For the Republican. The Eclipse. The children played in the shadows On the gleaming floor that lay, And they murmured “What is the matter With the brave old sun, to-day? “No vapor hangs white o’er the meadow, No cloud in the fair blue sky. But the sunshine is wan and sickly As if it were going to die. “It yesterday came through the vine-leaves That shadow the casement o’er; In a shower of golden dollars It fell on the mottled floor. But now it is falling in pictures Of a faint and broken sun, In a shower of silvery crescents That are fading every one.” Then the children looked from the window On the dim, mysterious skies, ' And a question of fear and sorrow Lay darken their dreamy eyes. And the sun looked down on the faces So pale in the glimmering ray, And lie answered their childish question As well as a mute orb may. Said lie, “’Tis a law outstretching From man to the farthest star, Tli at we only can give to another Whatever we have and are. “When my life was full and perfect. When my heart was whole and brave, I gave you the rounded sunbeams That all my children crave. “But the hand of a mighty darkness Lies heavy npon my brow, And a dying and broken glimmer Is all I can give you now.” Then the children ran to the attic, And with eager lingers broke From the globe of a shattered lantern The fragments dim with smoke. And then through the veiling curtain Procured by their childish art, They watched, as the Day-god faltered And died of a broken heart. r. it. c. ■ ■■ ■ Division X)SA-1.2. Section _VJ 7 3 Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2016 https://archive.org/details/lecturesonindiaOOwrig LECTURES ON INDIA, BY CALEB WRIGHT, A. M. THE AUTHOR HAS TRAVELLED MORE THAN FORTY THOUSAND MILES, FOR THE EXPRESS PURPOSE OF COLLECTING IN- FORMATION RESPECTING THE VARIOUS RACES OF PEOPLE WHOSE PECULIAR MANNERS. IIABITS AND SUPERSTITIONS HE DESCRIBES. FIFTH EDITION. TO WHICH IS ADDED, A LECTURE ON THE CONDITION OF WOMEN IN INDIA AND OTHER PAGAN AND MOHAMMEDAN COUNTRIES ; A DESCRIPTION OF THE THUGS, A PECULIAR CLASS OF. ROBBERS ; A DESCRIPTION OE TWO OF THE PRINCIPAL HINDU FESTIVALS; AND SPECIMENS OF THE SHASTEUS OR ANCIENT BOOKS OF THE BRAHMINS. ILLUSTRATED BY NUMEROUS ENGRAVINGS. BOSTON: PUBLISHED BY CALEB WRIGHT 1851 . Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1850, by CALEB WRIGHT,- in the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of Massachusetts. TESTIMONIALS. From. Rev. Rufus Anderson, D.D., of Boston. “ Mr. Caleb Wright visited India a few years since, to qualify himself for lecturing on the manners and customs of the people in that country ; and the Lectures lie has since published give evidence of the carefulness of his observations, and of his faithfulness in description. The volume entitled, ‘ Lectures on India,’ &c., is valuable for its subject-matter, even beyond any other similar collection of the size within my knowledge.” From Rev. Jeremiah Day , D.D., LL.D., formerly President of Yale College. “Mr. Wright has recently lectured in seven of the churches in this city (New* Haven), to large and highly gratified audiences. I believe his Lectures are doing much good, and hope they will continue to receive the patronage they deserve.” While Mr. Wright was lecturing in the principal cities and towns in the United States, testimonials, similar to the above, were received from a great number of persons in eminent stations, among whom were twenty Presidents of Colleges and Theological Seminaries, viz. : Rev. E. Nott, D.D., President of Union College. L. Beecher, D.D., • • • President of Lane Seminary. J. Edwards, D.D., • • • President (formerly) of Tlieol. Sem. Andover. Jere. Day, LL.D., • • • President (formerly) of Yale College. II. Humphrey, D.D.,- President (formerly) of Amherst College. Mark Hopkins, D.D., • President of Williams College. S. North, LL.D., • • • • President of Hamilton College. Joel Parker, D.D., - • • Px-esident of Union Tlieol. Seminary, N. Y. B. Tyler, D.D., President of Theol. Seminary at E. Windsor. B. Sears, D.D., Pi-esident of Theol. Seminary at Newton. R. Babcock, D.D., • • • President (formerly) of Waterville College. J. Bates, D.D., President (formerly) of Middlebury College. N. Bangs, D.D., President (formerly) of Wesleyan University. H. J. Clark, A.M., ■ • • President of Alleghany College. J. Carnahan, D.D.,- • • President of Princeton College. *— Asa Mahan, A.M.,- • • President of Obei'lin Institute. E. W. Gilbert, D.D, • President of Delaware College. Benjamin Hale, D.D., President of Geneva College. Silas Totten, D.D.,- • • President of Trinity College. Hon. A. Hasbrouck, LL.D., Px-esident of Rutgers College. ENGRAVINGS. LECTURES ON INDIA. SO. P1GE - 1. A Devotee, who had been standing eight years, 9 2. A Devotee, whose finger-nails were eight inches long, 11 3. A Devotee, whose arms were constantly elevated, 13 4. Hindu of Bengal, of high rank, in full dress, 15 5. Mohammedan of Bengal, of high rank, in full dress, 17 6. Byragee playing on a Timbrel, 19 7. Mobman Khaun, Nabob of Cambay, 21 8. Culi Chief, 23 9. Culi Soldier of the Forests of Rajputana, 25 10. Minaret at Delhi, 27 11. Columns of a Temple at Benares, 29 12. Columns from the ruins of a Temple at Barolli, 31 13. Temple of Vishnu, at Mahabalipooram, South India, 33 14. Entrance to the Cave Temple of Elephanta, 35 15. Interior of the Great Choultry at Madura, 35 16. Hindu College at Calcutta, 37 17. Fort of Haje Ka, on the Indus, 39 18. Town and Fort of Roree, on the Indus, 41 19. Fort of Burkhur, on the Indus, 43 20. Hindu Family and Dwelling, 47 21. Travelling in a Palankeen, 47 22. Specimens of Hindu Jewelry, 49 23. Celebrating the Huli Festival, 53 24. A Brahmin Reading the Shasters, 53 25. A Yolume of the Shasters, written on Palm Leaf, 55 26. Yishnu reposing on his Serpent Couch, 59 27. Interior of a House in the City of Benares, 59 28. Temple of Kali near Calcutta, 63 29. The Goddess Kali, 63 Vi ENGRAVINGS. NO- PAGE. 30. Temple at Tanjore, 67 31. Images found among Ancient Ruins at Gaya, 71 32. Temple near Allahabad, 71 33. Two Portraits, / 75 34. A View in the City of Benares, 75 35. Presenting Offerings to a Mendicant Priest, 79 36. An Infant Victim of Superstition, 83 37. Interior of a Chapel at Cuttack, 83 38. A Curiously wrought Image of Kannappen, 87 39. Ruins in the City of Delhi, 91 40. A Mosque at Delhi 91 41. Union of the Ganges and Jumna, 95 42. The Sick, brought to the Ganges, 95 43. A Pilgrim at his Devotions, 99 44. The God of Wisdom, Dancing Girl, and Musicians, 99 45. The Great Temple of Juggernaut at Puri, 103 46. Portrait of Juggernaut, 103 47. Car and Procession of Juggernaut, 107 48. The Goddess Luckshme, copied from an Ancient Sculpture, . . . 107 49. Ceremony of the Swinging of Krishna Ill 50. A Tank and Temple near Benares, 115 51. The India Ox, 115 52. A Devotee leaping from a Precipice, 119 53. Transforming a Woman into an Evil Spirit by burning her alive, . . 119 54. A Group of Women, 123 55. Interior of a Dwelling, 123 56. Saugor Island, 127 57. Bannian Tree, 127 LECTURE ON WOMEN. Commencing at Page 129. 58. Three Hindu Girls, educated at Burdwan, 131 59. Women of Calcutta, 185 60. Hindu Woman of Bengal, of high rank, in full dress, 139 61. Mohammedan Woman of Bengal, of high rank, in full dress, . . . 143 62. Parsec Woman of Bombay, of high rank, in full dress, 147 63. Hindu Woman carrying a Burden 151 64. Kyan Woman, 155 ENGRAVINGS. vii (CO. paqe 65. Hindu Woman of the Brahmin Caste, 159 66. Hindu Mother lamenting the Death of her Child, . . .' . . . 163 DESCRIPTION OF THE THUGS. Commencing at Page 169. 67. A Thug disguised as a Merchant, 167 68. Carrier of Ganges Water, . . . . 176 69. Interior of a Cave Temple at Ellora, 185 70. A Thug going to a Feast, . 190 71. A Mohammedan at Prayer, 191 72. Indru, King of the Minor Deities, 193 73. Cottage in the Forest, 197 DESCRIPTION OF FESTIVALS. Commencing at Page 201. 74. Procession at a Hindu Festival, 199 75. Image of the Goddess Durga, 202 76. A Hindu Family carrying Offerings to an Idol, 209 77. Returning from a Sacrifice of Animals, 215 78. Dancing in Celebration of the Durga Festival, 219 79. Consigning an Image of Kali to the Ganges, 223 SPECIMENS OF THE SHASTERS. Commencing at Page 237. 80. Gautama, or Budh, 249 81. Chinese Budh,- 251 82. Brahma, 251 83. Another Form of Brahma, 251 84. Huneman, 255 85. Another Form of Huneman, 255 86. Vishnu, 255 87. Ganesa, the God of Wisdom, 258 88. Serpent God, 259 89. Colossal Bust of Shiva, from the Temple of Elephanta, .... 259 90. Shiva, 259 91. Temple of Nandi, at Tanjore, 269 92. Kartika, the God of War, 271 Engraving, No. 1 . Portrait of a Devotee xvho had been standing eight years, day and night. See description at page 70 . No. 2. Portrait of a Devotee who had kept the left arm elevated in the position represented until it had become stiff, and the finger-nails had, grown six or eight inches in length. See page 70. No. 3. Portrait of a Devotee who had lcept both arms elevated until they had become stiff and immovable. See page 70. No. 5. A Mohammedan of Bengal, of high rank, in full dress. # * No. / . Mohman Khaun , Nabob of Cambay . No. 8. A Cult Chief. The Culis are a tribe of Robbers and Pirates in the north-west part of Hindustan. No. 9. A Ckdi Soldier of the Forests of Rajputana. No. 10. THE GREAT MINARET AT DELHI. This beautiful and magnificent tower is 242 feet in height. In the interior is a spiral staircase, leading to the different balconies , and to the top. It was built in the thirteenth century , but for what purpose is now unknown. No. 11. SPECIMEN OF ARCHITECTURE AT BENARES. Two of the eight columns which support the vestibule of a Temple , represented by engraving , No. 34, page 75. No. 12. SPECDIEN OF HINDU ARCHITECTURE AT BAROLLI. D use Columns are in the immediate vicinity of a very large and beautiful temple non in ruins. They probably supported a swing, for the recreation of the god. See engraving, representing the swinging of Krishna, page 111 . 4 No. 13. A TEMPLE AT MAI1ABALIP00R AM. Each of the four columns is composed of a single stone. During cer- tain Festivals an Image of Vishnu is brought from a larger temple and placed in this edifice to receive the homage of his votaries. 9 A o. 14. Temple of Elephanta. No. 15. Interior of the Great Choultry at Madura. No. 1C>. The Hindu College at Calcutta. No. 18 . Tovm and Fort of Roree, on the Indus. \ No. 19. Fort of Burkhur, on the Indus. LECTURES ON INDIA. LECTURE I. It is the opinion of some eminent geographers, that India, under the name of Tarshish , was known in the days of Solomon, and celebrated as the land of spices, gold, and precious stones ; but, whether it be the Tarshish of the ancients or not, it has for a long time been justly regarded with great interest. Here, vast and powerful empires have successively sprung up and flourished, while Europe was in a state of barbarism. Long before Chris- tianity shed its light upon the world, India was the land of science and the arts. At the present time, however, its prominent char- acteristics are ignorance, poverty, and superstition. It is not my purpose to direct your attention to the whole of India, but only to that portion of it usually denominated Hindu- stan, or India within the Ganges. This is a large peninsula, pro- jecting into the Indian Ocean, south-west of the Chinese Empire, from which it is separated by the Himalaya Mountains. With a territory about as large as Mexico, it is supposed to contain a pop- ulation of one hundred and thirty millions, or more inhabitants than England, Scotland, Ireland, Russia, and the continent of America. The Hindus are of various dissimilar races, differing materially in stature, complexion, manners, language, and general character. The Rajpoots and mountaineers of the north are large and of great muscular strength, while the inhabitants farther south are gener- ally of small stature and of slender form. In complexion, they vary from a dark olive approaching to black, to a light, transparent, beautiful brown, resembling that of the natives of Northern Italy. 46 LECTURES ON INDIA. They are very fond of ornaments, such as rings in the ears and nose, with bracelets on the arms and ankles ; yet their dress is ex- ceedingly simple. See Engravings, Nos. 20 and 22. The dress of the male consists of two pieces of cotton cloth, each containing about two yards. The one, called the dhotee, is girt about the loins and extends to the ankles. The other, called the chaddcr, is worn over the shoulders. The dress of the female is called a saree, and consists of a single piece of cloth of from four to seven yards. One end of this piece is wrapped around the loins, the width reaching to the feet; the other is gracefully thrown around the shoulders. In some parts of the country, it also covers the head. The children wear no clothing until they are from five to eight years of age ; but they are frequently deco- rated with ornaments and jewels of considerable value. The food of this people, with but few exceptions, is vegetable The use of animal food is denied them by their religion, unless the animals be first sacrificed to some idol. At their meals, they use neither tables, chairs, knives, forks, nor spoons. They sit upon the floor, and put the food into the mouth with the fingers of the right hand. They take their drink from a brass cup, which they never touch with the lips, but pour the liquid into the mouth. Fermented and distilled liquors are used only by the lowest castes ; but the use of tobacco is almost universal, and horo, as elsewhere nas a most pernicious influence. Many of both sexes 'chew betel a drug more filthy, if possible, than tobacco itself. Most of the Hindu dwellings are rude huts, See Engraving, Number 20. The usual size is about eighteen feet long and twelve wide. The walls are built of mud, and the roof is thatched with straw or with the leaves of the palm. In cities, however, and m large villages, to prevent damage by fire, tiles are used instead of thatch. The cost of such dwellings varies from five to twenty dollars, according to the size and manner of finish. About one house in a thousand is built of durable materials, such as brick or stone. In cities they may be found from two to four stories high. These have flat roofs, and are built around a court or open space in the centre. In some houses, the court, is very large, and is dec- orated with fountains, trees, and flowering shrubs. Most of the windows open into the court. As Hindu dwellings have few or no windows towards the street, they appear very much like prisons : and, in some respects, they are prisons ; for within their walls the females are incarcerated for life. Such is the jealousy of their husbands, that they are never to be seen in the streets or in any No. 20. Hindu Family and Dwelling. No. 21. Travelling in a Palankeen. * No. 22. JEWELRY -FROM SPECIMENS COLLECTED BY THE AUTHOR. These engravings are of the size of the objects which they represent. No. 1 is an orna- ment for the ear ; the lobe of the ear is pierced, and the aperture gradually stretched until if becomes sufficiently large to admit the ornament. No. 2 is a nose jewel. No. 3 is a bracelet ; it is made of brass, and weighs one pound and nine ounces. Some of the women deck the arms with from ten to twenty brass rings, weighing more than half a pound each. 4 , I ■ ' LECTURES OX IXDIA. 51 public assembly. It is only the higher class of females, however, who are kept thus secluded ; among the common people, women are to be seen at work in the fields, or going to market with large bundles of wood, or other heavy burdens, borne upon the head. In engraving, No. 21 you have a representation of the usual method of travelling. With but few exceptions, there are no roads ; consequently, wheel carriages are seldom used. This ve- hicle is called a palankeen. On the sides are sliding doors or Ve- netians. Its construction in other respects will be readily under- stood. The usual number of bearers is eight. Four of these carry the palankeen thirty or forty rods; then the others take it upon their shoulders; thus, alternately, they relieve each other. Beside the bearers, several other men are employed to carry the baggage and to bear lighted torches by night. The bearers and other assistants are changed once in about ten miles, or as often as stage-drivers change their horses. The traveller proceeds on his journey from seventy to ninety miles in twenty-four hours, at an expense of about twenty-five cents per mile. No. 24 is a Brahmin engaged in reading and explaining a poem containing some hundred thousand stanzas written on palm-leaf. It is one of many others equally voluminous, and has been handed down from generation to generation for more than three thousand years ; it is written in Sanscrit, a dead language of a “ wonderful construction — more perfect than the Greek, more copious than the Latin, and more exquisitely .refined than either.” It is a portion of the Holy Yedas. . In a peculiar tone of voice, he chants the sacred text, stopping at the end of each stanza to translate and explain. His hearers listen attentively to the exciting narra- tive, now convulsed with laughter at some dexterous exploit, and then thrilled with horror at some dreadful calamity. All the re- ligious books of the Hindus, including the four Yedas, are called S hosiers.* They are so numerous that an entire human life would not be sufficient for an attentive perusal of them. No. 23 is a celebration of the Huli festival. On this occasion, the people of all classes use the most obscene and abusive lan- guage, and, by means of large syringes, bespatter each other with * See “ Specimens of the Shasters or Sacred Books of the Brahmins, consisting of Songs, Legendary Tales, &c.,” page 247 of this volume. LECTURES ON INDIA. 52 colored water ; they also pelt each other with red and yellow powder, and with the mud and filth of the streets. Should a Hfhdu be asked why he conducts in this manner at the time of the Huli, he would say, “ It is our custom, and it can be proved from the Shasters that it has been the custom of our forefathers for millions of generations.” To the mind of a Hindu, whatever is customary is proper ; for he believes that the customs of his forefathers, civil, social, and religious, were instituted by the gods, and are therefore incapable of improvement. The effect of this belief is to keep every thing stationary. There is no progress in knowledge — no change for the better in any department in life. The fashion of dress, the form of agricultural and mechanical in- struments, the manner of erecting habitations, and the performance of various kinds of labor, are the same as they were thousands of years ago. This fact may be illustrated by an anecdote. An English gentleman devised various plans of introducing improve- ments ; among others, he wished to substitute wheelbarrows for the baskets in which the natives carry burdens on their heads. He caused several of these useful articles to be constructed, and labored with much assiduity to introduce them among his work- men. In his presence, they used them with apparent cheerfulness, and even admitted that they were far preferable to the baskets. The gentleman was delighted with his success. On one occasion, however, having been absent a few hours, on returning somewhat unexpectedly, lie was surprised to find all his laborers carrying the wheelbarrows filled tvitli earth on their heads. Their unyielding attachment to ancient customs is the natural result of their religious belief. Any change, however slight, in the mode of labor or business, is a violation of religious duty. It is evident, therefore, that the comforts and improvements of civilized life can never be introduced among the Hindus until they become convinced of the falsity of their Shasters and the foolish- ness of their traditions. The first step in the process of reform and improvement is to renounce that system of religion which for thousands of years has held them in th« most cruel bondage. The subject of engraving, No. 2G is beautifully sculptured on the surface of a large rock in the Ganges, and is also frequently represented by the Hindus in their paintings. An enormous ser- pent, having many heads, is coiled up in such a manner as to form a couch, upon which a Hindu divinity is sleeping. Tt illustrates a familiar legend in their Shasters. After the destruction of a No. 23. Celebrating the Huli Festival. No. 24 A Brahmin reading the Shasters. LECTURES ON INDIA. 