. The
-visions which come to him in his dreams, and the sounds which he fancies
-himself to hear, are those of the Unseen. And as he is always brooding
-upon his dreams and relating them to his friends, he necessarily dreams
-the more, until it becomes difficult for him to draw a line between the
-dream and the reality.
-
-When any calamity befalls the tribe, or at the approach of any imminent
-danger, they gather together on the brink of some lofty bluff, or on the
-forest's haunted threshold, and stretching their arms towards the sky,
-while the women wail and the children weep, they call upon the spirits of
-the departed to come and help them.
-
-They have a remarkable ceremony which illustrates the force and vividness
-of their belief in spirits:
-
-When the dead are weary of staying in the bush, they come for one of their
-people whom they most affect. And the spirit will say to the man: "I am
-tired of dwelling in the bush; please to build for me in the town a little
-house as close as possible to your own." And he tells him to dance and
-sing too; and accordingly the man assembles the women at night to join in
-dance and song.
-
-Then, next day, the people repair to the grave of the _Obambo_, or ghost,
-and make a rude idol; after which the bamboo bier on which the body is
-conveyed to the grave, and some of the dust of the ground, are carried
-into a little hut erected near the house of the visited, and a white cloth
-is draped over the door.
-
-It is a curious fact, which seems to show that they have a legend
-something like the old Greek myth of Charon and the Styx, that in one of
-the songs chanted during this ceremony occurs the following line: "You are
-well dressed, but you have no canoe to carry you across to the other
-side."
-
-According to Mr. Reade, these savages have their Naiads and Dryads; their
-spirits of the mountains and the forests, the lakes and the streams, and
-the high places. They have also their Typhon and their Osiris, their Good
-and Evil Genius; thus recognising, in common with almost every other
-race, the enduring antagonism between the Principles and Powers of Good
-and Evil. The Evil Spirit, _Mbwiri_, they worship with a special homage;
-his might is to be dreaded, and his anger, if possible, averted. He is the
-lord of earth; and before him, as before a tyrant whose hand can grasp
-their lives and fortunes, they bend in humble adoration. But as the Good
-Spirit will do them no injury, they conceive it unnecessary to address to
-it any regular or formal prayer. "The word by which they express this
-Supreme Being answers exactly to our word of God. Like the Jehovah of the
-Hebrews, like that word in masonry which is only known to masters, and
-never pronounced but in a whisper and in full lodge, this word they seldom
-dare to speak; and they display uneasiness if it is uttered before them.
-Twice only," says Mr. Reade, "I remember having heard it. Once when we
-were in a dangerous storm, the men threw their clenched hands upwards and
-cried it twice. And again, when I was at Ngambi, taking down words from an
-Ashira slave, I asked him what was the word for God in the language of his
-country. He raised his eyes, and pointing to heaven, said in a soft voice,
-_Njambi_."
-
-Epileptic diseases, in almost all uncivilised countries, are assumed to be
-the result of demoniac possession. In Africa the sufferer is supposed to
-be possessed by Mbwiri, and he can be relieved only by the intervention of
-the medicine-man or fetich. In the middle of the street a hut is built for
-his accommodation, and there he resides until cured, or maddened, along
-with the priest and his disciples. There for ten days or a fortnight a
-continuous revel is held; much eating and drinking at the expense of the
-patient's relatives, and unending dances to the sound of flute and drum.
-For obvious reasons the fetich gives out that Mbwiri regards good living
-with aversion. The patient dances, usually shamming madness, until the
-epileptic attack comes on, with all its dreadful concomitants--the
-frenzied stare, the convulsed limbs, the gnashing teeth, and the
-foam-flecked lips. The man's actions at this period are not ascribed to
-himself, but to the demon which has control of him. When a cure has been
-effected, real or pretended, the patient builds a little fetich-house,
-avoids certain kinds of food, and performs certain duties. Sometimes the
-process terminates in the patient's insanity; he has been known to run
-away to the bush, hide from all human beings, and live on the roots and
-berries of the forest.
-
-"These fetich-men are priest doctors, like those of the ancient Germans.
-They have a profound knowledge of herbs, and also of human nature, for
-they always monopolize the real power in the state. But it is very
-doubtful whether they possess any secrets save that of extracting virtue
-and poison from plants. During the first trip which I made into the bush I
-sent for one of these doctors. At that time I was staying among the
-Shekani, who are celebrated for their fetich. He came attended by
-half-a-dozen disciples. He was a tall man, dressed in white, with a girdle
-of leopard's skin, from which hung an iron bell, of the same shape as our
-sheep bells. He had two chalk marks over his eyes. I took some of my own
-hair, frizzled it with a burning glass, and gave it to him. He popped it
-with alacrity into his little grass bag; for white man's hair is fetich of
-the first order. Then I poured out some raspberry vinegar into a glass,
-drank a little of it first, country fashion, and offered it to him,
-telling him that it was blood from the brains of great doctors. Upon this
-he received it with great reverence, and dipping his fingers into it as if
-it was snap-dragon, sprinkled with it his forehead, both feet between the
-two first toes, and the ground behind his back. He then handed his glass
-to a disciple, who emptied it, and smacked his lips afterwards in a very
-secular manner. I then desired to see a little of his fetich. He drew on
-the ground with red chalk some hieroglyphics, among which I distinguished
-the circle, the cross, and the crescent. He said that if I would give him
-a fine 'dush,' he would tell me all about it. But as he would not take
-anything in reason, and as I knew that he would tell me nothing of very
-great importance in public, negotiations were suspended."
-
-The fetich-man seldom finds a native disposed to question his claim to
-supernatural powers. He is not only a doctor and a priest,--two capacities
-in which his influence is necessarily very powerful; he is also a
-witch-finder, and this is an office which invests him with a truly
-formidable authority. When a man of worth dies, his death is invariably
-ascribed to witchcraft, and the aid of the fetich-man is invoked to
-discover the witch.
-
-"When a man is sick a long time," said Mongilombas, "they call _Ngembi_,
-and if she cannot make him well, the fetich-man. He comes at night, in a
-white dress, with cock's feathers on his head, and having his bell and
-little glass. He calls two or three relations together into a room. He
-does not speak, but always looks in his glass. Then he tells them that the
-sickness is not of Mbwiri, nor of Obambo, nor of God, but that it comes
-from a witch. They say to him, 'What shall we do?' He goes out and says,
-'I have told you: I have no more to say.' They give him a dollar's worth
-of cloth; and every night they gather together in the street, and they
-cry, 'I know that man who witch my brother. It is good for you to make him
-well.' Then the witch makes him well. But if the man do _not_ recover,
-they call the bush doctor from the Shekani country. He sings in the
-language of the bush. At night he goes into the street; all the people
-flock about him. With a tiger-cat skin in his hand, he walks to and fro,
-until, singing all the while, he lays the tiger skin at the feet of the
-witch. At the conclusion of his song the people seize the witch, and put
-him, or her, in chains, saying, 'If you don't restore our brother to
-health, we will kill you.'"
-
-One evening, as Mr. Reade was sitting in a mission house at Corisco, with
-the windows open, he heard a wild and piteous cry rising from a village at
-a short distance. A sudden silence fell upon his friends. The school was
-in the next room, and two girls who belonged to that village lifted up
-their voices and wept. It was the death-knell, and the knell of more lives
-than one. A chieftain for some time had been lying in a hopeless
-condition, and a woman had been denounced for having bewitched him. She
-had a son of about seven years of age, and fearing lest when he reached
-manhood, he should become her avenger, the accusers included him also in
-their denunciation. Both had been made prisoners, and on the death of the
-chief would be killed.
-
-The following day was Sunday, and Mr. Reade accompanied Mr. Mackay, the
-missionary, to the village. The man was not dead; but he had suddenly
-become speechless, and his attendants had concluded that the spirit had
-departed. Entering the house, Mr. Reade found him lying on the bamboo
-bedstead in a state of stupor. The house was thronged with women, who had
-stripped off their garments and shaved the heads in token of mourning, and
-were "raining tears" in their purchased and admirably acted grief.
-Sometimes one of them would sit by his side, and flinging her arms around
-him, would shriek--almost in the very words of the Irish death-wail,--"Why
-did ye die, darling? why did ye die?" For they regarded him as really
-dead, when he could neither look at them nor speak to them.
-
-In contrast to their loud sorrow was the silent mourning of the men who,
-hushed and fasting, sat in the chief house of the town. In their midst
-crouched the seven years old boy, the marks of a severe wound visible on
-his arm, and his wrists securely bound together. The dogged expression of
-the child's face was something wonderful. It wore that look of stolid
-endurance which seems natural to the negro. One of the men with horrible
-pleasantry held an axe below his eyes; but the boy contemplated it without
-emotion--he displayed all the cold indifference of the ancient Stoicism.
-When his name was first mentioned, his eyes flashed; but this indication
-of passion was only momentary. He showed the same indifference when a plea
-was put in for his life, as when, just before, he had been threatened and
-taunted with death.
-
-Mr. Reade did not see the unfortunate mother, but was afterwards told that
-she had been flogged into confessing that she and she only had bewitched
-the man. Her son had acknowledged the crime as soon as he was charged with
-it. It is well known that such confessions amount to nothing. During the
-witch epidemic in Mediæval Europe, scores of unhappy creatures confessed
-to the practice of witchcraft, though by so doing they doomed themselves
-to death. The imagination in some way or other is powerfully excited, and
-completely overcomes the judgment; or it may be from a fear of torture or
-a thirst for notoriety that such confessions are made.
-
-Mr. Mackey, the missionary, said that he had come to speak to Okota, the
-nearest kinsman of the dying chief, upon whom, in all such cases, the
-responsibility rests. Okota came out from the throng, placed his stool
-near the feet of the missionary, and listened to him attentively.
-
-"Death," said the missionary, "must come to all. It is foolish to think
-that because a man dies he has been bewitched."
-
-"Yes," replied Okota, "death must come to all, but not always from GOD.
-Sometimes it comes from the hand of man."
-
-"But how do you know that in this instance it comes from the hand of man?"
-
-"The woman has been given _quai_ (the drink of ordeal) to drink, and the
-_quai_ says that she bewitched him."
-
-"But the _quai_ is not always right. When Cabinda went to the Muni, he was
-a long time lost. All people said that he was dead. A man you declared was
-the witch, you gave him _quai_; _quai_ said that the man had killed
-Cabinda, but Cabinda came back alive, and _quai_ was wrong."
-
-A roar of laughter acknowledged the force of this pertinent reply.
-
-"It is not only _quai_," said Okota, "the woman confesses that she has
-used the arts of witchcraft. Will any man come to you and say, 'I have
-stolen your fowl,' if he has not stolen it? This woman is killing my
-brother, when my brother is dead I will kill her."
-
-After so decisive a declaration, further argument was useless, and Mr.
-Mackey was compelled to retire, unsuccessful.
-
-The ordeal drink of Equatorial Africa is not identical with the
-"red-water" of Northern Guinea. It is prepared from the root of a small
-shrub called _Nkazya_, or _Quai_. Half a pint of the decoction is given to
-the accused, and small sticks being laid down on the ground at a distance
-of two feet apart, he is compelled to step over them five times. If the
-potion act upon him as a diuretic, he is pronounced innocent; but in some
-persons it produces vertigo. The sticks before his dizzy eyes rise like
-great logs, and in his awkward efforts to stride across them, he reels,
-falls to the ground, and is immediately assumed to be guilty.
-
-Ultimately the chief died, and the woman and boy both suffered death. The
-woman was taken out to sea in a boat, killed with an axe, and thrown
-overboard. The boy was burnt alive, bags of gunpowder being tied to his
-legs to shorten his sufferings.
-
-Apart from these superstitions, Mr. Reade asserts that the negroes possess
-the remnants of a noble and sublime religion, though they have forgotten
-its precepts, and debased its ceremonies. They still retain their belief
-in GOD, the One, the Supreme, the Creator. He has made mankind and the
-world; He thunders in the air, He destroys the wicked with His bolts. He
-rewards the good with long life; He gives them the rain, the fruits of the
-earth, and all things that are good. He is far above all the other gods.
-
-In some parts of Guinea the daily prayer is, "O GOD, I know Thee not, but
-Thou knowest me, Thy aid is necessary to me." At meals they say, "O GOD,
-Thou hast given me this, Thou hast made it grow." And when they work, "O
-GOD, Thou hast caused that I should have strength to do this." And another
-of their prayers runs, "O GOD, help us, we do not know whether we shall
-live to-morrow; we are in Thy hand."[40]
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER X.
-
-_THE ZULU WITCH-FINDERS._
-
-
-English Law now reigns in Zululand, and the occupation of the
-Witch-finders is almost gone; but in times past they were potent
-personages, whom an enslaving superstition had armed with despotic
-influence. The Zulu witch-finders are regular Amazons--perfectly fearless,
-with a martial gait, and grave composure of mien. It is their pride,
-according to Lady Barker, to be looked upon as men when once they embrace
-their dread profession, which the men sometimes share with them. They are
-permitted to bear shield and spear as warriors, and they hunt and kill
-with their own hands the wild beasts and reptiles whose skins they wear.
-"It is not difficult to understand," says Lady Barker,[41] "bearing in
-mind the superstition and cruelty which existed in remote parts of England
-not so very long ago--how powerful such women become among a savage
-people, or how tempting an opportunity they could furnish of getting rid
-of an enemy. Of course they are exceptional individuals; more observant,
-more shrewd, and more dauntless, than the average fat, hard-working Kafir
-women; besides possessing the contradictory mixture of great physical
-powers and strong hysterical tendencies. They work themselves up to a
-pitch of frenzy, and get to believe as firmly in their own supernatural
-discernment as any individual among the trembling circle of Zulus to whom
-a touch from the whisk they carry is a sentence of instant death."
-
-The magician, like the melodramatist, must have his accompaniment of
-music, and the Zulu witch-finders are attended by a circle of black girls
-and women, who, like a Greek chorus, clap their hands together, and drone
-through a low monotonous chant, the measure and rhythm of which change at
-times with a stamp and a swing. Not less necessary is a ceremonial dress;
-for such things appeal directly to the imagination of the crowd, and
-prepare them to be readily influenced by the necromancer's devices. The
-"Isinyanga," "Abangoma," or "witch-finders," whom Lady Barker describes
-for us, were attired with an eye for effect which would have done credit
-to a London theatre. It will suffice to depict one of them, by name
-Nozinyanga. Her fierce face, spotted with gouts of red paint on cheek and
-brow, was partly overshadowed by a helmet-like plume of the tall feathers
-of the sakabula bird. In her right hand she carried a light sheaf of
-assegais or lances, and on her left arm was slung a small and pretty
-shield of dappled ox-hide. Her petticoat, made of a couple of large gay
-handkerchiefs, was worn kilt-wise. But if there were little decoration in
-her skirts, the deficiency was more than compensated by the bravery of the
-bead-necklaces, the goat's-hair fringes, and the scarlet tassels which
-covered her from throat to waist. Her ample chest rose and fell beneath a
-baldric of leopard skin, fastened across it with huge brazen knobs; while
-down her back hung a beautifully dried and flattened skin of an enormous
-boa-constrictor.
-
-The interest attaching to these women is derived from the fact that it was
-of old the custom, among the Zulu and other South African tribes, to
-attribute all mishaps or catastrophes, political or social, to the agency
-of witches. It is not for Englishmen to look down with contempt upon this
-manifestation of barbarism and ignorance, considering that a similar
-belief prevailed very generally among us up to the reign of Charles I.,
-and, in truth, is not wholly extinct even now: while the extent to which
-the science of witch-finding was developed in New England will be known to
-every reader of Cotton Mather.
-
-When the community had resolved that a certain misfortune was due to the
-witches, the next step obviously would be to detect and punish them. For
-this purpose the king would summon a great meeting, and cause his subjects
-to sit on the ground in a ring or circle, for four or five days. The
-witch-finders took their places in the centre, and as they gradually
-worked themselves up to a frantic state of frenzy, resembling demoniacal
-possession, they lightly switched with their quagga-tail one or other of
-the trembling spectators, who was immediately dragged away and butchered
-on the spot. And not only he, but all the living things in his hut--wives
-and children, dogs and cats--not one was left alive, nor was a stick left
-standing. Sometimes a whole kraal would be exterminated in this way; and
-the reader will perceive how terribly the cruel custom could be made to
-gratify private revenge or to work out the king's tyrannical inclinations.
-
-A terrible little sorceress is described under the name of Nozilwane,[42]
-whose weird wistful glance had in it something uncanny and uncomfortable.
-She was really dressed beautifully for her part, in lynx skins folded over
-and over from waist to knee, the upper part of her body being covered by
-strings of wild beasts' teeth and fangs, beads, skeins of gaily-coloured
-yarn, strips of snake's skin, and fringes of Angora-goat fleece. This, as
-a decoration, was both graceful and effective; it was worn round the body
-and above each elbow, and fell in soft white flakes among the brilliant
-colouring and against the dusky skin. Lynx-tails depended like lappets on
-each side of her face, which was overshadowed and almost hidden by a
-profusion of sakabula feathers. "This bird," says Lady Barker, "has a very
-beautiful plumage, and is sufficiently rare for the natives to attach a
-peculiar value and charm to the tail-feathers; they are like those of a
-young cock, curved and slender, and of a dark chestnut colour, with a
-white eye at the extreme tip of each feather." Among all this thick,
-floating plumage were interspersed small bladders, and skewers or pins
-wrought out of tusks. Each witch-finder wore her own hair, or rather wool;
-highly greased, and twisted up with twine until it ceases to wear the
-appearance of hair, and hangs around the face like a thick fringe, dyed
-deep red.
-
-Bent double, and with a creeping, cat-like gait, as if seeking a trail,
-out stepped Nozilwane. Every movement of her undulating body kept time to
-the beat of the girls' hands and their low crooning chant. Presently she
-pretended to find the thing she sought, and with a series of wild
-pirouettes leaped into the air, shaking her spears and brandishing her
-little shield like a Bacchante. Nowamso, another of the party, was
-determined that her companion should not carry off all the applause, and
-she too, with a yell and a leap, sprang into the dance to the sound of
-louder grunts and harder hand-claps. Nowamso showed much anxiety to
-display her back, where a magnificent snake skin, studded in a regular
-pattern with brass-headed nails, floated like a stream. She was attired
-also in a splendid kilt of leopard skins, decorated with red rosettes, and
-her toilette was considered more careful and artistic than any of the
-others. Brighter her bangles, whiter her goat-fringes, and more
-elaborately painted her face. Nozilwane, however, had youth and a
-wonderful self-reliance on her side. The others, though they all joined in
-and hunted out an imaginary enemy, and in turn exulted over his discovery,
-soon became breathless and spent, and were glad when their attendants led
-them away to be anointed and to drink water.
-
-"As for another of the 'witch-finders,' the great, big Nozinyanga, she
-danced like Queen Elizabeth, 'high and disposedly,' and no wonder, for I
-should think she weighed at least fifteen stone. Ungiteni, in a petticoat
-of white Angora-goat skin, and a corsage of bladders and teeth, beads and
-viper skins, was nothing remarkable; neither was Um-à-noujozzla, a
-melancholy-looking personage, with an enormous wig-like coiffure of red
-woollen ringlets and white skewers. The physiognomy, too, was a trifle
-more stolid and commonplace than that of her comrades, and altogether she
-gave me the impression of being a sensible, respectable woman, who was
-very much ashamed of herself for playing such antics. However, she
-brandished her divining brush with the rest, and cut in now and then to
-'keep the fleer' with the untiring Nozilwane."
-
-Lady Barker and her friends grew tired of this imaginary "witch-finding,"
-and to end the affair it was proposed to test the professed power of the
-"weird women" to discover lost property. A silver pipe stem had recently
-"gone a-missing," and they were requested to find what had been lost, and
-where. They set to work in a curious and interesting way. In front,
-squatted on heels and haunches, a semicircle of about a dozen men, who
-were supposed to have invited the assistance of the sisterhood. They had
-no idea of what was asked for, and were told to go on with their part
-until a signal was given that the article had been named.
-
-"What is it the Inkos has lost?" they cried; "discover, reveal, make plain
-to us."
-
-The witch-finders, by their singing and dancing, had wrought themselves up
-to a highly-excited and enthusiastic condition, so that they
-unhesitatingly accepted the challenge, Nowamso crying, "Sing for me: make
-a cadence for me." Then, after a moment's pause, she went on rapidly, in
-her own language.
-
-"Is this real? is it a test? is it but a show? Do the white chiefs want to
-laugh at our pretensions? Has the white lady called us only to show other
-white people that we can do nothing? Is anything really lost? is it not
-hidden? No, it _is_ lost. Is it lost by a black person? No, a white person
-has lost it. Is it lost by the great white chief? No, it is lost by an
-ordinary white man. Let me see what it is that is lost. Is it money? No.
-Is it a weighty thing? No, it can be always carried about--it is not
-heavy. All people like to carry it, especially the white Inkosi: it is
-made of the same metal as money. I could tell you more, but there is no
-earnestness in all this,--it is only a spectacle."
-
-Between each of these ejaculations she made a pause, looking eagerly into
-the faces of the men before her, who, for sole answer, gave a loud,
-simultaneous snap of finger and thumb, pointing towards the ground as they
-did so, and shouting the one word, "Yiz-ora," (the first syllable strongly
-accented and much prolonged;) "discover, reveal!" They can say nothing
-more to urge her on, because they themselves are ignorant: but the weird
-women watch their countenances eagerly, to detect, if they can, some
-unconscious sign or token that their guesses are near the truth.
-Suspecting a trick, Nowamso lapses into silence; but Nozilwane rushes
-about like one possessed, sobbing and quivering with excitement, "It is
-this--it is that!" The tall Nozinyanga strikes her lance firmly into the
-ground, and cries haughtily, in her own tongue, "It is his watch!"
-throwing around a haughty glance, as if daring any one to contradict her.
-The others then join hands, and gallop round and round, making a
-suggestion here and a suggestion there, all alike improbable; the
-"inquirers," as the kneeling men are called, affording them no assistance.
-At last Nozilwane strikes home: "His pipe!" she exclaims; "Yoziva, yoziva,
-a thing which has come off his pipe."
-
-And so it is. Nozilwane's pluck, and perseverance, and cunning scrutiny of
-our faces at each hit she made, have brought her off victoriously.
-
-A murmur, or rather grunt, of admiration goes around. The "inquirers" jump
-up, and "subside into ebony images of impassive respectability." The weary
-chorus disperses in small groups, and the exhausted sisterhood drop, as if
-by one consent, on their knees, sitting back on their heels, and raise
-their right hands in salutation.[43]
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XI.
-
-_ZABIANISM AND SERPENT-WORSHIP._
-
-
-There can be no question as to the antiquity or universality of
-Serpent-Worship, whatever may be the difference of opinion as to its
-origin. According to Bryant it began in Chaldea, and was "the first
-variation from the purer Zabaism." But this statement requires from us a
-brief preliminary explanation of that ancient form of worship.
-
-Zabaism, or Zabism, has had its two sects,--first the Chaldean Zabians of
-the Kuran,--the "Parsified" Chaldee heathen, or non-Christian
-Gnostics,--the ancestors of the present Mendaites, or so-called Joannes
-Christians, who reside in the neighbourhood of the Persian Gulf, and speak
-a corrupt form of Chaldee-Aramaic. And second, the Pseudo-Zabians, or
-Syrian Zabians, in Harran, Edessa, Rakkah, and Bagdad. It is the latter
-who now chiefly represent Zabism.
-
-The first named, or Chaldean Zabians, who transferred the name to the
-Harranic, and greatly influenced the development of the peculiar system of
-the latter, are the people so designated in the Kuran, and by the
-Mohammedans of to-day. The Harranians, who rose about A.D. 830, profess to
-derive their denomination from one Zâbi, who is variously called a son of
-Seth, son of Adam, or a son of Enoch or Idris, or a son of Methuselah, or
-of some fictitious Badi or Mari, a supposed companion of Abraham; while
-Mohammedan writers trace it to the word _ssaba_, "to turn, to move,"
-because its professors turned from the path of true religion, that is,
-Islam, or, as the Zabians say, because they have turned _to_ the proper
-faith.
-
-The Zabian creed, as professed by the Harranic Zabians, would appear to
-resolve itself into the following elements:--
-
-It teaches that the Creator is, in His essence, primitivity, originality,
-and eternity, One; but in His numerous manifestations in bodily figures,
-manifold. Chiefly He is personified by the seven principal planets, and by
-the good, knowing, excellent earthly bodies. This, however, is without any
-disturbance of His unity. It is, say the Zabians, as if the seven planets
-were His seven limbs, and as if our seven limbs were His seven spheres in
-which He manifests Himself,--so that He speaks with our tongues, sees with
-our eyes, hears with our ears, touches with our hands, comes and goes with
-our feet, and acts through our members.
-
-It teaches further, that GOD is too great and too sublime to occupy
-Himself directly with the affairs of this world; that its government He
-has therefore entrusted to other gods, and that it is only to the highest
-things of destiny He Himself devotes His attention,--an attribution of
-cold superiority and intellectual indifference in striking contrast to the
-idea of GOD _the Father_ developed by Christianity, that all-loving, as
-well as all-powerful GOD, Who watches over the fall of a sparrow, and
-listens with tender ear to the prayer of even the meanest of His
-creatures. Moreover, Zabism inculcates the chilling doctrine that man is
-too feeble to offer his homage directly to the Supreme, and must therefore
-address the inferior deities to whom the regimen of the world has been
-handed. In this way we see that the veneration shown to the planets and
-the worship of idols are only a symbolism resulting from the humiliating
-doctrines just defined.
-
-Zabism is a polytheistic system,--it absolutely revels in gods and
-goddesses. There are the spirits that direct and guide the planets, the
-spirits that originate or represent every action in this world,--not a
-natural effect, great or little, which does not emanate from a deity.
-Whatever appears in the air, whatever is formed near the sky or springs
-from the earth, must be traced to certain gods that govern these
-manifestations, so that every flake of snow, every drop of rain has its
-presiding spirit.
-
-These spirits also "mould and shape everything bodily from one form into
-the other, and gradually bring all created things to the state of their
-highest possible perfection, and communicate their powers to all
-substances, beings, and things. By the movement and guidance of these
-spiritual beings, the different elements and natural compositions are
-influenced in such a way that the tenderest plant may pierce the hardest
-cliff. He who guides this world is called the first spirit. These gods
-know our most secret thoughts, and all our future is open to them. The
-female deities seem to have been conceived as the feeling or passive
-principle. These gods or intelligences emanate directly from GOD without
-His will, as rays do from the sun. They are, further, of abstract forms,
-free of all matter, and neither made of any substance or material. They
-consist chiefly of a light in which there is no darkness, which the senses
-cannot conceive by reason of its immense clearness, which the
-understanding cannot comprehend by reason of its extreme delicacy, and
-which fancy and imagination cannot fathom."
-
-Free from all animal desires, these spirits are created wholly for love
-and harmony, for friendship and unity. They are unaffected by local and
-temporal changes, and control the planetary spheres, without finding the
-motion of the heaviest too heavy, or of the lightest too light. Their
-never-ending existence is a prolonged happiness, owing to their nearness
-to the Supreme GOD; whom they praise day and night, like the Angels, with
-no sense of fatigue or satiety, and whose will they ever obey with the
-keenest joy. Free agents, they are never inclined towards the evil. They
-turn towards the good as readily as the flower towards the light.
-
-Passing on to the cosmogonical part of the Zabian system, we find that it
-is based on the existence of five primæval principles,--the Creator,
-Reason, the Soul, Space, and the Void. These are the constituents of all
-creation. But apart from these, or comprehending these, the Zabians seem
-to have regarded two principles, GOD and the Soul, as specially active and
-ever-living. Some writers represent them as believing also in a passive
-principle, Matter; and in two principles which are neither living nor
-passive, Time and Space. They appear to have regarded Matter as primeval
-and everlasting, and to have ascribed to it the origin and duration of
-Evil. GOD Himself created only the spheres, and the heavenly bodies which
-they contain. These spheres (fathers) convey the types or ideas to the
-elementary substances (mothers), and out of the combination, conjunction,
-and motion of these spheres and elements are produced the various earthly
-things (children). According to the Zabians, the world is renewed with
-every "world-year," or cycle, that is once every 36,425 ordinary years.
-And at the close of each cycle, the life, vegetable, animal, and human
-that had flourished within it cease to multiply, and new forms or types
-spring into existence.
-
-The vacillating and contending nature of man is due to the contradictory
-elements of which he is composed. The desires and passions which sway him
-to and fro, depress him to the low standard of the brute creation, and his
-fall would be complete but for such religious rites as purifications,
-sacrifices, and other means of grace. Through these he is able again to
-draw near to the great gods, and to attain a resemblance unto them. The
-human soul is dual, that is, it consists partly of the nature of the
-animal soul and partly of that of the angelic soul. It is immortal, and
-subject to future recompense and punishment, but not for ever, nor in any
-world but this, though at different epochs of existence. Hence, our
-present happiness is a reward for the good deeds done by us in an earlier
-stage of existence; and our present suffering the just chastisement for
-evil actions committed in the past. In its nature they hold that the soul
-is primitive, because otherwise it must be material, and a material soul
-is an impossibility.
-
-"The soul," says Kathibi, one of the Zabian teachers, "is thus immaterial,
-and exists from eternity; is the involuntary reason of the first types, as
-GOD is the First Cause of the Intelligences. Once on a time the soul
-beheld matter and loved it. Glowing with the desire of assuming a bodily
-shape, it would not again separate itself from that matter of which the
-world was created. Since that time, the soul forgot itself, its
-everlasting existence, its original abode, and knew nothing more of what
-it had formerly known. But GOD, who converts all things to the best,
-united it to matter, which it loved, and out of this union the heavens,
-the elements, and other composite things arose. In order that the soul
-might not wholly perish within matter, He endowed it with intelligence,
-whereby it conceived its high origin, the spiritual world, and itself. It
-further conceived through it that it was but a stranger in this world, in
-which it was subject to many sufferings, and that even the joys of this
-world are but the sources of new sufferings. As soon as the soul had
-perceived all this, it began to yearn again for its spiritual home, as a
-man who is away from his birthplace pines for his homestead. It then also
-learned, that, in order to return to its primitive state, it had to shake
-off the fetters of sensuous desires, and liberate itself from all
-materialistic tendencies. Far from them all, it would once more regain its
-heavenly sphere, and enjoy the bliss of the spiritual world."[44]
-
-Such is an outline of the religious system which flourished from the
-middle of the ninth to the middle of the eleventh century, under the name
-of Zabism.
-
-Evidently, out of _this_ Zabaism Serpent-worship could not spring, because
-it is of much greater antiquity. What then is the Zabism to which Bryant
-alludes? A purely imaginary creed, which the mediæval, Jewish, Arabic, and
-Persian writers identified with star-worship. The Mohammedan and other
-writers of the twelfth century bestowed the name of Zabians indifferently
-upon the ancient Chaldeans, the Buddhists, even the ante-Zoroastrian
-Persians; and Bryant has followed their mistaken example. As a matter of
-fact, Serpent-worship is a relic of nature-worship,--more particularly of
-the old solar worship,--and the Serpent at first was unquestionably an
-emblem of the Sun.
-
-In Babylon large serpents of silver supported the image of the goddess
-Rhea, in the temple of Bel, or Belus; and the name Bel itself is thought
-by some writers to be an abbreviation of Ob-el, "the Serpent-God." In the
-Apocryphal book of Bel and the Dragon, we read: "In that same place there
-was a great Dragon, which they of Babylon worshipped. And the king said
-unto Daniel: Wilt thou say that this is of brass? lo, he eateth and
-drinketh: thou canst not say he is no living god: therefore worship him."
-
-Speaking of the earlier stage of the Persian religion, Eusebius remarks
-that all the Persians worshipped the First Principles under the form of
-Serpents, having dedicated to them temples in which they performed
-sacrifices, and held festivals and orgies, esteeming them the greatest of
-Gods, and governors of the Universe.
-
-These first principles were the principles of Good and Evil, or Ormuzd and
-Ahriman, whose terrible struggle for the supremacy of the universe was
-symbolised in Persian mythology by two serpents contending for the mundane
-egg. They are represented as standing upon their tails, and each of them
-has fastened its teeth upon the disputed prize. But, more generally, the
-Evil Principle alone was represented by the serpent, and a fable in the
-Zendavesta recalls to our recollection the opening of the Book of Genesis;
-for it says that Ahriman assumed a serpent's form in order to destroy the
-first of the human race, whom he accordingly poisoned.
-
-In the Saddu, or Suddu, it is said: "When you kill serpents, you shall
-repeat the Zendavesta, whereby you will obtain great merit; for it is the
-same as if you had killed so many devils."
-
-Mithras, the Persian sun-god, was represented encircled by a serpent; and
-in his rites a custom was observed similar to that practised in the
-mysteries of Sebazius: a serpent was cast into the bosom of the neophyte,
-and taken out at the lower part of his garments.[45]
-
-The hierogram of the winged circle and serpent is a remarkable and
-significant emblem of Ophiolatreia, and is found in almost every country
-where Serpent-worship prevailed. It is to be traced in the Egyptian, the
-Persian, and even the Aztec hieroglyphics; and on the monuments of China,
-Greece, Italy, Asia Minor, and India. Enthusiasts allege that it has been
-discovered in Britain. It seems to have been a general symbol of
-_consecration_, and as such mention is made of it by the poet Persius:
-
-  "Pinge duos angues; pueri sacer est locus."
-                                _Satir._ i. 113.
-
-Reference is here made to _two_ snakes, which, as we have seen, is the
-hierogram of the worshippers of the Two Principles, each being represented
-by a serpent. Generally, however, it is one serpent only that issues from
-the winged circle, and sometimes the circle is without wings. As a
-consecrating symbol, the ophite hierogram was inscribed upon the massive
-portals of the Egyptian temples. Mr. Deane contends that the Druids "with
-the consistent magnificence which characterised their religion,"
-transferred the symbol from the portal to the temple; and instead of
-placing the circle and serpent over the entrance into their sanctuaries,
-erected the whole building in the form of the ophite hierogram, as at
-Abury in Wiltshire, and Stanton Drew in Somersetshire. The former
-represents the ophite hierogram with one serpent, the latter is double; in
-both cases the circle has no wings.
-
-In Argyllshire, near Oban, exists a huge serpent-shaped mound, discovered
-by Mr. Phené in 1871, which must be mentioned in this connection. Looking
-down upon it from the high ground to the westward, you see it rising
-conspicuously from the flat grassy plain, which extends for some distance
-on either side, with scarcely an undulation, save two artificial circular
-mounds, in one of which lie several large stones forming a cromlech. A
-recent visitor writes:
-
-"Finding ourselves in the very presence of the Great Dragon, we hastened
-to improve our acquaintance, and in a couple of minutes had scrambled on
-to the ridge which forms his backbone, and thence perceived that we were
-standing on an artificial mound three hundred feet in length, forming a
-double curve like a huge letter S, and wonderfully perfect in anatomical
-outline. This we perceived the more perfectly on reaching the head, which
-lies at the western end, whence diverge small ridges, which may have
-represented the paws of the reptile. On the head rests a circle of stones,
-supposed to be emblematic of the solar disc, and exactly corresponding
-with the solar circle as represented on the head of the mystic serpents of
-Egypt and Phoenicia, and in the great American Serpent Mound. At the time
-of Mr. Phené's first visit to this spot there still remained in the centre
-of this circle some traces of an altar, which, thanks to the depredations
-of cattle and herd-boys, have since wholly disappeared....
-
-"The circle was excavated on the 12th of October, 1871, and within it were
-found three large stones, forming a chamber, which contained burnt human
-bones, charcoal, and charred hazel-nuts. Surely the spirits of our Pagan
-ancestors must rejoice to see how faithfully we, their descendants,
-continue to burn our hazel-nuts on Hallow-e'en, their old autumnal Fire
-Festival, though our modern divination is practised only with reference to
-such a trivial matter as the faith of sweethearts! A flint was also found,
-beautifully and minutely serrated at the edge; nevertheless, it was at
-once evident, on opening the cairn, that the place had already been
-ransacked, probably in secret, by treasure-seekers, as there is no
-tradition of any excavation for scientific purposes having ever been made
-here.
-
-"On the removal of the peat-moss and heather from the ridge of the
-serpent's back, it was found that the whole length of the spine was
-carefully constructed with regularly and symmetrically placed stones, at
-such an angle as to throw off rain; an adjustment to which we doubtless
-owe the preservation, or at least the perfection, of this most remarkable
-relic. To those who know how slow is the growth of peat-moss, even in damp
-and undrained places, the depth to which it has here attained, though in a
-dry and thoroughly exposed situation and raised from seventeen to twenty
-feet above the level of the surrounding moss, tells of many a long century
-of silent undisturbed growth, since the days when the serpent's spine was
-the well-worn path daily trodden by reverent feet. The spine is, in fact,
-a long narrow causeway, made of large stones, set like the vertebræ of
-some huge animal. They form a ridge sloping off in an angle at each side,
-which is continued downwards with an arrangement of smaller stones,
-suggestive of ribs."
-
-This strange memorial of a departed age and a vanished faith, lying in the
-silence and solitude of the lonely shore of Loch Nell, recalls to mind
-the eloquent lines of an American poet:[46]
-
-  "All desolate their ruins rest,
-  Like bark that in mid-ocean rolls,
-  Her name effaced, her masts o'erthrown,
-  And none remaining of the souls
-  That once sailed in her, to relate
-  From what far distant port she came;
-  Whither she sailed and what her fate,
-  And what her nation and her name.
-  But only may conjecture guess
-  The fancied story of this place,
-  And from these crumbling ruins gain
-  Some knowledge of the vanished race."
-
-It must be noticed that the serpent-mound has been so disposed that the
-worshipper standing at the altar would naturally look eastward, directly
-along the whole length of the great reptile, and across the dark lake, to
-the threefold peaks of Ben Cruachan. That this position was intentionally
-selected is evident from the fact that the three peaks are visible from no
-other point.
-
-And hence arises the not wholly fanciful conjecture that the people who
-erected the great mound had some dim idea of the Triune character of GOD.
-The serpent was the emblem of His wisdom, as the solar circle was of His
-Eternal Unity; and this marked reverence for the triple-peaked mountain
-seems to indicate that with a knowledge of His unity was combined a
-recognition of His threefold manifestation.
-
-The writer whom we have already quoted remarks that, whatever doubts may
-arise on speculative points, the clearly defined outlines of the great
-Serpent-mound of Oban are beyond dispute; though it may long prove a
-fertile subject for discussion, whether its serpentine, or rather, Saurian
-form is to be accepted as direct evidence of ophiolatry in this land, or
-whether we should regard it as simply the representative of some
-tribe,--as, in short, a Totem of some extinct British race answering to
-the Nagas, or snake-tribes of the East. The former supposition seems the
-more reasonable, when we remember that the serpent and the serpent's egg
-were held sacred by the Druids. Serpent-worship prevailed in every nation
-of antiquity. It flourished in Greece and Rome, in Egypt and Chaldea, in
-Arabia and Central Asia; it extended throughout the Indian peninsula from
-Cape Comorin to Kashmir; it was practised in Ceylon and the islands of the
-eastern seas; in Mexico and Peru; throughout the whole of Africa. Passing
-northward, we find that it existed in Scythia and Scandinavia, as also
-among vast tribes near the Oural mountains and throughout Northern Europe,
-and particularly among the tribes on the Ob or Obi river, which owes its
-name, it is said, to the veneration paid to the reptile. Until the end of
-the fourteenth century, when Christianity was introduced, the people of
-Poland worshipped domestic serpents, which were allowed to run free in
-every house, and carefully tended, every mishap that occurred being
-attributed to some negligence in their service. The Lapps, the Finns, the
-Norwegians, the Swedes, the Danes, all fostered these strange household
-gods, and shared with them the children's milk. The Vandals also kept
-them; some lived in hollow trees, and thither repaired the women, with
-their offerings of milk, as is common at the present day in Ceylon and
-many parts of India. Long after they had accepted the faith of CHRIST, the
-Lombards continued a form of serpent-worship, adoring, or paying homage
-to, a golden viper and a tree. In 663, Barbatus, Bishop of Benevento,
-finding the custom still observed, made a successful appeal to the
-worshippers to cut down the tree, and allow him to melt the golden viper
-into a sacramental chalice.
-
-One of the most interesting of the supposed Serpent-temples, or
-_dracontia_, is that of Karnak. It is situated half a mile from the
-village of that name, in the department of the Morbihan in Brittany, and
-about nine miles from the picturesque town of Auray. It is also within a
-mile of the Bay of Quiberon.
-
-The whole length of "the Stones of Karnak," as the temple is called,
-measures, if we include its sinuosities, eight miles. The width varies
-from 250 to 350 feet. The highest stones are as much as seventeen feet
-high, and from thirty to forty feet in circumference. Vacant spaces have
-unfortunately been cleared by ruthless spoliators for the erection of the
-adjacent villages of Ploermel and Karnak, and the boundary walls of the
-neighbouring fields. But what toil and time must have been originally
-expended on its construction, we may infer from the fact that it consisted
-of eleven rows of stones, about ten thousand in number, of which upwards
-of three hundred averaged from fifteen to seventeen feet in height, and
-from sixteen to twenty or thirty feet in girth; one stone even measuring
-the huge circumference of forty-two feet.
-
-A glance at any engraving of this famous antiquity will show that the
-course of the avenues is distinctly sinuous, and that it defines the
-figure of an enormous serpent undulating over the ground. Necessarily,
-however, the resemblance is more striking to one who views the original
-_in situ_. To such, the alternations of the high and low stones, regularly
-disposed, may seem to mark with sufficient accuracy "the swelling of the
-serpent's muscles as he moves along," though this seems rather a flight of
-imagination. But at all events the spectator will acknowledge the evidence
-of design which clearly appears in the construction of the avenues.
-
-The Dracontium contains ten regularly defined areas; one near the village
-of Karnak, which is shaped like a bell or horse-shoe; the other, towards
-the eastern extremity, which approaches the figure of a rude circle, and
-is in reality a parallelogram with rounded corners.
-
-The circle and the horse-shoe were both sacred figures in the Druidical
-religion, as may be seen in Stonehenge, where they are united, the outer
-circles enclosing inner horse-shoes. The connection between the latter
-symbol and the Celtic faith is not very clear, unless it be intended as a
-representation of the moon. It has been conjectured that from this symbol,
-whatever may have been its signification, arose the superstition--even not
-now wholly defunct--of nailing a horse-shoe over a door as a protection
-against evil spirits.
-
-It is curious that at Erdeven, where the temple begins, an annual dance,
-descriptive of the Ophite hierogram of the circle and serpent, is still
-celebrated by the peasants at the Carnival. But the only tradition which
-survives respecting the stones is one which lingers in various parts of
-England where similar memorials are found, that they were originally
-endowed with life, and were petrified as they stand. Some of the Bretons
-believe they were the Roman army who pursued the centurion Cornelius on
-account of his conversion to Christianity, and were stricken into stone
-through his prayers. Others imagine that certain supernatural dwarfs
-erected them in a single night, and that each still inhabits the stone he
-reared.
-
-Mr. Deane tells us that near the Karnak side of the dracontium rises a
-singular mound of great elevation, which has once been conical, and the
-upper portion of which is evidently artificial.[47] He regards it as
-analogous to the remarkable hill of Silbury, which occupies much the same
-position towards the Albury dracontium. Probably these mounds served as
-altars, on which, in conformity with the practices of the Solar worship,
-was kept burning the perpetual fire kindled by the sun. They are of common
-occurrence in Persia, and seem to be identical with "the high places" of
-Scripture where the priests of Baal celebrated their sacrifices. The
-conical mound near Karnak--which may be seen for miles around--has been
-consecrated by the Christians to the Archangel Michael, who is the patron
-saint of every height, hill, or cone, natural or artificial, in Brittany.
-The reason of this dedication has been conjectured to be that S. Michael
-is the assailant and conqueror of the spiritual Dragon of the Apocalypse.
-The mutilated image of that great serpent lies prostrate below the mound;
-and when its worshippers were converted to the religion of CHRIST, they
-naturally erected on the Solar mount a chapel consecrated to its
-archangelic slayer. This consecration indicates, therefore, the triumph of
-Christianity over Ophiolatry; and it is but consistent, says Deane, that
-the people who allegorised the conversion of the Ophites by the metaphor
-of a victory over _serpents_, should, in token of the victory, erect upon
-the high places of idolatry chapels to the great Archangel.
-
-It is possible that the mound gave name to the adjacent village: that is,
-Karn-ak, or Carnac, from "_cairn_" a hill, and "_hac_," a snake. The
-"serpent's hill" would be no unsuitable title for Mont S. Michel. In the
-same manner the group of pillars called _Lemaenac_, may have been named
-from _maen_, stones, and _hac_.
-
-It is curious to find proofs of the existence of Serpent-worship in the
-New World as in the Old; to meet with its traces in Mexico as well as in
-Egypt or Chaldea. But certain it is that the religion of Mexico had many
-features which were common to the Egyptian and Chaldean creeds; the same
-Solar Worship, the same pyramidal monuments, and the same Ophiolatrous
-symbols.
-
-For instance, we learn that the temple of Huitziliputli, in Mexico, was
-built of great stones, in the fashion of snakes tied one to another, and
-that the circuit was called "the circuit of snakes," because the walls of
-the enclosure were covered with the figures of snakes. This
-truculent-looking deity held in his right hand a staff cut in the fashion
-of a serpent; and the four corners of the ark or tabernacle, in which he
-was seated, terminated each with a carved effigy of a serpent's head.
-
-The Mexican astronomers represented a century by a circle, with a sun in
-the centre, surrounded by the symbols of the years. The circumference was
-a serpent twisted into four knots at the cardinal points.
-
-The Mexican month was divided into twenty days, two of which were
-symbolised by the serpent and dragon. Further, the doorway of the temple,
-dedicated to "the god of the air," was so wrought as to resemble a
-serpent's mouth.
-
-The Mexicans, however, went beyond the _symbolical_ worship of the sacred
-serpent, and like many other branches of the Ophite family, they fostered
-living serpents in their dwellings as household gods. Mr. Bullock asserts
-that they make the rattlesnake an object of their worship and veneration;
-and that representations of this reptile, and of others of its species,
-are very commonly met with among the remains of their ancient idolatry. He
-says that the finest known to be in existence may be seen in a deserted
-part of the cloister of the Dominican convent, opposite to the Palace of
-the Inquisition. It is curled up in an irritated, erect position, with the
-jaws extended, and is represented in the act of gorging a woman, richly
-dressed, who lies between its fangs, crushed and lacerated.
-
-The Conquistadors, or Spanish followers of Cortez, all assert that the
-Aztecs, or inhabitants of Mexico, worshipped an idol wrought into the
-shape of a serpent. Bonal Dias del Castello, one of the Spanish invader's
-veteran captains, and the chronicler of the expedition, describes the
-interior of the principal temple, to which he and his leader were
-conducted by the Emperor Montezuma: "When we had ascended to the summit of
-the temple, we observed on the platform as we passed, the large stones on
-which were placed the victims intended for sacrifice. Here was a great
-figure representing a Dragon, and much blood lay spilled. Cortez,
-addressing Montezuma, requested him to do him the favour to show his gods.
-After consulting the priests, Montezuma led them into a tower where was a
-kind of hall. Here were two altars, highly adorned with richly-wrought
-timbers on the roof; above the roof, spread gigantic figures like unto
-men. The one on the right hand was Huitzilopochtli, their war god, with a
-great face and terrible eyes. This figure was entirely covered with gold
-and jewels, and his body wreathed about with golden serpents. Before the
-idol smoked a pan of incense, in which the hearts of three human victims
-were burning, mixed with copal. The other great figure, on the left, with
-a face like a bear's, was the god of the infernal regions. His body was
-everywhere covered with figures of devils, having serpents' tails. In this
-place was kept a drum of most enormous dimensions, the head of which was
-made of the skins of large serpents. At a short distance from the temple
-stood a tower, and at the door grinned frightful idols, like serpents and
-devils: in front of these were tables and knives for sacrifice."
-
-Mr. Bullock, who made a valuable collection of Mexican antiquities,
-describes an idol, "the goddess of war," on which Cortez and his followers
-may possibly have looked:
-
-"This monstrous idol," he says, "is, with its pedestal, twelve feet high,
-and four feet wide. Its form is partly human and partly composed of
-rattlesnakes and the tiger. The head, enormously wide, seems that of two
-rattlesnakes united; the fangs hanging out of the mouth, on which the
-still-palpitating hearts of the unfortunate victims were rubbed as an act
-of the most acceptable oblation. The body is that of a deformed man, the
-place of arms being supplied by the heads of rattlesnakes, placed on
-square plinths, and united by fringed ornaments. Round the waist is a
-girdle, which was originally encrusted with gold; and beneath this,
-reaching nearly to the ground, and partly covering its deformed cloven
-feet, a drapery entirely composed of wreathed rattlesnakes, which the
-natives call "a garment of serpents.... Between the feet, descending from
-the body, another wreathed serpent rests his head upon the ground."
-
-"The only worship," says Mr. Deane,[48] "which can vie with that of the
-Serpent in antiquity or universality, is the adoration of the SUN. But
-uniformly with the progress of the Solar superstitions has advanced the
-sacred serpent from Babylon to Peru. If the worship of the Sun, therefore,
-was the first deviation from the truth, the worship of the Serpent was one
-of the first innovations of idolatry. Whatever doubt may exist as to which
-was the first error, little doubt can arise as to the primitive and
-antediluvian character of both. For in the earliest heathen records we
-find them inexplicably interwoven as the first of superstitions. Thus
-Egyptian mythology informs us, that Helios (the Sun) was the first of the
-Egyptian gods; for in early history, kings and gods are generally
-confounded. But Helios married Ops, the serpent deity, and became father
-of Osiris, Isis, Typhoeus, Apollo, and Venus: a tradition which would make
-the superstitions coeval. This fable being reduced to more simple laws,
-informs us, that the Sun, having married the Serpent, became, by this
-union, the father of Adam and Eve, the Evil Spirit, the Serpent-solar
-deity, and Lust; which appears to be a confusion of Scriptural truths, in
-which chronological order is sacrificed from the simplification of a
-fable. But--_ex pede Herculem_--from the small fragments of the truth
-which are here combined, we may judge of the original dimensions of the
-knowledge whose ruins are thus heaped together. We may conclude that,
-since idolatry, lust, the serpent, and the evil spirit, are here said to
-have been synchronous with the First Man and Woman, the whole fable is
-little more than a mythological version of the events in Paradise."
-
-Mr. Deane, who lived before the days of Comparative Mythology, read into
-the old fables a meaning which they are hardly capable of bearing. It is
-clear enough that Serpent-worship had an astronomical origin; but we may
-agree with him that it was as ancient and universal as the worship of the
-Sun, with which, indeed, it was closely connected.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-We shall now borrow a few illustrations of the character, extent, and
-significance of Serpent-worship from Mr. Fergusson's elaborate work,[49]
-in which he deals particularly with the Topes at Sanchi and Amravati. But,
-first, a word or two in explanation of the origin and purpose of the Topes
-will be desirable.
-
-The era of stone architecture in India seems to have begun with the reign
-of Asoka about 250 B.C. It is contemporaneous with the rise of Buddhism,
-whose followers gradually usurped the place formerly occupied by the
-Aryans. The Buddhist buildings then erected may be divided into three
-principal classes:
-
-1st. _Topes_ or _Stupas_, with their surrounding rails and lats:
-
-2nd. _Chaityas_, which, in form and purpose, closely resemble the early
-Churches of the Christians, though several of those cut in the rock were,
-in all probability, excavated before the Christian era: and,
-
-3rd. _Viharas_, or Monasteries, forming in the earliest times the
-dwellings of the monks or priests who ministered in the Topes or Chaityas,
-but afterwards becoming the independent abode of monastic communities, who
-had chapels or oratories appropriated to their use within the walls of
-their monasteries.
-
-We are here concerned only with the Tope or Stupa.
-
-In its origin we suspect that it simply took the place of the mound or
-tumulus which the Turanian and other races had from earliest ages been
-accustomed to raise over the last resting-place of their dead. No such
-tumuli now exist in India, having probably been washed away by the
-tropical rains or river-floods; but some are still found in Afghanistan.
-The Indian type is distinguished from the tumulus of other countries by
-its material and its shape. It is built of brick or stone, in a rounded or
-conical form. It is distinguished also by the circumstance that instead of
-being the place of interment of a corpse, it is the depository of relics.
-
-Besides being used as a relic-shrine, the Tope was frequently employed as
-a memorial tower to indicate a sacred spot. Of the 84,000 Stupas which,
-according to tradition, Asoka erected, fully one half would seem to have
-been raised to mark the scenes where Buddha or some Bôdhisatwa had
-performed a miracle or done something worthy of being remembered by the
-faithful.
-
-The "rails," or stone-circles, surrounding the Indian Topes are often of
-as much importance as the Topes themselves; and in the case of Sanchi and
-Amravati, are even _more_ important. As with the Topes, they are
-sepulchral in origin. "The circles of rude stones found all over Europe
-certainly are so in most cases. They may sometimes enclose holy spots, and
-may possibly have in some instances places of assembly, though this is
-improbable. Their application to the purposes of ancestral worship is,
-however, not only probable, but appropriate. Sometimes a circle of stones
-encloses a sepulchral mound, as at New Grange in Ireland, and very
-frequently in Scandinavia and Algeria. In India rude stone circles are of
-frequent occurrence." Some hundreds are found in the neighbourhood of
-Amravati alone, and all are sepulchral; but like the Topes when adopted by
-the Buddhists, they were "sublimated into a symbol instead of a reality."
-
-Reference must briefly be made to another group of early Buddhist
-monuments, the lats or stembhas, of which very few are now extant in
-India, the British engineer having used them for his roads, and the native
-zemindar for his rice or sugar mills. Those erected by Asoka are uniform
-in character: circular stone shafts, monoliths, thirty or forty feet high,
-and surmounted by a capital of a bell-shaped or falling leaf form,
-imitated from the later Grecian architecture. They were erected in order
-that certain edicts might be engraved upon them, which Asoka desired to
-keep constantly in the remembrance and before the eyes of his subjects.
-But in the fifth century, those raised by the Guptas had no other object
-than to perpetuate the name and fame of their royal founders.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-The Topes at Sanchi form part of a large group of Topes situated between
-the towns of Bhilsa and Bhopul in Central India. They range over an area
-about seventeen miles from east to west, and about ten miles from north to
-south, in five or six different clusters, and number in all between forty
-and fifty of various dimensions. It is believed that the smallest are
-merely the places of interment of local chiefs; others are strictly
-Dagobas, or relic-shrines; while the largest is a chaitya or stupa,
-designed apparently to consecrate some sacred spot, or perpetuate the
-memory of some remarkable event in Buddhist history.
-
-Architecturally speaking, it consists, first, of a basement 121 feet in
-diameter and 14 feet in height. This is surmounted by a platform or
-procession path, within which the dome or tumulus itself rises in the
-shape of a truncated hemisphere to a height of 39 feet. The summit is a
-level area, measuring 34 feet across, and surrounded by a circular railing
-or barrier of stones, which enclosed a square Tu or reliquary, 11-1/2 feet
-square, and this in its turn enclosed a circular support for the sacred
-and symbolic umbrella that always crowned these edifices.
-
-At a distance of 9-1/2 feet from the base, the tope is encircled by a
-rail, eleven feet high, and consisting apparently of one hundred pillars,
-exclusive of the gateways. Each pillar seems to have been the gift of an
-individual, and even the rails between them have apparently been
-contributed by different persons. The rail or circle is devoid of
-sculpture; but four gateways which were added to it about the Christian
-era are covered with sculptured work of the most elaborate kind.
-
-The human figures represented in these sculptures belong in the main to
-two great races. One of them is easily recognised as "Hindus,"--"meaning
-by that term the civilized race who formerly occupied the valley of the
-Ganges, and who, from their capitals of Ayodhyâ and Indraprastha or
-Pâtaliputra (Palibothra), had been the dominant class in India for at
-least two thousand years before the time to which we are now referring."
-It may be taken as proved that these people were originally pure
-immigrant Aryans, but by intermixture with other races their blood took,
-as it were, a new colouring, though they did not lose the civilisation and
-pre-eminence which they owed to their intellectual superiority.
-
-We know them in the sculptures by their costume; by the dhoti, wrapped
-round the loins exactly as it is worn now-a-days; the chadder over their
-shoulders; and the turban on their heads. So much for the dress of the
-men; of the undress of the women it is more difficult to speak. They are
-always decorated with enormous bangles about the wrists and ankles, and
-strings of beads round the neck; but with the exception of a bead belt
-round the body below the waist they wear little body clothing. From this
-belt slips of cloth are sometimes suspended, more generally at the sides
-or behind than in front,--and sometimes also a cloth not unlike a dhoti,
-invariably of transparent texture. This scantiness of attire can hardly be
-regarded as finding compensation in the dimensions and amplitude of the
-head-dress, which, consisting of two long plaits of hair mixed with beads,
-and a thick roll of cloth, forms almost a kind of tippet, covering the
-whole of the woman's back.
-
-Mr. Fergusson remarks:[50]
-
-"It is, however, not only in the Topes that this absence of dress is so
-conspicuous. In all the sculptures at Karli, or Ellora, or Mahavellipore,
-or in the paintings in Ajanta, the same peculiarity is observable.
-Everywhere, indeed, before the Mahometan conquest, nudity in India
-conveyed no sense of indecency. The wife and mother of Buddha are at times
-represented in this manner. The queen on her throne, the female disciples
-of Buddha, listening to his exhortations, and on every public occasion on
-which women take part in what is going on, the costume is the same. It is
-equally remarkable that in those days those unveiled females seem to have
-taken part in every public transaction and show, and to have mixed with
-the men as freely as women do in Europe at the present day.
-
-"All this is the more remarkable, as in Buddhist books modesty of dress in
-women is frequently insisted upon. In the Dulva, for instance, a story is
-told of the King of Kalinga presenting to the King of Kosála (probably
-Padh), a piece of muslin, which afterwards fell into the hands of a lewd
-priestess. She, it is said, wore it in public, while it was so thin that
-she, notwithstanding this, appeared naked to the great scandal of all who
-witnessed the exhibition.[51] The probability is, that the story and the
-book that contains it are of very much more modern date than our
-sculptures. It certainly is in direct conflict with their evidence."
-
-The want of shame in women, to which this exposure of the person bears
-witness, is always the mark and sign of inferior civilisation.
-
-The other race depicted in the sculptures has its distinctive
-characteristics. The male costume consists of a kilt,--not a cloth wrapped
-round the loins, but a kilt, shaped, sewn, and fastened by buckle or
-string;--and also of a cloak or tippet, which seems to be similarly shaped
-and sewn. As for the hair, it is twisted into a long rope or plait like a
-Chinaman's, and then folded round the head in a conical form, or a piece
-of cloth or rope was treated in this way. The beard is worn, whereas no
-single individual of the Hindu race, either at Sanchi or Amravati, has any
-trace of beard or moustache; a circumstance the more remarkable, because,
-according to Nearchus, the Hindus dyed their beards with various colours,
-so that some were red, some white, some black, others purple, some green.
-The female dress differs from that of the Hindus even more than the male.
-A striped petticoat is gathered in at the knees so as to form a neat and
-modest garb, and a cloak or tippet like that of the men is thrown
-generally over one shoulder so as to leave one breast bare, but sometimes
-both are covered. The head-dress is a neat and elegant turban.
-
-Who then are these people? From the peculiarities of their costume, and
-their living in the woods, some authorities are inclined to regard them as
-priests or ascetics, though, it is to be noted, they are nowhere
-represented as worshipping Topes, hero-wheels, or the disc and crescent
-symbols (the sun and moon.) In one compartment, however, they are
-evidently worshipping the serpent in a fire-temple. Fergusson concludes
-that they were the aboriginal inhabitants of Malwa, to whom came the
-Hindus as conquerors or missionaries (or both?) The Topes were erected
-and the sculpture wrought by the conquering race, and the others are
-always represented as inferior and engaged in servile employments, but not
-as converts to Buddhism. The only act of adoration in which we see them
-concerned is the adoration of the five-headed Naga. Mr. Fergusson proposes
-to call them Dasyus, not because such a name has any local or traditional
-authority, but because in the Vedas and the heroic poems it seems to be
-applied to the aboriginal people of India as opposed to the Aryans.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-Proceeding now to a consideration of the sculptures, we find that one half
-of those at Sanchi represent religious acts, such as the worship of the
-Dagoba or of Trees. Once or twice the Wheel is the object of adoration,
-and once the Serpent. Other bas-reliefs represent events in history, and
-some again are devoted to the ordinary incidents of every man's life.
-Their general execution is vigorous though rude. Those at Amravati "are
-perhaps as near in scale of excellence to the contemporary art of the
-Roman empire under Constantine, as to any other that could be named; or,
-rather, they should be compared with the sculptures of the early Italian
-Renaissance, as it culminated in the hands of Ghiberti, and before the
-true limits between the provinces of painting and sculpture were
-understood."
-
-Let us describe an upper bas-relief which has been found on the eastern
-gateway.
-
-Here the people whom Mr. Fergusson calls Dasyus are represented
-worshipping the five-headed Naga, or Serpent, which appears in a small
-hexagonal temple, raising its head over something very like an altar. In
-front stands a pot of fire,--probably a fire-altar,--and in spite of Mr.
-Fergusson's doubts, we think both the Serpent and the Fire are connected
-with the old Sun-worship.[52]
-
-In the foreground an old man is seated in a circular leaf-thatched hut,
-with, according to a frequent Indian custom, a scarf bound round his knees
-and loins. Behind him in the hut is suspended his upper garment, and in
-front a bearded senior, of his own tribe, is, to all appearance,
-addressing him. Near this individual stands another pot of fire, with
-three pairs of tongs or ladles, and a bundle of sticks to feed the flame.
-Close beside him we see one elephant, two buffaloes, sheep, and deer. The
-scene takes place in a forest. Above are trees and cocks, with monkeys and
-peacocks; below, a reedy marsh opens into a lake blooming with
-lotus-flowers and occupied by geese.
-
-A lower bas-relief in the same gateway puts before us a very different
-scene:
-
-In the centre of the upper part blooms the sacred Buddhist Tree, behind
-its altar, with its Chattee and garlands, occupying a position similar to
-that of the serpent in the other bas-relief. Two Garudas or Devas, or
-flying figures, present garlands, and two females, instead of griffins,
-approach it on either side.
-
-In the lower part of the picture, the Inja, or chief male personage, sits
-enthroned upon the Naga, and is sheltered by its five-headed hood. On his
-right crouch three women on stools, eating and drinking, and each with her
-tutelary or snake behind her; and above them are a female Chaori bearer
-and a woman with a bottle--there are snakes behind both. On the other side
-are two women playing on drums, two on harps, one on a flute, and a fifth
-dancing, but all likewise with snakes, and all in the costume which Mr.
-Fergusson defines as that of the Hindus.
-
-The worship of the Naga by the bearded Dasyus as represented in the upper
-bas-relief, does not occur again at Sanchi, and occurs only once at
-Amravati. There, however, the five-headed snake is seen very frequently in
-front of the dagoba, and in a position which is designed to command the
-worship, not only of the Dasyus, but of the whole world.
-
-The Hindu male or chief canopied by the Naga, as shown in the lower
-bas-relief, occurs at least ten times at Sanchi, and must have occurred
-several hundred times at Amravati.
-
-Mr. Fergusson asks, what are we to infer from these facts? Is it that the
-Naga, or serpent, was the god of the aborigines, whom the conquering
-Hindus adopted as their own deity, and pretended that it was for _them_ he
-reserved his patronage and support? We must recollect that the Topes were
-built and the sculptures carved by Hindus, and that there is no
-representation of a Hindu doing honour to a snake; on the contrary, the
-snake always does homage to the Hindu.
-
-Shall we conclude, then, that the Hindus were the real Naga-worshipping
-people, and that it was they who enforced serpent-worship on the Dasyus? A
-conquered people have not infrequently imposed their language, laws, and
-religion on their conquerors.
-
-It is, perhaps, impossible to answer these questions: a cloud of obscurity
-hangs over the whole subject of Snake-worship; but we take it to have been
-the old and prevalent faith of the aborigines of India prior to the Aryan
-immigration, and we believe that the Aryans adopted it more and more
-generally as they mixed more and more widely with the Hindus, and their
-blood became less and less pure. It is not mentioned in the Vedas; there
-is scarcely an allusion in the Râmâyana; in the Mahâbâhrata it occupies a
-considerable space; it appears timidly at Sanchi in the first century of
-the Christian era; is triumphant at Amravati in the fourth; and might have
-become the dominant faith of India had it not been elbowed from its pride
-of place by Vishnuism and Sivaism, which took its position when it fell
-together with the Buddhism to which it had allied itself so closely.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-We turn to the celebrated Tope at Amravati, a town situated on the river
-Kishna. The dimensions of the Tope are 195 feet for inside diameter of the
-outer circle, and 165 feet for that of the inner. The procession path is
-paved with slabs 13 feet long, and the inner rail is 2 feet wide. It has
-four gateways, and projecting about 30 feet beyond the outer rail; but
-these are in so dilapidated a condition that their size cannot be
-accurately ascertained.
-
-These circles, or circular bas-reliefs, from the intermediate rails of the
-outer enclosure are thus described:
-
-In the upper circle on the right hand side a group of Buddhist priests,
-in their yellow robes, may be seen worshipping. In front two supple women,
-such as so frequently occur in these sculptures, bend in attitudes of
-adoration, and on the left a chief in the ordinary Hindu
-costume--surrounded by the women of his family--presents his little son to
-the Buddha-emblem.
-
-In the lower circle the same structural arrangements occur up to the
-Trisul (or emblem), but the whole is surmounted by the Chakra, or Wheel,
-which we know to be the symbol of Dharma or the Law. Here all the
-worshippers are men; it is, we are told, one of the very few scenes in
-these sculptures from which women are entirely excluded. Whether it was
-considered that the study of the Law was unsuited for women, or whether
-some other motive governed the designers, certain it is that, contrary to
-the usual rule, the whole of the worshippers are of one sex and one race.
-The only other noticeable peculiarity is the introduction of two
-antelopes, one on each side of the throne.
-
-The second circle represents the Trisul ornament, or emblem, not on a
-throne, but behind an altar. The sacred feet of Buddha are depicted, but
-there are no relics. In the upper compartment the principal worshippers
-are two men with seven-headed snake-hoods, and two women with single
-snakes.
-
-In the centre of the bas-relief sits the principal personage, with a
-nine-headed snake-hood, between two of his wives, and beyond, on both rims
-of the circle, stands a female figure, supporting herself by the branches
-of a tree. On each a young girl waits; one of these girls has a snake at
-the back of her head. In front are three musicians, also with snakes; and
-on their right a lady _without_ a snake receives the assistance of a girl
-_with_ a snake.
-
-"This distinction," says Mr. Fergusson, "between people with snakes and
-those without is most curious and perplexing. After the most attentive
-study I have been unable to detect any characteristic either of feature or
-costume by which the races can be distinguished, beyond the possession or
-absence of this strange adjunct. That those with snakes are the Naga
-people we read of, can hardly be doubted; yet they never are seen actually
-worshipping the snake like the Dasyus, but rather as protected by it. The
-snake seems their tutelary genius, watching over, perhaps inspiring them;
-but whether they borrowed this strange emblem from the natives of the
-country, or brought it with them from the north-west, are questions we are
-hardly yet in a position to answer satisfactorily."
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-We have thus abundant evidence of the prevalence of Serpent-worship in
-India in "olden times;" the reader will, perhaps, be surprised to hear
-that it lingers still throughout the peninsula. Dr. Balfour, who had an
-intimate acquaintance with the habits and customs of the natives, asserts
-that the worship both of the sculptured form and the living creature, is
-general. The sculpture invariably represents the Nag or Cobra, and almost
-every hamlet owns its Serpent deity. Sometimes it is a single snake, with
-the hood spread open. Occasionally the sculptured figures are nine in
-number, forming the _Nao Nag_, which is designed to represent a parent
-snake and eight of its young, but the prevalent form is that of two snakes
-twining in the manner of the Esculapian rod of classical antiquity.
-
-It is the opinion of some Hindus that the living snake is not worshipped
-as a devata, or deity, but simply reverenced in commemoration of some
-ancient event--possibly of some astronomical occurrences. Others, however,
-distinctly assert that it is worshipped as a devata. However this may be,
-there can be no doubt that the living snake is worshipped throughout all
-Southern India. On their feast days the worshippers resort to the snake's
-lair, which they bedaub with vermilion streaks and patches of turmeric and
-of wheat flour, and close at hand they suspend garlands of flowers, strung
-upon white cotton thread, and laid over wooden frames. During the rainy
-seasons occurs the great Nagpanchanic festival, when the Hindus go in
-search of snakes, or have them brought to their houses by the Sanpeli, the
-snake-charmers who ensnare them. The snakes are then worshipped, and
-offerings of milk are made to them, and in almost every house figures of
-snakes, drawn on paper, are affixed to the walls, and worshipped. Those
-who visit the snakes' abodes, or tents, plant sticks around the hole, and
-about and over these sticks wind white cotton thread. A bevy of Mahrathi
-women repair to the hût, and joining hands, wind round it in a circle five
-times, singing songs; after which they prostrate themselves. They pour
-milk into the hole; hang festoons of Chembela flowers and cucumber fruit,
-and sprinkle a mixture of sugar and flour.
-
-In reference to this festival, Colonel Meadows Taylor writes:--
-
-On this occasion, Nags or Cobras are worshipped by most of the lower
-classes of the people in the Dekhan, and more particularly in the
-Shorapore country. The ceremonies are very simple: the worshippers bathe,
-smear their foreheads with red colour, and in small parties,--generally
-families acquainted with one another,--resort to the places known to be
-frequented by snakes. In such places there are generally sacred stones, to
-which various offerings are made, and they are anointed with red colour
-and ground turmeric, and invocations are addressed to the local genius and
-to the serpents. Near the stones are placed small new earthen saucers,
-filled with milk; for cobras are fond of milk, and are believed to watch
-the ceremony, coming out of their holes and drinking the milk, even while
-the worshippers are near, or are lingering in the distance to see if their
-offerings be received. It is considered a fortunate augury for the
-worshippers if the snake should appear and drink. Should the snake _not_
-appear, the worshippers, after waiting awhile, return to the place next
-morning, to ascertain the result: if the milk have disappeared, the rite
-has been accepted, but not under such favourable auspices as if the
-reptile had come out at once. These ceremonies end with a feast.
-
-Colonel Meadows Taylor (whose language we are partly adopting)
-continues:--
-
-It is on behalf of children that Snake-worship is particularly practised;
-and the women and children of a family invariably accompany the male head,
-not only at the annual festival, but whenever a vow has been made to a
-Serpent Deity. The first hair shaved from a child which has passed
-teething, and gone through the other infantile ailments, is frequently
-dedicated to a Serpent. On such occasions the child is taken to the
-locality of the vow, the usual ceremonies are performed, and with the
-other offerings is included the child's hair. In every case a feast
-follows, served near the spot, and the attendant Brahmins receive alms and
-largess.
-
-"In the Shakti ceremonies, Pooma-elhishék, which belong, I think, to
-aboriginal customs, the worship of the Snake forms a portion, as
-emblematical of energy and wisdom. Most of these ceremonies are, however,
-of an inconceivably obscene and licentious character. They are not
-confined to the lowest classes, though rarely perhaps resorted to by
-Brahmins; but many of the middle class sects, of obscure origin and
-denomination, practise them in secret, under the strange delusion that the
-divine energy of nature is to be obtained thereby, with exemption from
-earthly troubles.
-
-"Although Snake-worship ordinarily belongs professedly to the descendants
-of aboriginal tribes, yet Brahmins never or rarely pass them over, and the
-Nagpanchani is observed as a festival of kindly greeting and visiting
-between families and friends--as a day of gifts of new clothes or
-ornaments to wives or children, &c.
-
-"The worship of Gram Deotas, or village divinities, is universal all over
-the Dekhan, and indeed I believe throughout India. These divinities have
-no temples nor priests. Sacrifice and oblation is made to them at sowing
-time and harvest, for rain or fine weather, in time of cholera, malignant
-fever, or other disease or pestilence. The Nag is always one of the Gram
-Deota, the rest being known by local names. The Gram Deota are known as
-heaps of stones, generally in a grove or quiet spot near every village,
-and are smeared some with black and others with red colour.
-
-"Nâg is a common name both for males and females among all classes of
-Hindus, from Brahmins downwards to the lowest classes of Sudras and
-Mléchhas. Nâgo Rao, Nâgoju, &c., are common Mahratta names, as Nagappa,
-Nagowa, and the like are among the Canarese and Telugu population.
-
-"No Hindu will kill a Nag or Cobra willingly. Should any one be killed
-within the precincts of a village, by Mahomedans or others, a piece of
-copper money is put into its mouth, and the body is burned with offerings
-to avert the evil.
-
-"It is, perhaps, remarkable, that the Snake festival is held after the
-season or at the season of casting the skin, and when the Snake, addressed
-or worshipped, is supposed to have been purified. Some Brahmins always
-keep the skin of a Nag in one of their sacred books.
-
-"In reference to the lower castes alluded to, I may mention those who
-practise Snake-worship with the greatest reverence:--1, Beydars. 2,
-Dhungars or shepherds, Ahens or milkmen, Waddiwars or stone-masons,
-Khungins or rope-makers, Brinjaras and other wandering tribes, Mangs,
-Dhérs, and Chennars, Ramorsers, Bhils, Ghonds, and Kohs, all which I
-believe, with many others, to be descendants of aboriginal tribes, partly
-received within the pale of Hinduism.
-
-"Lingayots, who are schismatics from Hinduism, and who deny _in toto_ the
-religious supremacy of the Brahmins, are nevertheless Snake-worshippers,
-many of them bearing the name Nag, both male and female.
-
-"I cannot speak of the North of India, but in the whole of the South of
-India, from the Nerbudda to Cape Comorin, Snake-worship is now
-existent."[53]
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XII.
-
-_POLYNESIAN SUPERSTITIONS._
-
-
-When Captain Cook first visited those beautiful islands of the South
-Pacific which are now included under the general name of Polynesia, he
-found their inhabitants given over to the lowest and coarsest idolatry.
-Many of their rites and ceremonies were as lewd as any practised in
-ancient times under the auspices of the Paphian Venus. Gradually they were
-brought within the influence of the missionary work of the Christian
-Church; and though, if we may credit the testimony of recent observers,
-much heathenism still prevails, and gross superstitions are still secretly
-nourished, there cannot be a doubt, that, on the whole, their moral
-condition has been materially elevated.
-
-Among the pioneers of the Cross in these "Summer-isles of Eden" one of the
-most eminent and successful was the Rev. John Williams; a missionary of
-the true type, of an enlightened mind and broad sympathies, who, after a
-long career of noble labour, sealed his witness to the truth with his
-blood, and lives in the Gospel record as the Martyr of Erromanga. From the
-plain, unvarnished, and effective chronicle of his "Missionary
-Enterprises" we glean much interesting information respecting the
-idolatrous ways of the islanders, revealing their identity with the
-superstitions that from all times have dominated over uncivilised man. In
-Rarotonga as in Mexico, for instance, the gods were supposed to be
-propitiated by human sacrifices; and in many of the islands cannibalism
-existed in its most disgusting form and under the sanction of a religious
-ordinance.
-
-From the chief of Aitutaki Mr. Williams obtained some curious relics of
-idolatry. As for example:--an idol named _Te-rongo_, one of the great
-deities, called a _Kaitangata_, or man-eater. The priests of this idol
-were supposed to be inspired by the shark.
-
-Tangarou, the great national god of Aitutaki, and of almost all the
-adjacent islands. He holds the net with which he catches the spirits of
-men as they fly from their bodies, and a spear with which he kills them.
-
-A rod, with snares at the end, made of the fibres of the cocoa-nut husk,
-with which the priest caught the spirit of the god. It was used in cases
-of pregnancy, when the female was ambitious that her child should be a
-son, and become a famous warrior. It was also employed in wartime to catch
-the god by his leg, to secure his influence on the side of the party
-performing the ceremony.
-
-Ruanu; a chief from Raiatea, who, ages ago, sailed in a canoe from that
-island, and settled at Aitutaki. From him a genealogy is traced. He died
-at Aitutaki, and was deified as _Te atua taitai tere_, or the conductor of
-fleets.
-
-Tanu; with his fan and other appendages; the god of thunder. The natives,
-when they heard a peal of thunder, were accustomed to say that this god
-was flying: and produced this sound by the flapping of his wings.
-
-The Rarotongan idols were of a singular character. From their size they
-might have suited Swift's nation of Brobdingnagians, for the smallest
-seems to have been about fifteen feet high. Each was wrought out of a
-piece of _aito_, or iron wood, about four inches in diameter, carved with
-a rude imitation of the human hand at one end, and with an obscene figure
-at the other; round it were wrapped numerous folds of native cloth, until
-it measured two or three yards in circumference. Near the wooden image
-some red feathers were strewn, and a string of small pieces of polished
-pearl shells was regarded as the _manava_, or soul of the god.
-
-An idol, somewhat resembling a Chinese joss, was placed in the fore-part
-of every fishing-canoe; and prior to their departure on a fishing
-excursion, the boatmen aways presented it with offerings, and invoked it
-to grant them a successful issue.
-
-A striking scene was that when Papeiha, a converted islander, lifted up
-his voice against idolatry, for the first time, among the banana-groves of
-Rarotonga.
-
-The Rarotongans had assembled in great numbers at a _marae_, or sacred
-enclosure, for the purpose of making offerings of food to the gods. Many
-priests, pretending to be inspired, were filling the air with shouts and
-yells; whilst around them gathered the deluded worshippers, some with one
-side of their face and body blackened with charcoal; others were painted
-with stripes of various colours; others figured as warriors, wearing large
-caps adorned with white cowrie shells and birds' feathers. Breaking into
-their midst, Papeiha boldly addressed them on their folly in devoting such
-large quantities of food to a log of wood which they had carved and
-decorated and called a god. This challenge was immediately accepted by one
-of the priests, who springing to his feet, protested that their god was a
-real god, and a very powerful god, and that they were that day celebrating
-a very sacred feast.
-
-Papeiha replied that the day was at hand when their folly would be
-revealed to them by the true GOD JEHOVAH, who would make their so-called
-gods "fuel for the fire." This strong declaration greatly perplexed the
-crowd, but they continued to listen attentively while Papeiha commented on
-the love of GOD in giving HIS SON to die for sinners. After he had ceased,
-the people asked him many questions; among others,--"Where does your GOD
-live?" He answered, that Heaven was His dwelling-place, but that both
-Heaven and Earth were filled with the majesty of His presence. They
-rejoined, in their inability to conceive of an Invisible but Omnipresent
-Deity;--"We cannot see Him, but ours are here before our eyes, and, if the
-earth was full of your GOD, He would surely be big enough to be seen."
-"And," said another, "why do we not run against Him?" To which Papeiha
-ingeniously responded:--"That the earth was full of air, but we did not
-run against it: that we were surrounded by light, but it did not impede
-our progress."
-
-Five months later, a priest came to Papeiha and his associate missionary
-Tiberio, announcing his resolve to burn his idols; and he brought with him
-his eldest son, a boy of ten years old, to place under their care, lest
-the gods in their wrath should destroy him. Evidently, in spite of his
-iconoclastic purpose, the priest still cherished a belief in the power of
-his wooden deities. Leaving the child with the two teachers, he returned
-home, and next day at early dawn returned, staggering under the weight of
-his cumbrous idol. A crowd followed him, shouting at him as a madman, and
-looking upon him as one pre-doomed to destruction by his own folly; but he
-held fast to his resolve to embrace the word of JEHOVAH, and declared that
-he had no fear of the issue. He threw his idol at the feet of the
-teachers, one of whom fetched his saw to cut it up; but the crowd, as soon
-as they saw the instrument applied to the head of the god, were stricken
-with panic fear, and fled away. As no catastrophe occurred, they gradually
-returned impelled by curiosity, which is sometimes stronger than fear; and
-in their presence, amidst profound excitement, the first rejected idol of
-Rarotonga was committed to the flames.
-
-To convince the people of the absurdity of their apprehensions, the
-teachers, as soon as the idol was converted into ashes, roasted some
-bananas upon them, of which they ate, and invited the spectators to
-partake. None however were brave enough to admit so dangerous a morsel
-into their mouths, and they waited, open-eyed, for the expected result of
-the profane audacity of the two teachers. But, like the inhabitants of
-Melita, "after they had looked a great while and saw no harm come to them,
-they changed their minds," and in less than ten days after this event no
-fewer than fourteen idols were destroyed. Soon afterwards, the chief
-Tinomana sent for the missionaries, and on their arrival at his
-mountain-home, informed them that after much deliberation, he had resolved
-to become a Christian, and to place himself under their direction. He
-therefore wished to know what was the first step he ought to take. They
-informed him that he must destroy his maraes and burn his idols; to which
-he immediately replied, "Come with me and see them destroyed." On reaching
-the place he desired some person to take a firebrand and set fire to the
-temple, the _ataraw_, or altar, and the _unus_, or sacred pieces of carved
-wood by which the marae was decorated. Four huge idols were then deposited
-at the feet of the teachers, who, having read a portion of the tenth
-chapter of S. Luke's Gospel, which was peculiarly appropriate, especially
-from verse 17 to 20, stripped them of their linen wrappings, which they
-distributed among the people, and threw them into the flames.
-
-Some of the spectators waxed wroth with the chief, and expressed
-themselves with great violence, denouncing him as a fool and a madman for
-burning his gods, and listening to worthless fellows who "were drift-wood
-from the sea, washed on shore by the waves of the ocean." The women were
-specially vehement in their grief, and broke out into the loudest and
-dolefulest lamentations imaginable. Many of them inflicted deep gashes on
-their heads with sharp shells and shark's teeth, and ran wildly to and
-fro, smeared with the blood which streamed from their wounds, and crying
-in tones of the deepest melancholy, "Alas, alas, the gods of the madman
-Tinomana, the gods of the insane chief are given to the flames!" Others,
-blackened with charcoal, were not less demonstrative.
-
-In the course of a few days a clean sweep was made of the idols of the
-district; never were Iconoclasts, not even our Puritan forefathers, more
-thorough or more resolute. The teachers then advised Tinomana and their
-other converts to prepare their food for the Sunday, and attend worship at
-the mission station. This they did,--but they came armed as for battle,
-with war-caps, slings, and spears, fearing lest the irate _Satanus_ (as
-they called the idolaters) should attack them. Neither in coming nor
-going, however, were they molested.
-
-"At this time," says Mr. Williams,[54] "a ludicrous circumstance occurred,
-which will illustrate the ignorance and superstition of this people. A
-favourite cat had been taken on shore by one of the teachers' wives on our
-first visit, and not liking his new companions, Tom fled to the mountains.
-The house of the priest Tiaki, who had just destroyed his idol, was
-situated at a distance from the settlement, and at midnight while he was
-lying asleep on his mat, his wife, who was sitting awake by his side
-musing upon the strange events of the day, beheld with consternation two
-fires glistening in the doorway, and heard with surprise a mysterious
-voice. Almost petrified with fear, she awoke her husband, and began to
-upbraid him for his folly in burning his god, who, she declared, was now
-come to be avenged of them. 'Get up and pray, get up and pray,' she said.
-The husband arose, and on opening his eyes beheld the same glaring lights,
-and heard the same ominous sound. Impelled by the extreme urgency of the
-case, he commenced, with all possible vehemence, vociferating the alphabet
-as a prayer to GOD to deliver them from the vengeance of Satan. On hearing
-this, the cat, as much alarmed as the priest and his wife, of whose
-nocturnal peace he had been the unconscious disturber, ran away, leaving
-the poor people congratulating themselves on the efficacy of their
-prayer."
-
-Afterwards, in the course of his wanderings, Puss reached the district of
-the _Satanus_; and, as the marae was situated in a sequestered corner, and
-overshadowed by the luxuriant foliage of patriarchal trees, the graybeards
-of the wood, he was well pleased with the place. In order to keep the best
-of company, he took up his abode with the gods; and as he met with no
-opposition from within, he little expected any from without. But some few
-days after came the priest, accompanied by a number of worshippers, to
-present some offerings to the god; on his opening the door, Tom
-respectfully welcomed him with a _miaou_. At this unwonted salutation he
-rushed back in terror, shouting to his followers: "Here's a monster from
-the deep! here's a monster from the deep!"
-
-Whereupon the whole party hastened home, assembled several hundreds of
-their companions, assumed their war-caps, equipped themselves with spear,
-club, and sling, blackened their bodies with charcoal, and in all this
-pomp and circumstance of Polynesian war, rushed, with yells, cries, and
-shouts, to attack poor Puss. He, however, daunted by their grim and
-strange array, did not await their approach. The moment the door was open,
-a leap and a bound--he was gone! _Abiit, evasit, erupit._ As he darted
-through the assembled warriors, they fled precipitately in all directions.
-
-The religious system of the Samoans, according to Mr. Williams, differed
-in essential respects from that which prevailed at the Tahitian, Society,
-and other Polynesian groups. They had neither maraes nor temples, nor
-altars nor offerings; and consequently none of the barbarous and
-sanguinary rites to which we have alluded. They shed no human blood; they
-strewed no maraes with the skulls and bones of their victims; they
-dedicated no sacred groves to brutal and sensual observances. Hence the
-Rarotongans denounced them for their impiety, and "a godless Samoan" was a
-proverbial phrase. Yet they were not without their superstitions; they had
-lords many and gods many; and their credulity was as marked as that of any
-other savage race on whom the light of Christianity and civilisation had
-never shone.
-
-In considering the religion of the Polynesians, there are four points to
-be glanced at; 1, their gods; 2, their cultus; 3, their ideas of
-immortality; and 4, the means by which they hoped to secure future
-happiness.
-
-1. Their gods consisted of three kinds: their deified ancestors, their
-idols, and their etus.
-
-Some of their ancestors were deified, after the Greek fashion, for the
-supposed boons they had conferred upon mankind. For example, it was
-believed that the world was formerly in darkness; but that the sun, moon,
-and stars were created by one of their progenitors in a manner too absurd
-to be described. Also, that the heavens were of old so close to the earth
-that men could not walk erect, and were compelled to crawl; until a great
-man conceived the idea of elevating them to their present height; which he
-effected by the employment of almost Herculean energy. By his first effort
-he raised them to the top of a tender plant, called _teve_, about four
-feet high. There they remained until he had refreshed and rested himself.
-A second effort, and he upheaved them to the height of a tree called
-_kanariki_, which is as tall as the sycamore. His third attempt carried
-them to the summits of the mountains; and after a long period of repose,
-and another tremendous struggle, he raised them to their present altitude,
-at which they have ever since remained. This wonderful personage was
-appropriately apotheosized; and down to the date of the introduction of
-Christianity, was everywhere worshipped as "the Elevator of the Heavens."
-
-The fisherman had his god; so had the husbandman, the voyager, the
-warrior, the thief; mothers dedicated their offspring to one or other of
-these numerous Powers, and chiefly to Hero, the god of thieves, and to
-Oro, the god of war. "If to the former, the mother, while pregnant, went
-to the marae with the requisite offerings, when the priest performed the
-ceremony of catching the spirit of the god with the snare previously
-described, and infusing it into the child even prior to its birth, that it
-might become a clever and desperate thief. Most parents, however, were
-anxious that their children should become brave and renowned warriors.
-This appears to have been the very summit of a heathen mother's ambition,
-and to secure it, numerous ceremonies were performed before the child was
-born; and after its birth it was taken to the marae, and formally
-dedicated to Oro. The spirit of the god was then caught, and imparted to
-the infant, and the ceremony was completed by numerous offerings and
-prayers. At New Zealand, stones were thrust down the throat of the babe,
-to give it a stony heart, and make it a dauntless and desperate warrior."
-
-This dedication of the child to the sanguinary war-god points to a
-condition of society in which life was verily and indeed a battle, and
-every one had to hold his own by right of a strong arm and a reckless
-spirit. There was no room for the feeble in such a system; they crawled
-aside to die; or were trampled to death in the rush and press of the
-crowd. Civilisation has its victims; but assuredly they are few in
-comparison to the thousands and tens of thousands destroyed by the
-merciless tyranny of Heathenism. Civilisation does at least teach us our
-duties towards our neighbours; while Savage Man had little sentiment of
-compassion or affection for father or brother, daughter or wife.
-
-The second class of objects regarded with religious veneration was
-_Idols_. In every island and district these were different; but in every
-island and district they abounded. Some were large, some small; some
-hideous in the extreme, others were almost comely. No fixed pattern
-appears to have been before the idol-makers; each man followed his own
-fancy.
-
-The third object of worship was the _Etu_,--that is, some bird, fish, or
-reptile, in which the natives believed that a spirit resided. This form of
-idolatry was more in vogue in the Samoas than in any other island-group.
-Among the Samoans, the objects regarded as _etus_ were, indeed, almost
-innumerable, and frequently they were of extraordinary triviality. It was
-not unusual to see a chief, in other matters really intelligent, muttering
-his prayers to a fly, an ant, or a lizard, if such chanced to crawl or
-alight in his presence.
-
-"On one occasion," says Mr. Williams, "a vessel from New South Wales
-touched at the Samoas, the captain of which had on board a cockatoo that
-talked. A chief was invited to the ship, and shortly after he entered the
-cabin the captain began a colloquy with the bird. At this he was struck
-with amazement, trembled exceedingly, and immediately sprang upon deck,
-leaped into the sea, and called aloud to the people to follow him,
-affirming the captain had his _devolo_ on board, which he had both seen
-and heard. Every native dashed at once into the sea, and swam to shore
-with haste and consternation; and it was with much difficulty that they
-could be induced to revisit the ship, as they believed that the bird was
-the captain's _etu_, and that the spirit of the devil was in it."
-
-Another illustration is given by Mr. Williams:--
-
-"While walking," he says, "on one occasion, across a small uninhabited
-island, in the vicinity of Tongatabu, I happened to tread upon a nest of
-sea snakes. At first I was startled at the circumstance, but being assured
-that they were perfectly harmless, I desired a native to kill the largest
-of them as a specimen. We then sailed to another island, where a number of
-heathen fishermen were preparing their nets. Taking my seat upon a stone
-under a tou tree, I desired my people to bring the reptile, and dry it on
-the rocks; but as soon as the fishermen saw it, they raised a most
-terrific yell, and, seizing their clubs, rushed upon the Christian
-natives, shouting: 'You have killed our god, you have killed our god!' I
-stepped in between them, and with some difficulty stayed their violence,
-on the condition that the reptile should be immediately carried back to
-the boat."
-
-The Polynesian islanders, or most of them, seem to have cherished a
-general idea of a Supreme Being, whom they regarded as the Creator of all
-things and the Author of their mercies. They called him Tangatoa; and at
-their great feasts, before the food was distributed, an orator would
-rise, and after enumerating each viand on the board, would say: "Thank you
-for this, great Tangatoa!"
-
-The worship or _cultus_ observed by the islanders included prayers,
-offerings of pigs, fish, vegetables, canoes, native cloth, and the like,
-and incantations. To these must be added the dread rite of human
-sacrifice. Of the style of their addresses to the gods one may form an
-idea from the formula with which they were accustomed to conclude it.
-Having presented the gift, the priest would say: "Now, if you are a god of
-mercy, come this way, and be propitious to our offering; but if you are a
-god of anger, go outside the world,--you shall have neither temples,
-offerings, nor worshippers here."
-
-As in other savage countries, they sought to propitiate the gods by
-inflicting physical injuries upon themselves. The Sandwich Islanders, in
-performing some of their rites, would knock out their front teeth; the
-Friendly Islanders would cut off one or two of the bones of their little
-fingers. So common was the latter practice, that few were to be found who
-had not in this way mutilated their hands. One missionary relates that, on
-one occasion, a chief's daughter,--a fine young woman about eighteen years
-of age,--was standing by his side, when he observed by the condition of
-the wound that she had recently performed the ceremony. Taking her hand,
-he asked why she had cut off her finger? There was a touch of pathos in
-her reply. Her mother was ill, and fearing lest she should die, she had
-mutilated herself in the hope the gods would preserve her life. "Well, and
-how did you do it?" "I took a sharp shell, and worked it about until the
-joint was separated, and then I allowed the blood to stream from it. This
-was my offering to persuade the gods to restore my mother." One cannot
-doubt the genuineness of the filial affection which could make such a
-sacrifice, though we may wish that it had been more wisely exercised.
-
-When a second offering was required, the votary severed the second joint
-of the same finger. If a third or fourth were demanded, he amputated the
-same bones of the other little finger; and when he had no more joints that
-he could conveniently spare, he would rub the stumps of his mutilated
-fingers with rough stones, until the blood again streamed from the wounds.
-
-Human sacrifices, as we have said, were very numerous, especially in the
-Henry, the Tahitian, and the Society island groups. At the so-called Feast
-of Restoration (_Raumatavchi raa_,) no fewer than seven victims were
-required. It was always celebrated after an invading army had forced the
-inhabitants to retreat to the mountains, and had desecrated the maraes by
-cutting down the branches of the sacred trees, and cooking their food with
-them, and with the wooden altars and decorations of the sacred place.
-
-At the inauguration of their greatest kings, the islanders used what was
-called _Maro ura_, or the red sash. This was a piece of network, about six
-feet long and seven inches wide, upon which the red feathers of the
-parroquet were neatly fastened. A chief could receive no more honourable
-appellation than that of _Arii maro ura_, "King of the Red Sash." A new
-piece, about eighteen inches long, was attached at every sovereign's
-inauguration; and on all such occasions several human victims were
-required. A sacrifice was made, first for the _mau raa tite_, or the
-extension of the network upon pegs, in order to attach to it the new
-piece. A second was necessary for the _fatu raa_, or actual attachment;
-and a third for the _piu raa_, or twitching the sacred relic off the pegs.
-These ceremonies not only invested the sash itself with peculiar
-solemnity, but also rendered the chiefs who wore it more important in the
-eyes of the people. Well might it be so, when the thing was dyed, as it
-were, in innocent human blood.
-
-Human sacrifices were also offered on the breaking out of war. Mr.
-Williams remarks that a correct idea of the extent to which this system is
-carried may be obtained from a relation of the circumstances under which
-the last Tahitian victim fell, immediately prior to the introduction of
-Christianity. Pomare, king of Tahiti, was on the point of fighting a
-battle which would assure his supremacy or deprive him of his dominions.
-It became to him, therefore, a matter of the highest concern to propitiate
-the gods by the most valuable offerings he could command. For this
-purpose, rolls of native cloth, pigs, fish, and immense quantities of
-other food were presented at the maraes; but the gods (or their priests)
-would not be satisfied; a human victim was demanded. Pomare, therefore,
-sent two of his messengers to the house of the victim, whom he had marked
-for the occasion. On reaching the place they inquired of the wife where
-her husband was, and she, in her innocence, gave the required explanation.
-"Well," they continued, "we are thirsty; give us some cocoa-nut water."
-She had no nuts in the house, she replied, but they were at liberty to
-climb the trees, and take as many as they desired. They then requested her
-to lend them the _O_,--a piece of ironwood, about four feet long and an
-inch and a half in diameter, with which the natives open the cocoa-nut.
-She cheerfully consented, little suspecting that she was placing in their
-murderous hands the instrument which, in a few moments, was to inflict a
-fatal blow on her husband's head. Upon receiving the _O_, the men left the
-house, and went in search of their victim; and the woman, her suspicions
-being excited, followed them shortly afterwards, reaching the scene just
-in time to see the blow inflicted, and her husband fall.
-
-She rushed forward to take a last embrace, but was immediately seized and
-bound hand and foot, while her husband's body was placed in a long basket
-made of cocoa-nut leaves, and carried from her sight. The sacrificers were
-always exceedingly careful to prevent the wife, or daughter, or any female
-relative from touching the corpse; for so polluting were females
-considered, that a victim would have been desecrated by a woman's touch or
-breath, to such a degree as to have rendered it unfit for an offering to
-the gods.
-
-While the men were bearing their victim to the marae, he recovered from
-the stunning effect of the blow, and, bound as he was in the cocoa-nut
-leaf basket, said to his murderers: "Friends, I know what you are about to
-do with me; you are about to kill me, and offer me as a _tabu_ to your
-savage gods; and I also know that it is useless for me to beg for mercy,
-for you will not spare my life. You may kill my body, but you cannot hurt
-my soul; for I have begun to pray to Jesus, the knowledge of Whom the
-missionaries have brought to our island: you may kill my body, but you
-cannot hurt my soul."
-
-This address did not move the compassion of his murderers. Laying their
-victim on the ground with a stone under his head, they crushed it to
-pieces with another. It appears that he had been selected as a victim
-because he had "begun to pray for JESUS;" and it is not unjust, therefore,
-to claim for this poor Tahitian savage a place in the noble army of
-martyrs.
-
-"The manner in which human victims were sought," says Williams, "is
-strikingly illustrative of many passages of Scripture which portray the
-character of heathenism. As soon as the priest announced that such a
-sacrifice was required, the king despatched messengers to the chiefs of
-the various districts, and upon entering the dwelling they would inquire
-whether the chief had a _broken calabash_ at hand, or a _rotten
-cocoa-nut_. These and sinister terms were invariably used, and well
-understood, when such applications were made. It generally happened that
-the chief had some individual on his premises whom he intended to devote
-to this horrid purpose. When, therefore, such a request was made, he would
-notify, by a motion of the hand or head, the individual to be taken. The
-only weapon with which these procurers of sacrifices were armed, was a
-small round stone concealed in the hollow of their hand. With this they
-would strike their victim a stunning blow upon the back of the head, when
-others who were in readiness would rush in and complete the horrid work.
-The body was then carried, amid songs and shouts of savage triumph, to the
-marae, there to be offered to the gods. At other times, the king's gang of
-desperadoes would arm themselves with spears, surround the house of their
-victim, and enjoy the sport of spearing him through the apertures between
-the poles which encircled the house. In these circumstances, the object of
-their savage amusement, frenzied with pain and dread, would rush from one
-part of the house to the other; but wherever he ran he found the spear
-entering his body; and at length, perceiving no possibility of escape, he
-would cover himself in his cloth, throw himself upon the floor, and wait
-until a spear should pierce his heart."
-
-The Polynesian ideas of a future state were sufficiently curious. While
-believing in its existence, the natives had no conception of the value and
-immortality of the soul, no conception of the Everlasting. According to
-the Tahitians, there were two places of existence for separated spirits:
-one called _Roohutu noanoa_, or sweet-scented Roohutu, which in many
-points resembled the paradise of the Rarotongans; and the other was
-_Roohutu namu-namua_, or foul-scented Roohutu, of which it is impossible
-to furnish a description. According to the Rarotongans, paradise was a
-very long house, surrounded with beautiful shrubs and flowers, unfading,
-and of perpetual sweetness; its inmates enjoyed a beauty which never
-waned, and a youth which never waxed old, while passing their days,
-without weariness, in dancing, merriment, and festivity. This was the
-highest idea of Heaven and future blessedness to which they could attain,
-and was as materialistic as that of the Mohammedans.
-
-It was not necessary that a man should live a pure, true, and noble life
-to gain admission to the Polynesian paradise, nor was he excluded from it
-on account of his sins. In order to pass the departed spirit into elysium,
-the corpse was dressed in the best attire the relatives could provide, the
-head was wreathed with flowers, and other decorations were added. A pig
-was then baked whole, and placed on the deceased's body, surrounded by a
-pile of vegetable food. After this, supposing the departed to have been a
-son, the father would deliver some such speech as the following:--"My son,
-when you were alive I treated you with kindness, and when you were taken
-ill I did my best to restore you to health; and now you are dead, there's
-your _momoe o_, or property of admission. Go, my son, and with that gain
-an entrance into the palace of Tiki, and do not come to this world again
-to disturb or alarm us." Body, pig, and food would then be buried; and, if
-the kinsman received no contrary intimation within a few days of the
-interment, they believed that the offerings had obtained for the departed
-the desired admission. But if a cricket were heard on the premises, it was
-considered an ill omen, and they would utter the dismalest howls, and such
-expressions as the following: "Oh, our brother! his spirit has not entered
-the Paradise; he is suffering from hunger, he is shivering with cold!" The
-grave would immediately be opened, and the offering repeated,--generally
-with success.
-
-The sacrifices of the Fijians are of a costlier character. The Fijian
-chiefs had from twenty to a hundred wives, according to their rank; and at
-the interment of a principal chief, the body was laid in state "upon a
-spacious lawn," in the presence of a great crowd of interested spectators.
-After the natives had exercised all the taste and skill at their command
-in adorning her person, the principal wife would walk out and take her
-seat near her husband's body. A rope was passed round her neck; eight or
-ten powerful men pulled at it with all their strength until she died of
-suffocation; and the body was then laid by that of the chief. This done, a
-second wife seated herself in the same place; the process of strangulation
-was repeated, and she, too, died. A third and a fourth became voluntary
-sacrifices in the same manner; and all were interred in a common grave,
-one above, one below, and one on either side of the husband. The motive of
-this barbarous practice was said to be, that the spirit of the chief might
-not be lonely in its passage to the invisible world, and that by such an
-offering its happiness might be at once secured.[55]
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-The Earl of Pembroke, in his light, gossipy book entitled, "South Sea
-Bubbles," describes a visit which he paid to one of the old sacrificial
-_maraes_, or inclosures, in the island of Raiatea.
-
-"Strange places they were," he says; "built of enormous slabs of rock or
-coral, arranged in an oblong shape, and the space inside them filled with
-shingle and coral, so as to form a platform about eight feet high. I think
-the largest was about fifty yards long; we scrambled up on to it by help
-of a tree, and stood on the spot stained with so much blood shed in the
-_name_ of religion. What horrible stories those stones could tell if they
-could speak!...
-
-"What made the human sacrifices of the Society Islands so strangely
-ghastly and horrible, was the fact that the wretched victim was always
-chosen from one of certain families, set apart for that special purpose
-for generation after generation for ever. How this caste originated I do
-not know. Many of these families used to put to sea secretly in canoes,
-preferring an almost certain death by drowning or starvation to the
-terribly uncertain fate that was always hanging over their heads.
-
-"When a man came to the priests to beg some heavenly, or rather infernal,
-favour, they would tell him, either from whim, malice, or some reason best
-known to themselves, that the god required a human sacrifice, and naming
-the victim, present the supplicant with the death-warrant in the shape of
-a sacred stone. He hides this carefully somewhere about him, and
-collecting a few friends, seeks out the doomed man. At last they find him
-sitting lazily under a tree or mending his canoe, and squatting down round
-him begin talking about the weather, fishing, or what not. Suddenly a hand
-is opened--the death stone discovered to his horrified view. He starts up
-terror-stricken, and tries to escape--one short, furious struggle and he
-is knocked down, secured, and carried off to the merciless priests. Ugh!
-it is an ugly picture."[56]
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XIII.
-
-_THE FIJI ISLANDERS._
-
-
-The annexation of the Fiji Islands to the British empire lends to the
-practices and beliefs of their inhabitants a peculiar interest, though to
-a great extent these have been abandoned since the establishment of
-Christianity.
-
-Their creed is undiluted polytheism; their pantheon is full of all kinds
-of gods, differing in rank and power, and very widely represented on earth
-by some animate or inanimate object. Each Fijian has a god of his own,
-under whose care he supposes himself to be placed. They do not seem to
-have any religious teaching; but they have a priesthood, and that
-priesthood has, of course, its traditional formulas of worship. But
-nothing like regular worship, as Christians understand the phrase, is
-accepted or observed, and the Fijian religion is really a superstition,
-because its sole inspiring motive is fear. This motive the priests
-carefully develope, making it the basis of their claims and the source of
-their influence.
-
-No man can gain access to the gods except through the priests; and the
-priests insist upon liberal offerings. When the worshipper comes upon
-questions of importance, the _Soro_ or sacrifice consists of whales' teeth
-and large quantities of food. For matters of inferior moment, the god is
-content with a mat, a club, a spear, or a tooth, or even young nuts coated
-with turmeric powder. On one occasion, when the chief Tuikilakila
-solicited the help of the Somo-somo gods in war, he built a large new
-temple to the war-god, and presented a quantity of cooked food, numerous
-turtles, and whales' teeth.
-
-Part of the offering, or _sogaria_, is set apart for the god, and the rest
-forms a feast to which everybody is invited. The god's portion, as the
-reader will immediately conclude, is eaten by the priest and old men, but
-to the younger members of the community is strictly _tapu_.
-
-Strangers who desire to consult a god begin by cutting a pile of firewood
-for the table. Sometimes only a whale's tooth and a dish of yams are
-presented. It is not necessary that the offering should be made in the
-temple. Mr. Williams speaks of priests to whom the inspiration came in a
-private house or in the open air.
-
-He who designs to consult the oracle dresses and anoints himself, and,
-attended by his friends, goes to the priest, who, we will suppose, has
-been previously informed of the intended visit, and is lying near the
-sacred corner, preparing his response. When the votary arrives, the priest
-rises and sits so that his back is near the white cloth by which the god
-visits him, while the others occupy the opposite side. The votary presents
-a whale's tooth, states the object of his visit, and expresses a hope that
-the god will regard him with favour. Sometimes in front of the tooth is
-placed a dish of scented oil, with which the priest anoints himself, and
-then receives the tooth, eyeing it with deep and serious attention.
-
-Unbroken silence follows. The priest, says Mr. Williams, grows absorbed in
-thought, and all gaze upon him with unwavering steadfastness. In a few
-minutes he trembles; his face appears slightly distorted, and twitching
-movements are seen in his limbs. These increase to a violent muscular
-action, which spreads until the whole frame is strongly convulsed, and the
-man shivers as with an ague fit. In some islands, adds Mr. Williams, this
-is accompanied with sobs and murmurs, the veins expand, and the
-circulation of the blood is quickened.
-
-The priest is now possessed by his god, and all his words and actions are
-henceforth considered as the god's and not his own. Shrill cries of "Koi
-au! Koi au!" (It is I! It is I!) fill the air, and are supposed to
-indicate the deity's approach. While delivering the oracle, the priest's
-eyes stand out and roll, as if a frenzy had seized him; his voice is
-unnatural and his face pallid; his lips turn white; his breathing is
-laboured; and his whole appearance resembles that of "a furious madman."
-The perspiration streams from every pore; the tears start from his
-strained eyes. But by degrees the symptoms disappear, and the priest
-stares around with purposeless gaze. Then as the god says "I depart," he
-throws himself down violently on the mat, or suddenly beats the ground
-with a club; whereupon those at a distance are informed by blasts on the
-conch, or the discharge of a musket, that the deity has returned into the
-world of spirits.
-
-It would be a mistake to conclude that in these scenes the priest-actor is
-always a conscious impostor; he is frequently the victim of his own
-imagination, which he stimulates into an excess of frenzy.
-
-The Fijians conceive that the way to Buruto, or Heaven, is impeded by many
-difficulties, except for the great chiefs, and that, therefore, the only
-certain plan for a man of inferior rank is to impose upon the god with a
-lie,--declaring himself to be a chief with so much earnestness that the
-god believes him, and allows him to pass! Probably in no other creed is
-admission to heaven made to depend upon a lie! With his war club and a
-whale's tooth on his shoulder, the spirit journeys to the world's end.
-There grows the sacred pine, at which the spirit hurls his whale's tooth.
-If he miss the mark, his journey comes to an abrupt termination; if he hit
-it, he travels onward until he reaches the spot where the spirits of the
-women murdered at his death await his arrival.
-
-With these faithful attendants he goes forward, but is opposed by a god
-called Ravuyalo, against whom he employs his club. If he be defeated, the
-god kills and eats him; if he conquer, he again goes forward until he
-falls in with a canoe. Embarking, he is conveyed to the celestial heights
-where dwells the supreme god, Ndengei. Over the brink of the cliff
-stretches the long-steering oar of the god's canoe. He is asked his name
-and rank, and to this inquiry he replies with a detailed and very
-imaginative recital of his greatness and opulence, the heroic deeds he has
-achieved, the devastation he has effected, and the realms over which he
-has ruled. He is then commanded to seat himself on the blade of the oar,
-and, if his story have met with credence, he is borne aloft into Buruto;
-if Ndengei disbelieves it, the oar is tilted up, and he is hurled down for
-ever into the watery depths of blackness.
-
-Bachelors are not admitted into Buruto, because as we have stated, the
-spirit waits for his wives, to prove that he is married. And if an
-unmarried man venture on the journey, a goddess called the Great Woman,
-throws herself in his way. She bears towards bachelors an implacable
-hatred, and no sooner sees one than she springs upon him and tears him to
-pieces. In her haste she sometimes misses him; but even then he has to
-contend against another god, who conceals himself by the side of the path,
-and as the bachelor spirit passes by, leaps upon him, and dashes him
-against a stone.
-
-There is a ghastliness about the funeral ceremonies of the Fijians which
-far surpasses even the dreary desolation of those in vogue among
-ourselves.
-
-In common with several other savage tribes they hold that men and women
-who have grown decrepit and infirm have lived their lives, and should
-withdraw from this world of activity. Accordingly though they may be
-neither dead nor dying, preparations are made for their interment. And it
-seems that the moribund themselves do not object to this summary
-anticipation of the moment of dissolution; on the contrary, when they
-become sensible of infirmity, they invite their sons to strangle them.
-While the sons, far from objecting to an act of parricide, will intimate
-to their aged parents, if they delay the request, that they have lived
-long enough, and that it will be well for them to enjoy the rest of the
-grave. On both sides this singular conduct is due apparently to the Fijian
-belief that the condition of the spirit in the next world will exactly
-resemble that of the individual in this; and consequently everybody is
-desirous to cross the threshold while he retains some degree of activity
-of body.
-
-Alone we must die, but we need not pass alone into the spirit-world! Such
-is the conviction of the Fijians, and accordingly they provide a dead
-chief with attendants, by strangling at his grave his favourite wives. And
-they slay a valiant warrior that he may precede him on his journey, and do
-battle for him with all evil spirits or demons. These victims are called
-"grass," and lie at the bottom of the chieftain's grave; the wives decked
-out in fleecy folds of the softest masi, the servants with their various
-implements in their hands, and the warrior equipped for the strife, with
-his favourite club by his side. No resistance is offered by any one of the
-sufferers; no attempt is made to escape; all seem to contend for the
-honour of escorting their chief into the other world.
-
-Mr. Williams was present at the funeral of the King of Somo-somo in
-August, 1845. Age was beginning to tell upon him, but there was no
-immediately dangerous symptom, and on the 21st, when Mr. Williams visited
-him, he was better than he had been for two or three days before. Judge,
-then, of the missionary's surprise, when, on the 24th, he was informed
-that the king was dead, and that preparations were being made for his
-interment, he could scarcely believe the report. The ominous word
-"preparations" induced him to hasten at once to the scene of action, but
-his utmost speed failed to bring him to Nasima, the king's house, in time.
-The moment he entered it was evident that, as far as concerned two of the
-women, he was too late to save their lives. The effect of that ghastly
-scene was overwhelming. Scores of deliberate murderers in the very act
-surrounded him; yet was there no confusion, and the unearthly horrid
-stillness was broken only by an occasional word from him who presided.
-Nature seemed to lend her aid to enhance the impression of horror; there
-was not a breath in the air, and the half subdued light in that hall of
-death revealed every object with unusual distinctness.
-
-"All was motionless as sculpture, and"--writes Mr. Williams--"a strange
-feeling came upon me, as though I was myself becoming a statue. To speak
-was impossible; I was unconscious that I breathed; and involuntarily, or
-rather against my will, I sank to the floor, assuming the cowering posture
-of those who were actually engaged in murder. My arrival was during a
-hush, just at the crisis of death, and to that strange silence must be
-attributed my emotions; and I was but too familiar with murders of this
-kind, neither was there anything novel in the apparatus employed.
-Occupying the centre of that large room were two groups, the business of
-whom could not be mistaken.
-
-"All sat on the floor; the middle figure of each group being held in a
-sitting posture by several females, and hidden by a large veil. On either
-side of each veiled figure was a company of eight or ten strong men, one
-company hauling against the other a white cord which was passed twice
-round the neck of the doomed one, who thus in a few minutes ceased to
-live. As my self-command was returning to me the group furthest from me
-began to move; the men slackened their hold, and the attendant women
-removed the large covering, making it into a couch for the victim."
-
-Mr. Williams now repaired to the hut of the deceased king, to intercede
-with his successor on behalf of the other intended victims. Judge of his
-surprise and horror to find the king still alive. He was very feeble, it
-was true, but he retained complete consciousness, and occasionally put his
-hand to his side as his cough shook and tortured him. The young king
-seemed overcome with grief, and embracing Mr. Williams, said: "See, the
-father of us two is dead." He regarded his father's movements, even his
-speaking and taking food, as mechanical; in his view, the spirit had
-departed, and nothing remained but an infirm, and, therefore, valueless
-body. The preparations for the funeral were not interrupted, and Mr.
-Williams could obtain no hearing for his expostulations. The young chief's
-principal wife and an attendant busily dusted his body with black powder,
-as if dressing him for the war-dance; and bound his arms and legs with
-long rolls of white masi, tied in rosettes, with the ends streaming on the
-ground. He was attired in a new masi robe, which fell about him in ample
-folds; his head was decorated with a scarlet handkerchief, arranged
-turban-wise, and ornamented with white cowrie-shells, strings of which
-flashed on his dusky arms; while round his neck depended an ivory
-necklace, composed of long curved claw-like pieces of whale's teeth.
-
-At the sound of a couple of conch-shells the chiefs present did homage, so
-to speak, to their new king, who was still deeply affected, and gazing on
-the body of one of the murdered women, his father's eldest and most loving
-wife, exclaimed: "Alas, Moalivu! There lies a woman truly unwearied, not
-only in the day but the night also; the fire consumed the fuel gathered by
-her hands. If we awoke in the still night, the sound of her feet reached
-our ears, and if harshly spoken to, she continued to labour only.
-Moalivu! alas, Moalivu!"
-
-The bodies of the victims were then wrapped up in mats, placed on a bier,
-and carried out of the door; but the old king was borne through a gap
-purposely made in the wall of the house. On arriving at the seaside, they
-were deposited in a canoe, the old king reclining on the deck, attended by
-his wife and the chief priest, who fanned away the insects. The place of
-sepulture was at Weilangi. There, in a grave lined with mats, were laid as
-"grass" the murdered women. Upon them was stretched the dying king, who
-was stripped of his regal ornaments, and completely enveloped in mats.
-Lastly, the earth was heaped over him, though he was still alive. At the
-end of the ceremony the new king returned to his "palace," not unmindful
-of the fact that in the course of time a similar fate awaited himself.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-Since the annexation of the Fiji Islands, such a scene as this has, of
-course, become impossible. Cannibalism, to which the Fijians were largely
-addicted, has also, been prohibited. Lord George Campbell, in his "Log of
-the Challenger," written in 1876, says that those who lived in the
-interior still cherished cannibalistic tendencies, and he seems to have
-been of opinion that cannibalism prevailed in those parts to which
-missionaries or civilisation had not yet penetrated. But under the firm
-rule of Sir Arthur Gordon it was doubtless extirpated.
-
-Even in Lord George Campbell's time the change effected by the sacred
-influence of Christianity had been "great indeed." A party of English
-officers made a boat-excursion to the large island of Bau, where the king
-lived. They found him dressed in a waist-cloth, lying on his face in a
-hut, reading the Bible. Not far distant were the great stones against
-which they used to kill the sacrificial victims, battering their heads
-against them till dead. There too they saw a great religious "maki-maki,"
-hundreds of men and women dancing, and singing New Testament verses before
-Wesleyan missionaries, who, sitting at a table, received the
-money-offerings of their converts as they defiled before them dancing and
-singing.
-
-We have sketched a hideous scene belonging to the past, and associated
-with the darkest superstitions of the Fijians. We shall adapt from Lord
-George Campbell a more pleasing picture, in which the past mingles with
-the present, and the old and the new are not unhappily blended.
-
-The chronicler of the cruise of the "Challenger" was witness of a native
-dance or "maki-maki," given at Kandavu in honour of the English officers.
-When he landed the first "set" had already begun, and torches, consisting
-of bundles of palm branches tied together, threw a lurid light over the
-savage scene. On a strip of grass in front of the huts were gathered the
-dancers, and close around grouped picturesquely on the top of great piles
-of cocoa-nuts, or squatting on the ground, were the natives of Kandavu and
-the neighbouring villages, officiating as critics, but prepared in their
-turn to take part in the wild revelry.
-
-"Glorious Rembrandt effects, as the torches' flames leapt and fell in the
-still night air, bathing with ruddy glow that strange scene around,--the
-semi-nude dusky natives chattering, laughing, glistening eyes and white
-gleaming teeth, on the reed-built huts, on the foliage above, and flushing
-redly up the white trunks of the cocoa-palms. Round a standing group of
-tawny-hued boys and girls who formed the band, some two dozen men, dressed
-in fantastic manner, their faces blackened, and skins shiny with cocoa-nut
-oil, were dancing. Wound round their waists they wore great rolls of
-tappa, or white cloth, falling nearly to the knees, and over these, belts
-fringed with long narrow streamers of brightly coloured stuff--red,
-yellow, and white, surging and rustling with every movement; on their
-heads turbans of finely-beaten tappa, transparent and gauzy, piled high in
-a peak; gaiters of long black seaweed or grass, strung with white beads;
-anklets and armlets of large bone rings, or of beads worked in patterns;
-tortoiseshell bracelets and bead necklaces, from which hung in front one
-great curled boar's tusk. Some are dressed better than others, but all in
-the same wild style. Moving slowly in a circle round and round the band,
-whose clapping and rollicking strain they accompanied by a loud droning
-kind of chant, at the end of each stave chiming in with the band with a
-simultaneous shout, a sudden swaying of the body, a loud hollow clap of
-the hands, once or twice repeated, and a heavy stamp, stamp of the feet;
-a moment's halt and silence, broken plaintively by one of the singers,
-quickly taken up by the remainder to a clapping, rattling, and vowely
-measure, and again the dancers circle slowly round, swinging their arms
-and bodies, clapping, shouting, and droning in faultless time together."
-
-The first dances were dances of peace; pantomimic representations of the
-chief pursuits of a Fijian's life, as, for instance, fishermen hauling in
-their lines, or the tillers of the field planting tare and gathering in
-their crops.
-
-Next came the war dances, which reproduced the incidents of the past,
-incidents never likely to be repeated under British rule. A solitary
-singer began the strain, and the others gradually joined in,--clappingly,
-jinglingly, bubblingly, slightly nasally, a strange ring audible
-throughout, and not less audible the stirring boom of a bamboo drum.
-Suddenly, from out the surrounding gloom, against which in strong contrast
-stood the white stems of the cocoa-trees, and into the red light of the
-torches, merged slowly one after another, in Indian file, a string of
-"mad, savage-looking devils." Crouching and bounding, now backwards, now
-forwards, from side to side, they gradually approached. Their hands
-carried great clubs, the tips of which were decked with white plumes of
-silvery "reva-reva," flashing whitely as they were whirled around; their
-fantastic finery rustling loudly with every wild movement, eyeballs
-glaring out from blackened faces, their motions sudden and simultaneous,
-their splendid stalwart forms swelling with muscles and shining with
-oil,--they looked "awfully savage and fine;" and to a captive bound and
-about to be eaten, one would imagine well that the whole performance would
-be thoroughly enjoyable.
-
-"Now stealthily working their arms and clubs, as if feeling their victim,
-then with a shout bounding forward, brandishing aloft their clubs,
-suddenly, as if struck by some unseen hand, falling to the ground on
-bended knee, swaying first to the right, then to the left, and bringing
-their clubs down with an ominous thud; again leaping up, bounding back,
-from side to side, then to the right-about, and all over the place; it is
-impossible for me to attempt describing them, so I won't. They were, I
-suppose, braining enemies by the dozen, and as they worked themselves
-into mad excitement, so the more they bounded, smashed their enemies'
-heads, and were happy. Their drilling was admirable; standing in line with
-the string, every club whirled as one, every bound and frantic motion went
-together, and we are told they make fine soldiers, as far as drill is
-concerned, from this idea of time that they have. In their dances they
-were led by a small boy--a chief's son, this function being their
-prerogative,--a lithe tawny little savage, with a great mop of frizzled
-yellow hair, and his face dabbed with charcoal. In his hands he carried an
-enormous palm-leaf fan, with which he directed the dancers. Going through
-all the movements of the dance, he at the same time careered over the
-ground, now shouting loud words of command to the singers, and now to the
-dancers, yards away on their flanks. He was simply splendid, flying about
-like a demented demon, here, there, and everywhere, the dancers, whether
-their backs were turned or not, all keeping exact time with him. As these
-men appeared, so, slowly, still bounding voicelessly, terrifically about,
-and whirling their clubs, they vanished into the darkness."
-
-Out of darkness cometh light, and a future, irradiated by the light of
-Christianity, succeeds to the ghastly past of Fiji, with all its cruel and
-odious superstitions.
-
-
-NOTE ON THE POLYNESIAN ISLANDS.
-
-_Exorcism._
-
-When Captain Moresby, of H.M.S. Basilisk, visited Shepherd Isle, near the
-Torres group, he found himself compelled to submit to a curious process of
-exorcism before he was permitted to land.
-
-A "devil-man," fantastically painted, and adorned with leaves and flowers,
-waded out to meet his boat, waving a bunch of palm leaves round his head,
-and as the captain jumped on shore, the devil-man rushed at him, and
-grasping his right hand, waved the palms round his head in the same
-manner. It was evident that he meant no harm, and the captain therefore
-offered no resistance. He placed the leaves in the captain's right hand
-and a small twig in his own mouth, and then, as if with a great effort,
-drew out the twig,--which was supposed to extract the evil spirit,--and
-blew violently, as if to hurry it away. Afterwards the captain held a twig
-between _his_ teeth, and the devil-man repeated the process, all the while
-showing signs of strong excitement.
-
-"He led me then," says Captain Moresby, "to the edge of the bush, and I
-began to feel rather reluctant, and doubtful as to how all was going to
-end, but thought I had better see it out. Here two sticks, ornamented with
-leaves, were fixed in the ground, and bent to an angle at the top, with
-leaves tied to the point, and round these sticks the devil-man and I raced
-in breathless circles till I was perfectly dizzy. He, however, did not
-seem to mind it at all, and presently flew off with me up a steep path
-into the bush, where at a short distance we came to two smaller sticks
-crossed; here he dropped my hand, and taking the bunch of palm leaves from
-me, waved them, and sprang over the sticks and back again. Then placing
-both his hands on my shoulders, he leaped with extraordinary agility,
-bringing his knees to the level of my face at each bound, as if to show
-that he had conquered the devil, and was now trampling him into the earth.
-When he had leaped for awhile, he made signs that all was over, and we
-walked back together to the officers, who had been rather anxiously
-watching these singular proceedings. The natives, who had kept quietly
-aloof, now came freely about us, and showed by their manner that they
-considered us free of the island."
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XIV.
-
-_THE RELIGION OF THE MAORIES._
-
-
-We meet in New Zealand with that curious system of "taboo" or "tapu" which
-prevails throughout the greater part of the Polynesian Archipelago; a
-system evidently conceived in the interest of the priesthood, and forming,
-to a great extent, the basis of its power.
-
-We meet also with a recognition of the two Principles of Good and Evil,
-whose antagonism colours the creed of almost every race.
-
-The Good Spirit of the Maories is called Atua; the Evil Spirit, Wairua.
-All evil spirits, or all the objects representing them, are known as
-Wairuas, and all the emblems or types of the Good Spirit as Atuas; but
-there is one supreme Goodness, one great and overruling God, to which the
-name of Atua is also applied.
-
-According to Mr. Angas, the _Kakariki_, or green lizard, is specially
-venerated as an Atua. On one occasion, during the early days of Christian
-mission work in New Zealand, a missionary was examining a phial of green
-lizards, and a Maori entering the room, the missionary showed it to him.
-Whereupon the Maori immediately exhibited all the signs of extreme terror,
-and exclaiming, "I shall die! I shall die!" proceeded to crawl away on his
-hands and knees. Any novel object, any object beyond the intelligence of
-the Maories, they convert into an Atua. Thus, a barometer is an Atua,
-because it indicates changes of weather; a compass, because it points to
-the north; a watch, because it mysteriously records the progress of time.
-Not to these typical atuas, however, does the Maori render the homage of
-prayer and praise; this he reserves for the supreme and unseen Atua, and
-offers through the agency of his priests or tohungas. It is to be feared
-that these prayers are often unintelligible to those on whose behalf they
-are offered, but the Maories do not the less heartily believe in them;
-and, indeed, the history of religion all over the world presents
-innumerable illustrations of the fact that faith is not incompatible with
-ignorance. It is the very essence and secret of Superstition. Whether they
-understand the prayers of the tohungas or not, they delight in their
-frequent repetition, and insist upon their use in almost every
-circumstance of life. They are generally accompanied by offerings of
-animal and vegetable food, which, of course, become the perquisites of the
-tohungas.
-
-The Maori priesthood is hereditary, father transmits his office to son,
-after carefully educating him in its duties. Dr. Dieffenbach was present
-when an aged tohunga was giving a lesson to a neophyte. The old priest, he
-says, was sitting under a tree, with part of a man's skull, filled with
-water, by his side. At intervals he dipped a green branch into the water,
-and sprinkled the hand of a boy, who reclined at his feet, and listened
-attentively to his recital of a long string of words. Dr. Dieffenbach
-doubts the common statement that the prayers are often without meaning,
-while agreeing that they are unintelligible to the majority of the
-worshippers. He thinks they are couched in a language now forgotten; or,
-what is more probable, that among the Maories as among many of the nations
-of antiquity, the religious mysteries are carefully confined to a certain
-class of men, who conceal them from the _profanum vulgus_, or reveal only
-such portions as they think proper. The claims of the exponents of an
-artificial creed must necessarily depend in a great degree upon the amount
-of mystery in which they involve it. With the common people familiarity
-breeds contempt; they venerate that only which they do not understand; it
-is darkness and not light which moves their wonder, and excites their awe.
-
-Devoid as it is of elevated attributes, the religion of the Maori rises
-above some of the Polynesian creeds in its acknowledgment of the
-immortality of man, though on this point its teaching is very vague.
-
-The Maori believes that, after death, his soul enters the Reinga, or abode
-of departed spirits; and, with an unwonted touch of poetry, he looks upon
-shooting and falling stars as souls passing swiftly to this undiscovered
-bourne; the entrance to which he supposes to lie beneath a precipice at
-Cape Maria Van Diemen. The spirits in falling are supposed to rest
-momentarily, in order to break the descent, against an ancient tree, which
-grows about half way down. The natives were wont to indicate a particular
-branch as being the halting-place of the spirits; but a missionary having
-cut it off, the tree has of late diminished in sanctity.
-
-The entrance to the Reinga is not accomplished by all spirits in the same
-manner. Those of the chiefs ascend in the first place to the upper
-heavens, where each chief leaves his left eye, this left eye becoming a
-new star. Hence the custom in Maori warfare for the victor to eat the left
-eye of a chief slain in battle, in the conviction that by this process he
-absorbed into his own system the skill, sagacity, and courage of the
-departed.
-
-It is humiliating, perhaps, to record these illustrations of human folly;
-but they are valuable as proofs of the depths to which Humanity descends
-when unaided by the elevating influence of revealed religion.
-
-According to the Maories, the soul is not confined absolutely within the
-limits of the Reinga, but may at its will revisit "the glimpses of the
-moon," and converse with its former friends and kinsmen,--of course, only
-through the medium of the tohungas. The latter are sometimes favoured with
-a view of the spiritual visitor, who takes the form of a sunbeam or a
-shadow, and speaks with a low whistling voice, like the sound of a light
-air passing through trees. This voice is occasionally heard by the
-uninitiated, but the language it speaks can be comprehended by none but
-the tohungas.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-Respecting the wairuas, it is difficult to gather any satisfactory
-information. The word "wairua" means either "a dream," or "the soul," and
-Dr. Dieffenbach says it is chiefly used to signify the spirit of some
-dead man or woman who is supposed to cherish a malignant feeling towards
-the living. The wairuas frequent certain localities, such as
-mountain-tops, which the Maori consequently takes good care not to visit.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-It is a necessary result of the Maori belief in atuas and wairuas that
-these should foster a belief in witchcraft. Individuals of bolder and
-stronger minds than the majority will always claim a special relationship
-to the unseen Powers, and avail themselves of this pretended relationship
-to work upon the popular imagination. Convince the ignorant of the
-existence of evil deities, and he will listen readily to any who tell him
-that they can shield him from their malignant influence. And then it
-naturally follows, "as the night the day," that all misfortunes arising
-from unseen or unintelligible causes, will be attributed to witchcraft. A
-vast--an almost boundless field is thus opened up to the practice of human
-unscrupulousness and the weakness of human incredulity.
-
-Let a Maori chief lose some valued article, or suffer from an attack of
-illness, and he immediately concludes that he has been bewitched. Who has
-bewitched him? He fixes, as a matter of course, on the individual whom he
-conceives to be his enemy, and orders him to be put to death. Or he
-resorts to some potent witch, and bribes her to exercise her influence to
-remove the maleficent spell under which he is labouring.
-
-According to Dr. Dieffenbach, the particular haunt of the witches is--or
-rather _was_, for Christianity has rapidly extended its blessed power over
-the population of New Zealand--a place called Urewera, in the North
-Island, between Hawkes Bay and Taupo. The natives of this wild and
-deserted district are reported to be the greatest witches in the country;
-are much feared and studiously avoided by the neighbouring tribes. When
-they come down to the coast, the natives there are almost afraid to oppose
-their most extravagant demands, lest they should incur their displeasure.
-It is said that they use the saliva of the people they design to bewitch,
-and, therefore, visitors carefully conceal it, so as to deprive them of
-the opportunity of working mischief. Yet, like the witches and sorcerers
-of mediæval England, they appear to be more sinned against than sinning,
-and by no means to deserve the ill reputation which attaches to them.
-
-It is a curious fact, says Dr. Dieffenbach, which has been noticed in
-Tahiti, Hawaii, and the Polynesian islands generally, that the first
-intercourse of their inhabitants with Europeans produces civil war and
-social degradation, but that a change of ideas is rapidly effected, and
-the most ancient and apparently inveterate prejudices soon become a
-subject of ridicule, and are swept away. The grey priest, or tohunga,
-skilled in all the mysteries of witchcraft and native medical treatment,
-readily yields in his attendance on the sick to every European who
-possesses, or affects to possess, a knowledge of the science of surgery or
-medicine, and laughs at the former credulity of his patient. It is evident
-that, while deceiving others, he never deceived himself, and was well
-aware of the futility of his pretended remedies.
-
-When a New Zealand chief or his wife fell sick, the most influential
-tohunga, or some woman enjoying a special odour of sanctity, was instantly
-called in, and waited night and day upon the patient, sometimes repeating
-incantations over him, and sometimes sitting in front of the house, and
-praying. The following is the incantation which the priests profess to be
-a cure for headache. The officiant pulls out two stalks of the _Pteris
-esculenta_, from which the fibres of the root must be removed, and beating
-them together over the patient's head, says this chant. It is entitled, "A
-prayer for the sick man, when his head aches: to Atua this prayer is
-offered, that the sick man may become well."
-
-On the occasion of a chiefs illness, all his kith and kin gather around
-his house, and give way to the loudest lamentations, in which the invalid
-is careful to join. When the weeping and wailing capacities of one village
-have been exhausted he is carried to another, and the process is repeated.
-But in New Zealand, as elsewhere, the common lot cannot be averted by
-sorrowing humanity; the sick man dies; and then all that remains to the
-survivors is to show their respect and regret by such funeral pomp as they
-are able to devise. They assemble round the dead body, after it has been
-equipped in its bravest attire, and indulge in the most violent
-demonstrations of grief,--partly feigned, no doubt, but partly sincere.
-This luxury of woe, however, is chiefly accorded to the women, who display
-that extravagance of passion we are accustomed to regard as characteristic
-of the Southern nations. They throw themselves upon the ground, wrap their
-faces and bodies in their mantles, shriek and sob aloud, wave their arms
-frantically in the air, and finally gash and scar their skin with long,
-deep cuts, which they fill in with charcoal until they become indelible
-records of the loss they have sustained. Funeral orations, full of the
-most vehement eulogies, and interrupted by complaints and reproaches
-against the dead man for his unkindness in going away from them, are
-incessantly delivered. These ceremonies completed, they place the corpse
-in a kind of coffin, along with various emblems of the rank of the
-departed, and leave it to decay.
-
-The process of decomposition is completed in about seven or eight months;
-the ceremony of the _hahunga_ then takes place. The friends and relatives
-assemble; the bones are removed from the coffin, and cleaned; a supply of
-provisions is passed around; a new series of funeral panegyric is spoken;
-and the _tiki_, _merai_, and other symbols of the departed chieftain's
-headship are handed over to his eldest son, who is thus invested with his
-father's power and privileges.
-
-The place where the dead body lies while undergoing decomposition, the
-waki-tapu, as it is called, is frequently distinguished by peculiar signs,
-and the neighbourhood left uninhabited. Mr. Angas describes a visit which
-he paid to the village of Huriwonua. Its chief had died about six weeks
-before the visit, and Mr. Angas, on arriving there, found it entirely
-deserted. "From the moment the chief was laid beneath the upright canoe,
-on which were inscribed his name and rank, the whole village, he says,
-became strictly tapu, or sacred, and not a native, on pain of death, was
-permitted to trespass near the spot. The houses were all fastened up, and
-on most of the doors were inscriptions denoting that the property of such
-an one remained there. An utter silence pervaded the place. After
-ascertaining," says Mr. Angas, "that no natives were in the vicinity of
-the forbidden spot, I landed, and trod the sacred ground; and my footsteps
-were probably the first, since the desertion of the village, that had
-echoed along its palisaded passages.
-
-"On arriving at the tomb, I was struck with the contrast between the
-monument of the savage and that of the civilised European. In the erection
-of the latter, marble and stone and the most durable of metals are
-employed, while rapidly-decaying wood, red ochre, and feathers form the
-decorations of the Maori tomb. Huriwonua having been buried only six
-weeks, the ornaments of the _waki-tapu_, or sacred place, as those
-erections are called, were fresh and uninjured. The central upright canoe
-was thickly painted with black and red, and at the top was written the
-name of the chief; above which there hung in clusters bunches of _kaka_
-feathers, forming a large mass at the summit of the canoe. A double fence
-of high palings, also painted red, and ornamented with devices in
-arabesque work, extended round the grave, and at every fastening of flax,
-when the horizontal rails were attached to the upright fencing, were stuck
-two feathers of the albatross, the snowy whiteness of which contrasted
-beautifully with the sombre black and red of the remainder of the
-monument."
-
-We have entered at some length into an explanation of the system of Tapu,
-or Taboo, in our remarks on the religion of the Polynesians. It prevails,
-as we have already stated, in New Zealand; and though its disadvantages
-are many, and it is capable of great abuse, it serves nevertheless as a
-substitute for law, and to a large extent protects both life and property.
-For, supported and enforced as it is by the superstitious feelings of the
-people, it erects an insuperable barrier between possession and
-acquisition; it plays the part of a social police; it maintains the moral
-standard; it shields the feeble from the oppression of the strong. A man
-quits his dwelling for his day's work: he places the tapu mark on his
-door, and thenceforward his dwelling is inviolate. Or he selects a tree
-which will fashion into a good canoe; he distinguishes it with the tapu
-mark, and it becomes his own. Civilisation has designed no more effectual
-protection.
-
-But like all restrictive and prohibitive systems, it is easily pushed to
-an inconvenient excess, and made an instrument of extortion or oppression
-in the hands of the chief or priest. It is much in favour, says Mr.
-Williams, among the chiefs, who adjust it so that it sits easily on
-themselves, while they use it to gain influence over those who are nearly
-their equals; by means of it they supply their most important wants, and
-command at will all who are beneath them. If any object touch a chief's
-garment it becomes tapu; so, too, if a drop of his blood fall upon it;
-and, more particularly, it consecrates his head. To mention or refer to a
-chief's head is an insult. Mr. Angas says that a friend of his, in
-conversing with a Maori chief about his crops, inadvertently said: "Oh, I
-have some apples in my garden as large as that little boy's head!"
-pointing at the same time to the chief's son. This reference was felt and
-resented as a deadly insult, and it was only with the greatest difficulty
-that the incautious speaker obtained forgiveness. So very much _tapu_ is a
-chiefs head that, should he touch it with his own fingers, he must touch
-nothing else until he has applied the hand to his nostrils and smelt it,
-and thus restored to the head the virtue that departed from it when first
-touched. The hair is likewise sacred; it is cut by one of his wives, who
-receives every particle in a cloth, and buries it in the ground. The
-operation renders _her_ tapu, for a week, during which time she is not
-allowed to make use of her hands.
-
-The carved image of a chief's head is not less sacred than the head
-itself. Dr. Dieffenbach says: "In one of the houses of Te Puai, the head
-chief of all the Waikato, I saw a bust, made by himself, with all the
-serpentine lines of the aroko, or tattooing. I asked him to give it to me,
-but it was only after much pressing that he parted with it. I had to go to
-his house to fetch it myself, as none of his tribe could legally touch it,
-and he licked it all over before he gave it to me; whether to take the
-tapu off, or whether to make it more strictly sacred, I do not know. He
-particularly engaged me not to put it into the provision-bag, nor to let
-the natives see it at Rotu-rua, whither I was going, or he would certainly
-die in consequence."
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-Cannibalism is now extinct in New Zealand, having been crushed out by the
-strong arm of British authority, and the ever-increasing influence of
-British civilisation. But it was hard to die, and lingered down to a very
-recent date. As practised by the Maories, it lost few of its repulsive
-features. We must admit, however, that they did not indulge in it from a
-craving after human flesh, nor in time of peace, but after battles, from a
-belief that he who ate the flesh or blood, or even the left eye, of a
-slain warrior assimilated in his system all his martial and manly
-qualities. When the fight was at an end, the dead bodies were collected,
-and with much rejoicing carried into the villages, where they were roasted
-in the cook-houses, and duly eaten. But, first, the tohunga cut off a
-portion of the flesh, and with certain incantations and mystic gestures,
-suspended it upon a tree or pole, as an offering to the gods.
-
-Mr. Angas describes one of the cooking-houses set apart for this horrid
-orgy. It was erected by a Maori chief in the Waitahanui Pah; and when
-visited by Mr. Angas, had happily ceased for some time to be used. The Pah
-stands on a low swampy peninsula, which is washed on one side by the river
-Waikato and on the other by the Taupo Lake. "The long façade of the Pah
-presents an imposing appearance when viewed from the lake; a line of
-fortifications, composed of upright poles and stakes, extending for at
-least half a mile in a direction parallel to the water. On the top of many
-of the posts are carved figures, much larger than life, of men in the act
-of defiance, and in the most savage postures, having enormous protruding
-tongues; and, like all the Maori carvings, these images, or waikapokos,
-are coloured with kokowai, or red ochre.
-
-"The entire pah is now (1863) in ruins, and has been made tapu by Te
-Heuhen since its destruction. Here, then, all was forbidden ground; but I
-eluded the suspicions of our natives, and rambled about all day amongst
-the decaying memorials of the past, making drawings of the most striking
-and peculiar objects within the pah. The cook-houses, where the father of
-Te Heuhen had his original establishment, remained in a perfect state; the
-only entrances to these buildings were a series of circular apertures, in
-and out of which the slaves engaged in preparing the food were obliged to
-crawl.
-
-"Near to the cook-houses stood a carved patuka, which was the receptacle
-of the sacred food of the chief; and nothing could exceed the richness of
-the elaborate carving that adorned this storehouse.... Ruined
-houses--many of them once beautifully ornamented and richly
-carved--numerous _waki-tapu_, and other heathen remains with images and
-carved posts, occur in various portions of this extensive pah; but in
-other places the hand of Time has so effectually destroyed the buildings
-as to leave them but an unintelligible mass of ruins. The situation of
-this pah is admirably adapted for the security of the inmates: it commands
-the lake on the one side, and the other fronts the extensive marshes of
-Tukanu, where a strong palisade and a deep moat afford protection against
-any sudden attack. Water is conveyed into the pah through a sluice or
-canal for the supply of the besieged in times of war.
-
-"There was an air of solitude and gloomy desolation about the whole pah,
-that was heightened by the screams of the plover and the tern, as they
-uttered their mournful cry through the deserted coasts. I rambled over the
-scenes of many savage deeds."
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-Cannibalism, or to use the scientific term, anthropophagy, has its origin
-in different causes, and assumes different forms. Among some of the savage
-peoples it is, as among the Maories, simply the expression of a sanguinary
-instinct, of an atrocious sentiment of revenge. Among others it originates
-in a chronic condition of misery and famine. Yet, again, it is sometimes
-connected with the custom of human sacrifices, as among the Aztecs, and
-those who practise it come to esteem it a sacred duty, pleasing to their
-deities, or even to the _manes_ of their hapless victims.
-
-Unknown among the simple Eskimos, and, indeed, among all the hyperborean
-races, anthropophagy prevails with more or less intensity among peoples
-which have attained a rudimentary civilization.
-
-Let us take, for example, the Khonds of Orissa, who keep up a system of
-human sacrifice, absolutely elaborate in its details. Its primary
-condition is that the victim, or Meriah, should be _bought_. Even if taken
-in war, he must be sold and purchased before the priest will accept him.
-No distinction is made as to age or sex; but the efficiency of the victim
-seems to depend on the sum he costs, and therefore the healthy are
-preferred to the feeble, and adults to children. The number consumed in a
-twelvemonth must be very considerable; as the Khonds do not believe in the
-success of any undertaking, or in the promise of their fields, unless a
-Meriah is first offered.
-
-The victims are kindly treated during the period of their captivity, which
-is sometimes of considerable duration. In truth, a Meriah or dedicated
-maiden is sometimes allowed to marry a Khond, and to live until she has
-become twice or thrice a mother. Her children as well as herself are
-destined to the sacrificial altar; but must never be slain in the village
-in which they are born. To overcome this difficulty, one village exchanges
-its Meriah children with another.
-
-There are various modes of accomplishing the sacrifice. In Goomten the
-offering is made to the Earth-god, Tado Pumor, who is represented by the
-emblem of a peacock. For a month previous to the day of doom, the people
-maintain an almost continuous revel, feasting and dancing round the
-Meriah, who seems to enter into the festivity with as much zest as they
-do. On the last day but one he is bound to a stout pole, the top of which
-carries the peacock emblem of the Tado Pumor; and around him wheel and
-wheel the revellers, protesting in their wild rude songs that they do not
-murder a victim, but sacrifice one who has been fairly purchased, and
-that, therefore, his blood will not be upon their heads. The Meriah, being
-stupefied with drink, makes no answer; and his silence is interpreted as a
-willing assent to his immolation. Next day he is anointed with oil, and
-carried round the village; after which he is brought back to the post, at
-the bottom of which a small pit has been dug. A hog is killed, and the
-blood poured into the pit, and mixed with the soil until a thick mud is
-formed. Into this mud the face of the Meriah is pressed until he dies from
-suffocation. It should be added that he is always unconscious from
-intoxication when brought to the post.
-
-The zani, or officiating priest, cuts off a fragment of the victim's
-flesh, and buries it near the pit; as an offering to the earth; after
-which the spectators precipitate themselves upon the body, hack it to
-pieces, and carry away the fragments to bury in their fields as a
-propitiation to the rural deities.
-
-In Sumatra exists a tribe, that of the Battas, which has not only a
-religion and a ceremonial worship, but a literature, a kind of
-constitution, and a penal code. This code condemns certain classes of
-criminals to be eaten alive. After the sentence has been pronounced by the
-proper tribunal, two or three days are suffered to elapse, to give the
-people time to assemble. On the day appointed, the criminal is led to the
-place of execution, and bound to a stake. The prosecutor advances, and
-selects the choicest morsel; after which the bystanders in due order
-choose such pieces as strike their fancy, and, terrible to relate! hack
-and hew them from the living body. At length the chief releases the poor
-wretch from his long agony by striking off his head. The flesh is eaten on
-the spot, raw or cooked, according to each man's taste.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-We have seen that in some of the "sunny Eden-isles" of the Pacific, the
-natives consider that they render a service to their aged and infirm
-parents by putting them to death, and that, by eating them, they provide
-the most honourable mode of sepulture. In others, as in New Zealand, the
-belief prevails that a man, by devouring his enemy, gains possession of
-all the virtues with which the latter may have been gifted. This
-conviction is cherished by certain tribes on the river Amazon.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-But it seems clear that in the majority of cases, anthropophagy originates
-in a constant scarcity of food, and in the lack of cattle and game; though
-in some it may be true that the cannibals are attracted by the delicious
-savour of human flesh, which they prefer to every other. Maury asserts
-that among the Cobens of the Uaupis, man is regarded as a species of game,
-and that they declare war against the neighbouring tribes solely for the
-purpose of procuring a supply of human flesh. When they obtain more than
-they require for their present need, they dry it and smoke it, and store
-it away for future use.
-
-In Africa, Captain Richard Burton discovered, on the shores of Lake
-Tangauyika, a cannibal people, named the Worabunbosi, who fed upon
-carrion, vermin, larvæ, and insects, and even carried their brutality to
-such an extent as to eat raw and putrid human flesh. Although you may see
-on every countenance, says this enterprising traveller,[57] the expression
-of chronic hunger, the poor wretched, timid, stunted, degraded, foul, seem
-far more dangerous enemies to the dead than to the living.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-We are speaking however of a barbarous custom which, from whatever cause
-it may have arisen, is rapidly dying out. Owing to the constant advance of
-the wave of civilisation, and to the vigorous efforts of our missionaries,
-the practice of cannibalism, against which our better nature instinctively
-rebels, is decaying even in the darkest and remotest regions of the globe.
-In Polynesia, for instance, as in New Zealand, it is almost extinct. And
-if we owed no other service to the heroic Soldiers of the Cross, this
-result would of itself entitle them to our gratitude, the extermination of
-Anthropophagy being the first step towards teaching man to reverence
-humanity.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XV.
-
-_THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS._
-
-
-The general characteristics of the North American Indians, or the Red Men,
-have been made familiar to us through the writings of travellers, and the
-picturesque romances of Fenimore Cooper, the American novelist; though of
-the latter it may be said, perhaps, that he has used bright colours too
-uniformly, and introduced into his sketches too little shadow. The name by
-which they are popularly known is, of course, ethnologically incorrect.
-Just as, in speaking of the great Western Continent, our forefathers
-employed the expression "the West Indies," or the "Great Indies," from a
-mistaken conception of its geographical position, so they christened by
-the term "Indians" all its aboriginal races; and the term has survived in
-our common speech owing to its convenience.
-
-Says De Maury: From the North Pole to Tierra del Fuego almost every shade
-of human colouring, from black to yellow, finds its representatives.
-According to their tribe, the Aborigines are of a brown-olive, a dark
-brown, bronze, pale yellow, copper yellow, red, brown, and so on. Nor do
-they differ less in stature. Between the dwarf-like proportions of the
-Changos, and the tall stature of the Patagonians, we meet with a great
-number of intermediary "sizes." The contours of the body present the same
-diversity. Some peoples, like those of the Pampas, are very long in the
-bust; others, like the inhabitants of the Peruvian Andes, are short and
-broad. So, too, with the shape and size of the head. Yet we recognize
-between the various American populations an air of kinship, or certain
-predominant and general features which distinguish them from the races of
-the old world. As, for example, the pyramidal form of the head and the
-narrowness of the forehead, characteristics of great antiquity among the
-American populations, having been found in skulls discovered by Mr. Lund
-in the caves of Brazil, in association with the bones of animals now
-extinct.
-
-In spite of this variety of type, we may divide the Aborigines of America
-into two great races, of which one, at least, the Red Skins, is remarkable
-for its complete homogeneity. The Red Skins,--with whom alone we shall
-concern ourselves,--were formerly distributed over all the upper portion
-of the American Continent; that is, over the territory of Canada and the
-United States and the northern districts of Mexico. In the sixteenth
-century they numbered, it is said, a million and a half of souls. The
-"advance of civilisation,"--in other words, the greed and cruelty of the
-white man,--have reduced them now to a few thousand families. A few years
-more, and American rifles, brandy, poverty, and disease will have
-virtually effected the extermination of a race, which has assuredly
-merited the respect and recognition we are generally prone to render to
-courage and endurance. True it is that our estimate of the Red Skins must
-not be taken entirely from the imaginative pages of Chateaubriand and
-Fenimore Cooper. The Deerskins, the Hawkeyes, and the Leatherstockings of
-the novelist are ideal creations, the like of which have never been found
-in the wildernesses of the West. Yet we cannot deny to the Indians a
-character of true nobility and exceptional manliness. Their scorn of death
-and pain, their stoical composure under tortures, the mere description of
-which makes the blood of ordinary men run cold, their disdain of the
-allurements of civilisation, their stern refusal of foreign supremacy,
-their haughty pride, even their cold and calculated ferocity, are so many
-traits which raise them to a higher platform than that occupied by most
-savage races.
-
-A hundred times in song, and romance, and drama have been portrayed the
-manners of this remarkable people, their subtle stratagems in war and the
-chase, the perseverance with which they hunt down their prey or enemy,
-their astuteness, their impassiveness, their brooding revenge. Who has
-not eagerly followed them in their unwearied wanderings across the rolling
-prairies, and through the interminable forests? Who has not listened
-eagerly, when seated round the watch-fire, with the calumet to their lips,
-they have meditated on the chances of peace and war,--chief after chief
-rising, with regal attitude and deliberate eloquence to take his part in
-the stern debate? Who has not watched them in their furious
-battle-charges, brandishing the dreadful tomahawk, and carrying off the
-scalps of their defeated enemies to hang up in their wigwams as the
-trophies of their prowess? Who has not breathlessly tracked them in their
-pursuit of a flying foe, or in their skilful escape through the thick
-brushwood from the pressure of some persistent antagonist? Assuredly this
-was a race well worthy of attentive study; and their history, or the
-narrative of their adventures, none can peruse without interest. There was
-a strain of poetry in their faith, in their customs, in their language at
-once laconic and picturesque, even in the names full of meaning which they
-bestowed on each tribe, and chief, and warrior. We can hardly suppress a
-feeling of regret that so much wild romance should have been swept off the
-earth, unless we bring our minds to dwell upon the deep dark shades of the
-picture, on their cruelty, perfidiousness, and lust. Even then our
-humanity revolts from the treatment they have received at the hands of the
-white man. Hunted from place to place like wild beasts, driven back from
-one hunting-ground to another, brutalised by misery or drunkenness,
-decimated by the diseases of civilisation, incapable of labour, the Red
-Skins have struggled in vain against the irresistible onward movement of a
-civilisation without bowels; a civilisation ill-adapted to attract and
-persuade them, and more anxious to destroy than to assimilate.
-
-The treatment of the Indians is a dark chapter in the history of the
-United States. The great nations which were formerly the valued allies or
-dreaded enemies of the European settlers, the Hurons, the Algonquins, the
-Iroquois, the Natchez, the Leni-Lenapes, have entirely disappeared. The
-wrecks of other but less important tribes still linger on the shores of
-the great Northern lakes, in the woods and wildernesses of the Far West,
-at the base of the Rocky Mountains, in Texas, in Arkansas, in California,
-and in the northern provinces and deserts of Mexico. Such are the Sioux,
-the Dacotahs, the Flatheads, the Big-Bellies, the Blackfoot, the Apaches,
-the Comanches. The two latter people have been the most successful in
-preserving their vitality. Their characteristics however are very diverse.
-The Comanches are of a mild gentle nature, and eager to live on peaceable
-terms with the whites. The Apaches, on the other hand, have vowed a
-relentless hatred against the Pale Faces; they are the terror of the
-_hacienderos_ (or farm proprietors) and gold seekers of Upper Mexico, and
-the American journals to this day are full of their incursions, and their
-acts of cruelty and brigandage.
-
-Physiologically, the distinctive features of the Red Men are, in addition
-to the colour of their skin and the pyramidal form of the head, the
-prominency and arched outline of the nose, the width of the nasal
-apertures, corresponding to a remarkable development of the olfactory
-nerve, and the absence of beard.
-
-The superstitions, or religious customs, of the Red Men are in themselves
-a sufficiently interesting subject of study. We begin with an account of
-the ceremony through which every one of their youths has to pass before he
-is acknowledged to have entered upon manhood. Our knowledge of it is due
-to Mr. Catlin, who, as a reputed "medicine-man," lived for some time with
-the Mandan tribe, and became acquainted with their most secret customs.
-
-The object of this rite, which for savage cruelty seems unparalleled, is,
-first, to propitiate the Great Spirit on behalf of the neophyte who
-undergoes it, so that he may become a successful hunter and a valiant
-warrior; and, second, to enable the leader and chief of the tribe, to
-watch his behaviour, and determine whether he will be likely to maintain
-its character and renown.
-
-The Mandans, we must premise, cherish a legend of a flood which in times
-long past inundated the earth, and of which only one man, who escaped in a
-large canoe, was the survivor. In a large open space in the centre of the
-village a representation of this canoe, a kind of tub, bound with wooden
-hoops, and set up on one end, is carefully preserved.
-
-The ceremony of initiation occurs once a year, at the season when the
-willow-leaves under the river-bank burst from their shade, and bloom in
-all their greenness. Early in the morning of the great day, a figure is
-seen on the distant ridge of hills, slowly approaching the village.
-Immediately the whole village is alive! The dogs are caught and muzzled;
-the horses are brought in from the meadows; the bravos paint their faces
-as if for battle, string their bows, feather their arrows, and grasp their
-pointed spears. Then into the central area strides the visitor, his body
-painted white, a plume of raven's feathers waving on his head, a white
-wolf's skin flung across his stalwart shoulders, and in his hand a
-mystery-pipe. The chief and his leading warriors immediately greet the new
-comer, Nu-mohk-muck-a-nah, or the First Man, as he is called,--and conduct
-him to the great medicine-lodge, which is open only on this occasion, and
-now reeks with the fragrant odours of various aromatic herbs. The skulls
-of men and bisons are solemnly laid on the floor; over the beams of the
-timber roof are hung several new ropes, with a heap of strong wooden
-skewers underneath them; and in the centre is raised a small daïs or
-altar, on which the First Man deposits the medicine or mystery of the
-tribe,--a profound, a sacred secret, known to none but himself.
-
-To every hut in the village next stalks the First Man, pausing at the door
-of each to weep aloud, and when the owner comes out, relating to him the
-old, old story of the Flood, and of his own escape from it, and requiring
-axe or knife as an offering to the Great Spirit. The demand is never
-refused; and loaded with edged tools of various kinds, he returns to the
-medicine-lodge. There they remain until the conclusion of the ceremonies,
-when they are thrown into the river's deepest pool.
-
-Thus passes the first day, during which, as during the whole period of the
-ceremony, an absolute silence prevails in the village. None know the place
-where he sleeps, but on the second morning he re-enters the village, and
-marches to the medicine-lodge, followed by a long train of neophytes, and
-carrying his bow and arrows, shield, and medicine-bag, and each painted in
-the most fantastic fashion. Hanging his weapons over his head, each man
-silently seats himself in front of the lodge, and for four days maintains
-his position, speaking to none, and neither eating, drinking, nor
-sleeping. At the outset, the First Man kindles his pipe at the fire that
-burns in the centre of the lodge, and harangues the neophytes, exhorting
-them to be brave and patient, and praying the Great Spirit to grant them
-strength to endure their trial.
-
-Summoning an old medicine-man, he then appoints him to the charge of the
-ceremonies, and as a symbol of office hands him the mystery-pipe. After
-which he takes leave of the chiefs and their people, promising that he
-will return next year to re-open the lodge, and with slow and stately step
-passes out of the village, and disappears beyond the hills.
-
-The master of the ceremonies hastens to put himself in the centre of the
-lodge, where he re-lights the pipe, and with every whiff of smoke utters a
-petition to the Great Spirit in behalf of the candidates.
-
-During the three days' silence of the neophytes, the tribe indulge in a
-variety of pastimes.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-First and foremost is the buffalo dance, in which eight persons are
-engaged, each wearing the skin of a bison, and carrying on his back a
-large bundle of faggots. In one hand they hold a mystery-rattle, in the
-other a small staff. In four couples they place themselves round the Big
-Canoe, each couple facing one of the cardinal points of the compass, and
-between them dances a young man,--two being got up in black, dotted with
-white stars, to represent day, and two in red, to represent night.
-
-A couple of medicine-men, dressed in the hides of grizzly bears, sit
-beside the Big Canoe, and profess their intention of devouring the whole
-village. To satiate their voracity, the women convey to them abundant
-supplies of meat, which men, painted black all over, except their heads,
-which are white, in imitation of the bald-headed eagle, carry off
-immediately to the prairie, pursued by a number of little boys, painted
-yellow, with white heads, who are called antelopes. After a swift chase
-they overtake the eagle-men, seize the food, and devour it.
-
-This rude frolic is repeated several times a day, the performers being
-summoned by the master of the ceremonies, who, followed by his assistants,
-issues from the medicine-lodge, and takes up his post against the Big
-Canoe, pouring forth many tears.
-
-On the first day the dance is four times repeated, on the second eight
-times, on the third twelve times, and on the fourth sixteen; the dancers
-issuing from the hut in which they attire themselves immediately that the
-old man lifts up his head, and weeps.
-
-During each performance, the old medicine-men keep up a rattle of drums,
-except when they pause to announce to the crowd that the Great Spirit is
-pleased with their offerings, and has given them peace; that even their
-women and children can hold the mouths of grizzly bears, and the Evil One
-does not appear to disturb them.
-
-This bold declaration is repeated thirty-two times during the four days,
-and repeated without challenge; but at the thirty-third, the Evil Spirit
-makes his appearance, threads his way through the village, and breaks into
-the circle,--an uncanny creature, entirely naked, his body painted black,
-but with white rings, and his mouth blotched with white indentations like
-so many tusks. Carrying in his hand a long magic staff tipped with a red
-ball, which he slides before him on the ground, this Evil Spirit makes a
-rush at each group of females in the excited crowd. They shriek for
-assistance.
-
-The master of the ceremonies straightway abandons his station by the Big
-Canoe, and presents his magic pipe to the intruder, who stands immediately
-as if petrified into stone, each limb quiescent, each muscle rigid,--a
-statue, rather than a man.
-
-The women take advantage of this sudden pause to escape from the Evil
-Spirit's clutch; and as soon as they are out of danger, though their
-hearts still beat with excitement, they resume their ordinary quietude,
-only laughing loudly and gleefully at the sudden discomfiture of their
-antagonist, and at the awkward and ridiculous attitude in which he was
-surprised.
-
-The old man stands upright by his side, with his eyeballs glaring him in
-the face, while the medicine-pipe holds under its mystic spell his Satanic
-Majesty, neutralises all the powers of his magic wand, and deprives him
-of the power of locomotion.
-
-No two human beings, says Mr. Catlin, can ever present a more striking
-group than is presented by those two individuals, with their fierce eyes
-fixed in well-simulated hatred on each other; both contending for the
-supremacy, both relying on the potency of their mystery or medicine; the
-one, with dismal black body, pretending to be O-ku-hu-de, the Evil Spirit,
-and pouring everlasting vengeance on the other, who sternly gazes back
-with a look of contemptuous exultation, as he holds him bound by the
-influence of his sacred mystery-pipe. Truly, these Red-skinned Mandans are
-accomplished actors and pantomimists.
-
-A repetition of this performance takes place until the power of the
-mystery-pipe has been sufficiently proved; and the women, gaining
-confidence in it, proceed to turn the tables on their persecutor, jeering
-him, and overwhelming him with shrieks of laughter. At last, one of the
-boldest dashes a handful of sand in his face; an insult which completely
-overwhelms him, so that he begins to weep abundantly. Another woman takes
-courage to seize his magic staff, and snaps it across her knee. Other
-women pick up the broken halves and break them into fragments, which they
-fling at O-ku-hu-de's head. Bereft of all his power, he incontinently
-turns tail, and dashes across the prairie, followed for half a mile or so
-by volleys of mud and stones and slates.
-
-Thus ends the battle of Armageddon. The Evil Spirit has come, and fought,
-and been conquered. The next step is to remove the little altar and its
-mysterious deposit from the centre of the great medicine-lodge, and pass
-the hide ropes through openings in the roof to men stationed without. Then
-the master of the ceremonies and his assistants, together with the chiefs
-and bravos of the tribe, re-enter the lodge, and take up their positions.
-
-Worn and wasted by four days of abstinence from food, drink, and sleep,
-the first neophyte enters the lodge, when called, and takes his stand in
-front of two of the executioners. One of them, with a blunt and jagged
-double-edged knife, pinches up an inch or so of the flesh of the breast
-or shoulder, inserts the knife, and through the incision thus
-accomplished, forces a wooden skewer; repeating the process on the other
-shoulder or breast, on each arm just below the shoulder and below the
-elbow, upon each thigh, and upon each leg just below the knee.
-
-Painful as the operation must be, the neophyte bears it unflinchingly; not
-a sigh escapes him; his countenance remains as calm and unruffled as if he
-were wrapped in a pleasant dream.
-
-Two of the hide ropes are now let down from the roof, and twisted round
-the skewers on the breast or shoulders. To the others are hung the
-neophyte's weapons, while the skulls of bisons depend from those of the
-lower arm or leg. At a given signal the neophyte is hauled aloft, and
-allowed to swing, at a height of six or eight feet from the ground,
-suspended only by the two skewers, while he sustains, not only his own
-weight, but that of the heavy skulls. With almost incredible fortitude, he
-endures this protracted agony, until exhausted nature gives way, and he
-falls into a swoon.
-
-The bystanders seem no longer men, but demons intent on increasing his
-tortures. They surround him, a dozen or more at a time, and consider what
-new inventions can be adopted. At length, one advances towards the poor
-wretch, and begins to turn him round with a pole, which he has brought for
-the purpose. This is done very gently at first, but by degrees with more
-rapidity and increasing violence, until the neophyte breaks down in his
-self-control, and bursts forth into "the most lamentable and heart-rending
-cries that the human voice is capable of producing," imploring the Great
-Spirit to support and protect him in his agony, and repeatedly expressing
-his belief in that protection.
-
-In this condition he revolves faster and faster, without the least hope of
-escape or relief, until he again falls into a swoon; his voice falters,
-his strugglings cease; he hangs a still and apparently lifeless thing.
-"When he is by turning gradually brought to this condition, which is
-generally done within ten or fifteen minutes, there is a close scrutiny
-passed upon him among his tormentors, who are checking and holding each
-other back as long as the least struggling or tremor can be discovered;
-lest he should be removed, before he is, as they term it, dead."
-
-Having satisfied themselves that their victim is not feigning, they give a
-signal; he is lowered to the ground; the skewers which passed through his
-breast are removed, and the ropes attached to another candidate. He is
-allowed to lie where he fell; none dare to touch him; to do so would be a
-sacrilege, because he has placed himself under the protection of the Great
-Spirit.
-
-After awhile he partially recovers, and crawls to another part of the
-lodge, where, with gleaming axe in hand and a bison's skull before him,
-sits a medicine-man. Holding up the little finger of his left hand as a
-sacrifice to the Great Spirit, the neophyte lays it upon the skull, and,
-in a moment, the medicine-man's axe severs it. Sometimes the fore-finger
-of the same hand is also offered, and only the thumb and two middle
-fingers, which are necessary in holding the bow, are left.
-
-Then comes the last scene of this strange, eventful history, bringing the
-neophyte's sufferings to a climax. The skewers by which he is suspended to
-the roof are removed when he is lowered, but eight still remain; two in
-each arm, and two in each leg. To each is attached a heavy weight, such as
-a bison's skull, and they must not be _drawn_ out, but must be _torn_ out
-by sheer force. With this view he is required to run the last race,--which
-takes place in the open air, and in the presence of a concourse of excited
-spectators. Leaving the medicine-lodge, the master of the ceremonies leans
-his head against the Big Canoe, and fills the air with a loud long wail.
-Immediately a score or so of young men, all matched in height, wearing
-beautiful dresses of eagle-quills, and carrying in one hand a wreath of
-willow-boughs, issue from the dressing-hut. On arriving at the Big Canoe
-they assemble round it in a circle, holding on to each other's
-willow-wreath, and then race around it at their utmost speed, screaming
-and shouting until the air is filled with their uproar.
-
-The candidates then come out of the medicine-lodge, dragging the heavy
-weights attached to their limbs, and are stationed at equal intervals
-outside the ring of runners. As each takes his place, two powerful young
-men take charge of him, who pass round each of his wrists a broad
-leathern strap, which they grasp very firmly, but without tying it.
-
-When all the preliminaries are completed, a signal is given, and the
-neophytes begin to race round the Big Canoe, outside the inner circle,
-each man being dragged along by his custodians, until the skulls and other
-weights drag out the skewers to which they are fastened. The bystanders
-scream and yell and shout in a frenzy of excitement; eager, moreover, to
-drown the groans of the sufferers, should the instincts of nature prevail
-over their self-control, and desirous of encouraging them in their final
-trial.
-
-Sometimes the neophyte's flesh proves to be so tough that the skewers
-cannot be dragged out, and in such cases their friends jump on the skulls
-as they rattle along the ground, so as to increase their weight.
-
-Humanity cannot long endure a torture so horrible: the sufferers quickly
-faint, though they are still hauled round in the barbarous race, nor set
-free until the last weight is dragged from the quivering, bleeding body.
-Then the unconscious wretch is released, and left, for the second time, in
-the care and protection of the Great Spirit. In due time he recovers his
-senses, struggles to his feet, totters through the crowd, is received by
-his friends, and conducted to his own hut.
-
-Mr. Catlin supplies two illustrations of the rigorous tenacity with which
-the Indians adhere to the rule that the skewers must be _dragged_, not
-_removed_, from the sufferer's flesh.
-
-In one case the skewer had chanced to pass under a sinew, and the neophyte
-was dragged round and round the ring in vain. In vain his friends added
-their weight to that of the bison's skulls. The scene became so horrible
-that even the spectators could no longer endure it, and in sympathy with
-their cries the master of the ceremonies stopped the race, leaving the
-youth, unconscious, on the ground. As soon as he regained his senses, he
-crawled away to the prairie on his hands and knees, and there remained,
-without food or drink, for three hours longer, until suppuration took
-place, and he was enabled to get rid of the skewer. Then he crawled home,
-and strange to say, notwithstanding the agony he had undergone, and his
-loss of strength, recovered in a few days.
-
-In the second case, two of the weights attached to the arms refused to
-yield, and the hapless neophyte crept as best he could to the steep bluff
-overhanging the river, where he drove a stake into the ground. Fastening
-the weights to this stake by a couple of ropes, he lowered himself about
-midway down the cliff, and so hung suspended for more than two days, until
-the obstinate flesh gave way, and allowed him to drop into the water. He
-swam to the side, crawled up the acclivity, and returned to his village.
-It gives one a vivid idea of the remarkable vitality and physical force of
-the Indian race, when one reads that this man, too, recovered!
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-The Indian has a vague idea of God and immortality. He believes in a Great
-Spirit, who, after death, admits the brave to his happy hunting-grounds,
-where game is inexhaustible, and the pleasure of the chase is ever open to
-the hunter. Beyond this dim and dubious conception, his imagination never
-carries him.
-
-He is prone, as might be supposed, for such proneness is the cause of
-ignorance, and ignorance is the Red Man's bane, to the wildest and
-coarsest superstitions, and he is always at the mercy of the medicine-man
-of his tribe. One of his most potent superstitions is that connected with
-the "medicine-bag," which he firmly believes to be his sole "secret of
-success," his all-powerful charm and talisman, without which he would fail
-in every undertaking and be defeated and disgraced in battle.
-
-At the age of fourteen or fifteen, the young Indian goes forth into the
-woods in search of his medicine. On a litter of leaves and twigs he lies
-for some days--as long, in fact, as his physical powers hold out--neither
-eating nor drinking; for in proportion to the duration of his fast will be
-the potency of his "medicine." His endurance at length gives way, and he
-goes to sleep. The bird, beast, or reptile of which he dreams becomes his
-"medicine." He returns home, and as soon as he has recovered his strength,
-he sallies forth in quest of the charm; having found and killed the
-animal, he preserves the skin in such shape as his fancy
-suggests,--usually in the form of pouch or bag. If small, he slings it
-round his neck, and wears it concealed. In other cases, it hangs from his
-waist or shoulder.
-
-However he may wear it, the Indian never parts from it. He would be
-disgraced and defeated in battle--he would fail in his undertakings--if it
-were absent from his person. Should he be deprived of it in battle, he is
-overwhelmed with shame, until he can kill an enemy, and take _his_
-medicine-bag to replace his own. If, without losing his own, he captures
-that of an enemy, he is entitled to assume a "double medicine," and with
-two medicine-bags about him he stalks to and fro, the observed of all
-observers. To take a medicine-bag is not less honourable than to take a
-scalp, and the successful bearer has all the advantage of the double
-protection afforded by the double charm.
-
-It is seldom that an Indian will voluntarily part with his medicine-bag,
-and if he does, he forfeits his reputation almost irretrievably. Now and
-then he is persuaded by the white man to bury it, but its place of
-interment immediately assumes an air of sanctity in his eyes. He frequents
-the spot as if drawn thither by an irresistible influence, will throw
-himself on the sod, and talk to the buried treasure as if it were alive.
-Sometimes he will offer sacrifices to it, and if he be a rich man, will
-even offer a horse. On the latter occasion, the whole tribe take part in
-the ceremony, and march forth to the prairie in picturesque procession,
-led by the owner of the medicine-bag, who drives before him his most
-valued and valuable steed, decked with coloured devices. At the appointed
-spot, he delivers a long prayer or oration to the Great Spirit, and sets
-free the horse, which thenceforth enjoys the free life of the wild horses
-of the prairie, and if at any time recaptured is immediately released.
-
-The position which in most savage tribes is held by the priest, among the
-American Indians is held by the "medicine-man." His influence is
-considerable, and his powers are supposed to be vast. He is called upon to
-heal the sick and save the dying, and, above all, to bring down the genial
-rain from heaven when it is needed for the growth of the crops.
-
-We owe to Mr. Catlin an interesting description of the rain-making
-ceremony. A drought had withered the maize-fields for some weeks, and
-application for help having been made to the medicine-men they duly set to
-work. On the first day one Wah-ku, or the Shield, came to the front; but
-failed--that day an equally unsuccessful experiment was made by Om-pah, or
-the Elk. The third day was devoted to Wa-rah-pa, or the Beaver, and on the
-fourth recourse was had to Wak-a-dah-ha-ku, the White Buffalo Hair, who
-was strong in the possession of a shield coloured with red lightnings, and
-in the arrow which he carried in his hand.
-
-Taking his station by the medicine-lodge, he harangued the people,
-protesting that for the good of his tribe he was willing to sacrifice
-himself, and that if he did not bring the much-desired rain, he was
-content to live for the rest of his life with the old women and the dogs.
-He asserted that the first medicine-man had failed, because his shield
-warded off the rain-clouds; the second, who wore a head-dress made of a
-raven's skin, because the raven was a bird that soared above the storm,
-and cared not whether the rain came or stayed; and the third, because the
-beaver was always wet, and required no rain. But as for him,
-Wak-a-dah-ha-ku, the red lightnings on his shield would attract the
-rain-clouds, and his arrow would pierce them, and pour the water over the
-thirsty fields.
-
-It chanced that, as he ended his oration, a steamer, the first that had
-ever ploughed the Missouri river, fired a salute from a twelve-pounder
-gun, as she passed the Mandan village. To the Indians the roar of the
-cannon was like the voice of thunder, and their joy knew no bounds. The
-successful medicine-man was loaded with valuable gifts; mothers hastened
-to offer their daughters to him in marriage; and the elder medicine-men
-issued from the lodge, eager to enrol him in their order. But, from the
-roof of the lodge, where he had taken his stand, Wak-a-dah-ha-ku
-discovered the steamer, as she dashed up the river, and discharged her gun
-again and yet again. He hastened to address the chiefs and people,
-explaining that the sounds they heard were not those of thunder, but that
-his potent medicine had brought a thunder-boat to the village. To the
-river-bank rushed the wondering population, and the rest of the day was
-spent in a fever of excitement, in which the rain-maker was forgotten.
-Just before sunset his quick eyes discovered a black cloud, which,
-unobserved by the noisy multitude, swiftly came up from the horizon. At
-once he assumed his station on the roof of the lodge; strung his bow and
-made ready his arrow; arrested the attention of his fellows by his loud
-and exultant speech; and as the cloud impended over the village, shot his
-arrow into the sky. Lo, the rain immediately descended in torrents,
-wetting the rain-maker to the skin, but establishing in everybody's mind a
-firm and deep conviction of his power.
-
-All night raged the storm; but unhappily a flash of lightning penetrated
-one of the wigwams, and killed a young girl. The newly-made medicine-man
-was sorely terrified by this catastrophe, which he feared the chiefs would
-impute to him, making him responsible for the girl's death, and punishing
-him accordingly.
-
-But he was a man of much astuteness, and early in the morning, collecting
-three of his best horses, he mounted the lodge-roof again, and for a third
-time addressed the people of his tribe.
-
-"Friends," he said, "my medicine was too strong, I am young, and I did not
-know where to stop. I did not regulate its power. And now the wigwam of
-Mah-sish is laid low, and many are the eyes that weep for Ko-ka, the
-antelope. Wak-a-dah-ha-ku gives three horses to rejoice the hearts of
-those who sorrow for Ko-ka. His medicine is great. His arrow pierced the
-black cloud, and the lightning came, and with it the thunder-boat. Who
-says that the medicine of Wak-a-dah-ha-ku is not strong?"
-
-This artful address was received with much favour, and thenceforward
-Wak-a-dah-ha-ku was known as the "Big Double Medicine."
-
-Of the medical practices of these medicine-men Mr. Kane, in his
-"Wanderings of an Artist," furnishes a striking illustration.
-
-"About ten o'clock at night," he says, "I strolled into the village, and
-on hearing a great noise in one of the lodges, I entered it, and found an
-old woman supporting one of the handsomest Indian girls I had ever seen.
-She was in a state of nudity. Cross-legged and naked, in the middle of the
-room, sat the medicine-man, with a wooden dish of water before him;
-twelve or fifteen other men were sitting round the lodge. The object in
-view was to cure the girl of a disease affecting her side. As soon as my
-presence was noticed, a space was cleared for me to sit down.
-
-"The officiating medicine-man appeared in a state of profuse perspiration,
-from the exertions he had used, and soon took his seat among the rest, as
-if quite exhausted; a younger medicine-man then took his place in front of
-the bowl, and close beside the patient.
-
-"Throwing off his blanket, he commenced singing and gesticulating in the
-most violent manner, whilst the others kept time by beating with little
-sticks in hollow wooden bowls and drums, singing continually. After
-exercising himself in this manner for about half an hour, until the
-perspiration ran down his body, he darted suddenly upon the young woman,
-catching hold of her side with his teeth, and shaking her for a few
-minutes, while the patient seemed to suffer great agony. He then
-relinquished his hold, and cried out he had got it, at the same time
-holding his hands to his mouth; after which he plunged them in the water
-and pretended to hold down with great difficulty the disease which he had
-extracted, lest it might spring out and return to its victim.
-
-"At length, having obtained the mastery over it, he turned round to me in
-an exulting manner, and held up something between the finger and thumb of
-each hand, which had the appearance of a piece of cartilage; whereupon one
-of the Indians sharpened his knife, and divided it in two, having one in
-each hand. One of the pieces he threw into the water and the other into
-the fire, accompanying the action with a diabolical noise which none but a
-medicine-man can make. After which he got up perfectly satisfied with
-himself, although the poor patient seemed to me anything but relieved by
-the violent treatment she had undergone."
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-A considerable amount of superstition attaches to the calumet, or
-medicine-pipe, by which all the great questions of peace and war are
-settled. This pipe is borne by an individual specially selected for the
-honour, who, during his term of office, is not less sacred than the pipe
-he carries. His seat is always on the right side of the lodge, and no one
-is suffered to interpose between him and the fire. He is not even allowed
-to cut his own food, but his wives cut it for him, and place it in an
-official food-bowl, specially reserved for his use. As for the calumet, it
-is hung outside the lodge in a large bag, which is picturesquely and gaily
-embroidered. Much ceremony attends its uncovering. Whatever the weather,
-or the time of year, the bearer begins by stripping off all his garments
-except his cloth, and he then pours upon a red-hot coal some fragrant gum,
-which fills the air with perfumed smoke. Removing the different wrappers,
-he fills the bowl with tobacco, and blows the smoke to the four points of
-the compass, to the earth, and to the sky, with each breath uttering a
-prayer to the Great Spirit for assistance in war against all enemies, and
-for bison and corn from all parts. With equal ceremony the pipe, which no
-woman is allowed to see, is restored to its bag. The whole proceeding
-takes place in the deepest silence.
-
-The bowl of the calumet is made of a peculiar stone, found in the Red
-Pipe-stone Quarry, on the Citeau des Prairies, a place to which the
-following tradition attaches. We give it as related by Mr. Catlin:
-
-Here, he says, according to the Indian traditions, happened the mysterious
-birth of the red pipe, which has blown its fumes of peace and war to the
-remotest corners of the continent, which has visited every warrior, and
-passed through its reddened stem the irrevocable oath of war and
-desolation. And here, also, the peace-breathing calumet was born, and
-fringed with the eagle's quills, which has shed its thrilling fumes over
-the land, and soothed the fury of the relentless savage.
-
-At a remote period the Great Spirit here called the Indian nations
-together, and, standing on the precipice of the red pipe-stone rock, broke
-from its wall a piece, and made a huge pipe by turning it in his hand,
-which he smoked over them, to the north, the south, the east, and the
-west, and told that this stone was red,--that it was their flesh,--that
-they must use it for their pipes of peace,--that it belonged to them
-all,--and that the war-club and scalping-knife must not be raised on its
-ground. At the last whiff of his pipe his head went into a great cloud,
-and the whole surface of the rock for several miles was melted and
-glazed. Two great ovens were opened beneath, and two women (guardian
-spirits of the place) entered them in a blaze of fire; and they are heard
-there yet, (Tso-mec-cos-tu and Tso-me-cos-te-won-du,) answering to
-invocations of the high priests or medicine-men, who consult them when
-they are visitors to this sacred place.
-
-The reader will remember, perhaps, the allusion to the Peace-pipe in
-Longfellow's "Hiawatha,"--
-
-  "On the mountains of the Prairie,
-  On the great Red Pipe-stone quarry,
-  Gitche Manito, the Mighty,
-  He the Master of Life, descending,
-  On the red crags of the quarry
-  Stood erect, and called the nations,
-  Called the tribes of men together.
-    From his footprints flowed a river,
-  Leaped into the light of morning,
-  O'er the precipice plunging downward,
-  Gleamed like Ishkoodah, the comet.
-  And the Spirit, stooping earthward,
-  With his finger on the meadows,
-  Traced a winding pathway for it,
-  Saying to it, 'Run in this way!'
-    From the red stone of the quarry
-  With his hand he broke a fragment,
-  Moulded it into a pipe-head,
-  Shaped and fashioned it with figures;
-  From the margin of the river
-  Took a long reed for a pipe-stem,
-  With its dark green leaves upon it;
-  Filled the pipe with bark of willow;
-  With the bark of the red willow;
-  Breathed upon the neighbouring forest,
-  Made its great boughs chafe together,
-  Till in flame they burst and kindled;
-  And erect upon the mountains,
-  Gitche Manito, the mighty,
-  Smoked the calumet, the Peace-pipe,
-  As a signal to the nations."
-
-Some of the legends of the Indian tribes are of a very picturesque, and
-even poetical character, as may be seen in Mr. Schoolcraft's "Algic
-Researches." Take, as an example, the graceful tradition of the Red Swan.
-
-Three brothers went out to the chase, excited by a wager to see who would
-carry home the first game. But the binding and limiting condition was,
-that each was to shoot no other animal than those he was in the habit of
-killing.
-
-They set out in different directions. Odjebwa, the youngest, had not gone
-far before he saw a bear, an animal which by the agreement he had no right
-to kill. He followed him close, however, and drove an arrow through him,
-which brought him to the ground. Although contrary to the bet, he
-immediately began to skin him, when suddenly something red tinged all the
-air around him. He rubbed his eyes, thinking he was perhaps deceived, but
-without effect, for the red hue continued. At length he heard a strange
-noise in the distance. It first resembled a human voice; but after
-following it up for some time, he reached the shores of a lake, and then
-discovered the object he was in search of. Far out on the shining waters
-sat a most beautiful Red Swan, whose plumage glittered in the sunshine;
-and ever and anon he made the noise which had before attracted Odjebwa's
-attention. He was within longbow range, and pulling the arrow from the
-bow-string up to his ear, he took deliberate aim, and shot. The arrow took
-no effect, and he shot again and again until his quiver was empty. Still
-the swan remained statelily circling round and round, stretching its long
-neck, and dipping its bill into the water, indifferent to the missiles
-aimed at it. Odjebwa ran home, secured all his own and his brother's
-arrows, and these too, ineffectually shot away: then stood and gazed at
-the beautiful bird.
-
-While thus standing, he remembered a saying of his brother's, that in
-their deceased father's medicine-bag were three magic arrows. Off he
-started, his anxiety to kill the swan overcoming every scruple. At any
-other time he would have deemed it a sacrilege to open his father's
-medicine-bag, but now he hastily violated it, seized the three magic
-arrows and ran back. The swan was still floating on the lake. He shot the
-first arrow with great precision, and came very near his mark. The second
-flew still nearer; and as he took the third and last arrow, he felt his
-arm strengthen, and drawing it up with vigour, sent the shaft right
-through the neck of the swan, a little above the breast. Still even this
-death-stroke did not prevent the bird from flying off,--which it did very
-slowly, flapping its wings, and rising gradually into the air, until it
-passed far away into the sunset.
-
-Quoting again from Longfellow, we place before the reader his allusion to
-this pretty legend:--
-
-  "Can it be the sun descending
-  O'er the level plain of water?
-  Or the Red Swan, floating, flying,
-  Wounded by the magic arrow,
-  Staining all the waves with crimson,
-  With the crimson of its life-blood,
-  Filling all the air with splendour,
-  With the splendour of its plumage?
-    Yes; it is the sun descending,
-  Sinking down into the water;
-  No; it is the Red Swan floating,
-  Diving down beneath the water;
-  To the sky its wings are lifted,
-  With its blood the waves are reddened!"
-
-The Indians regard the maize, or Indian corn, with almost superstitious
-veneration,--which is not wonderful, perhaps, when its immense importance
-to them is taken into consideration. They esteem it, says Schoolcraft, so
-important and divine a grain, that their story-tellers invented various
-tales, in which this idea is symbolised under the form of a special gift
-from the Great Spirit. The Odjebwa-Algonquins, who call it Mon-da-min, or
-the Spirit's grain or berry, cherish a legend, in which the stalk in full
-tassel is represented as descending from the sky, under the guise of a
-handsome youth; in response to the prayers of a young man offered at his
-fast of virility, or coming to manhood.
-
-  "All around the happy village
-  Stood the maize-fields, green and shining,
-  Waved the green plumes of Mondamin,
-  Waved his soft and sunny tresses,
-  Filling all the land with plenty."
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XVI.
-
-_AMONG THE ESKIMOS._
-
-
-The success which has attended the labours of the Lutheran and Moravian
-Missionaries among the Eskimos has been well deserved by their
-self-denying devotedness. Few of the Arctic tribes are now outside the
-pale of Christianity; and all have been more or less directly influenced
-by its elements of purification and elevation. But prior to the coming of
-the pioneers of the Cross, the moral code of the Eskimo was curiously
-imperfect, and did not recognise murder, infanticide, incest, and the
-burial of the living among its crimes. Woe to the unfortunate vessel which
-touched upon the coast! The Eskimos were not less treacherous than the
-Polynesians of the Eastern Seas. And Krantz relates the story of a Dutch
-brig that was seized by the natives at the port of Disco in 1740. The
-whole crew were murdered. Two years later a similar fate befell the crew
-of another vessel that had accidentally stranded.
-
-The religion or creed of the aborigines seems to have been very vague and
-imperfect. It is certain, however, that they believed in the immortality
-of the spirit, and in a heaven and a hell. It was natural enough that
-their conception of the latter should be affected by the conditions under
-which they lived; that their experience of the miseries of an Arctic
-climate should lead them to think of hell as a region of darkness and of
-ice, traversed by endless snow-storms, and without any seals.
-
-They placed implicit confidence in their angekoks, or angekos, or
-"medicine-men," ascribing to them almost unlimited powers over the things
-of earth and sea, this world and the next. When setting out for the chase,
-or prostrated by illness, they always sought the assistance of the
-angekoks, who, on such occasions, indulged in a variety of strange
-ceremonies. The nature of these may be inferred from what was witnessed by
-Captain Lyon, who, during his famous Arctic voyage, bribed an angekok,
-named Toolemak, to summon a Tomga, or familiar demon, in the cabin of his
-ship.
-
-All light having been carefully excluded from the scene of operations, the
-sorcerer began by vehemently chanting to his wife, who, in her turn,
-responded with the Amna-aya, the favourite song of the Eskimo. This lasted
-throughout the ceremony. Afterwards, Toolemak began to turn himself round
-very rapidly, vociferating for Tomga, in a loud powerful voice and with
-great impatience, at the same time blowing and snorting like a walrus. His
-noise, agitation, and impatience increased every moment, and at length he
-seated himself on the deck, varying his tones, and making a rustling with
-his clothes.
-
-Suddenly the voice seemed smothered, and was so managed as to give the
-idea that it was retreating beneath the deck, each moment becoming more
-distant, and ultimately sounding as if it were many feet below the cabin,
-when it ceased entirely. In answer to Captain Lyon's queries, the
-sorcerer's wife seriously declared that he had dived and would send up
-Tomga.
-
-And, in about half a minute, a distant blowing was heard approaching very
-slowly, and a voice differing from that which had first been audible was
-mixed with the blowing, until eventually both sounds became distinct, and
-the old beldame said that Tomga had come to answer the stranger's
-questions. Captain Lyon thereupon put several queries to the sagacious
-spirit, receiving what was understood to be an affirmative or a favourable
-answer by two loud slaps on the deck.
-
-A very hollow yet powerful voice, certainly differing greatly from that of
-Toolemak, then chanted for some time; and a singular medley of hisses,
-groans, shouts, and gobblings like a turkey's, followed in swift
-succession. The old woman sang with increased energy, and as Captain Lyon
-conjectured that the exhibition was intended to astonish "the Kabloona,"
-he said repeatedly that he was greatly terrified. As he expected, this
-admission added fuel to the flame, until the form immortal, exhausted by
-its own might, asked leave to retire. The voice gradually died away out of
-hearing, as at first, and a very indistinct hissing succeeded. In its
-advance it sounded like the tone produced by the wind upon the bass cord
-of an Æolian harp; this was soon changed to a rapid hiss, like that of a
-rocket, and Toolemak, with a yell, announced the spirit's return. At the
-first distant sibilation Captain Lyon held his breath, and twice exhausted
-himself; but the Eskimo conjuror did not once respire, and even his
-returning and powerful yell was uttered without previous pause or
-inspiration of air.
-
-When light was admitted, the wizard, as might be expected, was in a state
-of profuse perspiration, and greatly exhausted by his exertions, which had
-continued for at least half an hour. Captain Lyon then observed a couple
-of bunches, each consisting of two strips of white deerskin and a long
-piece of sinew, attached to the back of his coat. These he had not seen
-before, and he was gravely told that they had been sewn on by Tomga while
-he was below.
-
-During his absence, the angekok professes to visit the dwelling-place of
-the particular spirit he has invoked, and he will sometimes astonish his
-audience with a description of the nether-world and its inhabitants. For
-instance, there is a female spirit called Aywilliayoo, who commands, by
-means of her right hand, all the bears, whales, seals, and walruses.
-Therefore, when a lack of provisions is experienced, the angekok pays a
-visit to Aywilliayoo, and attacks her hand. If he can cut off her nails,
-the bears are immediately released; the loss of one finger-joint liberates
-the small seals; the second joint dismisses the larger seals; the knuckles
-place at liberty the whole herds of walruses, while the entire hand
-liberates the whale.
-
-Aywilliayoo is tall, with only one eye and one pigtail, but as this
-pigtail is as large as a man's leg, and descends to her knee, she may well
-be contented with it. She owns a splendid house, which, however, Toolemak
-refrained from entering, because it was guarded by a huge dog, with black
-hindquarters and no tail. Her father, in size, might be mistaken for a
-boy of ten years old; he has but one arm, which is always encased in a
-large bear-skin mitten.
-
-Dr. Kane considers it a fact of psychological interest, as it shows that
-civilised or savage wonder-workers form a single family, that the angekoks
-have a firm belief in their own powers. "I have known," he says, "several
-of them personally, and can speak with confidence on this point. I could
-not detect them in any resort to jugglery or natural magic: their
-deceptions are simply vocal, a change of voice, and perhaps a limited
-profession of ventriloquism, made more imposing by the darkness." They
-have, however, like the members of the learned professions everywhere
-else, a certain language or jargon of their own, in which they communicate
-with each other.
-
-While the angekoks are the dispensers of good, the issintok, or evil men,
-are the workers of injurious spells, enchantments, and metamorphoses. Like
-the witches of both Englands, the Old and the New, these malignant
-creatures are rarely submitted to trial until they have suffered
-punishment--the old "Jeddart justice"--_castigat auditque_. Two of them,
-in 1818, suffered the penalty of their crime on the same day, one at
-Kannonak, the other at Upernavik. The latter was laudably killed in
-accordance with the "old custom" ... custom being everywhere the apology
-for any act revolting to moral sense. He was first harpooned, then
-disembowelled; a flap letdown from his forehead "to cover his eyes and
-prevent his seeing again"--he had, it appears, the repute of an evil eye;
-and then small portions of his heart were eaten, to ensure that he should
-not come back to earth unchanged.
-
-When an Eskimo has injured any one of his countrymen,--has cut his
-seal-lines, or lamed his dogs, or burned his bladder-float--or perpetrated
-some equally grievous offence--the angekok summons him to meet the
-countryside before the tribunal of the hunapok. The friends of the
-parties, and the idlers for miles around, assemble about the justice-seat;
-it may be at some little cluster of huts, or, if the weather permit, in
-the open air. The accuser rises, and strikes a few discords with a
-seal-rib on a tom-tom or drum. "He then passes to the charge, and pours
-out in long paragraphic words all the abuse and ridicule to which his
-outrageous vernacular can give expression. The accused meanwhile is
-silent; but, as the orator pauses after a signal hit, or to flourish a
-cadence on his musical instrument, the whole audience, friends, neutrals,
-and opponents signalise their approval by outcries as harmonious as those
-we sometimes hear in our town meetings at home. Stimulated by the
-applause, and warming with his own fires, the accuser renews the attack,
-his eloquence becoming more and more licentious and vituperative, until it
-has exhausted either his strength or his vocabulary of invective. Now
-comes the accused, with defence, and counter-charge, and retorted abuse;
-the assembly still listening and applauding through a lengthened session.
-The Homeric debate at a close, the angekoks hold a powwow, and a penalty
-is denounced against the accused for his guilt, or the accuser for his
-unsustained prosecution."
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XVII.
-
-_A MEDIÆVAL SUPERSTITION: THE FLAGELLANTS._
-
-
-Among the extraordinary delusions of the human mind, none is more hateful
-than the conviction cherished among so many sects, that the Supreme Being
-can be propitiated by the self-imposed torture of His worshippers. And
-nothing more vividly illustrates the difference between the GOD of the
-Christian religion and the stern deity of so many human creeds, than the
-aspect of the former as man's Heavenly FATHER, Who requires from him no
-other offering than that of a contrite and humble heart,--Who asks not
-that the Indian Fakir should cramp his limbs and lacerate his body, or
-that S. Simeon Stylites should stand night and day, in the scorching sun
-of summer, and the freezing cold of winter, on his lonely pillar. It is a
-proof of our wider and deeper knowledge of GOD that we are beginning to
-emancipate ourselves from the thraldom of this evil idea, and to recognise
-in Him a tender, compassionate Guide and Friend, Who, unto them that love
-Him, causeth all things to work for the best. In modern Calvinism the
-superstition still lingers, and it is supposed that a gloomy life,
-unrelieved even by the most innocent pleasures, must needs be acceptable
-to the Almighty Love; but this shadow in the Christian's faith is rapidly
-receding before the growing and broadening light. We are sons of GOD, and
-heirs; and what He asks from us, what alone He will receive, is the
-offering of affection and the sacrifice of fear. And the greatest claim
-which Christianity puts forward to the hearts and minds of men is that it
-has delivered, or will deliver them, when rightly understood, from the
-degrading superstition of the ascetic solitary and the self-torturer.
-"Its true dignity is, that unseen it has ever gone about doing good. Link
-after link has it struck from the chain of every human thraldom; error
-after error has it banished; pain after pain has it driven from body or
-from mind; and so silently has the blessing come, that (like the sick man
-whom the SAVIOUR made to walk) 'he that was healed wist not who it was.'"
-
-But error is slow to die; and long after the introduction of Christianity
-men continued to think that GOD would not hear them, unless, like the
-priests of Baal, they approached Him in blood and tears. At the bottom of
-it lay, no doubt, a truth, that the spirit could be exalted and purified
-only by contempt of the flesh:--and not perceiving that what was demanded
-of them was a moral and spiritual victory, they sought, by sore treatment
-of the body, to conquer its sinful appetites. They forgot that CHRIST had
-spoken of the body as "a temple,"--the temple of the HOLY GHOST; that it
-was as much the creation of GOD as the immortal soul, and as His wondrous
-handiwork should be treated with the reverence due to all that He has
-made. And they came to look upon the body as a deadly enemy, the slave and
-accomplice of the devil, which could be subdued only by a regimen of pain
-and terror. And so, when an evil suggestion tempted them, they scourged
-themselves until the blood ran from their mangled flesh, or they plunged
-naked into the deep winter snow, or barefooted they trod the flinty soil,
-or they fasted until the exhausted brain sank into the stupor of delirium.
-
-Thus we read of S. Hilarion:--
-
-Covering his limbs only with a sackcloth, and having a cloak of skin, he
-wandered forth into the desert that lies beyond Gaza, and enjoyed the
-"vast and terrible solitude," feeding on only fifteen figs after the
-setting of the sun; and because the region was of ill repute from
-robberies, no man had ever before stayed in that place. The devil, seeing
-what he was doing, and whither he had gone, was tormented. And he who of
-old boasted, saying: "I shall ascend into heaven, I shall sit above the
-stars of heaven, and shall be like unto the Most High," now saw that he
-had been conquered by a boy, and trampled under foot by him, who, on
-account of his youth, could commit no sin. He therefore began to tempt his
-senses; but he, enraged with himself, and beating his breast with his
-fist, as if he would drive out thoughts by blows, "I will force thee, mine
-ass," said he, "not to kick; and feed thee with straw, not barley. I will
-wear thee out with hunger and thirst; I will burden thee with heavy loads;
-I will hunt thee through heat and cold, till thou thinkest more of food
-than of play." He therefore sustained his sinking spirit with the juice of
-herbs and a few figs, after each three or four days, praying frequently,
-and singing psalms, and digging the ground with a mattock, to increase the
-labour of fasting by that of work. At the same time, by weaving baskets of
-rushes, he imitated the discipline of the Egyptian monks, and the
-Apostle's saying, "He that will not work, neither let him eat," till he
-was so attenuated, and his body so exhausted, that his flesh scarce clung
-to his bones.
-
-"From his sixteenth to his twentieth year," says Kingsley, "he was
-sheltered from the heat and rain in a tiny cabin, which he had woven of
-rush and sedge. Afterwards he built a little cell, four feet wide and five
-feet high,--that is lower than his own stature, and somewhat longer than
-his small body needed,--so that you would believe it a tomb rather than a
-dwelling. He cut his hair only once a year, on Easter Day, and lay till
-his death on the bare ground and a layer of rushes, never washing the sack
-in which he was clothed, and saying that it was superfluous to seek for
-cleanliness in hair-cloth. Nor did he change his linen until the first was
-utterly in rags. He knew the Scriptures by heart, and recited them after
-his prayers and psalms as if GOD were present."
-
-Of S. Simeon Stylites we read that, having gone to the well one day to
-draw water, he took the rope from the bucket, and wound it round his body
-from his loins to his neck, and going in, he adventured an audacious
-falsehood, for he said to his brethren, "I went out to draw water, and
-found no rope on the bucket." And they said, "Hold thy peace, brother,
-lest the Abbot know it, till the thing has passed over." But the tightness
-and roughness of the rope wore grievous wounds in his body, as the
-brethren at last discovered. Then with great trouble they took off the
-rope, and his flesh with it, and attending to his wounds, healed them.
-
-For twenty-eight years of his life he was continually experimenting in
-long fasts--forty days at a time. Custom gradually made it comparatively
-easy to him. For on the first days he used to stand and praise GOD; after
-that, when through emptiness he could stand no longer, he would sit and
-perform the divine office, and on the last day even lie down. For when his
-strength failed slowly, he was forced to lie half dead. But after he stood
-on the column he could not bear to lie down, but invented another way by
-which he could stand. He fastened a beam to the column, and tied himself
-to it by ropes, and so passed the forty days. But afterwards, when endued
-with greater grace from on high, he did not need even that assistance, but
-stood for the whole forty days, dispensing with food, but strengthened by
-eagerness of soul and the divine help.
-
-At length he caused a pillar to be built, first of six cubits, then of
-twelve, next of twenty-two, and finally of thirty-six, and upon the top of
-this he took his station. The sun beat upon his bare head in the summer,
-and the winter snows fell upon him, and the pitiless rains soaked him to
-the skin,--but still he endured his self-imposed penance. He bowed himself
-frequently, offering adoration to GOD; so frequently that a spectator
-counted 1244 adorations, and then missing gave up counting; and each time
-he bowed himself, he touched his feet with his forehead. And ever in
-spirit he deprecated the wrath of an offended GOD, to Whom, as a meet
-sacrifice, he offered up his poor, wounded, tortured, emaciated body.
-
-  "I will not cease to grasp the hope I hold
-  Of saintdom, and to clamour, mourn and sob,
-  Battering the gates of heaven with storms of prayer.
-  Have mercy on me, LORD, and take away my sins,
-  Let this avail, just, dreadful, mighty GOD,
-  This not be all in vain, that thrice ten years
-  Thrice multiplied by superhuman pangs....
-  A sign between the meadow and the cloud,
-  Patient on this tall pillar I have borne
-  Rain, wind, frost, heat, hail, damp, and sleet, and snow;
-  And I had hoped that ere this period closed,
-  Thou wouldst have caught me up into Thy rest,
-  Denying not these weather-beaten limbs
-  The meed of saints, the white robe, and the palm.
-  O take the meaning, LORD: I do not breathe
-  Nor whisper any murmur of complaint."[58]
-
-We turn from these pictures of human error,--error based, it must be
-owned, on a substratum of truth,--to put together a few particulars of the
-Sect of the Flagellants, which practised on a curiously elaborate scale
-the science of self-punishment.
-
-This sect first made its appearance in Italy in 1210. The following
-account of its origin is taken by Mr. Cooper from the "Chronicon Ursitius
-Basiliensis" of the monk of Padua, S. Justin:[59]
-
-"When all Italy was sullied with crimes of every kind, a certain sudden
-superstition, hitherto unknown to the world, first seized the inhabitants
-of Perusa, afterwards the Romans, and then almost all the nations of
-Italy. To such a degree were they affected with the fear of GOD, that
-noble as well as ignoble persons, young and old, even children five years
-of age, would go naked about the streets without any sense of shame,
-walking in public, two and two, in the manner of a solemn procession.
-Every one of them held in his hand a scourge, made of leather thongs, and
-with tears and groans they lashed themselves on their backs till the blood
-ran: all the while weeping and giving tokens of the same bitter
-affliction, as if they had really been spectators of the passion of our
-SAVIOUR, imploring the forgiveness of GOD and His Mother, and praying that
-He, Who had been appeased by the repentance of so many sinners, would not
-disdain theirs. And not only in the daytime, but likewise during the
-nights, hundreds, thousands, and ten thousands of these penitents ran,
-notwithstanding the rigour of winter, about the streets, and in churches,
-with lighted wax candles in their hands, and preceded by priests who
-carried crosses and banners along with them, and with humility prostrated
-themselves before the altars: the same scenes were to be seen in small
-towns and villages; so that the mountains and fields seemed to resound
-alike the voice of men who were crying to GOD.
-
-"All musical instruments and love-songs ceased to be heard. The only music
-that prevailed both in town and country was that of the lugubrious voice
-of the penitent, whose mournful accents might have moved hearts of flint:
-and even the eyes of the obdurate sinner could not refrain from tears. Nor
-were women exempt from the general spirit of devotion we mention; for not
-only those among the common people, but also matrons and young ladies of
-noble families, would perform the same mortifications with modesty in
-their own rooms.
-
-"Then those who were at enmity with one another became again friends.
-Usurers and robbers hastened to restore their ill-gotten riches to their
-right owners. Others, who were contaminated with different crimes,
-confessed them with humility, and renounced their vanities. Gaols were
-opened; prisoners were delivered; and banished persons permitted to return
-to their native habitations. So many and so great works of sanctity and
-Christian charity, in short, were then performed by both men and women,
-that it seemed as if an universal apprehension had seized mankind, that
-the divine power was preparing either to consume them by fire, or destroy
-them by shaking the earth, or some other of those means which Divine
-justice knows how to employ for avenging crimes. Such a sudden repentance,
-which had thus diffused itself all over Italy, and had even reached other
-countries, not only the unlearned, but wise persons also admired. They
-wondered whence such a vehement fervour of piety could have proceeded:
-especially since such public penances and ceremonies had been unheard of
-in former times, had not been approved by the sovereign pontiff, nor
-recommended by any preacher or person of eminence; but had taken their
-origin among simple persons, whose example both learned and unlearned
-alike had followed."
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-In 1260, the sect was reconstituted by Rainer, a hermit of Perugia, and it
-sprang up with such vigour and alacrity, that its members soon numbered
-10,000, who marched in procession, carrying banners and crosses. The folly
-soon crossed the Alps into Germany, and found its disciples in Bohemia and
-Poland, Alsatia and Bavaria. It was sternly repressed by the different
-governments, but in 1349, when the plague broke out in Germany, it again
-lifted up its head. Albert of Strasburg relates[60] that two hundred came
-from Schwaben to Speier, under one chief and two lieutenants, whom they
-almost slavishly obeyed. Their form of proceedings was always the same:
-placing themselves within a circle drawn on the ground, they removed their
-clothing, until nothing was left but a covering for the loins. Then they
-walked, with arms outstretched like a cross, round and round the circle
-for a time, finally prostrating themselves on the ground. Springing to
-their feet, each struck his neighbour with a scourge, armed with knots and
-four iron points, regulating his blows by his singing of psalms. At a
-given signal the discipline ceased, and the fanatics threw themselves
-first on their knees, then flat upon the ground, groaning and sobbing. The
-leader, on rising, gave a brief address, exhorting them to ask the mercy
-of God upon their benefactors and enemies, and also on the souls in
-purgatory. This was followed by another prostration, and then another
-discipline. Those who had taken charge of the clothes now came forward,
-and performed the same ceremonies.
-
-"Penance took place twice a day: in the morning and evening the
-flagellants went abroad in pairs, singing psalms amid the ringing of
-bells, and when they arrived at the place of flagellation they stripped
-the upper part of their bodies, and took off their shoes, wearing only a
-linen dress from the waist to the ankles. Then they lay down in a large
-circle in different positions, according to the nature of their crime: the
-adulterer with his face to the ground; the perjurer on one side, holding
-up three of his fingers, &c., and were then castigated, more or less
-severely by the master, who gave the order to rise in the words of a
-prescribed formula:
-
-  'Stant uf durch der reinen Martel ere;
-  Und hüte dich vor der Sünden mere.'"
-
-After which they scourged themselves, chanting psalms and uttering prayers
-for deliverance from the plague.
-
-Hecker, quoted by Mr. Cooper, thus describes the resuscitation of the
-sect:
-
-"While all countries were filled with lamentations and woe, there first
-arose in Hungary, and afterwards in Germany, the Brotherhood of the
-Flagellants, called also the Brotherhood of the Cross, or Cross-Bearers,
-who took upon themselves the repentance of the people for the sins they
-had committed, and offered prayers and supplications for the averting of
-this plague. The order consisted chiefly of the lowest class, who were
-either actuated by sincere contrition, or joyfully availed themselves of
-this pretext for idleness, and were hurried along with the tide of
-distracting frenzy. But as these brotherhoods gained in repute, and were
-welcomed by the people with veneration and enthusiasm, many nobles and
-ecclesiastics ranged themselves under their standard, and their bands were
-not unfrequently augmented by children, honourable women, and nuns, so
-powerfully were minds of the most opposite temperaments enslaved by this
-infatuation. They marched through the cities in well-organised
-processions, with leaders and singers; their heads covered as far as their
-eyes, their looks fixed on the ground, accompanied by every token of the
-deepest contrition and mourning. They were robed in sombre garments with
-red crosses on the breast, back, and cap, and bore triple scourges tied in
-three or four knots, in which points of iron were fixed. Tapers and
-magnificent banners of velvet and cloth of gold were carried before them;
-wherever they made their appearance they were welcomed by the ringing of
-bells, and crowds of people came from great distances to listen to their
-hymns and to witness their penance with devotion and tears. In the year
-1349, two hundred flagellants first entered Strasburg, where they were
-received with great joy and hospitality, and lodged by the citizens. Above
-a thousand joined the brotherhood, which now assumed the appearance of a
-wandering tribe, and separated into two bodies for the purpose of
-journeying to the north and to the south."
-
-The Flagellants, however, did not secure the favour of the ecclesiastical
-authorities; who discerned only too clearly the demoralising effect of
-their practices and pretensions. Pope Clement VI. issued a bull against
-them, and their influence gradually waned and seemed on the point of
-dying out, when, in 1414, it was revived by one Conrad, who, of course,
-professed to have received a Divine commission. The terrors of the
-Inquisition were now hurled against the sect, and ninety-one deluded
-wretches were burned alive at Sangerhausen, besides numbers at other
-places. It continued, however, to exhibit occasional signs of vitality;
-and in the sixteenth century broke, in France, into three great branches,
-the White, Black, and Grey Penitents, companions of whom were scattered
-over the whole kingdom, but chiefly in the southern provinces. Catherine
-de Medicis, at Avignon, in 1574, assumed the lead of the Black Penitents,
-and took part in their disgusting ceremonies. Henry III., in 1585,
-established a White Penance brotherhood, which paraded in public
-procession through the streets of Paris. The better members of the clergy
-preached against the fanaticism; the wits of Paris levelled their ridicule
-at it; and finally, in 1601, the Parliament of Paris passed an act to
-abolish a fraternity of Flagellants, called the Blue Penitents, in the
-town of Bourges, and afterwards against all whipping brotherhoods without
-distinction, declaring the members to be not only heretics, traitors, and
-regicides, but unchaste. The fraternity thereafter declined, and finally
-disappeared from France.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XVIII.
-
-_SCOTTISH SUPERSTITIONS: HALLOWEEN._
-
-
-The imaginative element in the character of the Celtic race naturally
-predisposes them to the reception and retention of fanciful ideas in
-connection with our relations to the unseen. Keenly sensible of the
-existence of supernatural influences, they are morbidly curious as to the
-mode in which they act upon humanity, and ever desirous to propitiate or
-guard against them. There is something in the presence of the sea and the
-mountains which fosters a habit of reverie; and the mind, awed and
-perplexed by the vastness of the forces of Nature, is led to give them an
-actual and definite embodiment, and to associate them directly with the
-incidents of our mortal life. Granted the existence of invisible
-creatures, there is no reason why man, who looks upon the universe as a
-circle of which he is the centre, should not suppose them to be interested
-in all that interests himself; and when this is once admitted, it follows
-as an inevitable result, that he will endeavour to make them the agents of
-his inclination or his will, unless he fears them as powers whose anger
-must be reverently deprecated. It will be found that most of the popular
-superstitions to which we refer are based upon these motives; that most of
-them originate in the desire to bribe and cajole Fortune, or to command
-and defeat it. Others will be found to have had their rise, as we have
-hinted, in the feelings of awe and wonder awakened by the mystery or the
-grandeur of Nature. The wail of waters against a rocky coast has suggested
-the cries of the ocean maiden who seeks to lure the mariner to his
-destruction; the wreathing mists floating in fantastic shapes across the
-mountain valleys, has peopled their depths with a world of spirits or
-friendly or inimical to mortals. The imagination, which has been quickened
-by Nature, proceeds in turn to breathe into Nature a new life.
-
-To some of the superstitions which haunt the glens, and peaks, and
-torrents of the Scottish Highlands, the poet Collins has alluded in one of
-his most beautiful odes. He speaks of the North as fancy's land, where
-still, it is said, the fairy people meet, beneath the shade of the
-graceful birches, upon mead or hill. To the belief in a tribe of
-hobgoblins, tiny creatures, visiting the peasant's hut in the silence of
-the night, he also refers:--
-
-  "There, each trim lass, that skims the milky store,
-    To the swart tribes their creamy bowls allots;
-  By night they sip it round the cottage door,
-    While airy minstrels warble jocund notes."
-
-The malicious disposition of the elves is thus insisted upon:--
-
-  "There every herd, by sad experience, knows
-    How, wing'd with fate, their elf-shot arrows fly,
-  When the sick ewe her summer food foregoes,
-    Or, stretch'd on earth, the heart-smit heifers lie."
-
-To superstitions of higher import the poet alludes in the following noble
-lines:--
-
-  "'Tis thine to sing, how, framing hideous spells,
-    In Skye's lone isle, the gifted wizard seer,
-  Lodged in the wintry cave with fate's fell spear,
-    Or in the depth of Uist's dark forest dwells:
-  How they, whose sight such dreary dreams engross,
-    With their own vision oft astonished droop,
-  When, o'er the watery strath, or quaggy moss.
-    They see the gliding ghosts' unbodied troop.
-  Or, if in sports, or on the festive green,
-    Their destined glance some fated youth descry,
-  Who now, perhaps, in lusty vigour seen,
-    And rosy health, shall soon lamented die.
-  For them the viewless forms of air obey;
-    Their bidding heed, and at their beck repair:
-  They know what spirit brews the stormful day,
-    And heartless, oft like moody madness, stare
-  To see the phantom train their secret work prepare."
-
-We may allow ourselves one more quotation, in which the poet accumulates
-instances of the "second sight," or power of divination, to which the
-Highland seers laid claim:--
-
-  "To monarchs dear, some hundred miles astray,
-    Oft have they seen fate give the fatal blow!
-    The sea, in Skye, shrieked as the blood did flow,
-  When headless Charles warm on the scaffold lay!
-  As Boreas threw his young Aurora forth,
-    In the first year of the first George's reign,
-  And battles raged in welkin of the North,
-    They mourned in air, fell, fell rebellion slain!
-  And as, of late, they joyed in Preston's fight,
-    Saw, at sad Falkirk, all their hopes near crowned!
-  They raved, divining through their second sight,
-    Pale-red Culloden where these hopes were drowned."
-
-This same power of second sight forms the groundwork of Campbell's poem of
-"Lochiel's Warning," in which the poet represents the aged seer or
-soothsayer in the act of warning the ferocious Highland chieftain against
-the consequences of joining Prince Charles Edward's expedition of the
-'45:--
-
-  "Lochiel, Lochiel, beware of the day
-  When the Lowlands shall meet thee in battle array.
-  The sunset of life gives me mystical lore,
-  And coming events cast their shadows before!"
-
-A curious superstition respecting "the non-giving of fire" lingers still
-in some parts of Scotland, more particularly in the North, and seems to be
-connected with the old sun-worship: a survival of the Pagan past which is
-strange enough in this matter-of-fact and prosaic Present of ours. "At
-Craigmillar, near Edinburgh, a woman, not long ago, refused to give a
-neighbour 'a bit peat' to light her fire, because she was supposed to be
-uncanny. The old woman muttered, as she turned away, that her churlish
-neighbour might yet repent of her unkindness. This speech the other
-repeated to her husband on his return from work, whereupon he went
-straight to the old woman's house, and gave her a sharp cut on the
-forehead, for which he was duly called to account, and pleaded his belief
-that scoring the witch above the breath would destroy her glamour."
-
-On certain days, such as Beltane (or S. John's Eve,) Midsummer, Halloween,
-and New Year's Day, it is regarded as most unlucky to allow a neighbour to
-take a brand from your hearth, or even to light his pipe.
-
-Evil-disposed persons, desirous of doing their neighbours an ill turn,
-will apply to them for "a kindling." Thus, in Ross-shire, an old beldame
-repaired to a neighbour's house with this intent. There was only a child
-of eight years old at home, but she was thoroughly acquainted with the
-popular superstition, and stoutly refused the applicant tinder, match, or
-lighted stick. When the old woman had departed, the girl fetched two
-friends, who straightway followed her home, to find there a blazing fire
-and a boiling pot. "See you," exclaimed the lassie, "gin the _cailliach_
-had gotten the kindling, my father would not get a herring this year."
-
-A poor tinker's wife walked one morning into a house in Applecross--this
-was as late as July, 1868--and snatched a live peat from the hearth to
-kindle her own fire. Before she had gone any distance, she was observed,
-and the gudewife sped after her, overtook her, and snatched away her
-prize. To a stranger who remonstrated with her for the unkindness, the
-gudewife exclaimed, "Do you think I am to allow my cow to be dried up? If
-I allowed her to carry away the fire, I would not have a drop of milk
-to-night to wet the bairns' mouths." And she flung the peat into a pail of
-water in order to undo the evil charm so far as possible.
-
-Allusions to this "non-giving of fire" abound in the old legends, but a
-single illustration will suffice. Of old two brother giants, Akin and
-Rhea, who dwelt on the Scottish mainland, were wont to pay frequent visits
-to the Isle of Skye by leaping across the Straits. They reared for
-themselves two strong towers in the Glenelg country, and there they lived
-in peace and good fellowship, until one day, the younger brother,
-returning from one of his excursions, found his hearth dark and cheerless,
-and passed on therefore, to his brother's castle. Stirring the smouldering
-fire into a hearty blaze, he warmed himself luxuriously, and then returned
-to his own tower, carrying with him a burning peat. Unhappily, at this
-moment, his elder brother came in from the chase, and discovering the
-theft, broke out into a violent passion. Off sped the culprit, and after
-him went his brother, hurling rock after rock in his rage, until he
-perceived that further pursuit was useless. The truth of this story is
-attested by the boulders which to this day lie strewn all over the
-valley-side.
-
-A survival of the old Paganism is, undoubtedly, this apprehension of
-ill-luck connected with the giving or stealing of fire; and it recalls to
-us the days when every mountain-peak was as an altar raised to Baal, and
-Sun and Moon were worshipped with solemn mysterious rites. On the great
-Fire-festival the priests kindled fire by friction, and the people carried
-it to their cottages, where it was kept alive all round the year and
-extinguished only when a new supply was ready. "As the purchase of the
-fire was a source of profit to the priests, it would naturally be
-considered criminal for one neighbour to give it to another at the seasons
-when every man was bound to purchase it for himself. Of course, though the
-old customs are still retained, their original meaning is utterly
-forgotten; and the man who throws a live peat after a woman who is about
-to increase the population, or he who on Halloween throws a lighted brand
-over his own shoulder without looking at whom he aims, little dreams
-whence sprang these time-honoured games." It is said that in many parts of
-the remote glens of Perthshire there are women still living who on Beltane
-morn always throw ashes and a live peat over their heads, repeating a
-certain formula of words to bring them back. But the strictest secrecy is
-observed, lest such practices should reach the ear of "the minister:" so
-the stronger their belief, the less willing are they to confess to any
-knowledge of such matters.
-
-We cannot pass from this subject without an allusion to the Fire-Churn or
-Need-Fire, which is held a sovereign charm against cattle-plague. When in
-a Highland district an invasion of murrain was apprehended, a small shanty
-or hut was erected near loch or river, and in it were placed various
-wooden posts, vertical and horizontal: the horizontal were provided with
-several spokes, and being rapidly turned round against the upright,
-quickly generated a flame by the friction. Then all other fires upon the
-farm were extinguished, to be re-lighted from the Need-fire, which all the
-cattle were afterwards made to smell, until the charm was complete.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-It was on Halloween, or All Hallows' Eve--the evening of the 31st of
-October--that Superstition ran riot, because on that particular evening
-the supernatural influences of the other world were supposed to be
-specially prevalent, and the power of divination was likewise believed to
-be at its height. Spirits then walked about with unusual freedom, and
-readily responded to the call of those armed with due authority. In the
-prehistoric past, the Druids at this time celebrated their great autumn
-Fire-Festival, insisting that all fires, except their own, should be
-extinguished, so as to compel men to purchase the sacred fire at a certain
-price. This sacred fire was fed with the peeled wood of a certain tree,
-and that it might not be polluted, was never blown with human breath.
-
-Needless to say that the sacred fire has vanished with the Druids, but the
-Halloween customs which still survive may be traced back to a hoar
-antiquity. For instance, various kinds of divination are practised, and
-chiefly with apples and nuts. Apples are a relic of the old Celtic fairy
-lore. They are thrown into a tub of water, and you endeavour to catch one
-in your mouth as they bob round and round in provoking fashion. When you
-have caught one, you peel it carefully, and pass the long strip of peel
-thrice, _sunwise_, round your head; after which you throw it over your
-shoulder, and it falls to the ground in the shape of the initial letter of
-your true love's name.
-
-As for the nuts, they would naturally suggest themselves to the dwellers
-in mighty woods, such as covered the land of old. Brand says it is a
-custom in Iceland, when the maiden would know if her lover be faithful, to
-put three nuts upon the bar of the grate, naming them after her lover and
-herself. If a nut crack or jump, the lover will prove faithless; if it
-begin to blaze or burn, it's a sign of the fervour of his affection. If
-the nuts named after the girl and her swain burn together, they will be
-married.
-
-This lover's divination is practised in Scotland, as everybody knows who
-has read Burns's poem of "Halloween:"--
-
-  "The auld guidwife's weel hoordet nits
-    Are round and round divided,
-  An' monie lads and lasses' fates
-    Are there that night decided:
-  Some kindle, couthie, side by side,
-    An' burn thegither trimly;
-  Some start awa wi' saucy pride,
-    And jump out-owre the chimlie
-          Fu' high that night.
-
-  "Jean slips in twa wi' tentie e'e;
-    Wha 'twas, she wadna tell;
-  But this is _Jock_, an' this is _me_,
-    She says in to hersel':
-  He bleez'd owre her an' she owre him,
-    As they wad never mair part;
-  Till, fuff! he started up the lum,
-    An' Jean had e'en a sair heart
-          To see't that night."
-
-In some places, on this mystic night, a stick is suspended horizontally
-from the ceiling, with a candle at one end, and an apple at the other.
-While it is made to revolve rapidly, the revellers successively leap up
-and endeavour to grasp the apple with their teeth--the hands must not be
-used--if they fail, the candle generally swings round in time to salute
-them disagreeably. The reader will note the resemblance between this
-pastime and the game of quintain, to which our forefathers were partial.
-
-Another amusement is to dive for apples in a tub of water.
-
-In Strathspey, a lass will steal away from the kitchen fire, make her way
-to the kiln where the corn is dried, throw a ball of thread into it, and
-wind it up slowly, while uttering certain words. The form of her future
-lover will take hold of the end of the thread, and reveal itself to her.
-The most arduous part of this charm is, that no speaking is allowed either
-on the outward journey or the return.
-
-Another mode of lover's divination is for the young people, after being
-duly blindfolded, to go forth into the kailyard, or garden, and pull the
-first stalks they meet with. Returning to the fireside, they determine,
-according as the stalk is big or little, straight or crooked, what the
-future wife or husband will be. The quantity of earth adhering to the root
-is emblematic of the dowry to be expected; and the temper is indicated by
-the sweet or bitter taste of the _motoc_ or pith. Lastly, the stalks are
-placed in order, over the door, and the Christian names of persons
-afterwards entering the house signify in the same order those of the wives
-and husbands _in futuris_.
-
-Burns describes another custom:
-
-  "In order on the clean hearth-stane,
-    The luggies[61] three are ranged,
-  And every time great care is ta'en
-    To see them duly changed:
-  And uncle John wha wedlock's joys
-    Sin' Mar's-year did desire,
-  Because he gat the toom-dish[62] thrice,
-    He heav'd them on the fire
-          In wrath that night."
-
-For this amusement three dishes are taken: one filled with clean and one
-with dirty water, and the other empty. They are set upon the hearth, and
-the parties, blindfolded, advance in succession to dip their fingers. If
-they chance upon the clean water, it is understood that they will marry a
-maiden; if upon the foul, they will marry a widow; if upon the empty dish,
-they will not marry at all.
-
-Again: if a damsel eat an apple in front of a looking-glass, she will
-shortly see her future husband peeping over her shoulder. So Burns:
-
-  "Wee Jenny to her Grannie says,
-    'Will ye go wi' me, Grannie?
-  I'll eat the apple at the glass
-    I gat frae uncle Johnie.'
-  She fuff't[63] her pipe wi' sic a lunt,
-    In wrath she was sae vap'rin',
-  She notic't na an aizle[64] brunt,
-    Her braw new worset apron,
-          Out thro' that night.
-
-  "'Ye little skelpie limmer's[65] face!
-    How daur you try sic sportin',
-  As seek the foul thief ony place,
-    For him to spae your fortune:
-  Nae doubt but ye may get a sight!
-    Great cause ye hae to fear it;
-  For mony a ane has gotten a fright,
-    An' liv'd an' di'd deleeret,
-          On sic a night.'"
-
-A shirt-sleeve may be wetted, and hung before the fire to dry: then if
-_he_ or _she_ lie in bed and watch it until midnight, _he_ or _she_ will
-behold _his_ or _her_ future partner's phantasm come in and turn it!
-
-Children born on Halloween were formerly supposed to be gifted with
-certain mysterious endowments, such as the power of perceiving and
-conversing with the "dwellers on the threshold," the inhabitants of the
-World Invisible.
-
-Once upon a time, all over Scotland a bonfire was lighted on every farm;
-and often the bonfire was surrounded by a circular trench, symbolical of
-the sun. Every year these bonfires decrease in number; but within the
-recollection of living men no fewer than thirty could be seen on the high
-hilltops between Dunkeld and Abergeldy. And a strange weird sight it was,
-worthy of the pencil of a Rembrandt,--the dusky figures of the lads and
-lasses dancing wildly around them, to the hoarse music of their own
-voices! Miss Cumming writes that in the neighbourhood of Crieff, the
-bale-fires, as the people call them, still blaze as brightly as ever; and
-from personal observation we can assert that they are still lighted in
-many parts of Argyllshire.
-
-A remarkable Halloween story is recorded in Dr. Robert Chambers's valuable
-miscellany, "The Book of Days." Mr. and Mrs. M., we are told, were a happy
-young couple, who, in the middle of the last century, resided on their own
-estate, in a pleasant part of the province of Leinster. Possessed of a
-handsome fortune, they spent their time in various rural avocations, until
-the birth of a child, a little girl, seemed to crown their felicity. On
-the Halloween following this notable event, the parents retired to rest at
-their usual hour, Mrs. M. cradling her infant on her bosom that she might
-be roused if it showed the least sign of uneasiness. From teething or some
-other ailment, the child, about midnight, became very restless, and not
-receiving the usual attention from its mother, woke up Mr. M. by its
-cries. He at once called his wife, and told her the baby was unwell; she
-made no answer. She seemed in an uneasy slumber, and in spite of all her
-husband's efforts continued to sleep on, until he was compelled to take
-the child himself and endeavour to soothe it to rest. From sheer
-exhaustion it at last sank into silence, while the mother slumbered until
-a much later hour than usual. When she at last awoke, her husband told her
-of what had happened, and of the extent to which his night's rest had been
-disturbed. "I, too," she replied, "have passed the most miserable night I
-ever experienced: I now see that sleep and rest are two different things,
-for I never felt so unrefreshed in my life. How I wish you had been able
-to awake me--it would have spared me some of my fatigue and anxiety! I
-thought I was dragged against my will into a strange part of the country,
-where I had never been before, and, after what appeared to me a long and
-weary journey on foot, I arrived at a comfortable looking house. I went in
-longing to rest, but had no power to sit down, although there was a nice
-supper laid out before a good fire, and every appearance of preparations
-for an expected visitor. Exhausted as I felt, I was only allowed to stand
-for a minute or two, and then hurried away by the same road back again;
-but now it is over, and after all it was only a dream."
-
-Her husband listened with deep interest to this strange narrative, and
-then, sighing deeply, said, "My dear Sarah, you will not long have me
-beside you; whoever is to be your second husband played last night some
-evil trick, of which you have been the victim."
-
-Shocked as she naturally was by this assertion, she sought to subdue her
-own emotion, and to rally her husband's spirits, hoping that the
-impression would pass from his mind as soon as he entered into the
-every-day work of life.
-
-Months passed away, and both husband and wife had almost forgotten the
-Halloween dream, when Mr. M.'s health began to fail, and to fail so
-rapidly, that in spite of loving care and the best medical skill, he sank
-into a premature grave. His wife mourned him sincerely, but her natural
-energy and activity prevented her from yielding to a hopeless sorrow. She
-continued to farm her husband's estate, and in this employment, and in the
-education of her little girl was able to divert her thoughts. Not less
-admired for her conspicuous ability, than beloved for her benevolence and
-amiability, she was more than once solicited to lay aside her widow's
-weeds; but she persisted in a calm refusal. Her uncle, a man of much
-kindness of heart and clearness of judgment, frequently visited her,
-inspected her farm, and gave her advice and assistance. He had a nephew,
-whom we will call C., a prudent and energetic young man, in whom he had
-every confidence, and whenever they met, he would strongly recommend him
-to take to himself a wife, and "settle." On one occasion C. replied that
-it was not his fault he still remained a bachelor, but he had never yet
-met with any woman whom he would care to call his wife. "Well, C.," said
-his uncle, "you seem difficult to please, but I think I know a lady who
-would approve herself even to _your_ fastidious taste." After a
-good-humoured exchange of quip and repartee, the uncle invited the nephew
-to ride over with him next day, and be introduced to his niece, whom C.
-had never yet seen.
-
-The invitation was accepted; the two friends set out early on the
-following morning, and after a pleasant ride drew near their destination.
-At a short distance they caught sight of Mrs. M. retiring towards her
-house after her usual daily inspection of her farm. Mr. C. started
-violently, and displayed a considerable agitation. Pointing towards the
-lady, he exclaimed, "Uncle, we need go no further, for if ever I am to be
-married, yonder goes my wife!" "Well, C.," replied his uncle, "that is
-fortunate, for yonder lady is my niece, to whom I am about to introduce
-you. But tell me," he continued, "is this what you call love at first
-sight? Or what do you mean by such a sudden decision in favour of a lady
-with whom you have never exchanged a word?" "Well, sir," was the reply,
-"as I have betrayed myself, it is well that I should make full confession.
-A year or two ago, I was foolish enough to try a Halloween spell,--and sat
-up all night to watch the result. I declare to you most solemnly that the
-figure of that lady, as I now see her, entered my room, and looked at me.