57 former world by S deluge, this divinity, whose name is Vishnu, composed himself to sleep on a thousand-headed serpent, which doated upon the surface of the waters ; during a nap of some mil- lions of years, a water-lily grew from his body; from this dower issued Brahma, the Creator. Having formed the world anew and created many of the gods, he proceeded to create man, when the four classes or castes into which the Hindus are divided issued from different parts of his body : the Brahmins from his head, the Kshu- tryus from his arms, the Voishnus from his breast, while the Shudras had their ignoble origin in his feet ; agreeably to which legend, the Brahmins are supposed to be entitled to a very high rank, while the Shudras are hardly regarded as human beings. These four classes have, from various causes, been divided into more than two hundred distinct castes. If one of high caste vio- late the rules of his community, he cannot receive an honorable dismission, and enter a lower caste, but is forever excluded from all respectable society ; repentance and reformation have no ten- dency to restore him. One of low caste, though ever so learned, wise, or virtuous, can make no approximation to a higher caste. The distance between the Shudra, the lowest caste, and the Brahmin, is immeasurably great ; the Brahmin cannot even instruct the Shudra, but with the greatest precaution, lest he should be defiled. But, low as |}ie Shudra is, he has an honorable standing in society when compared with the Parriahs, a race who are not regarded as having any caste. They, when walking in the street, must keep on the side opposite the sun, lest their filthy shadows should fall upon the consecrated Brahmin. It is not uncommon to see the lower castes prostrating themselves as worshippers at the feet of the Brahmin, and greedily drinking the water which he has condescended to sanctify by the immersion of his great toe. The pernicious influence of caste is strikingly illustrated by an incident related to me by Rev. Mr. Day, a missionary at Madras. As he was riding through a native village, he saw a woman lying by the side of the street, apparently in the agonies of death : she had lain there about twenty-four hours, and, during all this time, the villagers had been constantly passing and repassing, without manifesting the least interest or sympathy. When Mr. Day asked them why they thus neglected this woman, and suffered her to lie there and die, they replied, “ Why should we take care of her ? She does not belong to our caste.” A little rice-water, it appears, had been offered her, but she would not drink it, simply because the per- son offering it belonged to a lower caste. Had she tasted the rice- 58 LECTURES ON INDIA. water, or eaten any food cooked by these villagers, or even drank pure water from their vessels, she would have lost caste. And what then ? Her own children would have fled from her as from one infected with the plague; her husband would not have per- mitted her to enter his house ; even the parental roof would not have afforded her an asylum for a single moment ; had any friends or relatives dared to associate with her, they too would have lost caste and been involved in the same disgrace. Thus she would necessarily become an outcast and a vagabond. In most of the large houses in India, there is an apartment which serves as a family chapel. Engraving, No. 27 represents such an apartment in a very elegantly-finished house in the city of Benares. In the farther part of the chapel is the altar or shrine on which the idols are placed. Each member of the family is expected to offer up his devotions to these idols every morning and evening. According to their own standard, the Hindus are preeminently a religious people. The number of their gods, as stated in their Shasters, is three hundred and thirty millions. These fabled gods are not represented as acting in concert ; they fight and quarrel with each other, and with their wives and children, murder the innocent for the sake of plunder, and commit crimes, the bare recital of which to a Christian audience would excite the utnjpst horror and disgust. It is generally admitted, that neither nations nor individuals aim at greater purity of morals than their religion requires. We may expect to find any community below, rather than above this stand- ard. This is true in regard to the Hindus. Their gods and god- desses being extremely vicious, the manner in which they are worshipped must correspond with their character ; it cannot be expected that the moral character of the people should be other than it is, a compound of every thing that is debasing. Gross and polluted as their divinities are, they are yet too refined and elevated, in their estimation, to be worshipped without imagery. Images are made in forms as various, unnatural, and horrid, as the imagination can conceive. When one of them is consecrated by the Brahmin, the divinity for whom it is designed is supposed to take up his abode in it, and is propitious or unpropitious accord- ing to the manner in which it is worshipped. The goddess Kali, (See Number 29) is represented as a woman of a dark blue color, with four arms, in the act of trampling under her feet her prostrate and supplicating husband. In one hand No. 2G. Vishnu, reposing on his Serpent Couch. No. 27. Interior of a House in the City of Benares. LECTURES ON INDIA. 61 she holds the bloody head of a giant, and in another an extermi- nating sword. Her long, dishevelled hair reaches to her feet ; her tongue protrudes from her distorted mouth ; and her lips, eyebrows, and breast, are stained with the blood of the victims of her fury, whom she is supposed to devour by thousands. Her ear orna- ments are composed of human carcasses. The girdle about her waist consists of the bloody hands of giants slain by her in single combat, and her necklace is composed of their skulls. This mon- ster divinity is one of the most popular objects of Hindu worship. She calls forth the shouts, the acclamations, and the free-will of- ferings of myriads of infatuated worshippers. Her temples are continually drenched with the blood of victims ; even human victims are occasionally sacrificed to her. In 1S28, the Rajah of the Goands sacrificed twenty men at one time, as the promised reward of her supposed assistance in a single enterprise. The Hindus, like the inhabitants of more civilized countries, have secret societies. The most remarkable of these is the soci- ety of the Thugs, which boasts of great antiquity. In some re- spects, it is a religious society ; for its members believe that they are under the immediate guidance and protection of Kali, and that she permits them to obtain their livelihood by murdering travellers on the highway and then taking their property. It would be quite inconsistent with their religious principles, to rob any person until he is first deprived of life by strangulation. They affirm that this system was instituted by Kali, and is consequently of divine origin ; that, for many thousands of years, she assisted them in escaping detection, by devouring the dead bodies of their victims ; but, on a certain occasion, a Thug, contrary to her command, looked back to see how she disposed of the corpses, and saw her feasting on them. This circumstance so offended her, that she declared she would no longer devour those whom they murdered. They believe, however, that she still continues to assist them, and that she directs their movements by certain omens. When, there- fore, they are about to commence their excursions, in order to pro- pitiate the favor of Kali, they sacrifice a sheep, by cutting off its head, upon which the priest pours water and repeats the following prayer : “ Great Goddess ! Universal Mother ! If this our medi- tated expedition is fitting in thy sight, vouchsafe us thine help and the signs of thy approbation.” While repeating this invoca- tion, they watch the head of the victim ; if they observe tremu- lous or convulsive motions in the mouth and nostrils, it is to them the sign that Kali approves their expedition. When about t© 62 LECTURES OX INDIA. murder a traveller, if they hear or see any thing which, according to their superstitious notions, indicates evil, they allow him to pass on unmolested ; but if the omen is esteemed good, they re- gard it as a positive command to murder him. In 1826, the East India Company adopted measures to suppress this system of whole- sale murder. Since that time, between two and three thousand Thugs have been arrested, tried, and convicted. Two hundred and six were convicted at a single session of the court. It ap- peared, in the course of the evidence, that these prisoners, at dif- ferent times, had murdered four hundred and forty persons. In view of these facts, who is prepared to carry out the doctrine, that it matters not what a man believes, if he is only sincere ? m Engraving, No. 28 is a view of one of the most celebrated temples in India. It is devoted to the worship of Kali, and is situated at Kali Ghat, three miles from Calcutta. The small building on the left, and the other on the right, are temples of Shiva. In Calcutta, the missionaries have established several schools, which are in a flourishing condition. The one under the super- intendence of Rev. Dr. Duff is attended by more than a thou- sand young men, belonging to the most respectable families in the city. Kali Prasanna Mukarje, one of the young men edu- cated at the mission schools, is a “ Kulin Brahmin of the highest caste, and, on his mother’s side, is a Holdar Brahmin. The Hol- dars are the original proprietors of Kali Ghat, and the hereditary officiating priests of the temple, to whom all the offerings at this shrine of idolatry belong. Kali Prasanna is heir to his mother’s property, being her only son ; he is also heir to his uncle, who is a Zemindar, and one of the proprietors of the temple of Kali ; and, by marriage, he is heir to his father-in-law’s property. He is thus the only male representative of three ancient and highly- respectable families, and, by inheritance, would have been the prin- cipal proprietor of Kali Ghat and the high priest of the temple.” Besides what he was to inherit, lie possessed property to the amount of about one hundred thousand dollars. He was fully aware that, should he become a Christian, he would, by the laws of his country, not only be deprived of his property, but would be despised by his countrymen, forsaken by his relatives, and regarded as an outcast. Yet he gave up all, was baptized, and became a member of one of the mission churches. At various missionary stations which I visited were several other Brahmins, who had forfeited their title to large estates by becoming Christians. No. 28. A Temple of Kuli, near Calcutta. No. 29. The Goddess Kali. LECTURES ON INDIA. 65 The figure on the left of engraving, No. 31 was found among some ruins in Behar. It is an image of Shiva, who, according to Hindu mythology, is the husband of Kali. He has eight arms and three eyes, one of which is in the centre of his forehead. The ser- pent with which he is decorated is rearing its head over his right shoulder. With one foot he is crushing an enemy in the act of drawing a sword ; with two of his hands he is tossing a human victim on the points of a trident ; in a third he holds a drum, in a fourth an axe, in a fifth a sword, in a sixth a portion of the Vedas, and in a seventh a club, on the end of which is a human head. The figure on the right was copied from a sculpture on the wall of a temple at Gaya. It has four legs, sixteen arms, and seven heads. Its girdle and crown are ornamented with heads. In each hand it has an animal on a plate, as if dressed for food. It is dancing on four men’s bodies, two prostrated and two ready to be crushed. Above, beneath, and on each side, were armed female furies dancing on human carcasses ; but these are not copied into the engraving. By the inhabitants of Gaya, this image is called Mahamaya, another name for Kali; but it is a male, and, perhaps, was originally intended to represent her husband, Shiva. In the month of April, a festival in honor of Shiva is celebrated in almost every town and village. One of these festivals I wit- nessed in Calcutta. On the first day, at sunset, the worshippers assembled at different places, and danced, to the sound of drums and other rude and noisy music, before an image of Shiva. Then, one after another, they were suspended from a beam, with the head downward, over a fire. The next day, about five o’clock in the afternoon, each company reassembled and erected a stage about ten feet in height, from which they threw themselves upon large knives. The knives being placed in a sloping position, the greater part of the thousands that fall upon them escape un- hurt ; but occasionally an individual is cruelly mangled. About forty persons threw themselves from one stage. None but the last appeared to receive much injury. He pretended to be killed, and was carried off with great shouting. During the whole of the night, Calcutta resounded with the sound of gongs, drums, trumpets, and the boisterous shouts of the worshippers. Early the next morning, forty or fifty thousand persons were assembled 66 LECTUKES ON INDIA. on the adjoining plain. Processions, accompanied by music, were passing and repassing in every direction. In the processions, many persons were daubed over with the sacred ashes of cows’ ordure. Hundreds of these were inflicting self-torture. In one procession, I saw ten persons, each with more than a hundred iron pins inserted in the flesh. In another, each devotee had a cluster of artificial serpents fastened with iron pins to his naked back. In other processions, many had the left arm perforated, for the insertion of rods from five to fifteen feet in length. These rods were kept in constant and quick motion through the flesh, to increase the pain. Some had their tongues pierced, for the inser- tion of similar rods, which were occasionally drawn rapidly up and down through the tongue. One man, having a rod fifteen feet long, and, at the largest end, nearly one inch in diameter, commencing with the smaller end, drew the whole rod through his tongue. After wiping the blood from it upon his garment, he thrust it again into his tongue. Others were drawing living ser- pents through their tongues and dancing around like maniacs. In the streets through which the processions passed were devotees, with their sides pierced ; a rope passed through each incision, and the ends of the two ropes were fastened to four stakes driven into fhe earth. In this condition, the infatuated creatures dance back- ward and forward, drawing the ropes, at each movement, through their lacerated flesh. On the afternoon of the next day, swinging machines were erected at the places of concourse. They con- sisted of a perpendicular post, about twenty-five feet high, upon the top of which was a transverse beam, balanced on its centre, and turning on a pivot. A rope was attached to one end of this beam, by which the other could be elevated or depressed at pleasure. From this end, many of the worshippers were sus- pended by iron hooks inserted into the muscular parts of their backs. I have in my possession a pair of hooks which have been used for that purpose. These hooks I saw thrust into a man’s naked back. The rope attached to them was made fast to the beam of the machine, by which he was lifted up twenty-five or thirty feet from the earth. It was then put in a circular motion on its pivot, and the poor sufferer made to swing with great ra- pidity for some minutes. Thousands and tehs of thousands, an- nually, are thus cruelly tortured on these machines. No. 30. A Temple at Tanjore. * LECTURES ON INDIA. 