-She stood a minute or two by the fire, and then disappeared as suddenly
-and as silently as she had entered. I was wide awake, and felt
-considerable remorse at having thus ventured to tamper with the powers of
-the Unseen World; but I assure you that every particular of her features,
-dress, and figure have been so present to my mind ever since, that I could
-not possibly make a mistake, and the moment I saw your niece I was
-convinced that she was indeed the woman whose image I saw on that
-never-forgotten Halloween."
-
-It is unnecessary to say that the uncle was considerably astonished at
-this extraordinary narrative, but he forbore to comment upon it, as by
-this time they had arrived at Mrs. M.'s house. The lady was delighted to
-see her uncle, and made his friend heartily welcome, discharging the
-duties of hostess with a simplicity and grace that fascinated her guest.
-
-After her visitors had rested and refreshed themselves, her uncle walked
-out with her to inspect the farm, and seized the opportunity, in the
-absence of Mr. C., to bespeak for him his niece's favourable
-consideration. Many words were unnecessary, for the impression produced
-had been mutually agreeable. Before leaving the house Mr. C. obtained Mrs.
-M.'s permission to visit her in the character of a suitor for her
-hand,--and after a brief courtship they were married. The story ends, as
-all such stories _should_ end, with the affirmation that they lived long
-and happily together, and it was from their daughter that Dr. Chambers's
-informant derived his knowledge of the preceding remarkable episode in
-their career.
-
-Dr. Chambers assures us that the leading incidents of the narrative may be
-relied on as correct; but we think the reader will exercise a wise
-incredulity: that at all events his belief will not go beyond the
-admission of some possible resemblance, entirely accidental, between Mrs.
-M. and the lady whom the imaginative Mr. C. had seen in his Halloween
-dream, and whose image he had so carefully treasured in his memory.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XIX.
-
-_SECOND SIGHT: DIVINATION: UNIVERSALITY OF CERTAIN SUPERSTITIONS: FAIRIES
-IN SCOTLAND._
-
-
-There are many aspects of the Past which have an interest for the
-psychological student as well as for the antiquary, and there are not a
-few to which everybody may occasionally direct their attention with
-advantage. We are too much inclined to put it aside as a "sealed book,"
-which none but the scholar can open,--which, when opened, is hardly worth
-the reading. Or we are attracted only by its picturesque and romantic
-side, and take no heed of the valuable lessons which may be deduced upon a
-careful examination. Yet, as all history is more or less the history of
-human error and human folly, those chapters which treat of the credulities
-and superstitions of the Past, must surely embody many warnings and much
-counsel for the present.
-
-Our glance at Halloween superstitions in Scotland reminds us of other old
-Scottish practices, which serve to point a moral, if not to adorn a tale.
-We have met with a volume by a Mr. Walter Gregor, which furnishes some
-curious illustrative instances. On his vivid picture of the gloom and
-desolation of a Scottish Sabbath, we will not dwell, for our readers will
-probably have gathered from other sources, or even from personal
-experience, an idea of the dreariness of that sombre institution in the
-days when bigotry was mistaken for zeal, and the spirit was killed
-outright by the letter. It is pleasanter to read of the strong yearning
-for knowledge that then possessed the hearts of our Scottish youth; and
-how, in the age before School Boards were conceived of, the parish school
-supplied for twenty shillings per annum an education which fitted the
-scholar for entering the University. No Royal Road to Learning had as yet
-been discovered; and with much sweat of brain did the aspiring student
-brood over his Homer or Virgil by the flickering light of the peat-fire.
-When the time came for his removal to Glasgow or Aberdeen, thither he
-trudged afoot with his little "all" in a knapsack slung from his sturdy
-shoulders; and during the "sessions" it was a hard hand-to-hand fight with
-poverty which he stoutly fought, while delving deep into classical and
-mathematical lore; not forgetting occasional excursions into that vague
-metaphysical region which has always had so keen an attraction for the
-strong Scotch intellect. Our "present-day" students would too often
-shrink, we suspect, from the sacrifices demanded of their forefathers, and
-give way under the hardships which they endured, when a few potatoes and a
-salt herring served for dinner, and all the expenses of the academical
-year were covered by some twelve to sixteen pounds! We are by no means
-sure that knowledge was not more valued when it was attainable only at
-such a cost of self-denial and rigid effort; and we certainly believe that
-it was more thorough, more entirely a man's own, because it was wrung, so
-to speak, from the reluctant goddess by strenuous, steadfast work and
-sheer mental travail. To the Age of Gold and the Age of Iron has succeeded
-the Age of Veneer; and we trouble ourselves too little now-a-days, in
-spite of the teaching of Ruskin and Carlyle, about the solidness and
-durability of the material, so long as it will take a ready polish.
-
-But what a strange world was that of the Scotch peasant in those far off
-days--far off at least they _seem_, on account of the immense social
-revolution that has taken place, and set between the _now_ and the _then_
-a profound chasm. Men often speak of the hard-headedness and
-matter-of-fact stolidity of the Scotch nature; but is it not true that
-below the surface lies an abundant fountain of wild, quaint, original
-fancy? And how, in the olden time, it surrounded itself with signs and
-omens and wonders! How it loved to put itself in communion, as it were,
-with that _other_ world which lies beyond and yet around us, which
-perplexes us with its subtle intelligence, which we cannot discern,
-though of its presence we are always sensible! From the cradle to the
-grave the Scotch peasant went his way attended by the phantoms of this
-mysterious world; always recognising its warnings, always seeing the
-shadows which it cast of coming events, and so burdening himself with a
-weight of grim and eëry superstition, that we marvel he did not stumble
-and grow faint, seeing that his dreary Calvinistic creed could have
-brought him little hope or comfort. Nay, it is a question whether his
-superstition did not partly grow out of, or was fostered by, his hard,
-cold religion. Superstition is the shadow of Religion, and from the shadow
-we may infer the nature of the substance or object that casts it.
-
-But of these darker things we shall not speak. Let us trace a few of the
-common traditions and customs of the people, though in doing so we
-digress, perhaps, from the main lines of the present volume. While less
-impressive than the mere mystical practices, they proceeded from the same
-source,--an imagination haunted by the formidable presence of Nature, by
-the forms of lofty mountains, by the mysteries of pine-clad ravines, and
-the murmurs of storm-swept lochs and falling waters. For it has been truly
-said that the Scotch people have been made what they are by Scotland; that
-the Land has moulded and fashioned the People; and that in their
-literature, their religion, their manners, their history, the influence is
-seen of the physical characteristics of the country.
-
-On the birth of a child--to begin at the beginning--we read that both
-mother and offspring were "sained," a lighted fir-candle being carried
-three times round the bed, and a Bible, with a bannock or bread and cheese
-being placed under the pillow, while a kind of blessing was indistinctly
-uttered. Sometimes a fir-candle was set on the bed to keep off fairies. If
-the new-born showed any symptoms of fractiousness, it was supposed to be a
-changeling; and to test the truth of the supposition, the child was placed
-suddenly before a peat-fire, when, if really a changeling, it made its
-escape by the "lum," throwing back words of scorn as it disappeared. Great
-was the eagerness to get the babe baptised, lest it should be stolen by
-the fairies. If it died unchristened, it wandered in woods and solitary
-places, bewailing its miserable fate. In Ramsay's "Gentle Shepherd,"
-Bauldy, describing Manse the witch, says of her:--
-
-  "At midnight hours o'er the kirkyard she raves,
-  And howks unchristened weans out of their graves."
-
-It was considered "unlucky" to mention the name of an "unchristened wean;"
-and even at baptism the name was commonly written on a slip of paper,
-which was handed to the officiating minister. What care was taken that the
-consecrated water should not enter the child's eyes! For if such a mishap
-occurred, his future life, wherever he went and whatever he did, would be
-constantly marred by the presence of wraiths and phantoms. If the babe
-remained quiet at the font, it was supposed to be destined to a brief
-career; and hence, to extort a cry, the woman who received it from the
-father would handle it roughly or even pinch it. If a boy and girl were
-baptised together, much anxiety was evinced lest the girl should first
-receive the rite. And why? In the "Statistical Account of Scotland," the
-minister of an Orcadian parish says: "Within these last seven years the
-minister has been twice interrupted in administering baptism to a female
-child before the male child, who was baptised immediately after. When the
-service was over, he was gravely told he had done very wrong, for, if the
-female child was first baptised, she would, on her coming to the years of
-discretion, most certainly have a strong beard, and the boy would have
-none."
-
-Following up the course of human life through the honeyed days of "wooing
-and wedding," we find it darkened still by the clouds of Superstition. If
-a maiden desired to call up the image of her future husband, she read the
-third verse, seventeenth chapter of the Book of Job after supper, washed
-the supper dishes, and retired to bed without uttering a single word,
-placing before her pillow the Bible, with a pin thrust through the verse
-she had read. It is curious to observe the use of the Bible in these wild
-and foolish customs: was it not an indirect testimony to the reverence,
-not always intelligent, perhaps, but certainly sincere, in which the holy
-book was held? Nor are we certain that it is not sometimes turned to worse
-purposes in these "enlightened days," when a pseudo-science seeks to
-convert it into the battle-field of audacious theories, and an ignorant
-intolerance too often professes to discover in its bright and blessed
-pages an excuse for its uncharitable follies.
-
-But we must continue our _resumé_. It is curious to read that the
-wedding-dress might not be "tried on" before the wedding-day, and if it
-did not fit, it might not be cut or altered, but was adjusted in the best
-manner possible. The bride, on the way to church, was forbidden to look
-back, for to do so was to ensure a succession of disasters and quarrels in
-the married state. It was considered inauspicious, moreover, if she did
-not "greet" or weep on the marriage-day; a superstition obviously
-connected with the wide-spread idea of the necessity of propitiating the
-Fates which inspired the advice of Amasis to the too fortunate
-Polycrates,[66] that he should fine himself for his success by throwing
-some costly thing into the sea. It was thought well to marry at the time
-of the growing moon, and among fisher-folk a flowing tide was regarded as
-"lucky." These customs were puerile enough, undoubtedly, but before we
-censure them too severely we may ask whether our modern bridals are wholly
-free from superstitious observances; whether we do not still pretend to
-"bribe" the fickle Fortune by showers of rice and old slippers rained on
-the departing couple!
-
-It is needless to say that the "last scene of all" was invested with all
-the attributes of grotesque terror the wayward popular imagination could
-invent. Before it took place the light of the "death-candle"--the Welsh
-call it the "corpse-candle"--might be seen hovering from chamber to
-chamber; or the cock crowed before midnight; or the "dead-drap," a sound
-as of water falling monotonously and lingeringly, broke the silence of the
-night; or three dismal and fatal knocks were heard, at regular intervals
-of one or two minutes' duration; or over the doomed person fluttered the
-image of a white dove. And when the spirit had departed, the doors and
-windows were immediately opened wide; the clocks were stopped; the mirrors
-were covered; and it was held to disturb the rest of the dead, and to be
-fatal to the living, if a tear fell upon the winding sheet. And thus, from
-the cradle to the grave, Superstition dogged the steps of life; nor even
-at the grave did it cease to vex and worry the minds of men with the
-fancies and visions born of excited imaginations.
-
-That such fancies, that customs so wild and grotesque, should have existed
-in Scotland, and among a well-educated people, down to a comparatively
-recent date, might be matter of wonder, if we were not aware of the
-tenacity with which the heart clings to the "use and wont" of the Past.
-Nor trivial as some, and inexcusable as all of them seem to the
-philosophic eye, is it wise to regard them too contemptuously. They seem
-to us to show how difficult man found it to realise to himself the idea of
-a living, personal GOD,--of a GOD, a FATHER, ever watching over the
-welfare of His children, chastening them in His mercy, but never refusing
-them the light of His countenance when they have sought Him with faith in
-the hour of sorrow and darkness. For want of this strengthening,
-consoling, elevating idea, he has endeavoured to support himself by the
-feeble prop of superstitious credulity, and instead of yielding wholly and
-trustfully to the love of GOD the FATHER, has vainly striven to secure
-some glimpse or foreshadowing of the Future, and to avert evil by peurile
-practices and idle traditions.
-
-We may next be allowed to point out the kinship in superstition which
-prevails all over the world; so that the observance or custom which seems
-peculiar to England or Scotland, is found in India or Tartary. This
-remarkable similarity indicates a certain general tendency to attach an
-"ominous significance" to particular things and events. Take as an
-illustration, the act of sneezing. In Asia as well as Europe, among
-Semitic peoples as well as among Aryan, it is usual to connect with the
-act some form of blessing. Sometimes the sneezer is blessed by the
-bystander; sometimes he blesses himself; if a Mohammedan, he blesses GOD.
-In Italy, for example, the salutation addressed to him runs: "May GOD
-preserve you!" or "May you have children!" In Hindi it takes the form of
-"Sadàji's" (May you live for ever!) and a similar salutation is used by
-the Jews of Austria.
-
-But in different places and at different times sneezing has been made to
-carry a very different meaning. Among the Arabs, if, while a person is
-making an assertion which some may think hazardous or dubious, another
-sneezes, the speaker appeals to the omen as a confirmation of what he is
-saying. A writer in the "Calcutta Review" thinks this notion as old as the
-Greeks of the time of Xenophon, as appears from a well known passage in
-Chap. ii. Book iii. of the Anabasis: [Greek: Epei peri sôtêrias hêmôn
-legontôn oiônos tou Dios tou sôtêros ephanê]. Sneezing among the Hindus,
-if it occur behind your back, is regarded as so unfavourable an omen, that
-they at once abandon the work on which at the time they may have been
-engaged.
-
-Various but not satisfactory attempts have been made to explain these
-customs. Thus, the Mohammedan accounts for his "Al hamdu-l Allah" by the
-tradition that, when the breath of life was breathed into the nostrils of
-Adam, he sneezed, and immediately uttered those words. While in Europe the
-custom of blessing the sneezer has been traced to the occurrence in Italy
-in the middle ages of some fatal epidemic, of which one of the symptoms
-was sneezing.
-
-The superstition which regards as a favourable omen the throbbing of the
-eye, was well known to the ancient Greeks, is common in England, and
-flourishes all over India. In England, it is the man's right eye and the
-woman's left that is auspicious; and so it was in the Greece of
-Theocritus, and so it is in India and Persia.
-
-The curious superstition that ghosts are visible to dogs, to which we find
-an allusion in Homer's Odyssey, still flourishes in India. It may have
-originated in the place given to the dog in the mythology of both Greek
-and Hindu, or in the position enjoyed by the watch-dog among all the
-shepherd peoples of the world. The belief belongs to the Semitic as well
-as the Aryan races; and its true origin after all may be the apparently
-causeless howling of the dog at night,--the time when "spirits walk
-abroad." Whatever the ground of the belief, it is probably in itself the
-cause of the superstition that the howling of dogs presages death or
-misfortune.
-
-Another singular coincidence of this kind is furnished "by the custom of
-spitting on the breast as a charm against fascination." In his "Greek
-Antiquities," Potter notes that it was an ancient Greek custom to spit
-three times on the breast at the sight of a madman; and Theocritus has,--
-
-  [Greek: toiade muthizoisa tris eis heon eptuse kolpon.]
-
-"Precisely the same effect is attributed to the act among the Aryan
-inhabitants of India, where its threefold repetition is also insisted on.
-No sort of reason that we can imagine, can be found for this belief; and
-in this case the idea is a complex one.
-
-"The notion of a hiccough being an indication that some one is thinking of
-the person affected, is equally common in Europe and in India.
-
-"The same may be said of the superstition regarding an itching of the palm
-of the hand; and further the idea that the palm should be rubbed against
-something to make the event the more sure, prevails both in India and in
-England. In England it should be 'rubbed against wood,' in India on the
-forehead."[67]
-
-We supply but one more illustration, and that shall be in folk lore; a
-nursery story which presents virtually the same features in the East as in
-the West. The following is the Hindu parallel to the old Saxon nursery
-tale of "The Woman that found a Silver Penny." The coincidence will be
-seen to be complete.
-
-"Once upon a time, a little bird, on its way through the woods, picked up
-a pea, and took it to the _barbhunja_ to be split; but, as ill luck would
-have it, one half of it stuck fast in the mill-handle, and the _barbhunja_
-being unable to get it out, the little bird went off to the carpenter, and
-said, 'Carpenter, carpenter, come and cut the mill-handle; my pea is in
-the mill-handle; what shall I eat, what shall I drink, and what shall I
-take to foreign countries?' 'Be off,' said the carpenter, 'is it likely I
-shall come and cut the mill-handle for the sake of a single pea?'
-
-"Then the little bird went to the king, and said, 'King, king, chide the
-carpenter; the carpenter won't cut the mill-handle; my pea has stuck in
-the mill-handle; what shall I eat, what shall I drink, and what shall I
-take to foreign countries?' 'Be off with you,' said the king, 'do you
-think that for the sake of a single pea I am going to chide the
-carpenter?'
-
-"Then the little bird went to the queen, and said, 'Queen, queen, speak to
-the king; the king won't chide the carpenter; the carpenter won't cut the
-mill-handle; my pea is in the socket of the mill-handle; what shall I eat,
-what shall I drink, and what shall I take to foreign countries?' But the
-queen said, 'Be off with you, do you think that for the sake of a single
-pea I am going to talk to the king?'
-
-"Then the little bird went to the snake, and said, 'Snake, snake, bite the
-queen; the queen won't talk to the king; the king won't chide the
-carpenter; the carpenter won't cut the mill-handle; my pea is in the
-socket of the mill-handle; what shall I eat, what shall I drink, and what
-shall I take to foreign countries?' But the snake said, 'Be off with you,
-do you think that for the sake of a single pea I am going to bite the
-queen?'
-
-"Then the little bird went to the stick, and said, 'Stick, stick, beat the
-snake; snake won't bite queen; queen won't talk to king; king won't chide
-carpenter; carpenter won't cut mill-handle; my pea is in the socket of the
-mill-handle; what shall I eat, what shall I drink, and what shall I take
-to foreign countries?' But the stick said, 'Be off with you, do you think
-that for the sake of a single pea I am going to beat the snake?'
-
-"Then the little bird went to the fire, and said, 'Fire, fire, burn stick;
-stick won't beat snake; snake won't bite queen; queen won't talk to king;
-king won't chide carpenter; carpenter won't cut mill-handle; my pea is in
-the socket of the mill-handle; what shall I eat, what shall I drink, and
-what shall I take to foreign countries?' But the fire said, 'Be off with
-you, do you think that for the sake of a single pea I am going to burn the
-stick?'
-
-"Then the little bird went to the sea, and said, 'Sea, sea, quench fire;
-fire won't burn stick; stick won't beat snake; snake won't bite queen;
-queen won't talk to king; king won't chide carpenter; carpenter won't cut
-mill-handle; my pea is in the socket of the mill-handle; what shall I eat,
-what shall I drink, and what shall I take to foreign countries?' But the
-sea said, 'Be off with you, do you think that for the sake of a single pea
-I am going to quench the fire?'
-
-"Then the little bird went to the elephant, and said, 'Elephant, elephant,
-dry up the sea; sea won't quench fire; fire won't burn stick; stick won't
-beat snake; snake won't bite queen; queen won't talk to king; king won't
-chide carpenter; carpenter won't cut mill-handle; my pea is in the socket
-of the mill-handle; what shall I eat, what shall I drink, and what shall I
-take to foreign countries?' But the elephant said, 'Be off with you, to
-dry up the sea would take the whole host of elephants; do you think that
-for the sake of a single pea I am going to assemble all of my kith and
-kin?'
-
-"Then the bird went to the _bhaunr_, (a tangled creeping plant,) and said,
-'_Bhaunr_, _bhaunr_, snare the elephant; elephant won't drink up sea; sea
-won't quench fire; fire won't burn stick; stick won't beat snake; snake
-won't bite queen; queen won't talk to king; king won't chide carpenter;
-carpenter won't cut mill-handle; my pea is in the socket of the
-mill-handle; what shall I eat, what shall I drink, and what shall I take
-to foreign countries?' But the _bhaunr_ said, 'Be off with you, do you
-think that for the sake of a single pea I am going to snare the elephant?'
-
-"Then the bird went to the mouse, and said, 'Mouse, mouse, cut _bhaunr_;
-_bhaunr_ won't snare elephant; elephant won't drink up sea; sea won't
-quench fire; fire won't burn stick; stick won't beat snake; snake won't
-bite queen; queen won't talk to king; king won't chide carpenter;
-carpenter won't cut mill-handle; my pea is in the socket of the
-mill-handle; what shall I eat, what shall I drink, and what shall I take
-to foreign countries?' But the mouse said, 'Be off with you, do you think
-that for the sake of a single pea I am going to cut the _bhaunr_?'
-
-"Then the bird went to the cat, and said, 'Cat, cat, eat mouse; mouse
-won't cut _bhaunr_; _bhaunr_ won't snare elephant; elephant won't drink up
-sea; sea won't quench fire; fire won't burn stick; stick won't beat
-snake; snake won't bite queen; queen won't talk to king; king won't chide
-carpenter; carpenter won't cut mill-handle; my pea is in the socket of the
-mill-handle; what shall I eat, what shall I drink, and what shall I take
-to foreign countries?' And the cat said, 'By all means; the mouse is my
-natural prey, why should I not eat it?'
-
-"So the cat went to eat the mouse; and the mouse went to cut the _bhaunr_,
-saying,--
-
-  'Hamko khao, a o, mat koi,
-  Ham bhaunr ko katat loi.'
-
-'Oh, oh, eat, oh! eat me no one, I will take and cut the _bhaunr_.' And
-the _bhaunr_ went to snare the elephant, saying, 'Oh, cut, oh! cut me no
-one, I'll take and snare the elephant.' And so on with each one, till it
-came to the carpenter, who extracted the pea, and the bird took it, and
-went away rejoicing."
-
-The close resemblance between this fable and the English one of "The
-Silver Penny," attests a common origin. For it cannot be supposed that
-either was conveyed by means of oral communication from one country to the
-other; and the only feasible conclusion seems to be that they are
-different versions of a nursery tale which belonged to our common Aryan
-forefathers. There can be no doubt as to its antiquity.[68]
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-Among the earlier superstitions of Scotland was a belief in the efficacy
-of charms, or metrical incantations; a belief prevailing in almost every
-country and period, and indirectly attesting man's strong inward
-conviction of the existence of another world. That communications could be
-maintained with the unseen creatures that live in the air, and "the ooze;"
-above, beneath, and around us; that they could be made to assume a bodily
-form and presence; that storms could be raised or dispelled, evil
-prevented, secrets discovered, diseases cured, love engendered,--and that
-all this was possible by the utterance of certain words arranged in
-metrical form, though generally perfectly meaningless, was never doubted.
-Many of those used in Scotland evidently had their origin in the reputed
-efficacy of verses among the ancients; and being of an early date, they
-are often "intermixed with the formula of the Roman Catholic ritual." Thus
-we read that one Elspeth Reoch (in 1616) had been supernaturally
-instructed to cure distempers by resting on her right knee while pulling a
-certain herb "betwixt her midfinger and thumb, and saying of, _In nomine
-Patris, Filii, et Spiritus Sancti_." An old and popular charm for curing
-cattle (1607), is given by Dalyell as follows:--[69]
-
-              "I charge thee for arrow shot,
-              For deer shot, for womb shot,
-              For eye shot, for tongue shot,
-              For liver shot, for lung shot,
-              For heart shot,--all the most:
-  In the Name of the FATHER, the SON, and HOLY GHOST.
-              To wind out of flesh and bone,
-              Into oak and stone:
-  In the Name of the FATHER, the SON, and HOLY GHOST.
-                                                Amen."
-
-Sometimes these invocations were accompanied by the administration of
-medicinal herbs which had been gathered before sunrise. A woman accused of
-witchcraft, in 1588, declared that she saw "the guid nychtbours makand
-thair sawis with pains and fyres, and gadderit thair herbis before the
-sone rysing as sche did." Among the various remedies prescribed for "the
-trembling fever," or ague, by Katharine Oswald, one related to plucking up
-a nettle by the root, three successive mornings, before sunrise. A
-favourite time for this herb-gathering rite was Midsummer; a relic of the
-old Pagan superstition connected with the sun's position in the Zodiac.
-The metrical charm then made use of was popular also in England,--
-
-  "Haile be thou, holie hearte,
-    Growing on the ground;
-  All in the Mount Calvarie
-    First wast thou found.
-  Thou art good for manie a sore,
-    And healest manie a wound;
-  In the Name of Sweet JESUS,
-    I take thee from the ground."
-
-"Bleeding at the touch," has been accepted in several countries as a
-revelation of guilt. A man suspected of murder was brought to the side of
-the murdered man's body, and forced to touch it; if the suspicions were
-just, blood immediately oozed from the wound, or at the mouth, or nose.
-Even at the man's approach this sign of crime would appear. It is easy to
-see how precarious and dangerous a test was this; how readily it might
-release the guilty, and betray the innocent. Naturally therefore it was
-not accepted without reluctance. A man and his sister had quarrelled; he
-died suddenly, and his body was found in his own house, naked, and with a
-wound on the face, but bloodless. "Although many of the neighbours in the
-town came into the house to see the dead corpse, yet she, the sister,
-never offered to come, howbeit her dwelling was next door, nor had she so
-much as any seeming grief for his death. But the minister and bailiffs of
-the town taking great suspicion of her in respect of her carriage,
-commanded that she should be brought in. But when she came, she came
-trembling all the way to the house; she refused to come nigh to the
-corpse, or to touch, saying, that she never touched a dead corpse in her
-life. But being earnestly entreated by the minister and bailiffs, and her
-brother's friends, who was killed, that she would but touch the corpse
-softly, she granted to do it. But before she did it, the sun shining in at
-the house, she expressed herself thus: 'Humbly desiring, as the LORD made
-the sun to shine and give light into that house, that also He would give
-light in discovering that murder.' And with these words, she touching the
-wound of the dead man very softly, it being white and clean, without any
-spot of blood or the like, yet immediately, while her finger was upon it,
-the blood rushed out of it, to the great admiration of all the beholders,
-who took it as one discovery of the murder, according to her own prayer."
-
-It will seem astonishing to readers of the present day that a poor
-creature's life could be taken away on such fanciful and uncertain
-evidence.
-
-We read that a Sir James Standsfield was found lying dead in a stream. His
-body was interred precipitately. Two days afterwards it was exhumed and
-partially dissected, the neck in particular being laid open, in order to
-ascertain the cause of death. After being well cleansed, blood burst from
-that side supported by his son Philip, on returning the body to the coffin
-for re-interment--not an unlikely result from the straining of the
-incisions--and it deeply stained his hand. He was arraigned, on this
-slight ground, for parricide; and in the course of the trial it was
-gravely argued that it was the will of Providence to disclose by this
-peculiar incident a secret crime.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-The preservation of health and the prolongation of life are necessarily
-objects of interest to all mankind, and it was natural enough that around
-them should flourish a rank growth of superstitions.
-
-To ailing or diseased persons all kinds of potions, pills, and powders
-were administered in the past as they are in the present; but whereas we
-are now content with the mystic characters endorsed on his formula by the
-physician, our ancestors were not satisfied unless certain mystical words,
-numbers, or ceremonies accompanied them. The sign of the cross was in
-constant requisition; or the medicine was to be taken according to
-mystical numbers--thrice or nine times, as the case might be. For
-hooping-cough was prescribed a draught from the horn of a living ox, nine
-times repeated. The patient was also put "nine several times" in the
-miller's hopper.
-
-The importance ascribed to the figure of a circle is probably a relic of
-the influence of the old sun-worship. Consumptive invalids, or children
-suffering from hectic fever, were thrice passed through a circular wreath
-of woodbine, cut during the increase of the March moon, and let down over
-the body from head to foot. We read of a sorceress who healed sundry women
-by "taking a garland of green woodbine, and causing the patient to pass
-thrice through it." Afterwards, the garland was cut in nine pieces, which
-were cast into the fire--generally an indispensable particular in
-ceremonies of this kind. Another passed her patient through a heap of
-green yarn, which the nurse shook, and then divided it into nine pieces,
-which were buried in the lands of three owners. A certain Thomas Grieve
-directed a patient to pass thrice through a heap of yarn, which he duly
-burned. He also cured the wife of a Michael Glanis by having a hole broken
-on the north side of the chimney, and putting a hoop of yarn thrice
-through it, and taking it back at the door; and thereafter compelling the
-patient to go nine times through the said hoop of yarn.
-
-White of Selborne tells us of a custom, prevalent in his time in the south
-of England, of stripping feeble and diseased children, and transmitting
-them head foremost through an artificial cleft in a young tree, the
-several parts of which were held forcibly asunder. The wound was then
-bound up carefully, and it was expected that the child would recover as
-the tree healed. If the cleft did not unite, the remedy proved abortive;
-and if the tree were cut down, the patient relapsed or died.
-
-Borlase speaks of a similar custom in Cornwall, except that a perforated
-stone was used instead of a cleft tree.
-
-In Persia, according to Alexander, passage through a long fissure or
-crevice in a rock, by crawling on hands and knees, is employed as a test
-of legitimate birth. And in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem,
-to pass between the pillars supporting an altar and the neighbouring wall,
-was practised as a like test. It has been suggested, as the meaning of
-these various transmissions through cleft, aperture, skein of yarn, and
-garland, that they are symbolical of regeneration; a second birth, whereby
-a living soul is cleansed from its former impurities and imperfections.
-Wilford speaks of a sanctified fissure in a rock in the East, to which
-pilgrims resort "for the purpose of regeneration, by the efficacy of a
-passage through this sacred type."
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-The faculty of divining events, passing at a distance from the seer, or of
-passively receiving a knowledge that such events are taking place, is the
-well-known "second sight," which plays so important a part in many
-Scottish stories. "In the stricter acceptation of this faculty," we are
-told, "contemporary objects and incidents are beheld at the time, however
-remote their locality, but neither those which have passed, nor those
-which have yet to come. If extending to futurity, the subject of the
-vision is about to be realised. Therefore the second sight borders only on
-prognostication. It is affirmed to be more peculiar to Scotland, for very
-faint analogy to such a property has been claimed for other countries: and
-that the highlanders chiefly, together with the inhabitants of the insular
-districts, or that portion of the kingdom less advanced, have enjoyed it
-in the highest perfection. Marvellous to be told, they have said that
-their cattle are gifted with it as well as themselves."
-
-The faculty was one which knew no distinction of age or sex, or class; it
-was enjoyed by man and woman, young and old, rich and poor, high-born and
-plebeians, and in many cases was inherited. It might occasionally be
-imparted by a gifted person, or acquired by study and preparation. It is a
-proof, were proof needed, of the living influence of the imagination, that
-the vision beheld by one individual only, might be revealed to a companion
-visionary, thus confirmed in his belief in the value of his new
-prerogative; simply by the pressure of the seer's right foot on the
-novice's left, holding one hand on his head, while he was admonished to
-look over the master's right shoulder. Thus, Lilly, the
-astrologer--Butler's "hight Sidrophel"--relates how one John Scott desired
-William Hodges, an astrologer in Staffordshire, to show him the person and
-features of the person he should marry. Hodges carried him into a field
-not far from his home; pulled out his magic crystal; bade Scott set his
-foot against his, and after awhile desired him to inspect the crystal, and
-observe what he saw there. Of course he saw exactly what his fevered
-wishes were resolved to see.
-
-Ceremonies of a more fantastic character were sometimes involved, and
-round the novice's body was coiled a hair rope with which a corpse had
-been bound to its bier. He was then required to look through a hole left
-by the removal of a fir knot; and, on stooping, he was instructed to look
-back between his legs, until an advancing funeral procession should cross
-the boundary of the estates of two different owners. The inconvenience of
-this complicated performance is obvious; it might also be dangerous; for
-if the wind changed while the novice was girded with the mystical cord, he
-was liable to the penalty of death.
-
-A seer gifted with this wonderful faculty could not divest himself of it,
-though often he would fain have done so. However acquired, it was a
-perilous endowment, fraught with physical and mental suffering, and
-reputed to be no gift from on high, but to have come from the Father of
-Evil.
-
-The objects seen were generally sad and sorrowful; calamities to persons
-or nations. Woodrow says that before the Marquis of Argyll went to London
-in 1660, he was playing "at the bullets," or bowls, with some Scottish
-gentlemen; when one of them, as the Marquis stooped down to lift the
-bullet, "fell pale," and said to those about him: "Bless me, what is this
-I see? my lord with his head off, and all his shoulder full of blood?"
-
-On one occasion, a gentleman joined a company, all of whom were very frank
-and cheerful. He had no sooner entered than one of the guests, who had not
-previously known him, showed much depression of spirit. Without taking any
-notice of it the new-comer quickly rose, and went his way. The other
-thereupon showed great concern, and wished he would remain; for he saw
-him, he said, with a shroud up to his neck, and he knew that this sign
-foreboded his death. In vain some of the company would have persuaded the
-doomed man to take warning, but he departed, and having ridden a short
-distance, he and his horse fell, and he broke his neck.
-
-On the morning of the battle of Bothwell Bridge, that sore defeat to the
-Covenanters--so vigorously described by Scott in his "Old Mortality"--Mr.
-John Cameron, minister at Lochhead in Kintyre, fell into a fit of
-melancholy, so that Mr. Morison, of his elders, observing him through his
-chamber door, sore weeping and wringing his hands, knocked until he opened
-to him. Then he asked what was the matter? Were his wife and children
-well? "Little matter for them," he answered; "our friends at Bothwell are
-gone." Mr. Morison told him it might be a mistake, and the offcome of his
-gloomy thoughts: "No, no," said he, "I see them flying as clearly as I see
-the wall." As near as they could calculate by the accounts they afterwards
-obtained, this incident at the Lochhead of Kintyre was contemporaneous
-with the flight of the Covenanters at Bothwell.
-
-Munro, the Scotch soldier of fortune, who bore himself so gallantly in the
-wars of Gustavus Adolphus, tells a story of a vision that was seen by a
-soldier of his company on the morning of the storm of Stralsund in 1628.
-One Murdo Macleod, born in Assen, a soldier of tall stature and valiant
-courage, being sleeping on his watch, awoke at break of day, and "jogged"
-two of his comrades lying by him, much to their indignation at his
-"stirring them." He replied: "Before long, you shall be otherwise
-stirred." A soldier called Allan Tough, a Lochaber man, recommending his
-soul to GOD, asked him what he had seen: "That you shall never behold your
-country again." The other replied, the loss was but small, if the rest of
-the company were well. He answered: "No, for there was great hurt and
-dearth of many very near." The other again asked, what others he had seen
-who would perish. He then told by name sundry of his comrades who would be
-killed. The other asked, what would become of himself. Eventually, he
-described by their clothes all the officers who would be hurt. "A pretty
-quick boy near by," asked him, what would become of the Major (that is,
-Munro himself?) "He would be shot, but not deadly," was the answer,--and
-so it proved.
-
-A good deal is said of this _Taisch_, or "Second Sight," in Dr. Johnson's
-"Journey to the Hebrides," and some striking anecdotes are told. It was
-just the thing to interest his moody temperament, with its terrible dread
-of death and its longing to lift the curtain that hides from us the
-Unseen. He seems, however, to have been unable to convince himself of the
-actual existence of such a power; all the evidence he could collect failed
-to advance his curiosity to conviction, so that he could not believe,
-while remaining willing to believe. To use the noble words of Goethe,
-nobly rendered by Coleridge:
-
-                            "As the sun,
-  Ere it is risen, sometimes paints its image
-  In the atmosphere, so often do the spirits
-  Of great events stride on before the events,
-  And in To-day already walks To-morrow."
-
-_This_ it is not difficult to accept. It seems fitting that presages
-should herald the death of kings and the revolutions of nations; but the
-mind cannot convince itself that the spirits of the dead will cross the
-shadowy borders to foretell the trivial accidents that chequer ordinary
-lives. Yet, as Johnson says: "A man on a journey far from home falls from
-a horse; another who is perhaps at work about the house, sees him bleeding
-on the ground, commonly with a landscape of the place where the accident
-befalls him. Another seer, driving home his cattle, or wandering in
-idleness, or musing in the sunshine, is suddenly surprised by the
-appearance of a bridal ceremony or funeral procession, and counts the
-mourners or attendants, of whom, if he knows them, he relates the names,
-if he knows them not he can describe the dresses."
-
-Woodrow tells of "a popish lady," living near Boroughbridge, who dreamed
-that she saw a coach, and a lady in it, almost lost in the river. She
-directed her servants to watch during two nights, to guard against an
-accident, but nothing happened. "On the third night, pretty late, the Lady
-Shawfield came, and of a sudden the coach was overturned, and filled with
-water. The coachman got upon one of the horses, to save his life. The good
-and religious Lady Shawfield was for some time under water: and upon the
-cry rising, the popish lady's servants came to their assistance. With much
-difficulty, the coach and lady in it were got out of the water." And the
-Lady Shawfield, being laid upon the bank, gradually recovered her senses.
-
-In the early months of the Commonwealth, while Mackenzie of Tarbat,
-afterwards Earl of Cromarty, was riding in a field among his tenants, who
-were manuring barley, a stranger "called that way on his foot, and stopped
-likewise, and said to the countrymen, 'You need not be so busy about that
-barley, for I see the Englishmen's horses tethered among it; and other
-parts mowed down for them.' Tarbet asked him how he knew them to be
-Englishmen, and if he had ever seen any of them? He said, 'No; but he saw
-them strangers, and heard the English were in Scotland, and guessed it
-could be no other than they.' In the month of July, the thing happened
-directly as the man said he saw it."
-
-The influence exercised on the imagination by events in which we are
-deeply interested, and the manner in which our hopes or fears are mistaken
-for predictions, may be illustrated by two examples from antiquity. On the
-day that Cæsar and Pompey contended at Pharsalia for the mastery of the
-world, Cornelius, a priest and patrician of Padua, declared, under a
-sudden impulse of passion, that he beheld the eddies and currents of a
-desperate battle, and the fall and flight of many of the combatants,
-eventually exclaiming: "Cæsar has conquered!" His hearers laughed at him,
-but his words were afterwards verified, and it appeared that he had
-foretold not only the day, but the incidents, and the result of the famous
-battle in Thessaly. The anecdote is related on the authority of the
-"Noctes Atticæ" of Aulus Gellius.
-
-Dio Cassius tells a similar story about the assassination of the Emperor
-Domitian at Rome, by his freedman Stephanus. "It is to be admired," he
-says, "that, as accurately proved by persons in either place, Apollonius
-Thyanæus, ascending an eminence at Ephesus or elsewhere, cried out before
-the multitude: 'Well done, Stephanus, well done! Strike the murderer! thou
-hast struck him, thou hast wounded him, he is slain!'" But it may well be
-supposed that a secret understanding existed between Apollonius and the
-murderer.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-From "second sight" we pass on to "prediction" or "divination," another of
-the superstitious modes by which humanity has endeavoured to read the book
-of the Future. In the north this power of prophecy was largely assumed by
-women, a circumstance of which Scott has made ample and picturesque use in
-more than one of his admirable fictions.
-
-A woman foretold the tragical end of James I. of Scotland, in 1436. In the
-early stage of a journey from Edinburgh to Leith, and in the midst of the
-way, arose a woman of Ireland, who claimed to be a soothsayer, and as soon
-as she saw the king, she cried with a loud voice, saying, "My lord king,
-an ye pass this water, ye shall never turn again to live." The king was
-astonished at her words, for but shortly before he had fallen in with a
-prophecy, that in the self-same year the King of Scots should be slain.
-And as he rode onward, he called to him one of his knights, and commanded
-him to return and speak with this woman, and ask of her what she would,
-and what she meant by her loud crying: and she began and told him what
-would befall the king if he passed that water. The king asked her how she
-knew so much, and she said that Huthart told her so. "Sire," quoth the
-knight, "men may gallantly talk, nor take heed of yonder woman's words,
-for she is but a drunken fool, and wots not what she saith." And so with
-his folk he passed the water called the Scottish Sea, towards S. John's
-town [Perth,] about four miles from the country of the wild Scots, and
-there, in a convent of Black Friars, outside the town, he held a great
-feast. In the course of the revel came "the said woman of Ireland, who
-called herself a divineress," and made several vain attempts to gain
-access to the king. Meanwhile the conspirators matured their plot, removed
-the king's guards, attacked him, and slew him.[70]
-
-All the predictions which come true are preserved; we hear nothing of
-those which fail, for no one has an interest in recording or repeating
-them; hence an undue importance is gradually attached to what are nothing
-more than remarkable coincidences. Many others are prophecies "after the
-event." Others are based on a careful calculation of probabilities. As in
-the following example: An Orkney warlock, full of displeasure with James
-Paplay, a proud and haughty chief, with whose character, doubtless, she
-was well acquainted, broke forth into a torrent of predictive utterances:
-"Thou art now the highest man that ever thou shalt be! Thou art gone to
-shear thy corn, but it shall never do you good! Thou art going to set
-house with thy wife,--ye shall have no joy of one another. Oil shall not
-keep you and her; ye shall have such a meit-will [craving,] and shall have
-nothing to eat, but be fain to eat grass under the stones and wair
-(sea-weed) under the rocks." It was seriously asserted that not only were
-these predictions--or menaces--uttered, but that they were all fulfilled;
-and it is possible that the prophet may have had something to do with
-their fulfilment.
-
-A curious anecdote is related of a Scottish minister, who, on the day of
-the battle of Killiecrankie, was preaching at Anworth, and in his preface
-before his prayer, according to his usual mode of homely expression, began
-to this purpose: "Some of you will say, What news, minister? What news
-about Clavers, who has done so much mischief in this country? That man
-sets up to be a young Montrose, but as the LORD liveth, he shall be cut
-short this day. Be not afraid," added he, "I see them scattered and
-flying: and as the LORD liveth, and sends this message by me, Claverhouse
-shall no longer be a terror to GOD'S people. This day I see him
-killed--lying a corpse." And on that day, and at that hour, Claverhouse
-fell[71] (July 27th, 1689.)
-
-In their anxiety to obtain a glimpse of the dread writing in the Book of
-Fate, men have resorted to divers strange expedients, applying to warlocks
-and witches, or seeking to wring a response to their questionings from the
-creatures of the Invisible World. The ceremony known as _Taghairm_, or
-"Echo," seems to have been peculiar to Scotland. The inquirer was wrapped
-in a cow's hide, his head being left free, and was carried by assistants
-to a solitary spot, or left under the liquid arch formed by the "sheeted
-column's silvery perpendicular" in waterfall or cataract: there he
-remained during the watches of the night, with phantoms fluttering round
-about him, from whence he was supposed to derive the burden of the
-oracular response he delivered to his comrades on the following day.
-
-It is probable that this ceremony is the relic of some ancient form of
-ritual. At all events, the skins of animals played an important part in
-the old worship. When the Thebans slew a cow on the festival of Jupiter
-Ammon, his image was clothed with the skin: all present in the temple then
-struck the carcase, which was buried in a consecrated place.
-
-Pausanias records that a temple in honour of the soothsayer Amphiaraus,
-the reputed son of Apollo, stood in the territory of Oropus in Attica.
-Votaries who resorted thither for the purpose of divination, underwent
-certain lustrations, or purifying rites, sacrificed a ram, and, in
-expectation of seeing visions, slept upon its skin.
-
-Virgil, in one of the most elaborate scenes of the Æneid, represents to us
-a similar oblation as being offered at a consecrated fountain, where the
-priest, to prepare himself for the delivery of responses, slept on the
-skin:--
-
-                "Et cæsarum ovium sub nocte silenti
-  Pellibus incubuit stratis, somnosque petivit;
-  Multa modis simulacra videt volitantia miris
-  Et varias audit voces."[72]
-
-It seems to have been an important part of the heathen ritual to make use
-of the skin of the sacrificed animal for the purposes of clothing. Lucian,
-describing the ceremonies practised in the temple of Hierapolis, says
-that, on his arrival, the head and eyebrows of the novice were shaved; a
-sheep was then sacrificed; he knelt on the skin, and covering his own head
-with the head and feet of the animal, prayed that his offering might be
-accepted while promising a worthier one.
-
-The Spanish invaders of the New World discovered that the religion of its
-most civilised race, the Aztecs, was founded upon human sacrifices. The
-number of victims offered up to the Aztec gods is stated in figures which
-seem almost incredible. Peculiar to the Aztec kingdom was the horrid
-ceremony entitled "the flaying of men." The Aztecs having demanded the
-daughter of some neighbouring potentate as their queen, she was flayed on
-the very night of her arrival by command of their deity, and a young man
-clothed in her skin. In this originated the custom that a captive slave,
-distinguished by the name, the honours, and the ornaments of the divinity,
-should be sacrificed after a certain time; and another, clothed with his
-skin, then exacted contributions for the service of the gods, which no
-one, says Acosta, dared to refuse.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-We have no space to dwell on the various forms of divination that were
-wont to prevail. Almost everything in nature, from the stars of heaven to
-the clods of earth, was made to give indications of coming events. The
-historian of the darker Superstitions of Scotland brings together a few
-striking illustrations.
-
-If a certain worm in a medicinal spring on the top of a hill in Strathdon,
-were found alive, it was a sign that the patient would live; and in a well
-of Ardwacloich, in Appin, if the patient were to die, a dead worm was
-found in it, and a live one, if he were to recover. In the district of
-Lorn, the figures assumed by an egg dropped into water were supposed to
-indicate the appearance of a future spouse. "Also, one of four vessels
-being filled with pure, and another with muddy water, the third with milk,
-and the fourth with meal and water; if the diviner blindfold dips his hand
-in the first, it augurs that his spouse shall be led to the nuptial couch
-in all her pristine purity; but otherwise if dipping in the second: if
-finding his way to the milk, a widow shall fall to his lot; and an old
-woman awaits him from the meal and water. Three vessels are used in the
-south of Scotland; one of them empty; and should fate direct the diviner
-hither, it augurs perpetual celibacy."
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-A belief in Fairies was widespread, and has survived, in remote districts,
-down even to our own time:
-
-                    "Oft fairy elves
-  Whose midnight revels by a forest side
-  Or fountain, some belated peasant sees,
-  Or dreams he sees, while overhead the moon
-  Sits arbitress, and nearer to the earth
-  Wheels her pale course, they on their mirth and dance
-  Intent, with jocund music charm his ear:
-  At once with joy and fear his heart rebounds."[73]
-
-It is not easy to reconcile the conflicting details of the disposition,
-manners, habits, and influence of these liliputian spirits which we meet
-with in the early writers. But on a general survey it appears that they
-were very diminutive; in their intercourse with mortals sometimes
-good-tempered, sometimes malignant; that they loved and married, and had
-offspring; that they were very merry, and loved to dance upon the green,
-and fill the air with choral music; that they possessed stores of gold and
-silver, which they distributed freely; that they were invisible, but could
-at will present themselves to mortals; that they were very timid, and
-would inflict a summary punishment upon intruders. Their influence was at
-its highest on Friday, at noon, and at midnight.
-
-Kirk, the Scotch minister of Aberfoyle, who died in 1688, relates some
-other particulars of the "good people." Their substance, he says, is
-denser than air; too subtle to be pierced, and, like that of Milton's
-angels, reuniting when divided, or when any attempt is made to cleave it
-asunder. Their voice is like unto whistling. They change their places of
-abode every quarter of the year, floating near the surface of the earth;
-and persons gifted with the second sight have often had fierce encounters
-with them. The Highlanders, to preserve themselves and their cattle
-against them, went regularly to church on the first Sunday of every
-quarter, though they might not return during the interval. At the name of
-GOD or JESUS they vanished into thin air. They were of both sexes, and
-like mankind, they were mortal.
-
-"Some meagre allusions appear to the Queen of the Fairies, and especially
-by King James, whose immediate knowledge may have been derived from the
-vignettes in Olaus Magnus, and the words of his own unhappy subjects, who
-perished on account of their credulity. Alexoun Perisoma was convicted, on
-her confession, of repairing to the 'queen of Elfame,' with whom she was
-familiar. Jean Wire (1670) declared that, while she taught a school at
-Dalkeith, a woman desired to be employed 'to speik to the Queen of Fairie,
-and strike ane battell in hir behalf with the said Queen.'" The name of
-Titania is familiar enough to all lovers of English literature. There was
-a necromancer or wizard, in the reign of Charles I., who affirmed he had
-an incantation--"O Micol, Micol, regina Pigmiorum, veni,"--that Titania
-could not resist. Lilly tells us that when it was tested at Hurst wood,
-first a gentle murmurous sound was heard; then rose a violent whirlwind,
-which swelled into a hurricane; and lastly the Fairy Queen appeared in all
-her radiance.
-
-Fairies generally dwelt in subterraneous abodes; in the interiors of
-grassy hillocks, whence issued dulcet sounds and flashes of weird light;
-sometimes the side of a hill opened, and exposed them to the gaze of the
-belated wayfarer. No doubt they were seen everywhere by the potent gaze of
-imagination; on the meads and in the groves, or curled up among the
-bending flowers; for
-
-            "Visions as poetic eyes avow,
-  Hang from each leaf, and cling to every bough."
-
-They were reputed to be well skilled in the medical art, and to favoured
-mortals they sometimes imparted their knowledge. It is difficult to
-understand why they were credited with the abstraction of children, and
-with the substitution of other beings in their place. For this curious
-kind of theft was commonly attributed to them. A "wise woman"--a dealer in
-simples and herbal potions--having failed to cure a child, declared that
-"the bairn had been taken away, and an elf substituted."
-
-Besides the fairies, Scotland could boast of its spirits of the waters,
-just as Germany had its Loreleys and Ondines.
-
-We can gather, however, no definite information respecting the
-water-kelpie, the water-horses, or the water-bull, or of another anomalous
-animal called shelly-coat. Describing Lochlomond, Graham says:--"It is
-reported by the countrymen living thereabouts, that they sometimes see the
-hippopotam or water-horse, where the river Cudrie falls into it, a mile
-west of the church of Buchanan." A river known as the Ugly Burn, in the
-county of Ross, springing from Loch Glaish, was regarded with awe by all
-the countryside, as the retreat of the water-horse and other spiritual
-beings. Shetland is represented as having possessed a handsome water-horse
-which, when mounted, carried the rider into the sea. Mr. Dalyell, writing
-in 1835, says, that the water-bull is still believed to reside in Loch Awe
-and Loch Rannoch, nor, he adds, are witnesses wanting to bear testimony to
-the fact. It was reputed to be invulnerable against all except silver
-shot; though no one had put it to the proof. In the Isle of Man certain
-persons who saw the water-bull in a field were unable to distinguish him
-from one of the ordinary terrestrial species, nor did the cows show any
-disposition to avoid him. But his progeny always turned out to be a rude
-lump of flesh and skin, without bones.
-
-The spirit of the sea was believed to be malicious, and capable of
-inflicting injury. Allusions are frequent to "sea-trowis, meermen,
-meermaids, and a number of little creatures coming from the sea" in
-response to spell and charm. Nor must we forget the practice of pouring
-out libations to the aquatic divinities. A century ago, in Crawford Muir,
-when a tenant was evicted and another took his place, he cut the throat of
-a black lamb and threw it into a stream, with a malediction both upon
-stream and lamb.
-
-To this futile department of human error we can, however, devote no more
-space. To treat it adequately we should need at least a couple of volumes
-as closely printed as the present.
-
-
-
-
-INDEX.
-
-
-  Aborigines, the, of North America, 254.
-
-  African Superstitions, 171.
-
-  Ahetas, the, 153.
-
-  Ancestors, Worship of, 220.
-
-  Anecdotes of Khandikya and Kesidhwaja, 114.
-
-  Apples, Halloween, 293.
-
-  Ark-festival, an Indian, 90.
-
-  Ashi, the Rabbi, 72.
-
-  Asia, savage races of, 155.
-
-
-  Babylonian Talmud, the, 72.
-
-  Bouru, 146.
-
-  Brahman Religion, the, 14, 84.
-
-  Buddhism, 16.
-
-  Buddhists, Prayer-wheels of the, 1.
-
-  Buffalo-dance, the, 259.
-
-
-  Cannibalism, 250.
-
-  Caste, Brahman, 14.
-
-  Cat, adventures of a, 218.
-
-  Ceremonies, Hindu, 6;
-    Eskimo, 275.
-
-  Chandu, Palace of, 163.
-
-  Charms, Scottish, 310.
-
-  China, in, 119.
-
-  Chinese offerings to gods, 139.
-
-  Chinese temples, 132.
-
-  Chunda Sen, Babu Keshub, 97.
-
-  Chung-Yung, 123.
-
-  Confucianism, 119.
-
-  Confucius, Life of, 120.
-
-  Court of Justice, an Eskimo, 277.
-
-  Cumming, Miss Gordon, Experiences of, 1;
-    quoted, 3.
-
-
-  Daksha, sacrifice of, 103.
-
-  Debendunath Tagore, 97.
-
-  Devil-dancing, 91.
-
-  Divination, 319.
-
-  Dorians, the, 147.
-
-  Dyaks, the, 145.
-
-
-  Egg-trick, the, 169.
-
-  Equatorial Savage, the, 172.
-
-  Eskimos, the, 274.
-
-  Etu, the, 221.
-
-
-  Fairies, belief in, 323.
-
-  Feast of Lanterns, the, 129.
-
-  Fetich-man, the, 174.
-
-  Fiji-islanders, the, 230.
-
-  Fire-superstitions, 290.
-
-  Fish-charmers, Brahman, 87.
-
-  Flagellants, the, 279.
-
-
-  Gemara, the, 69.
-
-  Gods, belief in, 12.
-
-
-  Halloween, 288.
-
-  Health-superstitions, 313.
-
-  Hilarion, S., 280.
-
-  Hindu Mythology, the, 99.
-
-  Hindus, the, 203.
-
-  Hindu Temples, Ceremonies of the, 6.
-
-  Hiouen-thsang, Career of, 26.
-
-
-  Idol Worship, 221.
-
-  Indians, North American, 254.
-
-
-  Jerusalem Talmud, the, 72.
-
-  Jewish Superstitions, 68.
-
-  Jugglery, 163.
-
-
-  Khudas, the, 89.
-
-  King, or, the Five Canonical Works, 125.
-
-
-  Lao-tsze, the Chinese Philosopher, 129.
-
-  Lun-Yu, the, 124.
-
-
-  Magianism, 43.
-
-  Maize, Indian reverence for the, 273.
-
-  Malays, among the, 142.
-
-  Maories, the, 241.
-
-  Medicine-bag, the Indian, 265.
-
-  Medicine-man, the Indian, 174;
-    the Eskimo, 274.
-
-  Meng-tze, the, 124.
-
-  Mishna, the, 68.
-
-  Mongols, the, 157.
-
-  Müller, Max, quoted, 10.
-
-
-  Nâgpanchanic Festival, the, 210.
-
-  New Zealand, 241.
-
-  North American Indians, the, 254.
-
-  Nursery tale, a Hindu, 307.
-
-
-  Old age, African veneration of, 172.
-
-  Orang-lauts, the, 152.
-
-  Ormuzd and Ahriman, 191.
-
-  Ostiaks, the, 158.
-
-
-  Paharis, the Customs of, 87.
-
-  Papeiha's witness to Christianity, 215.
-
-  Papuan Tribes, the, 147.
-
-  Parsees, the, 43.
-
-  Peace-pipe, the Indian, 270.
-
-  Polo, Marco, 161.
-
-  Polynesian Sacrifices, 228.
-
-  Polynesian Superstitions, 214.
-
-  Prayer-Wheels of the Buddhists, 1.
-
-  Public Games, 109.
-
-  Puranas, the, 99.
-
-
-  Rammohun Roy, Life of, 92.
-
-  Red Men, the, 257.
-
-  Religion, Brahman, 14, 84;
-    Buddhism, 16;
-    Parsee, 43;
-    Chinese, 119;
-    among the Malays, 142;
-    the Dyaks, 145;
-    in Bouru, 146;
-    among the Papuan tribes, 147;
-    the Orang-lauts, 152;
-    Savage nations of Asia, 155;
-    in Tibet, 161;
-    Zabianism, 186;
-    in Polynesia, 214;
-    among the Fiji-islanders, 230;
-    the Maories, 241;
-    North American Indians, 254.
-
-  Rudra, Origin of, 103.
-
-
-  Samoans, the, 219.
-
-  Samojedes, 155.
-
-  San-tsing, the Chinese deity, 131.
-
-  Scottish Superstitions, 288.
-
-  Second Sight, 290, 300, 314.
-
-  Serpent-worship, 186.
-
-  Shae-tung, the, 129.
-
-  Shamanism, 91.
-
-  Shang-te, the, of the Chinese, 131.
-
-  Slamatan Bromok, the, 142.
-
-  Snake-charmers, 87.
-
-  Stylites, S. Simeon, 281.
-
-  Sun-worship, 8, 200.
-
-  Superstitions, African, 171.
-
-  Supreme Being, belief in a, 11.
-
-
-  Taboo, or Tapu, 241.
-
-  Tadibe, the, 156.
-
-  Ta-heo, the, 123.
-
-  Talmud, the, 68.
-
-  Taossi, the, 132.
-
-  Taouism, 129.
-
-  Tehu-Chor, the, 3.
-
-  Thibetan Prayer or Litany, the, 4.
-
-  Tibet, in, 161.
-
-  Topes, the, 203.
-
-  Typhon and Osiris, 173.
-
-
-  Vishnu Purana, the, 100.
-
-
-  Weather-conjuring among the Mongols, 159.
-
-  Williams, Rev. John, 214.
-
-
-  Yadageri, 160.
-
-
-  Zabianism, 186.
-
-  Zendavesta, the, 43.
-
-  Zoroaster, 45.
-
-  Zulu Witch-finders, 180.
-
-
-J. MASTERS AND CO., PRINTERS, ALBION BUILDINGS, BARTHOLOMEW CLOSE.
-
-
-
-
-FOOTNOTES:
-
-[1] Miss Gordon Cumming, "From the Hebrides to the Himalayas," ii. 226,
-227.
-
-[2] Max Müller, Buddhism and Buddhist Pilgrims, pp. 5, 6.
-
-[3] Rig-Veda, i. 164, 46.
-
-[4] Rig-Veda, x. 121, by Max Müller.
-
-[5] The thought in this paragraph, and several of the expressions, are
-from Max Müller.
-
-[6] So in Shelley's lyrical drama of "Prometheus Unbound:"--
-
-  "_Mercury_ (addressing Prometheus.) Once more answer me:
-                Thou knowest not the period of Jove's power?
-  _Prometheus._ I know but this, that it must come.
-  _Mercury._                                        Alas!
-                Thou canst not count thy years to come of pain.
-  _Prometheus._ They last while Jove must reign; nor more nor less
-                Or I desire or fear."
-
-[7] Max Müller, pp. 13, 14.
-
-[8] Professor Wilson propounded a theory to the effect that there never
-was any such man as Buddha, but the theory has found few supporters.
-
-[9] The name "Sakya" is made into "Sakya-muni,"--_muni_ in Sanskrit
-meaning "solitary," (Greek, [Greek: monos],) alluding to his solitary
-habits; and to Gautama is often prefixed "Sramana," or "ascetic."
-
-[10] Max Müller, pp. 14, 15.
-
-[11] Max Müller, pp. 15, 16, 17.
-
-[12] The following sketch is founded on M. Stanislas Julien's "Voyages des
-Pélerins Buddhistes," and on Max Müller's review of that valuable work.
-
-[13] Max Müller, p. 36.
-
-[14] Voyages des Pélerins Bouddhistes. Vol. I. Histoire de la Vie de
-Hiouen-thsang, et ses Voyages dans l'Inde, depuis l'an 629 jusqu'en 645,
-par Hoeï-li et Yen-thsong; traduite du Chinois par Stanislas Julien.
-
-Vol. II. Mémoires sur les Contrées Occidentales, traduits du Sanscrit en
-Chinois, en l'an 648, par Hiouen-thsang, et du Chinois en Français, par
-Stanislas Julien. Paris, 1853-1857. B. Duprat.
-
-[15] Hoeï-li terminates the last book of his biography of the Master with
-a long and pompous panegyric of Hiouen-thsang. This _morceau_, which forms
-(says Stanislas Julien,) twenty-five pages in the Imperial edition and ten
-in the _Nan-king_, offers an analysis of the life and voyages of the
-Master of the Law; but it contains no new fact or one of any interest in
-relation to the history and geography of India or the Buddhist literature.
-No English version has appeared of M. Julien's elaborate translation of
-the Chinese History of Hiouen-thsang.
-
-[16] More correctly, Avesta-Zend.
-
-[17] Sanscrit, _Avasthâ_. This is Haug's conjecture.
-
-[18] The Pazend language was identical with the Parsi, i.e., the ancient
-Persian.
-
-[19] Dogs are here associated with man on account of their high value in
-an early stage of civilisation. Zarathustra protected them by special
-ordinances and penalties.
-
-[20] The bridge _Chinavat_ by which the souls of the good crossed into
-Paradise; a fancy afterwards adopted by Muhámad.
-
-[21] Quarles.
-
-[22] Emanuel Deutsch, "Literary Remains," (edit. 1874, pp. 32, 33.)
-
-[23] E. Deutsch, Literary Remains, p. 55, sqq.
-
-[24] The Tinnevelly Shawars, by R. Caldwell, Madras, 1849.
-
-[25] Calcutta Review, lii. 112, 113.
-
-[26] We are reminded by this extravagance of great King Arthur's sumptuous
-feast at Carlisle, as described by Mr. Frere ("Whistlecraft"):--
-
-  "They served up salmon, venison, and wild boars
-  By hundreds, and by dozens, and by scores.
-
-  "Hogsheads of honey, kilderkins of mustard,
-  Muttons, and fatted beeves, and bacon swine;
-  Herons and bitterns, peacock, swan and bustard,
-  Teal, mallard, pigeons, widgeons, and in fine
-  Plum-puddings, pancakes, apple-pies and custard;
-  And therewithal they drank good Gascon wine,
-  With mead, and ale, and cyder of our own;
-  For porter, punch and negus were not known."
-
-[27] That is, the crooked. One of the other Puranas calls her Trivakra (or
-thrice-deformed.)
-
-[28] The Yoga philosophy prescribes about eighty-four postures. The one to
-which allusion is made in the text consisted of sitting with your legs
-crossed underneath you, and laying hold of your feet, on each side, with
-your hands.
-
-[29] That is, the silent repetition of prayer.
-
-[30] Others say in 479 B.C., at the age of seventy.
-
-[31] A strong spirituous liquor, distilled from wine.
-
-[32] In Rashiduddin's "History of Cathay" we read: "In the reign of
-Din-Wang, the twentieth King of the eleventh dynasty, _Tai Shang Lao Kun_
-was born. This person is stated to have been accounted a prophet by the
-people of Khita; his father's name was Han; like Shak-muni (Buddha) he is
-said to have been conceived by light, and it is related that his mother
-bore him in her womb no less a period than eighty years. The people who
-embraced his doctrine were called [Arabic] _Shan-shan_ or _Shin-shin_."
-The title used by Rashiduddin signifies "the Great Supreme Venerable
-Ruler."
-
-[33] Robert Fortune, "Three Years' Wanderings in the Northern Provinces of
-China," p. 170, et sqq.
-
-[34] "Three Years' Wanderings," p. 185.
-
-[35] Fortune, pp. 190, 191.
-
-[36] M. de la Gironiere, cit. in "The Eastern Archipelago," pp. 522, 526,
-527.
-
-[37] Col. Yule, "Book of Sir Marco Polo," Vol. I. pp. 306, 307.
-
-[38] Edward Melton, "Engelsch Edelmans Zeldzaame en Gedenkwaardige Zee en
-Land Reizen," &c., 1660, 1677, p. 468.
-
-[39] Miss Gordon Cumming. "From the Hebrides to the Himalayas," ii. 68,
-69.
-
-[40] This chapter is adapted from Mr. Winwood Reade's "Savage Africa,"
-(Edit. 1863.)
-
-[41] "A Year's Housekeeping in South Africa," p. 173.
-
-[42] Lady Barker, "A Year's Housekeeping in South Africa," p. 179.
-
-[43] Abridged from Lady Barker, "A Year's Housekeeping in South Africa,"
-pp. 181-184.
-
-[44] Quoted from Chwolson ("Die Ssabier und der Ssabismus," 1856,) by
-Chambers.
-
-[45] Deane, p. 49.
-
-[46] Isaac McLellan.
-
-[47] Deane, pp. 370-373.
-
-[48] Deane, pp. 446, 447.
-
-[49] "Tree and Serpent-worship," by James Fergusson, (edit. 1868.)
-
-[50] "Asiatic Researches," Vol. XX. p. 85.
-
-[51] Fergusson, "Tree and Serpent-worship," p. 93.
-
-[52] "We know," says Mr. Fergusson, "that two of the principal Vedic
-gods--Indra (the firmament) and Agni (fire)--were adopted into their
-pantheon by the early Buddhists, and it seems more reasonable to connect
-this appearance of fire with the pre-existing worship of Agni than with
-any far-fetched allusion to solar worship." But what was Agni but a type
-of the sun?
-
-[53] Col. Meadows Taylor, Appendix to Fergusson's "Tree and
-Serpent-worship," pp. 236, 237.
-
-[54] John Williams, "Missionary Enterprises," p. 48.
-
-[55] Rev. J. Williams, "Missionary Enterprises," pp. 143-146 (edit. 1841.)
-
-[56] "South Sea Bubbles," by the Earl and the Doctor, pp. 114-117.
-
-[57] R. F. Burton, "Lake Regions of Equatorial Africa."
-
-[58] Tennyson.
-
-[59] Cooper, pp. 102, 104.
-
-[60] Cooper, p. 105.
-
-[61] Dishes.
-
-[62] Empty.
-
-[63] Puffed.
-
-[64] Ash, or cinder.
-
-[65] Saucy child.
-
-[66] The unbounded good fortune of Polycrates, King of Samos, awakened the
-fear of his friend, Amasis, King of Egypt, who wrote to warn him of the
-jealousy of the gods:--
-
-  "This counsel of thy friend disdain not--
-          Invoke Adversity!
-  And what of all thy worldly gear,
-  Thy deepest heart esteems most dear,
-          Cast into yonder sea!"
-
-[67] Calcutta Review, LI. iii.
-
-[68] Calcutta Review, LI., 118. In the Gaelic we find a similar story,
-called "Moorochug and Meenachug."
-
-[69] We have Anglicised Mr. Dalyell's version. See his "Darker
-Superstitions of Scotland," p. 22. (Edit. 1835.)
-
-[70] This is the subject of D. G. Rossetti's fine poem, "The King's
-Tragedy."
-
-[71] At the beginning of the action he had taken his place in front of his
-little band of cavalry. He bade them follow him, and rode forward. But it
-seemed to be decreed that, on that day, the lowland Scotch should in both
-armies appear to disadvantage. The horse hesitated. Dundee turned round,
-stood up in his stirrups, and, waving his hat, invited them to come on. As
-he lifted his arm, his cuirass rose, and exposed the lower part of his
-left side. A musket ball struck him: his horse sprang forward, and plunged
-into a cloud of smoke and dust, which hid from both armies the fall of the
-victorious general. A person named Johnstone was near him, and caught him
-as he sank down from the saddle. "How goes the day?" said Dundee. "Well
-for King James," answered Johnstone; "but I am sorry for your lordship."
-"If it is well for him," answered the dying man, "it matters the less for
-me." He never spoke again: but when, half an hour later, Lord Dunfermline
-and some other friends came to the spot, they thought that they could
-still discover some faint remains of life. The body, wrapped up in two
-plaids, was carried to the Castle of Blair.--_Macaulay_, chap. xiii.
-
-[72] Æneid. lib. vii. l. 87.
-
-[73] Milton.
-
-
-
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-<p>Title: Curiosities of Superstition</p>
-<p>       And Sketches of Some Unrevealed Religions</p>
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diff --git a/41566.txt b/41566.txt
deleted file mode 100644
index a987ddf..0000000
--- a/41566.txt
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,12540 +0,0 @@
-The Project Gutenberg eBook, Curiosities of Superstition, by W. H.
-Davenport Adams
-
-
-This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
-almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
-re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
-with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
-
-
-
-
-
-Title: Curiosities of Superstition
-       And Sketches of Some Unrevealed Religions
-
-
-Author: W. H. Davenport Adams
-
-
-
-Release Date: December 5, 2012  [eBook #41566]
-
-Language: English
-
-Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII)
-
-
-***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CURIOSITIES OF SUPERSTITION***
-
-
-E-text prepared by the Online Distributed Proofreading Team
-(http://www.pgdp.net) from page images generously made available by
-Internet Archive (http://archive.org)
-
-
-
-Note: Images of the original pages are available through
-      Internet Archive. See
-      http://archive.org/details/curiositiesofsup00adam
-
-
-Transcriber's note:
-
-      The original text includes Greek words or phrases that have
-      been replaced with transliterations and displayed in this form:
-      [Greek: transliteration].
-
-      The original text includes Arabic characters that have been
-      replaced with [Arabic].
-
-
-
-
-
-CURIOSITIES OF SUPERSTITION,
-
-And Sketches of some Unrevealed Religions.
-
-by
-
-W. H. DAVENPORT ADAMS,
-
-Author of "Heroes of the Cross," etc.
-
-  "To my mind there is no study more absorbing than that of
-  the Religions of the World,--the study, if I may so call
-  it, of the various languages in which man has spoken to
-  his Maker, and of that language in which his Maker 'at
-  sundry times and in divers manners' spake to man."--MAX MUELLER.
-
-  "Primus in orbe Deos fecit timor."--STATIUS, _Thebaid_, 661.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-London:
-J. Masters and Co., 78, New Bond Street.
-MDCCCLXXXII.
-
-London:
-Printed by J. Masters and Co.,
-Albion Buildings, Bartholomew Close.
-
-
-
-
-CONTENTS.
-
-
-  CHAPTER                                                             PAGE
-
-      I. BUDDHISM, ITS ORIGIN AND CEREMONIES                             1
-
-     II. MAGIANISM: THE PARSEES                                         43
-
-    III. JEWISH SUPERSTITIONS                                           68
-
-     IV. BRAHMANISM                                                     84
-
-      V. HINDU MYTHOLOGY, AND THE VISHNU PURANA                         99
-
-     VI. IN CHINA: CONFUCIANISM, TAOUISM, AND BUDDHISM                 119
-
-    VII. AMONG THE MALAYS, THE SLAMATAN BROMOK, THE DYAKS, THE
-         PAPUAN TRIBES, THE AHETAS                                     142
-
-   VIII. THE SAVAGE RACES OF ASIA: THE SAMOJEDES; THE MONGOLS;
-         THE OSTIAKS; IN TIBET                                         155
-
-     IX. SOME AFRICAN SUPERSTITIONS                                    171
-
-      X. THE ZULU WITCH-FINDERS                                        180
-
-     XI. ZABIANISM AND SERPENT-WORSHIP                                 186
-
-    XII. POLYNESIAN SUPERSTITIONS                                      214
-
-   XIII. THE FIJI ISLANDERS                                            230
-
-    XIV. THE RELIGION OF THE MAORIES                                   241
-
-     XV. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS                                    254
-
-    XVI. AMONG THE ESKIMOS                                             274
-
-   XVII. A MEDIAEVAL SUPERSTITION: THE FLAGELLANTS                     279
-
-  XVIII. SCOTTISH SUPERSTITIONS: HALLOWEEN                             288
-
-    XIX. SECOND SIGHT: DIVINATION: UNIVERSALITY OF CERTAIN
-         SUPERSTITIONS: FAIRIES IN SCOTLAND                            300
-
-
-
-
-CURIOSITIES OF SUPERSTITION.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER I.
-
-_BUDDHISM: ITS ORIGIN AND CEREMONIES._
-
-
-PRAYER-WHEELS OF THE BUDDHISTS.
-
-Travelling on the borders of Chinese Tartary, in the country of the Lamas
-or Buddhists, Miss Gordon Cumming remarks that it was strange, every now
-and again, to meet some respectable-looking workman, twirling little brass
-cylinders, only about six inches in length, which were incessantly
-spinning round and round as they walked along the road. What could they
-be? Not pedometers, not any of the trigonometrical instruments with which
-the officers of the Ordnance Survey go about armed? No; she was informed
-that they were prayer-wheels, and that turning them was just about
-equivalent to the telling of beads, which in Continental lands workmen may
-often be seen counting as homeward along the road they plod their weary
-way.
-
-The telling of beads seems to the Protestant a superfluous piece of
-formalism: what then are we to think of prayer by machinery? The prayers,
-or rather invocations, to Buddha--the Buddhists never pray, in the
-Christian sense--are all closely written upon strips of cloth or paper;
-the same sentence being repeated some thousands of times. These strips are
-placed inside a cylinder, revolving on a long spindle, the end of which is
-the handle. From the wind-cylinder depends a small lump of metal, which,
-whirling round, communicates the necessary impetus to the little machine,
-so that it rotates with the slightest possible effort, and continues to
-grind any required number of acts of worship, while the owner, with the
-plaything in his hand, carries on his daily work. His religion requires
-that he should be all his time immersed in holy contemplation of the
-perfections of Buddha, but to a busy man no such self-absorption is
-possible. He is content, therefore, to say the sentences aloud at the
-beginning and end of his devotions, and in the interval twirls slowly,
-while a tiny bell marks each rotation, and reminds him if he should
-unconsciously quicken his pace.
-
-Tennyson finely speaks of Prayer as that by which
-
-  "The whole round world is every way
-  Bound by gold chains around the feet of GOD;"
-
-but no such efficacy can be ascribed to the cylinders of brass, copper, or
-gold, which are fashionable among the Buddhists. Yet we must not condemn
-too unreservedly: Prayer, even among Christians, is apt to degenerate into
-a dull, mechanical uniformity, and to become scarcely less perfunctory
-than that which the Tibetans grind out of their prayer-machine.
-
-In a Lama temple, Miss Gordon Cumming once saw a colossal prayer-wheel,
-which might almost have sufficed for the necessities of a nation. It was
-turned by a great iron crank, which acted as a handle. The cylinder
-measured about twelve feet in height, and six to eight feet in diameter.
-Circular bands of gold and vermilion adorned it, each band bearing the
-well-known Buddhist ascription, or invocation, "To the jewel on the
-Lotus." Of this inscription, multiplied on strips of paper and cloth, the
-cylinder was full, and each time that it revolved on its axis, the devotee
-was accredited with having uttered the pious invocation just as often as
-it was repeated within the cylinder. The whole history of Superstition
-offers scarcely any fact more curious or suggestive than this method of
-prayer by machinery; and that such a grotesque extravagance should have
-emanated from so subtle and metaphysical a faith as Buddhism is an anomaly
-not easily to be explained.
-
-Each votary who is too poor to possess a prayer-wheel of his own, attends
-the temple, does homage to the head Lama, receives his benediction, and
-then, squatting in front of the great wheel, he turns the crank on behalf
-of himself and his family. But if there be a considerable number of
-worshippers, the priest himself works the handle, that all may participate
-simultaneously in the act of prayer.
-
-The use of these machines is traced back for fully fourteen centuries, and
-is supposed to have originated in the belief that it was a meritorious
-act, and a patent cure for sin, to be continually reading or reciting
-portions of the sacred books of Buddha. But as many of the people could
-not read, a substitute had to be found, and it came to be considered
-sufficient if they turned over the rolled manuscripts which embodied the
-invaluable precepts. And as a vast amount of time and trouble was saved by
-this process, a further simplification became possible and popular,--the
-invention of wheels termed _Tehu-Chor_,--great cylindrical bands full of
-prayers; a cord being attached to the base of the band, which, when the
-cord was pulled, twirled like a children's toy. Prayer-wheels of this kind
-are set up in all public places in Tibet, so that the poor who do not
-possess little pocket Wheels of Devotion may not lose their chance of
-accumulating merit. In some of the monasteries the rows of small cylinders
-are so arranged, that the priest, or any passer-by can set them all in
-simultaneous motion, by just drawing his hand along them.
-
-According to Miss Cumming, who is confirmed by other travellers, the
-cylinders vary in size, from tiny hand-mills, about as big as a
-policeman's rattle, to huge machines, eight or ten feet in diameter,
-worked by a heavy iron crank, or sometimes by wind or water power. The
-wind prayer-mills are turned by wings, which, like the cylinder, are
-plentifully covered with prayers. The water-mills are placed over streams,
-so as to dispense with human aid, and allow the running water to turn them
-for the general welfare of the village. Through the cylinder passes a
-wooden axle, which is fastened to a horizontal wheel, whose cogs are
-turned diagonally to the water.
-
-"One such group of little mills we noticed," says Miss Cumming,[1] "set in
-a clear stream half-way between Rarung and Pangi, a lively, rapid river,
-rushing headlong down the mountain side to join the Sutlej. Having never
-then heard of prayer-mills, we assumed them to be for corn, as perhaps
-they were. At all events, we passed them without inspection, to our
-subsequent infinite regret. These wheels rotate with the action of the
-water, and so turn the cylinder, which must invariably stand upright.
-Sometimes several of these are placed almost across the stream, and the
-rudest form of temple is built over them.
-
-"They are so placed that the wheel must invariably turn from right to
-left, following the course of the sun; to invert that course would not
-only involve ill-luck, but would amount to being a sin. Hence the
-exceeding unwillingness of the people we met to let us tend their little
-wheels, knowing from sad experience that the English sahibs rather enjoy
-the fun of turning them the wrong way, and so undoing the efficacy of all
-their morning's work.
-
-"Some of the little pocket cylinders are very beautifully wrought; some
-are even inlaid with precious stones. I saw one great beauty which I
-coveted exceedingly. The owner would on no account sell it. I returned to
-the temple next morning, wishing at least to make a drawing of it, but I
-think he mistrusted me, for he and his plaything had both vanished, and I
-had to be content with a much simpler one of bronze, inlaid with copper.
-The people have the greatest reluctance to sell even the ugliest old
-mills. They cling to them as lovingly as you might do to your dear old
-Bible; but, as I said before, not merely from the charm of association,
-but from a dread lest a careless hand should turn them against the sun,
-and so change their past acts of merit into positive sin. So there was a
-great deal of talk, and many irons in the fire, before I was allowed to
-purchase two of these, at a price which would have supplied half the
-village with new ones."
-
-The prayer-mill sometimes contains the Tibetan prayer, or litany, for the
-six classes of living creatures, namely, the souls in heaven, the evil
-spirits in the air, men, animals, souls in purgatory, and souls in hell;
-but, as a rule, the Lama worship begins and ends in the famous inscription
-to which we have already alluded--_Aum Mani Padmi Hoong_ (to the jewel in
-the lotus.) These mystic words are raised in embossed letters on the
-exterior of the cylinder, and are closely written on strips of paper
-inside. All the sacred places are covered with them; the face of the rock,
-the walls of the temple; just as the Alhambra glitters with its
-_azulejos_, its blazoned inscriptions from the Kuran.
-
-This mystic sentence is composed as follows: _Aum_ or _Om_, equivalent to
-the Hebrew JAH or JEHOVAH, the most glorious title of the Almighty;
-_Mani_, the jewel, one of Buddha's appellations; _Padmi_, the lotus, in
-allusion to his lotus-throne; and _Hoong_, synonymous with _Amen_. The
-Buddhists regard this "six-syllabled" charm as a talisman of never-failing
-efficacy; but by some of the sects it is more or less varied. For
-instance: the Chinese Fo-ists read it as _Aum-mi-to-fuh_, which is also
-one of Buddha's titles; and every devout Fo-ist aims at repeating it at
-least three hundred thousand times in the course of his life. Some of
-their priests will shut themselves up in the temples for months at a time,
-and devote themselves to the dreary task of repetition, hour after hour,
-day and night. Sometimes, ten or twelve devotees will voluntarily
-sequester themselves, and continue all day to cry aloud in chorus; and at
-night they undertake the task successively, one person droning through the
-monotonous chant while the others sleep. Thus do they think to be heard
-for their much speaking! Similar excesses of formalism, however, are
-recorded in the history of mediaeval Christianity,--in the biographies of
-saints and ascetics who have substituted for a practical Christianity and
-the active performance of social duties the dreary vanity of an
-unprofitable solitude, spent in the discharge of useless penances.
-
-The Buddhist prayer which is consecrated to Buddha as the Chakravarta
-Rajah, or King of the Wheel, proves, on examination, to be closely related
-to that Sun-worship which prevailed in the early ages of the world. The
-wheel is, in many creeds, the symbol of the sun's chariot, that is, of the
-revolution of the heavenly bodies. In a sculpture, nearly two thousand
-years old, on the Bilsah Tepe, Buddha is represented simply by a wheel,
-overshadowed by the mystic _chattah_, or golden umbrella, which is a
-common emblem of his power. His worshippers are represented as making
-their offerings to the King of the Wheel. "This sacred Wheel of the Law,
-or Wheel of Faith, is found again and again among the fain and Buddhist
-sculptures in the caves of Ellora and Ajunta, in most cases projecting in
-front of Buddha's Lotus-Throne. In one instance an astronomical table is
-carved above the wheel. In another it is supported on either side by a
-stag, supposed to represent the fleetness wherewith the sun runs his daily
-circuit, 'going forth from the uttermost part of the heaven, and running
-about unto the end of it again.'"
-
-
-THE HINDU TEMPLES.
-
-Visiting the Temples at Hardwar, one of the sacred cities of India, Miss
-Gordon Cumming remarks upon the number of their hideous idols, painted and
-carved, their multitudinous brass bells, their brazen horns, their sacred
-courts all covered with elaborate carving, and their mythological
-sculptures.
-
-She says:--"I frankly confess that there is something startling in the
-rapidity with which one gets quite at home amongst all this paraphernalia
-of heathenism, and how very soon idolatry ceases to shock the mind, and
-becomes merely a curious study with picturesque adjuncts. Six months
-previously the sight of a veritable temple with its hideous idols and
-devout worshippers was a thing from which one shrank in shuddering pity."
-But she soon became a connoisseur, and "lounged from one temple to
-another, inspecting jewels and exquisite stone carving, and anything
-wonderful the priests had to show, and quite forgot to be shocked, it was
-all so perfectly natural, and seemed so entirely in keeping with the
-tastes of the people." In this remark there is a wonderful _naivete_; for
-it may reasonably be supposed that the tastes of the people would be in
-accord with a religion which, during its career of two thousand years,
-must have exercised so great an influence in forming them!
-
-In some of the temples, according to the same writer, there are sacred
-bulls, carved in white marble and adorned with costly necklaces. In others
-the attendant priests spend the whole day in pouring single drops of
-precious oil on holy pebbles brought from the Nerbudda and other sacred
-streams, and here arranged in little trays. Amongst the privileged
-inhabitants are the monkeys, who frolic about incessantly with their
-babies in their arms, or sitting on their backs, and twining their little
-arms round the parental necks.
-
-The ceremonies in the different temples are, on the whole, very similar;
-and the following description, taken from the Rao Mala, applies, except in
-minor details, to all.
-
-The day is marked by five services: the first at sunrise, when bells are
-rung in the temple, and drums or conch-shells sounded, to rouse the Du, or
-god, from his slumbers. After performing copious ablutions, the
-officiating priest enters the holy place, and swings before the idol a
-lamp with five or seven branches. An hour or two later, the Du is attired
-in raiment appropriate to the season. He wears a quilted coat in cold
-weather, and has a lighted brazier placed beside him; whereas, in hot
-weather, he is anointed with sandal-wood dust and water, clothed in fine
-linen, and decked out with gems and flowers. Placed close to a cool
-fountain, he is assiduously fanned by his attendants. In rainy weather, he
-is wrapped about in scarlet cloth and shawls. When he is dressed, a light
-breakfast of rice and milk is served up, and his votaries perform "the
-sixteen acts of worship." At noon a third service takes place. The Du is
-again rubbed with oil of sandal-wood, or sandal-dust and water, and
-adorned with fresh flowers. The lamps are trimmed; incense is burned; and
-his dinner is set before him: after which he is supposed to indulge in his
-noonday sleep, and profound silence is maintained throughout the temple.
-
-At three in the afternoon a drum beats, and the god awakes! His attendants
-hasten to serve fruits and sweetmeats, and perform various games for his
-amusement. At sunset he is enshrined: his feet are basted, he is sprinkled
-with water, his mouth is washed, and another offering is made of
-sandal-wood dust, and flowers, and incense. He is once more clothed; an
-elaborate dinner is spread before him; betel leaves are presented; and
-again the many-branched candlestick is waved, while all the votaries
-present for the second time perform "the sixteen acts of worship."
-
-The last service takes place at night, when the image is supposed to sup
-on bread and water. After receiving the usual oblations of incense and
-flowers, he is undressed, and if he be movable, put to bed, or if not, is
-warmly covered with shawls and quilts.
-
-Not the least remarkable objects in the Hindu temples are their great
-statues of bulls in marble or in metal. It is worthy of note that "in the
-great Brazen Laver, which Solomon was commanded to make for the use of the
-Temple at Jerusalem, the symbols selected for the adornment of that
-consecrated Molten Sea should have been those which in later ages were to
-hold so prominent a place in the symbolism of faiths so widely spread as
-those of Brahma and Buddha. That huge laver was supported by twelve oxen
-of cast metal, three looking to each point of the compass, while the brim
-of the great sea itself was all wrought with flowers of lilies, much the
-same as the pattern of lotus or water-lily with which the shrine of Buddha
-is invariably edged." The bull is another symbol which seems to connect
-the creed of the Hindu with the old nature-worship; for the vernal equinox
-takes place when the sun enters the sign of Taurus, and this event was
-always and everywhere a signal for feasting and rejoicing.
-
-But, as Max Mueller observes, the ancient religion of the Aryan inhabitants
-of India started, like the religion of Greece and Rome, of the Germans,
-Slavs, and Celts, with a simple and intelligible mythological
-phraseology.[2] In the Veda, the names of all the so-called gods or Devas
-undisguisedly betray their original physical character and meaning. Under
-the name of Agni (ignis) was praised and invoked the fire; the earth by
-that of Prithvi (the brave); the sky by the name of Dyu (Zeus, Jupiter),
-and afterwards of Indra; the firmament and the waters by the name of
-[Greek: Ouranos]. Under many appellations was the sun invoked, such as
-Surya, Savitri, Vishnu, or Mitra; and the dawn by the titles of Ushas,
-Urvasi, Ahana, and Surya. Nor was the moon forgotten: for though not often
-mentioned under its usual name of Kandra, reference is made to it under
-its more sacred appellation of Soma; and a particular denomination was
-reserved for each of its phases. There is hardly any fact of nature, if it
-could impress the human mind in any way with the ideas of a higher power,
-of order, eternity, or beneficence,--whether the woods, or the rivers, or
-the trees, or the mountains,--without a name and representative in the
-early Hindu Pantheon. No doubt there existed in the human mind, from the
-very beginning, something, whether we call it a suspicion, an innate idea,
-an intuition, or a sense of the Divine. What distinguishes man from the
-rest of the animal creation is chiefly his ineradicable feeling of
-dependence and reliance upon some higher power; that consciousness of
-bondage, from which the very name of "religion" was derived. "It is He
-that hath made us, and not we ourselves." The presence of that power was
-felt everywhere, and nowhere more clearly and strongly than in the rising
-and setting of the sun, in the change of day and night, of spring and
-winter, of birth and death. But although the Divine Presence was felt
-everywhere, it was impossible, in that early period of thought, and with a
-language incapable as yet of defining anything but material objects, to
-conceive the idea of God in its purity and fulness, or to assign to it an
-adequate and worthy expression.
-
-It must also be remembered that the influence of the genius and forces of
-Nature would necessarily be greater in an age when the human mind was
-occupied by few objects of thought, than now when it ranges over the whole
-world of art and science. Moreover, to the eye of ignorance everything
-seems large and portentous, or dim and inscrutable. The fire from heaven,
-the reverberating thunder, the gale that crashed down the mountain ravines
-and felled great trees before it, the planetary bodies steadily revolving
-in their courses, the stream with its glow and its ripple, the dense
-shadows of the haunted forest, the recurring rush and roll of the
-sea,--all these were things which for early man had a constant novelty and
-strangeness, and seemed incessantly to claim his reverent consideration.
-He could not account for them: whether a bane or a delight they were
-equally unintelligible. They represented, therefore, some Power which he
-could regard only with awe and reverence. And of that Power the sun would
-necessarily be the chief type and symbol. All life and love seemed
-dependent upon it. The trees throve, and the flowers bloomed, and the
-banks rippled, and the birds sang, and the harvests ripened, through the
-sun. It was the source of light and heat, of the vigour and activity of
-nature. While it shone men's hearts leaped with joy, and the wheels of
-labour revolved with pleasant toil; but when it disappeared, and the
-darkness usurped the heavens, the spirits sank, and humanity felt in the
-change of scene a presentiment and presage of the darkness of death. All
-vitality, all motion centred in the sun. "It was like a deep furrow," says
-Max Mueller, "which that heavenly luminary drew, in its silent procession
-from east to west, over the fallow mind of the gazing multitude; and in
-the impression left there by the first rising and setting of the sun,
-there lay the dark seed of a faith in a more than human being, the first
-intimation of a life without beginning, of a world without end." Who can
-wonder that the Chaldean, and the Celt, alike ascended to the high places,
-and paid their worship of symbolic fires to the great fountain of life and
-light, the central force of the universe? Who can wonder that all the
-Aryan tribes made it, so to speak, the nucleus of their religious systems?
-The Hindu peasant, centuries ago, addressed it in his heart in much the
-same language which Gawain Douglas afterwards employed. As its glorious
-orb rose above the gleaming horizon, he sent forth to it a message of
-welcome:
-
-  "Welcome, the lord of light and lamp of day;
-  Welcome, fosterer of tender herbis green;
-  Welcome, quickener of flourished flowers' sheen;
-  Welcome, support of every root and vein;
-  Welcome, comfort of all kind fruits and grain;
-  Welcome, the bird's green beild upon the brier;
-  Welcome, master and ruler of the year;
-  Welcome, welfare of husbands at the ploughs;
-  Welcome, repairer of woods, trees, and boughs;
-  Welcome, depainter of the bloomit meads;
-  Welcome, the life of everything that spreads."
-
-And because it was all this, and more, the Hindu saw in it something
-greater than a mere luminary,--a planetary body; he endowed it with Divine
-attributes, he made it a god, he gave it his worship, and by an elaborate
-symbolism kept it ever before him.
-
-A necessary consequence of this deification of the sun was the
-deification of the other bodies that shared with him the firmament; but as
-they were inferior in splendour and utility, they naturally became
-recognized as inferior gods. And when once the religious feeling of
-humanity had gone thus far, its further development became only a question
-of time. The homage given to the stars was soon extended to the winds and
-streams and groves. A legion of gods sprang into existence, and for a
-while they seemed to satisfy the needs and aspirations of humanity. But as
-the thoughts of men expanded, as their intellect ripened with the ages,
-and grew strong enough to doubt, and bold enough to question the
-conclusions of the common faith, a revolt took place against "the
-contradictions of a mythological phraseology, though it had been hallowed
-by sacred customs and traditions." Men grew tired of so complex and
-cumbrous a religious system, and having observed a definite fundamental
-unity of nature in spite of the diversity of its operations, they came to
-believe in a similar unity of the Divine Power. The idea of a supreme
-authority once entertained, men soon understood that supremacy meant
-oneness; that if there were a God over all, He must be one and
-indivisible. One of the earliest proclamations of this sublime truth is
-found in the Rig-Veda, which says:[3]--
-
-"That which is one the sages speak of in many ways--they call it Agni,
-Yama, Malarisvan."
-
-And again:[4]--
-
-"In the beginning there came the Source of golden light--He was the only
-true Lord of all that is--He stablished the earth and this sky:--Who is
-God to whom we shall offer our sacrifice?
-
-"He who gives life, He who gives strength; whose blessing all the bright
-gods desire; whose shadow is immortality; whose shadow is death:--Who is
-the God to whom we shall offer our sacrifice?
-
-"He who through His power is the only King of the breathing and awakening
-world; He who governs all, man and beast:--Who is the God to whom we shall
-offer our sacrifice?
-
-"He whose power these snowy mountains, whose power the sea proclaims,
-with the distant river--He whose these regions are, as it were, His two
-arms:--Who is the God to whom we shall offer our sacrifice?
-
-"He through whom the sky is bright and the earth firm--He through whom
-heaven was stablished--nay, the highest heaven--He who measured out the
-light in the air:--Who is the God to whom we shall offer our sacrifice?
-
-"He to whom heaven and earth, standing firm by His will, look up,
-trembling inwardly--He over whom the rising sun shines forth:--Who is the
-GOD to whom we shall offer our sacrifice?
-
-"Wherever the mighty water-clouds went, where they placed the reed and lit
-the fire, thence even He, who is the only life of the bright gods:--Who is
-the GOD to whom we shall offer our sacrifice?
-
-"He, who of His might looked even over the water-clouds, the clouds which
-gave strength and lit the sacrifice, He _who is God above all gods_:--Who
-is the God to whom we shall offer our sacrifice?
-
-"May He not destroy us--He the creator of the earth; or He, the righteous,
-who created Heaven; He who also created the bright and mighty waters:--Who
-is the God to whom we shall offer our sacrifice?"
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-The creed of a plurality of gods was one that carried in itself the seeds
-of its destruction. But there was another cause of weakness in their
-mortal attributes. Deriving their existence from the life of nature, they
-were subject to the accidents which that life involved. Thus, the sun at
-noonday might glow with splendour, but at night it was conquered by the
-shadows, and in winter it seemed to yield to some stronger Power. The moon
-waxed and waned, and was frequently eclipsed. As nature is subject to
-change, so also must be the gods that represent its forces and aspects.
-Such instability, such inherent weakness could not long satisfy the human
-mind; having risen to the height of the idea of one God, it next demanded
-that that God should be immutable. What rest, what contentment would it
-find in the supposition of deities as changeful as the winds? Tossed about
-by the currents of passion and feeling, buffeted by adverse circumstances,
-the soul yearns intensely for something fixed, something absolute,
-something unaffected by vicissitude, and finds it in the Divine Being, the
-same to-day as yesterday, and the same to-morrow as to-day.
-
-These two opposite principles did not come into immediate collision; the
-priests of heathendom laboured long and earnestly to avert such a
-catastrophe. In Greece they succeeded by transferring the mortal or
-changeable element from "the gods" to "the heroes."[5] The human details
-in the characters and lives of Zeus and Apollon were transferred to the
-demi-gods or heroes represented as the sons or favourites of the gods. The
-two-fold character of Herakles as a god and a hero is recognized even by
-Herodotus; and indeed, some of the epithets applied to him sufficiently
-indicate his solar and originally divine personality. But to make some of
-the solar myths of which Herakles was the centre intelligible and
-conceivable, it became needful to depict Herakles as a mere human being,
-and to raise him to the seat of the Immortals only after he had endured
-toils and sufferings incompatible with the dignity of an Olympian
-divinity.
-
-In Peru the same treatment was adopted, but with different results. A
-thinking, or, as he was called, a free-thinking Inca, remarked that the
-sun's perpetual travelling--he knew nothing, of course, of the Copernican
-theory--was a sign of servitude, and he threw doubts on the divine nature
-of aught so restless as the great luminary appeared to him to be. These
-doubts led to a tradition, which, even if unhistorical was not wholly
-untrue, that in Peru had existed an earlier worship--that of an Invisible
-Deity, the Creator of the World--Pachacamac.
-
-"In Greece, also, there are signs of a similar craving after the 'Unknown
-God.' A supreme God was wanted, and Zeus, the stripling of Creta, was
-raised to that rank. He became God above all gods--[Greek: hapanton
-kyrios], as Pindar calls him. Yet more was wanted than a mere Zeus; and
-then a supreme Fate or Spell was imagined before which all the gods, and
-even Zeus, had to bow. And even this Fate was not allowed to remain
-supreme, and there was something in the destinies of man which was called
-[Greek: hypermoron] or 'beyond Fate.' The most awful solution, however,
-of the problem belongs to Teutonic mythology. Here, also, some heroes were
-introduced; but their death was only the beginning of the final
-catastrophe. 'All gods must die.' Such is the last word of that religion
-which had grown up in the forests of Germany, and found a last refuge
-among the glaciers and volcanoes of Iceland. The death of Sigurd, the
-descendant of Odin, could not avert the death of Balder, the son of Odin,
-and the death of Balder was soon to be followed by the death of Odin
-himself, and of all the immortal gods."
-
-Such a catastrophe was inevitable, so that Prometheus, the man of
-forethought, could safely predict the fall of Zeus.[6]
-
-A similar issue was worked out in India, but with this difference; that
-the seeming triumph of reason threatened to end in the destruction of all
-religious belief. At the outset no vehement contention took place. On the
-basis of the old mythology arose two new formations,--the Brahmanical
-philosophy and the Brahmanical ceremonial; the former opening up all
-avenues of philosophical inquiry, the latter immuring religious sentiment
-and sympathy within the narrowest possible barriers. Both, however,
-claimed to find their origin and antiquity in the sacred book of the Veda.
-
-It was in the sixteenth or fifteenth century before CHRIST that the
-Brahmans, a branch of the white Aryans, passed into Hindustan from the
-north-west, and mixed with a more numerous race of coloured and barbarous
-aborigines. Among their immigrants the sacerdotal and the royal or noble
-classes already occupied an authoritative and a distinct position; and
-soon after their settlement in India, the lower classes, by a natural
-process, sank into the markedly inferior condition of the aborigines. Thus
-was established a singularly rigorous system of caste,--the priesthood
-and the aristocracy combining to oppress and keep down the two inferior
-orders of the Brahmans and the aborigines. Intermarriage was strictly
-forbidden, and every device adopted which could be made useful in
-strengthening and perpetuating the class-distinction.
-
-This revolution in the social world assisted the revolution in the
-religious; and the educated classes rapidly abandoned their nature worship
-in favour of the idea of an infinite and everlasting Godhead, which soared
-far above the feeblenesses and sins of humanity. To become one with this
-Godhead by throwing off the personality linked with a mind that was mean
-and miserable, thenceforth constituted the religious aspiration of the
-Brahman. And in attaining this object he was instructed to seek the help
-of the Brahmanical priesthood; nay, he was taught that without that help
-he would never succeed, and for this purpose a complex and comprehensive
-ceremonial was enjoined upon him. From his cradle to his grave it dogged
-his footsteps. Put forward as a stay and support, it was really a clog, an
-encumbrance. Not an event in his life could take place for which a formula
-of praise or prayer was not invented. Thanksgiving and sacrifice were
-alike minutely regulated. For the benefit of the inferior castes the old
-Pantheon of gods and demons had been retained, and the priesthood allotted
-to each his share of the worshipper's offerings and oblations. Each was
-represented as insisting so strongly on certain observances, and punishing
-so heavily any neglect or violation of them, that the votary feared to
-approach their shrine unless under the protection and guidance of their
-priests. Otherwise he might unwittingly rush into all kinds of sins. They
-alone knew what food might be eaten, what dress might be worn, what god
-might be addressed, what sacrifice paid. An error in pronunciation, a
-mistake about clarified butter, an unauthorised arrangement of raiment or
-hair, might involve the unassisted worshipper in pains and penalties of
-the most awful character. Never was so complete and absolute a ceremonial
-system known as that by which the Hindu priesthood obtained an entire
-mastery over the Hindu people. Never was any law more minute in its
-provisions, or more Draconic in the severity with which it punished their
-violation.
-
-Yet, strange to say, this ceremonial did not interfere with liberty of
-thought. Any amount of heresy was compatible with its observance. A man
-might think as he liked so long as he complied with its various
-conditions. In some of the Brahmanical schools of thought the names of the
-devs or gods were never heard; in others their existence was ignored, was
-virtually contradicted. Thus, one philosophical system maintained the
-existence of a single Supreme Being, and asserted that everything else
-which seemed to exist was but a dream and an illusion which might and
-would be dispelled by a true knowledge of the One God. Another contended
-for two principles,--first, a Mind, subjective and self-existent; second,
-Matter endowed with qualities; and explained that the world with its cloud
-and sunshine, its sorrows and joys, was the result of the subjective self,
-reflected in the mirror of Matter, and that the freedom of the soul could
-be secured only by diverting the gaze from the shows and phantasms of
-Nature, and becoming absorbed in the knowledge of the true and absolute
-self. A third system allowed the existence of atoms, and referred every
-effect, including the elements and the mind, gods, men, and animals to
-their fortuitous concourse. This was identical with the Lucretian system,
-which in its turn was related to the Epicurean. Hence it has been said
-that the history of the philosophy of India is an abridgment of the
-history of philosophy. Each of these systems was traced back to the sacred
-books of the Vedas, Brahmanas and Upanishads; and those who believed in
-any one of them was considered as orthodox as the most devout worshipper
-of Agni,--if the latter were saved by works and faith, the former was
-saved by faith and knowledge,--a distinction not unknown in the Christian
-philosophy.[7]
-
-Out of this condition of the Hindu mind arose Buddhism, springing from it
-as naturally as the flower from the seed.
-
-The remarkable man[8] who founded this wide-spread religion is reputed to
-have been a prince of the name of Siddhartha, son of Suddhodana, king of
-Kapilavastu, a territory supposed to have been situated on the borders of
-Oudh and Nipal. He is often called Sakya, after his family, and also
-Gautama, from the great "Solar" race of which the family was a branch.[9]
-Having at an early age exhibited an ascetic and contemplative tendency,
-his father fearing he might be induced to abandon his high station as
-Kshatriga, found him a wife in a princess of great personal charms, and
-involved him in all the pomp and luxury of a magnificent court. But
-Siddhartha drank of the cup only to taste the bitter in the draught; and
-each year's experience of the world convinced him of its inability to
-satisfy the aspirations of the soul; so that, like Solomon, he would
-exclaim, "Vanity, vanity, all is vanity." The joys of life could not
-render him forgetful of its sorrows. The thought would force itself upon
-him that at any moment he might be afflicted with some loathsome or
-torturing disease; that his friends might be suddenly snatched away; that
-however sunny and bright the present, it could not prevent the inevitable
-approach of old age, with its grey hairs, its wrinkled brow, and its
-tottering limbs; and that the moral of the whole show was to be sought in
-the darkness of the grave. Unable to endure any longer the mental conflict
-begotten of his keen sense of the realities as compared with the illusions
-of the world, he stole from the guarded palace, and at the age of 29 or
-30, went forth as a beggar, or religious mendicant, to study in the
-schools of the Brahman priests. He underwent their penances; he mastered
-their philosophy; but dissatisfied with their cumbrous code of
-superstitious ceremonial, he withdrew into the forest, and adopted a
-course of religious asceticism.
-
-This lasted for six or seven years, but brought him no repose. Then he
-resolved on returning once more to human companionship. Beset by the
-Spirit of Evil he fought long and bravely against temptation, and having
-triumphed, prepared to attain the secret of happiness by giving himself up
-to abstruse meditation. Week after week he was absorbed in thought,
-continually investigating the origin of things, and the mystery of
-existence. All the evils under which he, in common with his fellow-men,
-groaned, he traced back to birth. Were we not born, we could not suffer.
-But whence comes birth or continued existence?... We have no room,
-however, to dwell on his processes of thought; enough to say that he came
-to the conclusion that the ultimate cause of existence is ignorance, and
-that the removal of ignorance means, therefore, the termination of
-existence, and of all the pain and sorrow which existence implies and
-induces. Realising this absolute unconsciousness of the outer world in his
-own self, he claimed and assumed the name of the Buddha, or "Enlightened."
-
-The scene of his victory over life and the world received the name of
-Bodhimanda, (the seat of intelligence,) and the tree under which the
-religious reformer sat in his hour of moral and intellectual triumph was
-called Bodhidruma, (the tree of intelligence,) whence Bo-tree. The
-Buddhists believe that it marks the centre of the earth. Hiouen-thsang,
-the Chinese pilgrim, professes to have found the Bodhidruma, or some tree
-that passed for it, twelve hundred years after Buddha's death, at a spot
-near Gaya Proper, in Bahar, where still may be seen an old dagoba, or
-temple, and some considerable ruins.
-
-Having at last attained to a knowledge of the causes of human suffering,
-and of the method of removing and counteracting them, the Buddha felt that
-the task was imposed upon him of communicating that knowledge to others.
-He began "to turn the wheel of the law,"--that is to preach,--at Benares;
-and among his earliest disciples was Bimbisara, the ruler of Magadha. His
-career as a teacher extended over forty years, during which period he
-travelled over almost every part of Northern India, making a large number
-of converts, and firmly establishing his religious system. He died at
-Kusinagara in Oudh, in 543 B.C., at the age of eighty, and his body being
-burned, the relics were distributed among numerous claimants, who raised
-monumental tumuli, or topes, for their preservation.
-
-All the expositions and teachings of the Buddha were oral, and the task of
-committing them to writing was undertaken by the chief of his disciples
-shortly after his death. These canonical books are divided into three
-classes, forming the "Tripitaka," or "three-fold basket." In the first
-class we find the _Soutras_, or Sermons of the Buddha; in the second, the
-_Vinaya_, or book of discipline; in the third, the _Abhidharma_, or
-philosophy. After a period of a century or so, the Buddhist leaders met
-and revised the Tripitaka, and a third revision took place in 250 or 240
-B.C., since which date the text has remained without alteration.
-
-The doctrine of Buddha has been defined as a development of four main
-principles, (or "Sublime Verities.") 1st. That every kind of existence is
-painful and transitory; 2nd. That all existence is the result of passion;
-3rd. That, therefore, the extinction of passion is the one means of escape
-from existence and from the misery necessarily attendant upon it; 4th.
-That all obstacles to this existence must be swept away.
-
-But what is meant by existence? That separation from the general Being of
-the world which is involved in individual life, and in the opposition of
-the subject which thinks, and the object which is thought about. And what
-is meant by its extinction? Not so much annihilation, as the becoming one
-with nature, wherein that form of consciousness which separates subject
-and object is set aside. This extinction Buddha called Nirvana, or "the
-blowing out of the lamp;" it does not necessarily mean the annihilation of
-consciousness altogether, but only of a finite form of it, which may be as
-the light of a lamp compared with the light of day.
-
-Buddha's doctrine has been stigmatised as Atheism and Nihilism, and was
-unquestionably liable on its metaphysical side to both charges. It was
-Atheistic, not because it denied, for it simply ignored, the existence of
-such gods as Indra and Brahma, but because, like the Sankhya philosophy,
-it admitted but one subjective Self, and considered creation as an
-illusion of that Self, imaging itself for a while in the mirror of Nature.
-If there were no reality in nature, there would be no real Creator.
-
-Says Max Mueller,[10] stating with his usual clearness a problem which has
-perplexed most students of the history of religion: "How a religion which
-taught the annihilation of all existence, of all thought, of all
-individuality and personality, as the highest object of all endeavours,
-could have laid hold of the minds of millions of human beings, and how at
-the same time, by enforcing the duties of morality, justice, kindness, and
-self-sacrifice, it could have exercised a decided beneficial influence,
-not only on the natives of India, but on the lowest barbarians of Central
-Asia, is one of the riddles which no philosophy yet has been able to
-solve. The morality which it teaches is not a morality of expediency and
-rewards. Virtue is not enjoined because it necessarily leads to happiness.
-No; virtue is to be practised, but happiness is to be shunned, and the
-only reward for virtue is, that it subdues the passions, and thus prepares
-the human mind for that knowledge which is to end in complete
-annihilation."
-
-Probably no religious system has ever attained a wide-spread influence
-over the minds of men which has held out so few of those inducements most
-alluring to human nature. The idea of complete annihilation might
-recommend itself to a philosopher, but would hardly have been regarded as
-likely to attract the masses. We suppose the explanation is to be found in
-the particularity of ritual enjoined by the Buddhist priests, this
-particularity of ritual having always had a fascination for the multitude.
-
-"There are ten commandments which Buddha imposes on his disciples. They
-are--not to kill, not to steal, not to commit adultery, not to lie, not to
-get intoxicated, to abstain from unseasonable meals, to abstain from
-public spectacles, to abstain from expensive dresses, not to have a large
-bed, not to receive silver or gold. The duties of those who embraced a
-religious life were most severe. They were not allowed to wear any dress
-except rags collected in cemeteries, and these rags they had to sew
-together with their own hands; a yellow cloak was to be thrown over these
-rags. Their food was to be extremely simple, and they were not to possess
-anything except what they could get by collecting alms from door to door
-in their wooden bowl. They had but one meal in the morning, and were not
-allowed to touch any food after midday. They were to live in forests, not
-in cities, and their only shelter was to be the shadow of a tree. There
-they were to sit, to spread their carpet, but not to lie down, even during
-sleep. They were allowed to enter the nearest city or village in order to
-beg, but they had to return to their forest before night, and the only
-change which was allowed, or rather prescribed, was, when they had to
-spend some nights in the cemeteries, there to meditate on the vanity of
-all things. And what was the object of all this asceticism? Simply to
-guide each individual towards that path which would finally bring him to
-Nirvana, to utter extinction or annihilation. The very definition of
-virtue was that it helped man to cross over to the other shore, and that
-other shore was not death, but the cessation of all being. Thus charity
-was considered a virtue; modesty, patience, courage, contemplation, and
-science, all were virtues, but they were practised only as a means of
-arriving at deliverance."
-
-Buddha himself was an incarnation of the virtues. His charity, for
-example, was melting as day. When he saw a tigress standing, and unable to
-feed her cubs, he offered up his body to be devoured by them. The Chinese
-pilgrim, visiting the spot on the banks of the Indus where this miracle
-was supposed to have occurred, remarks that the soil was still red with
-the blood of Buddha, as were also the trees and flowers.
-
-Then as to his modesty, it was as supreme as that of a virgin who has
-never seen men. One day Prasenagit, his royal disciple and protector,
-besought him to work some miracles in order to silence his adversaries,
-the Brahmans. Buddha complied, and performed the required miracles; but at
-the same time he exclaimed, "Great King, I do not teach the law to my
-pupils, telling them, Go, ye saints, and before the eyes of the Brahmans
-and householders perform, by means of your supernatural powers, miracles
-greater than any man can perform. I tell them, when I teach the law, Live,
-ye saints, hiding your good works and showing your sins." And yet, all
-this self-sacrificing charity, all this self-sacrificing humility by which
-the life of Buddha was distinguished throughout, and which he preached to
-the multitudes that came to listen to him, had but one object, and that
-object was final annihilation.[11]
-
-Annihilation! what drearier prospect can be opened to the heart, or soul,
-or mind of man? The utter cessation of that individuality of which the
-meanest and wretchedest among us feels proudly conscious; of the thoughts
-which animate, the desires which warm, the dreams that delight, the hopes
-that stimulate, the affections that inspire! Do we indeed suffer all the
-sorrows and uncertainties of life,--do we indeed strive, and endure, and
-struggle,--do we, indeed, learn to labour and to wait, to bear the burden
-of the day and the torture of the night, for no other purpose, with no
-other prospect, than when the brief fever is over, to pass away into
-nothingness? With so much difficulty can the mind reconcile itself to such
-a dreary hypothesis that the creed of almost every race and people has
-contemplated a future stage of existence, even when it has failed to
-attain to anything like a clear and full conviction of the immortality of
-the soul. The law of compensation seems to demand that a future life shall
-redress the inequalities of the present.
-
-Yet this doctrine of Annihilation was preached by Buddha, and apparently
-accepted by the millions who became his disciples. But did they really
-accept it as he preached it? No; the truth is, they read into it, as it
-were, their own innate, unconquerable belief in a hereafter, and converted
-his Nirvana into a Paradise, which they embellished with the bright
-colours of imagination. It can hardly be doubted that this was not the
-meaning or intention of Buddha himself. Look, for a moment, at his "Four
-Verities." The first of these, as we have already stated, asserts the
-existence of pain; the second, that the cause of pain is sin; the third,
-that the cessation of pain may be secured by Nirvana; the fourth, that the
-way to this Nirvana consists of eight things: right faith or orthodoxy,
-right judgment or logic, right language or veracity, right purpose or
-honesty, right practice or religious life, right obedience or lawful life,
-right memory, and right meditation.
-
-These precepts may be understood as the usual laws of an elevated
-morality, pointing to and terminating in a state of meditation on the
-highest object of thought, such as has been enjoined by several
-philosophical or religious systems;--such as was revived in France and
-Germany in the seventeenth century under the name of Pietism. There is
-nothing in this teaching incompatible with a belief in the immortality of
-the soul and the existence of a GOD. But with the Buddhist Nirvana it is
-otherwise. Its motive principle, by the way, is a mean and cowardly one,
-for it makes happiness depend upon the cessation of pain; represents as
-the highest purpose of human effort the escape from pain. The Buddhist
-insists that life is a prolonged misery; that birth is the cause of all
-evil; and he adds that even death cannot deliver him from this evil,
-because he believes in transmigration, or an eternal cycle of existence.
-To escape from it we must free ourselves from the bondage, not of life
-only, but of existence; and this must be done "by extirpating the cause of
-existence."
-
-But what _is_ that cause?
-
-The Buddhist teacher, involving himself in a cloud of metaphysics,
-answers, that it is attachment; an inclination towards something, having
-its root in thirst or desire. "Desire presupposes perception of the object
-desired; perception presupposes contact; contact, at least a sentient
-contact, presupposes the senses; and as the senses can only perform what
-has form and name, or what is distinct, distinction is the real cause of
-all the effects which end in existence, birth, and pain. Now this
-conception is itself the result of conceptions or ideas; but these ideas,
-so far from being, as in Greek philosophy, the true and everlasting forms
-of the Absolute, are in themselves mere illusions, the effects of
-ignorance. Ignorance, therefore, is really the primary cause of all that
-seems to exist. To know that ignorance, as the root of all evil, is the
-same as to destroy it, and with it all effects that flowed from it."
-
-In Buddha's own case we may see how such teaching operated upon the
-individual.
-
-He entered into the first stage of meditation when he became conscious of
-freedom from sin, acquired a knowledge of the nature of all things, and
-yearned after nothing but Nirvana. But he was still open to the sensation
-of pleasure, and could employ his powers of discrimination and reasoning.