69 No. 32 is a temple of Shiva, which I saw near Allahabad. It is surrounded by a high mound, composed wholly of the fragments of earthen bottles. On one of the last days of February, from twenty to forty thousand pilgrims assemble, each being provided with two or three earthen bottles, containing water from the Ganges, and a few copper coins. Such is the offering they make to Shiva ; and, believing him to be greatly pleased with the act, they dash and break the bottles against the temple. The next day, the Brahmins, faithful and true to Shiva, do not forget to pick up the money, and, as the trustees of the idol, keep it for him. That the temple may not be buried beneath the fragments of this novel offering, and that no coin may escape their vigilance, they also have the broken bottles removed to a short distance, where they had accumulated to the extent here represented. It cannot be difficult to understand why this peculiar mode of wor- ship was invented by the Brahmins. It may also serve, as an il- lustration of the manner in which they take advantage of the credulity of the people and secure a large amount of property. The two figures in engraving 33 are portraits of individuals whom I had the opportunity of frequently seeing. The one on the left is the portrait of a religious mendicant. The number of mendicants in India amounts to many hundreds of thousands. As a religious duty, they forsake their families and friends, re- nounce every useful occupation, and wander from place to place, begging their food. They are literally clothed with filth and rags ; the latter, in many instances, being less in quantity than the former. Some of them are decorated with large quantities of false hair, strings of human bones, and artificial snakes. Others carry a human skull containing a most filthy mixture. If no money or food be given them by those persons of whom they so- licit alms, they profess to eat the filth out of the skull, as an act of revenge. One sect of them, professing to be extremely anxious to avoid destroying animal life, carry a broom, composed of soft cotton threads, gently to sweep the insects from their path. They also erect hospitals for the reception of aged, sick, and lame ani- mals. There is an institution of this kind in the vicinity of Bombay, which, in 1840, contained from fifty to one hundred horses, one hundred and seventy-five oxen and cows, and two hundred dogs, beside cats, monkeys, and reptiles. It has been said 70 LECTURES ON INDIA. that paganism never erected a hospital ; but this is not cpiite true. I believe, however, that these are the only hospitals that have been erected by the worshippers of idols. There is another sect of mendicants, who are worshippers of Krishna. Though men, they put on the dress and ornaments, and assume the manners, of milkmaids. This is supposed to be very pleasing to the object of their worship; for, when he was on earth, he is said to have been very partial to the milkmaids, and to have married no fewer than sixteen thousand of them. The other figure on the same engraving is a portrait of Puri- Suttema, an individual with whom I was well acquainted. For seven years he had been a religious mendicant. At length he read a Christian tract entitled “ A Precept to the Inhabitants of this Part of the World, by the Missionaries.” “ By studying it,” said he, “ I found there was a great difference between the notions I had imbibed and the virtuous precepts contained in that book ; I plainly saw that my former way was all deception, and that this book pointed out a better.” He embraced that better way, and is now a preacher of the gospel. Many religious mendicants subject themselves to various modes of self-torture. Engravings, Nos. 1,2 and 3 are portraits of individuals, selected as specimens of this class of persons. The devotee represented by engraving, No. 2 I saw at a festival on the banks of the Ganges. He had kept his left arm thus ele- vated until it had become stiff and permanently fixed, the muscles and sinews had lost all power of producing motion, and the flesh had become withered. The finger-nails, as you perceive, had grown to the enormous length of six or eight inches. During my residence in Hindustan, I saw as many as nine persons with their arms elevated in the position here delineated. The devotee represented by engraving, No. 3 has both arms ele- vated. This man I saw frequently in the city of Benares. In answer to my inquiries relative to his history, I was told that, in the earlier part of his life, he served as a soldier ; but, having lost his right leg, he became unfit for the duties of the army. In order to secure a livelihood, as well as a large stock of religious merit, he turned devotee. Having substituted a wooden leg in the place of the one lost, he took a small idol in each hand, and ele- vated them above his head until his arms became perfectly stiff and immovable. No. 31. Shiva. Mahamaya. No. 32. A Temple of Shiva. LECTURES ON INDIA. 73 It may, perhaps, seem impossible, that a man should be able, by his own voluntary act, to keep his arms in this unnatural po- sition. One would suppose that in sleep, at least, the limbs would resume their proper posture. In the first part of the process, it becomes necessary to fasten the arms to poles lashed to the body ; but it requires no great length of time so to paralyze the muscles and sinews that they are no longer under the control of the mind. The devotee represented by engraving No. 1 I also frequently saw at Benares. Under a wretched shed on the bank of the Ganges, he had been standing, day and night, for eight years. He had nothing to lean against but a piece of bamboo suspended by cords from the roof of his shed. His dress was a ragged woollen blanket saturated with filth. His face was smeared Avith the sacred ashes, his body greatly emaciated, Avhile his feet and legs were so drop- sical and swollen as to require bandages to prevent their bursting. Sometimes he slept as he stood, but generally he was awake and busily employed in his devotions. In his right hand he held a string of wooden beads contained in a n^d bag. Hour after hour he repeated the names of the gods, and at each repetition passed a bead between his thumb and finger. Occasionally he laid aside his beads, and with his finger Avrote, on a board covered Avith ashes, the names of the idol gods upon whom he depended for happiness in a future life, as the reAvard of his self-inflicted mis- eries. In this manner he had spent the last eight years of his life. I asked him Iioav long he intended to stand there. His re- ply Avas, “Until Gunga calls for me,” — meaning until death, when his body Avould be throAvn into the River Gunga or Ganges. On one occasion, I saAV a devotee performing a pilgrimage to the Ganges in a manner someAvhat peculiar. He prostrated himself at full length upon the ground, and, stretching forward his hands, laid down a small stone ; he then struck his head three times against the earth, arose, walked to the stone, and, picking it up, again prostrated himself, as before ; and thus continued to measure the road Avith his body. I Avas told by a missionary at Benares, that he had recently seen a devotee prostrating himself eA'ery six feet of the Avay tOAvards the temple of Juggernaut, from which he Avas then four hundred miles distant, and that he Avas accompanied on his pilgrimage by a poor cripple, who, unable to Avalk, Avas craAvling along on his hands and knees. Another dev- otee has been rolling upon the earth for the last nine years. He has undertaken to roll from Benares to Cape Comorin, a distance of one thousand five hundred miles, and more than half of the journey he has accomplished. 74 LECTURES OX INDIA. It is universally believed by the Hindus, that, if a man perform a pilgrimage, or swing upon hooks, or torture himself in any other manner, he will be rewarded for it, either in this life or in a future state of existence. No matter what the motive of the devotee may be ; if he perform the service, he must receive the reward. As an illustration of this delusive theory, permit me to relate an anecdote from their sacred books. Narayan is the name of a Hindu god. A certain man, notori- ously wicked, having a son of that name, was laid upon a sick- bed. In the hour of death, being parched with a lever, he called upon his son to give him water. The son being disobedient, the father called again in anger, and expired. The messengers of Yumu, the god of the infernal regions, immediately seized him, and would have dragged him to the place of torment, but they were prevented by the servants of Narayan, who took him by force and carried him to heaven. The messengers of Yumu, in great rage, hastened to their master and told him what had transpired. Yumu ordered his recorder to examine his books. He did so, and found that the man in question was a great sinner. Yumu then repaired in person to Narayan and demanded an explanation. Narayan made this reply: “However sinful the man has been, in his last moments, and with his last breath, he repeated my name ; and you, Yumu, ought to know that, if any man, either by design or accident, either in anger or derision, repeats my name with his last breath, he must go to heaven.” The doctrine of this fable is literally and universally believed by the people. Hence, when a person is in the agonies of death, his friends exhort him to repeat the names of the gods ; and, if he is so fortunate as to die with one of these names upon his lips, they consider it a sure passport to heaven. Many spend a large portion of their time in repeating the names of gods. Parrots are taught to do the same ; and such a spokesman commands a great price, especially among business men, who imagine that, by owning such a parrot, their spiritual treasures are accumulating while they attend to their usual occu- pations. The opposite engraving, No. 34, is a view in Benares, the holy city of the Hindus. It is situated upon the River Ganges, about eight hundred, miles from its mouth, and, with a population of two hundred thousand, is estimated to contain one thousand temples. Benares is not only celebrated for the number of its temples, and the benefits they are supposed to confer, but for the learning and sanctity of its Brahmins, for^its schools of science and the arts. No. 33. Two Portraits. No. 34. A View in the City of Benares. 1 ' LECTUKES ON INDIA. 77 and, more especially, for its great antiquity. It is fabled to have been built by Shiva, of pure gold, but has long since degenerated into stone, brick, and clay, in consequence of the sins of the people. It is visited ,by more pilgrims than any other place in India. When travelling from Benares to Allahabad, a distance of only eighty miles, I estimated the number I saw by' the way at twelve thousand, or one hundred and fifty to every mile. The large building on the right, a part of which is to be seen, is a Mohammedan mosque. It stands upon the place once occupied by a very large and splendid Hindu temple, which contained an image of Shiva, said to have fallen on this spot from heaven. Soon after the commencement of the eighteenth century, Aurung- zebe, a celebrated Mohammedan conqueror, demolished the temple and built this mosque. The Hindus say that the indignant idol, to escape the impious hands of the Mohammedans, while tearing down the temple, threw itself into a neighboring well. This cir- cumstance rendered the water very holy and purifying. The well is in a spacious and beautiful pavilion, as represented near the centre of the engraving. It is built of stone, and consists of a roof supported by four rows of columns. On the left of the pa- vilion are three temples of a pyramidical form. The one in the cen- tre is esteemed the most holy temple in Benares, because it contains the celebrated idol which concealed itself in the well. The Brah- mins who officiate at this temple are also esteemed very holy. I will relate a few incidents illustrative of their character. They discovered that an aged pilgrim, who came there to worship, had a large sum of money about him. They told him that, if he would give them his money, and then, in the presence of the idol, cut his throat, the idol would immediately restore him to the vigor and freshness of youth. The deluded man believed them. He gave up all his money, entered the temple, called on the name of Shiva, and then cut his throat from ear to ear. Rev. Mr. Smith, who de- scribed to me this horrid transaction, saw him weltering in his blood. Mr. Smith also stated that, soon after he commenced his mis- sionary labors in Benares, the Brahmins murdered a celebrated dan- cing girl in this temple, for the sake of the jewels which decorated her person. To prevent discovery, they cut off her head and threw it into the Ganges. They then cut her body into small pieces and strewed them about the streets, to be eaten by the dogs and vultures. There are more than eight thousand religious mendicants in this city who live on charity. Those who belong to the sect called 78 LECTURES ON INDIA. Purumhimse have professedly attained to a state of perfection, and are worshipped as gods. They are readily distinguished by their long hair and beards, which are never trimmed or cleansed, and also by their dress, which is neither more comely nor substantial than that which was in fashion before garments were made by sewing together fig-leaves. These reputed gods sometimes come in contact with men who have not attained to their state of per- fection. Some years since, Mr. Bird, an English magistrate of Benares, seeing a Purumhunse in his yard, ordered him to be gone, and threatened to horsewhip him if he ever saw him there again. A few days afterwards he came again, and found that Mr. Bird was faithful to his promise. The natives, who came running from every direction, were greatly enraged that an unholy foreigner should chastise one of their gods. Whatever power the whip may have had in exciting the wrath of this human god, still*he did not dare to manifest it ; for, had he uttered a single angry word, he would have lost all claim to perfection and divinity. He therefore said, with much apparent coolness and unconcern, “ It is all right, it is perfectly right ; for I recollect that, in a former birth, this magistrate was my donkey. I used to ride him beyond his strength, whip and abuse him, and now I am justly suffering for the sins thus committed.” Engraving, No. 36 illustrates a custom which prevails in the northern part of Bengal. I allude to a species of infanticide. When an infant declines in health, the mother imagines that it is under the influence of an evil spirit, to appease whose wrath, she places her child in a basket and suspends it from the branch of a tree in which evil spirits are supposed to reside. The infant is generally visited and fed by its mother for three days. If it be not devoured by ants nor birds of prey, nor die through exposure to the cold and the rain, it is afterwards taken home. In the vicinity of Malda, an infant thus exposed fell from its basket and was im- mediately seized by a prowling jackal. Fortunately, the Rev. Mr. Thomas happened to pass that way just in time to prevent the child from being devoured. He had the satisfaction of pre- senting it alive to its mother. On another occasion, as he was passing under the same tree, he found a basket suspended from its branches containing the skeleton of an infant, the flesh having been devoured by the white ants. Among the Jercjas, a fierce and warlike tribe, who live in the north-west part of Hindustan, great numbers of female infants arc Presorting Offerings to a Mendicant Priest. 4 LECTURES Otf INDIA. 81 put to death immediately after birth. In one village, in which were twenty-two boys, not one girl was to be found. The vil- lagers confessed that they had all been murdered. In another village were found fifty-eight boys and only four girls ; in another, forty-four boys and four girls ; and, in many other villages, the number of boys exceeded that of the girls in nearly the same pro- portion. The Jerejas have a tradition, that a curse was once pronounced by a holy Brahmin upon all of their tribe who should suffer their female children to live. To escape the effects of this curse, and to avoid the trouble and expense of bringing up their daughters, whom they regard as worthless, they are induced to imbrue them hands in their innocent blood. Mothers are the executioners of their own children. They either strangle them or poison them with opium. That they should be the agents in sustaining so horrid a custom is the more extraordinary when the fact is known that they were born and brought up among other tribes, where female infants are reared with comparative kindness. But such is the debasing influence of heathenism, that natural affection is ex- tinguished, and all the kind sympathies of the maternal heart give place to the most savage ferocity. The infant, after it is destroyed, is placed naked in a small basket, and carried out and interred by one of the female attendants. The subject of engraving, number 37 is the interior of the mission chapel in the city of Cuttack, in the province of Orissa. It is an interesting fact, that this chapel stands upon the very spot where once stood a temple devoted to Shiva. About one hundred miles south-west of Cuttack is the country of the Kunds. They worship a goddess called Bhuenee. To se- cure her blessing upon the soil they cultivate, they deem it im- portant at certain times to offer human sacrifices upon her altars. The victims, who must be in the freshness and bloom of youth, are procured by stealing children from distant villages and rearing them until they become large enough to be acceptable to the goddess. At the time of sacrifice, the victim is tied to a post ; the sacrificer, with an axe in his hand, slowly advances towards him, chanting to the goddess and her train the following hymn, which has been translated for me by Rev. Charles Lacy, one of the missionaries at Cuttack : — 6 V 82 LECTUKES ON INDIA. “ Hail, mother, hail ! Hail, goddess Bhuenee ! Lo ! we present a sacrifice to thee. Partake thereof, and let it pleasure give, And, in return, let us thy grace receive. With various music on this festive day, Lo ! thee we honor, and thy rites obey. Hail, all ye gods who in the mountain dwell, In the wild jungle, or the lonely dell ! Come all together, come with one accord, And eat the sacrifice' we have prepared. In all the fields and all the plots we sow, O let a rich and plenteous harvest grow ! Ho, all ye gods and goddesses! give ear, And be propitious to our earnest prayer. Behold a youth for sacrifice decreed, Blooming with tender flesh and flushed with blood ! No sire, no matron, ream him as a son ; His flesh, and blood, his life, and all, are thine. Without the pale of sacred wedlock born, We caught and reared him for thy rite alone. Now, too, with rites from all pollution free, We offer him, O Bhuenee ! to thee.” As soon as this hymn is finished, with one blow of the axe the chest of the devoted youth is laid open. The sacrificer instantly thrusts in his hand and tears out the heart. Then, while the victim is writhing in the agonies of death, the multitude rush upon him, each one tearing out a part of his vitals or cutting off a piece of flesh from the bones ; for, according to their superstitions, the pieces have no virtue unless they are secured before life is ex- tinct. Immediately they hasten with their bloody treasure and bury it in their fields, expecting in this way to render them fruitful. Please notice those boys sitting on the floor, according to native custom. There are ten of them, and they are Kunds. They had once been stolen from their parents, and were kept for the pur- pose of being sacrificed ; and, had they not been rescued by the agents of the East India Company, they would have been de- stroyed in the manner just described. Put now they attend the mission school during the week, and on the Sabbath they meet in this chapel to worship that God whose kind providence saved them from an early and cruel death. Turn now to the young woman seated at the extreme left of the audience. She, also, when a child, was stolen from her * No. 36. An Infant Victim of Superstition. LECTURES ON INDIA. 85 parents and reserved for the slaughter. She was kept until she had attained her sixteenth year, and was rescued only four days before she was to have been offered in sacrifice. I heard the ac- count of her sufferings from her own lips, and saw the scars made by the fetters with which she had been confined. But now she is a member of the mission church, and is exerting a happy influ- ence in teaching others the way of life. In the course of a few months, the agents of the East India Company rescued one hundred and eight children, whom the Kunds were preparing for sacrifice. It may with propriety be said, they were fattening them like beasts for the slaughter ; for they believe that the goddess will not be pleased with the sacrifice of young men and women, unless they are healthy and blooming. How different this from the blessed training of our children in the Sabbath school, that they may present their bodies a living sacrifice to God ! What a contrast between Paganism and Christianity ! Here a Christian chapel has literally been built upon the ruins of a heathen temple. It has also been rebuilt and enlarged, to accommodate the increasing number of worshippers, more than one hundred of whom are communicants. What has produced this change ? Why are not the cruel rites of Shiva still performed upon this spot ? The humble and unobtrusive missionary has proclaimed the simple doctrines of the cross, and the Divine Spirit has blessed his labors. . Karmappen, a stone image , Jive feet and Jive inches in height, formerly worshipped at Amattavanakoody, in South India. LECTURES ON INDIA. LECTURE II. The attention of the traveller, in the south-western part of Asia, is frequently arrested by splendid edifices, and occasionally by large cities, long since deserted by their inhabitants. They were built by the Mohammedans, who, about the year one thou- sand, invaded India, and, by a long series of the most ferocious and cruel wars, established the great Mogul empire. This vast empire, and other extensive countries in Asia, have, within the last hundred years, been annexed to the British dominions. Delhi, the residence of the Mogul emperors, is supposed to have been founded about three hundred years before the Christian era. In the course of a few centuries, it became the largest and most magnificent city in India. In 1398, Tamerlane, having slaughtered great numbers of the unoffending Hindus in battle, and murdered one hundred thousand who had surrendered as prisoners of war, besieged Delhi. The city surrendered, was pillaged and almost destroyed. Delhi, however, not only recov- ered from this calamity, but attained to still greater splendor and magnificence than at any former period. In 1739, in the height of its prosperity, and when its population was estimated at two millions, it was taken by Nadir Shah. He extorted one hundred and thirty millions of dollars, as a ransom for the city, collected, in jewels and other valuable property, to the amount of two hundred and seventy-five millions, and massacred one hundred and twenty thousand of the inhabitants. Since that time, Delhi has been pillaged and laid waste by other rapacious conquerors, until it has become almost depopulated. The part now inhabited is only seven miles in circuit, while the ruins cover a space much larger than the city of London. 90 LECTURES ON INDIA. For the purpose of procuring the praise of men and the favor of the gods, Rajahs, and other opulent natives, have, in many of the large towns, built choultries, or inns, for the gratuitous accom- modation of travellers. The choultry of Rajah Trimal Naig, at Madura, (see engraving, number 15) consists of one vast hall, three hundred and twelve feet long and one hundred and twenty- five wide. The ceiling is supported by six rows of columns twenty-five feet high. The entire edifice is composed of a hard, gray granite, and every part of its surface is elaborately carved into representations of cows, monkeys, tigers, lions, ele- phants, men, women, giants, gods, and monsters. Choultries generally have but one apartment, and are entirely destitute of furniture of every kind. The ground, beaten hard, and covered with lime cement, serves as a floor, which, at night, is strewed with travellers of all classes and of both sexes, wrapped separately in their various-colored cotton cloths, and lying side by side like so many bales of merchandise in a warehouse. As choultries are much of the time unoccupied, they become the favorite resort of bats, monkeys, rats, and serpents. Of these troublesome creatures, the rats are the most annoying, for, while the travellers are asleep, they eat the skin from the soles of their feet, so as often to make it difficult for them to walk for some days afterwards. “I was awoke, and astonished, one night,” says a missionary, “ by something tugging at my ear. It was a rat. The moment I stirred, my visitant made good his retreat ; had my sleep been more sound, I should probably have suffered severely.” At another time, as he was sleeping in a choultry, he was awoke by the cry of “ Pambu ! pambu ! ” — “A serpent ! a serpent ! His bearers were on the alert ; — the serpent had passed between them and himself without biting any one. Having ascertained that it was not the cobra, which their superstitious reverence will not allow them to destroy, they killed it, and found it was a species of viper whose bite is fatal. The cobra, and various other reptiles, receive religious homage. Inanimate objects are also deified. Of this numerous class of divinities is the Ganges. The Shasters, which are regarded with as much reverence by the Hindu as the Bible is by the Christian, contain these passages. “If a person has been guilty of killing cows* or Brahmins, only let him touch the water of the Ganges, desiring the lemis- * See page 247. No. 39. Ruins in Delhi. No. 40. A Mosque at Delhi. LECTURES ON INDIA. 93 sion of these sins, and they will immediately be forgiven.” And “ bathing in the Ganges, accompanied by prayer, will re- move all sin.” Millions of the Hindus, at a great expense of time, health, and morals, perform pilgrimages to the Ganges. Multitudes travel from five hundred to a thousand miles, and are absent from their home and business five or six months at a time. The Rev. Mr. Thompson, a Baptist missionary, informed me that, on one occasion, he saw more than three hundred thou- sand pilgrims assembled at Hurdwar, to bathe at the place where Brahma, the creator of the world, is said to have performed his ablutions. At two o’clock in the morning, when it was announced by the Brahmins that the propitious time for the ceremony had arrived, the immense multitude rushed down a flight of steps into the Ganges. Those who first entered the water and bathed, attempted to return, but the passage continued to be wedged up with the dense mass of those who were still descending. There were, indeed, other passages by which they might have returned, but that would not do ; it was not the custom. To return by another way would diminish the merit of the bathing. They endeavored, therefore, to force their way upward. Consequently a scene of great violence took place, which resulted in the death of six hundred persons. Engraving, No. 41 is a view of the junction of the Ganges and Jumna. It is believed that every person, of either sex, who, immediately after being shaved, bathes at the point of land where those two rivers unite, will be permitted to dwell in heaven as many years as the' number of hairs removed by the razor. To obtain immediate admission there, many thousands of the pil- grims have drowned themselves here. The strip of land extending from the point at the junction of the rivers to the Fort of Allahabad, on the right of the engraving, is a desolate waste ; but during an annual festival, which I witnessed here, it was crowded with tents, and huts, and more than one hundred thousand pilgrims. On entering this vast en- campment, I saw several missionaries, who, in a small shed by the wayside, were preaching the gospel and distributing tracts. A little beyond was the bazaar, or market, where food and various kinds of merchandise were exposed for sale. In a conspicuous place, near the bazaar, was a man seated upon a mat, and sur- rounded by roots, herbs, lizard-skins, and dried snakes ; profess- ing the ability, like the empirics of more enlightened lands, to 94 LECTURES ON INDIA. cure incurable diseases, and set death at defiance. In another part of the encampment were about three hundred religious men- dicants. In the engraving, a barrier or fence is to be seen extending from the Ganges to the Jumna. Soldiers were stationed there, to prevent the pilgrims from passing it, until they had purchased of the East India Company tickets granting permission to bathe. Near the barrier, I saw three devotees, who had held the left arm elevated above the head until it had become immovable, and the finger nails had grown to the length of six or eight inches. A portrait of one of them is to be seen on page 11, of the first lecture. As I approached the point, I saw two or three hundred barbers employed in shaving the heads and bodies of the pilgrims preparatory to bathing. I also witnessed a very shrewd method of getting rid of sin. The person who wished to become per- fect took in his right hand some money and a few blades of a particular grass, esteemed sacred. Then, with the same hand, he grasped the tail of a cow, while a Brahmin poured on it some water from the Ganges and repeated an incantation. The money, as a matter of course, was given to the Brahmin, the sins were reputed to pass along the tail of the animal, the grass and the deception remained to the pilgrim. Cows were stationed at six or eight places for the convenience of performing this ceremony. I next visited the point, and found the water, for a consider- able distance, crowded with the pilgrims. To bathe at this par- ticular spot was the great object of the pilgrimage. No. 42 is a sick man, brought to the Ganges to die. His friends have carried him into the sacred stream, and are performing the last fatal rite. It consists in pouring a large quantity of water down his throat ; filling his mouth and nostrils with mud ; repeating the names of the gods, and shouting, “ O mother Gau- ges, receive his soul!” Thus the sick, instead of receiving medical treatment, kind nursing, and appropriate nourishment, are, in many cases, hurried away to the Ganges, to be purified from their sins, by dying on its batiks or in its waters. In Cal- cutta alone, nineteen hundred sick persons have, in the course of one month, been brought to the Gauges to die. Some are suffo- cated by filling the mouth and nostrils with mud ; others are left where the rising tide will sweep them away. It is a remarkable fact, that when the sick are brought to the river-sfde to die, they cannot legally be restored to health. They are regarded by the Hindu law as already dead. Their prop- No. 41. Union of the Ganges and Jumna. No. 42. The Sick brought to the Ganges. . * » • \ < LECTURES ON INDIA. 97 crty passes to their heirs, and in the event of recovery, which sometimes happens, they become outcasts. Their nearest rela- tives will neither eat with them nor show them the smallest favor. They are held in utter abhorrence, and are allowed to associate only with persons in similar circumstances. I have seen a large village, inhabited entirely by these wretched beings. Great numbers of the dead are thrown into the Ganges, that their souls may be purified. It has been officially stated that, in the course of one month, more than a thousand human bodies have been seen floating on the surface of the Ganges, in tl^p im- mediate vicinity of Calcutta. At that place, and as far as its waters are agitated by the tide, it contains so much earthy matter and other impurities, that no object can be seen at the distance of two inches below its surface. Yet the inhabitants of the city use the water of this river for drinking aud culinary purposes, and the numerous merchant vessels trading there are supplied with it for the homeward voyage. Pilgrims carry water from the Ganges into every part of India, to be used for religious and medicinal purposes. It is put up in glass bottles. These are packed in baskets, and suspended from the ends of a bamboo which rests upon the pilgrim’s shoulder. I have frequently seen the roads thronged with pilgrims thus ac- coutred. They resembled an immense army on the march. You will see one of them by turning to the next page of engravings. He has stopped by the wayside, near Balasore, to worship cer- tain stones, an accurate representation of which you see in the engraving. There are his baskets filled with bottles of Ganges water. Having made his salam, he mutters a few words in a careless manner, and then takes a bottle of water from one of his baskets, and pours a small quantity of it upon the stones. To appease the wrath, or to procure the favor of divinities like these, splendid festivals are instituted. About ten o’clock at night, the worshippers assemble. By the glare of flaming torches, and amid the shouts and loud peals of barbarous music, great numbers of swine, sheep, goats, and buffaloes, are sacrificed. Many of the worshippers throw themselves upon the ground, and wallow in the pools of warm blood flowing from the slaughtered animals. Then, leaping upon their feet, reeking with gore and filth, they jump and frolic, and twist themselves into the most wanton attitudes, and vociferate the most indecent songs, for the gratification of the image, or the rough stone before which these acts of worship are performed. 98 LECTURES ON INDIA. Number 44 is a scene in the house of a wealthy native, at the celebration of a festival in honor of Ganesa, the god of wisdom. Ganesa is represented as a very corpulent man, of a red color, with four arms, and the head of a white elephant. In front of him is a rat, upon the back of which he is said to perform his journeys. The men on the right are musicians. For the grati- fication of the idol, and the multitude of assembled worshippers, a dancing girl is performing. She is clad in garments of the finest texture, and of the most brilliant colors, and is decorated with a profusion of costly ornaments. Her movements are slow and monotonous, and occasionally very indecent, and her songs are plentifully spiced with amorous allusions. After singing and dancing for some hours, her place is supplied, either by others of the same class, or by playactors, jugglers, or mountebanks ; and the performance is thus continued from ten o’clock till sunrise. Many of the dancing girls belong to the temples, and are called the wives of the gods. At an early age they are united in wed- lock to the images worshipped in the temples. This strange matrimonial connection is formed in compliance with the Nvishes of the parents, who believe it to be a highly meritorious act to present a beautiful daughter, in marriage, to a senseless idol, and thus doom her to a life of vice and infamy. Dancing is deemed so disreputable by the Hindus that none engage in it but the most dissolute and abandoned. Here, as in other coun- tries, there appears to be an intimate connection between dancing and licentiousness. The following is one of the songs, which, at religious festivals, are sung for the amusement of the idols and their worshippers. The boy mentioned in the first line is Krishna, the favorite divinity, who married sixteen thousand wives. He is believed to have been born of human parents, at Brindabun, on the Ganges, where he spent his youthful days in playing on the flute, and frolicking with the milkmaids. “ Tlie pipe is heard of Nundh’s sweet boy — The milkmaids’ hearts beat high with joy ; To the cool woods in crowds they speed ; No danger fear, nor toil, they heed ; And, if by chance the youth they spy, Away go prudence, modesty. • They gaze, by his bright beauties burned, And soon their pails are overturned ! ” They then go to Jasooda, (Krishna’s mother,) and make the following complaint : — * No. 43. A Pilgrim at his Decotwns. LECTUBES ON INDIA. 101 “ Jasooda ! listen to our prayer ; Thy son’s audacious frolics hear ! To Brindabun we bent our way ; He seized our arms and bade us stay. Lady ! our cheeks with shame were red ; Like modest girls, away we fled. In vain we’ve milked, in vain we’ve churned, For he our pails has overturned ! ” Jasooda replies, — “ Go, bold and forward milkmaids, go ! No one your wily ways can know ; Often in laughing groups you’re seen Bending your steps to coverts green ; There in the cool retreats you rove, And pass the hours in mirth and love ; Then tell me, from your pranks returned, Forsooth, your pails are overturned ! ” Extract from one of the Plays performed at Religious Festivals. KRISHNA. Again, my fair one ! — hast thou purchased me ? MILKMAID. Think’st thou uncalled I boldly come ? Ah, see ! — The gathering clouds, dear youth, invite to love. KRISHNA. How could a frame so soft such dangers brave ? While e’en thy pretty self was lost in night How see thy way ? MILKMAID. The lightning gleamed so bright KRISHNA. O’er broken roads, through mire and tangling thorn - •• Thy tender limbs must ache, thy feet be torn. MILKMAID. Steps light and firm will weariest way o’ercome. KRISHNA. Yet dark ’s the night, and thou wert all alone. MILKMAID. No, my soul’s lord ! for Love was with me still, Pointed my path and warded every ill. 102 LECTURES ON INDIA. No. 45 is the great temple of Juggernaut. The principal edifice rises to the elevation of two hundred feet. In the two adjacent buildings, morning and evening, the dancing girls display their professional skill, for the amusement of the idols enthroned in the large edifice. There, also, three times a day, large quantities of the choicest food are presented to these wooden images. The people are taught that the appetite of these gods is perfectly satis- fied by smelling and seeing the food at a distance. This is a remarkably fortunate circumstance, since the Brahmins always take what the idols leave. The wall which surrounds the temple is about twenty feet high, and forms an enclosure six hundred and fifty feet square. On each side of the square is a gateway. The gateway in the engraving is through the base of a highly-ornamented tower. The small buildings, in front of the wall, are the shops of mer- chants, where clothing and ornaments are exposed for sale. The column on the right is a very beautiful specimen of architecture. The shaft, which is thirty feet high, is composed of a single stone. The figure on the top is an image of Huneman, a deified monkey. The only foreigner who ever saw the inside of this temple was an English officer, who, about thirty years since, succeeded in gaining admission, by painting and dressing himself like a native. When the Brahmins discovered that their holy place had been thus defiled, they became so enraged that all the English residing at the station were obliged to flee for their lives. Sus- pecting their pursuers to be more desirous of gratifying their avarice than their revenge, they strewed silver money by the way, and, while the natives stopped to pick it up, they gained time, and succeeded in reaching a place of safety. Twelve festivals are annually celebrated here in honor of Juggernaut. The most important of these are the bathing and the car festivals. These I witnessed, and there were present more than one hundred and fifty thousand pilgrims. Nearly half were females. There is not only great suffering among the multitude of pilgrims who, from distant places, attend these festivals, but many of them die in consequence of excessive fatigue, exposure to the annual rains, and the want of suitable and sufficient food. The plains, in many places, arc literally whitened with the bones of the pilgrims, while dogs and vultures are continually devouring the bodies of the dead. Rev. Mr. Lacy informed me that, in 1825, he counted ninety dead bodies in one No. 45. The Temple of Juggernaut. No. 4G. Portrait of Juggernaut ' > •' * . « LECTURES ON INDIA. 