-
-In the second stage he ceased to use those powers, and nothing remained
-but the desire of Nirvana, and the satisfaction inherent to his
-intellectual perfection.
-
-In the third stage indifference succeeded to satisfaction; but
-self-consciousness remained, and a certain amount of physical
-gratification.
-
-These, too, faded away in the fourth stage, along with memory, and all
-sense of pain; and before the neophyte opened the doors of Nirvana.
-
-After having gone through the four stages once, Buddha began them a second
-time, but died before he attained the fourth stage.
-
-After passing through the four stages of meditation, every Buddhist enters
-into the infinity of space; thence rises into the infinity of
-intelligence; to soar, afterwards, into the region of Nothing. But even
-there he finds no repose; something still remains--the idea of the Nothing
-in which he rejoices. This is annihilated in the fourth and last region,
-and then he enjoys absolute, perfect rest, "undisturbed by nothing, or
-what is not nothing."
-
-Buddha taught that this Nirvana--which to most persons will seem a
-metaphysical incomprehensibility--could be attained by all men. As there
-is no difference between the body of a prince and the body of a beggar, so
-is there none between their spirits. Every man is equally capable of
-coming to a knowledge of the truth, and if he but _will_ to do so, of
-working out his own emancipation.
-
-It is important to observe the absence of any theological element in
-Buddhism. Its founder seems never to have spoken of God, and his Nirvana
-is wholly different from the Brahmanic idea of absorption into the Divine
-Essence. Of the gods of the people he taught that they were, like men,
-subject to the law of Metempsychosis, or Transmigration, and therefore
-that as they were unable to deliver, they were unworthy to be worshipped.
-A recent writer thinks it would be incorrect to speak of Buddha either as
-a theist or an atheist, and asserts that he simply describes a condition
-of absolute rest as an escape from the popular metempsychosis, which may
-be interpreted either in a theistic or an atheistic sense. But a careful
-examination of his system shows, we think, that it was wholly alien to a
-belief in a Supreme Spirit.
-
-"Buddhism," says Barthelemy Saint-Hilaire, "has no God; it has not even
-the confused and vague notion of a Universal Spirit, in which the human
-soul, according to the orthodox doctrine of Brahmanism, and the Sankhya
-philosophy, may be absorbed. Nor does it admit Nature, in the proper sense
-of the word, and it ignores that profound division between spirit and
-matter which forms the system and the glory of Kapila. It confounds man
-with all that surrounds him, all the while preaching to him the laws of
-virtue. Buddhism, therefore, cannot unite the human soul, which it does
-not even mention, with a God, whom it ignores; nor with nature, which it
-does not know better. Nothing remained but to annihilate the soul; and in
-order to be quite sure that the soul may not re-appear under some new
-guise in this world, which has been cursed as the abode of illusion and
-misery, Buddhism destroys its very elements, and never wearies of glorying
-in this achievement. What more is wanted? if this be not the Absolute
-Nothing, what is Nirvana?"
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-Repellent as seems to us the central doctrine of Buddhism, it extended
-rapidly. This extension was due, however, to the simplicity of the ritual
-which Buddha enjoined; the pure morality which he advocated; the equality
-of all men on which he insisted; and the spirit of love, tenderness,
-gentleness, compassion, and toleration which he inspired. Hence it came to
-pass that his disciples multiplied in the north-western territories of
-Hindustan, and his creed found acceptance, at a later period, probably
-about three centuries before CHRIST, all over India. In Ceylon it was
-adopted at a very early period; but it was not until the second century
-before CHRIST that it made its way into China and Tibet. From Ceylon it
-spread into Birmah and Siam, and the islands of the Indian Archipelago,
-and from China it penetrated into Japan. It is now the religion of more
-than one fifth of the whole human race.
-
-Its influence has been very considerable, and may distinctly be traced in
-some of the Gnostic teaching and in the Alexandrine or Neo-Platonic
-philosophy. It modified the old Brahmanic religion, which, acting under
-its impulse, threw off its human sacrifices and more barbarous rites. The
-festival of Juggernaut, which for the time places in abeyance all caste
-distinctions, and adopts many Buddhist symbols, shows that the Brahmans,
-even when they drove it out of India, were compelled to retain some of
-its relics, just as they were under the necessity of recognising Buddha as
-one of the Avatars of their god Vishnu. Buddhism may be described as "the
-parent of Indian architecture," which, fashioned at first on the Greek
-patterns, speedily assumed a character of its own, as may be seen in its
-colossal temples.
-
-But, as is the case with all religious systems of purely human origin,
-Buddhism gradually fell away from the standard of its founder. The heart
-craves an object of worship, a something or some one on which or on whom
-to rest its hopes and fears, and the Buddhists, untaught to reverence a
-Supreme Being, transferred their adoration to Buddha himself, whose life
-and work they involved in a cloud of myth and legend. His relics came to
-be worshipped, and reliquary towers for their preservation were everywhere
-erected.
-
-The enthusiasm which fired the Buddhists, and largely contributed to the
-rapid extension of their creed, for Buddhism, unlike Brahmanism, is a
-proselytising religion, finds a striking illustration in the career of
-Hiouen-thsang, the Chinese pilgrim, who, in the middle of the seventh
-century, crossed the deserts and mountains which separate China from
-India, and visited the principal cities of the Indian Peninsula.
-
-
-HIOUEN-THSANG, A BUDDHIST PILGRIM.[12]
-
-Hiouen-thsang was born in a provincial town of China, in one of the
-revolutionary and anarchical periods of the Chinese Empire. His father,
-having quitted the public service, was able to devote his leisure to the
-education of his four children, one of whom, Hiouen-thsang, was
-distinguished at an early age by his genius and his thirst for knowledge.
-After receiving instruction at a Buddhist monastery, he was admitted as a
-monk, when only thirteen years old. During the next seven years, he
-travelled about with his brethren from place to place, in order to profit
-by the lectures of the most eminent professors; but his peaceful studies
-were frequently interrupted by the horrors of war, and he was forced to
-seek refuge in the more remote provinces of the empire.
-
-At the age of twenty he took priest's orders, having already become famous
-for his multifarious learning. He had studied the chief canonical book of
-the Buddhist faith, the records of Buddha's life and teaching, the system
-of ethics and metaphysics, and had completely mastered the works of
-K'ung-fu-tze and Lao-tse. But, like many inquiring minds, he was tortured
-by doubt. For six years more he prosecuted his studies in the principal
-places of learning in China, and was frequently solicited to teach when he
-had come to learn. Baffled in all his efforts to satisfy his anxious and
-restless intellect, he resolved at last on paying a visit to India, the
-parent-land of Buddhism, where he knew he should find the original of the
-works, which, in their Chinese translation, had proved so dubious and
-excited so much mistrust. From the records of his pilgrim predecessors he
-was aware of the dangers of his journey; yet the glory, as he says, of
-recovering the Law, which was to be a guide to all men, and the means of
-their salvation, seemed to him worthy of attainment. In common with
-several other priests, he applied for the Imperial permission to travel
-out of China. It was refused, and his companions lost heart. But
-Hiouen-thsang was made of sterner stuff. His mother had often told him
-how, before his birth, she had had visions of her future offspring
-travelling to the Far West in search of the law; and he himself had been
-similarly encouraged.
-
-Having no worldly pleasures to enfeeble him, and believing only in one
-object as worth living for, he resolved to face danger and difficulty;
-made his way to the Hoang-Ho, and the place of departure of the caravans
-for the West, and, eluding the vigilance of the Governor, succeeded in
-crossing the frontier. He was without friends or helpers; but after
-spending the night in fervent prayer, found a guide in a person who, next
-morning, unexpectedly presented himself. For some distance this guide
-conducted him faithfully, but abandoned him when they reached the Desert.
-There were still five watch-towers to be passed, and the uncertain track
-through the Desert was indicated only by skeletons and the hoof-marks of
-horses. Bravely went the pilgrim on his way, and though misled by the
-"mirage" of the Desert, he safely reached the first tower. There he
-narrowly escaped death from the arrows of the watchman, but the officer in
-command was himself a devout Buddhist, and he not only allowed
-Hiouen-thsang to proceed, but gave him letters of recommendation to the
-governors of the other towers. At the last tower, however, he was refused
-leave to pass, and neither bribes nor entreaties proved of any avail. He
-was compelled to retrace his steps, and make a long detour, in the course
-of which he lost his way. His water-bag burst, and for the first time his
-courage wavered. Should he not return? But no; he had taken an oath never
-to make a step backward until he had reached India. It were better to die
-with his face to the West, than return to the East and live.
-
-For four nights and five days he traversed the Desert, without a drop of
-water to quench his thirst, with no other refreshment than that which he
-derived from his prayers; and that these should afford any hope or
-consolation seems strange enough, when we remember that Buddhism held out
-to him no hope of a God or a Saviour. "It is incredible in how exhausted
-an atmosphere the Divine spark within us will glimmer on, and even warm
-the dark chambers of the human heart." Comforted by his prayers, he
-resumed his onward march, and in due time arrived at a large lake in the
-country of the Oigom Tatars, by whom he was received with an abundant
-hospitality. One of the Tatar Khans insisted that he should reside with
-him and teach his people; and as he would listen to no remonstrances or
-explanations, Hiouen-thsang was driven to a desperate expedient. The king,
-he said, might fetter his body, but had no power over his mind and will;
-and he refused all food, with a view to put an end to a life which he no
-longer regarded as of value. In this resolution he persisted for three
-days, and the Khan, afraid that he would perish, was compelled at last to
-yield. But he extracted from him a promise that on his return to China he
-would visit him, and abide with him for three years. At last, after a
-month's detention, during which the Khan and his court daily attended the
-lectures of the pious monk, he resumed his journey, attended by a strong
-escort, and furnished with letters of introduction to the twenty-four
-princes whose dominions he must cross.
-
-His route lay through what is now called Dsungary, across the
-Musur-dabaghan mountains, the northern chain of the Belur-tag, the valley
-of the Yaxartes, Bactria, and Kabulistan. The pilgrim's description of the
-scenes through which he passed is interesting and vivid; he was a keen
-observer, and gifted with considerable powers of expression.
-
-Of the Musur-dabaghan mountains he says:--
-
-"The crest of these heights rises to the sky. Since the beginning of the
-world the snow has been accumulating, and it is now transformed into
-masses of ice, which never melt, either in spring or summer. Hard shining
-sheets of snow are spread out until they vanish into the infinite, and
-mingle with the clouds. If one looks at them, one's eyes are dazzled by
-the splendour. Frozen peaks impend over both sides of the wood, some
-hundred feet in height, and some twenty or thirty feet in thickness. It is
-not without difficulty and danger that the traveller can clear them or
-climb over them. Sudden gusts of hurricane and tornadoes of snow attack
-the pilgrims. Even with double shoes, and in thick furs, one cannot help
-trembling and shivering."
-
-But as Max Mueller justly observes, what is more important in the early
-portion of our traveller's narrative than any descriptions of scenery, is
-his account of the high degree of civilisation that then obtained among
-the tribes of Central Asia. Historians have learned to believe in the
-early civilisation of Egypt, Babylon, China, India; but they will have to
-abandon all their old ideas of barbarism and barbarians now that they find
-the Tatar hordes possessing, in the seventh century, "the chief arts and
-institutions of an advanced society." The theory of M. Oppert, who gives
-to a Turanian or Scythian race the original invention of the cuneiform
-letters and a civilisation anterior to that of Babylon and Nineveh, ceases
-to be improbable; since no new wave of civilisation could have touched
-these countries between the cuneiform period of their literature and
-history and the epoch of Hiouen-thsang's visit.[13]
-
-"In the kingdom of Okini, on the western portion of China, Hiouen-thsang
-found an active commerce, gold, silver, and copper coinage; monasteries,
-where the chief works of Buddhism were studied, and an alphabet derived
-from Sanskrit. As he travelled on he met with mines, with agriculture,
-including pears, plums, peaches, almonds, grapes, pomegranates, rice, and
-wheat. The inhabitants were dressed in silk and woollen materials. There
-were musicians in the chief cities who played on the flute and the guitar.
-Buddhism was the prevailing religion, but there were traces of an earlier
-worship, the Bactrian fire-worship. The country was everywhere studded
-with halls, monasteries, monuments and statues. Samarkand formed at that
-early time a kind of Athens, and its manners were copied by all the tribes
-in the neighbourhood. Balkh, the old capital of Bactria, was still an
-important place on the Oxus, well-fortified, and full of sacred buildings.
-And the details which our traveller gives of the exact circumference of
-the cities, the number of their inhabitants, the products of the soil, the
-articles of trade, can leave no doubt in our minds that he relates what he
-had seen and heard himself. A new page in the history of the world is here
-opened, and new ruins pointed out, which would reward the pickaxe of a
-Layard."
-
-Hiouen-thsang passed into India by way of Kabul. Shortly before he reached
-Pou-lou-cha-pou-lo, the Sanskrit Purushapura, the modern Peshawer, he was
-informed of a remarkable cave, where Buddha had converted a dragon, and
-had promised to leave it his shadow, in order that, whenever the fierce
-passions of its dragon-nature should awake, it might be reminded of its
-vows by the presence of its master's shadowy features. The promise was
-fulfilled, and the dragon-cave became a favourite resort for pilgrims. Our
-traveller was warned that the roads to the cave were haunted by robbers,
-so that for three years no pilgrim had been known to return from it. But
-he replied that it would be difficult during a hundred thousand Kalpas to
-meet once with the true shadow of Buddha, and that having come so near it
-in his pilgrimage, he could not pass on without paying the tribute of his
-adoration.
-
-He left his companions in their security, and having, with some
-difficulty, obtained a guide, proceeded on his way. They had accomplished
-but a few miles when they were attacked by five robbers. Hiouen-thsang
-showed them his shaven head and priestly robes. "Master," said one of the
-fraternity, "where are you going?" "I desire," replied Hiouen-thsang, "to
-adore the shadow of Buddha." "Master," said the robber, "do you not know
-that these roads are full of bandits?" "Robbers are men," was the answer,
-"and as for me, when I am going to adore the shadow of Buddha, though the
-roads might be full of wild beasts, I shall walk on fearless. And inasmuch
-as I will not fear you, because you are men, you will not be insensible to
-pity." These words, in their simple faith, produced a strange effect upon
-the robbers, who opened their minds to the enlightenment of the wise man's
-teaching.
-
-Hiouen-thsang resumed his journey, with his guide, and passed a stream
-which rushed tumultuously between the walls of a precipitous ravine. In
-the rock was a door opening into a depth of darkness. With a fervent
-prayer the pilgrim entered boldly, advanced towards the east, then moved
-fifty steps backwards, and began his devotions. He made one hundred
-salutations, but saw nothing. This he conceived to be a punishment for his
-sins; he reproached himself despairingly and wept bitter tears, because he
-was denied the happiness of seeing Buddha's shadow. At last, after many
-prayers and invocations, he saw on the eastern wall a dim patch of light.
-But it passed away. With mingled joy and pain he continued to pray, and
-again he saw a light, and again it vanished swiftly. Then, in his ecstasy
-of loving devotion, he vowed that he would never leave the place until he
-had seen the "Venerable of the age." After two hundred prayers, he saw the
-cave suddenly fill with radiance, and the shadow of Buddha, of a brilliant
-white colour, rose majestically on the wall, as when the clouds are riven,
-and all at once flashes on the wondering eye the marvellous image of the
-"Mountain of Light." The features of the divine countenance were
-illuminated with a dazzling glow. Hiouen-thsang was absorbed in wondering
-contemplation, and from an object so sublime and incomparable he could not
-turn his eyes away.
-
-After he awoke from his trance, he called in six men, and bade them kindle
-a fire in the cave, that he might burn incense; but as the glitter of the
-flame made the shadow of Buddha disappear, he ordered it to be
-extinguished. Five of the attendants saw the shadow, but the sixth saw
-nothing; and the guide, when Hiouen-thsang told him of the vision, could
-only express his astonishment. "Master," he said, "without the sincerity
-of your faith and the energy of your vows, you could not have seen such a
-miracle."
-
-Such is the account which Hiouen-thsang's biographers give of his visit to
-Buddha's cave; but Max Mueller remarks, to the credit of Hiouen-thsang
-himself, that in the _Si-yu-hi_, which contains his own diary, the story
-is told much more simply. After describing the cave, he merely
-adds:--"Formerly, the shadow of Buddha was seen in the cave, bright, like
-his natural appearance, and with all the marks of his divine beauty. One
-might have said, it was Buddha himself. For some centuries, however, it
-has not been possible to see it completely. Though one does perceive
-something, it is only a feeble and doubtful resemblance. If a man prays
-with sincere faith, and if he have received from above a secret
-impression, he sees the shadow clearly, but cannot enjoy the sight for any
-length of time."
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-From Peshawer the undaunted pilgrim proceeded to Kashmir, visited the
-principal towns of Central India, and arrived at last in Magadha, the Holy
-land of the Buddhists. There, for a space of five years, he devoted
-himself to the study of Sanskrit and Buddhist literature; he explored
-every place which was consecrated by memories of the past. Passing through
-Bengal, he travelled southward, with the view of visiting Ceylon, the
-chief seat of Buddhism. But, unable to carry out his design, he crossed
-the peninsula from east to west, ascended the Malabar coast, reached the
-Indus, and after numerous excursions to scenes of interest in
-North-Western India, returned to Magadha to enjoy, with his old friends,
-the delights of learned leisure and intellectual companionship.
-
-Eventually, his return to China became necessary, and traversing the
-Punjab, Kabulistan, and Bactria, he struck the river Oxus, following its
-course nearly up to its springhead on the remote Pamir tableland; and
-after a residence of some duration in the three chief towns of Turkistan,
-Khasgar, Yarkand, and Khoten, he found himself again, after sixteen years
-of varied experience, in his native land. By this time he had attained a
-world-wide reputation, and he was received by the Emperor with the honours
-usually accorded to a military hero. His entry into the capital was marked
-by public rejoicings; the streets were decked with gay carpets, festoons
-of flowers, and waving banners. The splendour of martial pomp was not
-wanting; the civic magistrates lent the dignity of their presence to the
-scene; and all the monks of the district issued forth in solemn
-procession.
-
-If this were a triumph of unusual character, not less unaccustomed were
-the trophies which figured in it.
-
-First, 150 grains of Buddha's dust;
-
-Second, a golden statue of Buddha;
-
-Third, another statue of sandal-wood;
-
-Fourth, a statue of sandal-wood, representing Buddha as descending from
-heaven;
-
-Fifth, a statue of silver;
-
-Sixth, a golden statue, representing Buddha victorious over the dragon;
-
-Seventh, a statue of sandal-wood, representing Buddha as a preacher; and
-
-Eighth, a collection of 657 Buddhist works in 520 volumes.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-Admitted to an audience of the Emperor in the Phoenix Palace, he was
-offered, but declined, a high position in the Government. "The doctrine of
-Confucius," he said, "is still the soul of the administration;" and he
-preferred to devote his remaining years to the study of the Law of Buddha.
-The Emperor invited him to write a narrative of his travels, and placed at
-his disposal a monastery where he might employ himself in peaceful and
-happy seclusion in translating the works he had brought back from India.
-He quickly wrote and published his travels, but the translation of the
-Sanskrit MSS. occupied the rest of his life. It is said that the number of
-the works he translated, with the assistance of a large staff of monks,
-amounted to 740, in 1335 volumes. Often he might be seen pondering a
-passage of difficulty, when suddenly a flash of inspiration would seem to
-enlighten his mind. His soul was cheered, as when a man walking in
-darkness sees all at once the sun piercing the clouds and shining in its
-full brightness; and, unwilling to trust to his own understanding, he used
-to attribute his knowledge to a secret inspiration of Buddha and the
-Bodhisattvas.
-
-When his last hour approached, he divided all his property among the poor,
-invited his friends to come and see him, and take a cheerful farewell of
-the impure body of Hiouen-thsang. "I desire," he said, "that whatever
-merits I may have gained by good works may fall upon other people. May I
-be born again with them in the heaven of the blessed, be admitted to the
-family of Mi-le, and serve the Buddha of the future, who is full of
-kindness and affection. When I descend again upon earth to pass through
-other forms of existence, I desire at every new birth to fulfil my duties
-towards Buddha, and arrive at the last at the highest and most perfect
-intelligence." He died in the year 664.
-
-The life of Hiouen-thsang, and his narrative of travel, have been
-translated into French by M. Stanislas Julien.[14] The foregoing
-particulars have been borrowed from a review of M. Julien's work, by Max
-Mueller, which originally appeared in the "Times" of April 17 and 20, 1857.
-
-We translate from Stanislas Julien's "Vie et Voyages de Hiouen-thsang" the
-Chinese narrative of the pilgrim's last days:--
-
-"After completing his translation of the Pradjna, the Master of the Law
-became conscious that his strength was failing, and that his end was near
-at hand. Accordingly he spoke to his disciples: 'If I came into the palace
-of Yu-hoa-kong, it was, as you know, on account of the sacred book of the
-Pradjna. Now that the work is finished, I feel that my thread of life is
-run out. When after death you remove me to my last resting-place, see that
-everything be done in a modest and simple manner. You will wrap my body
-in a mat, and deposit it in some calm and solitary spot in the bosom of a
-valley. Carefully avoid the neighbourhood of palace or convent; a body so
-impure as mine should be separated from it by a great distance.'
-
-"On hearing these words, his disciples broke out into sobs and cries.
-Drying their tears, they said to him: 'Master, you have still a reserve of
-strength and vigour; your countenance is in no wise altered; why do you
-give sudden utterance to such miserable words?'
-
-"'I know it through and in myself,' replied the Master of the Law; 'how
-would it be possible for you to understand my presentiments?'
-
-"On the first day of the first moon in the spring of the first year
-_Lin-te_ (664), the neighbouring interpreters and all the religious of the
-convent, came to solicit him, with the most pressing earnestness, to
-translate the collection of the _Ratnakouta soutra_.
-
-"The Master of the Law, yielding to their fervid persistency, made an
-effort to overcome his weakness, and translated a few lines. Then, closing
-the Hindu text, he said: 'This collection is as great as that of the
-_Pradjna_, but I feel I have not sufficient strength to complete such an
-enterprise. My last moments have arrived, and my life can be only of short
-duration. To-day I would fain visit the valley of Lantchi, to offer my
-last homages to the statues of the innumerable Buddhas.'
-
-"Accordingly, he set forth with his disciples. The monks, at his
-departure, did not cease to shed tears.
-
-"After this pious excursion he returned to the convent. Thenceforward he
-ceased to translate, and occupied himself solely in his religious duties.
-
-"On the eighth day, one of his disciples, the monk Hiouen-Khio, originally
-of Kao-tch'ang, related to the Master of the Law a dream which he had had.
-He had seen a _Fesu-thou_ (or _Stoupa_,) of imposing aspect and prodigious
-height, crumble suddenly to the ground. Awakened by the fall, he ran to
-inform the Master of the Law. 'The event does not concern you,' said
-Hiouen-thsang; 'it is the presage of my approaching end.'
-
-"On the evening of the ninth day, as he crossed the bridge of a canal in
-the rear of his residence, he fell, and injured his leg. From that moment
-his strength declined perceptibly.
-
-"On the sixteenth day he cried out, as if awaking from a dream: 'Before my
-eyes I see an immense lotus-flower, charming in its freshness and purity.'
-
-"He had another dream on the seventeenth day, in which he saw hundreds and
-thousands of men of tall stature, who, decorated with garments of
-embroidered silk, with flowers of marvellous beauty, and jewels of great
-price, issued from the sleeping-chamber of the Master of the Law, and
-proceeded to set out, both internally and externally, the hall consecrated
-to the translation of the holy books. Afterwards, in the rear of that
-hall, on a wooded mountain, they everywhere planted rich banners of the
-most vivid colours, and created an harmonious music. He saw moreover,
-without the gate, an innumerable multitude of splendid chariots loaded
-with perfumed viands and fruits of more than a thousand kinds, as
-beautiful in form as in colour; no fruits were there of terrestrial
-growth! The people brought them to him, one after the other, and offered
-him a profusion; but he refused them, saying: 'Such viands as these belong
-only to those who have obtained the superior intelligence. Hiouen-thsang
-has not yet arrived at that sublime rank: how could he dare to receive
-them?' In spite of his energetic refusal they continued to serve him
-without intermission.
-
-"The disciples who watched by him happening to make some slight sound, he
-opened his eyes suddenly, and related his dream to the sub-director
-(_Karmmadana_), a certain Hoei-te."
-
-"'And from these omens,' added the Master, 'it seems to me that such
-merits as I have been able to acquire during my life have not fallen into
-oblivion, and I believe, with an entire faith, that it is not in vain one
-practises the doctrine of the Buddha.'
-
-"Immediately, he ordered the master Kia-chang to make a written list of
-the titles of the sacred books and the treatises which he had translated,
-forming altogether seven hundred and forty works and thirteen hundred and
-thirty-five volumes (_livres_). He wrote down also the _Koti_ (ten
-millions) of paintings of the Buddha, as well as the thousand images of
-_Mi-le_ (_Maitreya bodhisattva_), painted on silk, which he had caused to
-be executed. There were, moreover, the _Kotis_ (one hundred millions) of
-statuettes of uniform colour. He had also caused to be written a thousand
-copies of the following sacred books:
-
-    _Nong-touan-pan-jo-king (Vadjra tchhedika pradjna paramita soutra)._
-
-    _Yo-sse-jou-lai-pou-youen-kong-te-king (Arya bhagavati bhaichadja
-    gourou pourwa pranidhana nama maha yana soutra)._
-
-    _Lou-men-t'o-lo-ni-king (Chat moukhi dharani)._"
-
-He had ministered to the wants of upwards of twenty thousand persons among
-the faithful and heretical; he had kindled a hundred thousand lamps, and
-purchased thousands upon thousands (_ocean_) of creatures.
-
-When Kia-chang had finished this long catalogue of good works, he was
-ordered to read it aloud. After hearing it, the religious crossed their
-hands and loaded the Master with congratulations. Then he said to
-them:--"The moment of my death approaches; already my mind grows feeble
-and seems to be on the point of quitting me. Distribute at once in alms my
-clothes and goods; let statues be fabricated; and order the religious to
-recite some prayers."
-
-On the twenty-third day, a meal was given to the poor, at which alms were
-distributed. On the same day, he ordered a moulder named Song-kia-tchi, to
-raise, in the Kia-cheou-tien palace, a statue of the Intelligence
-(Buddha); after which he invited the population of the convent, the
-translators, and his disciples, to bid "a joyous farewell to that impure
-and contemptible body of Hiouen-thsang, who, having finished his work,
-merited no longer existence. I desire," he added, "to see poured back upon
-other men the merits which I have acquired by any good works; to be born
-with them in the heaven of the Touchitas; to be admitted into the family
-of _Mi-le_ (_Maitreya_); and to serve the Buddha, full of tenderness and
-affection. When I shall return to earth to pass through other existences,
-I desire, at each new birth, to discharge with boundless zeal my duties
-towards the Buddha, and finally to arrive at the Transcendent Intelligence
-(_Anouttara samyak sambodhi_)."
-
-After having made these adieux, he was silent, and engaged in meditation;
-then with his dying tongue he faltered forth his bitter regret that he did
-not enjoy more of the "world of the eyes" (the faculty of seeing), of the
-"world of the thought" (the faculty of thinking), of "the world of the
-knowledge which springs from observation" (the knowledge of sensible
-objects); of the "world of the knowledge which springs from the
-mind"--_l'esprit_ (the perception of spiritual things); and that he did
-not possess the fulness of the Intelligence. Finally, he pronounced two
-_gubhas_, which he caused to be repeated to the persons near him:--
-
-"Adoration to _Maitreya Tathagata_, gifted with a sublime intelligence! I
-desire, with all men, to see your affectionate visage.
-
-"Adoration to _Maitreya Tathagata_! I desire, when I quit this life, to be
-born again in the midst of the multitude who surround you."
-
-The Master of the Law, after having long fixed his gaze upon Te-hoei, the
-sub-director of the convent (_Karmmadana_), raised his right hand to his
-chin and his left upon his breast; then he stretched out his legs, crossed
-them, and lay down on the right side.
-
-He remained thus, immovable, without taking anything, until the fifth day
-of the second moon. In the middle of the night his disciples asked him:
-
-"Master, have you at length obtained to be born in the midst of the
-assembly of _Maitreya_?"
-
-"Yes," he replied, with a failing voice. And having spoken, his breathing
-grew rapidly weaker, and in a few moments, his soul passed away.
-
-His servants, feeling quietly, found that his feet were already cold, but
-that the back part of the head retained its warmth.
-
-On the seventh day (of the second moon) his countenance had not undergone
-any alteration, and his body exhaled no odour.
-
-The religious of the convent having passed several days in prayers, it was
-not until the morning of the ninth day that the sad news reached the
-capital.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-The Master of the Law was seven _tchi_ high; his face was of a fresh
-complexion. His eyebrows were wide apart, his eyes brilliant. His air was
-grave and majestic, and his features were full of grace and vivacity. The
-quality or tone (_timbre_) of his voice was pure and penetrating, and his
-language at times soared to a lofty eloquence, so noble and so harmonious
-that one could not refuse to listen. When he was surrounded by his
-disciples, or animated by the presence of an illustrious guest, he would
-often speak for half-a-day, while his hearers sat riveted in an immovable
-attitude. His favourite attire was a robe of fine cotton stuff,
-proportioned to his height and figure; his gait was light and easy; he
-looked straight before him, throwing his glances neither to the right nor
-to the left. He was majestic as those great rivers which embrace the
-earth; calm and shining as the lotus which springs in the midst of the
-waters. A severe observer of discipline, he was unchanged and
-unchangeable. Nothing could equal his affectionate benevolence and tender
-pity, the fervour of his zeal or his inviolable attachment to the
-practices of the Law. He was reserved in his friendship, made no hasty
-bonds, and when once he had entered his convent, nothing but an imperial
-decree could have drawn him from his pious retreat.
-
-On the third day of the second moon (of the period _Lin-te_,--664), the
-Master of the Law had sent Hiu-hiouen-pi to inform the Emperor of the
-wound he had received, and of the malady it had induced.
-
-On the seventh day of the same month the Emperor, by a decree, ordered one
-of the imperial physicians to take with him medicaments and attend upon
-the Master of the Law, but by the time he arrived, the Master was already
-dead. Teou-sse-lun, governor of Fang-tcheou, announced by a report this
-melancholy event.
-
-At the news, the Emperor shed tears copiously, and cried aloud in his
-sorrow, declaring that he had just lost the treasure of the empire. For
-several days he suspended the usual audiences.
-
-All the civil and military functionaries abandoned themselves to groans
-and tears: the Emperor himself was unable to repress his sobs or moderate
-his grief. On the next day but one, he spoke to his great officers as
-follows:
-
-"What a misfortune for my empire is the loss of Thsang, the Master of the
-Law! It may well be said that the great family of Cakya has seen its sole
-support shattered beneath it, and that all men remain without master and
-without guide. Do they not resemble the mariner who sees himself sinking
-into the abyss, when the storm has destroyed his oars and his shallop? the
-traveller astray in the midst of the darkness, whose lamp dies out at the
-entrance to a bottomless gulf?"
-
-When he had uttered these words, the Emperor groaned again, and sighed
-many times.
-
-On the twenty-sixth day of the same month, the Emperor issued the
-following decree:
-
-"In accordance with a report addressed to me by Teou-sse-lun on the death
-of the Master of the Law, Hiouen-thsang, of the convent _Yu-hoa-sse_, I
-order that his funeral take place at the expense of the State."
-
-On the sixth day of the third moon, he issued a new decree as follows:
-
-"By the death of Thsang, the Master of the Law, the translation of the
-sacred books is stopped. In conformity to the ancient ordinances, the
-magistrates will cause the translations already completed to be copied
-carefully: as for the (Indian) manuscripts which have not yet been
-translated, they will be handed over in their entirety to the director of
-the convent _Ts'e'-en-sse_ (of the Great Beneficence,) who will watch over
-their safety. The disciples of Hiouen-thsang and the translators' company,
-who previously did not belong to the convent _Yu-hoa-sse_, will all return
-to their respective convents."
-
-On the fifth day of the third moon appeared the following decree:
-
-"On the day of the funeral of the Master of the Law, Hiouen-thsang, I
-permit the male and female religious of the capital to accompany him _with
-banners and parasols_ to his last resting-place. The Master of the Law
-shone by his noble conduct and his eminent virtues, and was the idol of
-his age. Wherefore, now he is no more, it is just that I should diffuse
-again abundant benefits to honour the memory of a man who has had no equal
-in past times."
-
-His disciples, faithful to his last wishes, formed a litter of coarse
-mats, removed his body to the capital, and deposited it in the convent of
-the Great Beneficence, in the middle of the hall devoted to the labours
-of translation. United by the sentiment of a common sorrow, they uttered
-such cries as might have shaken the earth. The religious and the laics of
-the capital hastened to the spot, and poured out tears mingled with sobs
-and cries. Every day the crowd was swollen by fresh arrivals.
-
-On the fourteenth day of the fourth month, preparations were made for his
-interment in the capital of the West. The male and female religious, and a
-multitude of the men of the people, prepared upwards of five hundred
-objects necessary for the celebration of his obsequies; parasols of smooth
-(_unia_) silk, banners and standards, the tent and the litter of the
-_Ni-ouan_ (Nirvana;) the inner coffin of gold, the outer one of silver,
-the _so-lo_ trees (_salas_,) and disposed them in the middle of the
-streets to be traversed by the procession. The plaintive cadences of the
-funereal music, and the mournful dirges of the bearers resounded even to
-Heaven. The inhabitants of the capital and of the districts situated
-within a radius of five hundred _li_ (fifty leagues,) who formed the
-procession, exceeded one million in number. Though the obsequies were
-celebrated with pomp, the coffin of the Master nevertheless was borne upon
-a litter composed of rude coarse mats. The silk manufacturers of the East
-had employed three thousand pieces of different colours in making the
-chariot of the Nirvana, which they had ornamented with flowers and
-garlands, loaded with precious stones. They had asked permission to place
-the body of the Master of the Law upon this resplendent catafalque; but
-afraid of infringing his dying command, his disciples had refused. So it
-went first, bearing the Master's three robes and his religious mantle, of
-the value of one hundred ounces of silver; next came the litter
-constructed of coarse mats. Not one of the assistants but shed copious
-tears or was almost choked with grief!
-
-Upwards of thirty thousand religious and laics spent the night near his
-tomb.
-
-On the morning of the fifteenth day the grave was closed; then, at the
-place of sepulture, an immense distribution of alms was made, and the
-crowd afterwards dispersed in silence.
-
-On the eighth day of the fourth moon of the second year of the
-Tsong-tchang period (669,) the Emperor decreed that the tomb of the Master
-of the Law should be transported into a plain, situated to the west of the
-_Fan-tch'ouen_ valley, and that a tower should be erected in his
-honour.[15]
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER II.
-
-_MAGIANISM: THE PARSEES._
-
-
-THE ZENDAVESTA.[16]
-
-When the pure morality of Christianity is adduced as a proof of its high
-origin, one of the favourite devices of Modern Unbelief is to claim an
-equally high standard for the morality inculcated by the primitive creeds,
-and to rain praises upon the ethical systems embodied in the Soutras of
-the Buddhists, the Rig-Veda of the Brahmans, or the Zendavesta of the
-Parsees. In making this claim our philosophers probably calculate on the
-little knowledge which the multitude possess of any creeds but their own.
-They are well aware that, to the popular mind, the teaching of Buddha or
-Zoroaster is necessarily a sealed book, and that the whole extent of its
-purport is known only to a few scholars. Hence, when they come to support
-their thesis by quotations, they are able to select those isolated
-passages which shine with the lustre of genuine diamonds, and produce an
-absolutely false impression of the general character of the writings in
-which they occur; thin veins of precious metal shining here and there
-through masses of worthless ore. No doubt the Veda contains numerous
-utterances of the highest beauty, in which the soul's devotion to a
-Supreme Power is expressed with a lyrical fervour inferior only to that of
-the Sweet Singer of Israel. No doubt the Zendavesta, or the books of
-K'ung-fu-tze, like the works of later and maturer intellects--a Xenophon
-and a Plato, a Seneca and a Marcus Aurelius--are enriched with thoughts of
-the loftiest description, and frequently breathe the most exalted
-aspirations. But what we have to remember is, that these are wholly
-exceptional; that they are the most arduous efforts of each self-absorbed
-thinker, and the indications of his boldest flights. At other times the
-wing grows feeble; at other times the music is faint and even discordant;
-the bird can do no more than creep along the ground. In the sayings of our
-Lord, however, or in the writings of His Apostles, the tone is always
-sustained, clear, definite. There is no uncertainty or hesitation. Nothing
-mean or unworthy is woven in their texture. No concessions are made to
-man's coarser desires or grosser passions. The system set before us is
-rounded in perfection, and shows not a flaw from beginning to end. We feel
-that He who speaks, whether in His own Person or through His disciples,
-speaks as never man spoke before; and that the Voice which fills our ears
-and stirs our hearts is, in deed and in truth, a Voice from Heaven.
-
-We propose to furnish in this chapter a general view of the construction
-and teaching of the Parsee Scriptures, with the view of showing the signal
-inferiority of the creed it embodies to Christianity in all that can
-elevate the mind and satisfy the soul. At the same time we admit that the
-Parsee creed, and all similar creeds, possess an intrinsic value, apart
-from their ethical deficiencies, as illustrating the recognition of an
-Almighty Will, an Eternal and Supreme Force, by all the higher races of
-mankind. They show us the hopes, fears, and desires of great tribes and
-peoples which existed in the days before men wrote history; and they show
-us how their wisest teachers groped in the dark, and stumbled in the
-thorny path,--favoured occasionally, it is true, with a wonderful glimpse
-of light, and striking now and again into the pleasant places, but never
-rejoicing in the glory which rose upon earth with the Sun of
-Righteousness, never treading in that narrow but secure way which leads to
-Eternal Life. We see in them the great minds of the early world, like
-children on the seashore, perplexed by a music which they could not
-comprehend, and astonished by a power which they were unable to define.
-Yet happier and wiser they than the cold materialist of a later age, who
-resolves all mysteries, all phenomena, into the working of a blind
-inflexible Law, and takes out of creation its light, beauty, and joy by
-denying the existence of an all-powerful and all-loving Creator.
-
-The religion professed by the ancient Persians, and still accepted by the
-Parsees of Western India, and by a scattered population in Yezd and
-Kerman, is taught in the books known as the Zend-Avesta. This title comes
-from the Sassanian term _Avesta_ or _Apusta_, that is, the text;[17] and
-_Zend_, or _Zand_, that is, the commentary upon it. The meaning of the
-latter word, however, seems to have varied at different periods.
-Originally it signified the interpretation of the sacred texts handed down
-from Zoroaster (or Zarathustra) and his disciples. In course of time the
-interpretation came to be esteemed not less authoritative and sacred than
-the original text, and both were called _Avesta_. But the language in
-which they were written having died out, they became unintelligible to the
-majority of the people, and a new _Zend_ or commentary was required before
-they could be understood. The new "Zend" was the work of the most learned
-priests of the Sassanian period, and consisted of a translation of the
-double "Avesta" into the vernacular language then in vogue.[18] And as
-this translation is the only key which the priests of modern Persia
-possess to the old creed as taught by Zarathustra, it has usurped the
-place of the original Zend, and is now the recognised official commentary.
-
-But, anciently, the word "Zend" implied something more than a simple
-interpretation of the "Avesta," or sacred texts. That interpretation was
-the source of certain new doctrines, the whole of which were considered
-orthodox, and designated _Zandi-agahi_, or Zend doctrines; doctrines
-which, it can hardly be doubted, supplied Plutarch and some other of the
-Greeks with ethical suggestions. The name _Pazend_, which frequently
-occurs in connection with _Avesta_ and _Zend_, denotes a further
-exposition of Zarathustrian teaching, as contained in the Vendidad, to
-which we shall shortly refer.
-
-Thus far we have been indebted to Dr. Haug's account of the origin of the
-Zendavesta. His views are confirmed by Westergaard, who asserts that the
-sacred books belong to two epochs; that is, that they are written in one
-age, and collected and systematised in another, in much the same way as,
-according to Wolf, the Homeric poems were produced and assumed their
-present form. All the earlier traditions ascribe their origin to
-Zarathustra; but modern philologists affirm that they could not have
-sprung from any single mind, because they present no defined or
-self-consistent system of religious belief or moral economy. Like the
-hymns of the Vedas, and the strains of the Norse Edda, the several
-portions of the Zendavesta, so they say, must have been composed by
-different bards, each of whom coloured his particular theme according to
-the hues of his lively imagination. This theory, however, though it may
-have an element of truth in it, is hardly the whole truth. The Zendavesta
-is unquestionably wanting in unity and completeness. But it seems to us
-that traces of a dominant mind are everywhere visible; that the various
-parts are held together as on a thread by the teaching of Zarathustra
-himself; and that the additions made by later and inferior writers are not
-such as wholly to obscure the original work.
-
-It is to the celebrated Frenchman, Anquetil Duperron, that the scholars of
-the West owe their knowledge of these remarkable books. Happening to see a
-facsimile of a few pages written in Zend characters, he resolved on
-setting out for India in order to purchase manuscripts of all the sacred
-books of the Zarathustrian religion, to acquire a thorough insight into
-their signification, and to obtain a knowledge of the rites and religious
-observances of the Parsees. His means being limited, he entered himself as
-a sailor on board a ship of the Dutch Indian Company, and worked his way
-out to Bombay in 1754. With money supplied by the French Government to
-assist him in his ingenious researches, he bribed one of the most learned
-_dustoors_ or priests, Dustoor Darat, or Surat, to procure the treasures
-he desired, and to instruct him in the Zend and Pehlvi languages. As soon
-as he had acquired the requisite proficiency, he addressed himself to the
-task of translating the whole of the Zendavesta into French. This was in
-1759. Returning to Europe, he convinced himself of the genuineness of his
-purchases by comparing them with MSS. in the Bodleian Library; and, after
-several years of arduous labour, produced the first European version in
-1771. At the outset, the authenticity of his work was challenged both in
-England and Germany; but all doubts have been set at rest by the inquiries
-of Rask and others; and thus, through the fanciful enterprise of a young
-Frenchman, the veil has been lifted which for so long a period shrouded
-the mysterious religion of the Magi.
-
-We do not, however, possess the whole of the Avesta. It is asserted by an
-Arabian writer that Zarathustra himself covered with his verses no fewer
-than twelve thousand parchments, and who shall compute the extent of the
-literature accumulated by his disciples? Whether this literature perished
-at the epoch of the Macedonian conquest of Persia, or whether it was
-destroyed by Alexander the Great, or whether it gradually perished as the
-influence of the Greek philosophy prevailed over the Zarathustrian
-theology, it is impossible to determine. The remains of the sacred books,
-however, with short summaries of their contents, have been handed down to
-us. Originally they were twenty-one in number, called _Nosks_, and each
-_Nosk_ consisting of "Avesta" and "Zend"--text and commentary. The number
-twenty-one corresponded to the number of words composing the "Honovar," or
-most sacred prayer, of the Zarathustrians. It is, we may add, a magical
-number, being the result of the multiplication of the sacred numbers,
-_three_ and _seven_.
-
-Of these divisions the _precis_ now extant, and collected for the first
-time by the Danish scholar Westergaard, comprise the following books:
-First, the _Yasna_, which sets before us the devotions proper to be
-offered in connection with the sacrificial ceremonies. This Yasna is
-divided into seventy-two chapters, representing the six Yahanhars, or
-"seasons" during which Ahura-Mazda, the Good Principle, created the world.
-The reader will here note the coincidence between the six creative seasons
-of the Magian seer, and the six creative days of the Hebrew lawgiver. The
-Yasna consists of two parts, the older of which is written in what is
-called the Gatha dialect, and had acquired a peculiar sanctity prior to
-the date of composition of the other books. It may be described as a
-treasury of songs, hymns, and metrical prayers, which embody a variety of
-abstruse reflections upon subjects of metaphysical inquiry, and are much
-better adapted to stimulate the intellect of the student than to foster
-the devotion of the worshipper. They are rhymeless, like the poetical
-effusions of Caedmon, and in their metrical structure bear a curious
-resemblance to the Vedic hymns. Of these collections, or Gathas, there are
-five, and their leading title seems to be: "The Revealed Thought, the
-Revealed Word, and the Revealed Deed of Zarathustra the Holy." It is added
-that the Archangels first sang the Gathas. Their general purport is an
-exposition of the work and teaching of the great founder of Magianism, who
-is represented as inveighing against a belief in the _devas_, or gods, and
-exhorting his disciples to lift up their hearts only to Ahura-Mazda, the
-Supreme Goodness.
-
-Now it seems necessary to correct a popular error, that the Zendavesta is
-largely liturgical: an error confirmed by the assertion of Gibbon, who
-says: "Every mode of religion, to make a deep and lasting impression on
-the human mind, must exercise our obedience, by enjoining practices of
-devotion for which we can assign no reason; and must acquire our esteem by
-inculcating moral duties analogous to the dictates of our own hearts. The
-religion of Zoroaster was abundantly provided with the former, and
-possessed a sufficient portion of the latter." But Zarathustra himself, in
-one of his best-known precepts, warns his followers that "he who sows the
-ground with care and diligence, acquires a greater stock of religious
-merit than he would gain by the repetition of ten thousand prayers." It is
-the tendency of all ethico-religious systems, at least in their earliest
-stage of development, to discourage purely liturgical observances, and to
-enjoin on the disciple a state of self-concentration and self-absorption
-varied only by physical activity. Unaided by a divine Revelation, their
-founders never rise higher than the passive virtues of endurance and
-patience. As time passes away, and the new creed falls into the hands of a
-special school of expounders, minute rites and rigid practices are
-accumulated in order to impose upon the neophyte, and deepen the influence
-of those who alone possess a clue to their meaning. The formalities which
-encumber the Zarathustrian worship were invented long after the death of
-the master, and no indication of them appears in the oldest section of
-the Zendavesta. They are to be found chiefly in the much later pages of
-the _Sadder_, where fifteen different genuflexions and prayers are
-required of the devout Persian every time he cuts his finger-nails!
-
-To return to the Yasna. The Gathas, of which we have been speaking, were
-not improbably composed by Zarathustra himself, and may be held to express
-his belief and his thoughts in his own words. The second part, or "Younger
-Yasna," is of a much later date and less lofty tone. The invention of some
-of the Master's disciples or priests, it re-establishes the Polytheism
-which Zarathustra so strenuously condemned; and furnishes the believer
-with a manual of prayers and incantations (in prose) to the genii of the
-woods and streams and hills, the powers of fire and earth and water, and
-all the invisible spirits which haunt the luminous air.
-
-We come next to the _Visparad_, a collection of prayers in
-three-and-twenty chapters, written in Zend, and of a similar tenour to
-those in the younger Yasna. These prayers refer to the preparation of the
-sacred water, and the consecration of certain offerings--such as the
-sacred bread--which are carried round about the sacred fire, and after
-having been exhibited to it, are eaten by the priest and by the votary on
-whose behalf the ceremony is performed.
-
-The _Yashts_ (Yesti)--that is, worship by prayers and sacrifices--fall to
-be considered in the third place. Of these devotions, which are
-consecrated to the praise and worship of one Divine Being, and of a
-certain limited group of inferior deities, twenty-four are extant. In
-using them the votary endeavours, by a wearisome enumeration of the
-glorious achievements of the deity he is addressing, and of the miracles
-he has wrought, to induce him to come and enjoy the meal prepared for him,
-and then to bestow on his fervid worshipper a blessing not inferior to the
-boons bestowed on his children in bygone times. So far as concerns the
-legendary history of the ancient Iranians, and in connection with their
-belief in the pantheon of Magianism, the Yashts are of great value, and
-indeed, from this point of view, are the most precious portion of the
-Zendavesta.
-
-While the three parts already described exhibit more or less of a
-liturgical character, the fourth division, known as the _Vendidad_, forms
-a collection of customs, observances, laws, pains, and penalties, the
-growth of a period much later than that of Zarathustra, when Ritual began
-its encroachments on Religion. It is the essence of all _genuine_ Ritual
-that it should illustrate and explain Doctrine, but this is never found to
-be the case in the primitive creeds. In all such it becomes merely the
-ingenious invention of a subtle priesthood, by which its members
-established their influence over an ignorant community. In the eyes of the
-unlearned its complex character invested it with an air of mystery; they
-were led to look upon the "form" as of greater importance than the
-"spirit," and to attribute a strange, a wonderful potency to rites and
-ceremonies which they could not understand. While it is the special
-feature of the faith of CHRIST that it appeals in its sweet simplicity to
-every heart, and that it requires of the believer to present himself
-before the altar with the innocence and trustfulness of a little child;
-that it seeks not to confuse by a multiplicity of minute observances, and
-even sums up its leading tenets in two brief and easily intelligible
-commandments; Magianism, conscious of its inherent defects, unable to fall
-back on the redeeming sacrifice of a SAVIOUR, deficient in any enduring
-principle of vitality, sought to build up its structure on a foundation of
-ceremonies and formalities. And when it could not feed the soul with the
-bread of truth, it dazzled the senses by imposing spectacles, and confused
-the imagination with a cumbrous code of the most complicated ritualistic
-frivolities; so that the Persian worship, with its incantations and
-devices, laid the foundation of the later Magic.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-Turning our attention now to that portion of the Zendavesta which is
-called the Vendidad, we find that it is divided into twenty-two Fargards,
-or chapters.
-
-In the first of these we find an account of the creation by Ahura-Mazda,
-of sixteen holy regions, sinless spotless Edens, localities of perfect
-bliss; each of which is destroyed in succession by Ahriman, the Spirit of
-Evil,--a fable evidently suggested by the Mosaic history of Paradise. The
-second treats of a certain king, Yimo Vivaugham, who introduced
-agriculture into the land of Iran. The third sets forth the various means
-by which Zoma, or the Earth, may be rendered happy. You must beware of
-excavating deep holes in it, for through these the _devs_, or demons, pass
-to and fro between hell and earth; nor must you bury within it the dead
-bodies of men or dogs, or other animals. The fourth chapter enumerates six
-categories of crime, and the several punishments connected with them. The
-fifth and sixth are occupied with a description of various kinds of
-impurity. The seventh and eighth contain liturgical directions in
-reference to the disposal of the carcases of men and dogs;[19] and it is
-stated that whoever eats of flesh so unclean can never be purified, but
-that hell will undoubtedly be his portion. Even the house in which a man
-or a dog dies must immediately be purified by the use of incense or
-sweet-smelling odours; a sanitary precaution of some importance in hot
-climates. In the ninth occurs an elaborate detail of the rite of
-purification denominated the _Barathium_, to be performed by, and on
-behalf of a person who shall have been unwittingly defiled by touching the
-dead. The tenth and eleventh are not less minute in their directions what
-word must be repeated twice, and thrice, and four times at the different
-Gathas, in order that Ahriman and his lieutenants may be expelled from men
-and women who have been in contact with the dead, and from houses, cities,
-and provinces into which they have obtained an entrance.
-
-The twelfth Fargard treats of various funeral ceremonies, and repeats a
-number of injunctions relative to the cleansing of places, of clothes and
-other articles, polluted by lifeless bodies. It concludes with elaborate
-warnings against a two-footed _dev_, called Ashmog. The thirteenth and
-fourteenth run riot in praise of the noble qualities of dogs, and severe
-in their rebuke of the "superior animals" who ill-use them. The fifteenth
-reads like a Commination Service, in its denunciation of certain crimes
-which can never be undone even by the profoundest penitential offices, and
-are punished by Ahura-Mazda with eternal condemnation. The seventeenth,
-like the sixteenth, is tediously liturgical, and discusses such minutiae as
-the arrangement of the hair of the head, the extraction of bad or gray
-hairs, and the cutting of nails. If these operations are performed
-without certain prescribed ceremonies, the devs come upon earth, and
-parasitical organisms are produced to the great discomfort and injury of
-man. The eighteenth lays down the distinctions which should characterise
-an _Athrava_, or priest. He must wear the _padan_, a mouth-cover, of two
-fingers' breadth; must carry an instrument for disposing of parasitical
-insects; devote his nights to study, keep alive the sacred fire, and
-succour the distressed. The nineteenth chapter recounts the perils to
-which Zarathustra was exposed, when he had left the south on his mission,
-from the murderous assaults of Ahriman and his host, who hastened up from
-the north; the north, to an inhabitant of the warm sunny south, naturally
-appearing the fit home and haunt of the Spirit of Evil. The twentieth is
-devoted to the praise of Taneslied, who is represented as having swept
-away disease, death, bloodshed, war, evil-doers, falsehood, and all kinds
-of wickedness. The twenty-first enjoins the salutations to be paid to the
-sacred Bull, and extols some of its illustrious qualities. Finally, the
-twenty-second narrates the mission of Zarathustra, and describes the evil
-he will dispel through the influence of the Word; Ahura-Mazda having
-ordered him to establish his worship in the region called Airya-Mava, or
-Irman, so that it may become bright, pure, and happy as the abode of
-Ahura-Mazda himself, free from sin, and, consequently, free from sorrow
-and suffering.
-
-From this brief summary it will be seen that the religion of the Parsees
-in its present form is a definite Dualism, recognizing the existence of
-two distinct principles, Good and Evil, impersonated by spirits of equal
-power, named Ahura-Mazda, (or Spento-Manyus,) and Ahriman, (or
-Angro-Manyus.) But no such doctrine was taught by Zarathustra himself. His
-creed, like all the earliest creeds, was purely Monotheistic. He set
-before men, as the sole object of their love and adoration, one Supreme
-Being, Ahura-Mazda, the great "Life-Giver" or the "Living Wisdom," as the
-name is variously explained. Nor was his conception of this one God
-altogether unworthy of the Founder of a Religion. He does not represent
-Him, indeed, as the "Father," loving, sympathetic, compassionate, and so
-full of condescension, that He is willing to give His Son to die for the
-salvation of erring Humanity; for he did not enjoy that fuller revelation
-of the Divine Nature which was vouchsafed to the Hebrew race. But he shows
-Him as the "Lord over all lords, the Forgiving, the Omniscient." He is
-ineffably pure, the source of all Truth, the Holy God. In the Khordah
-Avesta, Zarathustra is introduced as inquiring: "Tell me the name, O pure
-Ahura-Mazda, which is Thy greatest, best, and fairest name?" Ahura-Mazda
-replies: "My name is He who may be questioned: the Gatherer of the people:
-the Most Pure: He who takes account of the actions of men. My name is God
-(Ahura); My name is the Great Wise One (Mazdas.) I am the All-Seeing, the
-Desirer of Good for My creatures, He who cannot be deceived: the
-Protector: the Tormentor of tormentors: He who smiteth once and only once:
-the Creator of All."
-
-His happiness, like His holiness, is without spot or blemish; every
-blessing is His that man can imagine--health and wealth, virtue, wisdom,
-prosperity, immortality; and these blessings He is willing to bestow on
-His creatures if in thought and word and deed they eschew impurity. But we
-nowhere read that He will assist them in the struggle against sin by
-creating in them a new heart, or by vouchsafing the grace of His Holy
-Spirit. The mystery of the Atonement was beyond the reach of the soul and
-intellect even of Zarathustra; and the highest conception of God to which
-he could attain was that of a Being of perfect Goodness, sitting enthroned
-in a strange awful loneliness, with no other feeling than that of approval
-of Good and disapproval of Evil. He is, of course, the supreme type of
-Power: all that _is_ flows from Him, as light from the Sun: He creates
-both the shadow and the brightness of the human existence, good and ill,
-fortune and misfortune. So far above all human intelligence is He placed,
-that images of Him are forbidden, though He is understood to be symbolised
-by the sun and by fire. He can be served only by prayers and offerings, by
-a life of purity and truth, by abstinence from sinful passions, by the
-banishment of sinful thoughts. Thus Herodotus says of the Zarathustrians,
-that they reject the use of temples, of altars, and of statues. "They
-smile," he says, "at the folly of those nations who imagine that the Gods
-are descended from, or have any affinity with, human nature. The loftiest
-mountain-tops are the places chosen for their sacrifices. Hymns and
-prayers are their principal forms of worship. And the Supreme God, who
-fills the vast sphere of Heaven, is the object to whom they are
-addressed."
-
-The service of Ahura-Mazda consisted, then, as we see, in the performance
-of good works, in the cultivation of virtue, and in the due offering up of
-prayer and praise. It was an intellectual worship that Zarathustra
-prescribed; a worship that might assist in the development of a high
-morality, but could not inculcate a deep and true religious feeling. Of
-contrition for sin, of humbling oneself before God, of self-sacrifice and
-self-abnegation, of love, and faith, and hope, the creed of Zarathustra
-took no account. And here, as well as elsewhere, we observe its vast
-inferiority to the religion of CHRIST. It made no provision for the
-awakening and fostering of those tender emotions of profound humility,
-thankful adoration, and unutterable gratitude which are awakened in the
-Christian's heart by the name of JESUS. It could never have called forth
-such an utterance of the son's glad submission to the will of the FATHER
-as we find, for example, in the ejaculatory verse of Ben Jonson:
-
-  "Hear me, O GOD!
-    A broken heart
-    Is my best part:
-  Use still Thy rod,
-    That I may prove
-    Therein Thy love.
-
-  "If Thou hadst not
-    Been stern to me,
-    But left me free,
-  I had forgot
-    Myself and Thee.
-
-  "For sin's so sweet,
-    As minds ill-bent
-    Rarely repent,
-  Until they meet
-    Their punishment."
-
-Such lines as these indicate a relation between man and his GOD which
-could never obtain between the Zarathustrian and his Ahura-Mazda. His was
-a cold, unimpassioned, logical creed, warmed by no single heart-throb of
-Divine love and mercy; a creed which demanded human worship for a sinless
-God, but did not invite human faith in a loving Redeemer; and,
-consequently, a creed which left untouched the deepest springs and most
-responsive chords of our humanity.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-Both the excellencies and the short-comings of Magianism are shown in the
-confessions and prayers included in the Zendavesta. For example, there is
-much that is elevated and noble in the following, yet its tone is
-curiously Pharisaical, and may be contrasted with that of Ben Jonson's
-verses. Instead of being the aspiration of a sinful soul after
-forgiveness, and a reaching forth towards love and light, it is the
-self-eulogium of a mind confident in its own sustaining power, and to
-appreciate its weakness we need only to contrast it with the fervour of a
-David or a S. Paul. We remember that the Hebrew king exclaimed: "My heart
-panteth, my strength faileth me: as for the light of mine eyes, it also is
-gone from me," and how the Apostle confessed himself "the chief of
-sinners." With no such aching consciousness of weakness does the
-Zarathustrian bow himself before God. There is all the pride of
-self-righteousness in his prayer. Thus:
-
-"I remain standing fast in the statutes of the law which Ahura-Mazda gave
-to Zarathustra. As long as life endures I will stand fast in good thoughts
-in my soul, in good words in my speech, in good deeds in my actions. With
-all good am I in harmony, with all evil am I at variance. With the
-punishments of the future life I am content. I have taken hold of good
-thoughts, words, and works. I have forsaken evil thoughts, words, and
-works. May the power of Ahriman be broken! may the reign of Ahura-Mazda
-increase!"
-
-And again:
-
-"I am steadfast in this faith, and turn myself not away from it, for the
-sake of a happy life, or for the sake of a longer life, nor for power, nor
-for a kingdom. If I must give up my body for the sake of my soul, I give
-it willingly. I believe firmly in the good Mazda-yusaian faith; in the
-Resurrection; in the bridge of souls,[20] in the invariable reward of good
-deeds and punishment of bad deeds, in the everlasting continuance of
-paradise and the annihilation of hell; and I believe that, at the last,
-Ahura-Mazda will be victorious, and Ahrimanes will perish with the Devs,
-and all the children of darkness.... I am full of hope that I shall attain
-to Paradise and the shining Garathanan, where all majesty dwelleth. I make
-this confession in the hope that I may hereafter become more zealous to
-accomplish good works and keep myself more from sin; and that my good
-deeds may serve for the diminution of evil and the increase of good till
-the rising again."
-
-We know the form of prayer taught us by JESUS CHRIST; how simple it is,
-how complete, how absolute in its renunciation of self, how comprehensive
-in its charity. "Thy will be done".... "Forgive us our trespasses as we
-forgive them who trespass against us".... "Lead us not into temptation."
-Such are its leading thoughts: submission before GOD, charity before Man;
-both implying and demanding the conquest and humiliation of self. Let us
-contrast it with a Zarathustrian prayer:
-
-"In the name of God the Giver and Forgiver, Rich in Love, praise be to
-Ahura-Mazda, the God with the name ... 'Who always was, always is, and
-always will be.'... Ahura-Mazda the Wise, the Creator, the Over-seeing
-God, pure, good, and just! With all strength bring I thank-offerings and
-praise to the Lord, the completer of good works, who made men greater than
-all earthly beings, and through the gift of speech created them to rule
-over the creatures and to war against the evil spirits. Praise to the
-omniscience of God who has sent through the holy Zarathustra power and
-knowledge of the law. All good do I accept at Thy command, O God, and
-think, speak, and do it. I believe in the pure law, and by every good work
-I seek forgiveness for sins. I keep pure the six powers--thought, speech,
-act, memory, reason, understanding. According to Thy will am I able to
-fulfil (these resolutions.) O Accomplisher of Good, to Thy honour are good
-thoughts, good words, and good works. I enter on the shining way to
-Paradise. May the terror of hell not overcome me! May I pass the bridge
-Chinavat and attain to Paradise, the bright and odoriferous, where are all
-joys. Praise to the Lord who awards those who accomplish good deeds
-according to His will, who purifies the obedient, and at last purifies the
-wicked in hell. All praise be to the Creator, Ahura-Mazda, the All-Wise,
-the Mighty, the Rich in Love."
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-Prayer, according to Zarathustra, is not the humbling of the soul before
-its Creator, not the aspirations of the spirit towards the Source of all
-Love and Mercy, not the desire of the creature to be at peace with GOD,
-but the renunciation of will,--a noble and worthy aim in itself, but not
-fulfilling the Christian idea of prayer. To do good and to shun evil is,
-no doubt, the motive of the Christian life; but prayer is something more
-and something higher, the sacrifice of an humble and a contrite heart.
-
-  "Heaven is the magazine wherein GOD puts
-  Both good and evil; prayer's the key that shuts
-  And opens this great treasure; 'tis a key
-  Whose wards are Faith, and Hope, and Charity.
-  Wouldst thou prevent a judgment due to sin?
-  Turn but the key and thou mayst lock it in.
-  Or wouldst thou have a blessing fall upon thee!
-  Open the door and it will shower on thee."[21]
-
-But no such conception as this is discernible throughout the length and
-breadth of the Parsee Scriptures, which here, as elsewhere, and in
-relation to other matters, attain a lofty, but not the loftiest, level;
-rise above earth, but do not soar to Heaven. They seem instinct with
-echoes of the original revelation vouchsafed to man, but those echoes are
-faint and imperfect; whereas, in the Hebrew creed, the voices of GOD are
-repeated with a fulness and a power which leaves the heart nothing to
-desire. In this vast superiority we cannot fail to see a strong and
-striking proof of its authenticity. If it be found difficult to account
-for the moral excellence and aesthetic beauty of Zarathustrianism without
-tracing it back in some indirect way to a Divine origin; how shall we
-explain the sublimity and grandeur of the Hebrew Theism, unless we admit
-that it is all it professes to be,--is, in very truth, the expression of
-the will of the everliving GOD?
-
-We have spoken of Zarathustra's religion as originally monotheistic; its
-purity, however, was not long preserved, and the cause of its corruption
-lay in itself. Zarathustra could not deny the existence of Evil, and to
-explain it was driven to concoct an extraordinary hypothesis. As in every
-electrified object there are two poles, a positive and a negative, so,
-according to the Prophet, in Ahura-Mazda, and in all rational beings, man
-included, are present a good and holy Will, and its shadow or negative,--a
-higher and a lower nature,--the Positive and the Negative Mind. How
-Zarathustra reconciled this idea with his conception of Ahura-Mazda, as
-Perfect Goodness, we are unable to comprehend. At all events, it contained
-the germs of the future Dualism of the Persian religion. The Negative Mind
-soon came to be separated from the good and holy Will, and was quickly
-personified as an independent evil being, a Power of Night and Darkness,
-Ahriman (Angro-Manyus,) equal in might to Ahura-Mazda, and disputing with
-him the possession of the world. Thus arose the myth of the constant
-struggle between the two powers, as between Day and Night; the servants of
-Ahura-Mazda being sent forth to encounter, resist, and overcome the slaves
-and works of Ahriman, thereby bringing about the end of all things, when
-Ahriman himself should be vanquished and reconciled.
-
-In course of time the difficulties of this dual theory were detected by
-acute intellects, and at the Sassanian Revival an attempt was made to
-dispose of them by introducing the doctrine of Monotheism under a new
-form, that of a Great Primal Cause (Zervana Akarana), the Boundless Time
-or Uncreated Whole, such as we trace in the later Greek poetry, and
-apparently rather a "metaphysical abstraction," like the Greek [Greek:
-Anagke], or the Roman Nemesis, than "an active and presiding deity."
-Thence proceeded both the Good and the Evil Principles; the two antagonist
-creators who balanced against each other in perpetual conflict a race of
-spiritual and material beings, light and darkness, good and evil. The wise
-benevolence of Ahura-Mazda formed men capable of virtuous impulses, and
-endowed each with everything that could contribute to his happiness. He
-preserved by his watchful providence the harmonious movements of the
-planets, and the temperate combination of the elements. But the malice of
-Ahriman has long since pierced Ahura-Mazda's "egg;" in other words,
-violated the sweet accord and bounteous beauty of His works. Since that
-fatal irruption, the most minute articles of good and evil are alternately
-commingled and agitated together; the most poisonous herbs spring up among
-the most wholesome plants; the warfare of deluges, earthquakes, and
-conflagrations disturbs the serenity of nature; and humanity is subjected
-to all the blighting influences of sin, suffering, and sorrow. While the
-rest of mankind were led away captive in the chains of their terrible
-enemy, the faithful Persian alone remained constant in his faith in
-Ahura-Mazda, and fought under his banner of light, looking forward to a
-triumphant day when Good should prevail over all the world.
-
-It seems to us impossible to doubt that, in this later development of the
-Zoroastrian faith, its priests and teachers were largely indebted to the
-Sacred Writings, though into what they borrowed they introduced much
-original and fanciful speculation.
-
-A Parsee, with a firm faith in Ahura-Mazda, and conscious of having obeyed
-the law, offered up prayer and praise, and renounced, in intention at
-least, evil thoughts and deeds and words, lay down on his death bed in a
-certain hope and expectation of the Eternal life. We have seen that the
-Zendavesta appointed a variety of penances, by the performance of which
-the believer obtained immediate pardon for ordinary transgressions; and
-therefore, full of the self-righteousness which his creed was so well
-adapted to inculcate, he faced the passage of the Dark River without fear.
-He knew not of any need to implore the mercy of a Redeemer, to humble
-himself in sackcloth and ashes, to base his hope on the infinite love of
-GOD made man, on the glorious sacrifice of the Cross; his soul passed
-straight to Paradise, as an arrow flies towards its mark. In the Khordah
-Avesta we can follow the stages of its journey:--On the first night after
-death the soul dwelt near the head of the inanimate body it had just
-deserted, and sat there praying, rejoicing in as much joy as is vouchsafed
-to the whole living world. And so did it dwell on the second night,
-praying. And so did it dwell on the third night, praying. But when the
-third night verged upon dawn, the soul of the pure man went forward. A
-wind, sweeter than all other winds, blew to meet it from the south. And in
-that wind came to embrace the pilgrim _his own law_, under the figure of a
-maiden beautiful and shining, fair as the fairest of created beings. The
-pilgrim then took the first step in his celestial progress, and arrived in
-the paradise _Hamata_; he took the second, and reached the paradise
-_Hukhta_; he took the third, and arrived at the paradise _Hvarsta_. The
-beatified wanderer made yet another step, and gained the presence of the
-Eternal Light. There was he addressed by an already beatified soul: "How
-art thou, O pure deceased, who hast come from the perishable world hither
-to the imperishable?" Ahura-Mazda here interrupted: "Ask him not, for he
-has come on the fearful trembling way, the separation of soul and body.
-Bring him hither of the food of the full fatness, that is, of the filling
-food for those who think, speak, and do good, for the pure after death."
-
-A recent writer says of this notion of a progressive advance to the
-"Eternal Light," of the welcome received from the blessed, and from the
-gentle words of Ahura-Mazda himself; and of the conducting angel who
-represents the man's own earthly faith and life, (like Bunyan's Mr.
-Good-Conscience meeting old Honest beside the River of Death,) "all
-these," he says, "are beautiful thoughts." Surely fanciful, rather than
-beautiful; and better adapted to amuse religious sentimentalists than to
-satisfy healthy and earnest believers. The obvious reference to the three
-days and nights spent by our LORD "in prison" appears to indicate that
-this is a comparatively modern portion of the Zendavesta, founded upon
-some vague knowledge of the mystery of the Resurrection.
-
-While the pure soul proceeded, as we have seen, by three stages or
-gradations to the Paradise of Light and Sweetness, the evil and unclean
-soul, on the other hand, descended, also by three stages, to the terrors
-of Douzakh, the dark abode of Ahriman and the Devs. There it suffered
-according to its sinfulness until the general day of Resurrection. At that
-great epoch these nights of indescribable woe will be undergone by all who
-have not expiated their earthly offences; woe so terrible, that the
-Blessed, looking down upon it from their celestial battlements, will be
-moved to tears of pity. And then the massive mountains and the solid rocks
-shall be melted by the heat, and streams of liquid gold shall flow, in
-which both the pure and evil shall receive a regenerating bath. Ahriman
-and his devs shall share in the universal happiness, and all created life
-shall swell the song of praise sent up in honour of Ahura-Mazda.
-
-While we are unable to doubt that in the Zendavesta, as it has come down
-to us, may be traced the direct influence of the Hebrew creed, and that
-ideas and principles of a still later date were borrowed more or less
-closely from Christianity, we can as little doubt that Zarathustrianism
-had no inconsiderable effect on the Jewish popular belief. The Jewish
-prophets, after the Captivity, would seem to have adopted much of what may
-be called their poetic language and machinery from the writings of the
-Magian teachers. The Talmud contains unmistakable evidence of its
-indebtedness to the same source. The Angelology of the Jewish doctors
-originated, probably during the captivity of the Tribes in Babylonia, in
-the Magian superstitions; and it was then that the complete angelic
-hierarchy was evolved, with its seven great archangels corresponding to
-the seven Amchaspands of the Zendavesta. It was then that for the first
-time the Jewish popular creed recognised the existence of two antagonistic
-hosts of spiritual beings, arrayed against each other in everlasting
-battle. Then was developed the fancy of a guardian angel attending every
-individual to shelter him from the malignant hostility of his Dev or
-demon. So that much of the mythology which Milton employs so effectively
-in "Paradise Lost," having borrowed it from the traditions and legends of
-the Hebrew race, came originally from the far East, and was invented by
-the followers of Zarathustra. The Miltonic and popular conception of
-Satan, so unlike the Biblical representation of the great Destroyer, was
-largely coloured from the Magian sketch of Ahriman, the Power of Darkness.
-
-It is certain that the grand and lofty Hebrew revelation of the One GOD
-was modified and debased by its contact with the Magian teaching. It has
-been well remarked that wherever any approximation had been made to this
-sublime truth of the existence of the one great First Cause, either "awful
-religious reverence" or "philosophic abstraction" had removed the Creative
-Power absolutely out of the range of human sense, and supposed that the
-intercourse of the Divinity with man, the moral government, and even the
-actual creative work, had been carried on by the intermediate agency of,
-in Oriental phrase, an Emanation, or, in Platonic language, of the
-"Wisdom," "Reason," or "Intelligence" of the Supreme. The Jews, under the
-influence of their intercourse with the Persians, adopted that conception,
-and, departing from the path laid down for them by Revelation, interposed
-one or more intermediate beings as the channels of communication between
-GOD and man. The Apostle seizes on the popular fancy, and endeavours to
-restore from it the original truth, when he tells his readers that the
-"Word" of which they spoke so vaguely and presumptuously was none other
-than GOD Himself,--the SON of GOD, but equal with the FATHER,--the
-brightness of His glory and the express image of His person. He showed
-them that the mediation between the lofty spiritual nature of GOD and the
-intellectual and moral being of Man was not to be accomplished through any
-independent agency, but by the revelation of GOD Himself in the person and
-presence of His beloved SON. That this, the essential and central truth of
-Christianity, was one which the unassisted human intellect could never
-have developed we know, from the fact that it is found in no creed of
-admittedly human origin, and that it is never clearly set forth even in
-any religious system which has borrowed from Christianity.
-
-We can imagine the ability of man to shape out for himself an idea of some
-awful Power, some mighty First Cause, which created and ordered the
-universe, and controlled and shaped its destinies. Looking around upon
-creation, he might, perhaps, without any severe intellectual effort,
-attain to the thought of a Creator. This conception once realised, he
-might in due time come to believe that the Creator could be pleased or
-angered by the doings of His creatures; and that the anger of One so
-powerful would be something to dread and avoid. But the idea of this grand
-and terrible Creator sending from Heaven His own Son to take upon Himself
-humanity, and thereby save the creature from the just wrath it had
-provoked, and the dread retribution it had deserved,--an idea, so glorious
-and consoling, could never, we believe, have been grasped by the loftiest
-human intellect, unless aided by a revelation from above.
-
-The exact relation of Zarathustrianism to Christianity it is somewhat
-difficult to define, because a cloud of doubt and uncertainty hangs over
-the compilation of the later portions of the Zendavesta. While the great
-antiquity of the Gathas cannot be disputed, while there is clear evidence
-that they contain much of the original teaching of Zarathustra,--teaching
-nobler and more exalted than that of his followers,--it seems not less
-certain that the doctrines of the Resurrection and the Future Life were
-borrowed from the Hebrews. What then is left to justify a comparison with
-Christianity? The keynote of its scheme is intellectual pride; that of the
-Christian religion, spiritual abasement. The former urges on its disciples
-the necessity of good thoughts, words, and deeds in order to please
-Ahura-Mazda; the latter, as a proof of faith in the mission of its
-Founder. The former teaches an excellent code of morals, so far as relates
-to the individual; the latter lays down one golden rule, "Do unto others
-as thou wouldest they should do unto thee." The former enforces the law of
-self-control; the latter of self-renunciation. It is impossible to pretend
-that Magianism shows the same insight into man's wants, failings,
-passions, temptations, as Christianity shows; or provides a system so
-capable of adaptation to every age, and rank, and character.
-
-We see no reason to doubt the authenticity and antiquity of the
-Zendavesta; but it is somewhat surprising that scholars who make haste to
-accept _it_ as genuine, should show so much scepticism in reference to the
-Christian Scriptures. Surely, as regards the latter, the evidence of
-genuineness is infinitely stronger than as regards the former. We know
-that they were implicitly accepted by men who lived almost in the very
-time of those who recorded them; on the other hand, of Zarathustra and his
-contemporaries or successors we know absolutely nothing. Some authorities
-represent him to have flourished as early as 2200 B.C.; others as late as
-500 B.C. Some consider him to have been the founder of a dynasty; others
-invest him with a supernatural personality. But at the best he remains
-_nominis umbra_; as indistinct and shadowy, as in his teaching he is cold
-and clear. Of the authenticity of his writings the principal proofs are
-those derivable from the writings themselves. But if we allow that such
-proofs are admissible, what shall we say of those to be found in the
-Gospels and Epistles? As their morality is so much more elevated than that
-of the Zendavesta, so is the certainty of their Divine origin infinitely
-more assured. The class of testimony which asserts the authenticity of the
-one not less convincingly affirms the genuineness of the other. And if the
-Gospels are all that they purport to be, how can we avoid the conclusion
-that they are truthful also in the witness they bear to the life and
-character of CHRIST?
-
-We may point to a remarkable contrast between Magianism and
-Christianity,--that the former has undergone an almost complete revolution
-of meaning and doctrine, while, in spite of sectarian glosses, the latter
-remains virtually unaltered. The faith once for all delivered to the
-saints is held by believers to-day in all its original purity. We repeat
-the Creed just as it fell from the rapt lips of martyrs, saints and
-confessors. But the monotheism of Zarathustra has been broken up into a
-curious Dualism; and upon the religious system of the Gathas has been
-accumulated such a burden of ritual, of novel teaching, of borrowed
-dogmas, and alien mysteries, that the acutest students are almost baffled
-in their endeavours to distinguish the false from the true, and the new
-from the old. It is almost impossible to determine what belongs to the
-Zarathustrian original, and what to perversions or adaptations from the
-Jewish Scriptures.
-
-It is an indisputable testimony to the living force and divine genius of
-Christianity, that it occupies a void which no one of the primitive
-religions has ever been able to fill. We find it difficult to conceive
-that any man who has once been a Christian could voluntarily embrace
-Zarathustrianism or Buddhism, and attempt to satisfy his soul with it, any
-more than with the philosophy of the Stoics. We are tempted to ask,
-indeed, whether either could at any time have satisfied the cravings of
-humanity. We know that all their ethical schemes could not lift the sages
-of Greece and Rome out of the deep, the intense sadness which possessed
-them, nor respond to their yearnings after a something they could neither
-describe nor define. Their state of thought and feeling has been expressed
-by a modern poet, Matthew Arnold, with what seems to us a wonderful
-fidelity:--
-
-            "Nor only in the intent
-            To attach blame elsewhere,
-            Do we at will invent
-            Stern powers who make their care
-  To embitter human life, malignant deities.
-
-            "But next, we would reverse
-            The scheme ourselves have spun,
-            And what we made to curse
-            We now would lean upon,
-  And feign kind gods who perfect what man vainly tries....
-
-            "We pause, we hush our heart,
-            And then address the gods:
-            'The world hath failed to impart
-            The joy our youth forebodes,
-  Failed to fill up the void which in our breasts we bear!'"
-
-Their principles of thought were pure, but they felt that there existed a
-purity which was beyond their reach; their standard of conduct was high,
-but they were inwardly conscious that it ought to be higher. On that
-golden "ladder of sunbeams" which rises from earth to the angel-guarded
-battlements of heaven, they had ascended a few timid steps, but above and
-beyond they could see a glory to which it was not given them to rise.
-Hence it has often been said, and justly, that the men were greater than
-their system; and such, so far as Magianism was concerned, may well have
-been the case with the loftier minds of Bactria and Persia. But it can
-never be pretended that the Christian is greater than Christianity. Let
-him be ever so holy in his living, ever so exalted in his aspirations, he
-will not seek for something _beyond_ and _out of_ Christianity, because he
-feels and knows that he cannot exhaust all its capabilities; that it soars
-far higher than he can ever soar. It has truths which the profoundest
-psychologist cannot fathom; it opens up visions which the boldest
-imagination cannot comprehend; it contains a wealth of emotion and
-sympathy which the most passionate soul can never exhaust. After we have
-said and done all we can, after we have mastered all that has been said
-and done by other men, we still find in the life and character of CHRIST
-that which may well engage, and yet never weary our attention. And here we
-touch upon a feature which no human system of religion or morality has
-ever matched. Strip the Zendavesta, if you will, of all its later and less
-worthy adjuncts, and yet it cannot, any more than the Rig-Veda, present us
-with the divine beauty of the Man of Sorrows. But this it is which fills,
-soothes, blesses, inspires the aching, restless, craving human heart. When
-it can no longer satisfy itself with the cold moralities of philosophy,
-when it pines for a deeper and a warmer life, when it is weary with
-problems which it cannot solve, and disappointed in hopes which it has
-seen fade away like dreams of the night, it turns to the Cross and is
-comforted. The mysteries which perplexed it vanish in the light that
-emanates from the Divine history of the SON of GOD. The awe with which it
-regards the passionless abstraction of a great First Cause, a supreme
-entity of Power and Wisdom without Love, passes into reverent admiration
-and joyous thanksgiving when it looks up into the face of the Good
-Shepherd, and reposes in the shadow of the Vine, and learns how that He
-Who was with the FATHER before the beginning, has suffered even as we
-suffer, has borne the heavy burden of the flesh even as we have borne it,
-and now sits on the right hand of GOD,--not an idea, not a principle, not
-a Spirit, but a PERSON, bidding all who believe to come unto Him and be at
-rest.
-
-This, indeed, is the cardinal merit of Christianity,--it has given us
-CHRIST.
-
-GOD forbid that we should deny a certain value even to the "unconscious
-prophecies of heathendom," or refuse to see something of the spirit of
-CHRIST in the teaching of the ancient sages and philosophers; but when an
-attempt is made to raise Magianism to an equal rank with Christianity, and
-the cold intellectual utterances of the Zendavesta to rank with the
-living voices of Holy Writ, it is essential to point out how vast, how
-impassable is the gulf between them; how little Magianism did or could do
-to elevate man's spiritual nature; and how largely Christianity surpasses
-it, in and through the manifestation of the Divine love in the mystery of
-GOD made Man.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER III.
-
-_JEWISH SUPERSTITIONS._
-
-
-THE TALMUD.
-
-The Talmud, (from the Hebrew _lamad_, to learn,) is the name given to the
-great code of the Jewish civil and canonical law. It is divided, like the
-Zendavesta, into two parts, the Mishna and the Gemara; the former being,
-as it were, the text, and the latter the commentary and supplement. Of
-late years public attention has been exceptionally drawn to it by the
-writings of the late Emanuel Deutsch, and it has obtained, as we think, a
-wholly undeserved amount of panegyric.
-
-Deutsch, an enthusiast in his attachment to the land and religion of his
-forefathers, put it forward as a wondrous treasure, the real value of
-which had been wholly overlooked. It contained, he seemed to say, a
-complete _corpus juris_; and, as an encyclopaedia of law, should be
-compared with the corresponding collections of Roman or of English law,
-with the Pandects of Justinian and the Commentaries of Blackstone. Herein
-lies the excuse for rules that have been considered unduly subtle, or in
-other ways offensive to modern taste. But it contains something more than
-a body of law; it is also a collection of Jewish poetry and legend, of
-Jewish science, and Jewish metaphysical speculation. The Mishna is a
-development of the laws contained in the Pentateuch. The members of the
-Sanhedrim, who were chiefly concerned in the formation of this law, were
-obliged (so argues Deutsch) to be accomplished men. It was necessary that
-they should possess some knowledge of physical science, or at least of
-zoology, botany, and geography in their then condition. It was necessary
-also that they should be good linguists, having some acquaintance with
-Latin and Greek, as well as with Aramaic, Syriac, and Hebrew. Disreputable
-men were kept out, and all were compelled to be married men and fathers of
-families. "The origin of the Talmud," he says, "is coeval with the return
-from the Babylonish captivity." And though it is the glory of Christianity
-to have carried into the heart of humanity at large the golden germs of
-thought previously hidden in the schools of the learned, yet numerous
-precepts, supposed to be purely Christian, lie enshrined in the pages of
-the Talmud. It would be difficult to find a penal legislation more
-distinctly humane. As for its myths, its allegories, its apparent
-absurdities, they should be read in the spirit in which Christians read
-Bunyan's "Pilgrim's Progress." The Talmud insists upon the pre-existence
-of the soul, on the dogmas of Immortality and the Resurrection, it denies
-the doctrine of everlasting damnation; it excludes no human being from the
-world to come. And as the Talmud, continues Deutsch, although redacted at
-a later period, is, in point of time, prior to the New Testament, the
-beautiful maxims of the former cannot have been borrowed from the latter.
-In a word, it is a collection which took nearly a thousand years to form,
-and has been commented upon for a thousand years since. It breathes
-charity to all men. If we except a few items of coarseness, such as must
-occur in every legal code, it is all good; at least, it is never bad; it
-deserves all possible respect and even reverence. Such, in a condensed
-form, is the account of the Talmud which Deutsch asks us to accept.
-
-But it cannot be admitted that the defects of the Talmud are trivial, any
-more than that the spirit of the Rabbins towards Christianity was
-tolerant. Nor can it be admitted that the Talmud owes nothing to the
-Christian Scriptures.
-
-On the first point hear what Professor Hurwitz says:--"The Talmud contains
-many things which every enlightened, nay, every pious Jew, must sincerely
-wish had never appeared there, or should at least long ago have been
-expunged from its pages. Some of these Agadatha are objectionable _per
-se_; others, indeed, are susceptible of explanations, but without them are
-calculated to produce false and erroneous impressions." So much may be
-said, we think, of the legends in the Talmud; such as the size of
-Leviathan and the way in which he is to be killed and cooked for the
-chosen people, and the marriage of Adam with Lilith before the creation of
-Eve, with the diabolic progeny which sprang from them.
-
-Another point to be considered is the influence of the Alexandrian books,
-commonly known by us as the Apocrypha. Of these the Books of Wisdom and
-Ecclesiasticus at any rate exhibit the reflections of singularly devout
-and thoughtful minds, which had exercised themselves in the contemplation
-of the writings of Moses and the prophets in combination with no
-inconsiderable tincture of Greek philosophy. It would be a question of
-great interest to see how far ideas suggested in those very remarkable
-compositions have found their way into the Talmud.
-
-As regards the sentiments of the Rabbins towards Christianity: in the
-reign of Domitian, (that is, about A.D. 90,) the Sanhedrim took measures
-against the Minim, that is to say, the degenerated; for so they called the
-Jews who had been converted to Christianity. The Rabbi Tarphon said:--"The
-Gospels and all the books of the Minim deserve to be burnt, for Paganism
-is less dangerous: the Pagans misunderstand the truths of Judaism from
-ignorance, the Minim deny them with full knowledge of the case. Better to
-seek an asylum in a Pagan temple than in the synagogues of the Minim." The
-Sanhedrim of Jamnia and other similar bodies adopted the like tone. And it
-was men like these who helped to form the Talmud.
-
-Not the less it remains true, that every powerful movement which has
-occurred in the world's history has shown a part of its power in the way
-it has influenced opponents. The Reformation, as the Ultramontane De
-Maistre is compelled to admit, wrought a very perceptible change even
-among Roman Catholics. The French Revolution of 1793 did not leave
-Legitimists in the position they had occupied before its outbreak. Now
-Christianity is the greatest movement the world has ever seen. Dean
-Merivale in his excellent "History of the Romans under the Empire," states
-with no less eloquence than truth the immense indirect influence which it
-had begun to exercise on heathen thought by the end even of the first
-century. We can trace it in Pagan literature. But Deutsch and similar
-Talmudophilists would have us believe that it had no influence whatever
-upon the Talmud, and that whenever we find kindred thoughts in the
-teaching of Christianity, and in the teaching of their favourite work, it
-is the Gospel which is indebted to the Talmud and not the Talmud to the
-Gospel.
-
-But for our part we wholly dissent from this extraordinary theory, which,
-indeed, cannot be supported by any chronological evidence. There are
-occasions, of course, in which dates become of comparatively trifling
-importance. A man feels troubled, for example, with the enigmas of life,
-and finds light and consolation in reading the book of Job; that most
-beautiful book--_quel bellissimo libro_, as the Italian poet Giusti called
-it. Some friend, finding him thus engaged, begins to argue in favour of
-Bishop Warburton's view, that it is a composition of comparatively late
-date, perhaps of the age of Jeremiah, and not (as used to be generally
-supposed) as early as the time of Moses. In such a case a man may well
-reply, that without any wish to discourage critical inquiry in its proper
-place, he is content for the present to go on reading for his soul's
-health, to accept the words before him as a message from above, and to
-feel sure that whenever GOD gave it, it was given at the time when it was
-most needed. But in the case of the Talmud dates are of real and living
-importance, though we own that it is difficult to fix them with accuracy.
-We believe, however, with one of Deutsch's critics, that Christian
-elements _have_ found their way into the Talmud, though doubtless,
-pre-Christian ideas, similar to those which are met with in the Books of
-Wisdom and Ecclesiasticus, are also to be found there. Is it not true that
-the Mishna was brought into its present form by Rabbi Jehudah, surnamed
-the Holy, about A.D. 200, and that the Gemara was not completed until A.D.
-500? Deutsch, indeed, appeals to the article in the "Novellae
-Constitutiones" (or _Novels_, as they are commonly called) of Justinian
-against the Talmud. The reference is correct enough, but the _Novels_
-belong to the later parts of Justinian's reign, and were not promulgated
-before the year 534.
-
-It is well known that at the present time there are three parties among
-the Jews who differ widely as to the amount of respect which ought to be
-paid to the legislation contained within the pages of the Talmud. Two out
-of these parties would greatly modify it, or actually sweep it away. We
-believe that its influence upon practice is not destined to endure; and
-that though there _is_ a book which will continue so to influence life,
-that book is not the Talmud, but the Bible. The Talmud has its curiosities
-and even beauties, as well as its gross absurdities and defects; but,
-after all, it will be found, we believe, that it often reflects but too
-truly the mind of those of whom it was said, "Ye have made the commandment
-of GOD of none effect by your traditions."
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-With these preliminary observations, we pass on to a more particular
-description of the Talmud.
-
-There are two Talmuds, the one called the Talmud of the Occidentals, or
-the "Jerusalem" Talmud, and the other the "Babylonian" Talmud. The former
-of these originally included the whole of the first five _Sedarim_ (or
-portions,) but now consists of only thirty-nine treatises. Its final
-redaction is supposed to have taken place towards the close of the fourth
-Christian century, but the authorities engaged in the work cannot now be
-determined. But it is certainly distinguished by more accuracy of
-expression and precision of statement than the second or Babylonian, or
-"our" Talmud, which makes use of its predecessor, and was not completed
-for a century later. Its editor is generally considered to be Rabbi Ashi,
-president of the Academy of Syro in Babylon (A.D. 365-427.) Both the
-Mishna, though revised in A.D. 219, and the "Palestine" Gemara, had become
-greatly corrupted through the interpolation of gross traditions and the
-critical judgments of different schools, when Rabbi Ashi, with the
-assistance of his friend and disciple, Abina, undertook the labour of
-sifting the old from the new, and introducing order into chaos.
-
-Ashi was appointed to the headship of the school of Sora at the age of
-twenty-three, and under his rule Sora became the head-quarters of
-Rabbinism in the East. When he entered on the redaction of the Mishna and
-Gemara, he began by assembling yearly at the great feasts the most learned
-Hebrews, and examining them with respect to their traditional practices
-and expositions. He then called together his disciples every spring, and
-gave out to them a particular treatise of the Mishna; in the autumn they
-again came before him with all the information relative to it they had
-collected in the interval. This he personally investigated, and reduced
-into shape. The Mishna being composed of sixty-three treatises, he was
-thus engaged for upwards of thirty years. The final revision occupied him
-twenty-two years. At the time of his death (in his seventy-fifth year) the
-work was all but completed; the last touches were given by his friend,
-Rabbi Abina.
-
-The Mosaic is the written law of the Jews; the Mishna, the oral. The
-latter is the very basis of Judaism, is its civil, religious, and
-juridico-political code,--an explanation and amplification of the Mosaic.
-It was developed out of the authoritative decisions of the schools and of
-certain distinct and well-authenticated traditions which were traced back
-to Sinai itself. Thus there were two chief sections, or parts: _Halacoth_,
-the rabbinical decisions, and _Haggadah_, the traditional narratives and
-popular illustrations. Of the great bulk of the former the reputed author
-is Hillel, the head of the Sanhedrim in the early part of Herod the
-Great's reign, but, probably, he only collected them. Maimonides arranges
-them under five heads:--
-
-    _a._ Mosaic and Scriptural;
-
-    _b._ Mosaic and traditional;
-
-    _c._ Dicta and decisions generally received, but doubtful;
-
-    _d._ Decisions of the wise, given by them as "hedges of the law;" and
-
-    _e._ Counsels of prudence, which it was well to follow, though they
-    had no legal authority.
-
-The Haggadic narratives are generally of a light and amusing character,
-though occasionally a deep significance underlies them, converting them
-into allegories and fables and parables well worthy the attention of the
-student, though he may not think so highly of them as Frankel, who
-exclaims: "They are as vivid flashes: or as those spirits of light in
-Jewish myth, that flow forth in daily myriads from GOD'S throne, and then
-vanish to make way for others."
-
-The Halacoth and Haggadoth accumulated rapidly after the Captivity,
-representing in due time "a body of traditional exposition of high
-authority, which increased rapidly, and required the life-long study of a
-numerous body of Sopherim, or Scribes, to digest and hand on without loss
-to succeeding generations." Soon it outgrew the grasp of even the
-strongest memory and the profoundest application, and it became evident
-that, unless put upon record, all that was valuable would perish, and only
-that be preserved which chanced to be in accordance with popular
-sentiment. To the digest made by Hillel, Simon ben Gamaliel added the
-worthiest of the later material; and his son, Jehudah the Holy, entered on
-a complete redaction and revision, which he published in A.D. 219. Hillel,
-grandfather of the Gamaliel at whose feet S. Paul sat, had arranged the
-traditional Halacoth under eighteen heads; Jehudah re-arranged them into
-six Sedarim, or sections:--
-
-    1. _Zeraim_ (Seeds,) on Agriculture;
-
-    2. _Moed_ (Feast,) on the Sabbath, Festivals, and Fasts;
-
-    3. _Nashim_ (Women,) on Marriage, Divorce, &c., including the laws on
-    Vows and the Nazirship;
-
-    4. _Nizikin_ (Damages,) chiefly civil and penal law, including the
-    ethical treatise Aboth;
-
-    5. _Kadashim_ (Sacred things,) Sacrifices, &c., a description of the
-    Temple at Jerusalem, &c.;
-
-    6. _Tehoroth_ (Purifications,) on pure and impure persons and things.
-
-We now see that, about A.D. 221 Jehudah the Holy created the Mishna, we
-have already seen that three centuries later, the same exhaustive work of
-redaction and revision was done for the Gemara,--the two forming what is
-now known as the Talmud. The two "editors" received each his peculiar
-title of honour; Jehudah was styled Rabbina, Ashi Rabban.
-
-Of the language of the Babylon Talmud it is said that it is debased with
-foreign and barbarous terms and grammatical solecisms to a much greater
-extent than the "Jerusalem Talmud." Mr. Blunt asserts that "the Haggadic
-narratives resemble more closely the vernacular Aramaic, showing their
-origin in ordinary folk lore. The Halacoth are in Mishnic Hebrew, carrying
-evidence of higher date. The style is so exceedingly concise as to make
-the sense that it contains a microscopic study. The difficulties indeed
-of the Gemara are so great, that no one need think to master them
-thoroughly who has not drawn in Gemara with his mother's milk. The study
-of the Talmud presumes a thorough knowledge also of the Hebrew Bible, a
-single word often indicating an entire passage. The wonderful moral
-confusion of the Talmud, the mixed character of which may be detected in
-every page, is nowhere more strikingly exemplified than in the prayer put
-by the Gemarist into the mouth of Rabbi Nechoniah ben Hakakana, on
-entering the school, or Beth Midrash, and quitting it again in the
-evening."
-
-The morning prayer was as follows:--
-
-"I beseech Thee that no scandal may occur through fault of mine, and that
-I err not in matters of Halacah, so as to cause my colleagues to exult.
-May I not call impurity pure, or purity impure; and may my colleagues not
-blunder in matters of Halacah, that I may have no cause to triumph over
-them."
-
-The spirit of this prayer, in its meekness and modesty, is truly
-commendable, and presents a striking contrast to that of the evening
-prayer:--
-
-"I thank Thee that Thou hast given me my portion among those who have a
-seat in the Beth Midrash, and that Thou hast not cast my lot among those
-who sit in the corner. I early rise, and they early rise; but I rise to
-the service of the law, they to vanity. I labour, and they also labour,
-but I labour and receive a recompense; they labour, but receive nothing. I
-hasten, and they also hasten; but I hasten in the direction of the world
-to come, they hasten towards the pit of destruction."
-
-It is impossible to believe that both these prayers come from the same
-source; "sweet waters and bitter" do not alike flow from the fountain of
-Marah.
-
-With respect to the general character of the Talmud, with all its weakness
-and strength, its beauty and deformity, its poetry and commonplace, its
-tender wisdom and glaring absurdity, we cannot do better than quote the
-moderate opinion of the writer already cited, as infinitely more
-trustworthy than the dithyrambic utterances of Deutsch and his imitators.
-He says:--
-
-"In its origin it was the result of an almost necessary development.
-Starting with the axiom that the law of Moses is binding on the children
-of Abraham in every generation, its precepts have been applied to the
-changing habits and customs of the Jews in different ages and under
-various climates, by a literal interpretation when possible, otherwise on
-the _ci-pres_ principle, rarely by giving a new direction to its
-enactments, as instanced under the Hillel _regime_. It is this application
-of the Law to the needs of Jewish Society, by a process slow and gradual,
-that has made each successive stage of development, in Jewish opinion,
-more valuable than its predecessors. Thus if the Law has been likened to
-water, the Mishna, which gives a later direction to its precepts, is as
-wine; and the Gemara, declaring as it does the sense in which the Mishnic
-Hilkoth are to be taken, is as hippocras. It is not that the Law is less,
-or that the traditional decisions and expository matter are more sacred,
-but the latest phase of judicial interpretation is the most binding; and
-where the rule of action is clear and decisive, no antecedent utterance
-need trouble the inquirer. Yet the Talmud has always been antiquated. It
-has never known the sunshine of youth. It has still been the mouldering,
-moss-grown ruin. In its origin it presupposed vital action where there was
-nothing but death; Temple service with the Temple hopelessly in ruins,
-'not one stone upon another;' sacrificial rites that were impossible
-without an altar, and for which certain prayers were substituted,
-carefully numbered out, and made binding on the individual in lieu of
-public offering.... Nothing can be more completely out of place than
-strict Talmudism amid the complications of modern society; it is
-impossible to make its precepts consist with the social and political
-duties of the highly educated Jew. Our LORD, Who came not to destroy the
-Law, but to fulfil it, has pointed out those modes of dealing with the Law
-in its higher and more spiritual bearings, that in the end must be
-accepted by Israel as his truest wisdom."
-
-Mr. Deutsch gives the following account of the six sections of the
-Mishna:--
-
-"Section I. _Seeds_: of Agrarian laws, commencing with a chapter on
-Prayers. In this section the various tithes and donations due to the
-Priests, the Levites, and the poor, from the products of the lands, and
-further the Sabbatical year, and the prohibited mixtures in plants,
-animals, and garments, are treated of.
-
-"Section II. _Feasts_: of Sabbaths, Feast and Fast days, the work
-prohibited, the ceremonies ordained, the sacrifices to be offered, on
-them. Special chapters are devoted to the Feast of the Exodus from Egypt,
-to the New Year's Day, to the Day of Atonement (one of the most impressive
-portions of the whole book,) to the Feast of Tabernacles, and to that of
-Haman.
-
-"Section III. _Women_: of betrothal, marriage, divorce, &c.; also of vows.
-
-"Section IV. _Damages_: including a great part of the civil and criminal
-law. It treats of a law of trades, of buying and selling, and the ordinary
-monetary transactions. Further, of the greatest crime known to the law,
-viz., idolatry. Next of witnesses, of oaths, of legal punishments, and of
-the Sanhedrim itself. This section concludes with the so-called 'Sentences
-of the Fathers,' containing some of the sublimest ethical dicta known in
-the history of religious philosophy.
-
-"Section V. _Sacred Things_: of sacrifices, the first-born, &c.; also of
-the measurements of the Temple (Middoth).
-
-"Section VI. _Purifications_: of the various Levitical and other Hygienic
-laws, of impure things and persons, their purification, &c."[22]
-
-In defence of the Haggadah, with all its incongruities, puerilities, and
-absurdities, it is only just to hear what Deutsch, its enthusiastic
-apostle, has to say. And first he applies to it the rhyming apology which
-Bunyan put forward on behalf of his great allegory,--which, by the way,
-Mr. Deutsch surely misrepresents and misunderstands when he speaks of it
-as Haggadistic:--
-
-  "... Wouldst thou divert thyself from melancholy?
-  Wouldst thou be pleasant, yet be far from folly?
-  Wouldst thou read riddles and their explanation?
-  Or else be drowned in thy contemplation?
-  Dost thou love picking meat? Or wouldst thou see
-  A man in the clouds, and hear him speak to thee?
-  Wouldst thou be in a dream, and yet not sleep?
-  Or wouldst thou in a moment laugh and weep?
-  Wouldst lose thyself, and catch no harm?
-  And find thyself again without a charm?
-  Wouldst read thyself, and read thou know'st not what
-  And yet know whether thou art blest or not
-  By reading the same lines? O then come hither,
-  And lay this book, thy head and heart together."
-
-Mr. Deutsch thus seeks to disarm antagonists by a skilful concession. He
-does not wonder--not he--that the so-called "Rabbinical stories,"
-submitted at intervals to the English public, should have met with an
-unflattering reception. The Talmud, which has always at hand a drastic
-word, says of their collectors:--"They dived into an ocean, and brought up
-a potsherd." But then, he says, these follies form only a small item in
-the vast mass of allegories, parables, and the like, that compose the
-Haggadah. And, besides, they are partly ill-chosen, partly ill-translated,
-and partly did not even belong to the Talmud, but to some recent Jewish
-story books. Herder--to name the most famous critic of the "Poetry of
-Peoples"--has spoken most eulogistically of what he saw of the genuine
-specimens. And, indeed, "not only is the entire world of pious biblical
-legend which Islam has said and sung in its many tongues to the delight of
-the wise and simple for twelve centuries, now to be found either in embryo
-or fully developed in the Haggadah, but much that is familiar among
-ourselves in the circles of mediaeval sagas, in Dante, in Boccaccio, in
-Cervantes, in Milton, in Bunyan, has consciously or unconsciously flowed
-out of this wondrous realm, the Haggadah. That much of it is overstrained,
-even according to Eastern notions, we do not deny. But," argues Mr.
-Deutsch, "there are feeble passages even in Homer and Shakespeare." To
-this it may be replied, that in Homer and Shakespeare such passages are
-rare, and do not form the bulk of their writings; and, moreover, that for
-the Iliad or for Hamlet we do not claim the position of authority which is
-claimed for the Talmud.
-
-Let us glance briefly at the cosmogony of the Talmud. It assumes that the
-universe has been developed by means of a series of cataclysms; that world
-was destroyed after world, until GOD made "this world, and saw that it
-was very good." It assumes also that the kosmos was wrought out of some
-original substance, itself created by GOD. "One or three things were
-before this world,--Water, Fire, and Wind; Water begat the darkness, Fire
-begat light, and Wind begat the spirit of Wisdom."
-
-"The _how_ of the creation was not mere matter of speculation. The
-co-operation of angels, whose existence was warranted by Scripture, and a
-whole hierarchy of whom had been built up under Persian influences, was
-distinctly denied. In a discussion about the day of their creation, it is
-agreed on all hands that there were no angels at first, lest men might
-say, 'Michael spanned out the firmament on the south, and Gabriel to the
-north.'" There is a distinct foreshadowing of the Gnostic Demiurgos--that
-antique link between the Divine Spirit and the world of matter--to be
-found in the Talmud. What with Plato were the Ideas, with Philo the Logos,
-with the Kabbalists the "World of Aziluth," what the Gnostics called more
-emphatically the wisdom ([Greek: sophia]), or power ([Greek: dynamis]),
-and Plotinus the [Greek: nous], that the Talmudical authors call Metation.
-There is a good deal, in the post-captivity Talmud, about the Angels,
-borrowed from the Persian. The Archangels or Angelic princes are seven in
-number, and their Hebrew names and functions correspond almost exactly to
-those of their Persian prototypes. There are also hosts of ministering
-angels, the Persian _Yazatas_, whose functions, besides that of being
-messengers, were twofold,--to praise GOD, and to be guardians of man. In
-their first capacity they are daily created by GOD'S breath out of a
-stream of fire that rolls its waves under the supernal throne. In their
-second, two of them accompany every man, and for every new good deed man
-acquires a new guardian angel, who always watches over his steps. When a
-righteous man dies, three hosts of angels descend from the celestial
-battlements to meet him. One says, (in the words of Scripture,) "He shall
-go in peace;" the second takes up the strain and says, "Who has walked in
-righteousness;" and the third concludes, "Let him come in peace and rest
-upon his bed." In like manner, when the wicked man passes away, three
-hosts of wicked angels are ready to escort him, but their address is not
-couched in any spirit of consolation or encouragement.
-
-There are various indications in the Talmud of a belief in the
-resurrection and immortality of the soul. The resurrection, it teaches, is
-to be brought about by the mystic influence of the "Dew of life" in
-Jerusalem. It does not uphold the dogma of everlasting damnation, though
-it allows that the punishment of apostates, idolaters, and traitors will
-endure for "generations upon generations."
-
-In conclusion, it is but fair that we should present the brighter and
-better aspect of this extraordinary book, its ethical side, and afford
-some illustrations of the moral and religious philosophy which pervades
-it,--which is its salt, and preserves its savour. The following sayings
-have been translated by Deutsch.[23] Many of them bear a striking
-resemblance to the great and glorious sayings of the Gospels; and to us it
-seems impossible to doubt that they evidence the influence of the former.
-It is true that the Talmud as a whole preceded the New Testament, but as
-its redaction took place at a much later period, we see nothing absurd in
-the hypothesis that its redactors had felt the spell of the Christian
-teaching, and occasionally introduced some of its rare and precious
-threads of purest silk into the coarse woof woven by traditionalists,
-scholiasts, and commentators:--
-
-The house that does not open to the poor shall open to the physician; even
-the birds in the air despise the miser. He who gives charity in secret is
-greater than Moses himself. Honour the sons of the poor, it is they who
-bring science into splendour.
-
-Let the honour of thy neighbour be to thee like thine own. Rather be
-thrown into a fiery furnace than bring any one to public shame.
-
-Hospitality is the most important part of divine worship. There are three
-crowns: of the law, the priesthood, the kingship; but the crown of a good
-name is greater than they all.
-
-Iron breaks the stone, fire melts iron, water extinguishes fire, the
-clouds drink up the water, a storm drives away the clouds, man withstands
-the storm, fear unmans man, wine dispels fear, sleep drives away wine, and
-death sweeps all away--even sleep. But Solomon the Wise says, Charity
-saves from death.
-
-The dog sticks to you on account of the crumbs in your pocket.
-
-The camel wanted to have horns, and they took away his ears.
-
-The soldiers fight, and the kings are the heroes.
-
-He in whose family there has been one hanged should not say to his
-neighbour, Pray hang this little fish up for me.
-
-The cock and the owl both await the daylight. The light, says the cock,
-brings delight to me; but what are _you_ waiting for?
-
-When the thief has no opportunity for stealing, he considers himself an
-honest man.
-
-If thy friends agree in calling thee an ass, go and get a halter round
-thee.
-
-Fools are no proof.
-
-One eats, another says grace.
-
-He who is ashamed will not easily commit sin. There is a great difference
-between him who is ashamed before his own self, and him who is only
-ashamed before others. It is a good sign in man to be capable of being
-ashamed. One contrition in man's heart is better than many flagellations.
-
-How can you escape sin? Think of three things,--whence thou camest,
-whither thou goest, and to whom thou wilt have to account for all thy
-deeds,--even to the King of kings, the All-holy, praised be He.
-
-Love your wife like yourself, honour her more than yourself. Whosoever
-lives unmarried lives without joy, without comfort, without blessing.
-Descend a step in choosing a wife. If thy wife is small, bend down to her
-and whisper into her ear. He who forsakes the love of his youth, GOD'S
-altar weeps for him. He who sees his wife die before him, has, as it were,
-been present at the destruction of the sanctuary itself, around him the
-world grows dark. It is woman alone through whom GOD'S blessings are
-vouchsafed to a house. She teaches the children, speeds the husband to the
-place of worship and instruction, welcomes him when he returns, keeps the
-house godly and pure, and GOD'S blessings rest upon all these things. He
-who marries for money, his children shall be a curse to him.
-
-After the thief runs the theft; after the beggar, poverty.
-
-While thy foot is shod, smash the thorn.
-
-When the ox is down, many are the butchers.
-
-Luck makes rich, luck makes wise.
-
-If you wish to hang yourself, choose a big tree.
-
-When the pitcher falls upon the stone, woe unto the pitcher; when the
-stone falls upon the pitcher, woe unto the pitcher; whatever befalls, woe
-unto the pitcher.
-
-Youth is a garland of roses, age a crown of thorns.
-
-Be thou the cursed, not he who curses. Be of them that are persecuted, not
-of them that persecute. Look at Scripture, there is not a single bird more
-persecuted than the dove, yet GOD has chosen her to be offered up on His
-altar. The bull is hunted by the lion, the sheep by the wolf, the goat by
-the tiger. And GOD said, "Bring Me a sacrifice not from them that
-persecute, but from them that are persecuted."
-
-"Hath GOD pleasure in the meat and blood of sacrifices?" asks the prophet.
-No; He has not so much ordained as permitted them. It is for yourselves,
-He says, not for Me that you offer, Like a king, who sees his son
-carousing daily with all manner of evil companions: You shall henceforth
-eat and drink entirely at your will at my own table, he says. They offered
-sacrifices to demons and devils, for they loved sacrificing, and would not
-do without it. And the LORD said, "Bring your offerings to Me, you shall
-then at least offer to the true GOD."
-
-Even when the gates of heaven are shut to prayer, they are open to tears.
-
-The reward of good works is like dates, sweet and late to ripen.
-
-Life is a passing shadow, says the Scripture. Is it the shadow of a tower,
-of a tree? A shadow that prevails for a while? No, it is the shadow of a
-bird in his flight,--away speeds the bird, and there is neither bird nor
-shadow.
-
-Repent one day before thy death. There was a king who bade all his
-servants to a great repast, but did not indicate the hour; some went home
-and put on their best garments, and stood at the door of the palace;
-others said, There is ample time, the king will let us know beforehand.
-But the king summoned them of a sudden; and those that came in their best
-garments were well received, but the foolish ones, who came in their
-slovenliness, were turned away in disgrace. Repent to-day, lest to-morrow
-you might be called.
-
-He who has more learning than good works is like a tree with many branches
-but few roots, which the first wind throws on its face; whilst he whose
-works are greater than his knowledge, is like a tree with many roots but
-fewer branches, but which all the winds of heaven cannot uproot.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER IV.
-
-_BRAHMANISM._
-
-
-THE BRAHMANS.
-
-In the "Book of Sir Marco Polo" occurs a quaint description of the
-_Abraiaman_ or Brahmans, which, though inaccurate in some of its details,
-seems worth quotation here:--
-
-You must know, he says, that these Abraiaman are the best merchants in the
-world [an obvious misconception!] and the most truthful, for they would
-not tell a lie for anything on earth. If a foreign merchant who does not
-know the ways of the country apply to them, and place his goods in their
-hands, they will take charge of them most loyally, selling them to the
-best advantage, seeking jealously the profit of the foreigner, and asking
-no commission except what he pleases to bestow. They eat no flesh, drink
-no wine, and live a life of great chastity; nor would they on any account
-take what belongs to another, for so their law commands. And they are all
-distinguished by wearing a thread of cotton over one shoulder and tied
-under the other arm, so that it crosses the breast and the back.
-
-They have a rich and powerful king, who is eager to purchase precious
-stones and large pearls; and he sends these Abraiaman merchants into the
-kingdom of Maabar called Soli, which is the best and noblest Province of
-India, and where the best pearls are found, to fetch him as many of these
-as they can get, and he pays them double the cost price for all. So in
-this way he has a vast treasure of such valuables.
-
-These Abraiaman are idolaters; and they give greater heed to signs and
-omens than any people that exist. I will mention one of their customs as
-an example. To every day of the week they assign a special augury. Suppose
-some purchase is on foot; he who proposes to become the buyer takes note,
-when he rises in the morning, of his shadow in the sun, which ought, he
-says, on that day to be of such and such a length; and should his shadow
-be of the proper length for that day he completes his purchase; if it be
-not, he will on no account do so, but waits till his shadow reaches the
-prescribed measurement. For there is a certain length fixed for every day
-in the week; and the merchant will not complete any business unless he
-finds his shadow of the length set down for that particular day. Also to
-each day in the week they assign one hour as unlucky, which they term
-_Choiach_. For example, on Monday the hour of Half-tierce (7 to 8 a.m.),
-on Tuesday that of Tierce, (9 to 10 a.m.), on Wednesday Nones (12 to 1
-p.m.), and so on.
-
-Again, if one of them be in the house, and, while meditating a purchase,
-should see a tarantula (such as is very common in that country) on the
-wall, provided that it advance from a quarter which he deems lucky, he
-will complete his purchase at once; but if it come from a quarter which he
-considers unlucky, he will not do so on any inducement. Moreover, if, on
-going forth, he hear any one sneeze, he will proceed if he consider it a
-good omen; but, if the reverse, he will straightway sit down in his place
-for as long as he thinks it well to tarry. Or if, in travelling along the
-road, he see a swallow fly past, should its direction be lucky he will
-proceed, but, if not, he will turn back again: in fact, they are worse, in
-these vagaries, than so many Patarins! (i.e. heretics.)
-
-These Abraiaman are very long-lived, owing to their extreme abstinence in
-eating. And they never allow themselves to let blood in any part of the
-body. They have capital teeth, which is due to a certain herb they chew;
-it greatly improves their appearance, and is also very good for the
-health.
-
-There is another class of people called _Chugi_ [Jogi], who are indeed
-properly Abraiaman, but they form a religious order devoted to the Idols.
-They are extremely long-lived, every man of them living to 150 or 200
-years. They eat very little, but what they do eat is good; rice and milk
-chiefly. And these people make use of a very strange beverage; for they
-brew a potion of mixed sulphur and quicksilver, and drink it twice every
-month. This, they say, gives them long life; and they are used to take it
-from their childhood.
-
-Certain members of this Order lead the most ascetic life imaginable, going
-completely naked; they worship the Ox. Most of them wear a small image of
-an ox, in brass, pewter, or gold, tied over the forehead. Moreover, they
-take cow-dung, and burn it, and make a powder of it; and then they make it
-into an ointment, with which they daub themselves as devoutly as
-Christians use holy water. Further, if they meet any person who treats
-them well, they daub a little of this powder on the middle of his
-forehead.
-
-They do not eat from bowls or trenchers, but place their food on leaves of
-the Apple of Paradise and other large leaves; these, however, they use
-dry, never green. For they say the green leaves have a soul in them, and
-so it would be a sin. And they would rather die than do what their Law
-pronounces to be sin. If any one ask how it comes that they are not
-ashamed to go about in their nudity, they say:--"We go naked because naked
-we came into the world, and we desire to have nothing about us that is of
-this world. Moreover, we have no sin of the flesh to be conscious of, and
-therefore we are not ashamed of our nakedness, any more than you are to
-show your hand or your face. You who are conscious of the sins of the
-flesh do well to be ashamed, and to cover your nakedness."
-
-On no account would they kill an animal, not even a fly, or a flea, or a
-louse, or anything in fact that has life; for they say all these have
-souls, and it would be sinful to do so. They eat no vegetables in a green
-state, only when they are dry. And they sleep on the ground, naked,
-without a rag of clothing over them or under them; so that it is a marvel
-they do not all die, instead of living so long as I have told you. They
-fast every day in the year, and drink nothing but water. And when a novice
-has to be received among them they keep him awhile in their convent, and
-make him follow their rule of life.
-
-They are such cruel and perfidious idolaters that it is very devilry! They
-say that they burn the bodies of the dead, because if they were not burnt,
-worms would generate and consume them; and when no more food remained for
-them, they would die, and the souls belonging to those bodies would bear
-the sin and the punishment of their death.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-In another part of his immortal work, Marco Polo speaks of the
-fish-charmers of Ceylon as Brahmans (or _Abraiaman_.) The pearl-fishers,
-he says, pay one twentieth part of all that they take to these men, who
-charm the great fishes, and prevent them from injuring the divers whilst
-engaged in seeking pearls under water. Their charm holds good only for the
-day; at night they dissolve it, so that the fishes can work mischief at
-their will. These Abraiaman, he adds, know also how to charm beasts and
-birds and every living thing.
-
-Commenting on this statement, Colonel Yule observes that the modern
-snake-charmers do not seem entitled to the distinctive appellation of
-Abraiaman, or Brahmans, though they may have been so in former days. At
-the diamond-mines of the Northern Circars Brahmans are employed in the
-similar task of propitiating the tutelary genii. The snake-charmers are
-called in Tamul _Kadal-kalti_, "Sea-binders," and in Hindustani,
-_Haibanda_, or "Shark-binders." At Aripo they belong to one family,
-supposed to enjoy monopoly of the charm. The chief operator is (or was,
-not many years ago) paid by Government, and he also received two oysters
-from each boat daily during the fishery. Turnoub, on his visit, found the
-incumbent of the office to be a Roman Catholic Christian, but that did not
-seem to affect the exercise or the validity of his practices. It is
-remarkable that when Turnoub wrote, not more than one authenticated
-accident from sharks had taken place, during the whole period of the
-British occupation.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-Among the shepherds, or hillmen, in the neighbourhood of Rampore (or "City
-of Rama,")--the Paharis, as they are called,--a curious custom lingers,
-which resembles the strange old Highland ceremony of the sunwise turn, or
-Deisul, round any particular object, partly for luck, partly as a survival
-of the sun-worship of the men of old. Sometimes the villagers gather their
-flocks into one great herd, and, walking at the head, lead them slowly
-round the village, following the solar course. Gradually they quicken
-their pace to a run, and in this fashion perambulate the village thrice or
-even oftener.
-
-This sunwise turn is practised in other cases, as in sickness or accident.
-Sheep and goats are solemnly paraded round the sufferer; after which they
-lose their heads. If the sufferer be wealthy, the number so sacrificed to
-the demons is often considerable. But the Paharis very firmly hold that
-though the lesser spirits may be thus propitiated, no sacrifice is
-acceptable to the Supreme Deity; that all He claims is devout worship.
-
-They believe in the existence of three and thirty millions of good and
-evil spirits, but their special adoration seems to be reserved for the
-spirit which watches over their particular village, and in their temples
-they reserve for him a kind of ark or shrine, wherein his veiled image is
-carefully preserved. Every day this ark is slung upon long poles, and
-taken out for an airing; and once a year it is borne through the country
-side in solemn procession, and the people assemble and dance before it, as
-the Israelites of old danced before the tabernacle. The said ark is gaily
-decorated with bright-coloured hangings, and upon it is set a brazen head,
-with four or more faces, overshadowed by yaks' tails, like huge plumes of
-dark or scarlet wool. Sometimes the whole structure is adorned with faces
-of polished metal, which gleam and reflect like mirrors in the sun.
-Moreover, it is usually draped all around with a deep fringe of silky
-white yaks' tails, depending almost to the ground, and concealing the
-bodies of the bearers, so that the tabernacle seems to crawl along upon
-its own feet.
-
-To the service of the temple certain people are set apart in every
-village. In the morning they sound an alarm in honour of the god with
-bell, and conch, and cymbal, and again in the evening with a similar din
-they announce the close of day. Ablutions are ignored by the villagers in
-their own case, but they will have their goddess washed and dressed
-daily. They burn incense before her, and serve her with offerings of
-leaves of wild mint.
-
-Occasionally, all the tribes assemble at a religious festival, and each
-village sends forth its ark, with the men and women attired in their
-brightest colours, and glittering with all their jewels. The various
-processions, with dance and song and gambol, proceed towards the appointed
-rendezvous; one of their little temples, of rudely carved cedar-wood,
-situated in the calm shade of a group of forest-trees. Near this temple is
-usually prepared a neatly-levelled space, covered with green turf, or,
-perhaps, paved; and here the Khudas, or arks, are solemnly deposited. For
-three days the festivities are kept up, and the sound of singing and
-dancing seems continuous. Every now and then each village-company raises
-its Khuda from the ground, and carries it in a little circle, sunwise,
-while the nodding plumes seem to keep time to the rude chant of the simple
-worshippers, and an outer ring of men, joining hands, follow the rhythm in
-fantastic dance. Then the idol is set down; the people prepare their
-homage; the dance goes on; and the women, in a long undulating chain,
-sunwise revolve around the mystic Khuda.
-
-Each woman, throwing one arm around her neighbour's waist, keeps the other
-free, and waves a plume-like chowni or yak's tail, as she bows to the
-Khuda. They do not all wave simultaneously, but in swift succession, so as
-to produce the effect of a continuous graceful motion. If one of the women
-retire, from fatigue, another slips into her place: sometimes the men form
-the circle, then both men and women join, always carrying on the same
-evolutions, the same circular motion. At nightfall the huge fires are
-kindled, and the lurid gleams of pine-wood torches flicker athwart the
-darkness, while the echoes ring incessantly with the monotonous clang of
-great trumpet-shells and tomtoms.
-
-When they have expended all their energies the revellers bring the
-festival to a close, and each village-company bears back its
-patron-goddess to her own little sanctuary.
-
-Whether, as some surmise, this ceremony is associated with any tradition
-of Noah's Ark, we cannot pretend to determine. But it is certain that some
-legends of the Flood still linger among the hillmen. There is a popular
-myth which tells of a mighty ship built by Manu and the Seven Sages, in
-which they stored the seed of all kinds of life, and of its being rescued
-by Brahma when the Deluge overwhelmed the primitive earth. Brahma, it
-says, drew the great vessel for many days until he reached a high peak of
-the Himalayas, where he moored it securely. In memory whereof, the peak
-has ever since borne the name of _Naubandhana_.
-
-Mr. W. Simpson, who has seen much of India and the Indians, describes an
-Ark-festival which he witnessed in a Himalayan valley. After indulging in
-the usual ceremonial ablutions, the people of the district assembled at
-the village of Coatee to do honour to its patron-goddess. The Khuda was
-brought out, and with dance and music, conducted in noisy procession
-through the deep shades of the forest and its lonesome glens, until they
-reached a certain grove, in which a small temple was situated. The Khuda
-was then deposited on the paved space in front; and an aged priest washed
-all the brazen faces with mint leaves and water previous to offering up
-incense, flowers, fruit, and bread.
-
-A number of playful young kids were next brought forward. The priest
-sprinkled them with water. On the ground lay a large flat brazen dish, and
-one of the villagers stood beside it with a sacred hatchet, rudely
-ornamented. At a single blow he struck off the head of a kid. The priest's
-assistant raised the head, and muttering certain words, presented it to
-the Khuda. Dipping his finger into the blood, he flicked some drops upon
-the carven image, and placed the head with the other offerings. Meanwhile,
-the kid's body had been so disposed that all its blood dripped into the
-brazen vessel; and when two or three animals had been sacrificed and the
-dish was full, one of the men lifted it up, and, first presenting it to
-the Khuda, turned round, and swang the body against the whitewashed wall
-of the temple, so as to empty it of blood. This ceremony was thrice
-repeated.
-
-The festival is known as the _Akrot-ka-pooja_, or Walnut Festival, from
-the pastime that follows the sacrificial scene. The priest, with a few
-companions, takes his place in the balcony of the temple, and all the
-young men present pelt them liberally with walnuts and green pine-cones,
-which the group in the balcony rapidly collect and return in plentiful
-volleys. For about half-an-hour this severe encounter lasts, when the
-assailed descend, and once more mingle with the crowd.
-
-By this time the sacrificial kids have been cooked, and the people seating
-themselves on the paved space in front of the Khuda, cakes and flesh are
-served out among them. In opposition to the usual Eastern custom, the
-women are helped before the men. It is now time for the homeward journey,
-but the mysterious oscillation of the Khuda is understood to signify its
-desire to visit the neighbouring village of Cheenee; and thither the
-multitude at once proceed, dancing, singing, shouting, while the forest
-glades resound with the trumpets and the tomtoms, and a few of the
-nimbler-footed speed ahead to give notice to the authorities at Cheenee of
-the honour in store for them. When near the latter village, the procession
-is met by the goddess of Cheenee, with her retinue, and an exchange of
-courtesies takes place. Next morning, the goddess of Kothi, or Coatee,
-returns to her own charge.
-
-
-SHAMANISM: DEVIL-DANCING.
-
-In many parts of Central and Southern India the rite of Devil-Dancing is
-practised, and Bishop Caldwell gives a striking description of it as it
-exists among the Shawars of Tinnevelly:[24]
-
-"When the preparations are completed and the devil-dance is about to
-commence, the music is at first comparatively slow; the dancer seems
-impassive and sullen, and he either stands still or moves about in gloomy
-silence. Gradually, as the music becomes quicker and louder, his
-excitement begins to rise. Sometimes, to help him to work himself up into
-a frenzy, he uses medicated draughts, cuts and lacerates himself till the
-blood flows, lashes himself with a huge whip, presses a burning torch to
-his breast, drinks the blood which flows from his own wounds, or drains
-the blood of the sacrifice, putting the throat of the decapitated goat to
-his mouth. Then, as if he had acquired new life, he begins to brandish his
-staff of bells, and to dance with a quick but wild unsteady step.
-Suddenly the afflatus descends; there is no mistaking that glare, or those
-frantic leaps. He snorts, he swears, he gyrates. The demon has now taken
-bodily possession of him, and though he retains the power of utterance and
-motion, both are under the demon's control, and his separate consciousness
-is in abeyance. The bystanders signalize the event by raising a long
-shout, attended with a peculiar vibratory noise, caused by the motion of
-the hand and tongue, or the tongue alone. The devil-dancer is now
-worshipped as a present deity, and every bystander consults him respecting
-his diseases, his wants, the welfare of his absent relatives, the
-offerings to be made for the accomplishment of his wishes, and, in short,
-everything for which superhuman knowledge is supposed to be available."
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-Before we quit this subject, it may be for the interest and convenience of
-the reader, if we offer a brief account of the doctrines and rites of
-Brahmism. This movement against the old Hindu faith, initiated by Rammohun
-Roy, and developed by Babu Keshub Chunda Sen, owes its origin, however
-unconsciously, to the influence of Christianity, which the Hindu mind, on
-awaking from its long sleep of centuries, found, as it were, by its side,
-and the pure and elevated character of which it could not but recognise.
-
-Rammohun Roy was born in the district of Moorshadabad in 1772, and was
-upwards of forty years of age when he undertook the part of a religious
-reformer. A man of considerable natural powers, he had cultivated them
-carefully, acquired a thorough knowledge of Sanskrit and Arabic, and
-accompanied his meditations on the Sastras, or Hindu religious books, with
-a close study of the English Scriptures. Removing to Calcutta in 1814, he
-endeavoured to engage his friends in the same pursuits, and as this effort
-led him naturally to new inquiries, he soon came to abandon his belief in
-traditional Hinduism. A cry of 'infidel!' was immediately raised against
-him; he became the subject of an incessant hostility; was on one occasion
-mobbed in the streets of Calcutta; and owed his life to the protection of
-the British Government. Persecution, however, could not quench his thirst
-after knowledge. He applied himself to the study of Greek and Hebrew,
-that by reading the Bible in its original languages, he might penetrate
-more thoroughly into the spirit of Hebrew and Christian devotion.
-
-Having dismissed the authority of the Puranas, he rested his faith on the
-Vedas, the oldest of the Hindu sacred books, in the conviction (an
-erroneous one) that the old creed of Hinduism was monotheistic, and the
-belief (a justifiable one) that the Puranas represented the degeneracy of
-a later age. Strange to say, he did not detect the Pantheism that
-overflows the Vedas: in the Upanishads or treatises attached to them, he
-fancied that he saw a pure Deism, and to diffuse this among his
-countrymen, he published numerous translations and organised a society of
-believers, who recited texts from the Vedas, and chanted Christian hymns.
-In 1830 he went further; founding a prayer-meeting, which proved the seed
-of what is now known as the Brahma Samaj. The building erected for the
-purpose of holding the meetings was, according to the trust deed, to be
-open to people of all sorts and conditions, "who shall behave and conduct
-themselves in an orderly, sober, religious, and devout manner, for the
-worship and adoration of the Eternal, Unsearchable, and Immutable Being,
-who is the Author and Preserver of the Universe, but not under and by any
-other name, designation, or title, peculiarly used for and applied to any
-particular Being or Beings by any man or set of men whatsoever." It
-provided also, in direct opposition to the practices of Hinduism, that no
-graven image, sculpture, carving, picture, painting, portrait, or likeness
-of anything, should "be admitted within the walls of this building;" that
-no animal sacrifices should take place there; that no eating or drinking,
-feasting or rioting, should be permitted; that evil speaking against the
-beliefs of men should be prohibited; and that no prayer, or sermon, or
-teaching should be allowed, unless it had "a tendency to the contemplation
-of the Author and Preserver of the Universe, or to the promotion of
-charity, morality, piety, benevolence, virtue, and the strengthening of
-the bonds of union between men of all religious persuasions and creeds."
-
-Here we have a distinct advance on Brahmanism and even on Buddhism, but
-the religious system indicated in the closing sentence is nevertheless as
-vague as it is cold; and lacks that vital element which Christianity
-derives from its recognition of GOD the FATHER and CHRIST the SAVIOUR.
-However, Rammohun Roy, in his fashion, was a sincere "seeker after GOD;"
-and in his vague endeavour to grasp the truth he persevered in the face of
-an intolerant opposition. He still continued to give a foremost place to
-the Vedas as channels of religious instruction, but he introduced the
-Psalms of David; and as time wore on, he separated himself more and more
-completely from the traditions of orthodox Hinduism. Even his faith in the
-Vedas came to be much shaken; and finding himself at last in that state of
-isolation which is the suffering and martyrdom of the man in advance of
-his age, he quitted India and went to live in England. At Bristol he
-resided, much esteemed, until his death in 1833.
-
-For awhile the torch which he had lighted flickered ominously near to
-extinction, until, in 1841, it passed into the hands of Babu Debendronath
-Tagore. By him it was again lighted up; and as much had happened since
-Rammohun Roy's departure, as education had gradually weakened the old
-traditional prejudices, it became the rallying-point of a crowd of earnest
-inquirers. Debendronath Tagore devoted himself with eager unselfishness,
-giving unsparingly of his time, his money, and his talents. His work
-derived no inconsiderable moral support from his unblemished personal
-character. He provided the Samaj with a printing-press, expended much
-money in fitting up their place of worship, and collected a valuable
-library of the Hindu sacred books, besides providing for the support of
-poor but promising students, sent to Benares to prosecute their studies.
-
-A remarkable change, however, soon came over the faith and teaching of the
-Samaj. Hitherto, as we have seen, they had been based upon the Vedas, as
-the authorized rule of Hindu theology; but inquiry and criticism had
-gradually disclosed their Pantheistic character, and their consequent
-incompatibility with the creed of the Samaj. Thus it came to pass that
-about 1850 the Vedas had to go; and the members of the Samaj no longer
-called themselves Vedantists but Brahmoists, or Brahmists (from _Brahm_,
-or Brahma, the Supreme Being.) In other words, they openly became
-Theists.
-
-A religious sect, brought together by a common monotheism and accepting a
-common covenant, was naturally impelled towards an expansion of their
-creed. But this expansion in the case of the Brahma Samaj, was probably
-hastened by the number of branch Samajes that sprang up in the
-neighbourhood of the metropolis and in some of the larger towns of the
-Bengal presidency. These branches, constantly increasing in number through
-the accessions of educated young men from the colleges and zillah schools,
-naturally looked to the parent Samaj to define and establish their creed;
-and what must be regarded as an authoritative exposition of it was
-published in 1868. The following is a summary of it:--
-
-"1. The book of Nature and Intuition form the basis of the Brahmaic faith.
-
-"2. Although the Brahmas do not consider any book written by man the basis
-of their religion, yet do they accept with pleasure and respect any
-_truth_ contained in any book.
-
-"3. The Brahmas believe that the religious condition of man is
-progressive, like the other facts of his condition in this world.
-
-"4. They believe that the fundamental doctrines of their religion are at
-the basis of every religion followed by man.
-
-"5. They believe in the existence of One Supreme GOD--a GOD endowed with a
-distinct personality, and attributes equal to His nature, and intelligence
-befitting the Governor of the Universe; and worship Him--Him alone. They
-do not believe in His incarnation.
-
-"6. They believe in the immortality and progressive state of the soul, and
-declare that there is a state of conscious existence succeeding life in
-this world, and supplementary to it as respects the action of the
-universal moral government.
-
-"7. They believe that atonement is the only way to salvation. They do not
-recognise any other mode of reconcilement to the offended but loving
-Father.
-
-"8. They pray for _spiritual_ welfare, and believe in the _efficacy_ of
-real prayers.
-
-"9. They believe in the Providential care of the Divine Father.
-
-"10. They avow that love towards Him, and performing the works He loveth,
-constitute His worship.
-
-"11. They recognise the necessity of public worship, but do not believe
-that they cannot hold communion with the Great Father without resorting to
-any fixed place at any fixed time. They maintain that we can adore Him at
-any time and at any place, provided that time and that place are
-calculated to compose and direct the mind towards Him.
-
-"12. They do not believe in pilgrimages, but declare that holiness can be
-attained only by elevating and purifying the mind.
-
-"13. They do not perform any rites and ceremonies, or believe in penances,
-as instrumental in obtaining the grace of GOD. They declare that moral
-righteousness, the gaining of wisdom, Divine contemplation, charity, and
-the cultivation of devotional feelings, are their rites and ceremonies.
-They further say, Govern and regulate your feelings, discharge your duties
-to GOD and to man, and you will gain everlasting blessedness; purify your
-hearts, cultivate devotional feelings, and you will see Him who is Unseen.
-
-"14. Theoretically, there is no distinction of caste among the Brahmas.
-They declare that we are all the children of GOD, and, therefore, must
-consider ourselves as brothers and sisters."
-
-Briefly speaking, the religious system herein set forth may be described
-as Christianity without CHRIST; and yet it was unwilling to acknowledge
-its obligations to Christianity. Its apostles sought to persuade
-themselves and others that they derived everything from the Vedas and
-nothing from the Bible; and when they were compelled to abandon the Vedas,
-they fell back upon Nature as a Divine Revelation. But, as an Anglo-Indian
-authority contends, it is certain that but for the new life which at this
-time flowed in with the tide of Western thought, and the study of a
-literature "saturated at every pore" with Christian sentiment and the high
-Gospel morality; and but for the strong and ceaseless opposition
-maintained by Christianity in the person of its missionaries against the
-Atheism, which was the first, though a short-lived result of the sudden
-intellectual quickening the young men of Calcutta experienced when Western
-science was substituted for Oriental myths, neither would the study of the
-Vedas have been revived, nor would the great lessons of nature have
-appeared so intelligible as they then became.[25]
-
-We have seen that Brahmanism made one advance under Rammohun Roy; it was
-led still further forward by Debendronath Tagore; and then he too suddenly
-halted, as his predecessor had done. The leadership next devolved upon a
-man of higher courage, not less fitted to lead a great movement by his
-enthusiasm than by his ability, Babu Keshub Chunda Sen. Keshub was
-determined that the challenge should be thrown down to orthodox Hinduism:
-and persuaded Debendronath Tagore, when his daughter was married, to
-celebrate the occasion without the usual idolatrous ceremony. After this,
-he purified of their idolatrous element the rites observed at birth and
-death. Still, Debendronath Tagore supported him; but, at last, when an
-attempt was made to eliminate not only what was purely idolatrous, but
-also everything offensive to enlightened feeling and a purer taste,
-Debendronath and the conservative party opposed, and a schism was the
-result.
-
-"The time had arrived," says the writer already quoted, "when Brahmism, if
-it was a power and not mere talk, must do battle with the system of caste
-distinctions. The first step in this direction taken by Keshub Chunda Sen,
-was the celebration of a marriage between persons belonging to different
-castes. That was an innovation such as might well startle the venerable
-pundits of Nuddea and Benares. There could henceforward be no doubt as to
-the more than heretical tendency of the theistic doctrine. An electric
-shock ran through society: all Hindudom was roused from its slumber, and
-began suspiciously to ponder what Brahmism meant by such daring. But the
-real test of principle was yet to come. It was comparatively safe to make
-a few modifications in domestic religious rites: the marriage of people of
-different castes compromised the principals chiefly: it was necessary that
-the entire Brahma community should by some act be universally committed to
-war against the evils and iniquities of caste. Keshub and his party
-accepted this necessity, threw off the sacred thread that distinguished
-them as Brahmans, and insisted that all who desired membership with their
-Samaj should consent to renounce caste. There could be no greater triumph
-than this, of principle over traditionalism: it stamped Brahmism as a
-power in the land, and not an idle theological speculation."
-
-Thenceforward, Keshub Chunda Sen became the recognised leader of "the
-Brahma Samaj of India," and the new sect adopted an active proselytism.
-Branch Samajes have been established all over the country; missionaries
-have been sent as far as Madras and Bombay and the Punjab. Tracts and
-lectures have been freely circulated. In Calcutta a so-called "church" has
-been built, and is well attended every Sunday evening, not only by men,
-but by women, for whom special accommodation is provided. The services are
-conducted in the vernacular, so as to be intelligible to all worshippers.
-Brahmist hymns are sung to the accompaniment of the harmonium, and the
-solemn _mridong_ (a kind of drum): passages are read from a book of
-selections in which the extracts from the Bible greatly outnumber those
-from any other source; extemporaneous prayers are offered with an
-intensity of spiritual feeling that could do no disgrace to a Christian
-congregation; and discourses are delivered which breathe a pure and noble
-tone of sentiment and feeling. Two weekly periodicals, one Bengali and the
-other English, the "Dharma Tattwa" and the "Indian Mirror," are the
-recognised exponents of the views and teaching of the Samaj.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER V.
-
-_THE HINDU MYTHOLOGY: AND THE VISHNU PURANA._
-
-
-The word _Purana_ means "old," and the original object of the Puranas
-would seem to have been the preservation of ancient mythological fictions
-and historical traditions. But in the form in which they have come down to
-us they do something more than this. They comprehend, more or less
-thoroughly, the five following subjects:--1, Primary creation, or
-cosmogony; 2, Secondary creation, or the destruction and renovation of
-worlds, including chronology; 3, Genealogy of gods and patriarchs; 4,
-Reigns of the Manus, or periods called Manwantaras; and 5, History, or
-such particulars as are extant of the princes of the solar and lunar
-races, and of their descendants to modern times. According to Professor
-Wilson, they are evidently derived from the same religious system as the
-Ramayana and Mahabharata, or from what he calls the mytho-heroic stage of
-Hindu belief. "They present, however, peculiarities which designate their
-belonging to a later period, and to an important modification in the
-progress of opinion. They repeat the theoretical cosmogony of the two
-great poems; they expound and systematise the chronological computations;
-and they give a more definite and connected representation of the
-mythological fictions and the historical traditions. But besides these and
-other particulars, which may be derivable from an old, if not from a
-primitive era, they offer characteristic peculiarities of a more modern
-description, in the paramount importance which they assign to individual
-divinities, in the variety and purport of the rites and observances
-addressed to them, and in the invention of new legends illustrative of the
-power and graciousness of those deities, and of the efficacy of implicit
-devotion to them."
-
-The form of composition adopted in the Puranas is that of a dialogue, in
-which its contents are related by one imaginary individual in reply to
-another. Several dialogues are eventually woven together; and they purport
-to have been held on different occasions between different individuals, in
-consequence of similar questions having been asked. Usually the immediate
-narrator is Lomaharshana or Romaharshana, the disciple of Vyasa, who, as
-Plato did for Socrates, communicates to the reader his great master's
-utterances. The Vyasa or compiler here meant was Krishna Dwaipayana, the
-son of Parasara; it is said of him that he taught the Vedas and Puranas to
-various pupils, but it seems more probable that he was at the head of a
-school or college, the members of which moulded the sacred literature of
-the Hindus into its present form.
-
-There appear to have been eighteen Puranas: namely, 1, Brahma; 2, Padma;
-3, Vaishnava; 4, Saiva; 5, Bhagavata; 6, Naradiya; 7, Markandeya; 8,
-Agneya; 9, Bhavishya; 10, Brahma Vaivarta; 11, Lainga; 12, Varaha; 13,
-Skanda; 14, Vamana; 15, Kaurma; 16, Matsya; 17, Garuda; 18, Brahmanda.
-
-The Vishnu Purana is described as that in which Parasara, beginning with
-the events of the Varaha Kalpa, expounds man's moral and religious
-obligations in about seven thousand stanzas. It is divided into six
-books:--
-
-The first deals chiefly with the details of creation, primary (Sarga) and
-secondary (Pratisarga); the first explaining how the universe proceeds
-from Prakriti or eternal crude matter; the second, in what way "the forms
-of things are developed from the elementary substances previously evolved,
-or how they reappear after their temporary destruction." Both these
-creations are periodical; the first does not end until the life of Brahma
-ends, when not only the gods and all other forms are annihilated, but the
-elements are resolved into the primary substance, besides which one only
-spiritual being exists. The latter occurs at the end of every Kalpa, aeon,
-or day of Brahma, and is wholly limited to the forms of inferior creatures
-and the lower worlds; leaving untouched sages and gods and the substance
-of the heavens. A description of the ages or periods of time on which
-these events depend is involved in the explanation; and it is given
-accordingly in wearisome detail. Their character has been a source of very
-unnecessary perplexity to European writers; for they belong to a wholly
-mythological scheme of chronology, which has no reference to any real or
-supposed history of the Hindus, but prefigures, according to their system,
-the infinite and eternal revolutions of the universe.
-
-By a singular incongruity the existence of Pradhana, or crude matter, is
-identified with Vishnu, who is declared to be both spirit and crude
-matter, and not only crude matter, but all visible substance, and Time. He
-is Purusha, "spirit;" Pradhana, "crude matter;" Vyakta, "visible form;"
-and Kala, "time." "This," says Professor Wilson, "cannot but be regarded
-as a departure from the primitive dogmas of the Hindus, in which the
-distinctness of the Deity and His works was enunciated; in which, upon His
-willing the world to be, it was; and in which His interposition in
-creation, held to be inconsistent with the quiescence of perfection, was
-explained away by the personification of attributes in action, which
-afterwards came to be considered as real divinities, Brahma, Vishnu, and
-Siva, charged severally, for a given season, with the creation,
-preservation, and temporary annihilation of material forms." In the Vishnu
-Purana, these divinities are declared to be no other than Vishnu.
-
-The earth having been duly prepared for the reception of living creatures,
-it was peopled by the will-begotten sons of Brahma, the Prajapatis or
-patriarchs. But it was necessary to provide these "grey forefathers" of
-the early world with wives. For this purpose, the Manu Swayambhuva and his
-wife Satarupa, were invented; and their daughters supplied the patriarchs
-with female partners. Numerous legends were built up on this basis, and
-the whole story assumed an allegorical form. Swayhambhuva, the son of the
-self-born or uncreated, and his wife Satarupa, the hundred-formed or
-multiform, are themselves allegories; and their female descendants, who
-became the wives of the Rishis, are Faith, Devotion, Content,
-Intelligence, Tradition, and the like; whilst among their posterity are
-found the different phases of the moon and the sacrificial fires. There
-are other legends in explanation of the peopling of the earth. All seem to
-indicate that the Prajapatis and Rishis were "real personages, the authors
-of the Hindu system of social, moral, and religious obligations, and the
-first observers of the heavens, and teachers of astronomical science."
-
-The genealogy is traced of the royal personages of this first race or
-dynasty, and is continued into the second book; after which comes a detail
-of the geographical system of the Puranas, with Mount Meru, the seven
-circular continents, and their surrounding oceans, to the limits of the
-world. This (except so far as India or Bharata is concerned) is purely
-mythological. In the early portion of the third book, the arrangement of
-the Vedas and other sacred writings of the Hindus is described. Then
-follows an account of the principal Hindu institutions, the duties of
-castes, the obligations of different stages of life, and the celebration
-of funeral rites, in a brief but primitive strain, and in harmony with the
-laws of Manu. "It is a distinguishing feature of the Vishnu Purana, and it
-is characteristic of its being the work of an earlier period than most of
-the Puranas, that it enjoins no sectarial or other acts of supererogation;
-no Vratas, occasional self-imposed observances; no holy days, no birthdays
-of Krishna, no nights dedicated to Lakshmi; no sacrifices or modes of
-worship other than those conformable to the ritual of the Vedas. It
-contains no Mahalinyas or golden legends, even of the temples in which
-Vishnu is adored."
-
-The fourth book contains a tolerably full list of royal dynasties and
-individuals, with a dull chronicle of events, the authenticity of which
-cannot always be accepted. In the fifth book we have the life of Krishna,
-one of the avatars or manifestations of Vishnu; and in the last an account
-of the dissolution of the world, "in both its major and minor cataclysms,"
-which, "in the particulars of the end of all things by fire and water, as
-well as in the principle of their perpetual renovation, presents a
-faithful exhibition of opinions that were general in the ancient world."
-
-We now proceed to give a few specimens of the contents of this remarkable
-work.
-
-
-_Origin of Rudra_ (Bk. i. c. 8.)
-
-In the beginning of the Kalpa, as Brahma proposed to create a son, who
-should be like himself, a youth of a purple complexion appeared; crying
-with a low cry, and running about. Brahma, when he beheld him thus
-afflicted, said to him: "Why dost thou weep?" "Give me a name," replied
-the boy. "Rudra be thy name," rejoined the great father of all creatures:
-"be composed; desist from tears." But, though thus addressed, the boy
-still wept seven times; and Brahma therefore gave to him seven other
-denominations: and to these eight persons regions and wives and posterity
-belong. The eight manifestations, then, are named Rudra, Bhava, Sarva,
-Isana, Pasaputi, Bhima, Ugra, and Mahadeva, which were given to them by
-their great progenitor. He also assigned to them their respective
-stations, the sun, water, earth, air, fire, ether, the ministrant Brahman,
-and the moon; for these are their several forms. The wives of the sun and
-the other manifestations, termed Rudra and the east, were, respectively:
-Suvarchala, Usha, Vikesi, Siva, Swaha, Disas, Diksha, and Rohini. Now hear
-an account of their progeny, by whose successive generations this world
-has been peopled. Their sons were severally: Sawaischara (Saturn,) Sukra
-(Venus,) the fiery-bodied (Mars,) Mamjava, Skanda, Swarga, Santana, and
-Budha (Mercury.)
-
-
-_Sacrifice of Daksha._
-
-(This remarkable legend, according to Professor Wilson, is intended to
-allegorise a struggle between the worshippers of Siva and of Vishnu, in
-which the former, after a temporary defeat, obtained the victory.)
-
-There was formerly a peak of Meru, named Savitra, abounding with gems,
-radiant as the sun, and celebrated throughout the three worlds; of immense
-extent, difficult of access, and an object of universal adoration. Upon
-that glorious eminence, rich with mineral treasures, as upon a splendid
-couch, the deity Siva reclined, accompanied by the daughter of the
-sovereign of mountains, and attended by the mighty Adityas, the powerful
-Vasus, and by the heavenly physicians, the sons of Aswini; by Kubera,
-surrounded by his train of Guhyakas, the lord of the Yakshas, who dwells
-on Kailasa. There also was the great Muni Usanas: there were Rishis of the
-first order, with Sanatkumara at their head, divine Rishis, preceded by
-Angiras; Viswavasu, with his bands of heavenly choristers; the sages
-Narada and Parvata; and innumerable troops of celestial nymphs.
-
-The breeze blew upon the mountain, bland, pure, and fragrant; and the
-trees were decorated with flowers that blossomed in every season.
-
-The Vidyadharas and Siddhas, affluent in devotion, waited upon Mahadeva,
-the lord of living creatures; and many other beings, of various forms, did
-him homage. Prakshasas of terrific semblance, and Pisachas of great
-strength, of different shapes and features, armed with various weapons,
-and blazing like fire, were delighted to be present, as the followers of
-the god. There stood the royal Naudin, high in the favour of his lord,
-armed with a fiery trident, shining with inherent lustre; and there the
-best of rivers, Ganga, the assemblage of all holy waters, stood adoring
-the mighty deity. Thus worshipped by all the most excellent of sages and
-of gods, abode the omnipotent and all-glorious Mahadeva.
-
-In former times Daksha commenced a holy sacrifice on the side of Himavat,
-at the sacred spot Gangadwara, frequented by the Rishis. The gods,
-desirous of assisting at this solemn rite, came, with Indra at their head,
-to Mahadeva, and intimated their purpose, and having received his
-permission, departed, in their splendid chariots, to Gangadwara, as
-tradition reports. They found Daksha, the best of the devout, surrounded
-by the singers and nymphs of heaven, and by numerous sages, beneath the
-shade of clustering trees and climbing plants; and all of them, whether
-dwellers on earth, in air, or in the regions above the skies, approached
-the patriarch with outward gestures of respect. The Adityas, Vasus,
-Rudras, Maruts, all entitled to partake of the oblations, together with
-Jishnu, were present.
-
-The (four classes of Pitris) Ushmapas, Somapas, Ajyapas, and Dhumapas, (or
-those who feed upon the flame, the acid juice, the butter, or the smoke of
-offerings,) the Aswins, and the progenitors, came along with Brahma.
-Creatures of every class, born from the womb, the egg, from vapour, or
-vegetation, came upon their invocation; as did all the gods, with their
-brides, who, in their resplendent vehicles, blazed like so many fires.
-
-Beholding them thus assembled, the sage Dadhicha was filled with
-indignation, and observed: "The man who worships what ought not to be
-worshipped, or pays not reverence where veneration is due, is guilty, most
-assuredly, of heinous sin." Then, addressing Daksha, he said to him: "Why
-do you not offer homage to the god who is the lord of life (Pasubhartri?)"
-Daksha spake: "I have already many Rudras present, armed with tridents,
-wearing braided hair, and existing in eleven forms. I recognise no other
-Mahadeva." Dadhicha spake: "The invocation that is not addressed to Isa
-is, for all, but a solitary (and imperfect) summons. Inasmuch as I behold
-no other divinity who is superior to Sankhara, this sacrifice of Daksha
-will not be completed." Daksha spake: "I offer in a golden cup, this
-entire oblation, which has been consecrated by many prayers, as an
-offering ever due to the unequalled Vishnu, the sovereign lord of all...."
-
-(After a conversation between the mighty Maheswara and his spouse, whom he
-addresses in epithets which have quite an Homeric sound:)
-
-The mighty Maheswara created, from his mouth, a being like the fire of
-fate; a divine being, with a thousand heads, a thousand eyes, a thousand
-feet; wielding a thousand clubs, a thousand shafts; holding the shell, the
-discus, the mace, and bearing a blazing bow and battle-axe; fierce and
-terrific, shining with dreadful splendour, and decorated with the crescent
-moon; clothed in a tiger's skin dripping with blood, having a capacious
-stomach, and a vast mouth armed with formidable tusks. His ears were
-erect, his lips were pendulous; his tongue was lightning; his hand
-brandished the thunderbolt; flames streamed from his hair; a necklace of
-pearls wound round his neck; a garland of flame descended on his breast.
-
-Radiant with lustre, he looked like the final fire that consumes the
-world. Four tremendous tusks projected from a mouth which extended from
-ear to ear.
-
-He was of vast bulk, vast strength, a mighty male and lord, the destroyer
-of the universe, and like a large fig tree in circumference; shining like
-a hundred moons at once; fierce as the fire of love; having four heads,
-sharp white teeth, and of mighty fierceness, vigour, activity, and
-courage; glowing with the blaze of a thousand fiery suns at the end of the
-world; like a thousand undimmed moons; in bulk like Himadri, Kailasa, or
-Sumnu, or Mundara, with all its gleaming herbs; bright as the sun of
-destruction at end of ages; of irresistible prowess and beautiful aspect;
-irascible, with lowering eyes, and a countenance burning like fire;
-clothed in the hide of the elephant and lion, and girt round with snakes;
-wearing a turban on his head, a moon on his brow: sometimes savage,
-sometimes mild; having a chaplet of many flowers on his head, anointed
-with various unguents, adorned with different ornaments and many sorts of
-jewels, wearing a garland of heavenly Karnikara flowers, and rolling his
-eyes with rage. Sometimes he danced; sometimes he laughed aloud; sometimes
-he stood wrapt in meditation; sometimes he trampled upon the earth;
-sometimes he sang; sometimes he wept repeatedly. And he was endowed with
-the faculties of wisdom, dispassion, power, penance, truth, endurance,
-fortitude, dominion, and self-knowledge.
-
-This being then knelt down upon the ground, and raising his hands
-respectfully to his head, said to Mahadeva: "Sovereign of the gods,
-command what it is that I must do for thee;" to which Maheswara replied:
-"Spoil the sacrifice of Daksha." Then the mighty Virabhadra, having heard
-the pleasure of his lord, bowed down his head to the feet of Prajapati,
-and starting like a lion loosed from bonds, despoiled the sacrifice of
-Daksha; knowing that he had been created by the displeasure of Devi. She,
-too, in her wrath, as the fearful goddess Rudrakali, accompanied him, with
-all her train, to witness his deeds. Virabhadra, the fierce, abiding in
-the region of ghosts, is the minister of the anger of Devi. And he then
-created, from the pores of his skin, powerful demigods, the mighty
-attendants upon Rudra, of equal valour and strength, who started by
-hundreds and by thousands into existence. A loud and confused clamour
-straightway filled all the expanse of ether, and inspired the denizens of
-heaven with dread. The mountains tottered, and earth shook; the winds
-roared, and the depths of the sea were disturbed; the fires lost their
-radiance, and the sun grew pale; the planets of the firmament shone not,
-neither did the stars give light; the Rishis ceased their hymns, and gods
-and demons were mute; and thick darkness eclipsed the chariot of the
-skies.
-
-Then from the gloom emerged fearful and numerous forms, shouting the cry
-of battle; who instantly broke or overturned the sacrificial columns,
-trampled upon the altars, and danced amidst the oblations. Running wildly
-hither and thither, with the speed of wind, they tossed about the
-implements and vessels of sacrifice, which looked like stars precipitated
-from the heavens. The piles of food and beverage for the gods, which had
-been heaped up like mountains;[26] the rivers of milk; the tanks of curds
-and butter; the masses of honey, and butter-milk, and sugar; the mounds of
-condiments and spices of every flavour; the undulating knolls of flesh and
-other viands; the celestial liquors; pastes and confections which had been
-prepared; these the spirits of wrath devoured, or defiled, or scattered
-abroad. And, falling upon the host of the gods, these vast and resistless
-Rudras beat or terrified them, mocked and insulted the nymphs and
-goddesses, and quickly put an end to the rite, although defended by all
-the gods; being the ministers of Rudra's wrath, and similar to himself.
-Some then made a hideous clamour, whilst others fearfully shouted, when
-Yajna was decapitated. For the divine Yajna, the lord of sacrifice, began
-to fly up to heaven, in the shape of a deer; and Virabhadra, of
-immeasurable spirit, apprehending his power, cut off his vast head, after
-he had mounted into the sky.
-
-Daksha, the patriarch, his sacrifice being destroyed, overcome with
-terror, and utterly broken in spirit, fell prone upon the ground, where
-his head was spurned by the feet of the cruel Virabhadra. The thirty
-scores of sacred divinities were all presently bound, with a band of fire,
-by their lion-like foe; and they all addressed him, crying: "O Rudra, have
-mercy upon thy servants! O lord, dismiss thine anger!" This spake Brahma,
-and the other gods, and the patriarch Daksha; and, raising their hands,
-they said: "Declare, mighty being, who thou art."
-
-Virabhadra said: "I am not a god, nor an Aditya, nor am I come hither for
-enjoyment, nor curious to behold the chiefs of the divinities. Know that I
-am come to destroy the sacrifice of Daksha, and that I am called
-Virabhadra, the issue of the wrath of Rudra. Bhadrakali, also, who has
-sprung from the anger of Devi, is sent here, by the god of gods, to
-destroy this rite. Take refuge, king of kings, with him who is the lord of
-Uma. For better is the anger of Rudra than the blessings of other gods."
-
-Having heard the words of Virabhadra, the righteous Daksha propitiated the
-mighty god, the holder of the trident, Maheswara. The hearth of sacrifice,
-deserted by the Brahmans, had been consumed; Yajna had been metamorphosed
-to an antelope; the fires of Rudra's wrath had been kindled; the
-attendants, wounded by the tridents of the servants of the god, were
-groaning with pain; the pieces of the uprooted sacrificial posts were
-scattered here and there; and the fragments of the meat-offerings were
-carried off by flights of hungry vultures and herds of howling jackals.
-
-Suppressing his vital airs, and taking up a posture of meditation, the
-many-sighted victor of his foes, Daksha, fixed his eyes everywhere upon
-his thoughts. And the god of gods appeared from the altar resplendent as a
-thousand suns, and smiling upon him, said, "Daksha, thy sacrifice has been
-destroyed through sacred knowledge, I am well pleased with thee." And he
-smiled again, and exclaimed, "What shall I do for thee? Declare, together
-with the preceptor of the gods."
-
-And Daksha, frightened, alarmed, and agitated, his eyes suffused with
-tears, raised his hands reverently to his brow, and said, "If, lord, thou
-art pleased; if I have found favour in thy sight; if I am to be the object
-of thy benevolence; if thou wilt confer upon me a boon, this is the
-blessing I solicit, that all these provisions for the solemn sacrifice
-which have been collected with much trouble and during a long time, and
-have now been eaten, drunk, devoured, burnt, broken, scattered abroad, may
-not have been prepared in vain." "So let it be," replied Hara, the subduer
-of Indra. And thereupon Daksha knelt down upon the earth, and praised
-gratefully the author of righteousness, the three-eyed god Mahadeva,
-repeating the eight thousand names of the deity whose emblem is a bull.
-
-
-_Public Games._ (Bk. v., c. 10.)
-
-As Krishna and Rama proceeded along the high road, they saw coming towards
-them a young girl, who was crooked, carrying a pot of unguent. Addressing
-her sportively, Krishna said, "For whom are you carrying that unguent?
-Tell me, lovely maiden, tell me truly." Spoken to as it were through
-affection, Kubja[27], well disposed towards Hari, replied to him also
-mirthfully, being smitten by his appearance, "Know you not, beloved, that
-I am the servant of Kamsa, and appointed, crooked as I am, to prepare his
-perfumes? Of unguent ground by any other he does not approve, and hence I
-am enriched through his liberal rewards." Then said Krishna, "Fair-faced
-damsel, give us of this unguent,--fragrant and fit for kings,--as much as
-we may rub upon our bodies." "Take it," answered Kubja. And she gave them
-as much of the unguent as was sufficient for their persons. And they
-rubbed it on various parts of their faces and bodies, till they looked
-like two clouds, one white and one black, decorated by the many-tinted bow
-of Indra.
-
-And Krishna, skilled in the curative art, took hold of her under the chin
-with the thumb and two fingers, and lifted up her head, whilst with his
-feet he pressed down her feet, and in this way he made her straight.
-
-When she was thus relieved from her deformity, she was a most beautiful
-woman; and filled with gratitude and affection, she took Govinda by the
-garment, and invited him to her house. Promising to come at some other
-time, Krishna smilingly dismissed her, and then laughed aloud on beholding
-the countenance of Baladeva.
-
-Dressed in blue and yellow garments, and anointed with fragrant unguents,
-Krishna and Rama proceeded to the hall of arms, which was hung round with
-garlands. Inquiring of the warders which bow he was to try, and being
-directed to it, Krishna took it, and bent it. But drawing it with
-violence, he snapped it in two, and all Mathura resounded with the noise
-which its fracture occasioned. Abused by the warders for breaking the bow,
-Krishna and Rama retorted, and defied them, and left the hall.
-
-When Kamsa knew that Akrura had returned, and heard that the bow had been
-broken, he then said to Chanura and Mushtika, his boxers, "Two youths,
-cowherd boys, have arrived. You must kill them both, in a trial of
-strength, in my presence; for they practise against my life. I shall be
-well pleased if you kill them in the match, and will give you whatever you
-wish, but not otherwise. These two foes of mine must be killed by you,
-fairly or unfairly. The kingdom shall be ours in common when they have
-perished."
-
-Having given them their orders, he sent next for his elephant driver, and
-desired him to station his great elephant, Kuvalayapida,--who was as vast
-as a cloud charged with rain,--near the gate of the arena, and drive him
-upon the two boys when they should attempt to enter. When Kamsa had issued
-these commands, and ascertained that the platforms were all ready (for the
-spectators), he awaited the rising of the sun, unconscious of impending
-death.
-
-In the morning the citizens assembled on the platforms set apart for them;
-and the princes, with the ministers and courtiers, occupied the royal
-seats. Near the centre of the circle, judges of the games were stationed
-by Kamsa, whilst he himself sat apart close by, upon a lofty throne.
-Separate platforms were erected for the ladies of the palace, for the
-courtesans, and for the wives of the citizens. Nanda and the cowherds had
-places appropriated to them, at the end of which sat Akrura and Vasudeva.
-Amongst the wives of the citizens appeared Devaki, mourning for her son,
-whose lovely face she longed to behold, even in the hour of his
-destruction.
-
-When the musical instruments sounded, Chanura sprang forth, and the people
-cried, "Alas!" and Mushtika slapped his arms in defiance. Covered with
-blood and mud from the elephant, which, when goaded upon them by its
-driver, they had slain, and armed with its tusks, Balabhadra and Janardana
-confidently entered the arena, like two lions amidst a herd of deer.
-Exclamations of pity arose from all the spectators, along with expressions
-of astonishment. "This, then," said the people, "is Krishna. This is
-Balabhadra. This is he by whom the fierce night-walker Putana was slain;
-by whom the waggon was overturned, and the two Arjuna trees felled. This
-is the boy who trampled and danced on the serpent Kaliya; who upheld the
-mountain Govardhana for seven nights; who killed, as if in play, the
-iniquitous Arishta, Dhenuka, and Kisra. This, whom we see, is Achyuta.
-This is he who has been foretold by the wise, skilled in the sense of the
-Puranas, as Gopala, who shall exalt the depressed Yadava race. This is a
-portion of the all-existing, all-generating Vishnu, descended upon earth,
-who will, assuredly, lighten her load."
-
-Thus did the citizens describe Rama and Krishna, as soon as they appeared:
-whilst the breast of Devaki glowed with maternal affection; and Vasudeva,
-forgetting his infirmities, felt himself young again, on beholding the
-countenances of his sons as a season of rejoicing. The women of the
-palace, and the wives of the citizens, wide opened their eyes, and gazed
-intently upon Krishna.
-
-"Look, friends," said they to their companions; "look at the face of
-Krishna. His eyes are reddened by his conflict with the elephant; and the
-drops of perspiration stand upon his cheeks, outvying a full-blown lotus
-in autumn, studded with glittering dew. Avail yourself, now, of the
-faculty of vision. Observe his breast,--the seat of splendour, marked
-with the mystic sign,--and his arms, menacing destruction to his foes. Do
-you not notice Balabhadra, dressed in a blue garment,--his countenance as
-fair as the jasmine, as the moon, as the fibres of the lotus-stem? See how
-he gently smiles at the gestures of Mushtika and Chanura, as they spring
-up.
-
-"And now behold Hari advance to encounter Chanura. What! Are there no
-elders, judges of the field? How can the delicate form of Hari,--only yet
-in the dawn of adolescence,--be regarded as a match for the vast and
-adamantine bulk of the great demon? Two youths, of light and elegant
-persons, are in the arena, to oppose athletic fiends, headed by the cruel
-Chanura. This is a great sin in the judges of the games, for the umpires
-to suffer a contest between boys and strong men."
-
-As thus the women of the city conversed with one another, Hari, having
-tightened his girdle, danced in the ring, shaking the ground on which he
-trod. Balabhadra also danced, slapping his arms in defiance. Where the
-ground was firm, the invincible Krishna contended, foot to foot, with
-Chanura. The practised demon Mushtika was opposed by Balabhadra. Mutually
-entwining, and pushing, and pulling, and beating each other with fists,
-arms, and elbows, pressing each other with their knees, interlacing their
-arms, kicking with their feet, pressing with their whole weight upon one
-another, fought Hari and Chanura.
-
-Desperate was the struggle, though without weapons, and one for life and
-death, to the great gratification of the spectators. In proportion as the
-contest continued, so Chanura was gradually losing something of his
-original vigour, and the wreath upon his head trembled from his fury and
-distress; whilst the world-comprehending Krishna wrestled with him as if
-but in sport. Beholding Chanura losing, and Krishna gaining strength,
-Kamsa, furious with rage, commanded the music to cease.
-
-As soon as the drums and trumpets were silenced, a numerous band of
-heavenly instruments was heard in the sky; and the unseen gods exclaimed:
-"Victory to Govinda! Kesava, kill the demon Chanura!" Madhusudana, having,
-for a long time, dallied with his adversary, at last lifted him up, and
-whirled him round, with the intention of putting an end to him. Having
-whirled Chanura round a hundred times, until his breath was expended in
-the air, Krishna dashed him on the ground, with such violence as to smash
-his body into a hundred fragments, and strew the earth with a hundred
-pools of gory mire.
-
-Whilst this took place, the mighty Baladeva was engaged, in the same
-manner, with the demon bruiser, Mushtika. Striking him on the head with
-his fists, and on the breast with his knees, he stretched him on the
-ground, and pummelled him there till he was dead. Again, Krishna
-encountered the royal bruiser Tosaluka, and felled him to the earth with a
-blow of his left hand. When the other athletes saw Chanura, Mushtika, and
-Tosaluka killed, they fled from the field; and Krishna and Sankarshana
-danced, victorious, on the arena, dragging along with them, by force, the
-cowherds of their own age. Kamsa, his eyes reddening with wrath, called
-aloud to the surrounding people:--"Drive those two cowboys out of the
-assembly: seize the villain Nanda, and secure him with chains of iron; put
-Vasudeva to death with tortures intolerable to his years: and lay hands
-upon the cattle, and whatever else belongs to those cowherds who are the
-associates of Krishna."
-
-Upon hearing these orders, the destroyer of Madhu laughed at Kamsa, and,
-springing up to the place where he was seated, laid hold of him by the
-hair of his head, and struck his tiara to the ground. Then, casting him
-down upon the earth, Govinda threw himself upon him. Crushed by the weight
-of the upholder of the universe, the son of Ugrasena (Kamsa), the king,
-gave up the ghost. Krishna then dragged the dead body, by the hair of the
-head, into the centre of the arena; and a deep furrow was made by the vast
-and heavy carcase of Kamsa, when it was dragged along the ground by
-Krishna, as if a torrent of water had rushed through it.
-
-Seeing Kamsa thus treated, his brother Sunaman came to his succour: but he
-was encountered, and easily killed, by Balabhadra. Then arose a general
-cry of grief from the surrounding circle, as they beheld the King of
-Mathura thus slain, and treated with such contumely, by Krishna. Krishna,
-accompanied by Balabhadra, embraced the feet of Vasudeva and of Devaki:
-but Vasudeva raised him up; and he and Devaki recalling to recollection
-what he had said to them at his birth, they bowed to Janardana; and the
-former thus addressed him: "Have compassion upon mortals, O god,
-benefactor, and lord of deities. It is by thy favour to us two that thou
-hast become the present upholder of the world. That, for the punishment of
-the rebellious, thou hast descended upon earth in my house, having been
-propitiated by my prayers, sanctifies our race. Thou art the heart of all
-creatures; thou abidest in all creatures; and all that has been, or will
-be, emanates from thee, O universal spirit. Thou, Achyuta, who
-comprehendest all the gods, art eternally worshipped with sacrifices: thou
-art sacrifice itself, and the offerer of sacrifices. The affection that
-inspires my heart, and the heart of Devaki, towards thee, as if thou wert
-our child, is, indeed, but an error and a great delusion.
-
-"How shall the tongue of a mortal such as I am call the creator of all
-things, who is without beginning or end, son? Is it consistent that the
-lord of the world, from whom the world proceeds, should be born of me,
-except through illusion? How should he, in whom all fixed and moveable
-things are contained, be conceived in the womb and born of a mortal being?
-Have compassion, therefore, indeed, O supreme lord, and, in thy descended
-portions, protect the universe. Thou art no son of mine. This whole world,
-from Brahma to a tree, thou art. Wherefore dost thou, who art one with the
-Supreme, beguile us? Blinded by delusion, I thought thee my son, and for
-thee, who art beyond all fear, I dreaded the anger of Kamsa; and,
-therefore, did I take thee, in my turn, to Gokula, where thou hast grown
-up. But I no longer claim thee as mine own. Thou, Vishnu,--the sovereign
-lord of all, whose actions Rudra, Maruts, the Aswins, Indra, and the gods
-cannot equal, although they behold them; thou, who hast come amongst us,
-for the benefit of the world,--art recognised; and delusion is no more."
-
-We shall furnish but one other specimen:--
-
-
-_Anecdotes of Khandikya and Kesidhwaja._
-
-Maitreya, addressing Parasara, says: "Reverend teacher, I am desirous of
-being informed what is meant by the term meditation (_yoga_), by
-understanding which I may behold the Supreme Being, the upholder of the
-universe."
-
-Parasara, in reply, says that he will repeat the explanation formerly
-given by Kesidhwaja to the magnanimous Khandikya, also called Janaka.
-
-Whereupon Maitreya replies: "Tell me, first, Brahman, who Kandikya was and
-who Kesidhwaja; and how it happened that a conversation relating to the
-practice of Yoga occurred between them."
-
-Thereupon follows Parasara's narrative:
-
-There was Janaka, named Dharmadhwaja, who had two sons, Mitadhwaja and
-Kritadhwaja; and the latter was a king ever intent upon existent supreme
-spirit: his son was the celebrated Kesidhwaja. The son of Mitadhwaja was
-Janaka, called Khandikya. Khandikya was diligent in the way of works, and
-was renowned, on earth, for religious rites. Kesidhwaja, on the other
-hand, was endowed with spiritual knowledge. These two were engaged in
-hostilities; and Khandikya was driven from his principality by Kesidhwaja.
-Expelled from his dominions, he wandered, with a few followers, his
-priest, and his counsellors, amidst woods and mountains, where, destitute
-of true wisdom, he performed many sacrifices, expecting, thereby, to
-obtain divine truth, and to escape from death by ignorance.
-
-Once, while the best of those who are skilled in devotion (Kesidhwaja) was
-engaged in devout exercises, a fierce tiger slew his milch-cow, in the
-lonely forest. When the Raja heard that the cow had been killed, he asked
-the ministering priests what form of penance would expiate the crime. They
-replied, that they did not know, and referred him to Kaseru. Kaseru, when
-the Raja consulted him, told him that he, too, knew not, but that Sunaka
-would be able to tell him. Accordingly, the Raja went to Sunaka; but he
-replied: "I am as unable, great king, to answer your question as Kaseru
-has been; and there is no one now, upon earth, who can give you the
-information, except your enemy Khandikya, whom you have conquered."
-
-Upon receiving this answer, Kesidhwaja said: "I will go, then, and pay a
-visit to my foe. If he kill me, no matter; for, then, I shall obtain the
-reward that attends being killed in a holy cause. If (on the contrary) he
-tell me what penance to perform, then my sacrifice will be unimpaired in
-efficacy."
-
-Accordingly, he ascended his car, having clothed himself in the deer skin
-of the religious student, and went to the forest where the wise Khandikya
-resided. When Khandikya beheld him approach, his eyes reddened with rage,
-and he took up his bow and said to him: "You have armed yourself with the
-deer skin to accomplish my destruction; imagining that, in such an attire,
-you will be safe from me. But, fool, the deer upon whose backs this skin
-is seen are slain, by you and me, with sharp arrows. So will I slay you:
-you shall not go free, whilst I am living. You are an unprincipled felon,
-who have robbed me of my kingdom, and are deserving of death."
-
-To this Kesidhwaja answered: "I have come hither, Khandikya, to ask you to
-solve my doubts, and not with any hostile intention. Lay aside, therefore,
-both your arrow and your anger."
-
-Thus spoken to, Khandikya retired awhile, with his counsellors and his
-priest, and consulted them what course he should pursue. They strongly
-urged him to slay Kesidhwaja while he was in his power, since by his death
-he would again become the monarch of the whole world.
-
-Khandikya replied to them:--"It is, no doubt, true that, by such an act, I
-should become the monarch of the whole earth. He, however, would thereby
-conquer the world to come; whilst the earth would be mine. Now, if I do
-not kill him, I shall subdue the next world, and leave him this earth. It
-seems to me that this world is not of more value than the next: for the
-subjugation of the next world endures for ever; the conquest over this is
-but for a brief season. I will, therefore, not kill him, but tell him what
-he wishes to know."
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-Accordingly, Kesidhwaja proceeds to describe the benefits which result
-from the Yoga or contemplative devotion.
-
-The sage, or Yogin, when first applying himself to contemplative devotion,
-is called the novice or practitioner (Yoga-yuj); when he has attained
-spiritual union, he is termed the adept, or he whose meditations are
-accomplished. Should the thoughts of the former be unvitiated by any
-obstructing imperfection, he will obtain freedom, after practising
-devotion through several lives. The latter speedily obtains liberation in
-that existence in which he reaches perfection, all his acts being consumed
-by the fire of contemplative devotion. The sage who would bring his mind
-into a fit state for the performance of devout contemplation must be
-devoid of desire, and observe invariably continence, compassion, truth,
-honesty, and disinterestedness: he must fix his mind intently on the
-supreme Brahma, practising holy study, purification, contentment, penance,
-and self-control. These virtues, respectively termed the five acts of
-restraint (Yama) and five of obligation (Niyama), bestow excellent
-rewards, when practised for the sake of reward, and eternal liberation,
-when they are not prompted by desire of transient benefits. Endowed with
-these merits, the sage, self-restrained, should sit in one of the modes
-termed Bhadrasana,[28] and engage in contemplation.
-
-Bringing his vital airs, called Prana, under subjection, by frequent
-repetition, is thence called a Pranayama, which is, as it were, a seed
-with a seed. In this, the breath of expiration and that of inspiration are
-alternately obstructed, constituting the act twofold; and the suppression
-of both modes of breathing produces a third. The exercise of the Yogin,
-whilst endeavouring to bring before his thoughts the gross form of the
-Eternal, is denominated Alambana.[29] He is then to perform the
-Pratyahara, which consists in restraining his organs of sense from
-susceptibility to outward impressions, and directing them entirely to
-mental perceptions. By these means the entire subjugation of the unsteady
-senses is effected; and, if they are not controlled, the sage will not
-accomplish his devotions. When, by the Pranayama, the vital airs are
-restrained, and the senses are subjugated by the Pratyahara, then indeed
-the sage will be able to keep his mind steady in its perfect asylum.
-
-The sage now plunges into transcendentalism which would be barely
-intelligible, and certainly uninteresting to the reader, and we shall
-therefore decline to follow him, concluding our extract with the
-description of Vishnu which Kesidhwaja furnishes to his inquiring guest.
-
-Think of him as having a pleased and lovely countenance, with eyes like
-the leaf of the lotus, marble cheeks, and a broad and brilliant forehead;
-ears of equal size, the lobes of which are decorated with splendid
-pendants; a painted neck; and a broad breast, on which shines the Srivatsa
-mark; a belly falling in graceful folds, with a deep-seated navel; eight
-long arms, or else four; and firm and well-knit thighs and legs, with
-well-formed feet and toes. Let him, with well-governed thoughts,
-contemplate, as long as he can persevere in unremitting attention, Hari,
-as clad in a yellow robe, wearing a rich diadem on his head, and brilliant
-armlets and bracelets on his arms, and bearing in his hands the bow, the
-shell, the mace, the sword, the discus, the rosary, the lotus, and the
-arrow.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER VI.
-
-_IN CHINA:--CONFUCIANISM, TAOUISM, AND BUDDHISM._
-
-
-The creeds in vogue amongst the Chinese may be regarded as
-three:--_Confucianism_, the religion of the state; _Taouism_, the religion
-of the philosophers; and _Buddhism_, the religion of the people.
-
-It has been justly said that a religion which, like Confucianism, has
-exercised for twenty-four centuries a potent influence over the Chinese
-mind, though owing its name and origin to a simple citizen, must possess
-in it something well worthy of consideration. There must be in it a spell
-which strongly attracts the popular sympathies. This spell is said to be,
-though possibly we ought to search deeper and farther for it, the purely
-practical character of its tenets, and the harmony which exists between
-those tenets and the patriarchal character of the government and the
-institutions of the country. And in fact it is not so much a religion as
-an ethical system,--something such as Christianity would be, if we took
-out of it JESUS CHRIST. Or we may distinguish it as "a system of
-ceremonies on a moral basis," and, as such, admirably adapted to the
-tastes and needs of so ceremonial-loving a people as the Chinese. To this
-day the Ly-pou watch with jealous vigilance the maintenance of all the old
-traditional rites, and rigidly enforce the observance of the traditional
-details in the construction of the temples. Moreover such particulars as
-the six kinds of sceptres, the five kinds of mats, and the five kinds of
-stools are strictly insisted upon; and it is known that the innumerable
-prescribed sacrifices offered to the various gods of the heaven and the
-earth, to a man's forefathers, to the hills and the rivers, the sea and
-the central mount, the god of the south pole and the god of thunder, are
-the same now as they have been for upwards of 2,000 years.
-
-The founder of Confucianism, Kong-foo-tse, or Confucius, (as the Jesuits
-latinised the name,) was born about 550 B.C. in the state Loo, within the
-district now called Keo-fou Hien, lying to the eastward of the great
-Imperial canal, in the province of Shang-tung.
-
-Tradition asserts that his father was a descendant of the imperial family
-of Hoang-ty, of the dynasty of Chang (2,000 B.C.), and the chief minister
-of his native kingdom. At an early age, as is common with most who are
-destined to rise to greatness, Confucius gave indisputable proof of no
-ordinary mental capacity, and these budding powers were carefully
-developed by the training and tuition of the ablest masters. He was still
-young when he made himself acquainted with the literature of the period,
-and especially with the canonical and classical books attributed to the
-ancient legislators Yam Chun, and others. His amiability of temper is
-warmly commended, and no shadow of reproach rests upon his moral
-character; except in so far as he exposed himself to censure by divorcing
-his wife, after she had borne him a son, in order, it is said, "that he
-might devote himself the more absolutely to his studies." It is some
-excuse for him that, at this time, he was only twenty. In the same year he
-was appointed "superintendent of cattle,"--not exactly the ideal office
-for a philosophical student. However his assiduity and fidelity soon
-secured the approbation of his superiors; he was promoted to a more
-influential position; and there seemed every probability of his attaining
-to the highest rank, when a sudden revolution in the state for a time
-obscured his prospects.
-
-The next eight years of his life he spent in travel, assuming the role of
-a religious reformer, and everywhere gathering round him a crowd of ardent
-disciples, whom he instructed in the rules and principles of his ethical
-system. It is said that they numbered as many as 3,000, of whom
-seventy-two were specially distinguished by their devotion to their
-master and their rigid observance of his tenets. Returning to Loo, when he
-was about forty-three years old, he was again called to the service of the
-state, and from grade to grade rose to the post of Prime Minister, or
-"governor of the people." Invested with plenary power, he proceeded, with
-the ardour of an enthusiast, to realise his ideas, and rapidly brought
-about a vast improvement in both the moral and physical condition of the
-country. The poor were the particular objects of his care: he provided
-them with plentiful supplies of cheap and good food, and released them
-from the thraldom in which the nobles had held them. His energy and wisdom
-extended to every department of the state; and with extraordinary
-fertility of resource, he initiated measures for the extension of
-commerce, the improvement of the bridges and highways, the impartial
-administration of justice, and the extirpation of the robber bands which
-infested the mountains. But the neighbouring sovereigns regarded with
-alarm the progress of his bold reforms. No doubt they talked about
-communistic and socialistic doctrines, and the advancing flood of
-democracy, as timid people do in our own day. At all events they contrived
-to put such a pressure upon the King of Loo that he was compelled to part
-with his great minister, who fled from his enemies northward, and found
-refuge in the kingdom of Tsi, on the Gulf of Petchali. For twelve, or, as
-some say, fourteen years he wandered from place to place, adding to the
-number of his proselytes; until spent with fatigue, and bowed down with
-years, he retired with a few favourite disciples to a quiet valley in his
-native land, and devoted the remainder of his life to the task of revising
-and improving the famous writings which for so many centuries have been
-consecrated by the devout acceptance of the Chinese. He died at the age of
-seventy-three, in 477 B.C.,[30] "on the eighteenth day of the second
-moon," after a seven days' illness. Like many other great reformers,
-though but indifferently treated in his lifetime, he became after death
-the object of universal admiration, and to this day the Chinese pay homage
-to the memory of the "Great Master," the "Chief Doctor," the "Wise King of
-Literature," the "Saint," the "Instructor of Emperors and Kings." His
-descendants have been loaded with honours and privileges, and now
-constitute the only hereditary nobility in the Chinese empire. Like the
-princes of the blood, they are exempt from taxation. And in every city of
-the first, second, and third rank, stands at least one temple dedicated to
-Confucius, where the emperor himself and the mandarins are bound to
-worship, with offerings of wine, fruit, and flowers,--with burning of
-fragrant gums, frankincense, and tapers of sandal wood,--and with singing
-of appropriate hymns. The eighteenth day of the second moon is kept sacred
-by the Chinese as the anniversary of his death.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-We have already said that the system of Confucius was ethical rather than
-religious. It is absolutely free from any theological strain, and, indeed,
-makes no mention of a Creator. "How should I know God," he would say,
-"when as yet I know not man?" "His system was essentially conservative; he
-aimed at the correction of new vices which had crept into the body politic
-by endeavouring to restore the old customs of the country; and hence the
-high favour in which his system has ever been held by the rulers and
-magnates of the empire. It inculcated the most perfect subordination, the
-most servile obedience, and the most scrupulous adherence to ancient
-usage; every social, civil, and political duty is set forth in it with the
-greatest precision; but inasmuch as all the parts of the great machine of
-empire are not absolutely deprived of volition, a rebellious cog-wheel or
-insignificant pinion will sometimes disarrange and impede the entire
-machinery."
-
-Confucius held that the universe had been generated by the union of two
-material principles,--a heavenly and an earthly, Yang and Ya. He
-represents man as having fallen by his own act from his original purity
-and happiness, and asserts that by his own act he can recover that
-condition. For this purpose he must lead a life of obedience to the law,
-and he must not do unto others that which he would not have others do unto
-him. He made the supremacy of parental authority the basis of his
-political teaching, and strongly advocated that the son's submission to
-the father must be as complete as that of the servant to the master, of
-the master to the magistrate, of the magistrate to the crown, and of the
-crown to the law. Of course this implied that the reciprocal obligations
-must be observed. This rigid application of the family ideal to the
-administration of the government, and the consequent creation of a pure
-despotism, has been the cause of all that is most perplexing to Europeans
-in the Chinese civilisation, and explains why it has never advanced beyond
-the standard or mark to which it had attained in the era of Confucius.
-
-The Confucian doctrines are set forth in _Gze-Chou_, "The Four Books," and
-_King_, "The Five Canonical Works," of which the following particulars may
-interest the reader.
-
-
-_The Ta-heo, or "Great Study."_
-
-The _Ta-heo_, or "School of Adults," has been translated by Dr. Marshman,
-in the "Clavis Sinica." It is a treatise, in two chapters, on politics and
-morals, rising gradually from the government of oneself to the government
-of a family, thence to the government of a province, and finally to the
-control of the affairs of an empire. Its leading principle is
-self-improvement, self-culture. In one of the sections an eulogium is
-bestowed upon the beauty of virtue as a means of self-enjoyment. And the
-book closes with a fine exhortation to be just, and truthful, and honest,
-to those whom fortune places at the head of the state.
-
-
-_The Chung-Yung, or "The Invariable in the Mean,"_
-
-Also translated as "the Safe Middle Course," and "the Infallible Medium,"
-describes the golden mean, the due medium by which a man should regulate
-his conduct. He is not to be lifted up by prosperity, nor cast down by
-adversity. Through thirty-three sections, in language sometimes clear and
-strenuous, sometimes obscure, the subject is pursued, and the whole duty
-of man inculcated. Here is a passage describing a kingly man which may be
-compared with one in Seneca:--
-
-"It is only the man supremely holy, who, by the faculty of knowing
-thoroughly, and comprehending perfectly the primitive laws of living
-beings, is worthy of possessing supreme authority, and governing men; who
-by possessing a soul, grand, firm, constant, and imperturbable, is capable
-of making justice and equity reign; who by his faculty of being always
-honest, simple, upright, grave, and just, is able to attract respect and
-veneration; who by his faculty of being clothed with the ornaments of the
-mind, and the talents procured by assiduous study, and by the
-enlightenment that springs from an exact investigation of the most hidden
-things, and the most subtle principles, can with accuracy discern the true
-from the false, and the good from the evil."
-
-
-_The Lun-Yu, or "Philosophical Conversation."_
-
-This is the Chinese _Phaedo_, and contains a record of the conversations
-held between Confucius and his disciples, but the author lacked the
-eloquence and imagination of Plato. It is interesting however from its
-anecdotes of the Great Teacher. In introducing his guests, it seems that
-he kept his arms extended, like the wings of a bird; that he never ate
-meat which had not been cut in a straight line; that he never used his
-fingers to point to anything; and that he would not occupy the mat spread
-for him as a seat unless it was regularly placed.
-
-
-_The Meng-tze, or "Mencius,"_
-
-Is a Commentary upon Confucius, written about a century after his death by
-his disciple Meng-tze. The subjects treated in it are of various nature.
-In one part the virtues of individual life and of domestic relations are
-discussed; in another, the order of affairs. Here are investigated the
-duties of superiors, from the sovereign to the lowest magistrate, for the
-attainment of good government. There are expounded the labours of
-students, peasants, traders, artisans, while, in the course of the work,
-the laws of the physical world, of the heavens and the earth, the
-mountains and rivers, of birds, fishes, quadrupeds, insects, plants, and
-trees, are occasionally described. The great number of affairs which
-Mencius managed, in the course of his life, in his intercourse with men,
-his occasional conversations with people of rank, his instructions to his
-pupils, his expositions of books, ancient and modern,--all these details
-are incorporated in this publication. It is a collection of historical
-facts, and of the words of ancient ages, put together for the instruction
-of mankind.
-
-Mencius died when he was eighty-four years of age; his memory is revered
-by the Chinese next to that of Confucius, and his descendants are treated
-with a distinction inferior only to that which is accorded to those of
-Confucius.
-
-
-_King; or, The Five Canonical Works._
-
-These, which were either written or compiled by Confucius, are the most
-venerable existing monuments of Chinese literature, and embody the
-fundamental principles of the earliest creeds and customs of China.
-
-The first is the _Y-King_, or "Sacred Book of Changes," which may be
-termed a Chinese Cyclopaedia, and contains a great variety of subjects,
-morals, physics, and metaphysics. It is founded on the combinations of
-sixty-four lines,--some entire, and some broken,--and called _Koua_; the
-discovery of which has been attributed to Fo-hi, the traditional founder
-of Chinese civilisation. He found them, it is said, on the shell of a
-tortoise, and asserted that they were capable of explaining all things. It
-does not seem easy, however, to explain _them_, and the commentaries upon
-them are more numerous than even the commentaries upon Shakespeare. The
-Imperial Library at Peking contains no fewer than 1450.
-
-Second in order comes the _Shu-King_, or "Book of History," which, despite
-its imperfect and fragmentary condition, is full of interest. It contains
-a concise narrative of Early Chinese history, down to the eighth century
-before our era; including the speeches addressed by several emperors to
-their high officers, and numerous valuable documents of great antiquity.
-Reference is made in its pages to a great deluge, which some suppose to be
-the Flood recorded in the book of Genesis, but others, with more
-probability, identify with one of the early and extensive inundations of
-the Hoang-Ho.
-
-The third is the _Shi-King_, or "Book of Sacred Songs," a collection of
-311 poems, ancient, national, and official, the best of which every
-well-educated Chinaman commits to memory. They range from the eighteenth
-to the third century before our era, and are divided into four parts:
-first, the Ku-fung, or songs of "the manners of different states;" second
-and third, songs for state occasions; and fourth, Soong, a collection of
-eulogies on the various emperors of the Chow dynasty. This book is
-described as replete with very interesting and probably authentic
-information on the ancient manners of China, and is frequently quoted by
-both Confucius and Mencius, and by them recommended to the study of their
-disciples.
-
-Fourth comes the _Li-King_, or "Book of Rites and Ceremonies," in which we
-find a mass of fragments dating from the time of Confucius downwards, and
-throwing a vivid light on the permanent characteristics of the Chinese
-civilisation, and on the causes which made it what it is in all its iron
-immutability. The ceremonial usages of China, as prescribed in this
-ritual, number about 3000; and one of the six tribunals, the Ly-pou, is
-specially charged with their custody and interpretation.
-
-Fifth and last is the _Chun-tsien_, or _Tchuntsiou_, or "Book of Spring
-and Autumn," so called from the seasons in which it was respectively begun
-and ended by Confucius. Here the Great Teacher has simply written down the
-earlier history of his native land of Loo; with the view of recalling the
-princes of his age to a conservative spirit of reverence for the customs
-of the past by indicating the misfortunes that took place after they fell
-into neglect.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-Strictly speaking, Confucianism has no priests, no distinct sacerdotal
-order; the emperor himself is the patriarch or head, and every magistrate,
-within the sphere of his jurisdiction is a religious official or
-hierophant. "Generally, all literary persons, and those who propose to
-become such, in attaching themselves to it do not necessarily renounce
-practices borrowed from other religions. But, in fact, faith does not seem
-to have anything to do with the matter; and habit alone induces them to
-conform to ceremonies which they themselves turn into ridicule--such as
-divinations, horoscopes, and calculating lucky and unlucky days, all of
-which superstitions are in great vogue throughout the empire."
-
-China possesses an enormous number of pagodas, or idol-temples; Peking
-boasts of 10,000; every village has several, and they are distributed all
-along the roads and all over the fields. Some are remarkable for their
-splendour; but the majority do not differ in appearance, or very slightly,
-from other buildings. Often they are nothing more than small chapels, in
-which are niches containing idols and vases filled with burning perfumes,
-or the ashes of gilt paper on which prayers have been printed, these
-papers having been burnt, as a religious rite, by devotees. The
-worshippers, if such they may be called, display the utmost indifference
-of behaviour in these temples: they enter them to enjoy a rest or a sleep;
-or they walk about with their hats on, whistling, smoking, laughing,
-chattering. Round the sides are seated the vendors of the aforesaid gilt
-paper prayers and pastiles; ever and anon they demand attention to their
-wares by striking a gong; while the people incessantly burn paper models
-of clothing, shoes, money, junks, and the like, to assist their deceased
-friends on their long journey. For though the Chinese have no distinct
-recognition of a future state, the worship of the dead is a prominent
-element of their religion. Noble and peasant alike bring offerings, or
-send them by proxy, and kneel before the shades of their ancestors: this
-duty at least is always remembered, whatever other may be forgotten.
-
-The following may be given as an example of the prayers used upon such
-occasions:--
-
-"I, Lea Kwang, second son of the third generation, presume to come before
-the grave of my ancestors. Revolving years have brought again the season
-of Spring; I sweep your tomb with reverence, and, prostrate, beg you to be
-spiritually present, and grant that your posterity may be illustrious. At
-this season I desire to recompense the root of my existence, and
-reverently, therefore, before your holy spirit present the five-fold
-offering of pork, fowl, duck, goose, and fish; with five fruits and the
-drink _samshu_;[31] entreating that you will condescend to inspect them.
-This announcement is presented on high."
-
-Such offerings as are not accepted by the priests are generally taken home
-again to furnish full the worshipper's own table.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-The Ritual State Worship, which concerns the Emperor and his court, but
-affects not the great body of the people, we must glance at very briefly.
-It may be defined as the ceremonial of a philosophical pantheism,
-unconnected with any theological doctrine. Three classes of natural
-objects are distinguished, to which the "Great," the "Medium," and the
-"Lesser" Sacrifices are offered. The first class, the _Ta-sze_, includes
-the Heaven and the Earth, and along with and equal to these, the great
-Temple of Imperial Ancestors. Among the _Chung-sze_, or "Medium
-Sacrifices," are the Genii, the Great Light and the Evening Light (that
-is, the Sun and the Moon), the Gods of Land and Grain, the God of Letters,
-and the Inventors of Agriculture, Manufactures, and the Useful Arts. To
-the "Lesser Sacrifices," or _Scaou-sze_, belong the Founder of the Art of
-Healing, as well as the spirits of statesmen, scholars, and persons of
-eminent virtue. They are offered also to various natural phenomena, such
-as the clouds, the rain, the wind, the thunder. The God of War, and Lung
-Wang, the dragon-king, who represents the rivers and streams, have their
-worshippers; nor is Tien-How, the Queen of Heaven, forgotten. There are,
-besides, a host of household deities, like the Lares and Penates of the
-ancients, who are propitiated by domestic sacrifices at the new year, when
-they are supposed to pay a brief visit to the Other World, and report, as
-it were, the doings and misdoings of the families over which they preside.
-
-The chief sacrificial seasons are these: the winter solstice for all
-offered to heaven, the summer season for all offered to earth. The others
-have their appointed dates. Then, in the course of the year, numerous
-festivals of a more or less religious character are held. First among them
-is the Imperial Ploughing of the Sacred Field, which takes place towards
-the end of March. The Emperor, attended by some of the princes of the
-blood and his chief ministers, then proceeds to a field on one side of the
-central street in Peking, where fitting preparations have, of course, been
-made. After certain sacrifices, consisting chiefly of grain preserved from
-the produce of the same field, the Emperor takes the plough, and drives a
-few furrows. His example is followed by the princes and ministers in
-succession: a red tablet indicating the space allotted to each
-distinguished amateur. The "five sorts of grain" are then sown; and when
-the Emperor has seen the work completed by the attendant husbandmen, the
-field is committed to the charge of an officer whose business it is to
-collect and store the produce with a view to future sacrifices to the Gods
-of the Harvest.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-Of the _Shae-tung_, or Feast of Lanterns, every traveller has spoken.
-There are also the _Too-te-tan_, or birthdays of the familiar gods of the
-city; the _Tsing-ming-tsee_, or Feast of Tombs; the festivals of all and
-sundry deities; and the birthdays of the living Emperor and Empress, as
-well as the anniversaries of the deaths of their predecessors, which,
-however, are observed only by the mandarins. So numerous are the festivals
-that were they celebrated everywhere by everybody there would be neither
-"time" nor "hands" for the works of agriculture or commerce, trade,
-science, or the arts.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-We pass on to a brief account of
-
-
-TAOUISM.
-
-The founder of Taouism, the doctrine of Tao, or Reason, was a celebrated
-philosopher named Lao-tsze, who was born in the third year of the Emperor
-Ting-wang, of the Chow dynasty (B.C. 604) in the state of Tseu, now known
-as Hoo-pih and Hoo-nan. He preceded Confucius by half a century. His
-family name was _Le_, or Plum, and his youthful name, _Urh_, or Ear, in
-allusion to the exceptional size of his "auricular appendages." The events
-of his career are so obscured in an atmosphere of legend and fable,
-created by admiring disciples, that it is difficult to get at any
-authentic particulars; but he seems to have been an assiduous student, and
-the historian or chronologist of a king of the Chow dynasty. Visiting,
-about B.C. 600, the western parts of China, he gained there a knowledge of
-the system of Fo, or Buddha, and soon afterwards began to develope his own
-religious teaching. So great was his fame that Confucius went to see him;
-but the interview was hardly of the character that might have been
-expected when two religious philosophers met. Lao-tsze reproached the
-younger sage with pride and ostentation and vanity, affirming that
-philosophers loved retirement and seclusion, and made no boast of virtue
-and knowledge. It speaks well for the good nature of Confucius that he
-replied to this tirade by highly commending Lao-tsze to his followers, and
-describing him as a dragon soaring to the clouds of Heaven, unsurpassed
-and unsurpassable.
-
-Lao-tsze inquired of Confucius if he had discovered the _Taou_, the "path"
-or "reason" by which Heaven acts, and was informed that the philosopher
-had searched for it unsuccessfully. Lao-tsze replied that the wealthy
-dismissed their friends with presents, and sages theirs with good counsel;
-and that for himself, he humbly claimed to be thought a sage--an indirect
-way of advising Confucius to continue his quest of the _Taou_. Retiring to
-Han-kwan, he wrote there his _Taou-tih-king_, or Book of Reason and
-Virtue. He died, or as his followers say, ascended to Heaven on a black
-buffalo, in the twenty-first year of the reign of King-wang of the Chow or
-Cheu dynasty, or B.C. 523, having attained the age of 119 years.[32]
-
-The contrast between the system of Lao-tsze and that of Confucius may be
-indicated in a word: the former was _speculative_, the latter _practical_,
-and it is no wonder, therefore that the latter, addressing itself to man's
-actual necessities and daily duties, prevailed over the former. But, in an
-abstract sense, Lao's, as originally defined by himself, was the purer and
-more elevated; for it aimed at securing the immortality of man through the
-contemplation of GOD, the subjugation of the passions, and the absolute
-tranquillity of the soul. He taught that Silence and the Void generated
-the Taou, the "Logos" or reason by which movement was produced; and that
-all beings containing in themselves the duality of male and female sprang
-from them.
-
-Man, he said, was composed of two principles, the material and the
-spiritual: from the latter he emanated, and to it he ought to return, by
-throwing off the fetters and snares of the world, crushing out the
-material passions, the desires of the soul, and the pleasures of the body,
-and abandoning riches, honours, and the ties of life.
-
-Before Lao-tsze's time, the Chinese seem to have worshipped the
-_Shang-te_, or Supreme Ruler, and the _Tien_, or Heaven: but Lao-tsze
-preached in their place the _Taou_, or "reason" of the Kosmos. Of a
-Supreme Creative and Eternal Power he had no conception. There was as
-little theology in his system as in that of Confucius; but its morality
-was not less admirable; it insisted on the practice of those virtues which
-form the moral code of all the higher religions,--charity, benevolence,
-chastity, and the free-will, moral agency, and responsibility of man. But
-there was an obscurity about Lao-tsze's teaching, which enabled his
-followers successfully to pervert it, and it gradually assumed a form
-which the Teacher himself would undoubtedly have been the first to
-repudiate. The Taossi, as they were called, professed to have discovered
-the drink of immortality, and practised divination, alchemy, the
-invocation of spirits, and other superstitious rites. These follies were
-gravely ridiculed by the Joo-Keaou, or sect of Confucius, and gradually
-were abandoned by all but the most illiterate.
-
-Among the host of deities worshipped by this sect we may instance the
-_San-tsing_, or "Three Pure Ones," the three-fold ruler of the assembled
-gods in heaven, the sun, the moon, and the stars, who delivers his name
-and benevolent commands to be promulgated amongst mankind, that all who
-see and recite that name may be delivered from all evil, and obtain
-infinite happiness. "It is impossible to doubt," says a writer, "that we
-see here traces of a Divine revelation, corrupted though it has now
-become. China has her Trinity in Taouism as well as in Buddhism; as other
-Pagan nations have had theirs in the Orphic mythology, where there were
-'counsel, and light, and life;' in the Platonic theology, which had its
-'good, and mind, and the soul of the world,' as in the Egyptian mysteries
-there were 'On, and Isis, and Neith;' and in that of Fo, 'Brahma, Vishnu,
-and Seeva.'"
-
-The Taossi, Tien-sze, or "Celestial Doctors,"--the priests of
-Taouism,--are outwardly distinguished amongst the Chinese by the manner in
-which they dress their hair. They shave the sides of the head, and coil
-the remaining hair in a tuft on the crown. Moreover, they wear
-slate-coloured robes. There are two orders; one, the keepers of the
-temples, vowed to celibacy; the others, who are free to marry, live in
-their own houses, or wander about the country selling charms and medical
-nostrums. In the feast of one of their deities, the "High Emperor of all
-the Sombre Heavens," they assemble before his temple, and having kindled a
-huge fire, about fifteen or twenty feet in diameter, go over it barefoot,
-carrying the gods in their arms. "They firmly assert," says Williams,
-"that if they possess a sincere mind they will not be injured by the fire;
-but both priests and people get miserably burnt on these occasions."
-Escayrac de Lauture says that they leap, dance, and whirl round the fire,
-striking at the devils with a straight Roman-like sword, and sometimes
-wounding themselves as the priests of Baal and Moloch were wont to do.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-Some interesting particulars of the Buddhist temples of China are supplied
-by Mr. Fortune. He speaks of the temple of Tien-tung as a congeries of
-temples, a collection of spacious structures, which occupy the site of
-former buildings. All of these are crowded with idols, or images of the
-favourite gods, such as the "Three precious Buddhas," "the Queen of
-Heaven," represented as sitting on the celebrated lotus or nelumbium--"the
-God of War," and many other deified kings and great men of former days.
-Many of these images are from thirty to forty feet in height, and have a
-striking appearance as they stand arranged in the spacious lofty halls.
-The priests themselves reside in a range of low buildings, erected at
-right angles with the different temples and courts that divide them. Each
-has a little temple under his own roof; a family altar crowded with petty
-images, where he is often engaged in private devotion.
-
-Mr. Fortune, after inspecting the various temples and the belfry, which
-contains a noble bronze bell of large dimensions, was conducted to the
-house of the principal priest, where dinner was already spread upon the
-table. The Buddhist priests are not permitted to eat animal food at any of
-their meals. The dinner, therefore, consisted entirely of vegetables,
-served _a la Chinoise_, in numerous small round basins, the contents of
-each--soups excepted--being cut up into small square bits, to be eaten
-with chopsticks. The Buddhist priests contrive to procure a quantity of
-vegetables of different kinds, which, by a peculiar mode of preparation,
-are rendered very savoury. "In fact," says Mr. Fortune,[33] "so nearly do
-they resemble animal food in taste and in appearance, that at first we
-were deceived, imagining that the little bits we were able to get hold of
-with our chopsticks were really pieces of fowl or beef. Such, however, was
-not the case, as our good host was consistent on this day at least, and
-had nothing but vegetable productions at his table. Several other priests
-sat with us at table, and a large number of others of inferior rank with
-servants, crowded around the doors and windows outside."
-
-During dinner, Mr. Fortune learned that about a hundred priests were
-connected with the monastery, but that many were always about on missions
-to various parts of the country. A considerable portion of land in the
-vicinity belonged to the temple, and supplied its revenue: large sums were
-raised every year from the sale of bamboos, which are here very excellent,
-and of the branches of trees and brushwood, which are made up in bundles
-for firewood. Many rice and tea farms also belong to the priests and are
-cultivated by them. In addition to the sums thus raised, a considerable
-revenue must accrue from the contributions of the devotees who frequent
-the temple, as well as from the alms and donations collected by the
-mendicant priests of the order, who are sent out on begging excursions at
-stated periods of the year. There are, of course, all grades of priests;
-some being merely the servants of the others, both domestic and
-agricultural.
-
-The temple forms the centre of a fine landscape. It stands at the head of
-a fertile valley, with green hills all around it; this valley echoes with
-the music of several bright mountain streams, and yields abundant crops of
-rice. On the lower slopes of the more fertile hills grow masses of tea
-shrubs, with dark green leaves, lending a fine background to the picture.
-A long avenue of Chinese pine trees leads up to the temple. At first it is
-straight, but near the temple it winds picturesquely round the edges of
-the artificial lakes, to end at a flight of stone steps. Behind, and on
-each side, the mountains rise in irregular ridges, from 1,000 to 2,000
-feet above the sea level; not bare and desolate like the mountains of the
-south, but clothed to their tops with a dense tropical-looking growth of
-brushwood, shrubs, and trees. Some of the finest bamboos of China flourish
-in the ravines, and the sombre-coloured pine attains to a large size on
-the acclivities.
-
-A quaint account of the origin of the monastery was given by one of the
-head priests:--
-
-"Many hundred years ago a pious old man retired from the world, and came
-to dwell in these mountains, giving himself up entirely to the performance
-of religious duties. So earnest was he in his devotions that he neglected
-everything relating to his temporal wants, even to his daily food.
-Providence, however, would not suffer so good a man to starve. Some boys
-were sent in a miraculous manner, who daily supplied him with food. In the
-course of time the fame of the sage extended all over the adjacent
-country, and disciples flocked to him from all quarters. A small range of
-temples was built, and thus commenced the extensive buildings which now
-bear the name of 'Tien-tung,' or the 'Temple of the Heavenly Boys;' _Tien_
-signifying heaven, and _tung_, a boy. At last the old man died, but his
-disciples supplied his place. The fame of the temple spread far and wide,
-and votaries came from the most distant parts of the empire--one of the
-Chinese kings being amongst the number--to worship and leave their
-offerings at its altars. Larger temples were built in front of the
-original ones, and these again in their turn gave way to those spacious
-buildings which form the principal part of the structure of the present
-day."
-
-Mr. Fortune remarks that a large number of Buddhist temples are scattered
-over all this part of the country. Their architects have shown as keen a
-sympathy with nature as the Cistercian founders in Europe, always building
-them in the most lovely and picturesque situations, amongst the green
-hills, and in the shelter of spreading woods--the leafy enclosures that in
-England indicate the presence of an old manor house, or "ancestral hall."
-_Poo-to_, or the Worshipping Island, as foreigners call it, is one of the
-eastern islands in the Chusan Archipelago, and seems to be one of the
-great Buddhist centres. The principal group of temples is situated in a
-fine romantic glen, and from the high ground above it, seems like a town
-of considerable size. As the traveller approaches nearer, he finds the
-view of great interest. In front extends a large artificial pond, filled
-with the broad green leaves and noble red and white flowers of the
-nelumbium speciosum,--a plant in high favour with the Chinese. Access to
-the monastery is obtained by a very ornamental bridge thrown across this
-piece of water.
-
-The temples or halls containing the idols are extremely spacious; many of
-the idols are thirty or forty feet high, generally made of wood or clay,
-and then richly gilt. In a temple of far less pretentious character than
-any of the others Mr. Fortune met with some exquisite bronze statues, of
-undoubted value.
-
-Having examined these temples, our traveller made his way towards another
-group of them, about two miles to the eastward, and close on the sea
-shore. Entering the courts through a kind of triumphal arch, which looked
-out upon the sapphire sea, he found that these temples were constructed on
-the same plan.
-
-On the following day he inspected various parts of the island. In addition
-to the larger temples just noticed, about sixty or seventy smaller ones
-are built on all the hill sides, each containing three or four priests,
-who are all under the abbot, or superior, residing near one of the large
-temples. "Even on the top of the highest hill," he says, "probably 1,500
-or 1,800 feet above the level of the sea, we found a temple of
-considerable size and in excellent repair. There are winding stone steps
-from the sea-beach all the way up to this temple, and a small
-resting-place about half-way up the hill, where the weary devotee may
-rest and drink of the refreshing stream which flows down the sides of the
-mountain, and in the little temple close at hand, which is also crowded
-with idols, he can supplicate Buddha for strength to enable him to reach
-the end of his journey. We were surprised to find a Buddhist temple in
-such excellent order as the one on the summit of the hill proved to be in.
-It is a striking fact, that almost all these places are crumbling fast
-into ruins. There are a few exceptions, in cases where they happen to get
-a good name amongst the people from the supposed kindness of the gods; but
-the great mass are in a state of decay."
-
-The island of Poo-to is nothing but a residence for Buddhist priests, and
-no other persons are allowed to live there but their servants and
-attendants. No women are admitted, as the principles of Buddhism insist
-upon sacerdotal celibacy. There are about 2,000 priests, many of whom are
-constantly absent on begging expeditions for the maintenance of their
-religion. On certain high days, at different periods of the year, many
-thousands of both sexes, but more particularly females, visit these
-temples, clothed in their gayest attire, to pay their vows and engage in
-the other practices of heathen worship. In the temples or at the doorways
-stand little stalls, for the sale of incense, candles, paper made up to
-resemble ingots of Sycee-silver, and other holy things, which are regarded
-as acceptable offerings to the gods, and are either consumed in the
-temples or carried home to bring, it is supposed, a blessing upon the
-homes and families of their purchasers. The profits of these sales go, of
-course, to the maintenance of the establishment. Whatever we may think of
-the superstitious character of Buddhism, it is impossible to doubt the
-sincerity of its disciples, when we find them sometimes travelling a
-distance of several hundred miles to worship in their temples.
-
-"I was once staying," says Fortune,[34] "in the temple of Tien-tung when
-it was visited for three days by devotees from all parts of the country.
-As they lined the roads on their way to the temple, clad in the graceful
-and flowing costumes of the East, the mind was naturally led back to
-those days of Scripture History when Jerusalem was in its glory, and the
-Jews, the chosen people of God, came from afar to worship in its temple."
-
-Mr. Gutzlaff, the missionary, is of opinion that the priests and devotees
-of Buddhism entertain no sincere conviction of the truth of their creed.
-Describing a visit to Poo-to, he says: "We were present at the vespers of
-the priests, which they chanted in the Pali language, not unlike the Latin
-service of the Romish Church. They held rosaries in their hands, which
-rested folded upon their breasts. One of them had a small bell, by the
-tinkling of which their service was regulated; and they occasionally beat
-the drum and large bell to rouse Buddha's attention to their prayers. The
-same words were a hundred times repeated. None of the officiating persons
-showed any interest in the ceremony, for some were looking round laughing
-and joking, while others muttered their prayers. The few people who were
-present, not to attend the worship, but to gaze at us, did not seem, in
-the least degree, to feel the solemnity of the service." But to condemn
-the whole Buddhist sect from this solitary instance would be as reasonable
-as to pronounce all Protestants insincere because a West-end congregation
-in London may have shown signs of frivolity and indifference! Mr. Fortune,
-on the contrary, declares that he was much impressed by the solemnity with
-which the devotional exercises of the Buddhists were generally conducted.
-"I have often walked," he says, "into Chinese temples when the priests
-were engaged in prayer, and although there would have been some apology
-for them had their attention been diverted, they went on in the most
-solemn manner until the conclusion of the service, as if no foreigner were
-present. They then came politely up to me, examining my dress and
-everything about me with the most earnest curiosity. Nor does this apply
-to priests only; the laity, and particularly the female sex, seem equally
-sincere when they engage in their public devotions. Whether they are what
-they appear to be, or how often they are in this pious frame of mind, are
-questions which I cannot answer. Before judging harshly of the Chinese,
-let the reader consider what effect would be produced upon the members of
-a Christian church by the unexpected entrance of a small-footed Chinese
-lady, or a Mandarin, with the gold button and peacock feather mounted on
-his hat, and his long tail dangling over his shoulders. I am far from
-being an admirer of the Buddhist priesthood; they are generally an
-imbecile race, and shamefully ignorant of everything but the simple forms
-of their religion, but nevertheless there are many traits in their
-character not unworthy of imitation."
-
-The superstitious credulity of the Chinese is demonstrated by the nature
-of their various religious ceremonies. In all the southern towns every
-house has its temple or altar, both within and without. In the interior
-the altar generally occupies the end of the principal hall or shop, as the
-case may be; is raised a few feet from the ground, and adorned with an
-effigy of the household god, enveloped in gaudy tinsel paper. By the way,
-of what we call "taste," the Chinese do not seem to know even the
-rudiments; nor do they appear to have any feeling for harmony of colour or
-proportion. On the first day of the Chinese month, and other festivals,
-candles and incense flare and smoke on the table in front of it. The altar
-outside the door is like to a small furnace, and here the same ceremonies
-are regularly performed.
-
-The traveller, as he passes in the neighbourhood of small villages, or in
-even more sequestered localities, comes upon little joss-houses or
-temples, all glaringly decorated in the same style with paintings and
-tinsel paper, and stuck round about with bits of candles and sticks of
-incense. Shops for the sale of idols of all kinds and sizes, but of
-unvarying ugliness, at prices varying from a few pence to many pounds, are
-found in all the large towns. Some are evidently very ancient, and have
-passed through the hands of a long succession of proprietors. It is a
-capital custom--is it not?--when you are tired of your god, because he
-does not fulfil your wishes, to purchase another and a more powerful at a
-slight increase of price! A deity who would really gratify _all_ our
-petitions would be worth--so far as this world is concerned--a heavy sum!
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-Nothing in China is more remarkable than the periodical offerings of a
-Chinese family to its gods. The traveller already cited witnessed such a
-ceremony in a house at Shanghai. The principal hall was duly set out at an
-early hour in the morning; a large table was placed in the centre; and
-shortly afterwards covered with small dishes filled with the various
-articles commonly used as food by the Chinese. All these were of the very
-best description which could be procured. After a certain time had elapsed
-numerous candles were lighted, and from the burning incense rose columns
-of fragrant smoke. The inmates of the house and their friends were all
-clothed in their best attire, and came in turn to _ko-too_, or bow lowly
-and repeatedly in front of the table and the altar. "The scene," says our
-authority, "although it was an idolatrous one, seemed to me to have
-something very impressive about it, and whilst I pitied the delusion of
-our host and his friends, I could not but admire their devotion. In a
-short time after this ceremony was completed a large quantity of tinsel
-paper, made up in the form and shape of the ingots of Sycee silver common
-in China, was heaped on the floor in front of the tables, the burning
-incense was then taken from the table and placed in the midst of it, and
-the whole consumed together. By-and-by, when the gods were supposed to
-have finished their repast, all the articles of food were removed from the
-tables, cut up, and consumed by people connected with the family."
-
-On another occasion, Mr. Fortune, when at Ning-po, having been abroad all
-day, did not return to the city until nightfall. The city gates were
-closed, but, on knocking, he was admitted by the warder. Passing into the
-widest and finest street in the city, he observed a blaze of light and a
-general liveliness very unusual in any Chinese town after dark. The sounds
-of music fell upon his ear, the monotonous beat of the drum and gong, and
-the more pleasing and varied tones of several wind instruments. On
-approaching nearer he discovered that a public offering was being made to
-the gods, and it proved to be a more striking scene than he could have
-anticipated. The table was spread in the open street, and all the
-preparations were on a large and expensive scale. Instead of small dishes,
-whole animals were sacrificed. On one side of the table was placed a pig,
-on the other a sheep; the former, scraped clean in the usual fashion, the
-latter skinned; of both the entrails had been removed, and on both were
-placed flowers, an onion, and a knife. The other parts of the table
-"groaned" with the delicacies in vogue among the more respectable Chinese,
-such as fowls, ducks, numerous compound dishes, fruits, vegetables, and
-rice. At one end of the table, when the gods were supposed to sit during
-the meal, chairs were set; and chopsticks were laid in order by the side
-of every dish. The whole place glared with light, and wreaths of incense
-filled the air with sweet odours. At intervals, bands of musicians struck
-up the favourite national airs, which are all of a plaintive cast, and
-altogether the scene was a strange and curious revelation of human
-superstition.[35]
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-Processions in honour of the gods are of frequent occurrence. Mr. Fortune
-speaks of one which he saw at Shanghai as at least a mile in length. The
-gods, or josses, arrayed in the finest silks, were carried about in
-splendid sedan-chairs, in the centre of a long train of devotees, all
-superbly dressed for the occasion, and all bearing their different
-insignia of office. The dresses of the officials exactly resembled those
-of some of the attendants who figure in the suite of the higher mandarins.
-Some wore on the sides of their hats a broad fan, composed of
-peacock-feathers; others strutted in gaudy theatrical costumes, with two
-long black feathers stuck, like horns, in their low caps. The scowling
-executioners carried long conical black hats on their heads, and whips in
-their hands, for the prompt chastisement of the refractory. Bands of
-music, in different parts of the procession, played at intervals as it
-marched along.
-
-On arriving at a temple in the suburbs, it came to a halt. The gods were
-taken out of the sedan-chairs, and with a great exhibition of reverence,
-replaced in the temple, from which they had been removed in the morning.
-Then their worshippers bent low before their altars, burning incense, and
-depositing their gifts. Numerous groups of well-dressed ladies and their
-children were scattered over the ground in the neighbourhood of the
-temple; all were kneeling, and apparently they conducted their devotions
-with great earnestness. A large quantity of paper, in the shape of the
-Sycee silver ingots, was piled up on the grass by the different devotees,
-and when the ceremonies of the day were being brought to a conclusion, the
-whole was burned in honour of, or as an offering to, the gods.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER VII.
-
-_AMONG THE MALAYS: THE SLAMATAN BROMOK; THE DYAKS; THE PAPUAN TRIBES; THE
-AHETAS._
-
-
-THE SLAMATAN BROMOK.
-
-A religious ceremony exists in Java which has an obvious affinity to the
-old Nature-Worship, and finds its excuse in the dread with which the
-uncivilised races regarded the mysterious forces of Nature, unseen in
-themselves, but palpable in their results. About three miles from the town
-of Tosari, rises the barren cone of the Bromok, a still active volcano,
-which is strangely situated in the bosom of green wooded hills and
-mountains,--a significant blur upon the landscape. The traveller who
-desires to accomplish its ascent climbs up the rough and almost
-precipitous slope by a path winding through immense breadths of a tall
-yellow grass called the alang-alang. When he has attained to the brink of
-the Monegal, an enormous extinct crater, reputed to be the largest in the
-world, he will do well to pause, and survey the landscape before him. Of
-the knot of mountains on which his eye rests, the foremost is called the
-Batok, or Butak, that is, the Bald; in allusion, probably, to its barren
-summit, for its sides are well clothed with herbage. It is shaped like a
-cone, with deep grooves down its declivities, indicating the course taken
-by the lava-streams formerly ejected from its interior. To its right, a
-little in the rear, stretches the sharp pointed chain of the Dedari and
-Widadarea, or "abode of fairies;" while, on the left, shrouded in smoke
-clouds, which partially conceal its bulk, is situated the mass of the
-dreary Bromok.
-
-Descending into the crater, we cross its sandy floor, the Dasar,--or, as
-it is appropriately called, the Sandy Sea,--where grows not tree nor
-shrub, and the only signs of vegetation are a few scattered patches of
-dried and scrubby grass. The surface is strangely corrugated or ridged,
-like the sea-sand at ebb of tide; and the whole landscape is as full of
-gloom as the waste of the African Sahara.
-
-Like many other volcanoes, the Bromok is a truncated cone. From one of its
-sides project numerous irregular masses, or mounds of mud and sand,
-incrusted in a baked clay like red lava. Some of these have been largely
-reduced in size by the heavy tropical rains, which have ploughed deep
-broad fissures in the Sandy Sea; while others, still supplied with liquid
-matter from the volcano, are encroaching on the Dasar, and covering so
-much of it as lies within the more immediate neighbourhood of the crater.
-Large blocks of lime and limestone lie embedded in these mounds; also huge
-black stones veined like marble and glittering like granite. These, as
-well as the scoriae which abound in every direction, were products, it is
-supposed, of the last eruption of the Bromok.
-
-Climbing to the summit of the ridge, and looking down into the abyss of
-the crater, the traveller at first is tempted to suppose that before him
-lies one of the "circles" of Dante's mediaeval Inferno. A yawning pit in
-the centre belches dense volumes of sulphureous smoke, accompanied by
-terrific sounds, like groans and shrieks and yells. The inner crater forms
-a large basin, about 350 feet in diameter, with irregular broken sides,
-descending to a depth of fully 250 feet. The sides, as well as the bottom,
-are encrusted with deposits of yellow sulphureous matter.
-
-The ceremony of the benediction of this dread volcano takes place two or
-three times a year; it is not without its picturesque details. Groups of
-pilgrims are scattered about the Sandy Sea; some eating, others praying;
-some singing, others laughing, talking, chaffering. Men are selling, and
-finding a ready market for, amulets, charms, and volcanic stones, which,
-in language as extravagant as that of the European proprietor of a patent
-pill, they declare to be sovereign remedies for every human malady.
-Provisions of all kinds are on sale, and lie exposed upon roughly
-constructed stands, resembling those which are seen at English fairs; a
-plank or two, supported on a couple of stone trestles. "Wodonos and
-Mantries"--the Javanese nobles--parade up and down in gay attire, their
-burnished krisses glittering amidst the folds of their sarong. Old men and
-old women, who have come to pay their last homage to the shrine, totter
-along feebly; watching with delight, however, the frolics of their
-grandchildren as they scamper about in unchecked glee.
-
-At one part of the Sandy Sea twenty mats are ranged in a row, and upon
-each a young priest kneels, having before him a box of myrrh,
-frankincense, aloes, and other spices, which are sold for offerings. At
-right angles runs another row, with the same number of priests, all
-kneeling in the Arab fashion, their bodies partly resting on the calves of
-their legs. These are older than the former group, and may be regarded as
-the patriarchs of their respective villages. Behind each stands a
-payong-bearer, shading his master from the sun with a large umbrella.
-Their dress consists of a white gown worn over the sarong, which is tied
-to the waist by a broad red belt. Over the shoulders hang two bands of
-yellow silk, bound with scarlet, and their ends ornamented with tassels
-and gold coins. The head-dress consists of a large turban, adorned with
-gay silken scarfs. In front of each priest are spread small packets made
-of plantain leaves, containing incense, sandal-wood chips, and other
-preparations; wooden censers, throwing forth jets of fragrant smoke; and a
-vessel, made of plaited ratan, for holding water.
-
-At a short distance from the priests a motley crowd is assembled, waiting
-for the various offerings they have deposited upon specially prepared
-bamboo stands, to be consecrated. These offerings consist of cocoa-nuts,
-plantains, pine-apples, mangoes, and other fruits; of baskets of young
-chickens; of trays loaded with all kinds of cakes; of strips of silk and
-calico; of gold, silver, and copper coins.
-
-After spending a few minutes in prayer, the priest dips his goupillon or
-cup into the vessel of water before him, mutters a few unintelligible
-words, and sprinkles the oblations as they are successively presented.
-Then all the holy men bow their heads, and repeat loudly and distinctly a
-ritual prayer.
-
-The oldest rises up, followed in succession by his sacerdotal companions,
-uttering a phrase which sounds like "Ayo, ayo, Bromok!" and probably
-means, "Forward, forward to the Bromok!" At this signal all the crowd rush
-to the Bromok, impressed with a belief that he who first gains the ridge
-will be the favourite of fortune, and presently meet with some exceptional
-stroke of good luck. At intervals some of the older priests come to a
-halt, spread their mats, and prostrate themselves in prayer for five or
-ten minutes, thus securing an interval of rest at the same time that they
-win a reputation for special devoutness.
-
-On reaching the summit of the volcano, the various families and
-individuals again present their offerings to the priests, who mumble over
-them a few additional words: they are then thrown into the crater, each
-person eagerly repeating some prayer or wish. And thus concludes the
-strange ceremony by which the spirits of the Bromok are supposed to be
-propitiated. The crowd descend from the volcano to join in various games
-and pastimes; towards evening they begin to disperse, and as the night
-spreads its cloud of darkness over the scene, the Sea of Sand resumes its
-ordinary aspect of loneliness and desolation.
-
-
-THE DYAKS OF BORNEO.
-
-It is not certain that the Dyaks possess any religion. Temminck asserts
-that they _have_, and that it bears a close resemblance to "fetichism."
-The god Djath, he says, rules the sublunar world, and the god Sangjang
-presides over hell. These gods wear the human form, but are invisible; the
-Dyaks invoke them by sprinkling rice on the ground, and offering various
-sacrifices. In the houses of the Dyaks, adds Temminck, wooden idols are
-frequently met with.
-
-Other travellers are of opinion that they profess a kind of Pantheism, and
-represent them as believing, like the ancient Greeks, in a multitude of
-gods, gods above and gods below the world, as well as innumerable good and
-evil spirits, of whom Budjang-Brani is undoubtedly the most wicked. All
-diseases are caused by the agency of evil demons, and all misfortunes; and
-therefore the Dyaks make vigorous efforts to drive them away by shouts,
-and shrieks, and the discordant gong. So in some of the West Indian
-islands the natives, during an eclipse, would seek, by a horrible clamour,
-to frighten away the monster they supposed to be devouring the moon.
-
-Some authorities go so far as to represent the Dyaks as cherishing vague
-ideas of the Unity of the Godhead and the immortality of the soul.
-
-Madame Ida Pfeiffer was by no means a philosophical traveller, but she was
-an honest observer; and as the result of her explorations in Borneo, she
-positively affirms that among the tribes she visited are neither temples
-nor idols, priests nor sacrifices. On the occasions of their births,
-marriages and funerals they perform certain ceremonies, but these appear
-to be devoid of all religious character. Usually on such occasions they
-kill fowls as well as hogs. When concluding treaties of peace they always
-slaughter swine, but they do not eat them, and in this custom we may trace
-perhaps the propitiatory idea. A few tribes burn their dead, and preserve
-the ashes in hollow trees; others inter them in the least accessible
-localities, such as the summits of lofty mountains; others bind the corpse
-to the trunk of a tree in the position in which S. Peter was crucified,
-that is, with the feet upwards and the head downwards.
-
-
-IN BOURU.
-
-The inhabitants of Bouru, one of the islands of the Malay Archipelago,
-profess a creed which was taught them by one called Nabiata. From some of
-its articles he would seem to have been a Mohammedan, or acquainted with
-Mohammedanism; but whence he came, or how, or when he made his way to
-Bouru, it is impossible to ascertain. The natives say that there is one
-Supreme Being, Who created all things, and is the source of both good and
-evil. He permits the existence of evil spirits. Those who pray to Him He
-rewards with prosperity; those who neglect this duty He never fails to
-punish. It was owing to His infinite love for man that He sent him this
-inspired teacher Nabiata, who resided among the mountains, and delivered
-his Master's will in seven commandments:--
-
-    1. Thou shalt not kill nor wound.
-
-    2. Thou shalt not steal.
-
-    3. Thou shalt not commit adultery.
-
-    4. Thou shalt not set thyself up against thy _fenna_ (priest.)
-
-    5. A man shall not set himself up against the chief of his tribe.
-
-    6. A chief shall not set himself up against him who is over his or
-    other tribes.
-
-    7. The chief over more than one tribe shall not set himself up against
-    him who is placed over all the tribes.
-
-Nabiata also taught that though the body perishes, the soul will live for
-ever; that those who keep the foregoing commandments, (and all the acts of
-men are duly recorded by the Supreme Being,) shall dwell in His presence
-far above the firmament; while those who have lived wickedly shall never
-rise to the abode of the happy, nor shall they remain upon earth, but for
-ever and ever, lonely and in sorrow, wander among the clouds, yearning
-with a desire that can never be fulfilled, to join their brethren in the
-heaven above or on the earth beneath.
-
-Nabiata also introduced the rite of circumcision, and ordained that it
-should be performed on children of both sexes when they attained the age
-of eight or ten years.
-
-
-THE PAPUAN TRIBES.
-
-Among the Dorians, or the inhabitants of the north coast of New Guinea,
-near Port Dory, an almost childish superstition prevails. Always and
-everywhere they carry about with them a variety of charms and talismans,
-such as bits of bone, or quartz, or carved wood, to which, for some reason
-or other, an artificial value has come to be attached. Those among them
-who have acquired a slight knowledge of Mohammedanism use verses of the
-Koran written upon narrow strips of paper by the Mohammedan priests of
-Ceram and Tidore. But most of the Dorians are pagans, and worship an idol
-called "Karwar," a clumsy figure of which, carved in wood, holding a
-shield, and distinguished by an exceptionally large head, with a sharp
-nose and a wide mouth, is kept in every house, and plays the part of a
-dumb oracle. Its owner, when involved in any difficulty or danger, hastens
-to crouch before it, bowing or salaaming repeatedly, with his hands
-clasped upon his forehead. If while thus engaged he experiences an emotion
-of doubt or despondency, it is considered an evil sign, and he proceeds to
-abandon whatever may have been his wish or object. It will thus be seen
-that everything depends upon the votary's temperament or natural
-disposition,--if he be a sanguine and resolute man, it is not likely that
-he will be conscious of any untoward sensation; and, in such a case, he of
-course concludes that he has the sanction of his "Karwar." In other words,
-his will fortifies him to carry out his wishes. But even among civilised
-nations a similar method of "consulting the oracle,"--of soliciting the
-advice of another with the intention of following it only if it coincides
-with one's own desires,--is sometimes heard of!