105 place, and that his colleague, at the same time, counted one hun- dred and forty more in another place. Great numbers perish on their way home. The pilgrim, on leaving Puri, has a long journey before him, and his means of support are often al- most, if not entirely, exhausted. The rainy season has now com- menced, and at every step his naked feet sink deep in the mud. At length, exhausted by hunger and fatigue, he sits down by the side of the road, unable to proceed any farther. Ilis companions, regarding only their own safety, leave him to his fate. Dogs, jackals, and vultures, gather around him, watching his dying struggles ; and in a few hours his flesh has disappeared, and his bones lie bleaching on the plain. Since the erection of this temple, in the twelfth century, such has been the fate of millions. “ The old man, faint, just turns aside to rest, Bethinking he will rise again, refreshed: — He rises not. Nature can bear no more, — Exhausted. Ere the setting sun, his bones Are left to whiten, where the pilgrim died. Crowds press still onward, heedless of the plaints From the way-side. No pity from his fellow (Who soon will drop and groan, as he now groans) The dying man receives. Forsaken quite, He gasping lies, far from the holy stream. The vulture, with raw neck, and fulsome croak, Claps her smeared wing ; she smells, as soaring high, The riotous feast, and hastens to the spoil. Hinnom ! thou slaughter valley, here behold Thy counterpart. Not Moloch’s self e’er saw Such carnival of death ; drunk with the wine Of overflowing vintage, lo ! he riots Wantonly ; and to mortal view it seems He throws in random rage the fatal dart That needs must hit.” No. 46 is a portrait of Juggernaut. I have taken his portrait as I saw him in the morning, while the Brahmins, were making his toilet. He appeared to be well supplied with fine Cashmere shawls and valuable jewels, and the Brahmins were so arranging them as to display the beauties of his person to the best advan- tage. In the evening he is entirely disrobed, and his shawls and jewels, and also his hands and feet, which are made of gold, are carefully locked up in a strong box. This precaution is not through fear that the idol will convey himself away in the night, but to secure these treasures from thieves. Nor is the strong box 106 LECTURES ON INDIA. always a sufficient security, for on one occasion, upon opening it in the morning, jewels to the value of some thousands of dollars had disappeared. To some, perhaps, it may seem impossible for the human mind to become so debased as to worship an object having no higher claims to homage than this ; but, strange as it may seem, this monstrous form has received, and still receives, the adoration of a large portion of the human race. At one of the annual festivals, Juggernaut and two other images, said to be his brother and sister, are drawn out upon huge cars. • “ Here rolls the hated car, Grinding the crashing bones, and hearts, and brains Of men and women. Down they fling themselves In the deep gash, and wait the heavy wheel Slow rolling on its thunder bellowing axle, Sunk in the wounded earth. The sigh, the breath, The blood, and life, and soul, with spirting rush, Beneath the horrid load, forsake the heap Of pounded flesh, and the big roar continues As though no soul had passed the bounds of time, Nor orphans ’gan their wail, no kindly bonds Had been dissolved ; but the mad living throng, Trampling by thousands o’er the dead and dying, All nerve and sinew, swelter as they tug, And howling, shouting, pulling, hear no groan, Nor feel the throes of beings, crushed beneath them. The welkin wide is troubled with long peals, As though dark demons strode the sultry beams, Helping the discord with strange screech or laugh.” No. 47 is the car of Juggernaut. The platform on which the image is placed is thirty-four feet square, and is supported by sixteen wheels, six and a half feet in diameter. The upper part is covered with English broadcloths in alternate stripes of red and yellow. Near the idol is the strong box in which his hands, feet, jewels, and clothing are deposited at night. Six ropes, or cables, are attached to the car, six inches in diameter and three hundred feet in length, by means of which the people draw it from place to place. A devotee has cast himself under the wheels to be crushed to death. As a reward for this act of devo- tion, he expects to enjoy health, riches, and honors in the next life. The car festival, which I witnessed at Puri, commenced on the Sabbath. I went to the temple, about two o’clock in the after- No. 48. Luckshme, copied from an Ancient Sculpture. * - •> I’ ' ■ ■ LECTURES ON INDIA. 109 noon, just as the pilgrims, who had encamped in great numbers in the vicinity, were beginning to assemble. From an elevated position, on an elephant, I saw them pouring in from every di- rection, until four o’clock, when the concourse became immense. Every street and avenue leading to the temple was thronged, and the flat roofs of the houses were also densely crowded with anxious spectators. About five o’clock, a company of men pro- ceeded from the temple, making a horrid din with drums, gongs, and trumpets. Next came the idols, shaded by umbrellas of state and attended by various emblems of royalty. The vast multi- tude greeted them with loud and long-continued shouts. Jugger- naut, and his brother and sister, were now to mount their cars ; but from the infirmities of age, or some more obvious cause, they submitted to the awkward expedient of being dragged through the mud to their elevated seats, by the aid of ropes and Brahmins. A variety of ceremonies followed, but, as it was growing late, I returned to my lodgings. At sunrise the next morning, the gates of the town were thrown open, to admit the beggars. As they passed, I was in- formed by the English magistrate, by whose order they were admitted, that their number probably exceeded fifty thousand. They were the most weary, ragged, filthy, wretched-looking objects I ever saw. They had been prevented from entering the town at an earlier period, because of their inability to pay the tax which the Honorable East India Company demanded of their heathen subjects for the privilege of seeing their idols. The Company, I ascertained, had, in the preceding thirty-four days, received fifty-five thousand dollars ^s admission fees. Having already extorted so large a sum from the richer pilgrims, they could well afford, now that a part of the festival was over, to admit gratuitously those from whom no money could be ex- torted. It affords me much pleasure to say that this unrighteous source of gain has recently been abolished. The multitude of beggar pilgrims hastened onward to the cars, and appeared to be lost in the much larger multitude there assembled. Hearing the tumultuous sound of many voices at a distance, I looked towards the place from which it came, when I saw about a thousand men advancing, with green branches elevated in their hands. They rushed forward, leaping through the crowd, and, with mighty shoutings, seized the ropes of one of the cars, and dragged it forth in triumph. Soon other companies, in a similar manner, dashed forward and put the two remaining cars in motion. 110 LECTURES ON INDIA. The pilgrims are taught to believe that the cars are not moved and guided by the strength of the men who pull at the ropes, but by the will and pleasure of the idols. This being admitted, it must be that Juggernaut made a grand mistake, for he ran his car against a house, and was not able to extricate himself until the afternoon of the next day. But perhaps he was merely in a surly mood, for they believe that the cars move only when the idols are pleased with the worship. So, if for any reason a car stops, they suppose that the idol thus expresses his disapprobation. One of the priests then steps forward to the front of the platform, as here represented, rehearses the deeds and extols the character of the idol, in a manner the most obscene. No person, educated in a Christian country, can possibly conceive expressions so debas- ing and abominable as are used on such occasions. Should the speaker quote from the Shasters, or invent an expression more than usually lascivious, the multitude give a shout, or rather a sensual yell. The men again pull, with renewed energy, at the ropes, the idol is supposed to be delighted, and the car is permit- ted to move on. When dragged a short distance farther, it is stopped again by a priest, who slyly clogs one of the wheels. Then another scene of pollution is acted out with all its debasing influence upon the mind and morals of the people. In this man- ner, eight days are spent in drawing the car about two miles. In one of the apartments of Juggernaut’s temple, there is a golden image of Luckshme, the wife of Juggernaut. Near mid- night, on the fourth day of the car festival, it was brought out of the temple, on a splendid litter, borne on the shoulders of men. Preceded by a band of rude music, and men bearing flaming torches, they soon approached the cars, when Luckshme was presented directly in front of Juggernaut, her husband. Immedi- ately the whole multitude appeared to be in a perfect rage, and rent the air with the most violent and clamorous yells. The women, who at this time were unusually numerous, appeared to be by far the most excite! In the midst of these dreadful yells, which had now continued several minutes, one of the priests took a garland of flowers from Juggernaut, and placed it around the neck of his wife. She was then borne off towards the temple, and the clamor ceased. I inquired the meaning of this strange and terrific ceremony. The reply was, that on the first day of the festival, Juggernaut had eloped with his sister. That, on the fourth, his wife heard of No. 49. A CEREMONY AT THE TEMPLE OF JUGGERNAUT. Krishna, accompanied by two other images , is brought out of the temple and suspended from a lofty stone arch, very curiously wrought. He is then swung by the Brahmins for his gratificatum , and the amusement of the worshippers. See page 98. ■ LECTURES ON INDIA. 113 it, and, being stung with jealousy, determined on revenge. Ac- cordingly, she set out in hot pursuit of her unfaithful spouse ; and, having overtaken him at this place, she had given him a sound scolding. The shouting and yelling of the multitude was merely the effect of sympathy, they joining in the chorus with the scolding wife. This accounts for the active part which the women took in this ceremony. Juggernaut, like other peni- tent husbands who have scolding wives, promises to do better in future, and Luckshme is persuaded to be reconciled and to return home. You will readily perceive that this festival exerts a most perni- cious influence upon the community. The ceremonies are not only foolish, but most polluting in their tendencies and effects. Here crimes of the foulest character are sanctioned by the con- duct of their supreme god. It is not, therefore, a matter of sur prise that impurity, and all its kindred abominations, pervade the land. Let us, who live in this Christian country, thank God for the revelation of his own glorious character; and while we bless him for the Bible, and for all those spiritual influences which have made us to differ from the heathen, shall we not strive to send them the gospel ? Freely we have received ; freely let us give. Engraving, No. 50 is a view near the city of Benares. The building at the right of the ghat, or flight of steps, is a temple of Shiva. The one on the left is a resting-place for pilgrims. The water is in a tank about two hundred feet square. In November, about one hundred thousand persons assemble around this tank, to perform a variety of ceremonies for the benefit of the souls of deceased relatives. The pepul-trees, in the engraving, are supposed to be the favorite resort of such departed spirits as, from various causes, have not yet been clothed with new bodies. While I was en- gaged in taking a drawing of this place, several of the natives came and put lighted lamps in the earthen pots which you see suspended from the branches of the trees. On inquiring of one why he did so, he replied, “ That the soul of my relative may be in light.” I asked him how he knew whether the soul of his relative was in darkness or light. He said, “It is impossible for me to know that. But it is our custom, when one of the family dies, to suspend an earthen pot from a pepul-tree, and for ten successive days to bring offerings of water and rice, with a lighted lamp, for the benefit of the departed. On the tenth day, we break the pot, and make a feast for the Brahmins.” In Calcutta, I witnessed a 8 114 LECTURES ON INDIA. feast of this character, made by a wealthy merchant for the bene- fit of his deceased mother. The number of guests was estimated at two hundred thousand, and the expense of the feast, together with the presents made, was estimated at seventy-five thousand dollars. The efficacy of one of the numerous ceremonies for the benefit of deceased relatives is supposed to depend very much upon the place where it is performed. If performed at a certain temple in the town of Guyah, it is supposed that inconceivable benefits will be conferred upon the deceased. The East India Company, seiz- ing upon this superstitious feeling, have until recently made it a source of revenue by imposing a tax upon all who perform this ceremony at Guyah. The tax collected at that temple amounted to about one hundred and twelve thousand dollars annually. Ceremonies for the repose of the soul are exceedingly numer- ous ; but I will mention only one more. The son of the deceased procures one male and four female calves. These are tied to five posts, near an altar, constructed for the occasion. Four learned Brahmins sit on the four sides of the altar, and offer a burnt sacri- fice. A fifth Brahmin reads certain passages in the Shasters, to drive away evil spirits. The son washes the tail of the male calf, and with the same water presents a drink-offering to his deceased ancestors. The male and the four female calves are then gravely united in wedlock. During the marriage ceremony, many formu- las are repeated, in which the parties are recommended to culti- vate love and mutual sympathy. The Brahmins, having per- formed the duties of their sacred office, are dismissed with presents, including the three brides ; but the bridegroom is dedi- cated to Shiva, and allowed to run at large until old age carries him off. These vagrant calves may almost be said to constitute one of the numerous orders of religious mendicants, or holy beggars. As no provision is made for their daily wants, and as they are under the necessity of securing their living, they become very cunning, and are scarcely less impudent than the bipeds constituting the other orders of that fraternity. It is not uncommon for them to walk up, unbidden, to the stalls where vegetables are for sale, and help them- selves. Being esteemed sacred, the poor deluded inhabitants dare to use only the most gentle means of ridding themselves of their unprofitable customers. During the first year or two, these cattle faro rather scantily ; but, after having learned their sacred functions, they live well, and are the fattest and best-looking of all the ani- mals to be seen in Hindustan. * Uo. 50. View in Benares. No. 51. The India Ox. ;r , , • - LECTURES ON INDIA. 117 The Shasters teach that the souls of the departed are divided into five classes. Those of the first class reunite with Brahm, the Eternal Spirit, and thus lose their individuality. The second are admitted to the various heavens of the gods. The third are punished in places of torment. The fourth again be- come the offspring of human parents. The fifth become beasts, birds, and insects. Hence, should a Hindu inhale an insect with his breath, he knows not but, in so doing, he has swallowed some departed relative — possibly his own father. There is one sect, who, to prevent so horrid a catastrophe, wear a strainer over the mouth. Hinduism leads its votaries into the wildest and most absurd vagaries in regard to omens, dreams, visions, evil spirits, and witches. In the vicinity of Puna, a person dreamed that the cholera, then raging in his village, was inflicted by a certain wo- man commissioned by Zurremurre, the goddess of the cholera. The villagers, on hearing this, immediately assembled and put her to death. In Orissa, a woman was told by her priest that Kali, the goddess whom she worshipped, had appeared to him in a vision, and had commanded him to inform her that she must sac- rifice her only child. In the night, while he slept, she cut off his head, and gave it to the priest as an offering to the idol. In Nag- pore, several persons died suddenly, which led many to believe that they had been destroyed by witchcraft. They therefore employed a man, who professed to be skilled in the art of magic, to discover the authors of their death. He put some oil and rice into a leaf, and began to repeat the name of each person belonging to the village. When he called the name of a certain woman, the oil, as he said, ran through the leaf. This circumstance was regarded as sufficient proof of her guilt. She was immediately seized, and whipped until death ended her sufferings. The death of the favorite wife of Rajah Zelim Singh, of Kotah, being attributed to witchcraft, he sentenced four hundred women to be put into sacks and thrown into a tank. It is stated by General Malcolm, in an official report, that, in the province of Malwa alone, in the course of thirty years, between two and three thousand females had been put to death for the imputed crime of witchcraft. Many of the Hindus believe that those persons who commit suicide become malignant spirits delighting in every kind of mischief. 118 LECTURES ON INDIA. The scene represented by engraving No. 53 occurred in Ghaze- pore. A mail persuaded his wife to permit him to burn her alive, that her soul might be transformed into an evil spirit, for the pur- pose of haunting and tormenting one of their neighbors, who had offended them. In Calcutta, a servant, having quarrelled with Iiis master, hung himself, in the night, in front of the street door, that he might become a devil and haunt the premises. The house was immediately forsaken by its occupants, and, though a large and beautiful edifice, suffered to go to ruin. In Mirzapoor, a Brahmin took his own child, an infant about fifteen months old, from the arms of its mother, and, holding it by the legs, dashed its head against the ground, that it might be- come an evil spirit and torment a certain person by whom he imagined himself injured. Another little girl was, by her own father, beheaded with an axe. Another was stabbed to the heart, with a dagger, and her bleeding body thrown at the door of the person upon whom the murderer sought to be revenged. I could give the particulars of many other murders which have been com- mitted for similar purposes. “ Among the customs of the Hindus, there is one which is called Dherria. If a man demands satisfaction from his neighbor for some grievous offence, — if a creditor determines to pursue ex- treme measures with his debtor, to obtain what is due to him, — if a relative has been cheated by another out of his patrimony or his rights, and wishes to exact them from him, — they respectively take the poniard or a cup of poison in their hand, and, knowing that the offending party is at home, they sit down at his door, in dherna. That moment the defendant within is considered as under arrest. lie cannot touch food, so long as his accuser con- tinues to fast ; and, should he not come to terms, but drive, by his obstinacy, the plaintiff to despair, and allow him to use the dagger or drink the poison, his blood rests upon his head. This may be termed their ordeal — their mode of demanding satisfac- tion — their system of-duelling — their dernier resort. “ At the village of Pannabaka, in the presidency of Madras, there was a priestly Brahmin, who had lately come from Bellary, and had undertaken to attend upon the idol of the place. His was the privilege to levy contributions on the inhabitants for his sup- No. 52. A Devotee leaping from a precipice. No. 53. A man burning his wife alive . . . ' . . LECTURES OX INDIA. 