-
-The Dorians appear to maintain a priestly caste; but its functions are
-confined to the interpretation of dreams and omens; besides which its
-members act as "medicine men." There are no religious rites, no
-sacrifices. The two notable events of marriage and death pass with little
-show. In the former, the intending bride and bridegroom sit down before
-the Karwar, the woman offers the man homage in the shape of tobacco and
-betel-leaf; then they join hands, rise up, and are recognised as man and
-wife. When a death occurs, the corpse is wrapped in a white calico shroud,
-and interred in a pit about five feet deep. There it lies upon its side in
-the midst of its weapons and ornaments, and a porcelain dish under its
-ear. The grave is afterwards filled up with earth, roofed over with dried
-grass, and crowned with the Karwar of the departed.
-
-The Aruans, like the Papuans, belong to the Australo-Malay division of the
-Archipelago, and their religious system is but a little more developed.
-And here we may note that as we recede from Asia and advance through the
-great chain of the Eastern islands to Australia, we observe a gradual
-religious decadence, until the depth of barbarism is reached in the
-wretched aboriginal tribes of the great "island continent." The Aruans
-have no idea of a heaven or a hell; no sense of any "world beyond the
-grave," but their funeral rites are conducted on an extensive scale.
-
-When an Aruan dies, his kinsmen at once assemble and destroy all the goods
-and chattels he has accumulated during his lifetime; breaking even the
-gongs in pieces, which are carefully thrown away. The body is next laid
-out on a small mat, and propped up against a ladder for three or four
-days; after which the relatives again assemble, and apparently to prevent
-further decay, cover the exposed parts with lime. Meanwhile the hut is
-filled with the fumes of burning dammar or resin, and the guests sit in
-the perfumed atmosphere drinking large draughts of arrack, and of a spirit
-which they contrive to distil from the juice of some indigenous fruit. The
-stimulant soon does its work; they give vent to their feelings in violent
-shouts, which mingle with the howls and wails of the women and the hoarse
-discord of the gongs. Food is offered to the deceased, and the mouth
-crammed with various kinds of edibles, rice, and arrack.
-
-By this time all the friends and relatives of the departed have
-assembled--as at a Scotch funeral; the body is placed on a kind of bier,
-which is strewn with numerous pieces of cloth according to the wealth of
-the deceased; while large dishes of China porcelain are set beneath to
-catch any moisture that may fall from it. A high value is afterwards set
-upon these dishes. Being taken out of the house, the body is supported
-against a post, and another effort made to induce it to eat. The hollow
-jaws are again stuffed with lighted cigars, rice, fruit, and arrack; and
-the mourners join in a loud chant, inquiring whether the sleeper will not
-awake at the sight of so many friends and fellow-villagers. Alas, the long
-slumber continues! The body is again placed upon its bier, which is
-carried into the forest, and it is hoisted upon the summit of four posts.
-A tree, usually the _Pavetta Indica_, is then planted near it; and at this
-final ceremony none, it is said, but naked women are allowed to be
-present. This is called the _sudah buang_, and signifies that the body is
-thenceforth abandoned to the silence of the wilderness as unable any
-longer to see, hear, think, or feel.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-The religion of savage or uncivilised men is, necessarily, coloured and
-determined by the natural influences that surround them, and according as
-they live in the African desert or the American forest, among the snows of
-Siberia or on the table-land of Tibet, will bear its distinctive and
-appropriate character. We do not doubt, therefore, but that Sherard Osborn
-is right in the explanation he offers of the superstitious credulity of
-the Malays, that the wonderful phenomena peculiar to the seas and islands
-of the great Eastern Archipelago could never be intelligible to an
-uneducated and highly imaginative race except on the supposition of
-supernatural agency. Of course, this superstitious temperament is not
-confined to the Malayan race. It is found, as we have said, in all savage
-peoples, and springs from that profound though often vague and undefinable
-sense of an overruling and mysterious Power which the influence of Nature
-impresses on the heart of man.
-
-There were proofs by the thousand among the Malays with whom Admiral
-Sherard Osborn came in contact, of that connection with the Unseen World
-which men in every stage of civilisation seem to accept and to be desirous
-of developing. And he relates a striking instance of their great
-credulity, which we may quote here as not wholly without illustrative
-value.
-
-Sherard Osborn's gunboat was lying one night close to the southern point
-of the Quedah river, where it flows into the Strait of Malacca. The air
-was chill and damp, and the sky obscured with clouds, through which a
-young moon sped occasional shafts of silver light.
-
-About eleven o'clock his attention was directed to his look-out man, a
-Malay, who, seated upon the fore-deck gun, was spitting violently, and
-giving rapid utterance to expressions apparently of reproof or defiance.
-Another Malay quickly joined him; pointed towards the jungle-loaded shore;
-and then he too began the spitting and ejaculatory process. After awhile,
-with an evident air of relief, the second Malay went down below. Unable
-any longer to restrain his curiosity, Sherard Osborn walked forward. The
-look-out man had turned his back to the jungle, but ever and anon threw a
-furtive glance over his shoulder, and uttered sentences in which the name
-of "Allah" frequently occurred. He seemed delighted at the coming of his
-captain, and, springing to his feet, saluted him.
-
-"Anything new?" said Osborn; "any prahus in sight?"
-
-"Teda, Touhan--no, sir," was the reply; and then observing that his
-officer was looking in the direction of the jungle, he made signs that it
-was better to look anywhere but there.
-
-Calling Jamboo, his interpreter, Osborn desired him to ask the Malay what
-he saw in the jungle. Judge his astonishment at the reply:
-
-"He says he saw a spirit, sir."
-
-"Nonsense. Ask him how or where? It may be some Malay scouts."
-
-Again came the answer: that the man had distinctly seen an _untoo_, or
-spirit, moving about among the trees close to the margin of the water; and
-that he had been assiduously praying and expectorating, in order to
-prevent it from approaching the gunboat, as it was evidently a very bad
-spirit, very dangerous, and clothed in a long dress.
-
-Sherard Osborn reprimanded his interpreter for repeating so ridiculous a
-fancy, and ordered him to explain to the man that there were no such
-things as "spirits," and that if he had seen anything, it must have been
-an animal or a man. But he was earnestly assured by Jamboo, the
-interpreter, that Malays frequently saw untoos; that some were dangerous,
-and some harmless; and that as for the untoo he had just seen, the captain
-would see it too, if he looked carefully.
-
-Accordingly, the English captain sat down by the side of the Malay sailor,
-and looked in the same direction. The gunboat lay at anchor about one
-hundred and fifty yards from the jungle; the water flowed up to its very
-margin; among the spreading roots of the mangrove trees lay small ridges
-of white shingle and broken shells, which receded into darkness or shone
-out into distinct relief as the moonlight fell upon them. When these white
-gleams became visible, Osborn immediately pointed to them, and hinted that
-these were the Malay's "spirit."
-
-"No, no!" he answered vehemently, and Jamboo added, "He says he will warn
-you immediately he sees _it_."
-
-Suddenly he touched his officer, and pointing earnestly, exclaimed, "Look,
-look!"
-
-Sherard Osborn _did_ look, and for a moment yielded to the delusion as he
-caught sight of what appeared to be, and probably was, the figure of a
-female with drapery thrown around her. Gliding out of the dark forest
-shadows, it halted at a hillock of white sand not more than three hundred
-yards distant. Osborn rubbed his eyes; the interpreter called vigorously
-on a Romish saint, and the Malay spat energetically, as if some unclean
-animal had crossed his path. Again the captain looked, and again he saw
-the form, which had passed a dense clump of trees, and was slowly crossing
-another avenue in the forest.
-
-"Feeling the folly," says Sherard Osborn, "of yielding to the impression
-of reality which the illusion was certainly creating in my mind, I walked
-away, and kept the Malay employed in different ways until midnight; he,
-however, every now and then spat vehemently, and cursed all evil spirits
-with true Mohammedan fervour."
-
-
-THE ORANG-LAUTS.
-
-Of this singular race of Malays, the Orang-Lauts, "Men of the Seas," or
-"Sea-Gipsies," it is said that they do not seem to know anything of a
-Creator. "A fact so difficult to believe," says Mr. Thomson, "when we find
-that the most degraded of the human race, in other quarters of the globe,
-have an intuitive idea of this unerring and primary truth imprinted on
-their minds, that I took the greatest care to find a slight image of the
-Deity within the chaos of their thoughts, however degraded such might be,
-but was disappointed. They knew neither the God nor the Devil of the
-Christians or Mohammedans, although they confessed they had been told of
-such; nor any of the demi-gods of Hindu mythology, many of whom were
-recounted to them."
-
-The three great epochs of individual life, birth, marriage, death, pass
-unnoticed by them. At birth, the mother's joy is the only welcome to a
-world it is not likely to find very bright or happy. At marriage, the sole
-solemnity is the exchange between the male and the female of a mouthful of
-tobacco and a cheepah, or gallon, of water. At death, the body of the
-deceased is wrapped in his rags and tatters, and with, perhaps, a few
-tears from the attendant women, committed to the earth. They have none of
-that exquisite enjoyment of life which is felt by a cultured race; and
-neither the entrance upon it nor the passage from it seems to them an
-event calculated to awaken any emotion of interest. And as they are
-absolutely without religion, so are they wholly free from superstition;
-the solemn influences of Nature seem to produce no effect upon their
-stolid dispositions. Of the parus, and dewas, and nambangs, and other
-phantom forms which, in the quick imagination of the Malay, haunt each
-mountain, rock, and tree, they nothing know; and knowing nothing, they do
-not fear. Terror is as often the result of knowledge as of ignorance. The
-mind that has no conception of an unseen world or a supernatural force,
-must necessarily be free from all apprehension of it.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-Passing on to the Philippine Islands, we meet there with the Ahetas, who,
-like the Orang-Lauts, have no religious system, but, unlike the
-Orang-Lauts, cherish at least a religious sentiment. It appears that they
-have learned from--or have taught--the Tanguianes, a brave race dwelling
-in the vicinity, the practice of worshipping--for a day--the trunk of a
-distorted tree, or a fragment of rock, in which they trace some fancied
-resemblance to an animal. Then they turn away from it, and think no more
-about gods until they encounter another strange and fantastical form, for
-the existence of which they are unable to account: this, in turn, they
-make the object of a fugitive devotion. For the dead their reverence is
-pathetic. Year after year they visit their graves, with as much fidelity
-as a Christian mourner, though without the Christian's faith in a future
-reunion, and place there a modest offering of tobacco and betel. The bows
-and arrows of the departed are suspended above his grave on the day of
-interment, and the Ahetas fondly believe that every night he rises from
-his resting-place to pursue the shadowy hunt in the haunted glades of the
-forest.
-
-In the case of an aged person afflicted with a mortal illness, they adopt
-too often a summary procedure, not waiting for him to die before they bury
-him. But no sooner has the body been deposited in the grave, than it
-becomes imperative, according to their traditions, that his death
-should be avenged; and, accordingly, the warriors of the tribe sally
-forth, with lance and arrow, to slay the first living creature they
-encounter,--whether man, or stag, or wild hog, or buffalo. When thus in
-quest of an expiatory victim, they take the precaution of breaking off the
-young shoots of the shrubs as they pass by, and leave the broken ends
-hanging in the direction of their roots, as a warning to travellers or
-neighbours to shun the path they are taking; for were one of their own
-people to be the first to come across the avengers, they dare not suffer
-him to escape any more than Agamemnon could spare his daughter Iphigenia.
-As she suffered for her father's vow, so must the ill-fated Aheta suffer
-for the custom of his tribe.
-
-Their superiority to many savage races is attested by their faithfulness
-in marriage; they practise monogamy. When a young man has chosen his
-future partner, his friends or relatives ask the consent of their parents,
-which is never refused. The marriage day is fixed, and in the morning,
-before sunrise, the maiden is despatched into the forest, where she
-conceals herself or not, according to her inclinations towards her suitor.
-An hour's grace is allowed, and the young man then goes in search of her:
-if he succeed in finding her, and bringing her back to her friends before
-sunset, she becomes his wife; but if he fail, he is required to abandon
-all further claim to the damsel. A strange custom! But there is this much
-at least to be said for it, that it allows the maiden more liberty of
-choice than she always enjoys in civilised society!
-
-Whether the Ahetas (or Negritos) sprang from a mixture of Malay and Papuan
-blood, or are of purely Papuan origin, our ethnologists do not seem to
-have determined. But in their present development they are certainly
-superior to the Papuan races.[36]
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER VIII.
-
-_THE SAVAGE RACES OF ASIA: THE SAMOJEDES; THE MONGOLS; THE OSTIAKS; IN
-TIBET._
-
-
-THE SAMOJEDES.
-
-The Samojedes are a people of Arctic Asia, where they inhabit the forests
-and stony tundras of Northern Russia and Western Siberia; driving their
-herds of reindeer from the banks of the Chatanga to the ice-bound shores
-of the White Sea, or hunting the wild beasts in the thick forests which
-extend between the Obi and the Yenisei.
-
-Their superstition is of a very coarse and degrading character. It is true
-that they recognise the existence of a Supreme Deity, named
-Jilibeambaertje, or Num, who resides in the air, and, like the Greek Zeus,
-sends down rain and snow, thunder and lightning; and they afford a proof
-of that latent capacity for poetical feeling, which some of even the most
-barbarous tribes possess, in their description of the rainbow as "the hem
-of his garment." To them, however, he seems so elevated above the things
-of earth, so indifferent to the woes or joys of humanity, that they regard
-it as useless to seek to propitiate him either by prayer or sacrifice; and
-accordingly they appeal to the inferior gods who have, as they believe,
-the control of human affairs, and can be affected by incantations, vows,
-or special homage.
-
-The bleak and lonely island of Waigatz is still, as in the days of the
-Dutch adventurer, Barentz, supposed to be the residence of the chief of
-these minor divinities. There a block of stone, pointed at the summit,
-bears a certain resemblance to a human head, having been wrought into
-this likeness by a freak of Nature. The Samojede image-makers have taken
-it for their model, and multiplied it in wood and stone; and the idols
-thus easily manufactured they call _sjadaei_, because they wear a human (or
-semi-human) countenance (_sja._) They attire them in reindeer skins, and
-embellish them with innumerable coloured rags. In addition to the
-_sjadaei_, they adopt as idols any curiously contorted tree or irregularly
-shapen stone; and the household idol (_Hahe_) they carry about with them,
-carefully wrapped up, in a sledge reserved for the purpose, the
-_hahengan_. One of the said Penates is supposed to be the guardian of
-wedded happiness, another of the fishery, a third of the health of his
-worshippers, a fourth of their herds of reindeer. When his services are
-needed, the Hahe is removed from its resting-place, and erected in the
-tent or on the pasture-ground, in the wood, or on the river's bank. Then
-his mouth is smeared with oil or blood, and before him is set a dish of
-fish or flesh, in return for which repast it is expected that he will use
-his power on behalf of his entertainers. When his aid is no longer needed,
-he is returned to the hahengan.
-
-Besides these obliging deities, the Samojede believes in the existence of
-an order of invisible spirits which he calls _Tadebtsois_. These are ever
-and everywhere around him, and bent rather upon his injury than his
-welfare. It becomes important, therefore, to propitiate them; but this can
-be done only through the intervention of a _Tadibe_, or sorcerer; who, on
-occasion, stimulates himself into a wildly excited condition, like the
-frenzy of the Pythean or Delphic priestess. When the credulous Samojede
-invokes his assistance, he attires himself in full necromantic costume: a
-kind of shirt, made of reindeer leather; and trimmed with red cloth. Its
-seams are similarly trimmed; and the shoulders are decorated with red
-cloth tags, or epaulettes. A visor of red cloth conceals his face, and
-upon his breast gleams a plate of polished metal.
-
-Thus imposingly arrayed, the Tadibe takes his drum of reindeer skin,
-ornamented with brass rings, and, attended by a neophyte, walks round and
-round with singular stateliness, while invoking the presence of the
-spirits by a discordant rattle. This gradually increases in violence, and
-is accompanied by the droning incantation of the words of enchantment. In
-due time the spirits are supposed to appear, and the Tadibe proceeds to
-consult them: beating his drum more gently, and occasionally pausing in
-his lugubrious chant,--which, however, the novice is careful not to
-interrupt,--to listen, as he pretends, to the answers of the deities. At
-length the interrogations cease; the chant breaks into a fierce howl; more
-and more loudly rattles the drum: the Tadibe appears possessed by a
-supernatural influence; his body writhes; the foam-drops gather on his
-lips. All at once the wild intoxication ceases; and the Tadibe delivers
-the supposed will of the Tadebtsois: advises how a stray reindeer may be
-recovered, or the disease of the Samojede worshipper relieved, or the
-fisherman's labour may secure a plenteous "harvest of the sea."
-
-The Tadibe's office is usually hereditary; but occasionally some outsider,
-predisposed by nature to hysteric manifestations, and gifted with a warm,
-irregular imagination, is initiated into its mysteries. His morbid fancy
-is intensified by long solitary self-communings and protracted fasts and
-vigils; and his frame debilitated by the use of pernicious narcotics and
-stimulants, until he comes to believe that he has been visited by the
-spirits. He is then received as a Tadibe, with numerous ceremonies, which
-take place at midnight, and is invested with the magic drum. It is
-evident, therefore, that the Tadibe, if he deceive others, is the victim
-to some extent of self-deception. But, in order to impose upon his
-ignorant countrymen, he does not disdain to resort to the commonest cheats
-of the conjuror. Among these is the notorious rope-trick, introduced into
-England by the performers known as the "Davenport Brothers," and since
-repeated by so many "professional artists." With hands and feet to all
-appearance securely fastened, he sits down on a carpet of reindeer skin,
-and, the lights being put out, summons the spirits to his assistance.
-Their presence is speedily made known by singular noises; squirrels seem
-to rustle, snakes to hiss, bears to growl. At length the disturbance
-ceases; the lights are rekindled; and the Tadibe steps forward unbound;
-the spectators of course believing that he has been assisted by the
-Tadebtsois.
-
-Not less barbarous than the poor creatures who submit to his guidance,
-the Tadibe is incapable, and probably not desirous, of improving their
-moral condition. Similar impostors, claiming and exercising a similar
-spiritual dictatorship,--_Schamans_, as the Tungusi call them, _Angekoks_
-among the Eskimos, _Medicine-men_ among the Crees and Chepewyans,--we find
-among all the Arctic tribes of the Old and New World, where their
-authority has not been overthrown by Christianity or Buddhism; and this
-dreary superstition still prevails over at least half a million of souls,
-from the White Sea to the extremity of Asia, and from the Pacific to
-Hudson's Bay.
-
-Like the peoples of Siberia, the Samojedes offer up sacrifices to the
-dead, and perform various ceremonies in their honour. Like the North
-American Indians, they believe that the desires and pursuits of the
-departed continue exactly the same as if they were still living; and
-hence, that they may not be in want of weapons or implements, they deposit
-in or about the graves a sledge, a spear, a knife, an axe, a cooking-pot.
-
-At the funeral, and for several years afterwards, the kinsmen sacrifice
-reindeer over the grave.
-
-When a chief or Starochina dies,--the owner, it may be, of several herds
-of reindeer,--his nearest relatives fashion an image, which is kept in the
-tent of the deceased, and receives the same measure of respect that was
-paid to the man himself in his lifetime. At every meal it occupies his
-accustomed seat; every evening it is solemnly undressed, and duly laid
-down in his bed. For three years these honours are regularly paid; after
-which the image is buried, in a belief that the body must by that time
-have decayed, and lost all recollection of the past. Only the souls of the
-Tadibes, and of those who have died a violent death, are in the enjoyment
-of immortality, and hover about the air as disembodied spirits.
-
-
-THE OSTIAKS.
-
-Further to the east, and occupying the northernmost part of Siberia from
-the Oural Mountains to Kamtschatka, are the Ostiaks.
-
-The Russians have imposed upon this people the Christian religion, as
-taught by the Greek Church; but it seems probable that the majority adhere
-in secret to their heathen creed. Madame Felinska, a Polish lady, who for
-some years lived in exile in Siberia, relates that, one day, when she was
-seeking a pathway through a wood, she came upon a couple of Ostiaks, on
-the point of performing their devotions. These are certainly of a much
-simpler kind than the rites enjoined by the Greek Church: the worshipper
-simply places himself before a tree--he appears to prefer the larch--in
-some sequestered forest-nook, and performs in rapid succession the most
-extravagant contortions and gestures. As the practice is prohibited by the
-Russian Government, it is necessarily made a matter of secresy.
-
-An Ostiak generally carries about him a rude image of one of the deities
-or demons which he adores under the name of Schaitan; but he conforms to
-Russian customs by wearing a small crucifix of copper on his breast. The
-Schaitan is a rude imitation of the human figure, carved in wood. It is of
-different sizes, according to the uses for which it is intended; if for
-wearing on the person, it is a miniature doll; but as part of the
-furniture of an Ostiak's hut it is made on a large scale. It is always
-attired in seven pearl-broidered chemises, and suspended to the neck by a
-string of silver coins. In every hut it fills the place of
-honour,--sometimes in company with an image of the Virgin Mary or some
-Russian saint; and when they sit down to their meals, the Ostiaks are
-careful to offer it the daintiest morsels, smearing its lips with fish or
-raw game; this sacred duty fulfilled, they attack with eagerness the
-viands set before them.
-
-The Ostiak priests are called _Schamans_. Their influence is very great,
-but is wholly employed in the promotion of their own selfish interests,
-through the encouragement of the basest superstitions.
-
-
-WEATHER-CONJURING AMONG THE MONGOLS.
-
-There are many allusions in Mongol history to the practice of
-weather-conjuring. The operation was performed by means of a stone
-supposed to be endowed with magical virtues, called _Yadah_ or _Jadah
-Tash_; this was suspended over or hung in a basin of water with sundry
-ceremonies. Ibn Mohalhal, an early Arab traveller, asserts that the
-_Kimak_, a great tribe of the Turks, possessed such a stone. In the war
-waged against Chinghiz and Aung Khan by a powerful tribal confederation in
-1202, it is recorded that Sengun, the son of Aung Khan, who had been
-despatched to arrest the enemy's advance, caused them to be enchanted, so
-that all the movements they attempted against him were defeated by dense
-mists and blinding snow-storms. So thick was the mist, so intense was the
-darkness, that men and horses stumbled over precipices, and many also
-perished with cold.
-
-The celebrated conqueror, Timur, in his _Memoirs_, records that the Jets
-resorted to incantations to produce heavy rains which hindered his cavalry
-from acting against them. A _Yadachi_, or weather-conjuror, was taken
-prisoner, and after he had been beheaded the storm ceased.
-
-Babu refers to one of his early friends, Khwaja ka Mulai, as conspicuous
-for his skill in falconry and his knowledge of _Yadageri_, or the science
-of inducing rain and snow by means of enchantment. The Russians were much
-distressed by heavy rains in 1552, when besieging Kazan, and universally
-ascribed the unfavourable weather to the arts of the Tartar queen, who was
-an enchantress.
-
-Early in the 18th century, the Emperor Shi-tsung issued a proclamation
-against rain-conjuring, addressed to the Eight Banners of Mongolia. "If,"
-indignantly observes the Emperor, "if I, offering prayers in sincerity,
-have yet cause to fear that it may please heaven to leave MY prayer
-unanswered, it is truly intolerable that mere common people wishing for
-rain should of their own fancy set up altars of earth; and bring together
-a rabble of Hoshang (Buddhist Bonzes) and Taossi to conjure the spirits to
-gratify their wishes."
-
-The belief in the efficacy of weather-conjuring prevailed all over Europe.
-In the _Cento Novelle Antiche_, certain necromancers gave specimens of
-their skill before the Emperor Frederic Barbarossa; and the weather began
-to be overcast; and lo, of a sudden rain fell with continued thunders and
-lightnings, as if the world were come to an end, and hailstones of the
-size and appearance of steel caps.
-
-
-IN TIBET.
-
-Marco Polo, describing his visit to the Kaan's Palace at Chandu, once
-known as Kaipingfu, speaks of the immense stud of pure white mares which
-the Kaan kept there, and adds:--"When the Kaan sets out from the Park on
-the 28th of August, the milk of all those mares is taken and sprinkled on
-the ground. And this is done on the injunction of the Idolaters and
-Idol-priests, who affirm that it is an excellent thing to sprinkle that
-milk on the ground every 28th of August, so that the Earth and the Air and
-the False Gods shall have their share of it, and likewise the spirits that
-inhabit the Air and the Earth. And then those beings will protect and
-bless the Kaan and his children and his wives and his folk and his gear,
-and his cattle and his horses, his corn and all that is his."
-
-Marco Polo proceeds:--"But I must now tell you a strange thing which
-hitherto I have forgotten to mention. During the three months of every
-year that the Emperor resides at that place, if it should happen to be bad
-weather, there are enchanters and astrologers in his train, who are such
-adepts in necromancy and diabolic arts, that they are able to prevent any
-cloud or storm from passing over the spot on which the Emperor's Palace
-stands. The sorcerers who do this are called Tebet and Kesimar, which are
-the names of two nations of idolaters. Whatever they do in this way is by
-the help of the Devil, but they make those people believe that it is
-compassed by dint of their own sanctity and the help of GOD....
-
-"There is another marvel performed by those Bacsi of whom I have been
-speaking as knowing so many enchantments. For when the great Kaan is at
-his capital and in his great palace, seated at his table, which stands on
-a platform some eight cubits above the ground, his cups are set before him
-on a great buffet in the middle of the hall pavement, at a distance of
-some ten paces from the table, and filled with wine, or other good spiced
-liquor such as they use. Now when the Kaan desires to drink, these
-enchanters by the power of their enchantments cause the cups to move from
-their place without being touched by anybody, and to present themselves to
-the Emperor! This every one present may witness, and there are oftentimes
-more than ten thousand persons thus present. 'Tis a truth and no lie! and
-so will tell you the sages of our own country who understand necromancy,
-for they also can perform it."
-
-On the occasion of one of these Idol Festivals, the Bacsi would go to the
-Prince and say:--"Sire, the feast of such a god is come." And he would
-continue:--"My Lord, you know that this god, when he gets no offering,
-always sends bad weather and spoils our seasons. So we pray you to give us
-such and such a number of black-faced sheep," (naming any number they
-please). "And we beg also, good my Lord, that we may have such a quantity
-of incense, and such a quantity of lign-aloes, and"--so much of this or so
-much of that, according to the measure of their cupidity or the
-probability of their expectations being gratified--"that we may perform a
-solemn service and a great sacrifice to our Idols, and that so they may be
-induced to protect us and all our property."
-
-When the Bacsi have obtained from the Kaan the fulfilment of their
-desires, they make a great feast in honour of their god, and hold great
-ceremonies of worship with grand illuminations and quantities of incense
-of a variety of odours, which they make up from different aromatic spices.
-And when the viands are cooked, they set them before the idols, and
-sprinkle the bush about, affirming that in this way the idols obtain a
-sufficiency. Thus it is that they keep their festivals. Each idol, we must
-add, has a name of his own, and a feast-day, just as the Saints of the
-Christian Church have their anniversaries.
-
-Large minsters and abbeys are theirs, some of them of the size of a small
-town, with upwards of 2,000 monks in a single abbey. These monks dress
-more decorously than the rest of the people, and have the head and the
-beard shaven. Among them a limited number are, by their rule, allowed to
-marry.
-
-Another kind of devotees were called the Seusin, men of extraordinary
-abstemiousness, who led a life of extreme endurance. Their sole food was
-bran mixed with hot water, so that one might call their lives a prolonged
-fast. They had numerous idols, and idols of a monstrous size, but they
-also worshipped fire. Idolaters not belonging to this sect naturally
-called them "heretics," on the old principle that "my doxy" is
-"orthodoxy," and "your doxy" "heterodoxy." Their dresses were made of
-hempen stuff, black and blue, and they slept upon mats. In fact, says
-Marco Polo, "their asceticism is something remarkable."
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-Chandu, or Xanadu, and its palace, suggested to Coleridge one of his most
-exquisite passages of description:--
-
-  "In Xanadu did Kubla Kaan
-    A stately pleasure dome decree:
-  Where Alph, the sacred river, ran,
-  By caverns measureless to man,
-    Down to a sunless sea.
-  So twice five miles of fertile ground,
-  With walls and towers were girdled round:
-  And there were gardens bright with sinuous rills,
-    Where blossomed many an incense-bearing tree;
-  And here were forests, ancient as the hills,
-    Enfolding sunny spots of greenery."
-
-Xanadu has disappeared, and so has its palace, but the superstitions
-practised in it are still in vogue among the Mongolian peoples. The word
-"Bakhshi," however, has come to have a different meaning in different
-districts; among the Kirghiz Kazzaks it is applied, as Marco Polo applied
-it, to a conjuror or medicine-man; among the modern Mongols it signifies
-"a teacher," and is bestowed on the oldest and most learned priest of a
-community; in Western Turkestan it means "a bard;" in our Indian army it
-is "a paymaster."
-
-The jugglery of the goblets, to which Marco Polo refers, was not uncommon
-in Mediaeval Europe. Colonel Yule cites[37] the Jesuit Delrio as lamenting
-the credulity of certain princes, otherwise of pious repute, who allowed
-diabolic tricks to be played in their presence; as for instance that
-things of iron, and silver goblets, or other heavy articles, should be
-moved by bounds from one end of a table to the other, without the use of a
-magnet or of any attachment. The pious prince appears to have been Charles
-IX., and the conjuror a certain Cesare Maltesio. In old legends this
-trick is one of the sorceries ascribed to Simon Magus. "He made statues to
-walk; leapt into the fire without being burnt; flew in the air; made bread
-of stones; changed his shape; assumed two faces at once,"--an
-accomplishment not confined to conjurors,--"converted himself into a
-pillar; caused closed doors to fly open of their own will; and made the
-vessels in a house seem to move of themselves."
-
-Colonel Yule asserts that the profession and practice of exorcism and
-magic in general is much more prominent in Lamaism, or Tibetan Buddhism,
-than in any other known form of that religion. "Indeed," he says, "the old
-form of Lamaism, as it existed in Marco Polo's day, and till the reforms
-of Tsongkhapa (1357-1419), and as it is still professed by the _Red_ sect
-in Tibet, seems to be a kind of compromise between Indian Buddhism and the
-old indigenous Shamanism. Even the reformed doctrine of the Yellow sect
-recognises an orthodox kind of magic, which is due in great measure to the
-combination of Sivaism with the Buddhist doctrines, and of which the
-institutes are contained in the vast collection of the _Jud_ or Tantras,
-recognised among the holy books. The magic arts of this code open even a
-short road to the Buddhahood itself. To attain that perfection of power
-and wisdom culminating in the cessation of sensible existence, requires,
-according to the ordinary paths, a period of three _asankhyas_ (or say
-Unaccountable Time x 3), whereas by means of the magic arts of the
-_Tantras_, it may be reached in the course of three _rebirths_ only, nay,
-of one! But from the Tantras also can be learned how to acquire miraculous
-powers for objects entirely selfish and secular, and how to exercise these
-by means of _Dharani_, or mystic Indian charms."
-
-The commonplace and vulgar exhibition of such exploits as blowing fire,
-cutting off heads, and swallowing knives, is formally repudiated by the
-orthodox Yellow Lamas; but as the crowd cannot be satisfied without them,
-each of the great Yellow Lama monasteries in Tibet maintains a conjuror,
-as of old each European sovereign kept his jester. This conjuror is not a
-member of the monastic fraternity, and lives in a particular part of the
-convent, out of the atmosphere of their sanctity. He is called _Choicong_,
-or protector of religion, and is free to marry. The Choicong hand down
-their magic lore from generation to generation orally, and by their cries
-and howls, and their frenzied gestures, and their fantastic dress, are
-connected with the Shamanist devil dancers.
-
-Magic seems to have always borne the same character in every country. The
-marvels accomplished by the Indian mystic charms, or _Dharani_, are
-exactly those which the Mediaeval magicians of Europe professed to achieve.
-To make water flow backwards, to resuscitate the dead, to fly through the
-air, to read a man's inmost thoughts, these were the wonders done by Simon
-Magus in his day, and by Albertus Magnus and his followers in their day;
-and form what may be called the ordinary stock-in-trade of the old
-necromancers. The Bakhshis included them in their series of performances.
-"There are certain men," says Ricold, "whom the Tartars honour above all
-in the world, viz., the _Baxitae_, (or _Bakhshis_), who are a kind of idol
-priests. These are men from India, persons of deep wisdom, well conducted,
-and of the gravest morals. They are usually acquainted with magic arts,
-and depend on the counsel and aid of demons; they exhibit many illusions,
-and predict some future events. For instance, one of eminence among them
-was said to fly; the truth however was (as it proved) that he did not fly,
-but did walk close to the surface of the ground without touching it; and
-would seem to sit down without having any substance to support him." Ibn
-Batuta describes a performance of this kind as witnessed by him at Delhi,
-in the presence of Sultan Mahomed Tughlak. Francis Valentyn, at a later
-date, speaks of it as common in India. He was told, he says, that a man
-would first go and sit upon three sticks which had been so put together as
-to form a tripod, after which, first one stick, then a second, then a
-third would be removed from under him, and yet the man would not fall, but
-would remain suspended in the air. He could not bring himself to believe
-it, so manifestly contrary was it to reason, yet he had spoken with two
-friends who had both seen it done on the same occasion, and one of them
-mistrusting his own eyes, had felt about with a long stick to ascertain if
-there were not something on which the body rested, but could discover
-nought.
-
-Superstition, like history, repeats itself,--some of the marvels with
-which the Lama conjurors and the Tartar Bakhshis deluded their people are
-repeated by the spiritualistic "mediums," of the present day and put
-forward by them as the credentials of their pretended mission.
-
-They fall short, however, of the extraordinary feats performed by the
-professional jugglers who laid no claim to a religious character, if we
-may credit the accounts of the early travellers. Ibn Batuta, for instance,
-gravely describes what he saw, or thought he saw, at a great entertainment
-given by the Viceroy of Khansa:--
-
-A juggler, he says, one of the Kaan's slaves, made his appearance, and at
-the Amir's bidding, began to display his surprising accomplishments.
-Taking a wooden ball, with several holes in it, through which long thongs
-were passed, he laid hold of one of these, and slung the ball into the
-air. It went so high, that the spectators wholly lost sight of it.
-Observe, that the scene was the palace-court, _sub Jove_. There remained
-only a little of the end of the thong in the juggler's hand, and of this
-he desired a juvenile assistant to lay hold, and mount. He did so,
-climbing by the thong, and was speedily lost to sight also. The conjuror
-called him thrice, but receiving no answer, snatched up a knife, as if in
-a great rage, laid hold of the thong, and in _his_ turn disappeared.
-By-and-by he threw down one of the boy's hands, then a foot, then the
-other hand, the other foot, the trunk, and lastly, the head! Finally, he
-himself came down, all puffing and panting, and with blood-besmeared
-clothes kissed the ground before the Amir, addressing him in Chinese. The
-Amir made some reply; and straightway the juggler took the boy's _disjecta
-membra_, laid them in their places, gave a kick, and lo and behold, the
-boy arose and stood erect, "clothed and in his right mind." "All this,"
-says Ibn Batuta, "astonished me beyond measure,"--and no wonder!--"and I
-had an attack of palpitation like that which overcame me once before in
-the presence of the Sultan of India, when he showed me something of the
-same kind. They gave me a cordial, however, which cured the attack. The
-Kazi Afkharuddin was next to me, and quoth he, 'Wallah! 'tis my opinion
-there has been neither going up nor coming down, neither maiming nor
-mending; 'tis all hocus pocus!'"
-
-Impartial scientific observers have passed a similar verdict on the
-proceedings of the "mediums," who, however, have never achieved anything
-so surprising as the feat here recorded. Before we incredulously reject
-the Arab traveller's narrative, let us compare it with an account
-furnished by Edward Melton, an Anglo-Dutch traveller, of the performances
-of some Chinese conjurors, which he saw at Batavia. Passing over the
-basket-murder trick, which Houdin and others have made familiar to the
-English public, we come to "a thing which surpasses all belief;" which,
-indeed, Mr. Melton would scarcely have ventured to relate had not
-thousands witnessed it at the same time as himself.
-
-One of the gang took a ball of cord, and grasping one end in his hand
-hurled the other up into the air with such force that it was entirely lost
-to sight. He then climbed up the cord as rapidly as a sailor up his ship's
-rigging, and to such a height that he became invisible. Melton stood full
-of astonishment, and at a loss to know what next would happen; when,
-behold, a leg tumbled out of the air! A conjuror who was on the watch for
-it immediately snatched it up, and threw it into a basket. Down came a
-hand, and then another leg, and, in short, all the members of the body
-successively fell from the air, to find shelter in the basket. The last of
-the ghastly shower was the head; and no sooner had it touched the ground
-than the man who had gathered the limbs and stowed them in the basket,
-turned them all out again topsy-turvy. Straightway they began to creep
-together, until they composed a whole man, who stood up and walked about
-just as before, having sustained apparently no damage! "Never in my life,"
-says Melton, "was I so astonished as when I beheld this wonderful
-performance, and I doubted now no longer that those misguided men did it
-by the help of the Devil. For it seems to me totally impossible that such
-things should be accomplished by natural means."[38]
-
-The Emperor Jahangir in his "Memoirs" (cited by Yule) describes the
-exploits of some Bengali jugglers, who exhibited before him. Two of them
-bear a close resemblance to the foregoing. Thus: they produced a man whom
-they divided limb from limb, actually severing his head from the body.
-These mutilated members they scattered along the ground, where they
-remained for some time. A sheet or curtain was extended over the spot, and
-one of the men placing himself under it, in a few minutes reappeared, in
-company with the individual supposed to have been so roughly dissected, in
-such perfect health and condition, that one might have safely sworn he had
-never received the slightest wound or injury.
-
-Again: they produced a chain, fifty cubits long, and one end of it threw
-towards the sky, when it remained as if fastened to something in the air.
-A dog was then brought forward, and being placed at the lower end of the
-chain, ran up it to the other end, and immediately vanished. In the same
-manner a boy, a panther, a lion, and a tiger were successively sent up the
-chain to disappear, in their turn, at the other end of it. And, lastly,
-the chain was taken down and put away in a bag, without any of the
-spectators discovering in what manner the different animals had been
-spirited into space!
-
-The surprising dexterity of these jugglers is emulated by their
-descendants, and many of the Indian conjurors produce illusions scarcely
-less wonderful than any we have described.
-
-Take the pretty mango-trick. The juggler who exhibits has no other drapery
-than half a yard of cotton, and no other apparatus than a handful of
-common toys. He has none of those elaborate mechanical contrivances, on
-which the European professors of legerdemain mostly rely for their
-effects.
-
-He takes a mango-stone, buries it in a little mud, and covers it with a
-jar.
-
-A few minutes later, the jar is lifted up; and lo, a tender green
-seed-leaf has delicately sprouted. Another peep into the magic hotbed, and
-we see that the tiny leaf has withered, and that a flourishing young tree
-has sprung into sudden existence.
-
-Or we have the egg-trick, which an eye-witness thus describes:--[39]
-
-"One of the party, a very handsome woman, fixed on her head a fillet of
-strong texture, to which were fastened, at equal distances, twenty pieces
-of string of equal length, with a common noose at the end of each. Under
-her arm she carried a basket, in which were carefully deposited twenty
-eggs. Her basket, the fillet, and the nooses were carefully examined by
-us. There was evidently no deception.
-
-"The woman advanced alone, and stood before us. She then began to move
-rapidly round on one spot, whence she never for one instant moved,
-spinning round and round like a top.
-
-"When her pace was at its height, she drew down one of the strings, which
-now flew horizontally round her head, and, securing an egg in the noose,
-she jerked it back to its original position, still twirling round with
-undiminished velocity, and repeating the process until she had secured the
-whole twenty eggs in the nooses previously prepared for them. She
-projected them rapidly from her hand the moment she had secured them,
-until at length the whole twenty were flying round her in an unbroken
-circle. Thus she continued spinning at undiminished speed for fully five
-minutes; after which, taking the eggs one by one from their nooses, she
-replaced them in her basket; and then in one instant stopped, without the
-movement of a limb, or even the vibration of a muscle, as if she had been
-suddenly transformed into marble. The countenance was perfectly calm, nor
-did she exhibit the slightest distress from her extraordinary exertions."
-
-The basket-murder trick, to which we have already referred, is as
-follows:--
-
-The juggler stepping forward, invites your examination of a light wicker
-basket, and when you profess yourself satisfied, he places it over a
-child, about eight years old, who is perfectly naked. He then asks the
-child some indifferent question, and you hear her reply to it from the
-basket. Question and answer are repeated frequently, each time in a louder
-and more impassioned manner, until the juggler, in a seeming fit of rage,
-threatens to kill the girl, who vainly supplicates for mercy.
-
-The dramatic character of the scene is as perfect in its realism as it is
-horrible. The man plants his foot furiously on the frail basket, and
-plunges his sword into it again and again, while the ears of the
-spectators are rent and their hearts touched by the child's cries of
-agony. For a moment it is impossible to believe that you are witnessing a
-deception, as you listen to the passionate shrieks and watch the man's
-furious face. Blood flows in a stream from the basket, and by degrees the
-groans of the victim grow fainter and fainter, until all is hushed in a
-silence so intense that you hear your heart beat. You are about to rush on
-the murderer, and inflict summary punishment, when he mutters a few
-cabalistic words, takes up the basket, and shows you--only a little
-blood-stained earth; while the child, you know not how or whence, has come
-to mingle with the crowd, and ask for baksheesh.
-
-Two simpler exploits may be recorded:--
-
-Taking a large, wide-mouthed, earthen vessel, filled with water, the
-conjuror turns it upside down, and, of course, the contents run out.
-
-He then reverses the jar, which to your amazement is seen to be perfectly
-full, while all the earth round about is--dry! The jar is again emptied,
-and submitted to the inspection of the spectators. He asks you to fill it
-to the brim; after which he reverses it: not a drop of water flows, and
-yet when you look into it, it is perfectly empty. At last the conjuror
-breaks the jar by way of a practical demonstration of the fact that it is
-made of common earthenware.
-
-A large basket is produced: the conjuror raises it, and a Pariah dog
-appears crouching on the ground. The basket-cover is replaced; and a
-second examination shows you a bitch with a litter of seven puppies. A
-goat, a pig, and various other animals, come forth in due time from this
-inexhaustible cornucopia.
-
-All these exploits are performed by a single exhibitor, who stands quite
-alone, and at a distance of several feet from the crowd, so that collusion
-with confederates would seem to be impossible.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER IX.
-
-_SOME AFRICAN SUPERSTITIONS._
-
-
-Africa is the land of superstition,--dark, cruel, ghastly superstition. It
-accompanies its victim from the cradle to the grave; throws its fell
-shadow over every scene and incident of life. We cannot attempt, nor do we
-desire, to paint it in all its horrors. For our purpose it will be
-sufficient to glance at some of the ceremonies, hideous or grotesque,
-which are practised by the Equatorial Savage.
-
-In his childhood he has to be initiated into certain mysteries. What those
-are Mr. Winwood Reade learned from a negro steward, who informed him that
-he was taken into a fetich, or idol house, severely flogged, and plastered
-with goat-dung: this ceremony, like the rites of masonry, being conducted
-to the sound of music. Afterwards from behind a kind of screen or shrine
-issued uncouth and terrible sounds such as he had never before heard.
-These, he was told, emanated from the spirit called Ukuk. He afterwards
-brought to Mr. Winwood Reade the instrument with which the fetich-man
-produces the noise. It may be described as a whistle made of hollowed
-mangrove wood, about two inches long, and covered at one end with a scrap
-of bat's wing. For a period of five days after initiation the novice wears
-an apron of dry palm leaves.
-
-He is next instructed in the science of fetich; and afterwards he learns
-what kinds of food are forbidden to his tribe, for one tribe may not eat
-crocodile, another hippopotamus, nor a third buffalo. He learns to
-reverence and dread the spirit _Ukuk_, which dwells, it is said, in the
-bowels of the earth, and visits the upper world only when he has some
-business to perform. On the occasion of his visits, he abides in the
-fetich-house, which is built in a peculiar form, roofed with dry plantain
-leaves, and always kept in darkness. Thence strange dread sounds, like the
-growling of a tiger, are heard to proceed, so that the women and children
-shudder as they listen. When the mangrove-tube is thus at work, the
-initiated hasten to the house, and a "lodge" or "council" is held.
-
-"The natives of Equatorial Africa worship also the spirits of their
-ancestors; a worship for which their minds are prepared by the veneration
-which they pay to old age. Young men never enter the presence of an aged
-person without curtseying (a genuine curtsey like that of a charity-school
-girl), and passing in a stooping attitude, as if they were going under a
-low door. When seated in his presence, it is always at a humble distance.
-If they hand him a lighted pipe, or a mug of water, they fall on one knee.
-If an old man, they address him as _rora_--father; if an old woman as
-_ngwe_--mother. It is customary for only the old people to communicate bad
-news to one another; and it is not to be wondered at that we find the
-negroes such perfect courtiers, since it is the etiquette of the country
-that the aged should only be addressed in terms of flattery and adulation.
-
-"When they die their relics are honoured. In the Congo country their
-bodies are dried into mummies. Here, their bones are sometimes stored up
-and visited at set periods. Or, when a person noted for his wisdom has
-died, his head, when partially decomposed, is often cut off and suspended,
-so as to drip upon a mass of chalk placed underneath. This matter is
-supposed to be the wisdom which formerly animated the brain, and which,
-rubbed upon the foreheads of others, will communicate its virtue."
-
-It can easily be understood how this reverence paid to the relics of one's
-ancestors would develope into the worship of their spirits. The Equatorial
-Savage believes that the manes of his forefathers influence his life and
-fortunes entirely to his advantage, and by a dying friend or relative will
-often send messages to them. Mr. Reade adds that a son has been known to
-kill his aged mother from a conviction that her spirit would be of more
-service to him than her substance; a reason for matricide which would
-hardly be accepted as conclusive in civilised countries! The savage lives,
-however, in constant communion and sympathy with the spirit-world. The
-visions which come to him in his dreams, and the sounds which he fancies
-himself to hear, are those of the Unseen. And as he is always brooding
-upon his dreams and relating them to his friends, he necessarily dreams
-the more, until it becomes difficult for him to draw a line between the
-dream and the reality.
-
-When any calamity befalls the tribe, or at the approach of any imminent
-danger, they gather together on the brink of some lofty bluff, or on the
-forest's haunted threshold, and stretching their arms towards the sky,
-while the women wail and the children weep, they call upon the spirits of
-the departed to come and help them.
-
-They have a remarkable ceremony which illustrates the force and vividness
-of their belief in spirits:
-
-When the dead are weary of staying in the bush, they come for one of their
-people whom they most affect. And the spirit will say to the man: "I am
-tired of dwelling in the bush; please to build for me in the town a little
-house as close as possible to your own." And he tells him to dance and
-sing too; and accordingly the man assembles the women at night to join in
-dance and song.
-
-Then, next day, the people repair to the grave of the _Obambo_, or ghost,
-and make a rude idol; after which the bamboo bier on which the body is
-conveyed to the grave, and some of the dust of the ground, are carried
-into a little hut erected near the house of the visited, and a white cloth
-is draped over the door.
-
-It is a curious fact, which seems to show that they have a legend
-something like the old Greek myth of Charon and the Styx, that in one of
-the songs chanted during this ceremony occurs the following line: "You are
-well dressed, but you have no canoe to carry you across to the other
-side."
-
-According to Mr. Reade, these savages have their Naiads and Dryads; their
-spirits of the mountains and the forests, the lakes and the streams, and
-the high places. They have also their Typhon and their Osiris, their Good
-and Evil Genius; thus recognising, in common with almost every other
-race, the enduring antagonism between the Principles and Powers of Good
-and Evil. The Evil Spirit, _Mbwiri_, they worship with a special homage;
-his might is to be dreaded, and his anger, if possible, averted. He is the
-lord of earth; and before him, as before a tyrant whose hand can grasp
-their lives and fortunes, they bend in humble adoration. But as the Good
-Spirit will do them no injury, they conceive it unnecessary to address to
-it any regular or formal prayer. "The word by which they express this
-Supreme Being answers exactly to our word of God. Like the Jehovah of the
-Hebrews, like that word in masonry which is only known to masters, and
-never pronounced but in a whisper and in full lodge, this word they seldom
-dare to speak; and they display uneasiness if it is uttered before them.
-Twice only," says Mr. Reade, "I remember having heard it. Once when we
-were in a dangerous storm, the men threw their clenched hands upwards and
-cried it twice. And again, when I was at Ngambi, taking down words from an
-Ashira slave, I asked him what was the word for God in the language of his
-country. He raised his eyes, and pointing to heaven, said in a soft voice,
-_Njambi_."
-
-Epileptic diseases, in almost all uncivilised countries, are assumed to be
-the result of demoniac possession. In Africa the sufferer is supposed to
-be possessed by Mbwiri, and he can be relieved only by the intervention of
-the medicine-man or fetich. In the middle of the street a hut is built for
-his accommodation, and there he resides until cured, or maddened, along
-with the priest and his disciples. There for ten days or a fortnight a
-continuous revel is held; much eating and drinking at the expense of the
-patient's relatives, and unending dances to the sound of flute and drum.
-For obvious reasons the fetich gives out that Mbwiri regards good living
-with aversion. The patient dances, usually shamming madness, until the
-epileptic attack comes on, with all its dreadful concomitants--the
-frenzied stare, the convulsed limbs, the gnashing teeth, and the
-foam-flecked lips. The man's actions at this period are not ascribed to
-himself, but to the demon which has control of him. When a cure has been
-effected, real or pretended, the patient builds a little fetich-house,
-avoids certain kinds of food, and performs certain duties. Sometimes the
-process terminates in the patient's insanity; he has been known to run
-away to the bush, hide from all human beings, and live on the roots and
-berries of the forest.
-
-"These fetich-men are priest doctors, like those of the ancient Germans.
-They have a profound knowledge of herbs, and also of human nature, for
-they always monopolize the real power in the state. But it is very
-doubtful whether they possess any secrets save that of extracting virtue
-and poison from plants. During the first trip which I made into the bush I
-sent for one of these doctors. At that time I was staying among the
-Shekani, who are celebrated for their fetich. He came attended by
-half-a-dozen disciples. He was a tall man, dressed in white, with a girdle
-of leopard's skin, from which hung an iron bell, of the same shape as our
-sheep bells. He had two chalk marks over his eyes. I took some of my own
-hair, frizzled it with a burning glass, and gave it to him. He popped it
-with alacrity into his little grass bag; for white man's hair is fetich of
-the first order. Then I poured out some raspberry vinegar into a glass,
-drank a little of it first, country fashion, and offered it to him,
-telling him that it was blood from the brains of great doctors. Upon this
-he received it with great reverence, and dipping his fingers into it as if
-it was snap-dragon, sprinkled with it his forehead, both feet between the
-two first toes, and the ground behind his back. He then handed his glass
-to a disciple, who emptied it, and smacked his lips afterwards in a very
-secular manner. I then desired to see a little of his fetich. He drew on
-the ground with red chalk some hieroglyphics, among which I distinguished
-the circle, the cross, and the crescent. He said that if I would give him
-a fine 'dush,' he would tell me all about it. But as he would not take
-anything in reason, and as I knew that he would tell me nothing of very
-great importance in public, negotiations were suspended."
-
-The fetich-man seldom finds a native disposed to question his claim to
-supernatural powers. He is not only a doctor and a priest,--two capacities
-in which his influence is necessarily very powerful; he is also a
-witch-finder, and this is an office which invests him with a truly
-formidable authority. When a man of worth dies, his death is invariably
-ascribed to witchcraft, and the aid of the fetich-man is invoked to
-discover the witch.
-
-"When a man is sick a long time," said Mongilombas, "they call _Ngembi_,
-and if she cannot make him well, the fetich-man. He comes at night, in a
-white dress, with cock's feathers on his head, and having his bell and
-little glass. He calls two or three relations together into a room. He
-does not speak, but always looks in his glass. Then he tells them that the
-sickness is not of Mbwiri, nor of Obambo, nor of God, but that it comes
-from a witch. They say to him, 'What shall we do?' He goes out and says,
-'I have told you: I have no more to say.' They give him a dollar's worth
-of cloth; and every night they gather together in the street, and they
-cry, 'I know that man who witch my brother. It is good for you to make him
-well.' Then the witch makes him well. But if the man do _not_ recover,
-they call the bush doctor from the Shekani country. He sings in the
-language of the bush. At night he goes into the street; all the people
-flock about him. With a tiger-cat skin in his hand, he walks to and fro,
-until, singing all the while, he lays the tiger skin at the feet of the
-witch. At the conclusion of his song the people seize the witch, and put
-him, or her, in chains, saying, 'If you don't restore our brother to
-health, we will kill you.'"
-
-One evening, as Mr. Reade was sitting in a mission house at Corisco, with
-the windows open, he heard a wild and piteous cry rising from a village at
-a short distance. A sudden silence fell upon his friends. The school was
-in the next room, and two girls who belonged to that village lifted up
-their voices and wept. It was the death-knell, and the knell of more lives
-than one. A chieftain for some time had been lying in a hopeless
-condition, and a woman had been denounced for having bewitched him. She
-had a son of about seven years of age, and fearing lest when he reached
-manhood, he should become her avenger, the accusers included him also in
-their denunciation. Both had been made prisoners, and on the death of the
-chief would be killed.
-
-The following day was Sunday, and Mr. Reade accompanied Mr. Mackay, the
-missionary, to the village. The man was not dead; but he had suddenly
-become speechless, and his attendants had concluded that the spirit had
-departed. Entering the house, Mr. Reade found him lying on the bamboo
-bedstead in a state of stupor. The house was thronged with women, who had
-stripped off their garments and shaved the heads in token of mourning, and
-were "raining tears" in their purchased and admirably acted grief.
-Sometimes one of them would sit by his side, and flinging her arms around
-him, would shriek--almost in the very words of the Irish death-wail,--"Why
-did ye die, darling? why did ye die?" For they regarded him as really
-dead, when he could neither look at them nor speak to them.
-
-In contrast to their loud sorrow was the silent mourning of the men who,
-hushed and fasting, sat in the chief house of the town. In their midst
-crouched the seven years old boy, the marks of a severe wound visible on
-his arm, and his wrists securely bound together. The dogged expression of
-the child's face was something wonderful. It wore that look of stolid
-endurance which seems natural to the negro. One of the men with horrible
-pleasantry held an axe below his eyes; but the boy contemplated it without
-emotion--he displayed all the cold indifference of the ancient Stoicism.
-When his name was first mentioned, his eyes flashed; but this indication
-of passion was only momentary. He showed the same indifference when a plea
-was put in for his life, as when, just before, he had been threatened and
-taunted with death.
-
-Mr. Reade did not see the unfortunate mother, but was afterwards told that
-she had been flogged into confessing that she and she only had bewitched
-the man. Her son had acknowledged the crime as soon as he was charged with
-it. It is well known that such confessions amount to nothing. During the
-witch epidemic in Mediaeval Europe, scores of unhappy creatures confessed
-to the practice of witchcraft, though by so doing they doomed themselves
-to death. The imagination in some way or other is powerfully excited, and
-completely overcomes the judgment; or it may be from a fear of torture or
-a thirst for notoriety that such confessions are made.
-
-Mr. Mackey, the missionary, said that he had come to speak to Okota, the
-nearest kinsman of the dying chief, upon whom, in all such cases, the
-responsibility rests. Okota came out from the throng, placed his stool
-near the feet of the missionary, and listened to him attentively.
-
-"Death," said the missionary, "must come to all. It is foolish to think
-that because a man dies he has been bewitched."
-
-"Yes," replied Okota, "death must come to all, but not always from GOD.
-Sometimes it comes from the hand of man."
-
-"But how do you know that in this instance it comes from the hand of man?"
-
-"The woman has been given _quai_ (the drink of ordeal) to drink, and the
-_quai_ says that she bewitched him."
-
-"But the _quai_ is not always right. When Cabinda went to the Muni, he was
-a long time lost. All people said that he was dead. A man you declared was
-the witch, you gave him _quai_; _quai_ said that the man had killed
-Cabinda, but Cabinda came back alive, and _quai_ was wrong."
-
-A roar of laughter acknowledged the force of this pertinent reply.
-
-"It is not only _quai_," said Okota, "the woman confesses that she has
-used the arts of witchcraft. Will any man come to you and say, 'I have
-stolen your fowl,' if he has not stolen it? This woman is killing my
-brother, when my brother is dead I will kill her."
-
-After so decisive a declaration, further argument was useless, and Mr.
-Mackey was compelled to retire, unsuccessful.
-
-The ordeal drink of Equatorial Africa is not identical with the
-"red-water" of Northern Guinea. It is prepared from the root of a small
-shrub called _Nkazya_, or _Quai_. Half a pint of the decoction is given to
-the accused, and small sticks being laid down on the ground at a distance
-of two feet apart, he is compelled to step over them five times. If the
-potion act upon him as a diuretic, he is pronounced innocent; but in some
-persons it produces vertigo. The sticks before his dizzy eyes rise like
-great logs, and in his awkward efforts to stride across them, he reels,
-falls to the ground, and is immediately assumed to be guilty.
-
-Ultimately the chief died, and the woman and boy both suffered death. The
-woman was taken out to sea in a boat, killed with an axe, and thrown
-overboard. The boy was burnt alive, bags of gunpowder being tied to his
-legs to shorten his sufferings.
-
-Apart from these superstitions, Mr. Reade asserts that the negroes possess
-the remnants of a noble and sublime religion, though they have forgotten
-its precepts, and debased its ceremonies. They still retain their belief
-in GOD, the One, the Supreme, the Creator. He has made mankind and the
-world; He thunders in the air, He destroys the wicked with His bolts. He
-rewards the good with long life; He gives them the rain, the fruits of the
-earth, and all things that are good. He is far above all the other gods.
-
-In some parts of Guinea the daily prayer is, "O GOD, I know Thee not, but
-Thou knowest me, Thy aid is necessary to me." At meals they say, "O GOD,
-Thou hast given me this, Thou hast made it grow." And when they work, "O
-GOD, Thou hast caused that I should have strength to do this." And another
-of their prayers runs, "O GOD, help us, we do not know whether we shall
-live to-morrow; we are in Thy hand."[40]
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER X.
-
-_THE ZULU WITCH-FINDERS._
-
-
-English Law now reigns in Zululand, and the occupation of the
-Witch-finders is almost gone; but in times past they were potent
-personages, whom an enslaving superstition had armed with despotic
-influence. The Zulu witch-finders are regular Amazons--perfectly fearless,
-with a martial gait, and grave composure of mien. It is their pride,
-according to Lady Barker, to be looked upon as men when once they embrace
-their dread profession, which the men sometimes share with them. They are
-permitted to bear shield and spear as warriors, and they hunt and kill
-with their own hands the wild beasts and reptiles whose skins they wear.
-"It is not difficult to understand," says Lady Barker,[41] "bearing in
-mind the superstition and cruelty which existed in remote parts of England
-not so very long ago--how powerful such women become among a savage
-people, or how tempting an opportunity they could furnish of getting rid
-of an enemy. Of course they are exceptional individuals; more observant,
-more shrewd, and more dauntless, than the average fat, hard-working Kafir
-women; besides possessing the contradictory mixture of great physical
-powers and strong hysterical tendencies. They work themselves up to a
-pitch of frenzy, and get to believe as firmly in their own supernatural
-discernment as any individual among the trembling circle of Zulus to whom
-a touch from the whisk they carry is a sentence of instant death."
-
-The magician, like the melodramatist, must have his accompaniment of
-music, and the Zulu witch-finders are attended by a circle of black girls
-and women, who, like a Greek chorus, clap their hands together, and drone
-through a low monotonous chant, the measure and rhythm of which change at
-times with a stamp and a swing. Not less necessary is a ceremonial dress;
-for such things appeal directly to the imagination of the crowd, and
-prepare them to be readily influenced by the necromancer's devices. The
-"Isinyanga," "Abangoma," or "witch-finders," whom Lady Barker describes
-for us, were attired with an eye for effect which would have done credit
-to a London theatre. It will suffice to depict one of them, by name
-Nozinyanga. Her fierce face, spotted with gouts of red paint on cheek and
-brow, was partly overshadowed by a helmet-like plume of the tall feathers
-of the sakabula bird. In her right hand she carried a light sheaf of
-assegais or lances, and on her left arm was slung a small and pretty
-shield of dappled ox-hide. Her petticoat, made of a couple of large gay
-handkerchiefs, was worn kilt-wise. But if there were little decoration in
-her skirts, the deficiency was more than compensated by the bravery of the
-bead-necklaces, the goat's-hair fringes, and the scarlet tassels which
-covered her from throat to waist. Her ample chest rose and fell beneath a
-baldric of leopard skin, fastened across it with huge brazen knobs; while
-down her back hung a beautifully dried and flattened skin of an enormous
-boa-constrictor.
-
-The interest attaching to these women is derived from the fact that it was
-of old the custom, among the Zulu and other South African tribes, to
-attribute all mishaps or catastrophes, political or social, to the agency
-of witches. It is not for Englishmen to look down with contempt upon this
-manifestation of barbarism and ignorance, considering that a similar
-belief prevailed very generally among us up to the reign of Charles I.,
-and, in truth, is not wholly extinct even now: while the extent to which
-the science of witch-finding was developed in New England will be known to
-every reader of Cotton Mather.
-
-When the community had resolved that a certain misfortune was due to the
-witches, the next step obviously would be to detect and punish them. For
-this purpose the king would summon a great meeting, and cause his subjects
-to sit on the ground in a ring or circle, for four or five days. The
-witch-finders took their places in the centre, and as they gradually
-worked themselves up to a frantic state of frenzy, resembling demoniacal
-possession, they lightly switched with their quagga-tail one or other of
-the trembling spectators, who was immediately dragged away and butchered
-on the spot. And not only he, but all the living things in his hut--wives
-and children, dogs and cats--not one was left alive, nor was a stick left
-standing. Sometimes a whole kraal would be exterminated in this way; and
-the reader will perceive how terribly the cruel custom could be made to
-gratify private revenge or to work out the king's tyrannical inclinations.
-
-A terrible little sorceress is described under the name of Nozilwane,[42]
-whose weird wistful glance had in it something uncanny and uncomfortable.
-She was really dressed beautifully for her part, in lynx skins folded over
-and over from waist to knee, the upper part of her body being covered by
-strings of wild beasts' teeth and fangs, beads, skeins of gaily-coloured
-yarn, strips of snake's skin, and fringes of Angora-goat fleece. This, as
-a decoration, was both graceful and effective; it was worn round the body
-and above each elbow, and fell in soft white flakes among the brilliant
-colouring and against the dusky skin. Lynx-tails depended like lappets on
-each side of her face, which was overshadowed and almost hidden by a
-profusion of sakabula feathers. "This bird," says Lady Barker, "has a very
-beautiful plumage, and is sufficiently rare for the natives to attach a
-peculiar value and charm to the tail-feathers; they are like those of a
-young cock, curved and slender, and of a dark chestnut colour, with a
-white eye at the extreme tip of each feather." Among all this thick,
-floating plumage were interspersed small bladders, and skewers or pins
-wrought out of tusks. Each witch-finder wore her own hair, or rather wool;
-highly greased, and twisted up with twine until it ceases to wear the
-appearance of hair, and hangs around the face like a thick fringe, dyed
-deep red.
-
-Bent double, and with a creeping, cat-like gait, as if seeking a trail,
-out stepped Nozilwane. Every movement of her undulating body kept time to
-the beat of the girls' hands and their low crooning chant. Presently she
-pretended to find the thing she sought, and with a series of wild
-pirouettes leaped into the air, shaking her spears and brandishing her
-little shield like a Bacchante. Nowamso, another of the party, was
-determined that her companion should not carry off all the applause, and
-she too, with a yell and a leap, sprang into the dance to the sound of
-louder grunts and harder hand-claps. Nowamso showed much anxiety to
-display her back, where a magnificent snake skin, studded in a regular
-pattern with brass-headed nails, floated like a stream. She was attired
-also in a splendid kilt of leopard skins, decorated with red rosettes, and
-her toilette was considered more careful and artistic than any of the
-others. Brighter her bangles, whiter her goat-fringes, and more
-elaborately painted her face. Nozilwane, however, had youth and a
-wonderful self-reliance on her side. The others, though they all joined in
-and hunted out an imaginary enemy, and in turn exulted over his discovery,
-soon became breathless and spent, and were glad when their attendants led
-them away to be anointed and to drink water.
-
-"As for another of the 'witch-finders,' the great, big Nozinyanga, she
-danced like Queen Elizabeth, 'high and disposedly,' and no wonder, for I
-should think she weighed at least fifteen stone. Ungiteni, in a petticoat
-of white Angora-goat skin, and a corsage of bladders and teeth, beads and
-viper skins, was nothing remarkable; neither was Um-a-noujozzla, a
-melancholy-looking personage, with an enormous wig-like coiffure of red
-woollen ringlets and white skewers. The physiognomy, too, was a trifle
-more stolid and commonplace than that of her comrades, and altogether she
-gave me the impression of being a sensible, respectable woman, who was
-very much ashamed of herself for playing such antics. However, she
-brandished her divining brush with the rest, and cut in now and then to
-'keep the fleer' with the untiring Nozilwane."
-
-Lady Barker and her friends grew tired of this imaginary "witch-finding,"
-and to end the affair it was proposed to test the professed power of the
-"weird women" to discover lost property. A silver pipe stem had recently
-"gone a-missing," and they were requested to find what had been lost, and
-where. They set to work in a curious and interesting way. In front,
-squatted on heels and haunches, a semicircle of about a dozen men, who
-were supposed to have invited the assistance of the sisterhood. They had
-no idea of what was asked for, and were told to go on with their part
-until a signal was given that the article had been named.
-
-"What is it the Inkos has lost?" they cried; "discover, reveal, make plain
-to us."
-
-The witch-finders, by their singing and dancing, had wrought themselves up
-to a highly-excited and enthusiastic condition, so that they
-unhesitatingly accepted the challenge, Nowamso crying, "Sing for me: make
-a cadence for me." Then, after a moment's pause, she went on rapidly, in
-her own language.
-
-"Is this real? is it a test? is it but a show? Do the white chiefs want to
-laugh at our pretensions? Has the white lady called us only to show other
-white people that we can do nothing? Is anything really lost? is it not
-hidden? No, it _is_ lost. Is it lost by a black person? No, a white person
-has lost it. Is it lost by the great white chief? No, it is lost by an
-ordinary white man. Let me see what it is that is lost. Is it money? No.
-Is it a weighty thing? No, it can be always carried about--it is not
-heavy. All people like to carry it, especially the white Inkosi: it is
-made of the same metal as money. I could tell you more, but there is no
-earnestness in all this,--it is only a spectacle."
-
-Between each of these ejaculations she made a pause, looking eagerly into
-the faces of the men before her, who, for sole answer, gave a loud,
-simultaneous snap of finger and thumb, pointing towards the ground as they
-did so, and shouting the one word, "Yiz-ora," (the first syllable strongly
-accented and much prolonged;) "discover, reveal!" They can say nothing
-more to urge her on, because they themselves are ignorant: but the weird
-women watch their countenances eagerly, to detect, if they can, some
-unconscious sign or token that their guesses are near the truth.
-Suspecting a trick, Nowamso lapses into silence; but Nozilwane rushes
-about like one possessed, sobbing and quivering with excitement, "It is
-this--it is that!" The tall Nozinyanga strikes her lance firmly into the
-ground, and cries haughtily, in her own tongue, "It is his watch!"
-throwing around a haughty glance, as if daring any one to contradict her.
-The others then join hands, and gallop round and round, making a
-suggestion here and a suggestion there, all alike improbable; the
-"inquirers," as the kneeling men are called, affording them no assistance.
-At last Nozilwane strikes home: "His pipe!" she exclaims; "Yoziva, yoziva,
-a thing which has come off his pipe."
-
-And so it is. Nozilwane's pluck, and perseverance, and cunning scrutiny of
-our faces at each hit she made, have brought her off victoriously.
-
-A murmur, or rather grunt, of admiration goes around. The "inquirers" jump
-up, and "subside into ebony images of impassive respectability." The weary
-chorus disperses in small groups, and the exhausted sisterhood drop, as if
-by one consent, on their knees, sitting back on their heels, and raise
-their right hands in salutation.[43]
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XI.
-
-_ZABIANISM AND SERPENT-WORSHIP._
-
-
-There can be no question as to the antiquity or universality of
-Serpent-Worship, whatever may be the difference of opinion as to its
-origin. According to Bryant it began in Chaldea, and was "the first
-variation from the purer Zabaism." But this statement requires from us a
-brief preliminary explanation of that ancient form of worship.
-
-Zabaism, or Zabism, has had its two sects,--first the Chaldean Zabians of
-the Kuran,--the "Parsified" Chaldee heathen, or non-Christian
-Gnostics,--the ancestors of the present Mendaites, or so-called Joannes
-Christians, who reside in the neighbourhood of the Persian Gulf, and speak
-a corrupt form of Chaldee-Aramaic. And second, the Pseudo-Zabians, or
-Syrian Zabians, in Harran, Edessa, Rakkah, and Bagdad. It is the latter
-who now chiefly represent Zabism.
-
-The first named, or Chaldean Zabians, who transferred the name to the
-Harranic, and greatly influenced the development of the peculiar system of
-the latter, are the people so designated in the Kuran, and by the
-Mohammedans of to-day. The Harranians, who rose about A.D. 830, profess to
-derive their denomination from one Zabi, who is variously called a son of
-Seth, son of Adam, or a son of Enoch or Idris, or a son of Methuselah, or
-of some fictitious Badi or Mari, a supposed companion of Abraham; while
-Mohammedan writers trace it to the word _ssaba_, "to turn, to move,"
-because its professors turned from the path of true religion, that is,
-Islam, or, as the Zabians say, because they have turned _to_ the proper
-faith.
-
-The Zabian creed, as professed by the Harranic Zabians, would appear to
-resolve itself into the following elements:--
-
-It teaches that the Creator is, in His essence, primitivity, originality,
-and eternity, One; but in His numerous manifestations in bodily figures,
-manifold. Chiefly He is personified by the seven principal planets, and by
-the good, knowing, excellent earthly bodies. This, however, is without any
-disturbance of His unity. It is, say the Zabians, as if the seven planets
-were His seven limbs, and as if our seven limbs were His seven spheres in
-which He manifests Himself,--so that He speaks with our tongues, sees with
-our eyes, hears with our ears, touches with our hands, comes and goes with
-our feet, and acts through our members.
-
-It teaches further, that GOD is too great and too sublime to occupy
-Himself directly with the affairs of this world; that its government He
-has therefore entrusted to other gods, and that it is only to the highest
-things of destiny He Himself devotes His attention,--an attribution of
-cold superiority and intellectual indifference in striking contrast to the
-idea of GOD _the Father_ developed by Christianity, that all-loving, as
-well as all-powerful GOD, Who watches over the fall of a sparrow, and
-listens with tender ear to the prayer of even the meanest of His
-creatures. Moreover, Zabism inculcates the chilling doctrine that man is
-too feeble to offer his homage directly to the Supreme, and must therefore
-address the inferior deities to whom the regimen of the world has been
-handed. In this way we see that the veneration shown to the planets and
-the worship of idols are only a symbolism resulting from the humiliating
-doctrines just defined.
-
-Zabism is a polytheistic system,--it absolutely revels in gods and
-goddesses. There are the spirits that direct and guide the planets, the
-spirits that originate or represent every action in this world,--not a
-natural effect, great or little, which does not emanate from a deity.
-Whatever appears in the air, whatever is formed near the sky or springs
-from the earth, must be traced to certain gods that govern these
-manifestations, so that every flake of snow, every drop of rain has its
-presiding spirit.
-
-These spirits also "mould and shape everything bodily from one form into
-the other, and gradually bring all created things to the state of their
-highest possible perfection, and communicate their powers to all
-substances, beings, and things. By the movement and guidance of these
-spiritual beings, the different elements and natural compositions are
-influenced in such a way that the tenderest plant may pierce the hardest
-cliff. He who guides this world is called the first spirit. These gods
-know our most secret thoughts, and all our future is open to them. The
-female deities seem to have been conceived as the feeling or passive
-principle. These gods or intelligences emanate directly from GOD without
-His will, as rays do from the sun. They are, further, of abstract forms,
-free of all matter, and neither made of any substance or material. They
-consist chiefly of a light in which there is no darkness, which the senses
-cannot conceive by reason of its immense clearness, which the
-understanding cannot comprehend by reason of its extreme delicacy, and
-which fancy and imagination cannot fathom."
-
-Free from all animal desires, these spirits are created wholly for love
-and harmony, for friendship and unity. They are unaffected by local and
-temporal changes, and control the planetary spheres, without finding the
-motion of the heaviest too heavy, or of the lightest too light. Their
-never-ending existence is a prolonged happiness, owing to their nearness
-to the Supreme GOD; whom they praise day and night, like the Angels, with
-no sense of fatigue or satiety, and whose will they ever obey with the
-keenest joy. Free agents, they are never inclined towards the evil. They
-turn towards the good as readily as the flower towards the light.
-
-Passing on to the cosmogonical part of the Zabian system, we find that it
-is based on the existence of five primaeval principles,--the Creator,
-Reason, the Soul, Space, and the Void. These are the constituents of all
-creation. But apart from these, or comprehending these, the Zabians seem
-to have regarded two principles, GOD and the Soul, as specially active and
-ever-living. Some writers represent them as believing also in a passive
-principle, Matter; and in two principles which are neither living nor
-passive, Time and Space. They appear to have regarded Matter as primeval
-and everlasting, and to have ascribed to it the origin and duration of
-Evil. GOD Himself created only the spheres, and the heavenly bodies which
-they contain. These spheres (fathers) convey the types or ideas to the
-elementary substances (mothers), and out of the combination, conjunction,
-and motion of these spheres and elements are produced the various earthly
-things (children). According to the Zabians, the world is renewed with
-every "world-year," or cycle, that is once every 36,425 ordinary years.
-And at the close of each cycle, the life, vegetable, animal, and human
-that had flourished within it cease to multiply, and new forms or types
-spring into existence.
-
-The vacillating and contending nature of man is due to the contradictory
-elements of which he is composed. The desires and passions which sway him
-to and fro, depress him to the low standard of the brute creation, and his
-fall would be complete but for such religious rites as purifications,
-sacrifices, and other means of grace. Through these he is able again to
-draw near to the great gods, and to attain a resemblance unto them. The
-human soul is dual, that is, it consists partly of the nature of the
-animal soul and partly of that of the angelic soul. It is immortal, and
-subject to future recompense and punishment, but not for ever, nor in any
-world but this, though at different epochs of existence. Hence, our
-present happiness is a reward for the good deeds done by us in an earlier
-stage of existence; and our present suffering the just chastisement for
-evil actions committed in the past. In its nature they hold that the soul
-is primitive, because otherwise it must be material, and a material soul
-is an impossibility.
-
-"The soul," says Kathibi, one of the Zabian teachers, "is thus immaterial,
-and exists from eternity; is the involuntary reason of the first types, as
-GOD is the First Cause of the Intelligences. Once on a time the soul
-beheld matter and loved it. Glowing with the desire of assuming a bodily
-shape, it would not again separate itself from that matter of which the
-world was created. Since that time, the soul forgot itself, its
-everlasting existence, its original abode, and knew nothing more of what
-it had formerly known. But GOD, who converts all things to the best,
-united it to matter, which it loved, and out of this union the heavens,
-the elements, and other composite things arose. In order that the soul
-might not wholly perish within matter, He endowed it with intelligence,
-whereby it conceived its high origin, the spiritual world, and itself. It
-further conceived through it that it was but a stranger in this world, in
-which it was subject to many sufferings, and that even the joys of this
-world are but the sources of new sufferings. As soon as the soul had
-perceived all this, it began to yearn again for its spiritual home, as a
-man who is away from his birthplace pines for his homestead. It then also
-learned, that, in order to return to its primitive state, it had to shake
-off the fetters of sensuous desires, and liberate itself from all
-materialistic tendencies. Far from them all, it would once more regain its
-heavenly sphere, and enjoy the bliss of the spiritual world."[44]
-
-Such is an outline of the religious system which flourished from the
-middle of the ninth to the middle of the eleventh century, under the name
-of Zabism.
-
-Evidently, out of _this_ Zabaism Serpent-worship could not spring, because
-it is of much greater antiquity. What then is the Zabism to which Bryant
-alludes? A purely imaginary creed, which the mediaeval, Jewish, Arabic, and
-Persian writers identified with star-worship. The Mohammedan and other
-writers of the twelfth century bestowed the name of Zabians indifferently
-upon the ancient Chaldeans, the Buddhists, even the ante-Zoroastrian
-Persians; and Bryant has followed their mistaken example. As a matter of
-fact, Serpent-worship is a relic of nature-worship,--more particularly of
-the old solar worship,--and the Serpent at first was unquestionably an
-emblem of the Sun.
-
-In Babylon large serpents of silver supported the image of the goddess
-Rhea, in the temple of Bel, or Belus; and the name Bel itself is thought
-by some writers to be an abbreviation of Ob-el, "the Serpent-God." In the
-Apocryphal book of Bel and the Dragon, we read: "In that same place there
-was a great Dragon, which they of Babylon worshipped. And the king said
-unto Daniel: Wilt thou say that this is of brass? lo, he eateth and
-drinketh: thou canst not say he is no living god: therefore worship him."
-
-Speaking of the earlier stage of the Persian religion, Eusebius remarks
-that all the Persians worshipped the First Principles under the form of
-Serpents, having dedicated to them temples in which they performed
-sacrifices, and held festivals and orgies, esteeming them the greatest of
-Gods, and governors of the Universe.
-
-These first principles were the principles of Good and Evil, or Ormuzd and
-Ahriman, whose terrible struggle for the supremacy of the universe was
-symbolised in Persian mythology by two serpents contending for the mundane
-egg. They are represented as standing upon their tails, and each of them
-has fastened its teeth upon the disputed prize. But, more generally, the
-Evil Principle alone was represented by the serpent, and a fable in the
-Zendavesta recalls to our recollection the opening of the Book of Genesis;
-for it says that Ahriman assumed a serpent's form in order to destroy the
-first of the human race, whom he accordingly poisoned.
-
-In the Saddu, or Suddu, it is said: "When you kill serpents, you shall
-repeat the Zendavesta, whereby you will obtain great merit; for it is the
-same as if you had killed so many devils."
-
-Mithras, the Persian sun-god, was represented encircled by a serpent; and
-in his rites a custom was observed similar to that practised in the
-mysteries of Sebazius: a serpent was cast into the bosom of the neophyte,
-and taken out at the lower part of his garments.[45]
-
-The hierogram of the winged circle and serpent is a remarkable and
-significant emblem of Ophiolatreia, and is found in almost every country
-where Serpent-worship prevailed. It is to be traced in the Egyptian, the
-Persian, and even the Aztec hieroglyphics; and on the monuments of China,
-Greece, Italy, Asia Minor, and India. Enthusiasts allege that it has been
-discovered in Britain. It seems to have been a general symbol of
-_consecration_, and as such mention is made of it by the poet Persius:
-
-  "Pinge duos angues; pueri sacer est locus."
-                                _Satir._ i. 113.
-
-Reference is here made to _two_ snakes, which, as we have seen, is the
-hierogram of the worshippers of the Two Principles, each being represented
-by a serpent. Generally, however, it is one serpent only that issues from
-the winged circle, and sometimes the circle is without wings. As a
-consecrating symbol, the ophite hierogram was inscribed upon the massive
-portals of the Egyptian temples. Mr. Deane contends that the Druids "with
-the consistent magnificence which characterised their religion,"
-transferred the symbol from the portal to the temple; and instead of
-placing the circle and serpent over the entrance into their sanctuaries,
-erected the whole building in the form of the ophite hierogram, as at
-Abury in Wiltshire, and Stanton Drew in Somersetshire. The former
-represents the ophite hierogram with one serpent, the latter is double; in
-both cases the circle has no wings.
-
-In Argyllshire, near Oban, exists a huge serpent-shaped mound, discovered
-by Mr. Phene in 1871, which must be mentioned in this connection. Looking
-down upon it from the high ground to the westward, you see it rising
-conspicuously from the flat grassy plain, which extends for some distance
-on either side, with scarcely an undulation, save two artificial circular
-mounds, in one of which lie several large stones forming a cromlech. A
-recent visitor writes:
-
-"Finding ourselves in the very presence of the Great Dragon, we hastened
-to improve our acquaintance, and in a couple of minutes had scrambled on
-to the ridge which forms his backbone, and thence perceived that we were
-standing on an artificial mound three hundred feet in length, forming a
-double curve like a huge letter S, and wonderfully perfect in anatomical
-outline. This we perceived the more perfectly on reaching the head, which
-lies at the western end, whence diverge small ridges, which may have
-represented the paws of the reptile. On the head rests a circle of stones,
-supposed to be emblematic of the solar disc, and exactly corresponding
-with the solar circle as represented on the head of the mystic serpents of
-Egypt and Phoenicia, and in the great American Serpent Mound. At the time
-of Mr. Phene's first visit to this spot there still remained in the centre
-of this circle some traces of an altar, which, thanks to the depredations
-of cattle and herd-boys, have since wholly disappeared....
-
-"The circle was excavated on the 12th of October, 1871, and within it were
-found three large stones, forming a chamber, which contained burnt human
-bones, charcoal, and charred hazel-nuts. Surely the spirits of our Pagan
-ancestors must rejoice to see how faithfully we, their descendants,
-continue to burn our hazel-nuts on Hallow-e'en, their old autumnal Fire
-Festival, though our modern divination is practised only with reference to
-such a trivial matter as the faith of sweethearts! A flint was also found,
-beautifully and minutely serrated at the edge; nevertheless, it was at
-once evident, on opening the cairn, that the place had already been
-ransacked, probably in secret, by treasure-seekers, as there is no
-tradition of any excavation for scientific purposes having ever been made
-here.
-
-"On the removal of the peat-moss and heather from the ridge of the
-serpent's back, it was found that the whole length of the spine was
-carefully constructed with regularly and symmetrically placed stones, at
-such an angle as to throw off rain; an adjustment to which we doubtless
-owe the preservation, or at least the perfection, of this most remarkable
-relic. To those who know how slow is the growth of peat-moss, even in damp
-and undrained places, the depth to which it has here attained, though in a
-dry and thoroughly exposed situation and raised from seventeen to twenty
-feet above the level of the surrounding moss, tells of many a long century
-of silent undisturbed growth, since the days when the serpent's spine was
-the well-worn path daily trodden by reverent feet. The spine is, in fact,
-a long narrow causeway, made of large stones, set like the vertebrae of
-some huge animal. They form a ridge sloping off in an angle at each side,
-which is continued downwards with an arrangement of smaller stones,
-suggestive of ribs."
-
-This strange memorial of a departed age and a vanished faith, lying in the
-silence and solitude of the lonely shore of Loch Nell, recalls to mind
-the eloquent lines of an American poet:[46]
-
-  "All desolate their ruins rest,
-  Like bark that in mid-ocean rolls,
-  Her name effaced, her masts o'erthrown,
-  And none remaining of the souls
-  That once sailed in her, to relate
-  From what far distant port she came;
-  Whither she sailed and what her fate,
-  And what her nation and her name.
-  But only may conjecture guess
-  The fancied story of this place,
-  And from these crumbling ruins gain
-  Some knowledge of the vanished race."
-
-It must be noticed that the serpent-mound has been so disposed that the
-worshipper standing at the altar would naturally look eastward, directly
-along the whole length of the great reptile, and across the dark lake, to
-the threefold peaks of Ben Cruachan. That this position was intentionally
-selected is evident from the fact that the three peaks are visible from no
-other point.
-
-And hence arises the not wholly fanciful conjecture that the people who
-erected the great mound had some dim idea of the Triune character of GOD.
-The serpent was the emblem of His wisdom, as the solar circle was of His
-Eternal Unity; and this marked reverence for the triple-peaked mountain
-seems to indicate that with a knowledge of His unity was combined a
-recognition of His threefold manifestation.
-
-The writer whom we have already quoted remarks that, whatever doubts may
-arise on speculative points, the clearly defined outlines of the great
-Serpent-mound of Oban are beyond dispute; though it may long prove a
-fertile subject for discussion, whether its serpentine, or rather, Saurian
-form is to be accepted as direct evidence of ophiolatry in this land, or
-whether we should regard it as simply the representative of some
-tribe,--as, in short, a Totem of some extinct British race answering to
-the Nagas, or snake-tribes of the East. The former supposition seems the
-more reasonable, when we remember that the serpent and the serpent's egg
-were held sacred by the Druids. Serpent-worship prevailed in every nation
-of antiquity. It flourished in Greece and Rome, in Egypt and Chaldea, in
-Arabia and Central Asia; it extended throughout the Indian peninsula from
-Cape Comorin to Kashmir; it was practised in Ceylon and the islands of the
-eastern seas; in Mexico and Peru; throughout the whole of Africa. Passing
-northward, we find that it existed in Scythia and Scandinavia, as also
-among vast tribes near the Oural mountains and throughout Northern Europe,
-and particularly among the tribes on the Ob or Obi river, which owes its
-name, it is said, to the veneration paid to the reptile. Until the end of
-the fourteenth century, when Christianity was introduced, the people of
-Poland worshipped domestic serpents, which were allowed to run free in
-every house, and carefully tended, every mishap that occurred being
-attributed to some negligence in their service. The Lapps, the Finns, the
-Norwegians, the Swedes, the Danes, all fostered these strange household
-gods, and shared with them the children's milk. The Vandals also kept
-them; some lived in hollow trees, and thither repaired the women, with
-their offerings of milk, as is common at the present day in Ceylon and
-many parts of India. Long after they had accepted the faith of CHRIST, the
-Lombards continued a form of serpent-worship, adoring, or paying homage
-to, a golden viper and a tree. In 663, Barbatus, Bishop of Benevento,
-finding the custom still observed, made a successful appeal to the
-worshippers to cut down the tree, and allow him to melt the golden viper
-into a sacramental chalice.
-
-One of the most interesting of the supposed Serpent-temples, or
-_dracontia_, is that of Karnak. It is situated half a mile from the
-village of that name, in the department of the Morbihan in Brittany, and
-about nine miles from the picturesque town of Auray. It is also within a
-mile of the Bay of Quiberon.
-
-The whole length of "the Stones of Karnak," as the temple is called,
-measures, if we include its sinuosities, eight miles. The width varies
-from 250 to 350 feet. The highest stones are as much as seventeen feet
-high, and from thirty to forty feet in circumference. Vacant spaces have
-unfortunately been cleared by ruthless spoliators for the erection of the
-adjacent villages of Ploermel and Karnak, and the boundary walls of the
-neighbouring fields. But what toil and time must have been originally
-expended on its construction, we may infer from the fact that it consisted
-of eleven rows of stones, about ten thousand in number, of which upwards
-of three hundred averaged from fifteen to seventeen feet in height, and
-from sixteen to twenty or thirty feet in girth; one stone even measuring
-the huge circumference of forty-two feet.
-
-A glance at any engraving of this famous antiquity will show that the
-course of the avenues is distinctly sinuous, and that it defines the
-figure of an enormous serpent undulating over the ground. Necessarily,
-however, the resemblance is more striking to one who views the original
-_in situ_. To such, the alternations of the high and low stones, regularly
-disposed, may seem to mark with sufficient accuracy "the swelling of the
-serpent's muscles as he moves along," though this seems rather a flight of
-imagination. But at all events the spectator will acknowledge the evidence
-of design which clearly appears in the construction of the avenues.
-
-The Dracontium contains ten regularly defined areas; one near the village
-of Karnak, which is shaped like a bell or horse-shoe; the other, towards
-the eastern extremity, which approaches the figure of a rude circle, and
-is in reality a parallelogram with rounded corners.
-
-The circle and the horse-shoe were both sacred figures in the Druidical
-religion, as may be seen in Stonehenge, where they are united, the outer
-circles enclosing inner horse-shoes. The connection between the latter
-symbol and the Celtic faith is not very clear, unless it be intended as a
-representation of the moon. It has been conjectured that from this symbol,
-whatever may have been its signification, arose the superstition--even not
-now wholly defunct--of nailing a horse-shoe over a door as a protection
-against evil spirits.
-
-It is curious that at Erdeven, where the temple begins, an annual dance,
-descriptive of the Ophite hierogram of the circle and serpent, is still
-celebrated by the peasants at the Carnival. But the only tradition which
-survives respecting the stones is one which lingers in various parts of
-England where similar memorials are found, that they were originally
-endowed with life, and were petrified as they stand. Some of the Bretons
-believe they were the Roman army who pursued the centurion Cornelius on
-account of his conversion to Christianity, and were stricken into stone
-through his prayers. Others imagine that certain supernatural dwarfs
-erected them in a single night, and that each still inhabits the stone he
-reared.
-
-Mr. Deane tells us that near the Karnak side of the dracontium rises a
-singular mound of great elevation, which has once been conical, and the
-upper portion of which is evidently artificial.[47] He regards it as
-analogous to the remarkable hill of Silbury, which occupies much the same
-position towards the Albury dracontium. Probably these mounds served as
-altars, on which, in conformity with the practices of the Solar worship,
-was kept burning the perpetual fire kindled by the sun. They are of common
-occurrence in Persia, and seem to be identical with "the high places" of
-Scripture where the priests of Baal celebrated their sacrifices. The
-conical mound near Karnak--which may be seen for miles around--has been
-consecrated by the Christians to the Archangel Michael, who is the patron
-saint of every height, hill, or cone, natural or artificial, in Brittany.
-The reason of this dedication has been conjectured to be that S. Michael
-is the assailant and conqueror of the spiritual Dragon of the Apocalypse.
-The mutilated image of that great serpent lies prostrate below the mound;
-and when its worshippers were converted to the religion of CHRIST, they
-naturally erected on the Solar mount a chapel consecrated to its
-archangelic slayer. This consecration indicates, therefore, the triumph of
-Christianity over Ophiolatry; and it is but consistent, says Deane, that
-the people who allegorised the conversion of the Ophites by the metaphor
-of a victory over _serpents_, should, in token of the victory, erect upon
-the high places of idolatry chapels to the great Archangel.
-
-It is possible that the mound gave name to the adjacent village: that is,
-Karn-ak, or Carnac, from "_cairn_" a hill, and "_hac_," a snake. The
-"serpent's hill" would be no unsuitable title for Mont S. Michel. In the
-same manner the group of pillars called _Lemaenac_, may have been named
-from _maen_, stones, and _hac_.
-
-It is curious to find proofs of the existence of Serpent-worship in the
-New World as in the Old; to meet with its traces in Mexico as well as in
-Egypt or Chaldea. But certain it is that the religion of Mexico had many
-features which were common to the Egyptian and Chaldean creeds; the same
-Solar Worship, the same pyramidal monuments, and the same Ophiolatrous
-symbols.
-
-For instance, we learn that the temple of Huitziliputli, in Mexico, was
-built of great stones, in the fashion of snakes tied one to another, and
-that the circuit was called "the circuit of snakes," because the walls of
-the enclosure were covered with the figures of snakes. This
-truculent-looking deity held in his right hand a staff cut in the fashion
-of a serpent; and the four corners of the ark or tabernacle, in which he
-was seated, terminated each with a carved effigy of a serpent's head.
-
-The Mexican astronomers represented a century by a circle, with a sun in
-the centre, surrounded by the symbols of the years. The circumference was
-a serpent twisted into four knots at the cardinal points.
-
-The Mexican month was divided into twenty days, two of which were
-symbolised by the serpent and dragon. Further, the doorway of the temple,
-dedicated to "the god of the air," was so wrought as to resemble a
-serpent's mouth.
-
-The Mexicans, however, went beyond the _symbolical_ worship of the sacred
-serpent, and like many other branches of the Ophite family, they fostered
-living serpents in their dwellings as household gods. Mr. Bullock asserts
-that they make the rattlesnake an object of their worship and veneration;
-and that representations of this reptile, and of others of its species,
-are very commonly met with among the remains of their ancient idolatry. He
-says that the finest known to be in existence may be seen in a deserted
-part of the cloister of the Dominican convent, opposite to the Palace of
-the Inquisition. It is curled up in an irritated, erect position, with the
-jaws extended, and is represented in the act of gorging a woman, richly
-dressed, who lies between its fangs, crushed and lacerated.
-
-The Conquistadors, or Spanish followers of Cortez, all assert that the
-Aztecs, or inhabitants of Mexico, worshipped an idol wrought into the
-shape of a serpent. Bonal Dias del Castello, one of the Spanish invader's
-veteran captains, and the chronicler of the expedition, describes the
-interior of the principal temple, to which he and his leader were
-conducted by the Emperor Montezuma: "When we had ascended to the summit of
-the temple, we observed on the platform as we passed, the large stones on
-which were placed the victims intended for sacrifice. Here was a great
-figure representing a Dragon, and much blood lay spilled. Cortez,
-addressing Montezuma, requested him to do him the favour to show his gods.
-After consulting the priests, Montezuma led them into a tower where was a
-kind of hall. Here were two altars, highly adorned with richly-wrought
-timbers on the roof; above the roof, spread gigantic figures like unto
-men. The one on the right hand was Huitzilopochtli, their war god, with a
-great face and terrible eyes. This figure was entirely covered with gold
-and jewels, and his body wreathed about with golden serpents. Before the
-idol smoked a pan of incense, in which the hearts of three human victims
-were burning, mixed with copal. The other great figure, on the left, with
-a face like a bear's, was the god of the infernal regions. His body was
-everywhere covered with figures of devils, having serpents' tails. In this
-place was kept a drum of most enormous dimensions, the head of which was
-made of the skins of large serpents. At a short distance from the temple
-stood a tower, and at the door grinned frightful idols, like serpents and
-devils: in front of these were tables and knives for sacrifice."
-
-Mr. Bullock, who made a valuable collection of Mexican antiquities,
-describes an idol, "the goddess of war," on which Cortez and his followers
-may possibly have looked:
-
-"This monstrous idol," he says, "is, with its pedestal, twelve feet high,
-and four feet wide. Its form is partly human and partly composed of
-rattlesnakes and the tiger. The head, enormously wide, seems that of two
-rattlesnakes united; the fangs hanging out of the mouth, on which the
-still-palpitating hearts of the unfortunate victims were rubbed as an act
-of the most acceptable oblation. The body is that of a deformed man, the
-place of arms being supplied by the heads of rattlesnakes, placed on
-square plinths, and united by fringed ornaments. Round the waist is a
-girdle, which was originally encrusted with gold; and beneath this,
-reaching nearly to the ground, and partly covering its deformed cloven
-feet, a drapery entirely composed of wreathed rattlesnakes, which the
-natives call "a garment of serpents.... Between the feet, descending from
-the body, another wreathed serpent rests his head upon the ground."
-
-"The only worship," says Mr. Deane,[48] "which can vie with that of the
-Serpent in antiquity or universality, is the adoration of the SUN. But
-uniformly with the progress of the Solar superstitions has advanced the
-sacred serpent from Babylon to Peru. If the worship of the Sun, therefore,
-was the first deviation from the truth, the worship of the Serpent was one
-of the first innovations of idolatry. Whatever doubt may exist as to which
-was the first error, little doubt can arise as to the primitive and
-antediluvian character of both. For in the earliest heathen records we
-find them inexplicably interwoven as the first of superstitions. Thus
-Egyptian mythology informs us, that Helios (the Sun) was the first of the
-Egyptian gods; for in early history, kings and gods are generally
-confounded. But Helios married Ops, the serpent deity, and became father
-of Osiris, Isis, Typhoeus, Apollo, and Venus: a tradition which would make
-the superstitions coeval. This fable being reduced to more simple laws,
-informs us, that the Sun, having married the Serpent, became, by this
-union, the father of Adam and Eve, the Evil Spirit, the Serpent-solar
-deity, and Lust; which appears to be a confusion of Scriptural truths, in
-which chronological order is sacrificed from the simplification of a
-fable. But--_ex pede Herculem_--from the small fragments of the truth
-which are here combined, we may judge of the original dimensions of the
-knowledge whose ruins are thus heaped together. We may conclude that,
-since idolatry, lust, the serpent, and the evil spirit, are here said to
-have been synchronous with the First Man and Woman, the whole fable is
-little more than a mythological version of the events in Paradise."
-
-Mr. Deane, who lived before the days of Comparative Mythology, read into
-the old fables a meaning which they are hardly capable of bearing. It is
-clear enough that Serpent-worship had an astronomical origin; but we may
-agree with him that it was as ancient and universal as the worship of the
-Sun, with which, indeed, it was closely connected.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-We shall now borrow a few illustrations of the character, extent, and
-significance of Serpent-worship from Mr. Fergusson's elaborate work,[49]
-in which he deals particularly with the Topes at Sanchi and Amravati. But,
-first, a word or two in explanation of the origin and purpose of the Topes
-will be desirable.
-
-The era of stone architecture in India seems to have begun with the reign
-of Asoka about 250 B.C. It is contemporaneous with the rise of Buddhism,
-whose followers gradually usurped the place formerly occupied by the
-Aryans. The Buddhist buildings then erected may be divided into three
-principal classes:
-
-1st. _Topes_ or _Stupas_, with their surrounding rails and lats:
-
-2nd. _Chaityas_, which, in form and purpose, closely resemble the early
-Churches of the Christians, though several of those cut in the rock were,
-in all probability, excavated before the Christian era: and,
-
-3rd. _Viharas_, or Monasteries, forming in the earliest times the
-dwellings of the monks or priests who ministered in the Topes or Chaityas,
-but afterwards becoming the independent abode of monastic communities, who
-had chapels or oratories appropriated to their use within the walls of
-their monasteries.
-
-We are here concerned only with the Tope or Stupa.
-
-In its origin we suspect that it simply took the place of the mound or
-tumulus which the Turanian and other races had from earliest ages been
-accustomed to raise over the last resting-place of their dead. No such
-tumuli now exist in India, having probably been washed away by the
-tropical rains or river-floods; but some are still found in Afghanistan.
-The Indian type is distinguished from the tumulus of other countries by
-its material and its shape. It is built of brick or stone, in a rounded or
-conical form. It is distinguished also by the circumstance that instead of
-being the place of interment of a corpse, it is the depository of relics.
-
-Besides being used as a relic-shrine, the Tope was frequently employed as
-a memorial tower to indicate a sacred spot. Of the 84,000 Stupas which,
-according to tradition, Asoka erected, fully one half would seem to have
-been raised to mark the scenes where Buddha or some Bodhisatwa had
-performed a miracle or done something worthy of being remembered by the
-faithful.
-
-The "rails," or stone-circles, surrounding the Indian Topes are often of
-as much importance as the Topes themselves; and in the case of Sanchi and
-Amravati, are even _more_ important. As with the Topes, they are
-sepulchral in origin. "The circles of rude stones found all over Europe
-certainly are so in most cases. They may sometimes enclose holy spots, and
-may possibly have in some instances places of assembly, though this is
-improbable. Their application to the purposes of ancestral worship is,
-however, not only probable, but appropriate. Sometimes a circle of stones
-encloses a sepulchral mound, as at New Grange in Ireland, and very
-frequently in Scandinavia and Algeria. In India rude stone circles are of
-frequent occurrence." Some hundreds are found in the neighbourhood of
-Amravati alone, and all are sepulchral; but like the Topes when adopted by
-the Buddhists, they were "sublimated into a symbol instead of a reality."
-
-Reference must briefly be made to another group of early Buddhist
-monuments, the lats or stembhas, of which very few are now extant in
-India, the British engineer having used them for his roads, and the native
-zemindar for his rice or sugar mills. Those erected by Asoka are uniform
-in character: circular stone shafts, monoliths, thirty or forty feet high,
-and surmounted by a capital of a bell-shaped or falling leaf form,
-imitated from the later Grecian architecture. They were erected in order
-that certain edicts might be engraved upon them, which Asoka desired to
-keep constantly in the remembrance and before the eyes of his subjects.
-But in the fifth century, those raised by the Guptas had no other object
-than to perpetuate the name and fame of their royal founders.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-The Topes at Sanchi form part of a large group of Topes situated between
-the towns of Bhilsa and Bhopul in Central India. They range over an area
-about seventeen miles from east to west, and about ten miles from north to
-south, in five or six different clusters, and number in all between forty
-and fifty of various dimensions. It is believed that the smallest are
-merely the places of interment of local chiefs; others are strictly
-Dagobas, or relic-shrines; while the largest is a chaitya or stupa,
-designed apparently to consecrate some sacred spot, or perpetuate the
-memory of some remarkable event in Buddhist history.
-
-Architecturally speaking, it consists, first, of a basement 121 feet in
-diameter and 14 feet in height. This is surmounted by a platform or
-procession path, within which the dome or tumulus itself rises in the
-shape of a truncated hemisphere to a height of 39 feet. The summit is a
-level area, measuring 34 feet across, and surrounded by a circular railing
-or barrier of stones, which enclosed a square Tu or reliquary, 11-1/2 feet
-square, and this in its turn enclosed a circular support for the sacred
-and symbolic umbrella that always crowned these edifices.
-
-At a distance of 9-1/2 feet from the base, the tope is encircled by a
-rail, eleven feet high, and consisting apparently of one hundred pillars,
-exclusive of the gateways. Each pillar seems to have been the gift of an
-individual, and even the rails between them have apparently been
-contributed by different persons. The rail or circle is devoid of
-sculpture; but four gateways which were added to it about the Christian
-era are covered with sculptured work of the most elaborate kind.
-
-The human figures represented in these sculptures belong in the main to
-two great races. One of them is easily recognised as "Hindus,"--"meaning
-by that term the civilized race who formerly occupied the valley of the
-Ganges, and who, from their capitals of Ayodhya and Indraprastha or
-Pataliputra (Palibothra), had been the dominant class in India for at
-least two thousand years before the time to which we are now referring."
-It may be taken as proved that these people were originally pure
-immigrant Aryans, but by intermixture with other races their blood took,
-as it were, a new colouring, though they did not lose the civilisation and
-pre-eminence which they owed to their intellectual superiority.
-
-We know them in the sculptures by their costume; by the dhoti, wrapped
-round the loins exactly as it is worn now-a-days; the chadder over their
-shoulders; and the turban on their heads. So much for the dress of the
-men; of the undress of the women it is more difficult to speak. They are
-always decorated with enormous bangles about the wrists and ankles, and
-strings of beads round the neck; but with the exception of a bead belt
-round the body below the waist they wear little body clothing. From this
-belt slips of cloth are sometimes suspended, more generally at the sides
-or behind than in front,--and sometimes also a cloth not unlike a dhoti,
-invariably of transparent texture. This scantiness of attire can hardly be
-regarded as finding compensation in the dimensions and amplitude of the
-head-dress, which, consisting of two long plaits of hair mixed with beads,
-and a thick roll of cloth, forms almost a kind of tippet, covering the
-whole of the woman's back.
-
-Mr. Fergusson remarks:[50]
-
-"It is, however, not only in the Topes that this absence of dress is so
-conspicuous. In all the sculptures at Karli, or Ellora, or Mahavellipore,
-or in the paintings in Ajanta, the same peculiarity is observable.
-Everywhere, indeed, before the Mahometan conquest, nudity in India
-conveyed no sense of indecency. The wife and mother of Buddha are at times
-represented in this manner. The queen on her throne, the female disciples
-of Buddha, listening to his exhortations, and on every public occasion on
-which women take part in what is going on, the costume is the same. It is
-equally remarkable that in those days those unveiled females seem to have
-taken part in every public transaction and show, and to have mixed with
-the men as freely as women do in Europe at the present day.
-
-"All this is the more remarkable, as in Buddhist books modesty of dress in
-women is frequently insisted upon. In the Dulva, for instance, a story is
-told of the King of Kalinga presenting to the King of Kosala (probably
-Padh), a piece of muslin, which afterwards fell into the hands of a lewd
-priestess. She, it is said, wore it in public, while it was so thin that
-she, notwithstanding this, appeared naked to the great scandal of all who
-witnessed the exhibition.[51] The probability is, that the story and the
-book that contains it are of very much more modern date than our
-sculptures. It certainly is in direct conflict with their evidence."
-
-The want of shame in women, to which this exposure of the person bears
-witness, is always the mark and sign of inferior civilisation.
-
-The other race depicted in the sculptures has its distinctive
-characteristics. The male costume consists of a kilt,--not a cloth wrapped
-round the loins, but a kilt, shaped, sewn, and fastened by buckle or
-string;--and also of a cloak or tippet, which seems to be similarly shaped
-and sewn. As for the hair, it is twisted into a long rope or plait like a
-Chinaman's, and then folded round the head in a conical form, or a piece
-of cloth or rope was treated in this way. The beard is worn, whereas no
-single individual of the Hindu race, either at Sanchi or Amravati, has any
-trace of beard or moustache; a circumstance the more remarkable, because,
-according to Nearchus, the Hindus dyed their beards with various colours,
-so that some were red, some white, some black, others purple, some green.
-The female dress differs from that of the Hindus even more than the male.
-A striped petticoat is gathered in at the knees so as to form a neat and
-modest garb, and a cloak or tippet like that of the men is thrown
-generally over one shoulder so as to leave one breast bare, but sometimes
-both are covered. The head-dress is a neat and elegant turban.
-
-Who then are these people? From the peculiarities of their costume, and
-their living in the woods, some authorities are inclined to regard them as
-priests or ascetics, though, it is to be noted, they are nowhere
-represented as worshipping Topes, hero-wheels, or the disc and crescent
-symbols (the sun and moon.) In one compartment, however, they are
-evidently worshipping the serpent in a fire-temple. Fergusson concludes
-that they were the aboriginal inhabitants of Malwa, to whom came the
-Hindus as conquerors or missionaries (or both?) The Topes were erected
-and the sculpture wrought by the conquering race, and the others are
-always represented as inferior and engaged in servile employments, but not
-as converts to Buddhism. The only act of adoration in which we see them
-concerned is the adoration of the five-headed Naga. Mr. Fergusson proposes
-to call them Dasyus, not because such a name has any local or traditional
-authority, but because in the Vedas and the heroic poems it seems to be
-applied to the aboriginal people of India as opposed to the Aryans.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-Proceeding now to a consideration of the sculptures, we find that one half
-of those at Sanchi represent religious acts, such as the worship of the
-Dagoba or of Trees. Once or twice the Wheel is the object of adoration,
-and once the Serpent. Other bas-reliefs represent events in history, and
-some again are devoted to the ordinary incidents of every man's life.
-Their general execution is vigorous though rude. Those at Amravati "are
-perhaps as near in scale of excellence to the contemporary art of the
-Roman empire under Constantine, as to any other that could be named; or,
-rather, they should be compared with the sculptures of the early Italian
-Renaissance, as it culminated in the hands of Ghiberti, and before the
-true limits between the provinces of painting and sculpture were
-understood."
-
-Let us describe an upper bas-relief which has been found on the eastern
-gateway.
-
-Here the people whom Mr. Fergusson calls Dasyus are represented
-worshipping the five-headed Naga, or Serpent, which appears in a small
-hexagonal temple, raising its head over something very like an altar. In
-front stands a pot of fire,--probably a fire-altar,--and in spite of Mr.
-Fergusson's doubts, we think both the Serpent and the Fire are connected
-with the old Sun-worship.[52]
-
-In the foreground an old man is seated in a circular leaf-thatched hut,
-with, according to a frequent Indian custom, a scarf bound round his knees
-and loins. Behind him in the hut is suspended his upper garment, and in
-front a bearded senior, of his own tribe, is, to all appearance,
-addressing him. Near this individual stands another pot of fire, with
-three pairs of tongs or ladles, and a bundle of sticks to feed the flame.
-Close beside him we see one elephant, two buffaloes, sheep, and deer. The
-scene takes place in a forest. Above are trees and cocks, with monkeys and
-peacocks; below, a reedy marsh opens into a lake blooming with
-lotus-flowers and occupied by geese.
-
-A lower bas-relief in the same gateway puts before us a very different
-scene:
-
-In the centre of the upper part blooms the sacred Buddhist Tree, behind
-its altar, with its Chattee and garlands, occupying a position similar to
-that of the serpent in the other bas-relief. Two Garudas or Devas, or
-flying figures, present garlands, and two females, instead of griffins,
-approach it on either side.
-
-In the lower part of the picture, the Inja, or chief male personage, sits
-enthroned upon the Naga, and is sheltered by its five-headed hood. On his
-right crouch three women on stools, eating and drinking, and each with her
-tutelary or snake behind her; and above them are a female Chaori bearer
-and a woman with a bottle--there are snakes behind both. On the other side
-are two women playing on drums, two on harps, one on a flute, and a fifth
-dancing, but all likewise with snakes, and all in the costume which Mr.
-Fergusson defines as that of the Hindus.
-
-The worship of the Naga by the bearded Dasyus as represented in the upper
-bas-relief, does not occur again at Sanchi, and occurs only once at
-Amravati. There, however, the five-headed snake is seen very frequently in
-front of the dagoba, and in a position which is designed to command the
-worship, not only of the Dasyus, but of the whole world.
-
-The Hindu male or chief canopied by the Naga, as shown in the lower
-bas-relief, occurs at least ten times at Sanchi, and must have occurred
-several hundred times at Amravati.
-
-Mr. Fergusson asks, what are we to infer from these facts? Is it that the
-Naga, or serpent, was the god of the aborigines, whom the conquering
-Hindus adopted as their own deity, and pretended that it was for _them_ he
-reserved his patronage and support? We must recollect that the Topes were
-built and the sculptures carved by Hindus, and that there is no
-representation of a Hindu doing honour to a snake; on the contrary, the
-snake always does homage to the Hindu.
-
-Shall we conclude, then, that the Hindus were the real Naga-worshipping
-people, and that it was they who enforced serpent-worship on the Dasyus? A
-conquered people have not infrequently imposed their language, laws, and
-religion on their conquerors.
-
-It is, perhaps, impossible to answer these questions: a cloud of obscurity
-hangs over the whole subject of Snake-worship; but we take it to have been
-the old and prevalent faith of the aborigines of India prior to the Aryan
-immigration, and we believe that the Aryans adopted it more and more
-generally as they mixed more and more widely with the Hindus, and their
-blood became less and less pure. It is not mentioned in the Vedas; there
-is scarcely an allusion in the Ramayana; in the Mahabahrata it occupies a
-considerable space; it appears timidly at Sanchi in the first century of
-the Christian era; is triumphant at Amravati in the fourth; and might have
-become the dominant faith of India had it not been elbowed from its pride
-of place by Vishnuism and Sivaism, which took its position when it fell
-together with the Buddhism to which it had allied itself so closely.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-We turn to the celebrated Tope at Amravati, a town situated on the river
-Kishna. The dimensions of the Tope are 195 feet for inside diameter of the
-outer circle, and 165 feet for that of the inner. The procession path is
-paved with slabs 13 feet long, and the inner rail is 2 feet wide. It has
-four gateways, and projecting about 30 feet beyond the outer rail; but
-these are in so dilapidated a condition that their size cannot be
-accurately ascertained.
-
-These circles, or circular bas-reliefs, from the intermediate rails of the
-outer enclosure are thus described:
-
-In the upper circle on the right hand side a group of Buddhist priests,
-in their yellow robes, may be seen worshipping. In front two supple women,
-such as so frequently occur in these sculptures, bend in attitudes of
-adoration, and on the left a chief in the ordinary Hindu
-costume--surrounded by the women of his family--presents his little son to
-the Buddha-emblem.
-
-In the lower circle the same structural arrangements occur up to the
-Trisul (or emblem), but the whole is surmounted by the Chakra, or Wheel,
-which we know to be the symbol of Dharma or the Law. Here all the
-worshippers are men; it is, we are told, one of the very few scenes in
-these sculptures from which women are entirely excluded. Whether it was
-considered that the study of the Law was unsuited for women, or whether
-some other motive governed the designers, certain it is that, contrary to
-the usual rule, the whole of the worshippers are of one sex and one race.
-The only other noticeable peculiarity is the introduction of two
-antelopes, one on each side of the throne.
-
-The second circle represents the Trisul ornament, or emblem, not on a
-throne, but behind an altar. The sacred feet of Buddha are depicted, but
-there are no relics. In the upper compartment the principal worshippers
-are two men with seven-headed snake-hoods, and two women with single
-snakes.
-
-In the centre of the bas-relief sits the principal personage, with a
-nine-headed snake-hood, between two of his wives, and beyond, on both rims
-of the circle, stands a female figure, supporting herself by the branches
-of a tree. On each a young girl waits; one of these girls has a snake at
-the back of her head. In front are three musicians, also with snakes; and
-on their right a lady _without_ a snake receives the assistance of a girl
-_with_ a snake.
-
-"This distinction," says Mr. Fergusson, "between people with snakes and
-those without is most curious and perplexing. After the most attentive
-study I have been unable to detect any characteristic either of feature or
-costume by which the races can be distinguished, beyond the possession or
-absence of this strange adjunct. That those with snakes are the Naga
-people we read of, can hardly be doubted; yet they never are seen actually
-worshipping the snake like the Dasyus, but rather as protected by it. The
-snake seems their tutelary genius, watching over, perhaps inspiring them;
-but whether they borrowed this strange emblem from the natives of the
-country, or brought it with them from the north-west, are questions we are
-hardly yet in a position to answer satisfactorily."