121 port. A householder, who had for a time given him a halfpenny a day, refused to continue his allowance ; and, though the priest insisted upon the payment, he remained inflexible. The priest then threatened that, unless he received the amount, he would cut out his own tongue, and the householder would have to an- swer for giving him such a provocation. Incensed at the obsti- nacy of his opponent, he whetted his knife and cut off the tip of his tongue. He bled profusely, and his tongue swelled to a pro- digious size. The pains which he endured only served to render him more desperate, and he declared he would bring his whole family and sit in dherna, till he should obtain a sum sufficient to make a feast to his god. The householder was not to be intimi- dated, and remained as obstinate as the Brahmin. The priest, his wife, and his four sons, sat down, and kept their position at the door of the defendant ; but, during the second night, the fe- male was bit by a snake, and died in the morning. This event exasperated the priest ; he increased his demand ; and, as the vil- lage had remained neutral in the affair, he now laid a tax upon all its inhabitants. As he had not only sustained a personal injury, but had lost his wife while standing up for the rights of his order, and for the honor of his god, nothing less would satisfy him now, than a sum adequate to meet the expenses of the funeral and to make a feast to propitiate the deity who was offended by such daring sacrilege. Till these demands were met, he resolved to keep his station, and to retain the corpse of his wife unburied at the door of the house. As the people of the village rejected his claim, he then threatened that, in order to be avenged upon them, he would first kill his four children, and then put an end to his own exist- ence. It was the act of a Brahmin ; it might be viewed by Hindus as a pardonable offence ; it was done in honor of his god ; it was occasioned by the obstinacy of the people ; it was a sacrifice that, according to a monstrous mythology, would meet with a future and a bountiful reward ; its helpless victims were to be raised to life again by the divinity whose honor it was done to vindicate. But it is not ours to make apologies ; we have only to record the fact, that this priest — this worshipper of Shiva — this monster — this raging fury — took his knife, laid hold of three of his children, and severed their heads from their bodies. It was not enough ! His eldest son tried to make his escape ; but this murderous father allured him back, and promised that, prior to his own self- destruction, he only wished to embrace him and bid him farewell. Thus invited back by the soft whispers of love, he returned ; but, 122 LECTURES ON INULA. the moment that he came within the grasp of the murderer, he laid him prostrate, as another victim at the shrine of superstition and revenge. His attempt to despatch himself ended in making a dreadful wound in the back of his neck. “ Such, it may be said, are only solitary instances. It would not be right to quote such deeds to bring opprobrium upon a whole people, any more than it would be just to appeal to the horrid murders in Christian countries as a specimen of our own customs. But the cases are utterly dissimilar. The inhabitants of Panna- balca stood by and saw the horrid deed performed ; they seemed, afterwards, to be amused and highly delighted at the bravery of the act ; they expressed their resentment at one individual, and at the police-officer, who called upon them to interfere to prevent it ; and there can be no question that, if this priest had been restored to his liberty and his horrid altar again, they would have received him with enthusiasm, and revered him as a saint of superior sanc- tity. In a village some miles distant from the spot, the people no sooner heard of this murder, than they left their employment and proceeded to Pannabaka with every demonstration of joy ; and, after a few days, they returned, saying, ‘ The children are not indeed restored to life; but why are they not? It is entirely owing to the inhabitants, who have not made a feast,’ which would cost two thousand rupees, to propitiate the favor of the god — a feast which the priest had declared to be necessary.” — On a certain occasion, the Bhats of Mar war demanded a favor of Umra I., and, being refused, determined to sit in dherna. They assembled, with their women and children, in the court of the royal palace, and, with their daggers, commenced a horrid butchery. Eighty of their number lay weltering in their blood. No. 54 is a group of women engaged in various occupations. One is smoking tobacco. Another is spinning cotton. A third is preparing the thread for the weavers by winding it on a spool. A fourth is preparing the cotton for spinning. A fifth is grinding, upon a flat stone, cayenne pepper, garlic, ginger, and turmeric. These, when stewed with a cucumber or melon, serve as a season- ing for their boiled rice, which, in many parts of India, constitutes more than seven eighths of the entire food of the inhabitants. The woman with the large brass pot is carrying home watfer for household use. The next is returning from her morning ablution in the Ganges, with her hair spread upon her shoulders to dry No 55. Interior of a Dwelling. .! M . - ii~ iii>qjti( ’ • • LECTURES ON INDIA, 125 In her left hand are two brass pots, which she has scoured by rubbing them with the mud of the river. Children are never carried in the arms ; they sit astride on the hip. The woman carrying the child is going to market with a bundle of wood borne upon the head. Perhaps there is no one point in which Christianity has a more direct influence upon the state of the community than in respect to the character and standing of the female. To a Hindu the birth of a daughter is an occasion of sorrow. At the early age of twelve or thirteen years, she is required to leave the parental roof, and to become the wife of a man whom she has had no voice in choosing as her companion. Her duties to him are thus prescribed in the Shasters : “ When in the presence of her hus- band, a woman must keep her eyes upon her master, and be ready to receive his commands. When he speaks, she must be quiet, and listen to nothing beside. When he calls, she must leave every thing else, and attend upon him alone. A woman has no other god on earth than her husband. The most excellent of all good works she can perform is, to gratify him with the strictest obedience. This should be her only devotion. Though he be aged, infirm, dissipated, a drunkard, or a debauchee, she must still regard him as her god. She must serve him with all her might, obeying him in all things, spying no defects in his character, and giving him no cause for disquiet. If he laughs, she must also laugh ; if he weeps, she must also weep ; if he sings, she must be in an ecstasy. She must never eat until her husband is satis- fied. If he abstains, she must also fast ; and she must abstain from whatever food her husband dislikes.” In engraving, No. 55 you will see the interior of a Hindu dwelling at meal time. The husband, according to custom, is seated upon a mat, eating his boiled rice with his fingers, while his wife is standing by him ready to obey his commands. She is never permitted to eat with her husband, but waits upon him in the capacity of a servant, and afterwards partakes of the fragments in retirement. Schools are not uncommon in India, but there are none for the instruction of the female. Her mind is entirely uncultivated, and she has no fixed principles to regulate her conduct. She is therefore an easy prey to vice, and the devoted slave of supersti- tion. When her husband dies, she must either burn herself upon his funeral pile, or, if she determines to live, it must be a life of 126 LECTURES ON INDIA. reproach and servitude. She may never marry again, however young she may be. She must cast off all her ornaments, shave her head, and either become a servant in the house of her hus band's friends, or adopt a mode of life which will bring disgrace not only upon herself, but upon the whole family. Hence it is, that death upon the funeral pile is so often preferred to surviv- ing widowhood. This cruel custom was, in 1827, prohibited by the East India Company in their own dominions ; but in some of the independent provinces the practice is still continued. A large proportion of the persons who undertake long and haz- ardous pilgrimages, and who subject themselves to painful modes of self-torture, are females. “ At a certain time,” says a missionary of my acquaintance, “as I was walking in a retired village, my attention was arrested by seeing two objects, at some distance before me, rolling in the mud. As I approached the spot, I found two females, almost exhausted by fatigue. I learnt that they had vowed to their goddess to roll, in this manner, from one tem- ple to another. They had spent nearly the whole day, and had not accomplished one half their journey. But no arguments, no remonstrances, on my part, could induce them to relinquish their undertaking ; for they feared that, unless they performed their vow, the goddess would be angry with them. On leav- ing these deluded votaries of superstition,” continued he, “with my feelings aroused almost to indignation, I expostulated with a learned Brahmin who stood not far distant, and pointed to the miserable objects I had just left. ‘ O,’ said he, ‘this is wor- ship exactly suited to the capacity of females. Let them alone They are sincere: of course their worship will be accepted.’” I might relate many other facts to show the wretched con- dition of women in pagan lands, but these must suffice. The respected ladies of this audience will permit me to say, in conclusion, every thing in life, in death, and eternity, that can inspire you with the love of existence, you derive from (lie gospel. To you, then, in a special manner, is the gospel “glad tidings of great joy.” No. 56. Saugor Island. This island is inhabited only by wild beasts. Here thousands of Hindu mothers have thrown their children into the Gangas to be devoured by alligators. No. 57. The Bannian Tree. “ Branching so broad and long, that in the ground The bending twigs take root ; and daughters grow About the mother tree ; a pillared shade, High overarched, with echoing walks between.” * i- • ' ■ ■ A LECTURE ON TUB CONDITION OF WOMEN IN INDIA, AND OTIIER PAGAN AND MOHAMMEDAN COUNTMB. I Woman, in her original state, (to use the language of another,) “ was all that is lovely in form, all that is graceful in manner, all that is exalted in mind, all that is pure in thought, all that is delicate in sentiment, all that is enchanting in conversation.” She was God’s most finished workmanship. Has she lost her original purity and loveliness? But man has fallen too; and relatively they are to each other still what they were before they took and ate of the forbidden fruit. It is now, as ever, Heaven’s will that woman receive all “due benevolence” from man, — that he regard her as his equal, and entitled to his warmest love : that he throw his arm around her for protection, and combine with the gentlest care the most respectful deference to her honor and her happiness. “A man shall leave his father and his mother and cleave unto his wife, and they shall be one flesh.” “Hus- bands, love your wives,” is God’s command and nature’s law, for they are bone of each other’s bone and flesh of each other’s flesh. Such is the genius of Christianity. And the result of obedience to this eternal law of God and nature, is the lofty ele- vation of the female character, the thorough cultivation of her mind, the rich endowment of her heart, and the augmented strength of all her capabilities of usefulness and enjoyment; while the result of disobedience is fraught with all that is degrading to intellect, vitiating to social principle, corrupting to moral habits, and hostile to every upward movement of the immortal powers. And what is the spirit of heathenism, and of false religion in its varied forms, let the impartial pen of history tell. Times, 9 .m 130 LECTURE ON WOMEN. ancient and modern, — witnesses, Pagan, Mahometan, and Chris- tian, may be indiscriminately cited on this point. Their testi- mony is one, — truthful, melancholy, and decisive. A daughter is born. ’T is a grievous calamity. The Hindu father becomes dejected, and his neighbors gather around him to mingle their grief with his. The Chinese parent thus afflicted denominates the little innocent a woo , a hated thing. Even the Moorish mother repines, and though she had rejoiced greatly at the birth of her son, and blackened her face forty days in token of her joy, yet when a daughter comes into the world, she ill conceals her mortification, by blackening half her face, for half the period only. It was not long since, that the lady of a missionary in the East, having become the mother of a lovely daughter, a native friend of the husband called on him the following day with a counte- nance unusually sad. The missionary kindly inquired the cause of his sadness. His friend, with most lugubrious face, replied, !; I have heard that your new-born infant is a daughter, and I have come to condole with you, on your hard fate.” So little valued is the life of female infants, within the domains of Paganism, that great numbers are put to death, solely to avoid the trouble and expense of feeding and clothing them. The^singular custom formerly prevailed in the northern part of Hindustan, Avhenever a female child was born, of carrying her to the market-place, and there, holding up the child in one hand, and a knife in the other, proclaiming, that if any person wanted to rear her for a wife, they might then take her; if none appeared to accept of her, she was immediately destroyed. The consequence of this course, was, that the men of the tribe became much more numerous than the women; and hence arose the custom of appropriating several husbands to one wife, — a custom that still prevails in some of the southern as well as the northern tribes of Hindustan. Among the Rajpoot tribes in the north-west ■ part of that country nearly all the female children are put to death immediately after birth ; consequently the men arc obliged to pro- cure their wives from other tribes. And among some, at least, of the Indian tribes of our own land, the case is no better. Paid a Chippewa Indian, (in a recent address before a missionary society in London,) — “When a boy is born in the tribe it is a day of rejoicing, because it is considered that he will make a fine warrior ; but when a female is born, it is a time of sorrow, and it is said, * a good-for-nothing girl is born.’ The poor mother, knowing that the news is not good, kisses the poor child, and * Three Hindu Girls — Anna, Rajee and Rabee. They were educated at the Orphan Girls School at Burdwan. ' • . . . LECTURE ON WOMEN. 133 says, ‘ Father docs not love you, but I do and then, taking the infant by the legs, dashes out its brains, exclaiming, ‘Would to God, my mother had done so with me when I was born, — I should not then have been such a slave.’ On one occasion the helpless babe was rescued from its mother, by her sisters, who said, ‘ It is better that your child should be a slave than to kill it in this way.’ That babe is now grown up ; when fourteen years of age, she was converted, and has now become a Sabbath school teacher, and a useful member of society.” The education of heathen females is entirely neglected. While, throughout the Eastern world, schools are maintained for the instruction of boys, and they are sufficiently taught to qualify them for the common business of life, girls are left to utter igno- rance of letters, and systematically refused all intellectual culture, as useless to themselves and injurious to society. To a European gentleman, (who endeavored to persuade the natives of a Hin- du village that the education of their females in reading, writing, and arithmetic, would be of advantage to their husbands, and would render them their equals and companions, as well as helpers,) it Avas replied, — “ All this, Sahib, may be very true with your people, but it will never do for us. It would be impossible for Hindus to keep their wives in subjection, if they were educated.” ShreAvd reasoning this ! — based on the preposterous assumption, that man is created to be a master, and woman a slave. In vain were these villagers assured that women of the most refined education and extensive knoAvledge are the most affectionate and faithful Avives in the Avorld, because governed by reason, judgment, and common sense, they regard the interest of their husbands as their oavii, and yield a systematic and cheer- ful obedience in those things in which the husband’s Avill ought to haA'e the preference, while, at the same time, he might enjoy the advantages of her better judgment in matters Avhich pertain to her oavii sphere. Their only reply to such arguments is, “ Our Avomen are not like yours, — if educated they would be refractory, and Avould no longer carry burdens, and collect cow’s ordure for fuel.” On grounds like these, is the whole mass of female mind throughout Hindustan, China, Burmah, Persia, Turkey, &c., doomed to perpetual darkness and gloom, instead of sharing the light of science, and rejoicing in the radiance of the sun of righteousness. They are not at their own disposal in marriage. Of all the relationships of life, this is the basis. Of all affinities, it is the closest and most tender. Of earthly bliss, it is the purest foun- 134 LECTURE ON WOMEN. tain, — the brightest crown. — the loveliest image of heaven’s blest communion. “ True bliss (if man may reach it) is composed Of hearts in union mutually disclosed; And farewell else, all hope of pure delight.” “In marriage,'’ (says Jeremy Taylor,) “kindness is spread abroad, and love is united, and made firm as a centre ; it is the nursery of heaven, — it fills up the number of the elect. It is the mother of the world, and preserves the kingdoms, and fills the cities, and the churches, and heaven itself. Like the useful bee, it builds a house, and gathers sweetness from every flower, and labors, and unites into societies and republics, and sends out colonies, and feeds the world w'ith delicacies, and keeps order, and promotes the interest of mankind, and is that state of good things, to which God has designed the present constitution of the world.” Cut all this supposes confidence and esteem, growing out of acquaintance between the parties, — affection, inspiring a mutual desire to please, and the immersing of individual interests in the common stock of domestic enjoyments. And of this, Paganism ^nows nothing. It holds females as articles of merchandise, be disposed of to those who will pay for them the highest price. Girls of six or eight years are bought and sold by their fathers as calves of the stall, to be taken, at twelve or fourteen, (whether willing or unwilling,) from the home of their childhood, and put into the hands of the man for whom they were pur- chased. In Hindustan, females, who remain unmarried till they are fifteen or sixteen years of age, (however correct in their con- duct,) are regarded as infamous, and (like widows) are never sought for in marriage; and widowers (even if sixty or seventy years old) invariably marry girls of ten or twelve. Among the poorer classes in China, when a man dies, his relatives (to regain the money originally paid for his bride) arc allowed to sell his widow to become the wife of another man. The arrangement is made without her knowledge, and (regardless of her wishes) she is forced into a palenkecn, and carried to the house of her pur- chaser. The price of a bride varies much in different countries. In some parts of Africa ten or fifteen bullocks are paid as an equivalent, while a handsome red-haired Circassian or Georgian girl cannot be bought for less than six or seven thousand piasters. In the kingdom of Dahomey, all unmarried women are held as the property of the king. Once a year they assemble at the ' . . LECTURE ON WOMEN. 137 palace, when he selects the handsomest for himself, and sells the remainder to his subjects. The purchaser is allowed no choice, but receives the wife selected for him by the king. But the whole story of man’s regard for woman in unevangelized lands, is told in the simple language of the Modean of Siberia, who, at the close of the marriage ceremony, places the bride on a mat, and conveys her to the bridegroom, saying, “ There, wolf, take thy lamb.” It is not in all heathen countries, however, that wives are obtained by money ot its equivalent. In some tribes more roman- tic customs prevail. The New Hollander fixes his eye upon some female of a tribe at enmity with his own. He steals upon her at some moment when no protector is near, and deals out blows with his club, upon her head, neck, back, indeed every part of her body, till she becomes insensible ; and then drags her by one of her arms, (the blood streaming from her wounds,) over rocks, hills, stones and logs, with all the violence and ferocity of a savage, till he reaches his tribe. The scene that follows, admits not of description. Suffice it to say, the poor violated woman becomes the wife of her ravisher, — is admitted to his tribe, — and (notwithstanding the singularity of the courtship) is contented with her lot, and rarely leaves her husband and her home. i That genuine love may exist, even among these rude barba- rians, and sometimes be exhibited in the purest forms, admits not of doubt. Mr. Barrington (who had long resided in Parametta) mentions an instance that fell under his own observation, pleas- antly illustrating this fact. “A brother of twenty-three, and two sisters of twenty and fourteen respectively, dwelt together affec- tionately in a cave near the city. On returning one day from hunting the kangaroo, just as the darkness of night mantled the heavens, and while the forked lightning played vividly around him, at the mouth of the cave, his eye caught the form of his younger sister, bleeding on the ground. Troubled before at the warring of the elements, his soul was now in agony. He endeavored to raise her up, but she was senseless. At length, however, his efforts were successful, and, with returning anima- tion, she exclaimed, ! Dear brother ! our sister is torn from us, — a wretch came to the cave, beat her cruelly with his club, and caught up one arm to drag her away, — I laid hold of the other to prevent him, but the moment he saw it, with a single blow, he knocked me to the ground, where you have now found me.’ The night was passed in the anguish of grief and amid harrow- 138 LECTURE ON WOMEN. ing purposes of revenge. Morning came. Together they sought the tribe of the offender. A little before reaching it, they me* the sister of the very man who had committed the outrage, gath- ering sticks for a fire. A fine opportunity was thus presented for revenge. The brother (bidding his sister to hide herself) flew upon' the young woman, with club in hand, and with all the ferocity of a savage in his heart. The victim trembled ; but knowing his power, she stood firmly, and looked him in the eye, when, (like the lion of the forest, meeting the eye of intelligent man,) he paused, — he gazed, — enchantment was on him : she saw it, — dropped on her knees and implored his compassion. Re- venge softened into love ; throwing down his club, he clasped her in his arms, and vowed eternal constancy. This nobleness won her heart. He called his sister, who thirsted still for the stranger’s blood, and said to her, ‘ She is now my wife.’ ” “ Nor force nor interest joined unwilling hands, But love consenting tied the blissful bands.” All three now love each other tenderly, and (under the instruc- tion of a Christian friend) read the oracles of God, an^l cherish the spirit that breathes from the bosom of Jesus. Polygamy prevents the enjoyment of the husband’s affection. Conjugal love may be disturbed, — or it may be diminished, — or it may be maddened into plirensy, — or it may be annihilated, — but it cannot be divided. Abraham may become the husband of Ilagar, but his heart is with Sarah. Jacob may be the protector of Leah, but he loves Rachel. Elkanah may deal kindly with Peninnah, but his affections are with Hannah. Good men these, and faithful to their marriage-vows, though borne away into the transgression of the original law of Heaven, by the strong current of the popular sentiment of the age in which they lived. Then, though Heaven interfered not to prevent the practice, it never sanctioned it by law ; and if it were not condemned by statutes and penalties, it was powerfully rebuked by its effects and consequences. Never did it fail, in the most auspicious cir- cumstances for its indulgence, to produce domestic discord and wretchedness. Jealousy, bitterness, and strife, are its inva- riable attendants, even when associated with faith as strong as that of the patriarchs, and piety as ardent as that of the sweet singer of Israel. Its inconsistency with the spirit of the gospel has expelled the practice from eve - y Christian land ; and its incongruity with reason and expediency, lias stamped it with infamy. Rut it still prevails among the higher classes, in nearly every part of the unevangelized world. A Hindu Woman of Bengal, of high rank , in full Dress. LECTURE ON WOMEN. 141 Besides four queens, the king of Birmah has thirty wives, and five hundred other women at his disposal. The emperor of Tur- key swells his harem, usually, with more than a thousand wives, — the sultan Achmet I. is said to have had three thousand. The king of Ashantee has three thousand three hundred and thirty-three, — a mystical number, on the integrity of which the prosperity of his kingdom is supposed to depend. And the king of Yarriba boasted to Capt. Clapperton, that his wives, linked hand in hand, would reach entirely across his kingdom. Not only kings, but nobles, and men of wealth and station, and indeed men of all classes, who have the ability to sustain a plurality of wives, are eager to possess them, — not as objects of affection, but as honorable appendages to their establishments, or as ministering to their pride and sensuality. Love is not known “ where pleasure is adored, That ruling goddess, with a zoneless waist And wandering eyes, still leaning on the arm Of novelty.” but its place is supplied by envy, and rancor, and hate, bursting forth, often, in words of wrath and deeds of cruelty, and the wanton murder of the innocent. Says Lady Montague, during her residence in Constantinople, “ The body of a young woman of surpassing beauty was found one morning near my house. She had received two wounds, one in her side, and the other in ner breast, and was not quite cold. Many came to admire her beauty ; but no one could tell who she was, — no woman’s face being known out of her family. She was buried privately, and little inquiry made for the wretch who had imbrued his hands in her blood.” The Pacha of Acre, in Palestine, a few years since, put to death seven of his wives, at one time, with his own hands. And even where cruelties like these are not perpetrated, the wife is kept a prisoner in the house of her lord, and her face is never seen beyond it. She is thus entirely in the irresponsible power of her husband, nor is one earthly ear but his, open to the tale of her wrongs, how terrible soever they may be. That she endures such wrongs, is no more to be questioned than the exist- ence of caprice in man’s proud heart, or of contempt for the whole sex, which he regards as infinitely inferior to his own. The Pagan or Mahometan wife is liable to divorce, and con- sequent poverty and shame, 'at any moment when her husband wills it. For one cause, and only one, Christianity permits the disruption of the conjugal tie. And it is this inviolability of the 142 LECTURE ON WOMEN. relation that operates so kindly in the restraint of unseemly pas- sions, and in perpetuating “ Domestic happiness, the only bliss Of Paradise that has survived the fall.” But false religions allow to man unbounded license. Might and right, in their vocabulary, are but synonymous terms ; and woman (dishonored without her own fault) is, at her husband’s pleas- ure, turned an outcast from her home. Lef the Arab’s wife be taken sick, and forthwith she is returned to her parents with the message, “ I paid for a healthy woman, and cannot afford the support of a sickly one.” Let the Siberian become dissatisfied with his wife, for any cause, and he has but to tear her cap from her head, and the marriage contract is dissolved. Let the « husband of Sumatra but break a bamboo, in the presence of bis wife and their relatives, and the divorce is effected. Or, let the Greenlander leave his home in apparent anger, and not return for a few days; the wife understands his meaning, picks up her clothes, and returns to her friends. Or let the South Sea Islandei but speak the word, and the relation is dissolved, though no dis- like of the wife to the husband can produce a separation Avithout his consent. But a divorce is ruin to the female, — it dooms her irrevocably to scorn and universal contempt, and (with scarcely less certainty) to a life of vice and infamy. But the degradation of woman under the fell influence of false religions is not yet fully seen. She is her husband's slave, and with unquestioning servility, must yield to his behest, on penally of torture, separation, or death. Nor is this a mere accident of her condition. The religion of her country decrees it, — the sacred books demand it. The Koran, and the Hindu Shasters, whose doctrines sway the mind, and determine the practice, of more than two hundred millions of the human family, make woman infinitely man’s inferior, — the mere pander to his passions, — the abject drudge, owing him unconditional submission. Says the Shaster of the Hindu, — “ The supreme duty of a wife, is, to obey the mandate of her husband. Let the wife who wishes to perform sacred ablution, wash the feet of her lord, and drink the water, for the husband is to the wife greater than Vishnoo. If a man goes on a journey his wife shall not divert herself by play, nor shall see any public show, nor shall laugh, nor shall dress herself in jewels and fine clothes, nor shall see dancing, nor hear music, nor shall sit at the window, nor shall ride out, nor shall behold anything choice and rare, but shall fasten well the house door, and remain private, and shall not eat any dainty food, and A Mohammedan Woman of Bengal , of high rank, in full Dress LECTURE ON WOMEN. 145 shall not blacken her eyes with powder, and shall not view her face in a mirror, — she shall never exercise herself in any such agreeable employment during the absence of her husband.” Again, “ A woman shall never go out of the house without the consent of her husband, and shall act according to the orders of her husband, and shall not eat until she has served him,” — though, “ if it be physic, she may take it before he eat.” Not only in Hindustan, but in almost every unevangelized country, the wife is obliged to stand and wait upon her husband while he eats, and to be content with such food as is left after his wants are satisfied. In the Society Islands, while Paganism reigned, women were not only thus compelled to wait upon their husband’s table, but were not allowed, on pain of death, to eat at all of those kinds of food which were most highly esteemed. The cocoa-nut, the plantain, the fowl, the turtle, the swine, the shark, and various kinds of fish, were tabued to them. Nor were they allowed to eat in the same house with the men, nor to cook their food at the same fire, nor to put it into the same ves- sels. The transgression of these rules involved immediate drowning or strangulation. “ The females of Raratonga,” (says the Rev. Mr. Williams,) “ were denied those kinds of food reserved for the men and the gods, — compelled to eat their scanty meals by themselves, and forbidden to dwell under the same roof with their tyrannical masters.” Till Riho Riho became ruler of the Sandwich Islands, similar customs prevailed there. About the time when he caused the idols to be destroyed, a dinner party was made, to which the prin- cipal chiefs and other persons of distinction were invited. When the company were seated around the table spread in an open bower, the king took his seat between two of his queens, — pre- sented them with some of the forbidden food, and ate from the same dish with them. The whole company were astonished at such an innovation on ancient usages ; so great, indeed, was the excitement produced, that it threatened a revolution in the gov- ernment. The authority of the monarch, however, sustained by the incipient influences of Christianity, .prevailed. In 17S7, the emperor of China issued the following decree: “All persons of the female sex, of whatever quality or condition, are forbidden, upon any pretext whatever, to enter a temple or quit their houses, except in cases of absolute necessity. Fathers, husbands, brothers, sons or relatives, are commanded to keep them at home, upon pain of being themselves severely pun- ished. After this, any woman who shall enter a temple shall be 10 146 LECTURE ON WOMEN. apprehended and imprisoned, till some one shall appear to claim her, and to undergo the punishment due to his negligence,” — thus cutting off at a stroke the whole female population of the empire from all the rites of religion, and all the pleasures of social intercourse. In some parts of Siberia the marriage ceremony is no sooner performed, than the wife pulls off her husband’s boots, in token of submission. In other parts of the same country, the morning after a wedding, a man representing the father of the bride, delivers to the husband a whip, which, whenever the wife offends, is to be used freely. In the interior of Java the bride washes the bridegroom’s feet in token of subjection. In Bambouk, Africa, she takes off her sandals, kneels before the bridegroom, pours water upon his feet, and wipes them with her mantle. In Madagascar, when a husband returns from war, his wife gives him the customary salutation of passing her tongue over his feet most respectfully. In New Holland, the slightest offence given to the husband brings down the club upon the wife, which never fails to draw forth a stream of blood and often fractures the skull. Among the Mandingoes, the terrible personage called Mumbo Jumbo, is called forth to frighten the refractory wife into submission. This demon form, assumed either by the husband himself or some one instructed by him, gives notice of his approach from the neighboring woods, near sunset, by the most frightful yells. At dark the men go out to meet him. He has a rod in his hand, a hideous mask on his head, and is fantastically decorated with the bark of trees. He is conducted to the village, where all the married women are assembled. The ceremonies commence. Songs and dances continue till a late hour. Mumbo Jumbo himself sings a song peculiar to the occasion. Then the women are required to arrange themselves in a circle. After a long pause and profound silence, Mumbo points out those that have been disobedient to their husbands, or otherwise have behaved improperly, and they are immediately seized, stripped, tied to a post, and severely beaten with Mumbo’s rod, amid the shouts and deridings of the whole assembly. And to such humiliation of woman, are boys, in some instan- ces at least, systematically trained. The Hottentot mother, who has brought up her boy with tenderness till he has reached the period when custom demands bis initiation by certain cere- monies into the society of men, is the first to feel the weight of his arm on his return home from the scene of his transition ; for, to show that he is now a man and has the spirit of a man, he * - ' . LECTURE ON WOMEN. 