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-We have thus abundant evidence of the prevalence of Serpent-worship in
-India in "olden times;" the reader will, perhaps, be surprised to hear
-that it lingers still throughout the peninsula. Dr. Balfour, who had an
-intimate acquaintance with the habits and customs of the natives, asserts
-that the worship both of the sculptured form and the living creature, is
-general. The sculpture invariably represents the Nag or Cobra, and almost
-every hamlet owns its Serpent deity. Sometimes it is a single snake, with
-the hood spread open. Occasionally the sculptured figures are nine in
-number, forming the _Nao Nag_, which is designed to represent a parent
-snake and eight of its young, but the prevalent form is that of two snakes
-twining in the manner of the Esculapian rod of classical antiquity.
-
-It is the opinion of some Hindus that the living snake is not worshipped
-as a devata, or deity, but simply reverenced in commemoration of some
-ancient event--possibly of some astronomical occurrences. Others, however,
-distinctly assert that it is worshipped as a devata. However this may be,
-there can be no doubt that the living snake is worshipped throughout all
-Southern India. On their feast days the worshippers resort to the snake's
-lair, which they bedaub with vermilion streaks and patches of turmeric and
-of wheat flour, and close at hand they suspend garlands of flowers, strung
-upon white cotton thread, and laid over wooden frames. During the rainy
-seasons occurs the great Nagpanchanic festival, when the Hindus go in
-search of snakes, or have them brought to their houses by the Sanpeli, the
-snake-charmers who ensnare them. The snakes are then worshipped, and
-offerings of milk are made to them, and in almost every house figures of
-snakes, drawn on paper, are affixed to the walls, and worshipped. Those
-who visit the snakes' abodes, or tents, plant sticks around the hole, and
-about and over these sticks wind white cotton thread. A bevy of Mahrathi
-women repair to the hut, and joining hands, wind round it in a circle five
-times, singing songs; after which they prostrate themselves. They pour
-milk into the hole; hang festoons of Chembela flowers and cucumber fruit,
-and sprinkle a mixture of sugar and flour.
-
-In reference to this festival, Colonel Meadows Taylor writes:--
-
-On this occasion, Nags or Cobras are worshipped by most of the lower
-classes of the people in the Dekhan, and more particularly in the
-Shorapore country. The ceremonies are very simple: the worshippers bathe,
-smear their foreheads with red colour, and in small parties,--generally
-families acquainted with one another,--resort to the places known to be
-frequented by snakes. In such places there are generally sacred stones, to
-which various offerings are made, and they are anointed with red colour
-and ground turmeric, and invocations are addressed to the local genius and
-to the serpents. Near the stones are placed small new earthen saucers,
-filled with milk; for cobras are fond of milk, and are believed to watch
-the ceremony, coming out of their holes and drinking the milk, even while
-the worshippers are near, or are lingering in the distance to see if their
-offerings be received. It is considered a fortunate augury for the
-worshippers if the snake should appear and drink. Should the snake _not_
-appear, the worshippers, after waiting awhile, return to the place next
-morning, to ascertain the result: if the milk have disappeared, the rite
-has been accepted, but not under such favourable auspices as if the
-reptile had come out at once. These ceremonies end with a feast.
-
-Colonel Meadows Taylor (whose language we are partly adopting)
-continues:--
-
-It is on behalf of children that Snake-worship is particularly practised;
-and the women and children of a family invariably accompany the male head,
-not only at the annual festival, but whenever a vow has been made to a
-Serpent Deity. The first hair shaved from a child which has passed
-teething, and gone through the other infantile ailments, is frequently
-dedicated to a Serpent. On such occasions the child is taken to the
-locality of the vow, the usual ceremonies are performed, and with the
-other offerings is included the child's hair. In every case a feast
-follows, served near the spot, and the attendant Brahmins receive alms and
-largess.
-
-"In the Shakti ceremonies, Pooma-elhishek, which belong, I think, to
-aboriginal customs, the worship of the Snake forms a portion, as
-emblematical of energy and wisdom. Most of these ceremonies are, however,
-of an inconceivably obscene and licentious character. They are not
-confined to the lowest classes, though rarely perhaps resorted to by
-Brahmins; but many of the middle class sects, of obscure origin and
-denomination, practise them in secret, under the strange delusion that the
-divine energy of nature is to be obtained thereby, with exemption from
-earthly troubles.
-
-"Although Snake-worship ordinarily belongs professedly to the descendants
-of aboriginal tribes, yet Brahmins never or rarely pass them over, and the
-Nagpanchani is observed as a festival of kindly greeting and visiting
-between families and friends--as a day of gifts of new clothes or
-ornaments to wives or children, &c.
-
-"The worship of Gram Deotas, or village divinities, is universal all over
-the Dekhan, and indeed I believe throughout India. These divinities have
-no temples nor priests. Sacrifice and oblation is made to them at sowing
-time and harvest, for rain or fine weather, in time of cholera, malignant
-fever, or other disease or pestilence. The Nag is always one of the Gram
-Deota, the rest being known by local names. The Gram Deota are known as
-heaps of stones, generally in a grove or quiet spot near every village,
-and are smeared some with black and others with red colour.
-
-"Nag is a common name both for males and females among all classes of
-Hindus, from Brahmins downwards to the lowest classes of Sudras and
-Mlechhas. Nago Rao, Nagoju, &c., are common Mahratta names, as Nagappa,
-Nagowa, and the like are among the Canarese and Telugu population.
-
-"No Hindu will kill a Nag or Cobra willingly. Should any one be killed
-within the precincts of a village, by Mahomedans or others, a piece of
-copper money is put into its mouth, and the body is burned with offerings
-to avert the evil.
-
-"It is, perhaps, remarkable, that the Snake festival is held after the
-season or at the season of casting the skin, and when the Snake, addressed
-or worshipped, is supposed to have been purified. Some Brahmins always
-keep the skin of a Nag in one of their sacred books.
-
-"In reference to the lower castes alluded to, I may mention those who
-practise Snake-worship with the greatest reverence:--1, Beydars. 2,
-Dhungars or shepherds, Ahens or milkmen, Waddiwars or stone-masons,
-Khungins or rope-makers, Brinjaras and other wandering tribes, Mangs,
-Dhers, and Chennars, Ramorsers, Bhils, Ghonds, and Kohs, all which I
-believe, with many others, to be descendants of aboriginal tribes, partly
-received within the pale of Hinduism.
-
-"Lingayots, who are schismatics from Hinduism, and who deny _in toto_ the
-religious supremacy of the Brahmins, are nevertheless Snake-worshippers,
-many of them bearing the name Nag, both male and female.
-
-"I cannot speak of the North of India, but in the whole of the South of
-India, from the Nerbudda to Cape Comorin, Snake-worship is now
-existent."[53]
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XII.
-
-_POLYNESIAN SUPERSTITIONS._
-
-
-When Captain Cook first visited those beautiful islands of the South
-Pacific which are now included under the general name of Polynesia, he
-found their inhabitants given over to the lowest and coarsest idolatry.
-Many of their rites and ceremonies were as lewd as any practised in
-ancient times under the auspices of the Paphian Venus. Gradually they were
-brought within the influence of the missionary work of the Christian
-Church; and though, if we may credit the testimony of recent observers,
-much heathenism still prevails, and gross superstitions are still secretly
-nourished, there cannot be a doubt, that, on the whole, their moral
-condition has been materially elevated.
-
-Among the pioneers of the Cross in these "Summer-isles of Eden" one of the
-most eminent and successful was the Rev. John Williams; a missionary of
-the true type, of an enlightened mind and broad sympathies, who, after a
-long career of noble labour, sealed his witness to the truth with his
-blood, and lives in the Gospel record as the Martyr of Erromanga. From the
-plain, unvarnished, and effective chronicle of his "Missionary
-Enterprises" we glean much interesting information respecting the
-idolatrous ways of the islanders, revealing their identity with the
-superstitions that from all times have dominated over uncivilised man. In
-Rarotonga as in Mexico, for instance, the gods were supposed to be
-propitiated by human sacrifices; and in many of the islands cannibalism
-existed in its most disgusting form and under the sanction of a religious
-ordinance.
-
-From the chief of Aitutaki Mr. Williams obtained some curious relics of
-idolatry. As for example:--an idol named _Te-rongo_, one of the great
-deities, called a _Kaitangata_, or man-eater. The priests of this idol
-were supposed to be inspired by the shark.
-
-Tangarou, the great national god of Aitutaki, and of almost all the
-adjacent islands. He holds the net with which he catches the spirits of
-men as they fly from their bodies, and a spear with which he kills them.
-
-A rod, with snares at the end, made of the fibres of the cocoa-nut husk,
-with which the priest caught the spirit of the god. It was used in cases
-of pregnancy, when the female was ambitious that her child should be a
-son, and become a famous warrior. It was also employed in wartime to catch
-the god by his leg, to secure his influence on the side of the party
-performing the ceremony.
-
-Ruanu; a chief from Raiatea, who, ages ago, sailed in a canoe from that
-island, and settled at Aitutaki. From him a genealogy is traced. He died
-at Aitutaki, and was deified as _Te atua taitai tere_, or the conductor of
-fleets.
-
-Tanu; with his fan and other appendages; the god of thunder. The natives,
-when they heard a peal of thunder, were accustomed to say that this god
-was flying: and produced this sound by the flapping of his wings.
-
-The Rarotongan idols were of a singular character. From their size they
-might have suited Swift's nation of Brobdingnagians, for the smallest
-seems to have been about fifteen feet high. Each was wrought out of a
-piece of _aito_, or iron wood, about four inches in diameter, carved with
-a rude imitation of the human hand at one end, and with an obscene figure
-at the other; round it were wrapped numerous folds of native cloth, until
-it measured two or three yards in circumference. Near the wooden image
-some red feathers were strewn, and a string of small pieces of polished
-pearl shells was regarded as the _manava_, or soul of the god.
-
-An idol, somewhat resembling a Chinese joss, was placed in the fore-part
-of every fishing-canoe; and prior to their departure on a fishing
-excursion, the boatmen aways presented it with offerings, and invoked it
-to grant them a successful issue.
-
-A striking scene was that when Papeiha, a converted islander, lifted up
-his voice against idolatry, for the first time, among the banana-groves of
-Rarotonga.
-
-The Rarotongans had assembled in great numbers at a _marae_, or sacred
-enclosure, for the purpose of making offerings of food to the gods. Many
-priests, pretending to be inspired, were filling the air with shouts and
-yells; whilst around them gathered the deluded worshippers, some with one
-side of their face and body blackened with charcoal; others were painted
-with stripes of various colours; others figured as warriors, wearing large
-caps adorned with white cowrie shells and birds' feathers. Breaking into
-their midst, Papeiha boldly addressed them on their folly in devoting such
-large quantities of food to a log of wood which they had carved and
-decorated and called a god. This challenge was immediately accepted by one
-of the priests, who springing to his feet, protested that their god was a
-real god, and a very powerful god, and that they were that day celebrating
-a very sacred feast.
-
-Papeiha replied that the day was at hand when their folly would be
-revealed to them by the true GOD JEHOVAH, who would make their so-called
-gods "fuel for the fire." This strong declaration greatly perplexed the
-crowd, but they continued to listen attentively while Papeiha commented on
-the love of GOD in giving HIS SON to die for sinners. After he had ceased,
-the people asked him many questions; among others,--"Where does your GOD
-live?" He answered, that Heaven was His dwelling-place, but that both
-Heaven and Earth were filled with the majesty of His presence. They
-rejoined, in their inability to conceive of an Invisible but Omnipresent
-Deity;--"We cannot see Him, but ours are here before our eyes, and, if the
-earth was full of your GOD, He would surely be big enough to be seen."
-"And," said another, "why do we not run against Him?" To which Papeiha
-ingeniously responded:--"That the earth was full of air, but we did not
-run against it: that we were surrounded by light, but it did not impede
-our progress."
-
-Five months later, a priest came to Papeiha and his associate missionary
-Tiberio, announcing his resolve to burn his idols; and he brought with him
-his eldest son, a boy of ten years old, to place under their care, lest
-the gods in their wrath should destroy him. Evidently, in spite of his
-iconoclastic purpose, the priest still cherished a belief in the power of
-his wooden deities. Leaving the child with the two teachers, he returned
-home, and next day at early dawn returned, staggering under the weight of
-his cumbrous idol. A crowd followed him, shouting at him as a madman, and
-looking upon him as one pre-doomed to destruction by his own folly; but he
-held fast to his resolve to embrace the word of JEHOVAH, and declared that
-he had no fear of the issue. He threw his idol at the feet of the
-teachers, one of whom fetched his saw to cut it up; but the crowd, as soon
-as they saw the instrument applied to the head of the god, were stricken
-with panic fear, and fled away. As no catastrophe occurred, they gradually
-returned impelled by curiosity, which is sometimes stronger than fear; and
-in their presence, amidst profound excitement, the first rejected idol of
-Rarotonga was committed to the flames.
-
-To convince the people of the absurdity of their apprehensions, the
-teachers, as soon as the idol was converted into ashes, roasted some
-bananas upon them, of which they ate, and invited the spectators to
-partake. None however were brave enough to admit so dangerous a morsel
-into their mouths, and they waited, open-eyed, for the expected result of
-the profane audacity of the two teachers. But, like the inhabitants of
-Melita, "after they had looked a great while and saw no harm come to them,
-they changed their minds," and in less than ten days after this event no
-fewer than fourteen idols were destroyed. Soon afterwards, the chief
-Tinomana sent for the missionaries, and on their arrival at his
-mountain-home, informed them that after much deliberation, he had resolved
-to become a Christian, and to place himself under their direction. He
-therefore wished to know what was the first step he ought to take. They
-informed him that he must destroy his maraes and burn his idols; to which
-he immediately replied, "Come with me and see them destroyed." On reaching
-the place he desired some person to take a firebrand and set fire to the
-temple, the _ataraw_, or altar, and the _unus_, or sacred pieces of carved
-wood by which the marae was decorated. Four huge idols were then deposited
-at the feet of the teachers, who, having read a portion of the tenth
-chapter of S. Luke's Gospel, which was peculiarly appropriate, especially
-from verse 17 to 20, stripped them of their linen wrappings, which they
-distributed among the people, and threw them into the flames.
-
-Some of the spectators waxed wroth with the chief, and expressed
-themselves with great violence, denouncing him as a fool and a madman for
-burning his gods, and listening to worthless fellows who "were drift-wood
-from the sea, washed on shore by the waves of the ocean." The women were
-specially vehement in their grief, and broke out into the loudest and
-dolefulest lamentations imaginable. Many of them inflicted deep gashes on
-their heads with sharp shells and shark's teeth, and ran wildly to and
-fro, smeared with the blood which streamed from their wounds, and crying
-in tones of the deepest melancholy, "Alas, alas, the gods of the madman
-Tinomana, the gods of the insane chief are given to the flames!" Others,
-blackened with charcoal, were not less demonstrative.
-
-In the course of a few days a clean sweep was made of the idols of the
-district; never were Iconoclasts, not even our Puritan forefathers, more
-thorough or more resolute. The teachers then advised Tinomana and their
-other converts to prepare their food for the Sunday, and attend worship at
-the mission station. This they did,--but they came armed as for battle,
-with war-caps, slings, and spears, fearing lest the irate _Satanus_ (as
-they called the idolaters) should attack them. Neither in coming nor
-going, however, were they molested.
-
-"At this time," says Mr. Williams,[54] "a ludicrous circumstance occurred,
-which will illustrate the ignorance and superstition of this people. A
-favourite cat had been taken on shore by one of the teachers' wives on our
-first visit, and not liking his new companions, Tom fled to the mountains.
-The house of the priest Tiaki, who had just destroyed his idol, was
-situated at a distance from the settlement, and at midnight while he was
-lying asleep on his mat, his wife, who was sitting awake by his side
-musing upon the strange events of the day, beheld with consternation two
-fires glistening in the doorway, and heard with surprise a mysterious
-voice. Almost petrified with fear, she awoke her husband, and began to
-upbraid him for his folly in burning his god, who, she declared, was now
-come to be avenged of them. 'Get up and pray, get up and pray,' she said.
-The husband arose, and on opening his eyes beheld the same glaring lights,
-and heard the same ominous sound. Impelled by the extreme urgency of the
-case, he commenced, with all possible vehemence, vociferating the alphabet
-as a prayer to GOD to deliver them from the vengeance of Satan. On hearing
-this, the cat, as much alarmed as the priest and his wife, of whose
-nocturnal peace he had been the unconscious disturber, ran away, leaving
-the poor people congratulating themselves on the efficacy of their
-prayer."
-
-Afterwards, in the course of his wanderings, Puss reached the district of
-the _Satanus_; and, as the marae was situated in a sequestered corner, and
-overshadowed by the luxuriant foliage of patriarchal trees, the graybeards
-of the wood, he was well pleased with the place. In order to keep the best
-of company, he took up his abode with the gods; and as he met with no
-opposition from within, he little expected any from without. But some few
-days after came the priest, accompanied by a number of worshippers, to
-present some offerings to the god; on his opening the door, Tom
-respectfully welcomed him with a _miaou_. At this unwonted salutation he
-rushed back in terror, shouting to his followers: "Here's a monster from
-the deep! here's a monster from the deep!"
-
-Whereupon the whole party hastened home, assembled several hundreds of
-their companions, assumed their war-caps, equipped themselves with spear,
-club, and sling, blackened their bodies with charcoal, and in all this
-pomp and circumstance of Polynesian war, rushed, with yells, cries, and
-shouts, to attack poor Puss. He, however, daunted by their grim and
-strange array, did not await their approach. The moment the door was open,
-a leap and a bound--he was gone! _Abiit, evasit, erupit._ As he darted
-through the assembled warriors, they fled precipitately in all directions.
-
-The religious system of the Samoans, according to Mr. Williams, differed
-in essential respects from that which prevailed at the Tahitian, Society,
-and other Polynesian groups. They had neither maraes nor temples, nor
-altars nor offerings; and consequently none of the barbarous and
-sanguinary rites to which we have alluded. They shed no human blood; they
-strewed no maraes with the skulls and bones of their victims; they
-dedicated no sacred groves to brutal and sensual observances. Hence the
-Rarotongans denounced them for their impiety, and "a godless Samoan" was a
-proverbial phrase. Yet they were not without their superstitions; they had
-lords many and gods many; and their credulity was as marked as that of any
-other savage race on whom the light of Christianity and civilisation had
-never shone.
-
-In considering the religion of the Polynesians, there are four points to
-be glanced at; 1, their gods; 2, their cultus; 3, their ideas of
-immortality; and 4, the means by which they hoped to secure future
-happiness.
-
-1. Their gods consisted of three kinds: their deified ancestors, their
-idols, and their etus.
-
-Some of their ancestors were deified, after the Greek fashion, for the
-supposed boons they had conferred upon mankind. For example, it was
-believed that the world was formerly in darkness; but that the sun, moon,
-and stars were created by one of their progenitors in a manner too absurd
-to be described. Also, that the heavens were of old so close to the earth
-that men could not walk erect, and were compelled to crawl; until a great
-man conceived the idea of elevating them to their present height; which he
-effected by the employment of almost Herculean energy. By his first effort
-he raised them to the top of a tender plant, called _teve_, about four
-feet high. There they remained until he had refreshed and rested himself.
-A second effort, and he upheaved them to the height of a tree called
-_kanariki_, which is as tall as the sycamore. His third attempt carried
-them to the summits of the mountains; and after a long period of repose,
-and another tremendous struggle, he raised them to their present altitude,
-at which they have ever since remained. This wonderful personage was
-appropriately apotheosized; and down to the date of the introduction of
-Christianity, was everywhere worshipped as "the Elevator of the Heavens."
-
-The fisherman had his god; so had the husbandman, the voyager, the
-warrior, the thief; mothers dedicated their offspring to one or other of
-these numerous Powers, and chiefly to Hero, the god of thieves, and to
-Oro, the god of war. "If to the former, the mother, while pregnant, went
-to the marae with the requisite offerings, when the priest performed the
-ceremony of catching the spirit of the god with the snare previously
-described, and infusing it into the child even prior to its birth, that it
-might become a clever and desperate thief. Most parents, however, were
-anxious that their children should become brave and renowned warriors.
-This appears to have been the very summit of a heathen mother's ambition,
-and to secure it, numerous ceremonies were performed before the child was
-born; and after its birth it was taken to the marae, and formally
-dedicated to Oro. The spirit of the god was then caught, and imparted to
-the infant, and the ceremony was completed by numerous offerings and
-prayers. At New Zealand, stones were thrust down the throat of the babe,
-to give it a stony heart, and make it a dauntless and desperate warrior."
-
-This dedication of the child to the sanguinary war-god points to a
-condition of society in which life was verily and indeed a battle, and
-every one had to hold his own by right of a strong arm and a reckless
-spirit. There was no room for the feeble in such a system; they crawled
-aside to die; or were trampled to death in the rush and press of the
-crowd. Civilisation has its victims; but assuredly they are few in
-comparison to the thousands and tens of thousands destroyed by the
-merciless tyranny of Heathenism. Civilisation does at least teach us our
-duties towards our neighbours; while Savage Man had little sentiment of
-compassion or affection for father or brother, daughter or wife.
-
-The second class of objects regarded with religious veneration was
-_Idols_. In every island and district these were different; but in every
-island and district they abounded. Some were large, some small; some
-hideous in the extreme, others were almost comely. No fixed pattern
-appears to have been before the idol-makers; each man followed his own
-fancy.
-
-The third object of worship was the _Etu_,--that is, some bird, fish, or
-reptile, in which the natives believed that a spirit resided. This form of
-idolatry was more in vogue in the Samoas than in any other island-group.
-Among the Samoans, the objects regarded as _etus_ were, indeed, almost
-innumerable, and frequently they were of extraordinary triviality. It was
-not unusual to see a chief, in other matters really intelligent, muttering
-his prayers to a fly, an ant, or a lizard, if such chanced to crawl or
-alight in his presence.
-
-"On one occasion," says Mr. Williams, "a vessel from New South Wales
-touched at the Samoas, the captain of which had on board a cockatoo that
-talked. A chief was invited to the ship, and shortly after he entered the
-cabin the captain began a colloquy with the bird. At this he was struck
-with amazement, trembled exceedingly, and immediately sprang upon deck,
-leaped into the sea, and called aloud to the people to follow him,
-affirming the captain had his _devolo_ on board, which he had both seen
-and heard. Every native dashed at once into the sea, and swam to shore
-with haste and consternation; and it was with much difficulty that they
-could be induced to revisit the ship, as they believed that the bird was
-the captain's _etu_, and that the spirit of the devil was in it."
-
-Another illustration is given by Mr. Williams:--
-
-"While walking," he says, "on one occasion, across a small uninhabited
-island, in the vicinity of Tongatabu, I happened to tread upon a nest of
-sea snakes. At first I was startled at the circumstance, but being assured
-that they were perfectly harmless, I desired a native to kill the largest
-of them as a specimen. We then sailed to another island, where a number of
-heathen fishermen were preparing their nets. Taking my seat upon a stone
-under a tou tree, I desired my people to bring the reptile, and dry it on
-the rocks; but as soon as the fishermen saw it, they raised a most
-terrific yell, and, seizing their clubs, rushed upon the Christian
-natives, shouting: 'You have killed our god, you have killed our god!' I
-stepped in between them, and with some difficulty stayed their violence,
-on the condition that the reptile should be immediately carried back to
-the boat."
-
-The Polynesian islanders, or most of them, seem to have cherished a
-general idea of a Supreme Being, whom they regarded as the Creator of all
-things and the Author of their mercies. They called him Tangatoa; and at
-their great feasts, before the food was distributed, an orator would
-rise, and after enumerating each viand on the board, would say: "Thank you
-for this, great Tangatoa!"
-
-The worship or _cultus_ observed by the islanders included prayers,
-offerings of pigs, fish, vegetables, canoes, native cloth, and the like,
-and incantations. To these must be added the dread rite of human
-sacrifice. Of the style of their addresses to the gods one may form an
-idea from the formula with which they were accustomed to conclude it.
-Having presented the gift, the priest would say: "Now, if you are a god of
-mercy, come this way, and be propitious to our offering; but if you are a
-god of anger, go outside the world,--you shall have neither temples,
-offerings, nor worshippers here."
-
-As in other savage countries, they sought to propitiate the gods by
-inflicting physical injuries upon themselves. The Sandwich Islanders, in
-performing some of their rites, would knock out their front teeth; the
-Friendly Islanders would cut off one or two of the bones of their little
-fingers. So common was the latter practice, that few were to be found who
-had not in this way mutilated their hands. One missionary relates that, on
-one occasion, a chief's daughter,--a fine young woman about eighteen years
-of age,--was standing by his side, when he observed by the condition of
-the wound that she had recently performed the ceremony. Taking her hand,
-he asked why she had cut off her finger? There was a touch of pathos in
-her reply. Her mother was ill, and fearing lest she should die, she had
-mutilated herself in the hope the gods would preserve her life. "Well, and
-how did you do it?" "I took a sharp shell, and worked it about until the
-joint was separated, and then I allowed the blood to stream from it. This
-was my offering to persuade the gods to restore my mother." One cannot
-doubt the genuineness of the filial affection which could make such a
-sacrifice, though we may wish that it had been more wisely exercised.
-
-When a second offering was required, the votary severed the second joint
-of the same finger. If a third or fourth were demanded, he amputated the
-same bones of the other little finger; and when he had no more joints that
-he could conveniently spare, he would rub the stumps of his mutilated
-fingers with rough stones, until the blood again streamed from the wounds.
-
-Human sacrifices, as we have said, were very numerous, especially in the
-Henry, the Tahitian, and the Society island groups. At the so-called Feast
-of Restoration (_Raumatavchi raa_,) no fewer than seven victims were
-required. It was always celebrated after an invading army had forced the
-inhabitants to retreat to the mountains, and had desecrated the maraes by
-cutting down the branches of the sacred trees, and cooking their food with
-them, and with the wooden altars and decorations of the sacred place.
-
-At the inauguration of their greatest kings, the islanders used what was
-called _Maro ura_, or the red sash. This was a piece of network, about six
-feet long and seven inches wide, upon which the red feathers of the
-parroquet were neatly fastened. A chief could receive no more honourable
-appellation than that of _Arii maro ura_, "King of the Red Sash." A new
-piece, about eighteen inches long, was attached at every sovereign's
-inauguration; and on all such occasions several human victims were
-required. A sacrifice was made, first for the _mau raa tite_, or the
-extension of the network upon pegs, in order to attach to it the new
-piece. A second was necessary for the _fatu raa_, or actual attachment;
-and a third for the _piu raa_, or twitching the sacred relic off the pegs.
-These ceremonies not only invested the sash itself with peculiar
-solemnity, but also rendered the chiefs who wore it more important in the
-eyes of the people. Well might it be so, when the thing was dyed, as it
-were, in innocent human blood.
-
-Human sacrifices were also offered on the breaking out of war. Mr.
-Williams remarks that a correct idea of the extent to which this system is
-carried may be obtained from a relation of the circumstances under which
-the last Tahitian victim fell, immediately prior to the introduction of
-Christianity. Pomare, king of Tahiti, was on the point of fighting a
-battle which would assure his supremacy or deprive him of his dominions.
-It became to him, therefore, a matter of the highest concern to propitiate
-the gods by the most valuable offerings he could command. For this
-purpose, rolls of native cloth, pigs, fish, and immense quantities of
-other food were presented at the maraes; but the gods (or their priests)
-would not be satisfied; a human victim was demanded. Pomare, therefore,
-sent two of his messengers to the house of the victim, whom he had marked
-for the occasion. On reaching the place they inquired of the wife where
-her husband was, and she, in her innocence, gave the required explanation.
-"Well," they continued, "we are thirsty; give us some cocoa-nut water."
-She had no nuts in the house, she replied, but they were at liberty to
-climb the trees, and take as many as they desired. They then requested her
-to lend them the _O_,--a piece of ironwood, about four feet long and an
-inch and a half in diameter, with which the natives open the cocoa-nut.
-She cheerfully consented, little suspecting that she was placing in their
-murderous hands the instrument which, in a few moments, was to inflict a
-fatal blow on her husband's head. Upon receiving the _O_, the men left the
-house, and went in search of their victim; and the woman, her suspicions
-being excited, followed them shortly afterwards, reaching the scene just
-in time to see the blow inflicted, and her husband fall.
-
-She rushed forward to take a last embrace, but was immediately seized and
-bound hand and foot, while her husband's body was placed in a long basket
-made of cocoa-nut leaves, and carried from her sight. The sacrificers were
-always exceedingly careful to prevent the wife, or daughter, or any female
-relative from touching the corpse; for so polluting were females
-considered, that a victim would have been desecrated by a woman's touch or
-breath, to such a degree as to have rendered it unfit for an offering to
-the gods.
-
-While the men were bearing their victim to the marae, he recovered from
-the stunning effect of the blow, and, bound as he was in the cocoa-nut
-leaf basket, said to his murderers: "Friends, I know what you are about to
-do with me; you are about to kill me, and offer me as a _tabu_ to your
-savage gods; and I also know that it is useless for me to beg for mercy,
-for you will not spare my life. You may kill my body, but you cannot hurt
-my soul; for I have begun to pray to Jesus, the knowledge of Whom the
-missionaries have brought to our island: you may kill my body, but you
-cannot hurt my soul."
-
-This address did not move the compassion of his murderers. Laying their
-victim on the ground with a stone under his head, they crushed it to
-pieces with another. It appears that he had been selected as a victim
-because he had "begun to pray for JESUS;" and it is not unjust, therefore,
-to claim for this poor Tahitian savage a place in the noble army of
-martyrs.
-
-"The manner in which human victims were sought," says Williams, "is
-strikingly illustrative of many passages of Scripture which portray the
-character of heathenism. As soon as the priest announced that such a
-sacrifice was required, the king despatched messengers to the chiefs of
-the various districts, and upon entering the dwelling they would inquire
-whether the chief had a _broken calabash_ at hand, or a _rotten
-cocoa-nut_. These and sinister terms were invariably used, and well
-understood, when such applications were made. It generally happened that
-the chief had some individual on his premises whom he intended to devote
-to this horrid purpose. When, therefore, such a request was made, he would
-notify, by a motion of the hand or head, the individual to be taken. The
-only weapon with which these procurers of sacrifices were armed, was a
-small round stone concealed in the hollow of their hand. With this they
-would strike their victim a stunning blow upon the back of the head, when
-others who were in readiness would rush in and complete the horrid work.
-The body was then carried, amid songs and shouts of savage triumph, to the
-marae, there to be offered to the gods. At other times, the king's gang of
-desperadoes would arm themselves with spears, surround the house of their
-victim, and enjoy the sport of spearing him through the apertures between
-the poles which encircled the house. In these circumstances, the object of
-their savage amusement, frenzied with pain and dread, would rush from one
-part of the house to the other; but wherever he ran he found the spear
-entering his body; and at length, perceiving no possibility of escape, he
-would cover himself in his cloth, throw himself upon the floor, and wait
-until a spear should pierce his heart."
-
-The Polynesian ideas of a future state were sufficiently curious. While
-believing in its existence, the natives had no conception of the value and
-immortality of the soul, no conception of the Everlasting. According to
-the Tahitians, there were two places of existence for separated spirits:
-one called _Roohutu noanoa_, or sweet-scented Roohutu, which in many
-points resembled the paradise of the Rarotongans; and the other was
-_Roohutu namu-namua_, or foul-scented Roohutu, of which it is impossible
-to furnish a description. According to the Rarotongans, paradise was a
-very long house, surrounded with beautiful shrubs and flowers, unfading,
-and of perpetual sweetness; its inmates enjoyed a beauty which never
-waned, and a youth which never waxed old, while passing their days,
-without weariness, in dancing, merriment, and festivity. This was the
-highest idea of Heaven and future blessedness to which they could attain,
-and was as materialistic as that of the Mohammedans.
-
-It was not necessary that a man should live a pure, true, and noble life
-to gain admission to the Polynesian paradise, nor was he excluded from it
-on account of his sins. In order to pass the departed spirit into elysium,
-the corpse was dressed in the best attire the relatives could provide, the
-head was wreathed with flowers, and other decorations were added. A pig
-was then baked whole, and placed on the deceased's body, surrounded by a
-pile of vegetable food. After this, supposing the departed to have been a
-son, the father would deliver some such speech as the following:--"My son,
-when you were alive I treated you with kindness, and when you were taken
-ill I did my best to restore you to health; and now you are dead, there's
-your _momoe o_, or property of admission. Go, my son, and with that gain
-an entrance into the palace of Tiki, and do not come to this world again
-to disturb or alarm us." Body, pig, and food would then be buried; and, if
-the kinsman received no contrary intimation within a few days of the
-interment, they believed that the offerings had obtained for the departed
-the desired admission. But if a cricket were heard on the premises, it was
-considered an ill omen, and they would utter the dismalest howls, and such
-expressions as the following: "Oh, our brother! his spirit has not entered
-the Paradise; he is suffering from hunger, he is shivering with cold!" The
-grave would immediately be opened, and the offering repeated,--generally
-with success.
-
-The sacrifices of the Fijians are of a costlier character. The Fijian
-chiefs had from twenty to a hundred wives, according to their rank; and at
-the interment of a principal chief, the body was laid in state "upon a
-spacious lawn," in the presence of a great crowd of interested spectators.
-After the natives had exercised all the taste and skill at their command
-in adorning her person, the principal wife would walk out and take her
-seat near her husband's body. A rope was passed round her neck; eight or
-ten powerful men pulled at it with all their strength until she died of
-suffocation; and the body was then laid by that of the chief. This done, a
-second wife seated herself in the same place; the process of strangulation
-was repeated, and she, too, died. A third and a fourth became voluntary
-sacrifices in the same manner; and all were interred in a common grave,
-one above, one below, and one on either side of the husband. The motive of
-this barbarous practice was said to be, that the spirit of the chief might
-not be lonely in its passage to the invisible world, and that by such an
-offering its happiness might be at once secured.[55]
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-The Earl of Pembroke, in his light, gossipy book entitled, "South Sea
-Bubbles," describes a visit which he paid to one of the old sacrificial
-_maraes_, or inclosures, in the island of Raiatea.
-
-"Strange places they were," he says; "built of enormous slabs of rock or
-coral, arranged in an oblong shape, and the space inside them filled with
-shingle and coral, so as to form a platform about eight feet high. I think
-the largest was about fifty yards long; we scrambled up on to it by help
-of a tree, and stood on the spot stained with so much blood shed in the
-_name_ of religion. What horrible stories those stones could tell if they
-could speak!...
-
-"What made the human sacrifices of the Society Islands so strangely
-ghastly and horrible, was the fact that the wretched victim was always
-chosen from one of certain families, set apart for that special purpose
-for generation after generation for ever. How this caste originated I do
-not know. Many of these families used to put to sea secretly in canoes,
-preferring an almost certain death by drowning or starvation to the
-terribly uncertain fate that was always hanging over their heads.
-
-"When a man came to the priests to beg some heavenly, or rather infernal,
-favour, they would tell him, either from whim, malice, or some reason best
-known to themselves, that the god required a human sacrifice, and naming
-the victim, present the supplicant with the death-warrant in the shape of
-a sacred stone. He hides this carefully somewhere about him, and
-collecting a few friends, seeks out the doomed man. At last they find him
-sitting lazily under a tree or mending his canoe, and squatting down round
-him begin talking about the weather, fishing, or what not. Suddenly a hand
-is opened--the death stone discovered to his horrified view. He starts up
-terror-stricken, and tries to escape--one short, furious struggle and he
-is knocked down, secured, and carried off to the merciless priests. Ugh!
-it is an ugly picture."[56]
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XIII.
-
-_THE FIJI ISLANDERS._
-
-
-The annexation of the Fiji Islands to the British empire lends to the
-practices and beliefs of their inhabitants a peculiar interest, though to
-a great extent these have been abandoned since the establishment of
-Christianity.
-
-Their creed is undiluted polytheism; their pantheon is full of all kinds
-of gods, differing in rank and power, and very widely represented on earth
-by some animate or inanimate object. Each Fijian has a god of his own,
-under whose care he supposes himself to be placed. They do not seem to
-have any religious teaching; but they have a priesthood, and that
-priesthood has, of course, its traditional formulas of worship. But
-nothing like regular worship, as Christians understand the phrase, is
-accepted or observed, and the Fijian religion is really a superstition,
-because its sole inspiring motive is fear. This motive the priests
-carefully develope, making it the basis of their claims and the source of
-their influence.
-
-No man can gain access to the gods except through the priests; and the
-priests insist upon liberal offerings. When the worshipper comes upon
-questions of importance, the _Soro_ or sacrifice consists of whales' teeth
-and large quantities of food. For matters of inferior moment, the god is
-content with a mat, a club, a spear, or a tooth, or even young nuts coated
-with turmeric powder. On one occasion, when the chief Tuikilakila
-solicited the help of the Somo-somo gods in war, he built a large new
-temple to the war-god, and presented a quantity of cooked food, numerous
-turtles, and whales' teeth.
-
-Part of the offering, or _sogaria_, is set apart for the god, and the rest
-forms a feast to which everybody is invited. The god's portion, as the
-reader will immediately conclude, is eaten by the priest and old men, but
-to the younger members of the community is strictly _tapu_.
-
-Strangers who desire to consult a god begin by cutting a pile of firewood
-for the table. Sometimes only a whale's tooth and a dish of yams are
-presented. It is not necessary that the offering should be made in the
-temple. Mr. Williams speaks of priests to whom the inspiration came in a
-private house or in the open air.
-
-He who designs to consult the oracle dresses and anoints himself, and,
-attended by his friends, goes to the priest, who, we will suppose, has
-been previously informed of the intended visit, and is lying near the
-sacred corner, preparing his response. When the votary arrives, the priest
-rises and sits so that his back is near the white cloth by which the god
-visits him, while the others occupy the opposite side. The votary presents
-a whale's tooth, states the object of his visit, and expresses a hope that
-the god will regard him with favour. Sometimes in front of the tooth is
-placed a dish of scented oil, with which the priest anoints himself, and
-then receives the tooth, eyeing it with deep and serious attention.
-
-Unbroken silence follows. The priest, says Mr. Williams, grows absorbed in
-thought, and all gaze upon him with unwavering steadfastness. In a few
-minutes he trembles; his face appears slightly distorted, and twitching
-movements are seen in his limbs. These increase to a violent muscular
-action, which spreads until the whole frame is strongly convulsed, and the
-man shivers as with an ague fit. In some islands, adds Mr. Williams, this
-is accompanied with sobs and murmurs, the veins expand, and the
-circulation of the blood is quickened.
-
-The priest is now possessed by his god, and all his words and actions are
-henceforth considered as the god's and not his own. Shrill cries of "Koi
-au! Koi au!" (It is I! It is I!) fill the air, and are supposed to
-indicate the deity's approach. While delivering the oracle, the priest's
-eyes stand out and roll, as if a frenzy had seized him; his voice is
-unnatural and his face pallid; his lips turn white; his breathing is
-laboured; and his whole appearance resembles that of "a furious madman."
-The perspiration streams from every pore; the tears start from his
-strained eyes. But by degrees the symptoms disappear, and the priest
-stares around with purposeless gaze. Then as the god says "I depart," he
-throws himself down violently on the mat, or suddenly beats the ground
-with a club; whereupon those at a distance are informed by blasts on the
-conch, or the discharge of a musket, that the deity has returned into the
-world of spirits.
-
-It would be a mistake to conclude that in these scenes the priest-actor is
-always a conscious impostor; he is frequently the victim of his own
-imagination, which he stimulates into an excess of frenzy.
-
-The Fijians conceive that the way to Buruto, or Heaven, is impeded by many
-difficulties, except for the great chiefs, and that, therefore, the only
-certain plan for a man of inferior rank is to impose upon the god with a
-lie,--declaring himself to be a chief with so much earnestness that the
-god believes him, and allows him to pass! Probably in no other creed is
-admission to heaven made to depend upon a lie! With his war club and a
-whale's tooth on his shoulder, the spirit journeys to the world's end.
-There grows the sacred pine, at which the spirit hurls his whale's tooth.
-If he miss the mark, his journey comes to an abrupt termination; if he hit
-it, he travels onward until he reaches the spot where the spirits of the
-women murdered at his death await his arrival.
-
-With these faithful attendants he goes forward, but is opposed by a god
-called Ravuyalo, against whom he employs his club. If he be defeated, the
-god kills and eats him; if he conquer, he again goes forward until he
-falls in with a canoe. Embarking, he is conveyed to the celestial heights
-where dwells the supreme god, Ndengei. Over the brink of the cliff
-stretches the long-steering oar of the god's canoe. He is asked his name
-and rank, and to this inquiry he replies with a detailed and very
-imaginative recital of his greatness and opulence, the heroic deeds he has
-achieved, the devastation he has effected, and the realms over which he
-has ruled. He is then commanded to seat himself on the blade of the oar,
-and, if his story have met with credence, he is borne aloft into Buruto;
-if Ndengei disbelieves it, the oar is tilted up, and he is hurled down for
-ever into the watery depths of blackness.
-
-Bachelors are not admitted into Buruto, because as we have stated, the
-spirit waits for his wives, to prove that he is married. And if an
-unmarried man venture on the journey, a goddess called the Great Woman,
-throws herself in his way. She bears towards bachelors an implacable
-hatred, and no sooner sees one than she springs upon him and tears him to
-pieces. In her haste she sometimes misses him; but even then he has to
-contend against another god, who conceals himself by the side of the path,
-and as the bachelor spirit passes by, leaps upon him, and dashes him
-against a stone.
-
-There is a ghastliness about the funeral ceremonies of the Fijians which
-far surpasses even the dreary desolation of those in vogue among
-ourselves.
-
-In common with several other savage tribes they hold that men and women
-who have grown decrepit and infirm have lived their lives, and should
-withdraw from this world of activity. Accordingly though they may be
-neither dead nor dying, preparations are made for their interment. And it
-seems that the moribund themselves do not object to this summary
-anticipation of the moment of dissolution; on the contrary, when they
-become sensible of infirmity, they invite their sons to strangle them.
-While the sons, far from objecting to an act of parricide, will intimate
-to their aged parents, if they delay the request, that they have lived
-long enough, and that it will be well for them to enjoy the rest of the
-grave. On both sides this singular conduct is due apparently to the Fijian
-belief that the condition of the spirit in the next world will exactly
-resemble that of the individual in this; and consequently everybody is
-desirous to cross the threshold while he retains some degree of activity
-of body.
-
-Alone we must die, but we need not pass alone into the spirit-world! Such
-is the conviction of the Fijians, and accordingly they provide a dead
-chief with attendants, by strangling at his grave his favourite wives. And
-they slay a valiant warrior that he may precede him on his journey, and do
-battle for him with all evil spirits or demons. These victims are called
-"grass," and lie at the bottom of the chieftain's grave; the wives decked
-out in fleecy folds of the softest masi, the servants with their various
-implements in their hands, and the warrior equipped for the strife, with
-his favourite club by his side. No resistance is offered by any one of the
-sufferers; no attempt is made to escape; all seem to contend for the
-honour of escorting their chief into the other world.
-
-Mr. Williams was present at the funeral of the King of Somo-somo in
-August, 1845. Age was beginning to tell upon him, but there was no
-immediately dangerous symptom, and on the 21st, when Mr. Williams visited
-him, he was better than he had been for two or three days before. Judge,
-then, of the missionary's surprise, when, on the 24th, he was informed
-that the king was dead, and that preparations were being made for his
-interment, he could scarcely believe the report. The ominous word
-"preparations" induced him to hasten at once to the scene of action, but
-his utmost speed failed to bring him to Nasima, the king's house, in time.
-The moment he entered it was evident that, as far as concerned two of the
-women, he was too late to save their lives. The effect of that ghastly
-scene was overwhelming. Scores of deliberate murderers in the very act
-surrounded him; yet was there no confusion, and the unearthly horrid
-stillness was broken only by an occasional word from him who presided.
-Nature seemed to lend her aid to enhance the impression of horror; there
-was not a breath in the air, and the half subdued light in that hall of
-death revealed every object with unusual distinctness.
-
-"All was motionless as sculpture, and"--writes Mr. Williams--"a strange
-feeling came upon me, as though I was myself becoming a statue. To speak
-was impossible; I was unconscious that I breathed; and involuntarily, or
-rather against my will, I sank to the floor, assuming the cowering posture
-of those who were actually engaged in murder. My arrival was during a
-hush, just at the crisis of death, and to that strange silence must be
-attributed my emotions; and I was but too familiar with murders of this
-kind, neither was there anything novel in the apparatus employed.
-Occupying the centre of that large room were two groups, the business of
-whom could not be mistaken.
-
-"All sat on the floor; the middle figure of each group being held in a
-sitting posture by several females, and hidden by a large veil. On either
-side of each veiled figure was a company of eight or ten strong men, one
-company hauling against the other a white cord which was passed twice
-round the neck of the doomed one, who thus in a few minutes ceased to
-live. As my self-command was returning to me the group furthest from me
-began to move; the men slackened their hold, and the attendant women
-removed the large covering, making it into a couch for the victim."
-
-Mr. Williams now repaired to the hut of the deceased king, to intercede
-with his successor on behalf of the other intended victims. Judge of his
-surprise and horror to find the king still alive. He was very feeble, it
-was true, but he retained complete consciousness, and occasionally put his
-hand to his side as his cough shook and tortured him. The young king
-seemed overcome with grief, and embracing Mr. Williams, said: "See, the
-father of us two is dead." He regarded his father's movements, even his
-speaking and taking food, as mechanical; in his view, the spirit had
-departed, and nothing remained but an infirm, and, therefore, valueless
-body. The preparations for the funeral were not interrupted, and Mr.
-Williams could obtain no hearing for his expostulations. The young chief's
-principal wife and an attendant busily dusted his body with black powder,
-as if dressing him for the war-dance; and bound his arms and legs with
-long rolls of white masi, tied in rosettes, with the ends streaming on the
-ground. He was attired in a new masi robe, which fell about him in ample
-folds; his head was decorated with a scarlet handkerchief, arranged
-turban-wise, and ornamented with white cowrie-shells, strings of which
-flashed on his dusky arms; while round his neck depended an ivory
-necklace, composed of long curved claw-like pieces of whale's teeth.
-
-At the sound of a couple of conch-shells the chiefs present did homage, so
-to speak, to their new king, who was still deeply affected, and gazing on
-the body of one of the murdered women, his father's eldest and most loving
-wife, exclaimed: "Alas, Moalivu! There lies a woman truly unwearied, not
-only in the day but the night also; the fire consumed the fuel gathered by
-her hands. If we awoke in the still night, the sound of her feet reached
-our ears, and if harshly spoken to, she continued to labour only.
-Moalivu! alas, Moalivu!"
-
-The bodies of the victims were then wrapped up in mats, placed on a bier,
-and carried out of the door; but the old king was borne through a gap
-purposely made in the wall of the house. On arriving at the seaside, they
-were deposited in a canoe, the old king reclining on the deck, attended by
-his wife and the chief priest, who fanned away the insects. The place of
-sepulture was at Weilangi. There, in a grave lined with mats, were laid as
-"grass" the murdered women. Upon them was stretched the dying king, who
-was stripped of his regal ornaments, and completely enveloped in mats.
-Lastly, the earth was heaped over him, though he was still alive. At the
-end of the ceremony the new king returned to his "palace," not unmindful
-of the fact that in the course of time a similar fate awaited himself.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-Since the annexation of the Fiji Islands, such a scene as this has, of
-course, become impossible. Cannibalism, to which the Fijians were largely
-addicted, has also, been prohibited. Lord George Campbell, in his "Log of
-the Challenger," written in 1876, says that those who lived in the
-interior still cherished cannibalistic tendencies, and he seems to have
-been of opinion that cannibalism prevailed in those parts to which
-missionaries or civilisation had not yet penetrated. But under the firm
-rule of Sir Arthur Gordon it was doubtless extirpated.
-
-Even in Lord George Campbell's time the change effected by the sacred
-influence of Christianity had been "great indeed." A party of English
-officers made a boat-excursion to the large island of Bau, where the king
-lived. They found him dressed in a waist-cloth, lying on his face in a
-hut, reading the Bible. Not far distant were the great stones against
-which they used to kill the sacrificial victims, battering their heads
-against them till dead. There too they saw a great religious "maki-maki,"
-hundreds of men and women dancing, and singing New Testament verses before
-Wesleyan missionaries, who, sitting at a table, received the
-money-offerings of their converts as they defiled before them dancing and
-singing.
-
-We have sketched a hideous scene belonging to the past, and associated
-with the darkest superstitions of the Fijians. We shall adapt from Lord
-George Campbell a more pleasing picture, in which the past mingles with
-the present, and the old and the new are not unhappily blended.
-
-The chronicler of the cruise of the "Challenger" was witness of a native
-dance or "maki-maki," given at Kandavu in honour of the English officers.
-When he landed the first "set" had already begun, and torches, consisting
-of bundles of palm branches tied together, threw a lurid light over the
-savage scene. On a strip of grass in front of the huts were gathered the
-dancers, and close around grouped picturesquely on the top of great piles
-of cocoa-nuts, or squatting on the ground, were the natives of Kandavu and
-the neighbouring villages, officiating as critics, but prepared in their
-turn to take part in the wild revelry.
-
-"Glorious Rembrandt effects, as the torches' flames leapt and fell in the
-still night air, bathing with ruddy glow that strange scene around,--the
-semi-nude dusky natives chattering, laughing, glistening eyes and white
-gleaming teeth, on the reed-built huts, on the foliage above, and flushing
-redly up the white trunks of the cocoa-palms. Round a standing group of
-tawny-hued boys and girls who formed the band, some two dozen men, dressed
-in fantastic manner, their faces blackened, and skins shiny with cocoa-nut
-oil, were dancing. Wound round their waists they wore great rolls of
-tappa, or white cloth, falling nearly to the knees, and over these, belts
-fringed with long narrow streamers of brightly coloured stuff--red,
-yellow, and white, surging and rustling with every movement; on their
-heads turbans of finely-beaten tappa, transparent and gauzy, piled high in
-a peak; gaiters of long black seaweed or grass, strung with white beads;
-anklets and armlets of large bone rings, or of beads worked in patterns;
-tortoiseshell bracelets and bead necklaces, from which hung in front one
-great curled boar's tusk. Some are dressed better than others, but all in
-the same wild style. Moving slowly in a circle round and round the band,
-whose clapping and rollicking strain they accompanied by a loud droning
-kind of chant, at the end of each stave chiming in with the band with a
-simultaneous shout, a sudden swaying of the body, a loud hollow clap of
-the hands, once or twice repeated, and a heavy stamp, stamp of the feet;
-a moment's halt and silence, broken plaintively by one of the singers,
-quickly taken up by the remainder to a clapping, rattling, and vowely
-measure, and again the dancers circle slowly round, swinging their arms
-and bodies, clapping, shouting, and droning in faultless time together."
-
-The first dances were dances of peace; pantomimic representations of the
-chief pursuits of a Fijian's life, as, for instance, fishermen hauling in
-their lines, or the tillers of the field planting tare and gathering in
-their crops.
-
-Next came the war dances, which reproduced the incidents of the past,
-incidents never likely to be repeated under British rule. A solitary
-singer began the strain, and the others gradually joined in,--clappingly,
-jinglingly, bubblingly, slightly nasally, a strange ring audible
-throughout, and not less audible the stirring boom of a bamboo drum.
-Suddenly, from out the surrounding gloom, against which in strong contrast
-stood the white stems of the cocoa-trees, and into the red light of the
-torches, merged slowly one after another, in Indian file, a string of
-"mad, savage-looking devils." Crouching and bounding, now backwards, now
-forwards, from side to side, they gradually approached. Their hands
-carried great clubs, the tips of which were decked with white plumes of
-silvery "reva-reva," flashing whitely as they were whirled around; their
-fantastic finery rustling loudly with every wild movement, eyeballs
-glaring out from blackened faces, their motions sudden and simultaneous,
-their splendid stalwart forms swelling with muscles and shining with
-oil,--they looked "awfully savage and fine;" and to a captive bound and
-about to be eaten, one would imagine well that the whole performance would
-be thoroughly enjoyable.
-
-"Now stealthily working their arms and clubs, as if feeling their victim,
-then with a shout bounding forward, brandishing aloft their clubs,
-suddenly, as if struck by some unseen hand, falling to the ground on
-bended knee, swaying first to the right, then to the left, and bringing
-their clubs down with an ominous thud; again leaping up, bounding back,
-from side to side, then to the right-about, and all over the place; it is
-impossible for me to attempt describing them, so I won't. They were, I
-suppose, braining enemies by the dozen, and as they worked themselves
-into mad excitement, so the more they bounded, smashed their enemies'
-heads, and were happy. Their drilling was admirable; standing in line with
-the string, every club whirled as one, every bound and frantic motion went
-together, and we are told they make fine soldiers, as far as drill is
-concerned, from this idea of time that they have. In their dances they
-were led by a small boy--a chief's son, this function being their
-prerogative,--a lithe tawny little savage, with a great mop of frizzled
-yellow hair, and his face dabbed with charcoal. In his hands he carried an
-enormous palm-leaf fan, with which he directed the dancers. Going through
-all the movements of the dance, he at the same time careered over the
-ground, now shouting loud words of command to the singers, and now to the
-dancers, yards away on their flanks. He was simply splendid, flying about
-like a demented demon, here, there, and everywhere, the dancers, whether
-their backs were turned or not, all keeping exact time with him. As these
-men appeared, so, slowly, still bounding voicelessly, terrifically about,
-and whirling their clubs, they vanished into the darkness."
-
-Out of darkness cometh light, and a future, irradiated by the light of
-Christianity, succeeds to the ghastly past of Fiji, with all its cruel and
-odious superstitions.
-
-
-NOTE ON THE POLYNESIAN ISLANDS.
-
-_Exorcism._
-
-When Captain Moresby, of H.M.S. Basilisk, visited Shepherd Isle, near the
-Torres group, he found himself compelled to submit to a curious process of
-exorcism before he was permitted to land.
-
-A "devil-man," fantastically painted, and adorned with leaves and flowers,
-waded out to meet his boat, waving a bunch of palm leaves round his head,
-and as the captain jumped on shore, the devil-man rushed at him, and
-grasping his right hand, waved the palms round his head in the same
-manner. It was evident that he meant no harm, and the captain therefore
-offered no resistance. He placed the leaves in the captain's right hand
-and a small twig in his own mouth, and then, as if with a great effort,
-drew out the twig,--which was supposed to extract the evil spirit,--and
-blew violently, as if to hurry it away. Afterwards the captain held a twig
-between _his_ teeth, and the devil-man repeated the process, all the while
-showing signs of strong excitement.
-
-"He led me then," says Captain Moresby, "to the edge of the bush, and I
-began to feel rather reluctant, and doubtful as to how all was going to
-end, but thought I had better see it out. Here two sticks, ornamented with
-leaves, were fixed in the ground, and bent to an angle at the top, with
-leaves tied to the point, and round these sticks the devil-man and I raced
-in breathless circles till I was perfectly dizzy. He, however, did not
-seem to mind it at all, and presently flew off with me up a steep path
-into the bush, where at a short distance we came to two smaller sticks
-crossed; here he dropped my hand, and taking the bunch of palm leaves from
-me, waved them, and sprang over the sticks and back again. Then placing
-both his hands on my shoulders, he leaped with extraordinary agility,
-bringing his knees to the level of my face at each bound, as if to show
-that he had conquered the devil, and was now trampling him into the earth.
-When he had leaped for awhile, he made signs that all was over, and we
-walked back together to the officers, who had been rather anxiously
-watching these singular proceedings. The natives, who had kept quietly
-aloof, now came freely about us, and showed by their manner that they
-considered us free of the island."
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XIV.
-
-_THE RELIGION OF THE MAORIES._
-
-
-We meet in New Zealand with that curious system of "taboo" or "tapu" which
-prevails throughout the greater part of the Polynesian Archipelago; a
-system evidently conceived in the interest of the priesthood, and forming,
-to a great extent, the basis of its power.
-
-We meet also with a recognition of the two Principles of Good and Evil,
-whose antagonism colours the creed of almost every race.
-
-The Good Spirit of the Maories is called Atua; the Evil Spirit, Wairua.
-All evil spirits, or all the objects representing them, are known as
-Wairuas, and all the emblems or types of the Good Spirit as Atuas; but
-there is one supreme Goodness, one great and overruling God, to which the
-name of Atua is also applied.
-
-According to Mr. Angas, the _Kakariki_, or green lizard, is specially
-venerated as an Atua. On one occasion, during the early days of Christian
-mission work in New Zealand, a missionary was examining a phial of green
-lizards, and a Maori entering the room, the missionary showed it to him.
-Whereupon the Maori immediately exhibited all the signs of extreme terror,
-and exclaiming, "I shall die! I shall die!" proceeded to crawl away on his
-hands and knees. Any novel object, any object beyond the intelligence of
-the Maories, they convert into an Atua. Thus, a barometer is an Atua,
-because it indicates changes of weather; a compass, because it points to
-the north; a watch, because it mysteriously records the progress of time.
-Not to these typical atuas, however, does the Maori render the homage of
-prayer and praise; this he reserves for the supreme and unseen Atua, and
-offers through the agency of his priests or tohungas. It is to be feared
-that these prayers are often unintelligible to those on whose behalf they
-are offered, but the Maories do not the less heartily believe in them;
-and, indeed, the history of religion all over the world presents
-innumerable illustrations of the fact that faith is not incompatible with
-ignorance. It is the very essence and secret of Superstition. Whether they
-understand the prayers of the tohungas or not, they delight in their
-frequent repetition, and insist upon their use in almost every
-circumstance of life. They are generally accompanied by offerings of
-animal and vegetable food, which, of course, become the perquisites of the
-tohungas.
-
-The Maori priesthood is hereditary, father transmits his office to son,
-after carefully educating him in its duties. Dr. Dieffenbach was present
-when an aged tohunga was giving a lesson to a neophyte. The old priest, he
-says, was sitting under a tree, with part of a man's skull, filled with
-water, by his side. At intervals he dipped a green branch into the water,
-and sprinkled the hand of a boy, who reclined at his feet, and listened
-attentively to his recital of a long string of words. Dr. Dieffenbach
-doubts the common statement that the prayers are often without meaning,
-while agreeing that they are unintelligible to the majority of the
-worshippers. He thinks they are couched in a language now forgotten; or,
-what is more probable, that among the Maories as among many of the nations
-of antiquity, the religious mysteries are carefully confined to a certain
-class of men, who conceal them from the _profanum vulgus_, or reveal only
-such portions as they think proper. The claims of the exponents of an
-artificial creed must necessarily depend in a great degree upon the amount
-of mystery in which they involve it. With the common people familiarity
-breeds contempt; they venerate that only which they do not understand; it
-is darkness and not light which moves their wonder, and excites their awe.
-
-Devoid as it is of elevated attributes, the religion of the Maori rises
-above some of the Polynesian creeds in its acknowledgment of the
-immortality of man, though on this point its teaching is very vague.
-
-The Maori believes that, after death, his soul enters the Reinga, or abode
-of departed spirits; and, with an unwonted touch of poetry, he looks upon
-shooting and falling stars as souls passing swiftly to this undiscovered
-bourne; the entrance to which he supposes to lie beneath a precipice at
-Cape Maria Van Diemen. The spirits in falling are supposed to rest
-momentarily, in order to break the descent, against an ancient tree, which
-grows about half way down. The natives were wont to indicate a particular
-branch as being the halting-place of the spirits; but a missionary having
-cut it off, the tree has of late diminished in sanctity.
-
-The entrance to the Reinga is not accomplished by all spirits in the same
-manner. Those of the chiefs ascend in the first place to the upper
-heavens, where each chief leaves his left eye, this left eye becoming a
-new star. Hence the custom in Maori warfare for the victor to eat the left
-eye of a chief slain in battle, in the conviction that by this process he
-absorbed into his own system the skill, sagacity, and courage of the
-departed.
-
-It is humiliating, perhaps, to record these illustrations of human folly;
-but they are valuable as proofs of the depths to which Humanity descends
-when unaided by the elevating influence of revealed religion.
-
-According to the Maories, the soul is not confined absolutely within the
-limits of the Reinga, but may at its will revisit "the glimpses of the
-moon," and converse with its former friends and kinsmen,--of course, only
-through the medium of the tohungas. The latter are sometimes favoured with
-a view of the spiritual visitor, who takes the form of a sunbeam or a
-shadow, and speaks with a low whistling voice, like the sound of a light
-air passing through trees. This voice is occasionally heard by the
-uninitiated, but the language it speaks can be comprehended by none but
-the tohungas.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-Respecting the wairuas, it is difficult to gather any satisfactory
-information. The word "wairua" means either "a dream," or "the soul," and
-Dr. Dieffenbach says it is chiefly used to signify the spirit of some
-dead man or woman who is supposed to cherish a malignant feeling towards
-the living. The wairuas frequent certain localities, such as
-mountain-tops, which the Maori consequently takes good care not to visit.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-It is a necessary result of the Maori belief in atuas and wairuas that
-these should foster a belief in witchcraft. Individuals of bolder and
-stronger minds than the majority will always claim a special relationship
-to the unseen Powers, and avail themselves of this pretended relationship
-to work upon the popular imagination. Convince the ignorant of the
-existence of evil deities, and he will listen readily to any who tell him
-that they can shield him from their malignant influence. And then it
-naturally follows, "as the night the day," that all misfortunes arising
-from unseen or unintelligible causes, will be attributed to witchcraft. A
-vast--an almost boundless field is thus opened up to the practice of human
-unscrupulousness and the weakness of human incredulity.
-
-Let a Maori chief lose some valued article, or suffer from an attack of
-illness, and he immediately concludes that he has been bewitched. Who has
-bewitched him? He fixes, as a matter of course, on the individual whom he
-conceives to be his enemy, and orders him to be put to death. Or he
-resorts to some potent witch, and bribes her to exercise her influence to
-remove the maleficent spell under which he is labouring.
-
-According to Dr. Dieffenbach, the particular haunt of the witches is--or
-rather _was_, for Christianity has rapidly extended its blessed power over
-the population of New Zealand--a place called Urewera, in the North
-Island, between Hawkes Bay and Taupo. The natives of this wild and
-deserted district are reported to be the greatest witches in the country;
-are much feared and studiously avoided by the neighbouring tribes. When
-they come down to the coast, the natives there are almost afraid to oppose
-their most extravagant demands, lest they should incur their displeasure.
-It is said that they use the saliva of the people they design to bewitch,
-and, therefore, visitors carefully conceal it, so as to deprive them of
-the opportunity of working mischief. Yet, like the witches and sorcerers
-of mediaeval England, they appear to be more sinned against than sinning,
-and by no means to deserve the ill reputation which attaches to them.
-
-It is a curious fact, says Dr. Dieffenbach, which has been noticed in
-Tahiti, Hawaii, and the Polynesian islands generally, that the first
-intercourse of their inhabitants with Europeans produces civil war and
-social degradation, but that a change of ideas is rapidly effected, and
-the most ancient and apparently inveterate prejudices soon become a
-subject of ridicule, and are swept away. The grey priest, or tohunga,
-skilled in all the mysteries of witchcraft and native medical treatment,
-readily yields in his attendance on the sick to every European who
-possesses, or affects to possess, a knowledge of the science of surgery or
-medicine, and laughs at the former credulity of his patient. It is evident
-that, while deceiving others, he never deceived himself, and was well
-aware of the futility of his pretended remedies.
-
-When a New Zealand chief or his wife fell sick, the most influential
-tohunga, or some woman enjoying a special odour of sanctity, was instantly
-called in, and waited night and day upon the patient, sometimes repeating
-incantations over him, and sometimes sitting in front of the house, and
-praying. The following is the incantation which the priests profess to be
-a cure for headache. The officiant pulls out two stalks of the _Pteris
-esculenta_, from which the fibres of the root must be removed, and beating
-them together over the patient's head, says this chant. It is entitled, "A
-prayer for the sick man, when his head aches: to Atua this prayer is
-offered, that the sick man may become well."
-
-On the occasion of a chiefs illness, all his kith and kin gather around
-his house, and give way to the loudest lamentations, in which the invalid
-is careful to join. When the weeping and wailing capacities of one village
-have been exhausted he is carried to another, and the process is repeated.
-But in New Zealand, as elsewhere, the common lot cannot be averted by
-sorrowing humanity; the sick man dies; and then all that remains to the
-survivors is to show their respect and regret by such funeral pomp as they
-are able to devise. They assemble round the dead body, after it has been
-equipped in its bravest attire, and indulge in the most violent
-demonstrations of grief,--partly feigned, no doubt, but partly sincere.
-This luxury of woe, however, is chiefly accorded to the women, who display
-that extravagance of passion we are accustomed to regard as characteristic
-of the Southern nations. They throw themselves upon the ground, wrap their
-faces and bodies in their mantles, shriek and sob aloud, wave their arms
-frantically in the air, and finally gash and scar their skin with long,
-deep cuts, which they fill in with charcoal until they become indelible
-records of the loss they have sustained. Funeral orations, full of the
-most vehement eulogies, and interrupted by complaints and reproaches
-against the dead man for his unkindness in going away from them, are
-incessantly delivered. These ceremonies completed, they place the corpse
-in a kind of coffin, along with various emblems of the rank of the
-departed, and leave it to decay.
-
-The process of decomposition is completed in about seven or eight months;
-the ceremony of the _hahunga_ then takes place. The friends and relatives
-assemble; the bones are removed from the coffin, and cleaned; a supply of
-provisions is passed around; a new series of funeral panegyric is spoken;
-and the _tiki_, _merai_, and other symbols of the departed chieftain's
-headship are handed over to his eldest son, who is thus invested with his
-father's power and privileges.
-
-The place where the dead body lies while undergoing decomposition, the
-waki-tapu, as it is called, is frequently distinguished by peculiar signs,
-and the neighbourhood left uninhabited. Mr. Angas describes a visit which
-he paid to the village of Huriwonua. Its chief had died about six weeks
-before the visit, and Mr. Angas, on arriving there, found it entirely
-deserted. "From the moment the chief was laid beneath the upright canoe,
-on which were inscribed his name and rank, the whole village, he says,
-became strictly tapu, or sacred, and not a native, on pain of death, was
-permitted to trespass near the spot. The houses were all fastened up, and
-on most of the doors were inscriptions denoting that the property of such
-an one remained there. An utter silence pervaded the place. After
-ascertaining," says Mr. Angas, "that no natives were in the vicinity of
-the forbidden spot, I landed, and trod the sacred ground; and my footsteps
-were probably the first, since the desertion of the village, that had
-echoed along its palisaded passages.
-
-"On arriving at the tomb, I was struck with the contrast between the
-monument of the savage and that of the civilised European. In the erection
-of the latter, marble and stone and the most durable of metals are
-employed, while rapidly-decaying wood, red ochre, and feathers form the
-decorations of the Maori tomb. Huriwonua having been buried only six
-weeks, the ornaments of the _waki-tapu_, or sacred place, as those
-erections are called, were fresh and uninjured. The central upright canoe
-was thickly painted with black and red, and at the top was written the
-name of the chief; above which there hung in clusters bunches of _kaka_
-feathers, forming a large mass at the summit of the canoe. A double fence
-of high palings, also painted red, and ornamented with devices in
-arabesque work, extended round the grave, and at every fastening of flax,
-when the horizontal rails were attached to the upright fencing, were stuck
-two feathers of the albatross, the snowy whiteness of which contrasted
-beautifully with the sombre black and red of the remainder of the
-monument."
-
-We have entered at some length into an explanation of the system of Tapu,
-or Taboo, in our remarks on the religion of the Polynesians. It prevails,
-as we have already stated, in New Zealand; and though its disadvantages
-are many, and it is capable of great abuse, it serves nevertheless as a
-substitute for law, and to a large extent protects both life and property.
-For, supported and enforced as it is by the superstitious feelings of the
-people, it erects an insuperable barrier between possession and
-acquisition; it plays the part of a social police; it maintains the moral
-standard; it shields the feeble from the oppression of the strong. A man
-quits his dwelling for his day's work: he places the tapu mark on his
-door, and thenceforward his dwelling is inviolate. Or he selects a tree
-which will fashion into a good canoe; he distinguishes it with the tapu
-mark, and it becomes his own. Civilisation has designed no more effectual
-protection.
-
-But like all restrictive and prohibitive systems, it is easily pushed to
-an inconvenient excess, and made an instrument of extortion or oppression
-in the hands of the chief or priest. It is much in favour, says Mr.
-Williams, among the chiefs, who adjust it so that it sits easily on
-themselves, while they use it to gain influence over those who are nearly
-their equals; by means of it they supply their most important wants, and
-command at will all who are beneath them. If any object touch a chief's
-garment it becomes tapu; so, too, if a drop of his blood fall upon it;
-and, more particularly, it consecrates his head. To mention or refer to a
-chief's head is an insult. Mr. Angas says that a friend of his, in
-conversing with a Maori chief about his crops, inadvertently said: "Oh, I
-have some apples in my garden as large as that little boy's head!"
-pointing at the same time to the chief's son. This reference was felt and
-resented as a deadly insult, and it was only with the greatest difficulty
-that the incautious speaker obtained forgiveness. So very much _tapu_ is a
-chiefs head that, should he touch it with his own fingers, he must touch
-nothing else until he has applied the hand to his nostrils and smelt it,
-and thus restored to the head the virtue that departed from it when first
-touched. The hair is likewise sacred; it is cut by one of his wives, who
-receives every particle in a cloth, and buries it in the ground. The
-operation renders _her_ tapu, for a week, during which time she is not
-allowed to make use of her hands.
-
-The carved image of a chief's head is not less sacred than the head
-itself. Dr. Dieffenbach says: "In one of the houses of Te Puai, the head
-chief of all the Waikato, I saw a bust, made by himself, with all the
-serpentine lines of the aroko, or tattooing. I asked him to give it to me,
-but it was only after much pressing that he parted with it. I had to go to
-his house to fetch it myself, as none of his tribe could legally touch it,
-and he licked it all over before he gave it to me; whether to take the
-tapu off, or whether to make it more strictly sacred, I do not know. He
-particularly engaged me not to put it into the provision-bag, nor to let
-the natives see it at Rotu-rua, whither I was going, or he would certainly
-die in consequence."
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-Cannibalism is now extinct in New Zealand, having been crushed out by the
-strong arm of British authority, and the ever-increasing influence of
-British civilisation. But it was hard to die, and lingered down to a very
-recent date. As practised by the Maories, it lost few of its repulsive
-features. We must admit, however, that they did not indulge in it from a
-craving after human flesh, nor in time of peace, but after battles, from a
-belief that he who ate the flesh or blood, or even the left eye, of a
-slain warrior assimilated in his system all his martial and manly
-qualities. When the fight was at an end, the dead bodies were collected,
-and with much rejoicing carried into the villages, where they were roasted
-in the cook-houses, and duly eaten. But, first, the tohunga cut off a
-portion of the flesh, and with certain incantations and mystic gestures,
-suspended it upon a tree or pole, as an offering to the gods.
-
-Mr. Angas describes one of the cooking-houses set apart for this horrid
-orgy. It was erected by a Maori chief in the Waitahanui Pah; and when
-visited by Mr. Angas, had happily ceased for some time to be used. The Pah
-stands on a low swampy peninsula, which is washed on one side by the river
-Waikato and on the other by the Taupo Lake. "The long facade of the Pah
-presents an imposing appearance when viewed from the lake; a line of
-fortifications, composed of upright poles and stakes, extending for at
-least half a mile in a direction parallel to the water. On the top of many
-of the posts are carved figures, much larger than life, of men in the act
-of defiance, and in the most savage postures, having enormous protruding
-tongues; and, like all the Maori carvings, these images, or waikapokos,
-are coloured with kokowai, or red ochre.
-
-"The entire pah is now (1863) in ruins, and has been made tapu by Te
-Heuhen since its destruction. Here, then, all was forbidden ground; but I
-eluded the suspicions of our natives, and rambled about all day amongst
-the decaying memorials of the past, making drawings of the most striking
-and peculiar objects within the pah. The cook-houses, where the father of
-Te Heuhen had his original establishment, remained in a perfect state; the
-only entrances to these buildings were a series of circular apertures, in
-and out of which the slaves engaged in preparing the food were obliged to
-crawl.
-
-"Near to the cook-houses stood a carved patuka, which was the receptacle
-of the sacred food of the chief; and nothing could exceed the richness of
-the elaborate carving that adorned this storehouse.... Ruined
-houses--many of them once beautifully ornamented and richly
-carved--numerous _waki-tapu_, and other heathen remains with images and
-carved posts, occur in various portions of this extensive pah; but in
-other places the hand of Time has so effectually destroyed the buildings
-as to leave them but an unintelligible mass of ruins. The situation of
-this pah is admirably adapted for the security of the inmates: it commands
-the lake on the one side, and the other fronts the extensive marshes of
-Tukanu, where a strong palisade and a deep moat afford protection against
-any sudden attack. Water is conveyed into the pah through a sluice or
-canal for the supply of the besieged in times of war.
-
-"There was an air of solitude and gloomy desolation about the whole pah,
-that was heightened by the screams of the plover and the tern, as they
-uttered their mournful cry through the deserted coasts. I rambled over the
-scenes of many savage deeds."
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-Cannibalism, or to use the scientific term, anthropophagy, has its origin
-in different causes, and assumes different forms. Among some of the savage
-peoples it is, as among the Maories, simply the expression of a sanguinary
-instinct, of an atrocious sentiment of revenge. Among others it originates
-in a chronic condition of misery and famine. Yet, again, it is sometimes
-connected with the custom of human sacrifices, as among the Aztecs, and
-those who practise it come to esteem it a sacred duty, pleasing to their
-deities, or even to the _manes_ of their hapless victims.
-
-Unknown among the simple Eskimos, and, indeed, among all the hyperborean
-races, anthropophagy prevails with more or less intensity among peoples
-which have attained a rudimentary civilization.
-
-Let us take, for example, the Khonds of Orissa, who keep up a system of
-human sacrifice, absolutely elaborate in its details. Its primary
-condition is that the victim, or Meriah, should be _bought_. Even if taken
-in war, he must be sold and purchased before the priest will accept him.
-No distinction is made as to age or sex; but the efficiency of the victim
-seems to depend on the sum he costs, and therefore the healthy are
-preferred to the feeble, and adults to children. The number consumed in a
-twelvemonth must be very considerable; as the Khonds do not believe in the
-success of any undertaking, or in the promise of their fields, unless a
-Meriah is first offered.
-
-The victims are kindly treated during the period of their captivity, which
-is sometimes of considerable duration. In truth, a Meriah or dedicated
-maiden is sometimes allowed to marry a Khond, and to live until she has
-become twice or thrice a mother. Her children as well as herself are
-destined to the sacrificial altar; but must never be slain in the village
-in which they are born. To overcome this difficulty, one village exchanges
-its Meriah children with another.
-
-There are various modes of accomplishing the sacrifice. In Goomten the
-offering is made to the Earth-god, Tado Pumor, who is represented by the
-emblem of a peacock. For a month previous to the day of doom, the people
-maintain an almost continuous revel, feasting and dancing round the
-Meriah, who seems to enter into the festivity with as much zest as they
-do. On the last day but one he is bound to a stout pole, the top of which
-carries the peacock emblem of the Tado Pumor; and around him wheel and
-wheel the revellers, protesting in their wild rude songs that they do not
-murder a victim, but sacrifice one who has been fairly purchased, and
-that, therefore, his blood will not be upon their heads. The Meriah, being
-stupefied with drink, makes no answer; and his silence is interpreted as a
-willing assent to his immolation. Next day he is anointed with oil, and
-carried round the village; after which he is brought back to the post, at
-the bottom of which a small pit has been dug. A hog is killed, and the
-blood poured into the pit, and mixed with the soil until a thick mud is
-formed. Into this mud the face of the Meriah is pressed until he dies from
-suffocation. It should be added that he is always unconscious from
-intoxication when brought to the post.
-
-The zani, or officiating priest, cuts off a fragment of the victim's
-flesh, and buries it near the pit; as an offering to the earth; after
-which the spectators precipitate themselves upon the body, hack it to
-pieces, and carry away the fragments to bury in their fields as a
-propitiation to the rural deities.
-
-In Sumatra exists a tribe, that of the Battas, which has not only a
-religion and a ceremonial worship, but a literature, a kind of
-constitution, and a penal code. This code condemns certain classes of
-criminals to be eaten alive. After the sentence has been pronounced by the
-proper tribunal, two or three days are suffered to elapse, to give the
-people time to assemble. On the day appointed, the criminal is led to the
-place of execution, and bound to a stake. The prosecutor advances, and
-selects the choicest morsel; after which the bystanders in due order
-choose such pieces as strike their fancy, and, terrible to relate! hack
-and hew them from the living body. At length the chief releases the poor
-wretch from his long agony by striking off his head. The flesh is eaten on
-the spot, raw or cooked, according to each man's taste.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-We have seen that in some of the "sunny Eden-isles" of the Pacific, the
-natives consider that they render a service to their aged and infirm
-parents by putting them to death, and that, by eating them, they provide
-the most honourable mode of sepulture. In others, as in New Zealand, the
-belief prevails that a man, by devouring his enemy, gains possession of
-all the virtues with which the latter may have been gifted. This
-conviction is cherished by certain tribes on the river Amazon.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-But it seems clear that in the majority of cases, anthropophagy originates
-in a constant scarcity of food, and in the lack of cattle and game; though
-in some it may be true that the cannibals are attracted by the delicious
-savour of human flesh, which they prefer to every other. Maury asserts
-that among the Cobens of the Uaupis, man is regarded as a species of game,
-and that they declare war against the neighbouring tribes solely for the
-purpose of procuring a supply of human flesh. When they obtain more than
-they require for their present need, they dry it and smoke it, and store
-it away for future use.
-
-In Africa, Captain Richard Burton discovered, on the shores of Lake
-Tangauyika, a cannibal people, named the Worabunbosi, who fed upon
-carrion, vermin, larvae, and insects, and even carried their brutality to
-such an extent as to eat raw and putrid human flesh. Although you may see
-on every countenance, says this enterprising traveller,[57] the expression
-of chronic hunger, the poor wretched, timid, stunted, degraded, foul, seem
-far more dangerous enemies to the dead than to the living.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-We are speaking however of a barbarous custom which, from whatever cause
-it may have arisen, is rapidly dying out. Owing to the constant advance of
-the wave of civilisation, and to the vigorous efforts of our missionaries,
-the practice of cannibalism, against which our better nature instinctively
-rebels, is decaying even in the darkest and remotest regions of the globe.
-In Polynesia, for instance, as in New Zealand, it is almost extinct. And
-if we owed no other service to the heroic Soldiers of the Cross, this
-result would of itself entitle them to our gratitude, the extermination of
-Anthropophagy being the first step towards teaching man to reverence
-humanity.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XV.
-
-_THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS._
-
-
-The general characteristics of the North American Indians, or the Red Men,
-have been made familiar to us through the writings of travellers, and the
-picturesque romances of Fenimore Cooper, the American novelist; though of
-the latter it may be said, perhaps, that he has used bright colours too
-uniformly, and introduced into his sketches too little shadow. The name by
-which they are popularly known is, of course, ethnologically incorrect.
-Just as, in speaking of the great Western Continent, our forefathers
-employed the expression "the West Indies," or the "Great Indies," from a
-mistaken conception of its geographical position, so they christened by
-the term "Indians" all its aboriginal races; and the term has survived in
-our common speech owing to its convenience.
-
-Says De Maury: From the North Pole to Tierra del Fuego almost every shade
-of human colouring, from black to yellow, finds its representatives.
-According to their tribe, the Aborigines are of a brown-olive, a dark
-brown, bronze, pale yellow, copper yellow, red, brown, and so on. Nor do
-they differ less in stature. Between the dwarf-like proportions of the
-Changos, and the tall stature of the Patagonians, we meet with a great
-number of intermediary "sizes." The contours of the body present the same
-diversity. Some peoples, like those of the Pampas, are very long in the
-bust; others, like the inhabitants of the Peruvian Andes, are short and
-broad. So, too, with the shape and size of the head. Yet we recognize
-between the various American populations an air of kinship, or certain
-predominant and general features which distinguish them from the races of
-the old world. As, for example, the pyramidal form of the head and the
-narrowness of the forehead, characteristics of great antiquity among the
-American populations, having been found in skulls discovered by Mr. Lund
-in the caves of Brazil, in association with the bones of animals now
-extinct.
-
-In spite of this variety of type, we may divide the Aborigines of America
-into two great races, of which one, at least, the Red Skins, is remarkable
-for its complete homogeneity. The Red Skins,--with whom alone we shall
-concern ourselves,--were formerly distributed over all the upper portion
-of the American Continent; that is, over the territory of Canada and the
-United States and the northern districts of Mexico. In the sixteenth
-century they numbered, it is said, a million and a half of souls. The
-"advance of civilisation,"--in other words, the greed and cruelty of the
-white man,--have reduced them now to a few thousand families. A few years
-more, and American rifles, brandy, poverty, and disease will have
-virtually effected the extermination of a race, which has assuredly
-merited the respect and recognition we are generally prone to render to
-courage and endurance. True it is that our estimate of the Red Skins must
-not be taken entirely from the imaginative pages of Chateaubriand and
-Fenimore Cooper. The Deerskins, the Hawkeyes, and the Leatherstockings of
-the novelist are ideal creations, the like of which have never been found
-in the wildernesses of the West. Yet we cannot deny to the Indians a
-character of true nobility and exceptional manliness. Their scorn of death
-and pain, their stoical composure under tortures, the mere description of
-which makes the blood of ordinary men run cold, their disdain of the
-allurements of civilisation, their stern refusal of foreign supremacy,
-their haughty pride, even their cold and calculated ferocity, are so many
-traits which raise them to a higher platform than that occupied by most
-savage races.
-
-A hundred times in song, and romance, and drama have been portrayed the
-manners of this remarkable people, their subtle stratagems in war and the
-chase, the perseverance with which they hunt down their prey or enemy,
-their astuteness, their impassiveness, their brooding revenge. Who has
-not eagerly followed them in their unwearied wanderings across the rolling
-prairies, and through the interminable forests? Who has not listened
-eagerly, when seated round the watch-fire, with the calumet to their lips,
-they have meditated on the chances of peace and war,--chief after chief
-rising, with regal attitude and deliberate eloquence to take his part in
-the stern debate? Who has not watched them in their furious
-battle-charges, brandishing the dreadful tomahawk, and carrying off the
-scalps of their defeated enemies to hang up in their wigwams as the
-trophies of their prowess? Who has not breathlessly tracked them in their
-pursuit of a flying foe, or in their skilful escape through the thick
-brushwood from the pressure of some persistent antagonist? Assuredly this
-was a race well worthy of attentive study; and their history, or the
-narrative of their adventures, none can peruse without interest. There was
-a strain of poetry in their faith, in their customs, in their language at
-once laconic and picturesque, even in the names full of meaning which they
-bestowed on each tribe, and chief, and warrior. We can hardly suppress a
-feeling of regret that so much wild romance should have been swept off the
-earth, unless we bring our minds to dwell upon the deep dark shades of the
-picture, on their cruelty, perfidiousness, and lust. Even then our
-humanity revolts from the treatment they have received at the hands of the
-white man. Hunted from place to place like wild beasts, driven back from
-one hunting-ground to another, brutalised by misery or drunkenness,
-decimated by the diseases of civilisation, incapable of labour, the Red
-Skins have struggled in vain against the irresistible onward movement of a
-civilisation without bowels; a civilisation ill-adapted to attract and
-persuade them, and more anxious to destroy than to assimilate.
-
-The treatment of the Indians is a dark chapter in the history of the
-United States. The great nations which were formerly the valued allies or
-dreaded enemies of the European settlers, the Hurons, the Algonquins, the
-Iroquois, the Natchez, the Leni-Lenapes, have entirely disappeared. The
-wrecks of other but less important tribes still linger on the shores of
-the great Northern lakes, in the woods and wildernesses of the Far West,
-at the base of the Rocky Mountains, in Texas, in Arkansas, in California,
-and in the northern provinces and deserts of Mexico. Such are the Sioux,
-the Dacotahs, the Flatheads, the Big-Bellies, the Blackfoot, the Apaches,
-the Comanches. The two latter people have been the most successful in
-preserving their vitality. Their characteristics however are very diverse.
-The Comanches are of a mild gentle nature, and eager to live on peaceable
-terms with the whites. The Apaches, on the other hand, have vowed a
-relentless hatred against the Pale Faces; they are the terror of the
-_hacienderos_ (or farm proprietors) and gold seekers of Upper Mexico, and
-the American journals to this day are full of their incursions, and their
-acts of cruelty and brigandage.
-
-Physiologically, the distinctive features of the Red Men are, in addition
-to the colour of their skin and the pyramidal form of the head, the
-prominency and arched outline of the nose, the width of the nasal
-apertures, corresponding to a remarkable development of the olfactory
-nerve, and the absence of beard.
-
-The superstitions, or religious customs, of the Red Men are in themselves
-a sufficiently interesting subject of study. We begin with an account of
-the ceremony through which every one of their youths has to pass before he
-is acknowledged to have entered upon manhood. Our knowledge of it is due
-to Mr. Catlin, who, as a reputed "medicine-man," lived for some time with
-the Mandan tribe, and became acquainted with their most secret customs.
-
-The object of this rite, which for savage cruelty seems unparalleled, is,
-first, to propitiate the Great Spirit on behalf of the neophyte who
-undergoes it, so that he may become a successful hunter and a valiant
-warrior; and, second, to enable the leader and chief of the tribe, to
-watch his behaviour, and determine whether he will be likely to maintain
-its character and renown.
-
-The Mandans, we must premise, cherish a legend of a flood which in times
-long past inundated the earth, and of which only one man, who escaped in a
-large canoe, was the survivor. In a large open space in the centre of the
-village a representation of this canoe, a kind of tub, bound with wooden
-hoops, and set up on one end, is carefully preserved.
-
-The ceremony of initiation occurs once a year, at the season when the
-willow-leaves under the river-bank burst from their shade, and bloom in
-all their greenness. Early in the morning of the great day, a figure is
-seen on the distant ridge of hills, slowly approaching the village.
-Immediately the whole village is alive! The dogs are caught and muzzled;
-the horses are brought in from the meadows; the bravos paint their faces
-as if for battle, string their bows, feather their arrows, and grasp their
-pointed spears. Then into the central area strides the visitor, his body
-painted white, a plume of raven's feathers waving on his head, a white
-wolf's skin flung across his stalwart shoulders, and in his hand a
-mystery-pipe. The chief and his leading warriors immediately greet the new
-comer, Nu-mohk-muck-a-nah, or the First Man, as he is called,--and conduct
-him to the great medicine-lodge, which is open only on this occasion, and
-now reeks with the fragrant odours of various aromatic herbs. The skulls
-of men and bisons are solemnly laid on the floor; over the beams of the
-timber roof are hung several new ropes, with a heap of strong wooden
-skewers underneath them; and in the centre is raised a small dais or
-altar, on which the First Man deposits the medicine or mystery of the
-tribe,--a profound, a sacred secret, known to none but himself.
-
-To every hut in the village next stalks the First Man, pausing at the door
-of each to weep aloud, and when the owner comes out, relating to him the
-old, old story of the Flood, and of his own escape from it, and requiring
-axe or knife as an offering to the Great Spirit. The demand is never
-refused; and loaded with edged tools of various kinds, he returns to the
-medicine-lodge. There they remain until the conclusion of the ceremonies,
-when they are thrown into the river's deepest pool.
-
-Thus passes the first day, during which, as during the whole period of the
-ceremony, an absolute silence prevails in the village. None know the place
-where he sleeps, but on the second morning he re-enters the village, and
-marches to the medicine-lodge, followed by a long train of neophytes, and
-carrying his bow and arrows, shield, and medicine-bag, and each painted in
-the most fantastic fashion. Hanging his weapons over his head, each man
-silently seats himself in front of the lodge, and for four days maintains
-his position, speaking to none, and neither eating, drinking, nor
-sleeping. At the outset, the First Man kindles his pipe at the fire that
-burns in the centre of the lodge, and harangues the neophytes, exhorting
-them to be brave and patient, and praying the Great Spirit to grant them
-strength to endure their trial.
-
-Summoning an old medicine-man, he then appoints him to the charge of the
-ceremonies, and as a symbol of office hands him the mystery-pipe. After
-which he takes leave of the chiefs and their people, promising that he
-will return next year to re-open the lodge, and with slow and stately step
-passes out of the village, and disappears beyond the hills.
-
-The master of the ceremonies hastens to put himself in the centre of the
-lodge, where he re-lights the pipe, and with every whiff of smoke utters a
-petition to the Great Spirit in behalf of the candidates.
-
-During the three days' silence of the neophytes, the tribe indulge in a
-variety of pastimes.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-First and foremost is the buffalo dance, in which eight persons are
-engaged, each wearing the skin of a bison, and carrying on his back a
-large bundle of faggots. In one hand they hold a mystery-rattle, in the
-other a small staff. In four couples they place themselves round the Big
-Canoe, each couple facing one of the cardinal points of the compass, and
-between them dances a young man,--two being got up in black, dotted with
-white stars, to represent day, and two in red, to represent night.
-
-A couple of medicine-men, dressed in the hides of grizzly bears, sit
-beside the Big Canoe, and profess their intention of devouring the whole
-village. To satiate their voracity, the women convey to them abundant
-supplies of meat, which men, painted black all over, except their heads,
-which are white, in imitation of the bald-headed eagle, carry off
-immediately to the prairie, pursued by a number of little boys, painted
-yellow, with white heads, who are called antelopes. After a swift chase
-they overtake the eagle-men, seize the food, and devour it.
-
-This rude frolic is repeated several times a day, the performers being
-summoned by the master of the ceremonies, who, followed by his assistants,
-issues from the medicine-lodge, and takes up his post against the Big
-Canoe, pouring forth many tears.
-
-On the first day the dance is four times repeated, on the second eight
-times, on the third twelve times, and on the fourth sixteen; the dancers
-issuing from the hut in which they attire themselves immediately that the
-old man lifts up his head, and weeps.
-
-During each performance, the old medicine-men keep up a rattle of drums,
-except when they pause to announce to the crowd that the Great Spirit is
-pleased with their offerings, and has given them peace; that even their
-women and children can hold the mouths of grizzly bears, and the Evil One
-does not appear to disturb them.
-
-This bold declaration is repeated thirty-two times during the four days,
-and repeated without challenge; but at the thirty-third, the Evil Spirit
-makes his appearance, threads his way through the village, and breaks into
-the circle,--an uncanny creature, entirely naked, his body painted black,
-but with white rings, and his mouth blotched with white indentations like
-so many tusks. Carrying in his hand a long magic staff tipped with a red
-ball, which he slides before him on the ground, this Evil Spirit makes a
-rush at each group of females in the excited crowd. They shriek for
-assistance.
-
-The master of the ceremonies straightway abandons his station by the Big
-Canoe, and presents his magic pipe to the intruder, who stands immediately
-as if petrified into stone, each limb quiescent, each muscle rigid,--a
-statue, rather than a man.
-
-The women take advantage of this sudden pause to escape from the Evil
-Spirit's clutch; and as soon as they are out of danger, though their
-hearts still beat with excitement, they resume their ordinary quietude,
-only laughing loudly and gleefully at the sudden discomfiture of their
-antagonist, and at the awkward and ridiculous attitude in which he was
-surprised.
-
-The old man stands upright by his side, with his eyeballs glaring him in
-the face, while the medicine-pipe holds under its mystic spell his Satanic
-Majesty, neutralises all the powers of his magic wand, and deprives him
-of the power of locomotion.
-
-No two human beings, says Mr. Catlin, can ever present a more striking
-group than is presented by those two individuals, with their fierce eyes
-fixed in well-simulated hatred on each other; both contending for the
-supremacy, both relying on the potency of their mystery or medicine; the
-one, with dismal black body, pretending to be O-ku-hu-de, the Evil Spirit,
-and pouring everlasting vengeance on the other, who sternly gazes back
-with a look of contemptuous exultation, as he holds him bound by the
-influence of his sacred mystery-pipe. Truly, these Red-skinned Mandans are
-accomplished actors and pantomimists.
-
-A repetition of this performance takes place until the power of the
-mystery-pipe has been sufficiently proved; and the women, gaining
-confidence in it, proceed to turn the tables on their persecutor, jeering
-him, and overwhelming him with shrieks of laughter. At last, one of the
-boldest dashes a handful of sand in his face; an insult which completely
-overwhelms him, so that he begins to weep abundantly. Another woman takes
-courage to seize his magic staff, and snaps it across her knee. Other
-women pick up the broken halves and break them into fragments, which they
-fling at O-ku-hu-de's head. Bereft of all his power, he incontinently
-turns tail, and dashes across the prairie, followed for half a mile or so
-by volleys of mud and stones and slates.
-
-Thus ends the battle of Armageddon. The Evil Spirit has come, and fought,
-and been conquered. The next step is to remove the little altar and its
-mysterious deposit from the centre of the great medicine-lodge, and pass
-the hide ropes through openings in the roof to men stationed without. Then
-the master of the ceremonies and his assistants, together with the chiefs
-and bravos of the tribe, re-enter the lodge, and take up their positions.
-
-Worn and wasted by four days of abstinence from food, drink, and sleep,
-the first neophyte enters the lodge, when called, and takes his stand in
-front of two of the executioners. One of them, with a blunt and jagged
-double-edged knife, pinches up an inch or so of the flesh of the breast
-or shoulder, inserts the knife, and through the incision thus
-accomplished, forces a wooden skewer; repeating the process on the other
-shoulder or breast, on each arm just below the shoulder and below the
-elbow, upon each thigh, and upon each leg just below the knee.
-
-Painful as the operation must be, the neophyte bears it unflinchingly; not
-a sigh escapes him; his countenance remains as calm and unruffled as if he
-were wrapped in a pleasant dream.
-
-Two of the hide ropes are now let down from the roof, and twisted round
-the skewers on the breast or shoulders. To the others are hung the
-neophyte's weapons, while the skulls of bisons depend from those of the
-lower arm or leg. At a given signal the neophyte is hauled aloft, and
-allowed to swing, at a height of six or eight feet from the ground,
-suspended only by the two skewers, while he sustains, not only his own
-weight, but that of the heavy skulls. With almost incredible fortitude, he
-endures this protracted agony, until exhausted nature gives way, and he
-falls into a swoon.
-
-The bystanders seem no longer men, but demons intent on increasing his
-tortures. They surround him, a dozen or more at a time, and consider what
-new inventions can be adopted. At length, one advances towards the poor
-wretch, and begins to turn him round with a pole, which he has brought for
-the purpose. This is done very gently at first, but by degrees with more
-rapidity and increasing violence, until the neophyte breaks down in his
-self-control, and bursts forth into "the most lamentable and heart-rending
-cries that the human voice is capable of producing," imploring the Great
-Spirit to support and protect him in his agony, and repeatedly expressing
-his belief in that protection.
-
-In this condition he revolves faster and faster, without the least hope of
-escape or relief, until he again falls into a swoon; his voice falters,
-his strugglings cease; he hangs a still and apparently lifeless thing.
-"When he is by turning gradually brought to this condition, which is
-generally done within ten or fifteen minutes, there is a close scrutiny
-passed upon him among his tormentors, who are checking and holding each
-other back as long as the least struggling or tremor can be discovered;
-lest he should be removed, before he is, as they term it, dead."
-
-Having satisfied themselves that their victim is not feigning, they give a
-signal; he is lowered to the ground; the skewers which passed through his
-breast are removed, and the ropes attached to another candidate. He is
-allowed to lie where he fell; none dare to touch him; to do so would be a
-sacrilege, because he has placed himself under the protection of the Great
-Spirit.
-
-After awhile he partially recovers, and crawls to another part of the
-lodge, where, with gleaming axe in hand and a bison's skull before him,
-sits a medicine-man. Holding up the little finger of his left hand as a
-sacrifice to the Great Spirit, the neophyte lays it upon the skull, and,
-in a moment, the medicine-man's axe severs it. Sometimes the fore-finger
-of the same hand is also offered, and only the thumb and two middle
-fingers, which are necessary in holding the bow, are left.
-
-Then comes the last scene of this strange, eventful history, bringing the
-neophyte's sufferings to a climax. The skewers by which he is suspended to
-the roof are removed when he is lowered, but eight still remain; two in
-each arm, and two in each leg. To each is attached a heavy weight, such as
-a bison's skull, and they must not be _drawn_ out, but must be _torn_ out
-by sheer force. With this view he is required to run the last race,--which
-takes place in the open air, and in the presence of a concourse of excited
-spectators. Leaving the medicine-lodge, the master of the ceremonies leans
-his head against the Big Canoe, and fills the air with a loud long wail.
-Immediately a score or so of young men, all matched in height, wearing
-beautiful dresses of eagle-quills, and carrying in one hand a wreath of
-willow-boughs, issue from the dressing-hut. On arriving at the Big Canoe
-they assemble round it in a circle, holding on to each other's
-willow-wreath, and then race around it at their utmost speed, screaming
-and shouting until the air is filled with their uproar.
-
-The candidates then come out of the medicine-lodge, dragging the heavy
-weights attached to their limbs, and are stationed at equal intervals
-outside the ring of runners. As each takes his place, two powerful young
-men take charge of him, who pass round each of his wrists a broad
-leathern strap, which they grasp very firmly, but without tying it.
-
-When all the preliminaries are completed, a signal is given, and the
-neophytes begin to race round the Big Canoe, outside the inner circle,
-each man being dragged along by his custodians, until the skulls and other
-weights drag out the skewers to which they are fastened. The bystanders
-scream and yell and shout in a frenzy of excitement; eager, moreover, to
-drown the groans of the sufferers, should the instincts of nature prevail
-over their self-control, and desirous of encouraging them in their final
-trial.
-
-Sometimes the neophyte's flesh proves to be so tough that the skewers
-cannot be dragged out, and in such cases their friends jump on the skulls
-as they rattle along the ground, so as to increase their weight.
-
-Humanity cannot long endure a torture so horrible: the sufferers quickly
-faint, though they are still hauled round in the barbarous race, nor set
-free until the last weight is dragged from the quivering, bleeding body.
-Then the unconscious wretch is released, and left, for the second time, in
-the care and protection of the Great Spirit. In due time he recovers his
-senses, struggles to his feet, totters through the crowd, is received by
-his friends, and conducted to his own hut.
-
-Mr. Catlin supplies two illustrations of the rigorous tenacity with which
-the Indians adhere to the rule that the skewers must be _dragged_, not
-_removed_, from the sufferer's flesh.
-
-In one case the skewer had chanced to pass under a sinew, and the neophyte
-was dragged round and round the ring in vain. In vain his friends added
-their weight to that of the bison's skulls. The scene became so horrible
-that even the spectators could no longer endure it, and in sympathy with
-their cries the master of the ceremonies stopped the race, leaving the
-youth, unconscious, on the ground. As soon as he regained his senses, he
-crawled away to the prairie on his hands and knees, and there remained,
-without food or drink, for three hours longer, until suppuration took
-place, and he was enabled to get rid of the skewer. Then he crawled home,
-and strange to say, notwithstanding the agony he had undergone, and his
-loss of strength, recovered in a few days.
-
-In the second case, two of the weights attached to the arms refused to
-yield, and the hapless neophyte crept as best he could to the steep bluff
-overhanging the river, where he drove a stake into the ground. Fastening
-the weights to this stake by a couple of ropes, he lowered himself about
-midway down the cliff, and so hung suspended for more than two days, until
-the obstinate flesh gave way, and allowed him to drop into the water. He
-swam to the side, crawled up the acclivity, and returned to his village.
-It gives one a vivid idea of the remarkable vitality and physical force of
-the Indian race, when one reads that this man, too, recovered!
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-The Indian has a vague idea of God and immortality. He believes in a Great
-Spirit, who, after death, admits the brave to his happy hunting-grounds,
-where game is inexhaustible, and the pleasure of the chase is ever open to
-the hunter. Beyond this dim and dubious conception, his imagination never
-carries him.
-
-He is prone, as might be supposed, for such proneness is the cause of
-ignorance, and ignorance is the Red Man's bane, to the wildest and
-coarsest superstitions, and he is always at the mercy of the medicine-man
-of his tribe. One of his most potent superstitions is that connected with
-the "medicine-bag," which he firmly believes to be his sole "secret of
-success," his all-powerful charm and talisman, without which he would fail
-in every undertaking and be defeated and disgraced in battle.
-
-At the age of fourteen or fifteen, the young Indian goes forth into the
-woods in search of his medicine. On a litter of leaves and twigs he lies
-for some days--as long, in fact, as his physical powers hold out--neither
-eating nor drinking; for in proportion to the duration of his fast will be
-the potency of his "medicine." His endurance at length gives way, and he
-goes to sleep. The bird, beast, or reptile of which he dreams becomes his
-"medicine." He returns home, and as soon as he has recovered his strength,
-he sallies forth in quest of the charm; having found and killed the
-animal, he preserves the skin in such shape as his fancy
-suggests,--usually in the form of pouch or bag. If small, he slings it
-round his neck, and wears it concealed. In other cases, it hangs from his
-waist or shoulder.
-
-However he may wear it, the Indian never parts from it. He would be
-disgraced and defeated in battle--he would fail in his undertakings--if it
-were absent from his person. Should he be deprived of it in battle, he is
-overwhelmed with shame, until he can kill an enemy, and take _his_
-medicine-bag to replace his own. If, without losing his own, he captures
-that of an enemy, he is entitled to assume a "double medicine," and with
-two medicine-bags about him he stalks to and fro, the observed of all
-observers. To take a medicine-bag is not less honourable than to take a
-scalp, and the successful bearer has all the advantage of the double
-protection afforded by the double charm.
-
-It is seldom that an Indian will voluntarily part with his medicine-bag,
-and if he does, he forfeits his reputation almost irretrievably. Now and
-then he is persuaded by the white man to bury it, but its place of
-interment immediately assumes an air of sanctity in his eyes. He frequents
-the spot as if drawn thither by an irresistible influence, will throw
-himself on the sod, and talk to the buried treasure as if it were alive.
-Sometimes he will offer sacrifices to it, and if he be a rich man, will
-even offer a horse. On the latter occasion, the whole tribe take part in
-the ceremony, and march forth to the prairie in picturesque procession,
-led by the owner of the medicine-bag, who drives before him his most
-valued and valuable steed, decked with coloured devices. At the appointed
-spot, he delivers a long prayer or oration to the Great Spirit, and sets
-free the horse, which thenceforth enjoys the free life of the wild horses
-of the prairie, and if at any time recaptured is immediately released.
-
-The position which in most savage tribes is held by the priest, among the
-American Indians is held by the "medicine-man." His influence is
-considerable, and his powers are supposed to be vast. He is called upon to
-heal the sick and save the dying, and, above all, to bring down the genial
-rain from heaven when it is needed for the growth of the crops.
-
-We owe to Mr. Catlin an interesting description of the rain-making
-ceremony. A drought had withered the maize-fields for some weeks, and
-application for help having been made to the medicine-men they duly set to
-work. On the first day one Wah-ku, or the Shield, came to the front; but
-failed--that day an equally unsuccessful experiment was made by Om-pah, or
-the Elk. The third day was devoted to Wa-rah-pa, or the Beaver, and on the
-fourth recourse was had to Wak-a-dah-ha-ku, the White Buffalo Hair, who
-was strong in the possession of a shield coloured with red lightnings, and
-in the arrow which he carried in his hand.
-
-Taking his station by the medicine-lodge, he harangued the people,
-protesting that for the good of his tribe he was willing to sacrifice
-himself, and that if he did not bring the much-desired rain, he was
-content to live for the rest of his life with the old women and the dogs.
-He asserted that the first medicine-man had failed, because his shield
-warded off the rain-clouds; the second, who wore a head-dress made of a
-raven's skin, because the raven was a bird that soared above the storm,
-and cared not whether the rain came or stayed; and the third, because the
-beaver was always wet, and required no rain. But as for him,
-Wak-a-dah-ha-ku, the red lightnings on his shield would attract the
-rain-clouds, and his arrow would pierce them, and pour the water over the
-thirsty fields.
-
-It chanced that, as he ended his oration, a steamer, the first that had
-ever ploughed the Missouri river, fired a salute from a twelve-pounder
-gun, as she passed the Mandan village. To the Indians the roar of the
-cannon was like the voice of thunder, and their joy knew no bounds. The
-successful medicine-man was loaded with valuable gifts; mothers hastened
-to offer their daughters to him in marriage; and the elder medicine-men
-issued from the lodge, eager to enrol him in their order. But, from the
-roof of the lodge, where he had taken his stand, Wak-a-dah-ha-ku
-discovered the steamer, as she dashed up the river, and discharged her gun
-again and yet again. He hastened to address the chiefs and people,
-explaining that the sounds they heard were not those of thunder, but that
-his potent medicine had brought a thunder-boat to the village. To the
-river-bank rushed the wondering population, and the rest of the day was
-spent in a fever of excitement, in which the rain-maker was forgotten.
-Just before sunset his quick eyes discovered a black cloud, which,
-unobserved by the noisy multitude, swiftly came up from the horizon. At
-once he assumed his station on the roof of the lodge; strung his bow and
-made ready his arrow; arrested the attention of his fellows by his loud
-and exultant speech; and as the cloud impended over the village, shot his
-arrow into the sky. Lo, the rain immediately descended in torrents,
-wetting the rain-maker to the skin, but establishing in everybody's mind a
-firm and deep conviction of his power.
-
-All night raged the storm; but unhappily a flash of lightning penetrated
-one of the wigwams, and killed a young girl. The newly-made medicine-man
-was sorely terrified by this catastrophe, which he feared the chiefs would
-impute to him, making him responsible for the girl's death, and punishing
-him accordingly.
-
-But he was a man of much astuteness, and early in the morning, collecting
-three of his best horses, he mounted the lodge-roof again, and for a third
-time addressed the people of his tribe.
-
-"Friends," he said, "my medicine was too strong, I am young, and I did not
-know where to stop. I did not regulate its power. And now the wigwam of
-Mah-sish is laid low, and many are the eyes that weep for Ko-ka, the
-antelope. Wak-a-dah-ha-ku gives three horses to rejoice the hearts of
-those who sorrow for Ko-ka. His medicine is great. His arrow pierced the
-black cloud, and the lightning came, and with it the thunder-boat. Who
-says that the medicine of Wak-a-dah-ha-ku is not strong?"
-
-This artful address was received with much favour, and thenceforward
-Wak-a-dah-ha-ku was known as the "Big Double Medicine."
-
-Of the medical practices of these medicine-men Mr. Kane, in his
-"Wanderings of an Artist," furnishes a striking illustration.
-
-"About ten o'clock at night," he says, "I strolled into the village, and
-on hearing a great noise in one of the lodges, I entered it, and found an
-old woman supporting one of the handsomest Indian girls I had ever seen.
-She was in a state of nudity. Cross-legged and naked, in the middle of the
-room, sat the medicine-man, with a wooden dish of water before him;
-twelve or fifteen other men were sitting round the lodge. The object in
-view was to cure the girl of a disease affecting her side. As soon as my
-presence was noticed, a space was cleared for me to sit down.
-
-"The officiating medicine-man appeared in a state of profuse perspiration,
-from the exertions he had used, and soon took his seat among the rest, as
-if quite exhausted; a younger medicine-man then took his place in front of
-the bowl, and close beside the patient.
-
-"Throwing off his blanket, he commenced singing and gesticulating in the
-most violent manner, whilst the others kept time by beating with little
-sticks in hollow wooden bowls and drums, singing continually. After
-exercising himself in this manner for about half an hour, until the
-perspiration ran down his body, he darted suddenly upon the young woman,
-catching hold of her side with his teeth, and shaking her for a few
-minutes, while the patient seemed to suffer great agony. He then
-relinquished his hold, and cried out he had got it, at the same time
-holding his hands to his mouth; after which he plunged them in the water
-and pretended to hold down with great difficulty the disease which he had
-extracted, lest it might spring out and return to its victim.
-
-"At length, having obtained the mastery over it, he turned round to me in
-an exulting manner, and held up something between the finger and thumb of
-each hand, which had the appearance of a piece of cartilage; whereupon one
-of the Indians sharpened his knife, and divided it in two, having one in
-each hand. One of the pieces he threw into the water and the other into
-the fire, accompanying the action with a diabolical noise which none but a
-medicine-man can make. After which he got up perfectly satisfied with
-himself, although the poor patient seemed to me anything but relieved by
-the violent treatment she had undergone."
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-A considerable amount of superstition attaches to the calumet, or
-medicine-pipe, by which all the great questions of peace and war are
-settled. This pipe is borne by an individual specially selected for the
-honour, who, during his term of office, is not less sacred than the pipe
-he carries. His seat is always on the right side of the lodge, and no one
-is suffered to interpose between him and the fire. He is not even allowed
-to cut his own food, but his wives cut it for him, and place it in an
-official food-bowl, specially reserved for his use. As for the calumet, it
-is hung outside the lodge in a large bag, which is picturesquely and gaily
-embroidered. Much ceremony attends its uncovering. Whatever the weather,
-or the time of year, the bearer begins by stripping off all his garments
-except his cloth, and he then pours upon a red-hot coal some fragrant gum,
-which fills the air with perfumed smoke. Removing the different wrappers,
-he fills the bowl with tobacco, and blows the smoke to the four points of
-the compass, to the earth, and to the sky, with each breath uttering a
-prayer to the Great Spirit for assistance in war against all enemies, and
-for bison and corn from all parts. With equal ceremony the pipe, which no
-woman is allowed to see, is restored to its bag. The whole proceeding
-takes place in the deepest silence.
-
-The bowl of the calumet is made of a peculiar stone, found in the Red
-Pipe-stone Quarry, on the Citeau des Prairies, a place to which the
-following tradition attaches. We give it as related by Mr. Catlin:
-
-Here, he says, according to the Indian traditions, happened the mysterious
-birth of the red pipe, which has blown its fumes of peace and war to the
-remotest corners of the continent, which has visited every warrior, and
-passed through its reddened stem the irrevocable oath of war and
-desolation. And here, also, the peace-breathing calumet was born, and
-fringed with the eagle's quills, which has shed its thrilling fumes over
-the land, and soothed the fury of the relentless savage.
-
-At a remote period the Great Spirit here called the Indian nations
-together, and, standing on the precipice of the red pipe-stone rock, broke
-from its wall a piece, and made a huge pipe by turning it in his hand,
-which he smoked over them, to the north, the south, the east, and the
-west, and told that this stone was red,--that it was their flesh,--that
-they must use it for their pipes of peace,--that it belonged to them
-all,--and that the war-club and scalping-knife must not be raised on its
-ground. At the last whiff of his pipe his head went into a great cloud,
-and the whole surface of the rock for several miles was melted and
-glazed. Two great ovens were opened beneath, and two women (guardian
-spirits of the place) entered them in a blaze of fire; and they are heard
-there yet, (Tso-mec-cos-tu and Tso-me-cos-te-won-du,) answering to
-invocations of the high priests or medicine-men, who consult them when
-they are visitors to this sacred place.
-
-The reader will remember, perhaps, the allusion to the Peace-pipe in
-Longfellow's "Hiawatha,"--
-
-  "On the mountains of the Prairie,
-  On the great Red Pipe-stone quarry,
-  Gitche Manito, the Mighty,
-  He the Master of Life, descending,
-  On the red crags of the quarry
-  Stood erect, and called the nations,
-  Called the tribes of men together.
-    From his footprints flowed a river,
-  Leaped into the light of morning,
-  O'er the precipice plunging downward,
-  Gleamed like Ishkoodah, the comet.
-  And the Spirit, stooping earthward,
-  With his finger on the meadows,
-  Traced a winding pathway for it,
-  Saying to it, 'Run in this way!'
-    From the red stone of the quarry
-  With his hand he broke a fragment,
-  Moulded it into a pipe-head,
-  Shaped and fashioned it with figures;
-  From the margin of the river
-  Took a long reed for a pipe-stem,
-  With its dark green leaves upon it;
-  Filled the pipe with bark of willow;
-  With the bark of the red willow;
-  Breathed upon the neighbouring forest,
-  Made its great boughs chafe together,
-  Till in flame they burst and kindled;
-  And erect upon the mountains,
-  Gitche Manito, the mighty,
-  Smoked the calumet, the Peace-pipe,
-  As a signal to the nations."
-
-Some of the legends of the Indian tribes are of a very picturesque, and
-even poetical character, as may be seen in Mr. Schoolcraft's "Algic
-Researches." Take, as an example, the graceful tradition of the Red Swan.
-
-Three brothers went out to the chase, excited by a wager to see who would
-carry home the first game. But the binding and limiting condition was,
-that each was to shoot no other animal than those he was in the habit of
-killing.
-
-They set out in different directions. Odjebwa, the youngest, had not gone
-far before he saw a bear, an animal which by the agreement he had no right
-to kill. He followed him close, however, and drove an arrow through him,
-which brought him to the ground. Although contrary to the bet, he
-immediately began to skin him, when suddenly something red tinged all the
-air around him. He rubbed his eyes, thinking he was perhaps deceived, but
-without effect, for the red hue continued. At length he heard a strange
-noise in the distance. It first resembled a human voice; but after
-following it up for some time, he reached the shores of a lake, and then
-discovered the object he was in search of. Far out on the shining waters
-sat a most beautiful Red Swan, whose plumage glittered in the sunshine;
-and ever and anon he made the noise which had before attracted Odjebwa's
-attention. He was within longbow range, and pulling the arrow from the
-bow-string up to his ear, he took deliberate aim, and shot. The arrow took
-no effect, and he shot again and again until his quiver was empty. Still
-the swan remained statelily circling round and round, stretching its long
-neck, and dipping its bill into the water, indifferent to the missiles
-aimed at it. Odjebwa ran home, secured all his own and his brother's
-arrows, and these too, ineffectually shot away: then stood and gazed at
-the beautiful bird.
-
-While thus standing, he remembered a saying of his brother's, that in
-their deceased father's medicine-bag were three magic arrows. Off he
-started, his anxiety to kill the swan overcoming every scruple. At any
-other time he would have deemed it a sacrilege to open his father's
-medicine-bag, but now he hastily violated it, seized the three magic
-arrows and ran back. The swan was still floating on the lake. He shot the
-first arrow with great precision, and came very near his mark. The second
-flew still nearer; and as he took the third and last arrow, he felt his
-arm strengthen, and drawing it up with vigour, sent the shaft right
-through the neck of the swan, a little above the breast. Still even this
-death-stroke did not prevent the bird from flying off,--which it did very
-slowly, flapping its wings, and rising gradually into the air, until it
-passed far away into the sunset.
-
-Quoting again from Longfellow, we place before the reader his allusion to
-this pretty legend:--
-
-  "Can it be the sun descending
-  O'er the level plain of water?
-  Or the Red Swan, floating, flying,
-  Wounded by the magic arrow,
-  Staining all the waves with crimson,
-  With the crimson of its life-blood,
-  Filling all the air with splendour,
-  With the splendour of its plumage?
-    Yes; it is the sun descending,
-  Sinking down into the water;
-  No; it is the Red Swan floating,
-  Diving down beneath the water;
-  To the sky its wings are lifted,
-  With its blood the waves are reddened!"
-
-The Indians regard the maize, or Indian corn, with almost superstitious
-veneration,--which is not wonderful, perhaps, when its immense importance
-to them is taken into consideration. They esteem it, says Schoolcraft, so
-important and divine a grain, that their story-tellers invented various
-tales, in which this idea is symbolised under the form of a special gift
-from the Great Spirit. The Odjebwa-Algonquins, who call it Mon-da-min, or
-the Spirit's grain or berry, cherish a legend, in which the stalk in full
-tassel is represented as descending from the sky, under the guise of a
-handsome youth; in response to the prayers of a young man offered at his
-fast of virility, or coming to manhood.
-
-  "All around the happy village
-  Stood the maize-fields, green and shining,
-  Waved the green plumes of Mondamin,
-  Waved his soft and sunny tresses,
-  Filling all the land with plenty."
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XVI.
-
-_AMONG THE ESKIMOS._
-
-
-The success which has attended the labours of the Lutheran and Moravian
-Missionaries among the Eskimos has been well deserved by their
-self-denying devotedness. Few of the Arctic tribes are now outside the
-pale of Christianity; and all have been more or less directly influenced
-by its elements of purification and elevation. But prior to the coming of
-the pioneers of the Cross, the moral code of the Eskimo was curiously
-imperfect, and did not recognise murder, infanticide, incest, and the
-burial of the living among its crimes. Woe to the unfortunate vessel which
-touched upon the coast! The Eskimos were not less treacherous than the
-Polynesians of the Eastern Seas. And Krantz relates the story of a Dutch
-brig that was seized by the natives at the port of Disco in 1740. The
-whole crew were murdered. Two years later a similar fate befell the crew
-of another vessel that had accidentally stranded.
-
-The religion or creed of the aborigines seems to have been very vague and
-imperfect. It is certain, however, that they believed in the immortality
-of the spirit, and in a heaven and a hell. It was natural enough that
-their conception of the latter should be affected by the conditions under
-which they lived; that their experience of the miseries of an Arctic
-climate should lead them to think of hell as a region of darkness and of
-ice, traversed by endless snow-storms, and without any seals.
-
-They placed implicit confidence in their angekoks, or angekos, or
-"medicine-men," ascribing to them almost unlimited powers over the things
-of earth and sea, this world and the next. When setting out for the chase,
-or prostrated by illness, they always sought the assistance of the
-angekoks, who, on such occasions, indulged in a variety of strange
-ceremonies. The nature of these may be inferred from what was witnessed by
-Captain Lyon, who, during his famous Arctic voyage, bribed an angekok,
-named Toolemak, to summon a Tomga, or familiar demon, in the cabin of his
-ship.
-
-All light having been carefully excluded from the scene of operations, the
-sorcerer began by vehemently chanting to his wife, who, in her turn,
-responded with the Amna-aya, the favourite song of the Eskimo. This lasted
-throughout the ceremony. Afterwards, Toolemak began to turn himself round
-very rapidly, vociferating for Tomga, in a loud powerful voice and with
-great impatience, at the same time blowing and snorting like a walrus. His
-noise, agitation, and impatience increased every moment, and at length he
-seated himself on the deck, varying his tones, and making a rustling with
-his clothes.
-
-Suddenly the voice seemed smothered, and was so managed as to give the
-idea that it was retreating beneath the deck, each moment becoming more
-distant, and ultimately sounding as if it were many feet below the cabin,
-when it ceased entirely. In answer to Captain Lyon's queries, the
-sorcerer's wife seriously declared that he had dived and would send up
-Tomga.
-
-And, in about half a minute, a distant blowing was heard approaching very
-slowly, and a voice differing from that which had first been audible was
-mixed with the blowing, until eventually both sounds became distinct, and
-the old beldame said that Tomga had come to answer the stranger's
-questions. Captain Lyon thereupon put several queries to the sagacious
-spirit, receiving what was understood to be an affirmative or a favourable
-answer by two loud slaps on the deck.
-
-A very hollow yet powerful voice, certainly differing greatly from that of
-Toolemak, then chanted for some time; and a singular medley of hisses,
-groans, shouts, and gobblings like a turkey's, followed in swift
-succession. The old woman sang with increased energy, and as Captain Lyon
-conjectured that the exhibition was intended to astonish "the Kabloona,"
-he said repeatedly that he was greatly terrified. As he expected, this
-admission added fuel to the flame, until the form immortal, exhausted by
-its own might, asked leave to retire. The voice gradually died away out of
-hearing, as at first, and a very indistinct hissing succeeded. In its
-advance it sounded like the tone produced by the wind upon the bass cord
-of an Aeolian harp; this was soon changed to a rapid hiss, like that of a
-rocket, and Toolemak, with a yell, announced the spirit's return. At the
-first distant sibilation Captain Lyon held his breath, and twice exhausted
-himself; but the Eskimo conjuror did not once respire, and even his
-returning and powerful yell was uttered without previous pause or
-inspiration of air.
-
-When light was admitted, the wizard, as might be expected, was in a state
-of profuse perspiration, and greatly exhausted by his exertions, which had
-continued for at least half an hour. Captain Lyon then observed a couple
-of bunches, each consisting of two strips of white deerskin and a long
-piece of sinew, attached to the back of his coat. These he had not seen
-before, and he was gravely told that they had been sewn on by Tomga while
-he was below.
-
-During his absence, the angekok professes to visit the dwelling-place of
-the particular spirit he has invoked, and he will sometimes astonish his
-audience with a description of the nether-world and its inhabitants. For
-instance, there is a female spirit called Aywilliayoo, who commands, by
-means of her right hand, all the bears, whales, seals, and walruses.
-Therefore, when a lack of provisions is experienced, the angekok pays a
-visit to Aywilliayoo, and attacks her hand. If he can cut off her nails,
-the bears are immediately released; the loss of one finger-joint liberates
-the small seals; the second joint dismisses the larger seals; the knuckles
-place at liberty the whole herds of walruses, while the entire hand
-liberates the whale.
-
-Aywilliayoo is tall, with only one eye and one pigtail, but as this
-pigtail is as large as a man's leg, and descends to her knee, she may well
-be contented with it. She owns a splendid house, which, however, Toolemak
-refrained from entering, because it was guarded by a huge dog, with black
-hindquarters and no tail. Her father, in size, might be mistaken for a
-boy of ten years old; he has but one arm, which is always encased in a
-large bear-skin mitten.
-
-Dr. Kane considers it a fact of psychological interest, as it shows that
-civilised or savage wonder-workers form a single family, that the angekoks
-have a firm belief in their own powers. "I have known," he says, "several
-of them personally, and can speak with confidence on this point. I could
-not detect them in any resort to jugglery or natural magic: their
-deceptions are simply vocal, a change of voice, and perhaps a limited
-profession of ventriloquism, made more imposing by the darkness." They
-have, however, like the members of the learned professions everywhere
-else, a certain language or jargon of their own, in which they communicate
-with each other.
-
-While the angekoks are the dispensers of good, the issintok, or evil men,
-are the workers of injurious spells, enchantments, and metamorphoses. Like
-the witches of both Englands, the Old and the New, these malignant
-creatures are rarely submitted to trial until they have suffered
-punishment--the old "Jeddart justice"--_castigat auditque_. Two of them,
-in 1818, suffered the penalty of their crime on the same day, one at
-Kannonak, the other at Upernavik. The latter was laudably killed in
-accordance with the "old custom" ... custom being everywhere the apology
-for any act revolting to moral sense. He was first harpooned, then
-disembowelled; a flap letdown from his forehead "to cover his eyes and
-prevent his seeing again"--he had, it appears, the repute of an evil eye;
-and then small portions of his heart were eaten, to ensure that he should
-not come back to earth unchanged.
-
-When an Eskimo has injured any one of his countrymen,--has cut his
-seal-lines, or lamed his dogs, or burned his bladder-float--or perpetrated
-some equally grievous offence--the angekok summons him to meet the
-countryside before the tribunal of the hunapok. The friends of the
-parties, and the idlers for miles around, assemble about the justice-seat;
-it may be at some little cluster of huts, or, if the weather permit, in
-the open air. The accuser rises, and strikes a few discords with a
-seal-rib on a tom-tom or drum. "He then passes to the charge, and pours
-out in long paragraphic words all the abuse and ridicule to which his
-outrageous vernacular can give expression. The accused meanwhile is
-silent; but, as the orator pauses after a signal hit, or to flourish a
-cadence on his musical instrument, the whole audience, friends, neutrals,
-and opponents signalise their approval by outcries as harmonious as those
-we sometimes hear in our town meetings at home. Stimulated by the
-applause, and warming with his own fires, the accuser renews the attack,
-his eloquence becoming more and more licentious and vituperative, until it
-has exhausted either his strength or his vocabulary of invective. Now
-comes the accused, with defence, and counter-charge, and retorted abuse;
-the assembly still listening and applauding through a lengthened session.
-The Homeric debate at a close, the angekoks hold a powwow, and a penalty
-is denounced against the accused for his guilt, or the accuser for his
-unsustained prosecution."
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XVII.
-
-_A MEDIAEVAL SUPERSTITION: THE FLAGELLANTS._
-
-
-Among the extraordinary delusions of the human mind, none is more hateful
-than the conviction cherished among so many sects, that the Supreme Being
-can be propitiated by the self-imposed torture of His worshippers. And
-nothing more vividly illustrates the difference between the GOD of the
-Christian religion and the stern deity of so many human creeds, than the
-aspect of the former as man's Heavenly FATHER, Who requires from him no
-other offering than that of a contrite and humble heart,--Who asks not
-that the Indian Fakir should cramp his limbs and lacerate his body, or
-that S. Simeon Stylites should stand night and day, in the scorching sun
-of summer, and the freezing cold of winter, on his lonely pillar. It is a
-proof of our wider and deeper knowledge of GOD that we are beginning to
-emancipate ourselves from the thraldom of this evil idea, and to recognise
-in Him a tender, compassionate Guide and Friend, Who, unto them that love
-Him, causeth all things to work for the best. In modern Calvinism the
-superstition still lingers, and it is supposed that a gloomy life,
-unrelieved even by the most innocent pleasures, must needs be acceptable
-to the Almighty Love; but this shadow in the Christian's faith is rapidly
-receding before the growing and broadening light. We are sons of GOD, and
-heirs; and what He asks from us, what alone He will receive, is the
-offering of affection and the sacrifice of fear. And the greatest claim
-which Christianity puts forward to the hearts and minds of men is that it
-has delivered, or will deliver them, when rightly understood, from the
-degrading superstition of the ascetic solitary and the self-torturer.
-"Its true dignity is, that unseen it has ever gone about doing good. Link
-after link has it struck from the chain of every human thraldom; error
-after error has it banished; pain after pain has it driven from body or
-from mind; and so silently has the blessing come, that (like the sick man
-whom the SAVIOUR made to walk) 'he that was healed wist not who it was.'"
-
-But error is slow to die; and long after the introduction of Christianity
-men continued to think that GOD would not hear them, unless, like the
-priests of Baal, they approached Him in blood and tears. At the bottom of
-it lay, no doubt, a truth, that the spirit could be exalted and purified
-only by contempt of the flesh:--and not perceiving that what was demanded
-of them was a moral and spiritual victory, they sought, by sore treatment
-of the body, to conquer its sinful appetites. They forgot that CHRIST had
-spoken of the body as "a temple,"--the temple of the HOLY GHOST; that it
-was as much the creation of GOD as the immortal soul, and as His wondrous
-handiwork should be treated with the reverence due to all that He has
-made. And they came to look upon the body as a deadly enemy, the slave and
-accomplice of the devil, which could be subdued only by a regimen of pain
-and terror. And so, when an evil suggestion tempted them, they scourged
-themselves until the blood ran from their mangled flesh, or they plunged
-naked into the deep winter snow, or barefooted they trod the flinty soil,
-or they fasted until the exhausted brain sank into the stupor of delirium.
-
-Thus we read of S. Hilarion:--
-
-Covering his limbs only with a sackcloth, and having a cloak of skin, he
-wandered forth into the desert that lies beyond Gaza, and enjoyed the
-"vast and terrible solitude," feeding on only fifteen figs after the
-setting of the sun; and because the region was of ill repute from
-robberies, no man had ever before stayed in that place. The devil, seeing
-what he was doing, and whither he had gone, was tormented. And he who of
-old boasted, saying: "I shall ascend into heaven, I shall sit above the
-stars of heaven, and shall be like unto the Most High," now saw that he
-had been conquered by a boy, and trampled under foot by him, who, on
-account of his youth, could commit no sin. He therefore began to tempt his
-senses; but he, enraged with himself, and beating his breast with his
-fist, as if he would drive out thoughts by blows, "I will force thee, mine
-ass," said he, "not to kick; and feed thee with straw, not barley. I will
-wear thee out with hunger and thirst; I will burden thee with heavy loads;
-I will hunt thee through heat and cold, till thou thinkest more of food
-than of play." He therefore sustained his sinking spirit with the juice of
-herbs and a few figs, after each three or four days, praying frequently,
-and singing psalms, and digging the ground with a mattock, to increase the
-labour of fasting by that of work. At the same time, by weaving baskets of
-rushes, he imitated the discipline of the Egyptian monks, and the
-Apostle's saying, "He that will not work, neither let him eat," till he
-was so attenuated, and his body so exhausted, that his flesh scarce clung
-to his bones.
-
-"From his sixteenth to his twentieth year," says Kingsley, "he was
-sheltered from the heat and rain in a tiny cabin, which he had woven of
-rush and sedge. Afterwards he built a little cell, four feet wide and five
-feet high,--that is lower than his own stature, and somewhat longer than
-his small body needed,--so that you would believe it a tomb rather than a
-dwelling. He cut his hair only once a year, on Easter Day, and lay till
-his death on the bare ground and a layer of rushes, never washing the sack
-in which he was clothed, and saying that it was superfluous to seek for
-cleanliness in hair-cloth. Nor did he change his linen until the first was
-utterly in rags. He knew the Scriptures by heart, and recited them after
-his prayers and psalms as if GOD were present."
-
-Of S. Simeon Stylites we read that, having gone to the well one day to
-draw water, he took the rope from the bucket, and wound it round his body
-from his loins to his neck, and going in, he adventured an audacious
-falsehood, for he said to his brethren, "I went out to draw water, and
-found no rope on the bucket." And they said, "Hold thy peace, brother,
-lest the Abbot know it, till the thing has passed over." But the tightness
-and roughness of the rope wore grievous wounds in his body, as the
-brethren at last discovered. Then with great trouble they took off the
-rope, and his flesh with it, and attending to his wounds, healed them.
-
-For twenty-eight years of his life he was continually experimenting in
-long fasts--forty days at a time. Custom gradually made it comparatively
-easy to him. For on the first days he used to stand and praise GOD; after
-that, when through emptiness he could stand no longer, he would sit and
-perform the divine office, and on the last day even lie down. For when his
-strength failed slowly, he was forced to lie half dead. But after he stood
-on the column he could not bear to lie down, but invented another way by
-which he could stand. He fastened a beam to the column, and tied himself
-to it by ropes, and so passed the forty days. But afterwards, when endued
-with greater grace from on high, he did not need even that assistance, but
-stood for the whole forty days, dispensing with food, but strengthened by
-eagerness of soul and the divine help.
-
-At length he caused a pillar to be built, first of six cubits, then of
-twelve, next of twenty-two, and finally of thirty-six, and upon the top of
-this he took his station. The sun beat upon his bare head in the summer,
-and the winter snows fell upon him, and the pitiless rains soaked him to
-the skin,--but still he endured his self-imposed penance. He bowed himself
-frequently, offering adoration to GOD; so frequently that a spectator
-counted 1244 adorations, and then missing gave up counting; and each time
-he bowed himself, he touched his feet with his forehead. And ever in
-spirit he deprecated the wrath of an offended GOD, to Whom, as a meet
-sacrifice, he offered up his poor, wounded, tortured, emaciated body.
-
-  "I will not cease to grasp the hope I hold
-  Of saintdom, and to clamour, mourn and sob,
-  Battering the gates of heaven with storms of prayer.
-  Have mercy on me, LORD, and take away my sins,
-  Let this avail, just, dreadful, mighty GOD,
-  This not be all in vain, that thrice ten years
-  Thrice multiplied by superhuman pangs....
-  A sign between the meadow and the cloud,
-  Patient on this tall pillar I have borne
-  Rain, wind, frost, heat, hail, damp, and sleet, and snow;
-  And I had hoped that ere this period closed,
-  Thou wouldst have caught me up into Thy rest,
-  Denying not these weather-beaten limbs
-  The meed of saints, the white robe, and the palm.
-  O take the meaning, LORD: I do not breathe
-  Nor whisper any murmur of complaint."[58]
-
-We turn from these pictures of human error,--error based, it must be
-owned, on a substratum of truth,--to put together a few particulars of the
-Sect of the Flagellants, which practised on a curiously elaborate scale
-the science of self-punishment.
-
-This sect first made its appearance in Italy in 1210. The following
-account of its origin is taken by Mr. Cooper from the "Chronicon Ursitius
-Basiliensis" of the monk of Padua, S. Justin:[59]
-
-"When all Italy was sullied with crimes of every kind, a certain sudden
-superstition, hitherto unknown to the world, first seized the inhabitants
-of Perusa, afterwards the Romans, and then almost all the nations of
-Italy. To such a degree were they affected with the fear of GOD, that
-noble as well as ignoble persons, young and old, even children five years
-of age, would go naked about the streets without any sense of shame,
-walking in public, two and two, in the manner of a solemn procession.
-Every one of them held in his hand a scourge, made of leather thongs, and
-with tears and groans they lashed themselves on their backs till the blood
-ran: all the while weeping and giving tokens of the same bitter
-affliction, as if they had really been spectators of the passion of our
-SAVIOUR, imploring the forgiveness of GOD and His Mother, and praying that
-He, Who had been appeased by the repentance of so many sinners, would not
-disdain theirs. And not only in the daytime, but likewise during the
-nights, hundreds, thousands, and ten thousands of these penitents ran,
-notwithstanding the rigour of winter, about the streets, and in churches,
-with lighted wax candles in their hands, and preceded by priests who
-carried crosses and banners along with them, and with humility prostrated
-themselves before the altars: the same scenes were to be seen in small
-towns and villages; so that the mountains and fields seemed to resound
-alike the voice of men who were crying to GOD.
-
-"All musical instruments and love-songs ceased to be heard. The only music
-that prevailed both in town and country was that of the lugubrious voice
-of the penitent, whose mournful accents might have moved hearts of flint:
-and even the eyes of the obdurate sinner could not refrain from tears. Nor
-were women exempt from the general spirit of devotion we mention; for not
-only those among the common people, but also matrons and young ladies of
-noble families, would perform the same mortifications with modesty in
-their own rooms.
-
-"Then those who were at enmity with one another became again friends.
-Usurers and robbers hastened to restore their ill-gotten riches to their
-right owners. Others, who were contaminated with different crimes,
-confessed them with humility, and renounced their vanities. Gaols were
-opened; prisoners were delivered; and banished persons permitted to return
-to their native habitations. So many and so great works of sanctity and
-Christian charity, in short, were then performed by both men and women,
-that it seemed as if an universal apprehension had seized mankind, that
-the divine power was preparing either to consume them by fire, or destroy
-them by shaking the earth, or some other of those means which Divine
-justice knows how to employ for avenging crimes. Such a sudden repentance,
-which had thus diffused itself all over Italy, and had even reached other
-countries, not only the unlearned, but wise persons also admired. They
-wondered whence such a vehement fervour of piety could have proceeded:
-especially since such public penances and ceremonies had been unheard of
-in former times, had not been approved by the sovereign pontiff, nor
-recommended by any preacher or person of eminence; but had taken their
-origin among simple persons, whose example both learned and unlearned
-alike had followed."
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-In 1260, the sect was reconstituted by Rainer, a hermit of Perugia, and it
-sprang up with such vigour and alacrity, that its members soon numbered
-10,000, who marched in procession, carrying banners and crosses. The folly
-soon crossed the Alps into Germany, and found its disciples in Bohemia and
-Poland, Alsatia and Bavaria. It was sternly repressed by the different
-governments, but in 1349, when the plague broke out in Germany, it again
-lifted up its head. Albert of Strasburg relates[60] that two hundred came
-from Schwaben to Speier, under one chief and two lieutenants, whom they
-almost slavishly obeyed. Their form of proceedings was always the same:
-placing themselves within a circle drawn on the ground, they removed their
-clothing, until nothing was left but a covering for the loins. Then they
-walked, with arms outstretched like a cross, round and round the circle
-for a time, finally prostrating themselves on the ground. Springing to
-their feet, each struck his neighbour with a scourge, armed with knots and
-four iron points, regulating his blows by his singing of psalms. At a
-given signal the discipline ceased, and the fanatics threw themselves
-first on their knees, then flat upon the ground, groaning and sobbing. The
-leader, on rising, gave a brief address, exhorting them to ask the mercy
-of God upon their benefactors and enemies, and also on the souls in
-purgatory. This was followed by another prostration, and then another
-discipline. Those who had taken charge of the clothes now came forward,
-and performed the same ceremonies.
-
-"Penance took place twice a day: in the morning and evening the
-flagellants went abroad in pairs, singing psalms amid the ringing of
-bells, and when they arrived at the place of flagellation they stripped
-the upper part of their bodies, and took off their shoes, wearing only a
-linen dress from the waist to the ankles. Then they lay down in a large
-circle in different positions, according to the nature of their crime: the
-adulterer with his face to the ground; the perjurer on one side, holding
-up three of his fingers, &c., and were then castigated, more or less
-severely by the master, who gave the order to rise in the words of a
-prescribed formula:
-
-  'Stant uf durch der reinen Martel ere;
-  Und huete dich vor der Suenden mere.'"
-
-After which they scourged themselves, chanting psalms and uttering prayers
-for deliverance from the plague.
-
-Hecker, quoted by Mr. Cooper, thus describes the resuscitation of the
-sect:
-
-"While all countries were filled with lamentations and woe, there first
-arose in Hungary, and afterwards in Germany, the Brotherhood of the
-Flagellants, called also the Brotherhood of the Cross, or Cross-Bearers,
-who took upon themselves the repentance of the people for the sins they
-had committed, and offered prayers and supplications for the averting of
-this plague. The order consisted chiefly of the lowest class, who were
-either actuated by sincere contrition, or joyfully availed themselves of
-this pretext for idleness, and were hurried along with the tide of
-distracting frenzy. But as these brotherhoods gained in repute, and were
-welcomed by the people with veneration and enthusiasm, many nobles and
-ecclesiastics ranged themselves under their standard, and their bands were
-not unfrequently augmented by children, honourable women, and nuns, so
-powerfully were minds of the most opposite temperaments enslaved by this
-infatuation. They marched through the cities in well-organised
-processions, with leaders and singers; their heads covered as far as their
-eyes, their looks fixed on the ground, accompanied by every token of the
-deepest contrition and mourning. They were robed in sombre garments with
-red crosses on the breast, back, and cap, and bore triple scourges tied in
-three or four knots, in which points of iron were fixed. Tapers and
-magnificent banners of velvet and cloth of gold were carried before them;
-wherever they made their appearance they were welcomed by the ringing of
-bells, and crowds of people came from great distances to listen to their
-hymns and to witness their penance with devotion and tears. In the year
-1349, two hundred flagellants first entered Strasburg, where they were
-received with great joy and hospitality, and lodged by the citizens. Above
-a thousand joined the brotherhood, which now assumed the appearance of a
-wandering tribe, and separated into two bodies for the purpose of
-journeying to the north and to the south."
-
-The Flagellants, however, did not secure the favour of the ecclesiastical
-authorities; who discerned only too clearly the demoralising effect of
-their practices and pretensions. Pope Clement VI. issued a bull against
-them, and their influence gradually waned and seemed on the point of
-dying out, when, in 1414, it was revived by one Conrad, who, of course,
-professed to have received a Divine commission. The terrors of the
-Inquisition were now hurled against the sect, and ninety-one deluded
-wretches were burned alive at Sangerhausen, besides numbers at other
-places. It continued, however, to exhibit occasional signs of vitality;
-and in the sixteenth century broke, in France, into three great branches,
-the White, Black, and Grey Penitents, companions of whom were scattered
-over the whole kingdom, but chiefly in the southern provinces. Catherine
-de Medicis, at Avignon, in 1574, assumed the lead of the Black Penitents,
-and took part in their disgusting ceremonies. Henry III., in 1585,
-established a White Penance brotherhood, which paraded in public
-procession through the streets of Paris. The better members of the clergy
-preached against the fanaticism; the wits of Paris levelled their ridicule
-at it; and finally, in 1601, the Parliament of Paris passed an act to
-abolish a fraternity of Flagellants, called the Blue Penitents, in the
-town of Bourges, and afterwards against all whipping brotherhoods without
-distinction, declaring the members to be not only heretics, traitors, and
-regicides, but unchaste. The fraternity thereafter declined, and finally
-disappeared from France.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XVIII.
-
-_SCOTTISH SUPERSTITIONS: HALLOWEEN._
-
-
-The imaginative element in the character of the Celtic race naturally
-predisposes them to the reception and retention of fanciful ideas in
-connection with our relations to the unseen. Keenly sensible of the
-existence of supernatural influences, they are morbidly curious as to the
-mode in which they act upon humanity, and ever desirous to propitiate or
-guard against them. There is something in the presence of the sea and the
-mountains which fosters a habit of reverie; and the mind, awed and
-perplexed by the vastness of the forces of Nature, is led to give them an
-actual and definite embodiment, and to associate them directly with the
-incidents of our mortal life. Granted the existence of invisible
-creatures, there is no reason why man, who looks upon the universe as a
-circle of which he is the centre, should not suppose them to be interested
-in all that interests himself; and when this is once admitted, it follows
-as an inevitable result, that he will endeavour to make them the agents of
-his inclination or his will, unless he fears them as powers whose anger
-must be reverently deprecated. It will be found that most of the popular
-superstitions to which we refer are based upon these motives; that most of
-them originate in the desire to bribe and cajole Fortune, or to command
-and defeat it. Others will be found to have had their rise, as we have
-hinted, in the feelings of awe and wonder awakened by the mystery or the
-grandeur of Nature. The wail of waters against a rocky coast has suggested
-the cries of the ocean maiden who seeks to lure the mariner to his
-destruction; the wreathing mists floating in fantastic shapes across the
-mountain valleys, has peopled their depths with a world of spirits or
-friendly or inimical to mortals. The imagination, which has been quickened
-by Nature, proceeds in turn to breathe into Nature a new life.
-
-To some of the superstitions which haunt the glens, and peaks, and
-torrents of the Scottish Highlands, the poet Collins has alluded in one of
-his most beautiful odes. He speaks of the North as fancy's land, where
-still, it is said, the fairy people meet, beneath the shade of the
-graceful birches, upon mead or hill. To the belief in a tribe of
-hobgoblins, tiny creatures, visiting the peasant's hut in the silence of
-the night, he also refers:--
-
-  "There, each trim lass, that skims the milky store,
-    To the swart tribes their creamy bowls allots;
-  By night they sip it round the cottage door,
-    While airy minstrels warble jocund notes."
-
-The malicious disposition of the elves is thus insisted upon:--
-
-  "There every herd, by sad experience, knows
-    How, wing'd with fate, their elf-shot arrows fly,
-  When the sick ewe her summer food foregoes,
-    Or, stretch'd on earth, the heart-smit heifers lie."
-
-To superstitions of higher import the poet alludes in the following noble
-lines:--
-
-  "'Tis thine to sing, how, framing hideous spells,
-    In Skye's lone isle, the gifted wizard seer,
-  Lodged in the wintry cave with fate's fell spear,
-    Or in the depth of Uist's dark forest dwells:
-  How they, whose sight such dreary dreams engross,
-    With their own vision oft astonished droop,
-  When, o'er the watery strath, or quaggy moss.
-    They see the gliding ghosts' unbodied troop.
-  Or, if in sports, or on the festive green,
-    Their destined glance some fated youth descry,
-  Who now, perhaps, in lusty vigour seen,
-    And rosy health, shall soon lamented die.
-  For them the viewless forms of air obey;
-    Their bidding heed, and at their beck repair:
-  They know what spirit brews the stormful day,
-    And heartless, oft like moody madness, stare
-  To see the phantom train their secret work prepare."
-
-We may allow ourselves one more quotation, in which the poet accumulates
-instances of the "second sight," or power of divination, to which the
-Highland seers laid claim:--
-
-  "To monarchs dear, some hundred miles astray,
-    Oft have they seen fate give the fatal blow!
-    The sea, in Skye, shrieked as the blood did flow,
-  When headless Charles warm on the scaffold lay!
-  As Boreas threw his young Aurora forth,
-    In the first year of the first George's reign,
-  And battles raged in welkin of the North,
-    They mourned in air, fell, fell rebellion slain!
-  And as, of late, they joyed in Preston's fight,
-    Saw, at sad Falkirk, all their hopes near crowned!
-  They raved, divining through their second sight,
-    Pale-red Culloden where these hopes were drowned."
-
-This same power of second sight forms the groundwork of Campbell's poem of
-"Lochiel's Warning," in which the poet represents the aged seer or
-soothsayer in the act of warning the ferocious Highland chieftain against
-the consequences of joining Prince Charles Edward's expedition of the
-'45:--
-
-  "Lochiel, Lochiel, beware of the day
-  When the Lowlands shall meet thee in battle array.
-  The sunset of life gives me mystical lore,
-  And coming events cast their shadows before!"
-
-A curious superstition respecting "the non-giving of fire" lingers still
-in some parts of Scotland, more particularly in the North, and seems to be
-connected with the old sun-worship: a survival of the Pagan past which is
-strange enough in this matter-of-fact and prosaic Present of ours. "At
-Craigmillar, near Edinburgh, a woman, not long ago, refused to give a
-neighbour 'a bit peat' to light her fire, because she was supposed to be
-uncanny. The old woman muttered, as she turned away, that her churlish
-neighbour might yet repent of her unkindness. This speech the other
-repeated to her husband on his return from work, whereupon he went
-straight to the old woman's house, and gave her a sharp cut on the
-forehead, for which he was duly called to account, and pleaded his belief
-that scoring the witch above the breath would destroy her glamour."
-
-On certain days, such as Beltane (or S. John's Eve,) Midsummer, Halloween,
-and New Year's Day, it is regarded as most unlucky to allow a neighbour to
-take a brand from your hearth, or even to light his pipe.
-
-Evil-disposed persons, desirous of doing their neighbours an ill turn,
-will apply to them for "a kindling." Thus, in Ross-shire, an old beldame
-repaired to a neighbour's house with this intent. There was only a child
-of eight years old at home, but she was thoroughly acquainted with the
-popular superstition, and stoutly refused the applicant tinder, match, or
-lighted stick. When the old woman had departed, the girl fetched two
-friends, who straightway followed her home, to find there a blazing fire
-and a boiling pot. "See you," exclaimed the lassie, "gin the _cailliach_
-had gotten the kindling, my father would not get a herring this year."
-
-A poor tinker's wife walked one morning into a house in Applecross--this
-was as late as July, 1868--and snatched a live peat from the hearth to
-kindle her own fire. Before she had gone any distance, she was observed,
-and the gudewife sped after her, overtook her, and snatched away her
-prize. To a stranger who remonstrated with her for the unkindness, the
-gudewife exclaimed, "Do you think I am to allow my cow to be dried up? If
-I allowed her to carry away the fire, I would not have a drop of milk
-to-night to wet the bairns' mouths." And she flung the peat into a pail of
-water in order to undo the evil charm so far as possible.
-
-Allusions to this "non-giving of fire" abound in the old legends, but a
-single illustration will suffice. Of old two brother giants, Akin and
-Rhea, who dwelt on the Scottish mainland, were wont to pay frequent visits
-to the Isle of Skye by leaping across the Straits. They reared for
-themselves two strong towers in the Glenelg country, and there they lived
-in peace and good fellowship, until one day, the younger brother,
-returning from one of his excursions, found his hearth dark and cheerless,
-and passed on therefore, to his brother's castle. Stirring the smouldering
-fire into a hearty blaze, he warmed himself luxuriously, and then returned
-to his own tower, carrying with him a burning peat. Unhappily, at this
-moment, his elder brother came in from the chase, and discovering the
-theft, broke out into a violent passion. Off sped the culprit, and after
-him went his brother, hurling rock after rock in his rage, until he
-perceived that further pursuit was useless. The truth of this story is
-attested by the boulders which to this day lie strewn all over the
-valley-side.
-
-A survival of the old Paganism is, undoubtedly, this apprehension of
-ill-luck connected with the giving or stealing of fire; and it recalls to
-us the days when every mountain-peak was as an altar raised to Baal, and
-Sun and Moon were worshipped with solemn mysterious rites. On the great
-Fire-festival the priests kindled fire by friction, and the people carried
-it to their cottages, where it was kept alive all round the year and
-extinguished only when a new supply was ready. "As the purchase of the
-fire was a source of profit to the priests, it would naturally be
-considered criminal for one neighbour to give it to another at the seasons
-when every man was bound to purchase it for himself. Of course, though the
-old customs are still retained, their original meaning is utterly
-forgotten; and the man who throws a live peat after a woman who is about
-to increase the population, or he who on Halloween throws a lighted brand
-over his own shoulder without looking at whom he aims, little dreams
-whence sprang these time-honoured games." It is said that in many parts of
-the remote glens of Perthshire there are women still living who on Beltane
-morn always throw ashes and a live peat over their heads, repeating a
-certain formula of words to bring them back. But the strictest secrecy is
-observed, lest such practices should reach the ear of "the minister:" so
-the stronger their belief, the less willing are they to confess to any
-knowledge of such matters.
-
-We cannot pass from this subject without an allusion to the Fire-Churn or
-Need-Fire, which is held a sovereign charm against cattle-plague. When in
-a Highland district an invasion of murrain was apprehended, a small shanty
-or hut was erected near loch or river, and in it were placed various
-wooden posts, vertical and horizontal: the horizontal were provided with
-several spokes, and being rapidly turned round against the upright,
-quickly generated a flame by the friction. Then all other fires upon the
-farm were extinguished, to be re-lighted from the Need-fire, which all the
-cattle were afterwards made to smell, until the charm was complete.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-It was on Halloween, or All Hallows' Eve--the evening of the 31st of
-October--that Superstition ran riot, because on that particular evening
-the supernatural influences of the other world were supposed to be
-specially prevalent, and the power of divination was likewise believed to
-be at its height. Spirits then walked about with unusual freedom, and
-readily responded to the call of those armed with due authority. In the
-prehistoric past, the Druids at this time celebrated their great autumn
-Fire-Festival, insisting that all fires, except their own, should be
-extinguished, so as to compel men to purchase the sacred fire at a certain
-price. This sacred fire was fed with the peeled wood of a certain tree,
-and that it might not be polluted, was never blown with human breath.
-
-Needless to say that the sacred fire has vanished with the Druids, but the
-Halloween customs which still survive may be traced back to a hoar
-antiquity. For instance, various kinds of divination are practised, and
-chiefly with apples and nuts. Apples are a relic of the old Celtic fairy
-lore. They are thrown into a tub of water, and you endeavour to catch one
-in your mouth as they bob round and round in provoking fashion. When you
-have caught one, you peel it carefully, and pass the long strip of peel
-thrice, _sunwise_, round your head; after which you throw it over your
-shoulder, and it falls to the ground in the shape of the initial letter of
-your true love's name.
-
-As for the nuts, they would naturally suggest themselves to the dwellers
-in mighty woods, such as covered the land of old. Brand says it is a
-custom in Iceland, when the maiden would know if her lover be faithful, to
-put three nuts upon the bar of the grate, naming them after her lover and
-herself. If a nut crack or jump, the lover will prove faithless; if it
-begin to blaze or burn, it's a sign of the fervour of his affection. If
-the nuts named after the girl and her swain burn together, they will be
-married.
-
-This lover's divination is practised in Scotland, as everybody knows who
-has read Burns's poem of "Halloween:"--
-
-  "The auld guidwife's weel hoordet nits
-    Are round and round divided,
-  An' monie lads and lasses' fates
-    Are there that night decided:
-  Some kindle, couthie, side by side,
-    An' burn thegither trimly;
-  Some start awa wi' saucy pride,
-    And jump out-owre the chimlie
-          Fu' high that night.
-
-  "Jean slips in twa wi' tentie e'e;
-    Wha 'twas, she wadna tell;
-  But this is _Jock_, an' this is _me_,
-    She says in to hersel':
-  He bleez'd owre her an' she owre him,
-    As they wad never mair part;
-  Till, fuff! he started up the lum,
-    An' Jean had e'en a sair heart
-          To see't that night."
-
-In some places, on this mystic night, a stick is suspended horizontally
-from the ceiling, with a candle at one end, and an apple at the other.
-While it is made to revolve rapidly, the revellers successively leap up
-and endeavour to grasp the apple with their teeth--the hands must not be
-used--if they fail, the candle generally swings round in time to salute
-them disagreeably. The reader will note the resemblance between this
-pastime and the game of quintain, to which our forefathers were partial.
-
-Another amusement is to dive for apples in a tub of water.
-
-In Strathspey, a lass will steal away from the kitchen fire, make her way
-to the kiln where the corn is dried, throw a ball of thread into it, and
-wind it up slowly, while uttering certain words. The form of her future
-lover will take hold of the end of the thread, and reveal itself to her.
-The most arduous part of this charm is, that no speaking is allowed either
-on the outward journey or the return.
-
-Another mode of lover's divination is for the young people, after being
-duly blindfolded, to go forth into the kailyard, or garden, and pull the
-first stalks they meet with. Returning to the fireside, they determine,
-according as the stalk is big or little, straight or crooked, what the
-future wife or husband will be. The quantity of earth adhering to the root
-is emblematic of the dowry to be expected; and the temper is indicated by
-the sweet or bitter taste of the _motoc_ or pith. Lastly, the stalks are
-placed in order, over the door, and the Christian names of persons
-afterwards entering the house signify in the same order those of the wives
-and husbands _in futuris_.
-
-Burns describes another custom:
-
-  "In order on the clean hearth-stane,
-    The luggies[61] three are ranged,
-  And every time great care is ta'en
-    To see them duly changed:
-  And uncle John wha wedlock's joys
-    Sin' Mar's-year did desire,
-  Because he gat the toom-dish[62] thrice,
-    He heav'd them on the fire
-          In wrath that night."
-
-For this amusement three dishes are taken: one filled with clean and one
-with dirty water, and the other empty. They are set upon the hearth, and
-the parties, blindfolded, advance in succession to dip their fingers. If
-they chance upon the clean water, it is understood that they will marry a
-maiden; if upon the foul, they will marry a widow; if upon the empty dish,
-they will not marry at all.
-
-Again: if a damsel eat an apple in front of a looking-glass, she will
-shortly see her future husband peeping over her shoulder. So Burns:
-
-  "Wee Jenny to her Grannie says,
-    'Will ye go wi' me, Grannie?
-  I'll eat the apple at the glass
-    I gat frae uncle Johnie.'
-  She fuff't[63] her pipe wi' sic a lunt,
-    In wrath she was sae vap'rin',
-  She notic't na an aizle[64] brunt,
-    Her braw new worset apron,
-          Out thro' that night.
-
-  "'Ye little skelpie limmer's[65] face!
-    How daur you try sic sportin',
-  As seek the foul thief ony place,
-    For him to spae your fortune:
-  Nae doubt but ye may get a sight!
-    Great cause ye hae to fear it;
-  For mony a ane has gotten a fright,
-    An' liv'd an' di'd deleeret,
-          On sic a night.'"
-
-A shirt-sleeve may be wetted, and hung before the fire to dry: then if
-_he_ or _she_ lie in bed and watch it until midnight, _he_ or _she_ will
-behold _his_ or _her_ future partner's phantasm come in and turn it!
-
-Children born on Halloween were formerly supposed to be gifted with
-certain mysterious endowments, such as the power of perceiving and
-conversing with the "dwellers on the threshold," the inhabitants of the
-World Invisible.
-
-Once upon a time, all over Scotland a bonfire was lighted on every farm;
-and often the bonfire was surrounded by a circular trench, symbolical of
-the sun. Every year these bonfires decrease in number; but within the
-recollection of living men no fewer than thirty could be seen on the high
-hilltops between Dunkeld and Abergeldy. And a strange weird sight it was,
-worthy of the pencil of a Rembrandt,--the dusky figures of the lads and
-lasses dancing wildly around them, to the hoarse music of their own
-voices! Miss Cumming writes that in the neighbourhood of Crieff, the
-bale-fires, as the people call them, still blaze as brightly as ever; and
-from personal observation we can assert that they are still lighted in
-many parts of Argyllshire.
-
-A remarkable Halloween story is recorded in Dr. Robert Chambers's valuable
-miscellany, "The Book of Days." Mr. and Mrs. M., we are told, were a happy
-young couple, who, in the middle of the last century, resided on their own
-estate, in a pleasant part of the province of Leinster. Possessed of a
-handsome fortune, they spent their time in various rural avocations, until
-the birth of a child, a little girl, seemed to crown their felicity. On
-the Halloween following this notable event, the parents retired to rest at
-their usual hour, Mrs. M. cradling her infant on her bosom that she might
-be roused if it showed the least sign of uneasiness. From teething or some
-other ailment, the child, about midnight, became very restless, and not
-receiving the usual attention from its mother, woke up Mr. M. by its
-cries. He at once called his wife, and told her the baby was unwell; she
-made no answer. She seemed in an uneasy slumber, and in spite of all her
-husband's efforts continued to sleep on, until he was compelled to take
-the child himself and endeavour to soothe it to rest. From sheer
-exhaustion it at last sank into silence, while the mother slumbered until
-a much later hour than usual. When she at last awoke, her husband told her
-of what had happened, and of the extent to which his night's rest had been
-disturbed. "I, too," she replied, "have passed the most miserable night I
-ever experienced: I now see that sleep and rest are two different things,
-for I never felt so unrefreshed in my life. How I wish you had been able
-to awake me--it would have spared me some of my fatigue and anxiety! I
-thought I was dragged against my will into a strange part of the country,
-where I had never been before, and, after what appeared to me a long and
-weary journey on foot, I arrived at a comfortable looking house. I went in
-longing to rest, but had no power to sit down, although there was a nice
-supper laid out before a good fire, and every appearance of preparations
-for an expected visitor. Exhausted as I felt, I was only allowed to stand
-for a minute or two, and then hurried away by the same road back again;
-but now it is over, and after all it was only a dream."
-
-Her husband listened with deep interest to this strange narrative, and
-then, sighing deeply, said, "My dear Sarah, you will not long have me
-beside you; whoever is to be your second husband played last night some
-evil trick, of which you have been the victim."
-
-Shocked as she naturally was by this assertion, she sought to subdue her
-own emotion, and to rally her husband's spirits, hoping that the
-impression would pass from his mind as soon as he entered into the
-every-day work of life.
-
-Months passed away, and both husband and wife had almost forgotten the
-Halloween dream, when Mr. M.'s health began to fail, and to fail so
-rapidly, that in spite of loving care and the best medical skill, he sank
-into a premature grave. His wife mourned him sincerely, but her natural
-energy and activity prevented her from yielding to a hopeless sorrow. She
-continued to farm her husband's estate, and in this employment, and in the
-education of her little girl was able to divert her thoughts. Not less
-admired for her conspicuous ability, than beloved for her benevolence and
-amiability, she was more than once solicited to lay aside her widow's
-weeds; but she persisted in a calm refusal. Her uncle, a man of much
-kindness of heart and clearness of judgment, frequently visited her,
-inspected her farm, and gave her advice and assistance. He had a nephew,
-whom we will call C., a prudent and energetic young man, in whom he had
-every confidence, and whenever they met, he would strongly recommend him
-to take to himself a wife, and "settle." On one occasion C. replied that
-it was not his fault he still remained a bachelor, but he had never yet
-met with any woman whom he would care to call his wife. "Well, C.," said
-his uncle, "you seem difficult to please, but I think I know a lady who
-would approve herself even to _your_ fastidious taste." After a
-good-humoured exchange of quip and repartee, the uncle invited the nephew
-to ride over with him next day, and be introduced to his niece, whom C.
-had never yet seen.
-
-The invitation was accepted; the two friends set out early on the
-following morning, and after a pleasant ride drew near their destination.
-At a short distance they caught sight of Mrs. M. retiring towards her
-house after her usual daily inspection of her farm. Mr. C. started
-violently, and displayed a considerable agitation. Pointing towards the
-lady, he exclaimed, "Uncle, we need go no further, for if ever I am to be
-married, yonder goes my wife!" "Well, C.," replied his uncle, "that is
-fortunate, for yonder lady is my niece, to whom I am about to introduce
-you. But tell me," he continued, "is this what you call love at first
-sight? Or what do you mean by such a sudden decision in favour of a lady
-with whom you have never exchanged a word?" "Well, sir," was the reply,
-"as I have betrayed myself, it is well that I should make full confession.
-A year or two ago, I was foolish enough to try a Halloween spell,--and sat
-up all night to watch the result. I declare to you most solemnly that the
-figure of that lady, as I now see her, entered my room, and looked at me.
-She stood a minute or two by the fire, and then disappeared as suddenly
-and as silently as she had entered. I was wide awake, and felt
-considerable remorse at having thus ventured to tamper with the powers of
-the Unseen World; but I assure you that every particular of her features,
-dress, and figure have been so present to my mind ever since, that I could
-not possibly make a mistake, and the moment I saw your niece I was
-convinced that she was indeed the woman whose image I saw on that
-never-forgotten Halloween."
-
-It is unnecessary to say that the uncle was considerably astonished at
-this extraordinary narrative, but he forbore to comment upon it, as by
-this time they had arrived at Mrs. M.'s house. The lady was delighted to
-see her uncle, and made his friend heartily welcome, discharging the
-duties of hostess with a simplicity and grace that fascinated her guest.
-
-After her visitors had rested and refreshed themselves, her uncle walked
-out with her to inspect the farm, and seized the opportunity, in the
-absence of Mr. C., to bespeak for him his niece's favourable
-consideration. Many words were unnecessary, for the impression produced
-had been mutually agreeable. Before leaving the house Mr. C. obtained Mrs.
-M.'s permission to visit her in the character of a suitor for her
-hand,--and after a brief courtship they were married. The story ends, as
-all such stories _should_ end, with the affirmation that they lived long
-and happily together, and it was from their daughter that Dr. Chambers's
-informant derived his knowledge of the preceding remarkable episode in
-their career.
-
-Dr. Chambers assures us that the leading incidents of the narrative may be
-relied on as correct; but we think the reader will exercise a wise
-incredulity: that at all events his belief will not go beyond the
-admission of some possible resemblance, entirely accidental, between Mrs.
-M. and the lady whom the imaginative Mr. C. had seen in his Halloween
-dream, and whose image he had so carefully treasured in his memory.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XIX.
-
-_SECOND SIGHT: DIVINATION: UNIVERSALITY OF CERTAIN SUPERSTITIONS: FAIRIES
-IN SCOTLAND._
-
-
-There are many aspects of the Past which have an interest for the
-psychological student as well as for the antiquary, and there are not a
-few to which everybody may occasionally direct their attention with
-advantage. We are too much inclined to put it aside as a "sealed book,"
-which none but the scholar can open,--which, when opened, is hardly worth
-the reading. Or we are attracted only by its picturesque and romantic
-side, and take no heed of the valuable lessons which may be deduced upon a
-careful examination. Yet, as all history is more or less the history of
-human error and human folly, those chapters which treat of the credulities
-and superstitions of the Past, must surely embody many warnings and much
-counsel for the present.
-
-Our glance at Halloween superstitions in Scotland reminds us of other old
-Scottish practices, which serve to point a moral, if not to adorn a tale.
-We have met with a volume by a Mr. Walter Gregor, which furnishes some
-curious illustrative instances. On his vivid picture of the gloom and
-desolation of a Scottish Sabbath, we will not dwell, for our readers will
-probably have gathered from other sources, or even from personal
-experience, an idea of the dreariness of that sombre institution in the
-days when bigotry was mistaken for zeal, and the spirit was killed
-outright by the letter. It is pleasanter to read of the strong yearning
-for knowledge that then possessed the hearts of our Scottish youth; and
-how, in the age before School Boards were conceived of, the parish school
-supplied for twenty shillings per annum an education which fitted the
-scholar for entering the University. No Royal Road to Learning had as yet
-been discovered; and with much sweat of brain did the aspiring student
-brood over his Homer or Virgil by the flickering light of the peat-fire.
-When the time came for his removal to Glasgow or Aberdeen, thither he
-trudged afoot with his little "all" in a knapsack slung from his sturdy
-shoulders; and during the "sessions" it was a hard hand-to-hand fight with
-poverty which he stoutly fought, while delving deep into classical and
-mathematical lore; not forgetting occasional excursions into that vague
-metaphysical region which has always had so keen an attraction for the
-strong Scotch intellect. Our "present-day" students would too often
-shrink, we suspect, from the sacrifices demanded of their forefathers, and
-give way under the hardships which they endured, when a few potatoes and a
-salt herring served for dinner, and all the expenses of the academical
-year were covered by some twelve to sixteen pounds! We are by no means
-sure that knowledge was not more valued when it was attainable only at
-such a cost of self-denial and rigid effort; and we certainly believe that
-it was more thorough, more entirely a man's own, because it was wrung, so
-to speak, from the reluctant goddess by strenuous, steadfast work and
-sheer mental travail. To the Age of Gold and the Age of Iron has succeeded
-the Age of Veneer; and we trouble ourselves too little now-a-days, in
-spite of the teaching of Ruskin and Carlyle, about the solidness and
-durability of the material, so long as it will take a ready polish.
-
-But what a strange world was that of the Scotch peasant in those far off
-days--far off at least they _seem_, on account of the immense social
-revolution that has taken place, and set between the _now_ and the _then_
-a profound chasm. Men often speak of the hard-headedness and
-matter-of-fact stolidity of the Scotch nature; but is it not true that
-below the surface lies an abundant fountain of wild, quaint, original
-fancy? And how, in the olden time, it surrounded itself with signs and
-omens and wonders! How it loved to put itself in communion, as it were,
-with that _other_ world which lies beyond and yet around us, which
-perplexes us with its subtle intelligence, which we cannot discern,
-though of its presence we are always sensible! From the cradle to the
-grave the Scotch peasant went his way attended by the phantoms of this
-mysterious world; always recognising its warnings, always seeing the
-shadows which it cast of coming events, and so burdening himself with a
-weight of grim and eery superstition, that we marvel he did not stumble
-and grow faint, seeing that his dreary Calvinistic creed could have
-brought him little hope or comfort. Nay, it is a question whether his
-superstition did not partly grow out of, or was fostered by, his hard,
-cold religion. Superstition is the shadow of Religion, and from the shadow
-we may infer the nature of the substance or object that casts it.
-
-But of these darker things we shall not speak. Let us trace a few of the
-common traditions and customs of the people, though in doing so we
-digress, perhaps, from the main lines of the present volume. While less
-impressive than the mere mystical practices, they proceeded from the same
-source,--an imagination haunted by the formidable presence of Nature, by
-the forms of lofty mountains, by the mysteries of pine-clad ravines, and
-the murmurs of storm-swept lochs and falling waters. For it has been truly
-said that the Scotch people have been made what they are by Scotland; that
-the Land has moulded and fashioned the People; and that in their
-literature, their religion, their manners, their history, the influence is
-seen of the physical characteristics of the country.
-
-On the birth of a child--to begin at the beginning--we read that both
-mother and offspring were "sained," a lighted fir-candle being carried
-three times round the bed, and a Bible, with a bannock or bread and cheese
-being placed under the pillow, while a kind of blessing was indistinctly
-uttered. Sometimes a fir-candle was set on the bed to keep off fairies. If
-the new-born showed any symptoms of fractiousness, it was supposed to be a
-changeling; and to test the truth of the supposition, the child was placed
-suddenly before a peat-fire, when, if really a changeling, it made its
-escape by the "lum," throwing back words of scorn as it disappeared. Great
-was the eagerness to get the babe baptised, lest it should be stolen by
-the fairies. If it died unchristened, it wandered in woods and solitary
-places, bewailing its miserable fate. In Ramsay's "Gentle Shepherd,"
-Bauldy, describing Manse the witch, says of her:--
-
-  "At midnight hours o'er the kirkyard she raves,
-  And howks unchristened weans out of their graves."
-
-It was considered "unlucky" to mention the name of an "unchristened wean;"
-and even at baptism the name was commonly written on a slip of paper,
-which was handed to the officiating minister. What care was taken that the
-consecrated water should not enter the child's eyes! For if such a mishap
-occurred, his future life, wherever he went and whatever he did, would be
-constantly marred by the presence of wraiths and phantoms. If the babe
-remained quiet at the font, it was supposed to be destined to a brief
-career; and hence, to extort a cry, the woman who received it from the
-father would handle it roughly or even pinch it. If a boy and girl were
-baptised together, much anxiety was evinced lest the girl should first
-receive the rite. And why? In the "Statistical Account of Scotland," the
-minister of an Orcadian parish says: "Within these last seven years the
-minister has been twice interrupted in administering baptism to a female
-child before the male child, who was baptised immediately after. When the
-service was over, he was gravely told he had done very wrong, for, if the
-female child was first baptised, she would, on her coming to the years of
-discretion, most certainly have a strong beard, and the boy would have
-none."
-
-Following up the course of human life through the honeyed days of "wooing
-and wedding," we find it darkened still by the clouds of Superstition. If
-a maiden desired to call up the image of her future husband, she read the
-third verse, seventeenth chapter of the Book of Job after supper, washed
-the supper dishes, and retired to bed without uttering a single word,
-placing before her pillow the Bible, with a pin thrust through the verse
-she had read. It is curious to observe the use of the Bible in these wild
-and foolish customs: was it not an indirect testimony to the reverence,
-not always intelligent, perhaps, but certainly sincere, in which the holy
-book was held? Nor are we certain that it is not sometimes turned to worse
-purposes in these "enlightened days," when a pseudo-science seeks to
-convert it into the battle-field of audacious theories, and an ignorant
-intolerance too often professes to discover in its bright and blessed
-pages an excuse for its uncharitable follies.
-
-But we must continue our _resume_. It is curious to read that the
-wedding-dress might not be "tried on" before the wedding-day, and if it
-did not fit, it might not be cut or altered, but was adjusted in the best
-manner possible. The bride, on the way to church, was forbidden to look
-back, for to do so was to ensure a succession of disasters and quarrels in
-the married state. It was considered inauspicious, moreover, if she did
-not "greet" or weep on the marriage-day; a superstition obviously
-connected with the wide-spread idea of the necessity of propitiating the
-Fates which inspired the advice of Amasis to the too fortunate
-Polycrates,[66] that he should fine himself for his success by throwing
-some costly thing into the sea. It was thought well to marry at the time
-of the growing moon, and among fisher-folk a flowing tide was regarded as
-"lucky." These customs were puerile enough, undoubtedly, but before we
-censure them too severely we may ask whether our modern bridals are wholly
-free from superstitious observances; whether we do not still pretend to
-"bribe" the fickle Fortune by showers of rice and old slippers rained on
-the departing couple!
-
-It is needless to say that the "last scene of all" was invested with all
-the attributes of grotesque terror the wayward popular imagination could
-invent. Before it took place the light of the "death-candle"--the Welsh
-call it the "corpse-candle"--might be seen hovering from chamber to
-chamber; or the cock crowed before midnight; or the "dead-drap," a sound
-as of water falling monotonously and lingeringly, broke the silence of the
-night; or three dismal and fatal knocks were heard, at regular intervals
-of one or two minutes' duration; or over the doomed person fluttered the
-image of a white dove. And when the spirit had departed, the doors and
-windows were immediately opened wide; the clocks were stopped; the mirrors
-were covered; and it was held to disturb the rest of the dead, and to be
-fatal to the living, if a tear fell upon the winding sheet. And thus, from
-the cradle to the grave, Superstition dogged the steps of life; nor even
-at the grave did it cease to vex and worry the minds of men with the
-fancies and visions born of excited imaginations.
-
-That such fancies, that customs so wild and grotesque, should have existed
-in Scotland, and among a well-educated people, down to a comparatively
-recent date, might be matter of wonder, if we were not aware of the
-tenacity with which the heart clings to the "use and wont" of the Past.
-Nor trivial as some, and inexcusable as all of them seem to the
-philosophic eye, is it wise to regard them too contemptuously. They seem
-to us to show how difficult man found it to realise to himself the idea of
-a living, personal GOD,--of a GOD, a FATHER, ever watching over the
-welfare of His children, chastening them in His mercy, but never refusing
-them the light of His countenance when they have sought Him with faith in
-the hour of sorrow and darkness. For want of this strengthening,
-consoling, elevating idea, he has endeavoured to support himself by the
-feeble prop of superstitious credulity, and instead of yielding wholly and
-trustfully to the love of GOD the FATHER, has vainly striven to secure
-some glimpse or foreshadowing of the Future, and to avert evil by peurile
-practices and idle traditions.
-
-We may next be allowed to point out the kinship in superstition which
-prevails all over the world; so that the observance or custom which seems
-peculiar to England or Scotland, is found in India or Tartary. This
-remarkable similarity indicates a certain general tendency to attach an
-"ominous significance" to particular things and events. Take as an
-illustration, the act of sneezing. In Asia as well as Europe, among
-Semitic peoples as well as among Aryan, it is usual to connect with the
-act some form of blessing. Sometimes the sneezer is blessed by the
-bystander; sometimes he blesses himself; if a Mohammedan, he blesses GOD.
-In Italy, for example, the salutation addressed to him runs: "May GOD
-preserve you!" or "May you have children!" In Hindi it takes the form of
-"Sadaji's" (May you live for ever!) and a similar salutation is used by
-the Jews of Austria.
-
-But in different places and at different times sneezing has been made to
-carry a very different meaning. Among the Arabs, if, while a person is
-making an assertion which some may think hazardous or dubious, another
-sneezes, the speaker appeals to the omen as a confirmation of what he is
-saying. A writer in the "Calcutta Review" thinks this notion as old as the
-Greeks of the time of Xenophon, as appears from a well known passage in
-Chap. ii. Book iii. of the Anabasis: [Greek: Epei peri soterias hemon
-legonton oionos tou Dios tou soteros ephane]. Sneezing among the Hindus,
-if it occur behind your back, is regarded as so unfavourable an omen, that
-they at once abandon the work on which at the time they may have been
-engaged.
-
-Various but not satisfactory attempts have been made to explain these
-customs. Thus, the Mohammedan accounts for his "Al hamdu-l Allah" by the
-tradition that, when the breath of life was breathed into the nostrils of
-Adam, he sneezed, and immediately uttered those words. While in Europe the
-custom of blessing the sneezer has been traced to the occurrence in Italy
-in the middle ages of some fatal epidemic, of which one of the symptoms
-was sneezing.
-
-The superstition which regards as a favourable omen the throbbing of the
-eye, was well known to the ancient Greeks, is common in England, and
-flourishes all over India. In England, it is the man's right eye and the
-woman's left that is auspicious; and so it was in the Greece of
-Theocritus, and so it is in India and Persia.
-
-The curious superstition that ghosts are visible to dogs, to which we find
-an allusion in Homer's Odyssey, still flourishes in India. It may have
-originated in the place given to the dog in the mythology of both Greek
-and Hindu, or in the position enjoyed by the watch-dog among all the
-shepherd peoples of the world. The belief belongs to the Semitic as well
-as the Aryan races; and its true origin after all may be the apparently
-causeless howling of the dog at night,--the time when "spirits walk
-abroad." Whatever the ground of the belief, it is probably in itself the
-cause of the superstition that the howling of dogs presages death or
-misfortune.
-
-Another singular coincidence of this kind is furnished "by the custom of
-spitting on the breast as a charm against fascination." In his "Greek
-Antiquities," Potter notes that it was an ancient Greek custom to spit
-three times on the breast at the sight of a madman; and Theocritus has,--
-
-  [Greek: toiade muthizoisa tris eis heon eptuse kolpon.]
-
-"Precisely the same effect is attributed to the act among the Aryan
-inhabitants of India, where its threefold repetition is also insisted on.
-No sort of reason that we can imagine, can be found for this belief; and
-in this case the idea is a complex one.
-
-"The notion of a hiccough being an indication that some one is thinking of
-the person affected, is equally common in Europe and in India.
-
-"The same may be said of the superstition regarding an itching of the palm
-of the hand; and further the idea that the palm should be rubbed against
-something to make the event the more sure, prevails both in India and in
-England. In England it should be 'rubbed against wood,' in India on the
-forehead."[67]
-
-We supply but one more illustration, and that shall be in folk lore; a
-nursery story which presents virtually the same features in the East as in
-the West. The following is the Hindu parallel to the old Saxon nursery
-tale of "The Woman that found a Silver Penny." The coincidence will be
-seen to be complete.
-
-"Once upon a time, a little bird, on its way through the woods, picked up
-a pea, and took it to the _barbhunja_ to be split; but, as ill luck would
-have it, one half of it stuck fast in the mill-handle, and the _barbhunja_
-being unable to get it out, the little bird went off to the carpenter, and
-said, 'Carpenter, carpenter, come and cut the mill-handle; my pea is in
-the mill-handle; what shall I eat, what shall I drink, and what shall I
-take to foreign countries?' 'Be off,' said the carpenter, 'is it likely I
-shall come and cut the mill-handle for the sake of a single pea?'
-
-"Then the little bird went to the king, and said, 'King, king, chide the
-carpenter; the carpenter won't cut the mill-handle; my pea has stuck in
-the mill-handle; what shall I eat, what shall I drink, and what shall I
-take to foreign countries?' 'Be off with you,' said the king, 'do you
-think that for the sake of a single pea I am going to chide the
-carpenter?'
-
-"Then the little bird went to the queen, and said, 'Queen, queen, speak to
-the king; the king won't chide the carpenter; the carpenter won't cut the
-mill-handle; my pea is in the socket of the mill-handle; what shall I eat,
-what shall I drink, and what shall I take to foreign countries?' But the
-queen said, 'Be off with you, do you think that for the sake of a single
-pea I am going to talk to the king?'
-
-"Then the little bird went to the snake, and said, 'Snake, snake, bite the
-queen; the queen won't talk to the king; the king won't chide the
-carpenter; the carpenter won't cut the mill-handle; my pea is in the
-socket of the mill-handle; what shall I eat, what shall I drink, and what
-shall I take to foreign countries?' But the snake said, 'Be off with you,
-do you think that for the sake of a single pea I am going to bite the
-queen?'
-
-"Then the little bird went to the stick, and said, 'Stick, stick, beat the
-snake; snake won't bite queen; queen won't talk to king; king won't chide
-carpenter; carpenter won't cut mill-handle; my pea is in the socket of the
-mill-handle; what shall I eat, what shall I drink, and what shall I take
-to foreign countries?' But the stick said, 'Be off with you, do you think
-that for the sake of a single pea I am going to beat the snake?'
-
-"Then the little bird went to the fire, and said, 'Fire, fire, burn stick;
-stick won't beat snake; snake won't bite queen; queen won't talk to king;
-king won't chide carpenter; carpenter won't cut mill-handle; my pea is in
-the socket of the mill-handle; what shall I eat, what shall I drink, and
-what shall I take to foreign countries?' But the fire said, 'Be off with
-you, do you think that for the sake of a single pea I am going to burn the
-stick?'
-
-"Then the little bird went to the sea, and said, 'Sea, sea, quench fire;
-fire won't burn stick; stick won't beat snake; snake won't bite queen;
-queen won't talk to king; king won't chide carpenter; carpenter won't cut
-mill-handle; my pea is in the socket of the mill-handle; what shall I eat,
-what shall I drink, and what shall I take to foreign countries?' But the
-sea said, 'Be off with you, do you think that for the sake of a single pea
-I am going to quench the fire?'
-
-"Then the little bird went to the elephant, and said, 'Elephant, elephant,
-dry up the sea; sea won't quench fire; fire won't burn stick; stick won't
-beat snake; snake won't bite queen; queen won't talk to king; king won't
-chide carpenter; carpenter won't cut mill-handle; my pea is in the socket
-of the mill-handle; what shall I eat, what shall I drink, and what shall I
-take to foreign countries?' But the elephant said, 'Be off with you, to
-dry up the sea would take the whole host of elephants; do you think that
-for the sake of a single pea I am going to assemble all of my kith and
-kin?'
-
-"Then the bird went to the _bhaunr_, (a tangled creeping plant,) and said,
-'_Bhaunr_, _bhaunr_, snare the elephant; elephant won't drink up sea; sea
-won't quench fire; fire won't burn stick; stick won't beat snake; snake
-won't bite queen; queen won't talk to king; king won't chide carpenter;
-carpenter won't cut mill-handle; my pea is in the socket of the
-mill-handle; what shall I eat, what shall I drink, and what shall I take
-to foreign countries?' But the _bhaunr_ said, 'Be off with you, do you
-think that for the sake of a single pea I am going to snare the elephant?'
-
-"Then the bird went to the mouse, and said, 'Mouse, mouse, cut _bhaunr_;
-_bhaunr_ won't snare elephant; elephant won't drink up sea; sea won't
-quench fire; fire won't burn stick; stick won't beat snake; snake won't
-bite queen; queen won't talk to king; king won't chide carpenter;
-carpenter won't cut mill-handle; my pea is in the socket of the
-mill-handle; what shall I eat, what shall I drink, and what shall I take
-to foreign countries?' But the mouse said, 'Be off with you, do you think
-that for the sake of a single pea I am going to cut the _bhaunr_?'
-
-"Then the bird went to the cat, and said, 'Cat, cat, eat mouse; mouse
-won't cut _bhaunr_; _bhaunr_ won't snare elephant; elephant won't drink up
-sea; sea won't quench fire; fire won't burn stick; stick won't beat
-snake; snake won't bite queen; queen won't talk to king; king won't chide
-carpenter; carpenter won't cut mill-handle; my pea is in the socket of the
-mill-handle; what shall I eat, what shall I drink, and what shall I take
-to foreign countries?' And the cat said, 'By all means; the mouse is my
-natural prey, why should I not eat it?'
-
-"So the cat went to eat the mouse; and the mouse went to cut the _bhaunr_,
-saying,--
-
-  'Hamko khao, a o, mat koi,
-  Ham bhaunr ko katat loi.'
-
-'Oh, oh, eat, oh! eat me no one, I will take and cut the _bhaunr_.' And
-the _bhaunr_ went to snare the elephant, saying, 'Oh, cut, oh! cut me no
-one, I'll take and snare the elephant.' And so on with each one, till it
-came to the carpenter, who extracted the pea, and the bird took it, and
-went away rejoicing."
-
-The close resemblance between this fable and the English one of "The
-Silver Penny," attests a common origin. For it cannot be supposed that
-either was conveyed by means of oral communication from one country to the
-other; and the only feasible conclusion seems to be that they are
-different versions of a nursery tale which belonged to our common Aryan
-forefathers. There can be no doubt as to its antiquity.[68]
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-Among the earlier superstitions of Scotland was a belief in the efficacy
-of charms, or metrical incantations; a belief prevailing in almost every
-country and period, and indirectly attesting man's strong inward
-conviction of the existence of another world. That communications could be
-maintained with the unseen creatures that live in the air, and "the ooze;"
-above, beneath, and around us; that they could be made to assume a bodily
-form and presence; that storms could be raised or dispelled, evil
-prevented, secrets discovered, diseases cured, love engendered,--and that
-all this was possible by the utterance of certain words arranged in
-metrical form, though generally perfectly meaningless, was never doubted.
-Many of those used in Scotland evidently had their origin in the reputed
-efficacy of verses among the ancients; and being of an early date, they
-are often "intermixed with the formula of the Roman Catholic ritual." Thus
-we read that one Elspeth Reoch (in 1616) had been supernaturally
-instructed to cure distempers by resting on her right knee while pulling a
-certain herb "betwixt her midfinger and thumb, and saying of, _In nomine
-Patris, Filii, et Spiritus Sancti_." An old and popular charm for curing
-cattle (1607), is given by Dalyell as follows:--[69]
-
-              "I charge thee for arrow shot,
-              For deer shot, for womb shot,
-              For eye shot, for tongue shot,
-              For liver shot, for lung shot,
-              For heart shot,--all the most:
-  In the Name of the FATHER, the SON, and HOLY GHOST.
-              To wind out of flesh and bone,
-              Into oak and stone:
-  In the Name of the FATHER, the SON, and HOLY GHOST.
-                                                Amen."
-
-Sometimes these invocations were accompanied by the administration of
-medicinal herbs which had been gathered before sunrise. A woman accused of
-witchcraft, in 1588, declared that she saw "the guid nychtbours makand
-thair sawis with pains and fyres, and gadderit thair herbis before the
-sone rysing as sche did." Among the various remedies prescribed for "the
-trembling fever," or ague, by Katharine Oswald, one related to plucking up
-a nettle by the root, three successive mornings, before sunrise. A
-favourite time for this herb-gathering rite was Midsummer; a relic of the
-old Pagan superstition connected with the sun's position in the Zodiac.
-The metrical charm then made use of was popular also in England,--
-
-  "Haile be thou, holie hearte,
-    Growing on the ground;
-  All in the Mount Calvarie
-    First wast thou found.
-  Thou art good for manie a sore,
-    And healest manie a wound;
-  In the Name of Sweet JESUS,
-    I take thee from the ground."
-
-"Bleeding at the touch," has been accepted in several countries as a
-revelation of guilt. A man suspected of murder was brought to the side of
-the murdered man's body, and forced to touch it; if the suspicions were
-just, blood immediately oozed from the wound, or at the mouth, or nose.
-Even at the man's approach this sign of crime would appear. It is easy to
-see how precarious and dangerous a test was this; how readily it might
-release the guilty, and betray the innocent. Naturally therefore it was
-not accepted without reluctance. A man and his sister had quarrelled; he
-died suddenly, and his body was found in his own house, naked, and with a
-wound on the face, but bloodless. "Although many of the neighbours in the
-town came into the house to see the dead corpse, yet she, the sister,
-never offered to come, howbeit her dwelling was next door, nor had she so
-much as any seeming grief for his death. But the minister and bailiffs of
-the town taking great suspicion of her in respect of her carriage,
-commanded that she should be brought in. But when she came, she came
-trembling all the way to the house; she refused to come nigh to the
-corpse, or to touch, saying, that she never touched a dead corpse in her
-life. But being earnestly entreated by the minister and bailiffs, and her
-brother's friends, who was killed, that she would but touch the corpse
-softly, she granted to do it. But before she did it, the sun shining in at
-the house, she expressed herself thus: 'Humbly desiring, as the LORD made
-the sun to shine and give light into that house, that also He would give
-light in discovering that murder.' And with these words, she touching the
-wound of the dead man very softly, it being white and clean, without any
-spot of blood or the like, yet immediately, while her finger was upon it,
-the blood rushed out of it, to the great admiration of all the beholders,
-who took it as one discovery of the murder, according to her own prayer."
-
-It will seem astonishing to readers of the present day that a poor
-creature's life could be taken away on such fanciful and uncertain
-evidence.
-
-We read that a Sir James Standsfield was found lying dead in a stream. His
-body was interred precipitately. Two days afterwards it was exhumed and
-partially dissected, the neck in particular being laid open, in order to
-ascertain the cause of death. After being well cleansed, blood burst from
-that side supported by his son Philip, on returning the body to the coffin
-for re-interment--not an unlikely result from the straining of the
-incisions--and it deeply stained his hand. He was arraigned, on this
-slight ground, for parricide; and in the course of the trial it was
-gravely argued that it was the will of Providence to disclose by this
-peculiar incident a secret crime.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-The preservation of health and the prolongation of life are necessarily
-objects of interest to all mankind, and it was natural enough that around
-them should flourish a rank growth of superstitions.
-
-To ailing or diseased persons all kinds of potions, pills, and powders
-were administered in the past as they are in the present; but whereas we
-are now content with the mystic characters endorsed on his formula by the
-physician, our ancestors were not satisfied unless certain mystical words,
-numbers, or ceremonies accompanied them. The sign of the cross was in
-constant requisition; or the medicine was to be taken according to
-mystical numbers--thrice or nine times, as the case might be. For
-hooping-cough was prescribed a draught from the horn of a living ox, nine
-times repeated. The patient was also put "nine several times" in the
-miller's hopper.
-
-The importance ascribed to the figure of a circle is probably a relic of
-the influence of the old sun-worship. Consumptive invalids, or children
-suffering from hectic fever, were thrice passed through a circular wreath
-of woodbine, cut during the increase of the March moon, and let down over
-the body from head to foot. We read of a sorceress who healed sundry women
-by "taking a garland of green woodbine, and causing the patient to pass
-thrice through it." Afterwards, the garland was cut in nine pieces, which
-were cast into the fire--generally an indispensable particular in
-ceremonies of this kind. Another passed her patient through a heap of
-green yarn, which the nurse shook, and then divided it into nine pieces,
-which were buried in the lands of three owners. A certain Thomas Grieve
-directed a patient to pass thrice through a heap of yarn, which he duly
-burned. He also cured the wife of a Michael Glanis by having a hole broken
-on the north side of the chimney, and putting a hoop of yarn thrice
-through it, and taking it back at the door; and thereafter compelling the
-patient to go nine times through the said hoop of yarn.
-
-White of Selborne tells us of a custom, prevalent in his time in the south
-of England, of stripping feeble and diseased children, and transmitting
-them head foremost through an artificial cleft in a young tree, the
-several parts of which were held forcibly asunder. The wound was then
-bound up carefully, and it was expected that the child would recover as
-the tree healed. If the cleft did not unite, the remedy proved abortive;
-and if the tree were cut down, the patient relapsed or died.
-
-Borlase speaks of a similar custom in Cornwall, except that a perforated
-stone was used instead of a cleft tree.
-
-In Persia, according to Alexander, passage through a long fissure or
-crevice in a rock, by crawling on hands and knees, is employed as a test
-of legitimate birth. And in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem,
-to pass between the pillars supporting an altar and the neighbouring wall,
-was practised as a like test. It has been suggested, as the meaning of
-these various transmissions through cleft, aperture, skein of yarn, and
-garland, that they are symbolical of regeneration; a second birth, whereby
-a living soul is cleansed from its former impurities and imperfections.
-Wilford speaks of a sanctified fissure in a rock in the East, to which
-pilgrims resort "for the purpose of regeneration, by the efficacy of a
-passage through this sacred type."
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-The faculty of divining events, passing at a distance from the seer, or of
-passively receiving a knowledge that such events are taking place, is the
-well-known "second sight," which plays so important a part in many
-Scottish stories. "In the stricter acceptation of this faculty," we are
-told, "contemporary objects and incidents are beheld at the time, however
-remote their locality, but neither those which have passed, nor those
-which have yet to come. If extending to futurity, the subject of the
-vision is about to be realised. Therefore the second sight borders only on
-prognostication. It is affirmed to be more peculiar to Scotland, for very
-faint analogy to such a property has been claimed for other countries: and
-that the highlanders chiefly, together with the inhabitants of the insular
-districts, or that portion of the kingdom less advanced, have enjoyed it
-in the highest perfection. Marvellous to be told, they have said that
-their cattle are gifted with it as well as themselves."
-
-The faculty was one which knew no distinction of age or sex, or class; it
-was enjoyed by man and woman, young and old, rich and poor, high-born and
-plebeians, and in many cases was inherited. It might occasionally be
-imparted by a gifted person, or acquired by study and preparation. It is a
-proof, were proof needed, of the living influence of the imagination, that
-the vision beheld by one individual only, might be revealed to a companion
-visionary, thus confirmed in his belief in the value of his new
-prerogative; simply by the pressure of the seer's right foot on the
-novice's left, holding one hand on his head, while he was admonished to
-look over the master's right shoulder. Thus, Lilly, the
-astrologer--Butler's "hight Sidrophel"--relates how one John Scott desired
-William Hodges, an astrologer in Staffordshire, to show him the person and
-features of the person he should marry. Hodges carried him into a field
-not far from his home; pulled out his magic crystal; bade Scott set his
-foot against his, and after awhile desired him to inspect the crystal, and
-observe what he saw there. Of course he saw exactly what his fevered
-wishes were resolved to see.
-
-Ceremonies of a more fantastic character were sometimes involved, and
-round the novice's body was coiled a hair rope with which a corpse had
-been bound to its bier. He was then required to look through a hole left
-by the removal of a fir knot; and, on stooping, he was instructed to look
-back between his legs, until an advancing funeral procession should cross
-the boundary of the estates of two different owners. The inconvenience of
-this complicated performance is obvious; it might also be dangerous; for
-if the wind changed while the novice was girded with the mystical cord, he
-was liable to the penalty of death.
-
-A seer gifted with this wonderful faculty could not divest himself of it,
-though often he would fain have done so. However acquired, it was a
-perilous endowment, fraught with physical and mental suffering, and
-reputed to be no gift from on high, but to have come from the Father of
-Evil.
-
-The objects seen were generally sad and sorrowful; calamities to persons
-or nations. Woodrow says that before the Marquis of Argyll went to London
-in 1660, he was playing "at the bullets," or bowls, with some Scottish
-gentlemen; when one of them, as the Marquis stooped down to lift the
-bullet, "fell pale," and said to those about him: "Bless me, what is this
-I see? my lord with his head off, and all his shoulder full of blood?"
-
-On one occasion, a gentleman joined a company, all of whom were very frank
-and cheerful. He had no sooner entered than one of the guests, who had not
-previously known him, showed much depression of spirit. Without taking any
-notice of it the new-comer quickly rose, and went his way. The other
-thereupon showed great concern, and wished he would remain; for he saw
-him, he said, with a shroud up to his neck, and he knew that this sign
-foreboded his death. In vain some of the company would have persuaded the
-doomed man to take warning, but he departed, and having ridden a short
-distance, he and his horse fell, and he broke his neck.
-
-On the morning of the battle of Bothwell Bridge, that sore defeat to the
-Covenanters--so vigorously described by Scott in his "Old Mortality"--Mr.
-John Cameron, minister at Lochhead in Kintyre, fell into a fit of
-melancholy, so that Mr. Morison, of his elders, observing him through his
-chamber door, sore weeping and wringing his hands, knocked until he opened
-to him. Then he asked what was the matter? Were his wife and children
-well? "Little matter for them," he answered; "our friends at Bothwell are
-gone." Mr. Morison told him it might be a mistake, and the offcome of his
-gloomy thoughts: "No, no," said he, "I see them flying as clearly as I see
-the wall." As near as they could calculate by the accounts they afterwards
-obtained, this incident at the Lochhead of Kintyre was contemporaneous
-with the flight of the Covenanters at Bothwell.
-
-Munro, the Scotch soldier of fortune, who bore himself so gallantly in the
-wars of Gustavus Adolphus, tells a story of a vision that was seen by a
-soldier of his company on the morning of the storm of Stralsund in 1628.
-One Murdo Macleod, born in Assen, a soldier of tall stature and valiant
-courage, being sleeping on his watch, awoke at break of day, and "jogged"
-two of his comrades lying by him, much to their indignation at his
-"stirring them." He replied: "Before long, you shall be otherwise
-stirred." A soldier called Allan Tough, a Lochaber man, recommending his
-soul to GOD, asked him what he had seen: "That you shall never behold your
-country again." The other replied, the loss was but small, if the rest of
-the company were well. He answered: "No, for there was great hurt and
-dearth of many very near." The other again asked, what others he had seen
-who would perish. He then told by name sundry of his comrades who would be
-killed. The other asked, what would become of himself. Eventually, he
-described by their clothes all the officers who would be hurt. "A pretty
-quick boy near by," asked him, what would become of the Major (that is,
-Munro himself?) "He would be shot, but not deadly," was the answer,--and
-so it proved.
-
-A good deal is said of this _Taisch_, or "Second Sight," in Dr. Johnson's
-"Journey to the Hebrides," and some striking anecdotes are told. It was
-just the thing to interest his moody temperament, with its terrible dread
-of death and its longing to lift the curtain that hides from us the
-Unseen. He seems, however, to have been unable to convince himself of the
-actual existence of such a power; all the evidence he could collect failed
-to advance his curiosity to conviction, so that he could not believe,
-while remaining willing to believe. To use the noble words of Goethe,
-nobly rendered by Coleridge:
-
-                            "As the sun,
-  Ere it is risen, sometimes paints its image
-  In the atmosphere, so often do the spirits
-  Of great events stride on before the events,
-  And in To-day already walks To-morrow."
-
-_This_ it is not difficult to accept. It seems fitting that presages
-should herald the death of kings and the revolutions of nations; but the
-mind cannot convince itself that the spirits of the dead will cross the
-shadowy borders to foretell the trivial accidents that chequer ordinary
-lives. Yet, as Johnson says: "A man on a journey far from home falls from
-a horse; another who is perhaps at work about the house, sees him bleeding
-on the ground, commonly with a landscape of the place where the accident
-befalls him. Another seer, driving home his cattle, or wandering in
-idleness, or musing in the sunshine, is suddenly surprised by the
-appearance of a bridal ceremony or funeral procession, and counts the
-mourners or attendants, of whom, if he knows them, he relates the names,
-if he knows them not he can describe the dresses."
-
-Woodrow tells of "a popish lady," living near Boroughbridge, who dreamed
-that she saw a coach, and a lady in it, almost lost in the river. She
-directed her servants to watch during two nights, to guard against an
-accident, but nothing happened. "On the third night, pretty late, the Lady
-Shawfield came, and of a sudden the coach was overturned, and filled with
-water. The coachman got upon one of the horses, to save his life. The good
-and religious Lady Shawfield was for some time under water: and upon the
-cry rising, the popish lady's servants came to their assistance. With much
-difficulty, the coach and lady in it were got out of the water." And the
-Lady Shawfield, being laid upon the bank, gradually recovered her senses.
-
-In the early months of the Commonwealth, while Mackenzie of Tarbat,
-afterwards Earl of Cromarty, was riding in a field among his tenants, who
-were manuring barley, a stranger "called that way on his foot, and stopped
-likewise, and said to the countrymen, 'You need not be so busy about that
-barley, for I see the Englishmen's horses tethered among it; and other
-parts mowed down for them.' Tarbet asked him how he knew them to be
-Englishmen, and if he had ever seen any of them? He said, 'No; but he saw
-them strangers, and heard the English were in Scotland, and guessed it
-could be no other than they.' In the month of July, the thing happened
-directly as the man said he saw it."
-
-The influence exercised on the imagination by events in which we are
-deeply interested, and the manner in which our hopes or fears are mistaken
-for predictions, may be illustrated by two examples from antiquity. On the
-day that Caesar and Pompey contended at Pharsalia for the mastery of the
-world, Cornelius, a priest and patrician of Padua, declared, under a
-sudden impulse of passion, that he beheld the eddies and currents of a
-desperate battle, and the fall and flight of many of the combatants,
-eventually exclaiming: "Caesar has conquered!" His hearers laughed at him,
-but his words were afterwards verified, and it appeared that he had
-foretold not only the day, but the incidents, and the result of the famous
-battle in Thessaly. The anecdote is related on the authority of the
-"Noctes Atticae" of Aulus Gellius.
-
-Dio Cassius tells a similar story about the assassination of the Emperor
-Domitian at Rome, by his freedman Stephanus. "It is to be admired," he
-says, "that, as accurately proved by persons in either place, Apollonius
-Thyanaeus, ascending an eminence at Ephesus or elsewhere, cried out before
-the multitude: 'Well done, Stephanus, well done! Strike the murderer! thou
-hast struck him, thou hast wounded him, he is slain!'" But it may well be
-supposed that a secret understanding existed between Apollonius and the
-murderer.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-From "second sight" we pass on to "prediction" or "divination," another of
-the superstitious modes by which humanity has endeavoured to read the book
-of the Future. In the north this power of prophecy was largely assumed by
-women, a circumstance of which Scott has made ample and picturesque use in
-more than one of his admirable fictions.
-
-A woman foretold the tragical end of James I. of Scotland, in 1436. In the
-early stage of a journey from Edinburgh to Leith, and in the midst of the
-way, arose a woman of Ireland, who claimed to be a soothsayer, and as soon
-as she saw the king, she cried with a loud voice, saying, "My lord king,
-an ye pass this water, ye shall never turn again to live." The king was
-astonished at her words, for but shortly before he had fallen in with a
-prophecy, that in the self-same year the King of Scots should be slain.
-And as he rode onward, he called to him one of his knights, and commanded
-him to return and speak with this woman, and ask of her what she would,
-and what she meant by her loud crying: and she began and told him what
-would befall the king if he passed that water. The king asked her how she
-knew so much, and she said that Huthart told her so. "Sire," quoth the
-knight, "men may gallantly talk, nor take heed of yonder woman's words,
-for she is but a drunken fool, and wots not what she saith." And so with
-his folk he passed the water called the Scottish Sea, towards S. John's
-town [Perth,] about four miles from the country of the wild Scots, and
-there, in a convent of Black Friars, outside the town, he held a great
-feast. In the course of the revel came "the said woman of Ireland, who
-called herself a divineress," and made several vain attempts to gain
-access to the king. Meanwhile the conspirators matured their plot, removed
-the king's guards, attacked him, and slew him.[70]
-
-All the predictions which come true are preserved; we hear nothing of
-those which fail, for no one has an interest in recording or repeating
-them; hence an undue importance is gradually attached to what are nothing
-more than remarkable coincidences. Many others are prophecies "after the
-event." Others are based on a careful calculation of probabilities. As in
-the following example: An Orkney warlock, full of displeasure with James
-Paplay, a proud and haughty chief, with whose character, doubtless, she
-was well acquainted, broke forth into a torrent of predictive utterances:
-"Thou art now the highest man that ever thou shalt be! Thou art gone to
-shear thy corn, but it shall never do you good! Thou art going to set
-house with thy wife,--ye shall have no joy of one another. Oil shall not
-keep you and her; ye shall have such a meit-will [craving,] and shall have
-nothing to eat, but be fain to eat grass under the stones and wair
-(sea-weed) under the rocks." It was seriously asserted that not only were
-these predictions--or menaces--uttered, but that they were all fulfilled;
-and it is possible that the prophet may have had something to do with
-their fulfilment.
-
-A curious anecdote is related of a Scottish minister, who, on the day of
-the battle of Killiecrankie, was preaching at Anworth, and in his preface
-before his prayer, according to his usual mode of homely expression, began
-to this purpose: "Some of you will say, What news, minister? What news
-about Clavers, who has done so much mischief in this country? That man
-sets up to be a young Montrose, but as the LORD liveth, he shall be cut
-short this day. Be not afraid," added he, "I see them scattered and
-flying: and as the LORD liveth, and sends this message by me, Claverhouse
-shall no longer be a terror to GOD'S people. This day I see him
-killed--lying a corpse." And on that day, and at that hour, Claverhouse
-fell[71] (July 27th, 1689.)
-
-In their anxiety to obtain a glimpse of the dread writing in the Book of
-Fate, men have resorted to divers strange expedients, applying to warlocks
-and witches, or seeking to wring a response to their questionings from the
-creatures of the Invisible World. The ceremony known as _Taghairm_, or
-"Echo," seems to have been peculiar to Scotland. The inquirer was wrapped
-in a cow's hide, his head being left free, and was carried by assistants
-to a solitary spot, or left under the liquid arch formed by the "sheeted
-column's silvery perpendicular" in waterfall or cataract: there he
-remained during the watches of the night, with phantoms fluttering round
-about him, from whence he was supposed to derive the burden of the
-oracular response he delivered to his comrades on the following day.
-
-It is probable that this ceremony is the relic of some ancient form of
-ritual. At all events, the skins of animals played an important part in
-the old worship. When the Thebans slew a cow on the festival of Jupiter
-Ammon, his image was clothed with the skin: all present in the temple then
-struck the carcase, which was buried in a consecrated place.
-
-Pausanias records that a temple in honour of the soothsayer Amphiaraus,
-the reputed son of Apollo, stood in the territory of Oropus in Attica.
-Votaries who resorted thither for the purpose of divination, underwent
-certain lustrations, or purifying rites, sacrificed a ram, and, in
-expectation of seeing visions, slept upon its skin.
-
-Virgil, in one of the most elaborate scenes of the Aeneid, represents to us
-a similar oblation as being offered at a consecrated fountain, where the
-priest, to prepare himself for the delivery of responses, slept on the
-skin:--
-
-                "Et caesarum ovium sub nocte silenti
-  Pellibus incubuit stratis, somnosque petivit;
-  Multa modis simulacra videt volitantia miris
-  Et varias audit voces."[72]
-
-It seems to have been an important part of the heathen ritual to make use
-of the skin of the sacrificed animal for the purposes of clothing. Lucian,
-describing the ceremonies practised in the temple of Hierapolis, says
-that, on his arrival, the head and eyebrows of the novice were shaved; a
-sheep was then sacrificed; he knelt on the skin, and covering his own head
-with the head and feet of the animal, prayed that his offering might be
-accepted while promising a worthier one.
-
-The Spanish invaders of the New World discovered that the religion of its
-most civilised race, the Aztecs, was founded upon human sacrifices. The
-number of victims offered up to the Aztec gods is stated in figures which
-seem almost incredible. Peculiar to the Aztec kingdom was the horrid
-ceremony entitled "the flaying of men." The Aztecs having demanded the
-daughter of some neighbouring potentate as their queen, she was flayed on
-the very night of her arrival by command of their deity, and a young man
-clothed in her skin. In this originated the custom that a captive slave,
-distinguished by the name, the honours, and the ornaments of the divinity,
-should be sacrificed after a certain time; and another, clothed with his
-skin, then exacted contributions for the service of the gods, which no
-one, says Acosta, dared to refuse.
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-We have no space to dwell on the various forms of divination that were
-wont to prevail. Almost everything in nature, from the stars of heaven to
-the clods of earth, was made to give indications of coming events. The
-historian of the darker Superstitions of Scotland brings together a few
-striking illustrations.
-
-If a certain worm in a medicinal spring on the top of a hill in Strathdon,
-were found alive, it was a sign that the patient would live; and in a well
-of Ardwacloich, in Appin, if the patient were to die, a dead worm was
-found in it, and a live one, if he were to recover. In the district of
-Lorn, the figures assumed by an egg dropped into water were supposed to
-indicate the appearance of a future spouse. "Also, one of four vessels
-being filled with pure, and another with muddy water, the third with milk,
-and the fourth with meal and water; if the diviner blindfold dips his hand
-in the first, it augurs that his spouse shall be led to the nuptial couch
-in all her pristine purity; but otherwise if dipping in the second: if
-finding his way to the milk, a widow shall fall to his lot; and an old
-woman awaits him from the meal and water. Three vessels are used in the
-south of Scotland; one of them empty; and should fate direct the diviner
-hither, it augurs perpetual celibacy."
-
-       *       *       *       *       *
-
-A belief in Fairies was widespread, and has survived, in remote districts,
-down even to our own time:
-
-                    "Oft fairy elves
-  Whose midnight revels by a forest side
-  Or fountain, some belated peasant sees,
-  Or dreams he sees, while overhead the moon
-  Sits arbitress, and nearer to the earth
-  Wheels her pale course, they on their mirth and dance
-  Intent, with jocund music charm his ear:
-  At once with joy and fear his heart rebounds."[73]
-
-It is not easy to reconcile the conflicting details of the disposition,
-manners, habits, and influence of these liliputian spirits which we meet
-with in the early writers. But on a general survey it appears that they
-were very diminutive; in their intercourse with mortals sometimes
-good-tempered, sometimes malignant; that they loved and married, and had
-offspring; that they were very merry, and loved to dance upon the green,
-and fill the air with choral music; that they possessed stores of gold and
-silver, which they distributed freely; that they were invisible, but could
-at will present themselves to mortals; that they were very timid, and
-would inflict a summary punishment upon intruders. Their influence was at
-its highest on Friday, at noon, and at midnight.
-
-Kirk, the Scotch minister of Aberfoyle, who died in 1688, relates some
-other particulars of the "good people." Their substance, he says, is
-denser than air; too subtle to be pierced, and, like that of Milton's
-angels, reuniting when divided, or when any attempt is made to cleave it
-asunder. Their voice is like unto whistling. They change their places of
-abode every quarter of the year, floating near the surface of the earth;
-and persons gifted with the second sight have often had fierce encounters
-with them. The Highlanders, to preserve themselves and their cattle
-against them, went regularly to church on the first Sunday of every
-quarter, though they might not return during the interval. At the name of
-GOD or JESUS they vanished into thin air. They were of both sexes, and
-like mankind, they were mortal.
-
-"Some meagre allusions appear to the Queen of the Fairies, and especially
-by King James, whose immediate knowledge may have been derived from the
-vignettes in Olaus Magnus, and the words of his own unhappy subjects, who
-perished on account of their credulity. Alexoun Perisoma was convicted, on
-her confession, of repairing to the 'queen of Elfame,' with whom she was
-familiar. Jean Wire (1670) declared that, while she taught a school at
-Dalkeith, a woman desired to be employed 'to speik to the Queen of Fairie,
-and strike ane battell in hir behalf with the said Queen.'" The name of
-Titania is familiar enough to all lovers of English literature. There was
-a necromancer or wizard, in the reign of Charles I., who affirmed he had
-an incantation--"O Micol, Micol, regina Pigmiorum, veni,"--that Titania
-could not resist. Lilly tells us that when it was tested at Hurst wood,
-first a gentle murmurous sound was heard; then rose a violent whirlwind,
-which swelled into a hurricane; and lastly the Fairy Queen appeared in all
-her radiance.
-
-Fairies generally dwelt in subterraneous abodes; in the interiors of
-grassy hillocks, whence issued dulcet sounds and flashes of weird light;
-sometimes the side of a hill opened, and exposed them to the gaze of the
-belated wayfarer. No doubt they were seen everywhere by the potent gaze of
-imagination; on the meads and in the groves, or curled up among the
-bending flowers; for
-
-            "Visions as poetic eyes avow,
-  Hang from each leaf, and cling to every bough."
-
-They were reputed to be well skilled in the medical art, and to favoured
-mortals they sometimes imparted their knowledge. It is difficult to
-understand why they were credited with the abstraction of children, and
-with the substitution of other beings in their place. For this curious
-kind of theft was commonly attributed to them. A "wise woman"--a dealer in
-simples and herbal potions--having failed to cure a child, declared that
-"the bairn had been taken away, and an elf substituted."
-
-Besides the fairies, Scotland could boast of its spirits of the waters,
-just as Germany had its Loreleys and Ondines.
-
-We can gather, however, no definite information respecting the
-water-kelpie, the water-horses, or the water-bull, or of another anomalous
-animal called shelly-coat. Describing Lochlomond, Graham says:--"It is
-reported by the countrymen living thereabouts, that they sometimes see the
-hippopotam or water-horse, where the river Cudrie falls into it, a mile
-west of the church of Buchanan." A river known as the Ugly Burn, in the
-county of Ross, springing from Loch Glaish, was regarded with awe by all
-the countryside, as the retreat of the water-horse and other spiritual
-beings. Shetland is represented as having possessed a handsome water-horse
-which, when mounted, carried the rider into the sea. Mr. Dalyell, writing
-in 1835, says, that the water-bull is still believed to reside in Loch Awe
-and Loch Rannoch, nor, he adds, are witnesses wanting to bear testimony to
-the fact. It was reputed to be invulnerable against all except silver
-shot; though no one had put it to the proof. In the Isle of Man certain
-persons who saw the water-bull in a field were unable to distinguish him
-from one of the ordinary terrestrial species, nor did the cows show any
-disposition to avoid him. But his progeny always turned out to be a rude
-lump of flesh and skin, without bones.
-
-The spirit of the sea was believed to be malicious, and capable of
-inflicting injury. Allusions are frequent to "sea-trowis, meermen,
-meermaids, and a number of little creatures coming from the sea" in
-response to spell and charm. Nor must we forget the practice of pouring
-out libations to the aquatic divinities. A century ago, in Crawford Muir,
-when a tenant was evicted and another took his place, he cut the throat of
-a black lamb and threw it into a stream, with a malediction both upon
-stream and lamb.
-
-To this futile department of human error we can, however, devote no more
-space. To treat it adequately we should need at least a couple of volumes
-as closely printed as the present.
-
-
-
-
-INDEX.
-
-
-  Aborigines, the, of North America, 254.
-
-  African Superstitions, 171.
-
-  Ahetas, the, 153.
-
-  Ancestors, Worship of, 220.
-
-  Anecdotes of Khandikya and Kesidhwaja, 114.
-
-  Apples, Halloween, 293.
-
-  Ark-festival, an Indian, 90.
-
-  Ashi, the Rabbi, 72.
-
-  Asia, savage races of, 155.
-
-
-  Babylonian Talmud, the, 72.
-
-  Bouru, 146.
-
-  Brahman Religion, the, 14, 84.
-
-  Buddhism, 16.
-
-  Buddhists, Prayer-wheels of the, 1.
-
-  Buffalo-dance, the, 259.
-
-
-  Cannibalism, 250.
-
-  Caste, Brahman, 14.
-
-  Cat, adventures of a, 218.
-
-  Ceremonies, Hindu, 6;
-    Eskimo, 275.
-
-  Chandu, Palace of, 163.
-
-  Charms, Scottish, 310.
-
-  China, in, 119.
-
-  Chinese offerings to gods, 139.
-
-  Chinese temples, 132.
-
-  Chunda Sen, Babu Keshub, 97.
-
-  Chung-Yung, 123.
-
-  Confucianism, 119.
-
-  Confucius, Life of, 120.
-
-  Court of Justice, an Eskimo, 277.
-
-  Cumming, Miss Gordon, Experiences of, 1;
-    quoted, 3.
-
-
-  Daksha, sacrifice of, 103.
-
-  Debendunath Tagore, 97.
-
-  Devil-dancing, 91.
-
-  Divination, 319.
-
-  Dorians, the, 147.
-
-  Dyaks, the, 145.
-
-
-  Egg-trick, the, 169.
-
-  Equatorial Savage, the, 172.
-
-  Eskimos, the, 274.
-
-  Etu, the, 221.
-
-
-  Fairies, belief in, 323.
-
-  Feast of Lanterns, the, 129.
-
-  Fetich-man, the, 174.
-
-  Fiji-islanders, the, 230.
-
-  Fire-superstitions, 290.
-
-  Fish-charmers, Brahman, 87.
-
-  Flagellants, the, 279.
-
-
-  Gemara, the, 69.
-
-  Gods, belief in, 12.
-
-
-  Halloween, 288.
-
-  Health-superstitions, 313.
-
-  Hilarion, S., 280.
-
-  Hindu Mythology, the, 99.
-
-  Hindus, the, 203.
-
-  Hindu Temples, Ceremonies of the, 6.
-
-  Hiouen-thsang, Career of, 26.
-
-
-  Idol Worship, 221.
-
-  Indians, North American, 254.
-
-
-  Jerusalem Talmud, the, 72.
-
-  Jewish Superstitions, 68.
-
-  Jugglery, 163.
-
-
-  Khudas, the, 89.
-
-  King, or, the Five Canonical Works, 125.
-
-
-  Lao-tsze, the Chinese Philosopher, 129.
-
-  Lun-Yu, the, 124.
-
-
-  Magianism, 43.
-
-  Maize, Indian reverence for the, 273.
-
-  Malays, among the, 142.
-
-  Maories, the, 241.
-
-  Medicine-bag, the Indian, 265.
-
-  Medicine-man, the Indian, 174;
-    the Eskimo, 274.
-
-  Meng-tze, the, 124.
-
-  Mishna, the, 68.
-
-  Mongols, the, 157.
-
-  Mueller, Max, quoted, 10.
-
-
-  Nagpanchanic Festival, the, 210.
-
-  New Zealand, 241.
-
-  North American Indians, the, 254.
-
-  Nursery tale, a Hindu, 307.
-
-
-  Old age, African veneration of, 172.
-
-  Orang-lauts, the, 152.
-
-  Ormuzd and Ahriman, 191.
-
-  Ostiaks, the, 158.
-
-
-  Paharis, the Customs of, 87.
-
-  Papeiha's witness to Christianity, 215.
-
-  Papuan Tribes, the, 147.
-
-  Parsees, the, 43.
-
-  Peace-pipe, the Indian, 270.
-
-  Polo, Marco, 161.
-
-  Polynesian Sacrifices, 228.
-
-  Polynesian Superstitions, 214.
-
-  Prayer-Wheels of the Buddhists, 1.
-
-  Public Games, 109.
-
-  Puranas, the, 99.
-
-
-  Rammohun Roy, Life of, 92.
-
-  Red Men, the, 257.
-
-  Religion, Brahman, 14, 84;
-    Buddhism, 16;
-    Parsee, 43;
-    Chinese, 119;
-    among the Malays, 142;
-    the Dyaks, 145;
-    in Bouru, 146;
-    among the Papuan tribes, 147;
-    the Orang-lauts, 152;
-    Savage nations of Asia, 155;
-    in Tibet, 161;
-    Zabianism, 186;
-    in Polynesia, 214;
-    among the Fiji-islanders, 230;
-    the Maories, 241;
-    North American Indians, 254.
-
-  Rudra, Origin of, 103.
-
-
-  Samoans, the, 219.
-
-  Samojedes, 155.
-
-  San-tsing, the Chinese deity, 131.
-
-  Scottish Superstitions, 288.
-
-  Second Sight, 290, 300, 314.
-
-  Serpent-worship, 186.
-
-  Shae-tung, the, 129.
-
-  Shamanism, 91.
-
-  Shang-te, the, of the Chinese, 131.
-
-  Slamatan Bromok, the, 142.
-
-  Snake-charmers, 87.
-
-  Stylites, S. Simeon, 281.
-
-  Sun-worship, 8, 200.
-
-  Superstitions, African, 171.
-
-  Supreme Being, belief in a, 11.
-
-
-  Taboo, or Tapu, 241.
-
-  Tadibe, the, 156.
-
-  Ta-heo, the, 123.
-
-  Talmud, the, 68.
-
-  Taossi, the, 132.
-
-  Taouism, 129.
-
-  Tehu-Chor, the, 3.
-
-  Thibetan Prayer or Litany, the, 4.
-
-  Tibet, in, 161.
-
-  Topes, the, 203.
-
-  Typhon and Osiris, 173.
-
-
-  Vishnu Purana, the, 100.
-
-
-  Weather-conjuring among the Mongols, 159.
-
-  Williams, Rev. John, 214.
-
-
-  Yadageri, 160.
-
-
-  Zabianism, 186.
-
-  Zendavesta, the, 43.
-
-  Zoroaster, 45.
-
-  Zulu Witch-finders, 180.
-
-
-J. MASTERS AND CO., PRINTERS, ALBION BUILDINGS, BARTHOLOMEW CLOSE.
-
-
-
-
-FOOTNOTES:
-
-[1] Miss Gordon Cumming, "From the Hebrides to the Himalayas," ii. 226,
-227.
-
-[2] Max Mueller, Buddhism and Buddhist Pilgrims, pp. 5, 6.
-
-[3] Rig-Veda, i. 164, 46.
-
-[4] Rig-Veda, x. 121, by Max Mueller.
-
-[5] The thought in this paragraph, and several of the expressions, are
-from Max Mueller.
-
-[6] So in Shelley's lyrical drama of "Prometheus Unbound:"--
-
-  "_Mercury_ (addressing Prometheus.) Once more answer me:
-                Thou knowest not the period of Jove's power?
-  _Prometheus._ I know but this, that it must come.
-  _Mercury._                                        Alas!
-                Thou canst not count thy years to come of pain.
-  _Prometheus._ They last while Jove must reign; nor more nor less
-                Or I desire or fear."
-
-[7] Max Mueller, pp. 13, 14.
-
-[8] Professor Wilson propounded a theory to the effect that there never
-was any such man as Buddha, but the theory has found few supporters.
-
-[9] The name "Sakya" is made into "Sakya-muni,"--_muni_ in Sanskrit
-meaning "solitary," (Greek, [Greek: monos],) alluding to his solitary
-habits; and to Gautama is often prefixed "Sramana," or "ascetic."
-
-[10] Max Mueller, pp. 14, 15.
-
-[11] Max Mueller, pp. 15, 16, 17.
-
-[12] The following sketch is founded on M. Stanislas Julien's "Voyages des
-Pelerins Buddhistes," and on Max Mueller's review of that valuable work.
-
-[13] Max Mueller, p. 36.
-
-[14] Voyages des Pelerins Bouddhistes. Vol. I. Histoire de la Vie de
-Hiouen-thsang, et ses Voyages dans l'Inde, depuis l'an 629 jusqu'en 645,
-par Hoei-li et Yen-thsong; traduite du Chinois par Stanislas Julien.
-
-Vol. II. Memoires sur les Contrees Occidentales, traduits du Sanscrit en
-Chinois, en l'an 648, par Hiouen-thsang, et du Chinois en Francais, par
-Stanislas Julien. Paris, 1853-1857. B. Duprat.
-
-[15] Hoei-li terminates the last book of his biography of the Master with
-a long and pompous panegyric of Hiouen-thsang. This _morceau_, which forms
-(says Stanislas Julien,) twenty-five pages in the Imperial edition and ten
-in the _Nan-king_, offers an analysis of the life and voyages of the
-Master of the Law; but it contains no new fact or one of any interest in
-relation to the history and geography of India or the Buddhist literature.
-No English version has appeared of M. Julien's elaborate translation of
-the Chinese History of Hiouen-thsang.
-
-[16] More correctly, Avesta-Zend.
-
-[17] Sanscrit, _Avastha_. This is Haug's conjecture.
-
-[18] The Pazend language was identical with the Parsi, i.e., the ancient
-Persian.
-
-[19] Dogs are here associated with man on account of their high value in
-an early stage of civilisation. Zarathustra protected them by special
-ordinances and penalties.
-
-[20] The bridge _Chinavat_ by which the souls of the good crossed into
-Paradise; a fancy afterwards adopted by Muhamad.
-
-[21] Quarles.
-
-[22] Emanuel Deutsch, "Literary Remains," (edit. 1874, pp. 32, 33.)
-
-[23] E. Deutsch, Literary Remains, p. 55, sqq.
-
-[24] The Tinnevelly Shawars, by R. Caldwell, Madras, 1849.
-
-[25] Calcutta Review, lii. 112, 113.
-
-[26] We are reminded by this extravagance of great King Arthur's sumptuous
-feast at Carlisle, as described by Mr. Frere ("Whistlecraft"):--
-
-  "They served up salmon, venison, and wild boars
-  By hundreds, and by dozens, and by scores.
-
-  "Hogsheads of honey, kilderkins of mustard,
-  Muttons, and fatted beeves, and bacon swine;
-  Herons and bitterns, peacock, swan and bustard,
-  Teal, mallard, pigeons, widgeons, and in fine
-  Plum-puddings, pancakes, apple-pies and custard;
-  And therewithal they drank good Gascon wine,
-  With mead, and ale, and cyder of our own;
-  For porter, punch and negus were not known."
-
-[27] That is, the crooked. One of the other Puranas calls her Trivakra (or
-thrice-deformed.)
-
-[28] The Yoga philosophy prescribes about eighty-four postures. The one to
-which allusion is made in the text consisted of sitting with your legs
-crossed underneath you, and laying hold of your feet, on each side, with
-your hands.
-
-[29] That is, the silent repetition of prayer.
-
-[30] Others say in 479 B.C., at the age of seventy.
-
-[31] A strong spirituous liquor, distilled from wine.
-
-[32] In Rashiduddin's "History of Cathay" we read: "In the reign of
-Din-Wang, the twentieth King of the eleventh dynasty, _Tai Shang Lao Kun_
-was born. This person is stated to have been accounted a prophet by the
-people of Khita; his father's name was Han; like Shak-muni (Buddha) he is
-said to have been conceived by light, and it is related that his mother
-bore him in her womb no less a period than eighty years. The people who
-embraced his doctrine were called [Arabic] _Shan-shan_ or _Shin-shin_."
-The title used by Rashiduddin signifies "the Great Supreme Venerable
-Ruler."
-
-[33] Robert Fortune, "Three Years' Wanderings in the Northern Provinces of
-China," p. 170, et sqq.
-
-[34] "Three Years' Wanderings," p. 185.
-
-[35] Fortune, pp. 190, 191.
-
-[36] M. de la Gironiere, cit. in "The Eastern Archipelago," pp. 522, 526,
-527.
-
-[37] Col. Yule, "Book of Sir Marco Polo," Vol. I. pp. 306, 307.
-
-[38] Edward Melton, "Engelsch Edelmans Zeldzaame en Gedenkwaardige Zee en
-Land Reizen," &c., 1660, 1677, p. 468.
-
-[39] Miss Gordon Cumming. "From the Hebrides to the Himalayas," ii. 68,
-69.
-
-[40] This chapter is adapted from Mr. Winwood Reade's "Savage Africa,"
-(Edit. 1863.)
-
-[41] "A Year's Housekeeping in South Africa," p. 173.
-
-[42] Lady Barker, "A Year's Housekeeping in South Africa," p. 179.
-
-[43] Abridged from Lady Barker, "A Year's Housekeeping in South Africa,"
-pp. 181-184.
-
-[44] Quoted from Chwolson ("Die Ssabier und der Ssabismus," 1856,) by
-Chambers.
-
-[45] Deane, p. 49.
-
-[46] Isaac McLellan.
-
-[47] Deane, pp. 370-373.
-
-[48] Deane, pp. 446, 447.
-
-[49] "Tree and Serpent-worship," by James Fergusson, (edit. 1868.)
-
-[50] "Asiatic Researches," Vol. XX. p. 85.
-
-[51] Fergusson, "Tree and Serpent-worship," p. 93.
-
-[52] "We know," says Mr. Fergusson, "that two of the principal Vedic
-gods--Indra (the firmament) and Agni (fire)--were adopted into their
-pantheon by the early Buddhists, and it seems more reasonable to connect
-this appearance of fire with the pre-existing worship of Agni than with
-any far-fetched allusion to solar worship." But what was Agni but a type
-of the sun?
-
-[53] Col. Meadows Taylor, Appendix to Fergusson's "Tree and
-Serpent-worship," pp. 236, 237.
-
-[54] John Williams, "Missionary Enterprises," p. 48.
-
-[55] Rev. J. Williams, "Missionary Enterprises," pp. 143-146 (edit. 1841.)
-
-[56] "South Sea Bubbles," by the Earl and the Doctor, pp. 114-117.
-
-[57] R. F. Burton, "Lake Regions of Equatorial Africa."
-
-[58] Tennyson.
-
-[59] Cooper, pp. 102, 104.
-
-[60] Cooper, p. 105.
-
-[61] Dishes.
-
-[62] Empty.
-
-[63] Puffed.
-
-[64] Ash, or cinder.
-
-[65] Saucy child.
-
-[66] The unbounded good fortune of Polycrates, King of Samos, awakened the
-fear of his friend, Amasis, King of Egypt, who wrote to warn him of the
-jealousy of the gods:--
-
-  "This counsel of thy friend disdain not--
-          Invoke Adversity!
-  And what of all thy worldly gear,
-  Thy deepest heart esteems most dear,
-          Cast into yonder sea!"
-
-[67] Calcutta Review, LI. iii.
-
-[68] Calcutta Review, LI., 118. In the Gaelic we find a similar story,
-called "Moorochug and Meenachug."
-
-[69] We have Anglicised Mr. Dalyell's version. See his "Darker
-Superstitions of Scotland," p. 22. (Edit. 1835.)
-
-[70] This is the subject of D. G. Rossetti's fine poem, "The King's
-Tragedy."
-
-[71] At the beginning of the action he had taken his place in front of his
-little band of cavalry. He bade them follow him, and rode forward. But it
-seemed to be decreed that, on that day, the lowland Scotch should in both
-armies appear to disadvantage. The horse hesitated. Dundee turned round,
-stood up in his stirrups, and, waving his hat, invited them to come on. As
-he lifted his arm, his cuirass rose, and exposed the lower part of his
-left side. A musket ball struck him: his horse sprang forward, and plunged
-into a cloud of smoke and dust, which hid from both armies the fall of the
-victorious general. A person named Johnstone was near him, and caught him
-as he sank down from the saddle. "How goes the day?" said Dundee. "Well
-for King James," answered Johnstone; "but I am sorry for your lordship."
-"If it is well for him," answered the dying man, "it matters the less for
-me." He never spoke again: but when, half an hour later, Lord Dunfermline
-and some other friends came to the spot, they thought that they could
-still discover some faint remains of life. The body, wrapped up in two
-plaids, was carried to the Castle of Blair.--_Macaulay_, chap. xiii.
-
-[72] Aeneid. lib. vii. l. 87.
-
-[73] Milton.
-
-
-
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