149 beats her soundly ; nor does censure follow the barbarous act, but he is applauded for his contempt of the society and authority of woman. For aught I know, the mother herself applauds it, — but how deep her degradation, when prepared to submit to insult like this on maternal dignity and honor ! How unlike is the spirit of Christianity, prompting the son, in the perfection of his under- standing, in the plenitude of his power, and amid the self-gratu- lations of his independence, to submit to the mild reason of his mother, — to acknowledge her unassuming sway, and admit that though independent of all things else, he cannot do without the smiles of maternal approbation, the admonitions of maternal soli- citude, and the reproofs of maternal tenderness and integrity. Woman, in unevangelized lands, is forced to perform the most perilous and menial services of the state and the family. The three thousand wives of the king of Dahomey are enrolled in the army, formed into regiments, armed with all the accoutrements of war, and a part of them serve as the king’s body-guard. These numerous queens, and the other thousands belonging to the kings of Ashantee and Yarriba, are but servants, maintained for ostentation, — to display the wealth and power of their royal masters ; and when not engaged in fighting the battles or guard- ing the persons of their lords, they are doomed to labor in the fields and submit to all the drudgery that pertains to the wife of the meanest subject of the realm. Nor is this all. At the death of an African king, his wives are slaughtered by scores and by hundreds, from an idea that their attendance will be needed in another world. Go with me to Yan Dieman’s Land, and see the weaker sex charged with the whole burden of supporting their families, — husbands, children and all. Is the rough soil to be cultivated ? In their hands are the implements of labor. Is the sea to be searched for the sea-carp or the lobster? They are found plunging from the projecting rocks into the briny flood, remain- ing on the rocky bottom, beneath the waves, twice as long (says a naval officer) as the most expert of our divers, — filling then- baskets, — returning ashore, — drying themselves a few minutes by the fire, and warming their chilled limbs, and then resuming their perilous toils, while their husbands, through the whole, are seated comfortably around the fire, feasting on the choicest of the fish, and the most delicate of the broiled fern-roots. Nor need I carry you to the other side of the globe, to witness the unseemly toils and bitter sufferings of benighted woman. Our own continent supplies us practical illustrations without end. 150 LECTURE OK WOMEN. Let a fact or two suffice. Father Joseph (a missionary on the banks of the Oronoco) ventured to reprove an Indian female, for destroying her infant daughter. She replied, “ O that my mother had thus prevented the manifold sufferings I have endured ! Consider, father, our deplorable condition. Our hus- bands go out to hunt ; we are dragged along with one infant at the breast and another in a basket. Though tired with long walking, we are not allowed to sleep when we return, but must labor the whole night in grinding maize to make chica for them They get drunk and beat us; they drag us by the hair of the head and tread us under foot. And after such a slavery of twenty years, what have we to comfort us ? A young wife is brought home and permitted to abuse us and our children. What kind- ness can we show our daughters, equal to putting them to death? Would to God my mother had put me under ground the moment I was born ! ” One case more only for the sake of contrast. “ Soon after my acquaintance with these Indians,” (says a missionary to the Choctaws,) “ I one day saw a chief travelling on horseback, quite at his ease, followed by his poor wife, who was not only on foot, but carried his infant child, his rifle, and a quantity of pro- visions in a large basket at her back, supported by a strap drawn across her forehead. At a subsequent season, I met the same family again on their travels; the chief was now on foot, laden with his own arms, and he had kindly placed his wife on the saddle. The child, too, now much larger than before, was sweetly sleeping in the arms of its father, who himself seemed cheerful and happy amid the fatigues of the way.” The language of the poet to his wife he practically adopted as his own : “ On all her days let health and peace attend, May she ne’er want nor lose a friend ; May some new pleasure every hour employ, But let her husband be her highest joy.” And what think you was the cause of this wonderful trans- formation? The Choctaw Chief had become a follower of Christ. But the widowhood of the Pagan wife and mother is, if pos- sible, more wretched than her married life. As if Satan could not bear that the daughters of the first victim of his seduction should find peace in any condition, he first torments them as daughters in the house of their fathers, then as wives in the dwellings of their husbands, and then as widows, cast out from “ Our women are not like yours — if educated they would he refractory, and would no longer carry burdens .” — Page 133 . A HINDO WOMAN. , , , • . . LECTURE ON WOMEN. 153 every charity of human life. Under the dark covert of Pagan superstition and Mahometan delusion, unopposed by the sword of the Spirit, he accomplishes with ease his fiendish purposes, and adds the wormwood and gall of universal malice and con- tempt to all the bitterness of the dregs that had filled her cup of woe, from the cradle to the death of her husband. Formerly, the Caffre widow, on the decease of her husband, whatever was the season of the year, and whatever her condition, was compelled to fly to the forest, and houseless, hungry, and alone, mourn her loss day after day. During her absence her dwelling was plundered by her relatives of everything valuable, set on fire, and consumed, and the only dowry allotted her from her husband’s property was a new garment, made from the hide of one cf his oxen. On returning from the wildernesss, she built a new hut with her own hands, and subsisted on the avails of her own labor. Missionary enterprise has succeeded in abolishing this cruel custom, and Mr. Shaw, the missionary who was instru- mental in accomplishing it, received the name of Umkinets Um- fazie, (the woman’s shield,) by which he is now generally known in Caffraria. In Greenland, when the husband dies, the widow, if unprotected by friends, is usually robbed of a considerable por- tion of her property by those who come to sympathize with her by an affected condolence, and can obtain no redress. If aged and infirm, she is not unfrequently buried alive by her own children. As the legitimate consequences of their servile and wretched condition, females of every unevangelized land are devoid of those sentiments of delicacy, and that refined taste and acute dis- crimination between the lovely and the disgusting in manners and customs, which distinguish the sex in lands enlightened by the gospel. Before Christianity commenced its reign in the Soci- ety Islands, wrestling was a favorite amusement of females, and one in which those of the highest rank engaged, not only with each other, but also with the men, in the presence of thousands of spectators of both sexes. Immediately after marriage, every female provided herself with an instrument set with rows of shark’s teeth, with which, on the death of any of the family, she fearfully cut and lacerated herself, beating the head, temples, cheeks, and breast, till blood flowed profusely, while she uttered the most deafening and agonizing cries. Filthy in their persons, indecent in their apparel, fantastic in their ornaments, and famil- iar beyond endurance in their approaches to the other sex, their character stands forth an enduring but sad monument of that 154 LECTURE ON WOMEN. intellectual and moral degradation which Paganism and Mahom- etanism have spread far and wide. Here their bodies are rubbed with bear’s grease, and there with fish oil, or some offensive compound of vegetable and animal matter. The sheep-skin, or the bullock’s hide, — the tattered handkerchief, or the entrails of slain beasts, serve for partial protection from the frosts of winter, or the burning summer’s sun ; and scarcely answering the purpose of fig-leaves in the fallen first pair, are not unfrequently laid aside as needless incumbrances, while the whole person is exposed to the observation of every passer-by. In Arabia, they stain their fingers and toes red ; their eye-brows black, and their lips blue. In Persia, they paint a black streak around the eyes, color their eye-brows and hair, and stain the face and neck with figures of beasts, birds, flowers, &c. The Hottentot women paint the entire body in compartments of red and black. Hin- du females, when they wish to appear particularly lovely, paint the body with saffron and tumeric mixed with grease. In nearly all the islands of the Pacific and Indian oceans, and in many other parts of the world, like the men, they tattoo the body, with an instrument resembling somewhat a fine- toothed comb, whose sharp teeth, dipped into a solution of indigo or soot, are thrust into the flesh, introducing the coloring matter to remain forever, and im- printing a great variety of fanciful figures on the face, the lips, the tongue, the limbs, the whole body. The process is painful, though not more so than that of the female Greenlander, who first saturates threads with soot, and then inserts them beneath the skin, and draws them through. In New Holland, the women cut themselves Avilh shells, and by keeping open the Avounds a long time, form wales or seams on the flesh, Avhich they deem highly ornamental. And another singular addition is made to their beauty by taking off the little finger of the left hand, at the second joint, — a process performed in infancy by tying a hair around it so tight as to produce mortification. In some parts of Hindustan, at the time of marriage, a like portion of the third and little finger is removed. A similar custom prevails among the Hottentots. Among some of the savage tribes of America, and also in Sumatra and Arracan, continual pressure is applied to the skull to flatten it, and add to the beauty of its form. In nearly all the South Sea Islands, custom requires an incision to be made in the lobe of each ear, into which rolls of leaves, or long pieces of wood or ivory are inserted, and from these, shells or fish teeth are suspended, to such an amount that their weight i Jmm! r Hm I'l ' | 1 II iff |||f 1 jiMl Si I y r 111 si 1; 1111 Ip, II II A KYAN WOMAN. From a portrait taken by M. Symes, Esq., for the East India Company. Kyan is the name of a people inhabiting the mountains between Arracan and Ava. All the women of that tribe, when they arrive at a certain age , have the face tattooed. For a description of the process of tattooing, see opposite page. * ; , ' » !• • ' . LECTURE ON WOMEN. 157 draws down the ear nearly to the shoulder, and not unfrequently tears it asunder. The mother of Sumatra carefully flattens the nose of her daughter; and in New Guinea, the nose is perforated, and a large piece of wood or bone inserted, making it difficult to breathe. On the north-west coast of America, an incision more than two inches in length is made in the lower lip, and filled with a wooden plug. In Guiana, the lip is pierced with thorns, the heads being inside the mouth and tire points resting on the chin. And in Java, Borneo, and Celebes, they file their teeth to a point, and color them black, considering it disgraceful to let them remain “ white like the teeth of dogs.” In some countries corpulency is esteemed essential to beauty ; and the wives of kings and chiefs are beloved in proportion to the sleek fatness and gross weight of their persons The Tunisian woman, of moderate pretensions to beauty, needs a slave under each arm to support her when she walks, and a perfect belle car- ries flesh enough to load down a camel. So anxious are mothers that their daughters should attain this unwieldy size, that they compel them to eat enormous quantities of fattening food and drink several bowls of camel’s milk every day. Mungo Park describes a poor girl as crying for more than an hour, with a bowl at her lips, while her mother stood over her with a rod, and beat her cruelly, if she failed to swallow fast enough. And Capt. Clapperton found himself in not a little difficulty at Houssa, through the importunity of an Arab widow, whose wealth and rank, enforced by the charms of a huge person, black-dyed eye- brows, blue hair, red stained hands and feet, all adorned with necklaces, girdles and bracelets, seemed to fit her for the station of a queen, whither her aspirations tended, and to which, with Clap- perton for a husband, she doubted not she might attain. But he happened not (0 cruel !) to fancy “ a walking tun-butt” for a wife, and preferred the loss of the honors of African royalty to the life- companionship of five hundred pounds of Arab flesh. The beauty of a Chinese lady is in her feet, which in childhood are so compressed by bandages as effectually to prevent any fur- ther increase in size. The four smaller toes are turned under the foot, to the sole of which they firmly adhere. The poor girl not only endures much pain, but becomes a cripple for life. Another mark of beauty and distinction lies in the length to which the finger nails are allowed to grow, — a length that requires them to be shielded from accident by casings of bamboo. The ambitious beauties of Siam, not content with protecting carefully these ever-growing excrescences of nature, provide themselves with artificial nails four inches long. 158 LECTURE ON WOMEN. Allow that, agreeably to the proverb, “ there is no disputing of tastes,” and that no nation or individual is responsible to another for peculiar customs, will it be questioned that the wear- ing of cumbrous and unwieldy ornaments, and the disfiguring of the body, and forcing it into uncouth forms at the expense of so much suffering, are customs offensive to nature, and to nature’s God, — the legitimate progeny of Paganism? — and so far as ever grafted upon the stock of Christianity, are they more incongruous with its simplicity and at variance with its spirit, than repulsive to reason and common sense ? Foolish and unseemly customs are not confined to Pagan and Mahometan females, it is true, — they exist in more enlightened lands ; but in these lands, they are one after another assailed, changed and banished by the mild genius of Christianity ; while, in the darker portions of the earth, they enter into the very constitution of society, and know no change or modification, more than the elements of nature, or the imme- morial rites of a bloody superstition. Deplorable, then, are the delusions under which the god of this world hath bound down the nations that yield unresistingly to his sway, — severe the bond- age under which they wear out hated life, and melancholy the barbarous customs, which through conscience, fancy, or caprice, his tyrant arm imposes on successive generations. To all this may be added their unbounded superstition. Their servile fear of the gods amounts to a terror which quenches the kindlings of natural affection, and drives them on to deeds of darkest inhumanity. Ignorant of the God of love, and conceiving of their divinities as capricious, malignant and revengeful, they are easily impelled to sacrifices at which nature shudders, and every sentiment of true piety stands aghast. Unenlightened by education, and enslaved by the spirit of idolatry, they become the victims of priestly craft, without resistance, and the dupes of their own vain imaginings, as if reason and conscience entered not at all into their moral constitution. The African female ventures not to commence a journey, nor to undertake important business of any kind, till well furnished with protective charms, consisting chiefly of bits of paper, which contain a written sen- tence, or fragment of a sentence, carefully deposited within a bag fastened to her person. The women of Houssa, seeing Major Denham using a pen. came to him in crowds, to obtain a scrawl that should serve as an amulet to restore their beauty, to preserve the affections of their lovers, or to destroy a rival. If a child be born in Madagascar, on a day reputed unlucky, its evil destiny must be averted, by the destruction of its life, under the hands A Hindu Woman of the Brahmin caste. She has prepared a dinner of rice, placed il upon a Plantain leaf, and is carrying it to her husband. 1 '/ i * LECTURE ON WOMEN. 161 of its parents. The only alternative is, to leave it in a narrow path, over which a herd of cattle is furiously driven, while the parents stand looking on from a distance; and if it chance to escape unhurt, they run to embrace it, convinced that the malig- nant influence is removed. Sometimes the child is drowned in a vessel of water prepared for the purpose, or thrown into a pit, with its face downward, or suffocated by stuffing a cloth into its mouth ; but the parents themselves are commonly the execution- ers, under the impression that there is no other way of saving the child from the misfortunes that await its future years. From time immemorial, Hindu mothers have thrown their infant children into the Ganges, to be devoured by alligators ; not because they were destitute of maternal affection, but because a mother’s love was overpowered by her fears of the wrath of some offended deity. The Hindu widow burns on the funeral pile of her husband. Thus she escapes the obloquy of widowhood, and becomes entitled, as she believes, to a residence with her husband and their relatives in heaven. Thanks to the gospel of Christ, this horrid superstition has relaxed its grasp on Indian mind ; but, till within a few years, thousands of widows became annually its victims ; and at the death of princes and other men of elevated rank, possessed of many wives, the dreadful sacri- fice has been all that Abaddon himself could desire. Twelve widows in one instance, eighteen in another, thirty-seven in another, and on the death of Ajie, prince of Malwar, fifty-eight threw themselves on the funeral piles of their husbands and per- ished. As late as 1844 twenty-four women were burnt in Pun- jab. There can be no doubt that this dreadful sacrifice is some- times voluntary on the part of the victim, but it is by no means universally so. Not only is all the earthly glory of the deed, and the happiness of a Pagan heaven promised on the one hand, and all the terrors of contempt and persecution through life, with ever- lasting infamy, arrayed on the other, but force is applied, with fiend-like perseverance, to compel the unhappy wife to mount the blazing altar of Moloch. F ollow me to the immolation of a Brahmin’s widow in Northern Hindustan. The unfortunate woman, of her own accord, has ascended the burning pile. The torture of the fire is more than she can endure, and by a violent struggle she throws herself beyond the reach of the flames, and tottering to a river near by, is kindly plunged into it by some English gentlemen present, to assuage her torments. She retains her senses perfectly, shrinks with dread from another encounter with the flames, and refuses so to die. Her 11 162 LECTURE ON WOMEN. inhuman relatives then take her by the head and feet, and throw her upon the pile, and hold her there till driven away by the heat. They endeavor too, to stun her with blows, — but again she escapes and makes to the river. Her relatives then try to drown her, but one of the English gentlemen mentioned interferes, and she throws herself into his arms, begging him to save her. “ I can- not describe to you,” says one present at the scene, <: the horror I felt at seeing her mangled condition ; almost every inch of skin on her body had been burnt off, — her legs and thighs, her arms and back, were completely raw, — her breasts dreadfully torn, and the skin dangling from them in threads, — the skin and nails of her fingers had peeled wholly off, and were hanging to the back of her hands. In fact, I never saw and never read of so entire a picture of misery as this poor woman displayed. She still dread- ed being again committed to the fire, and called to us to save her. Her friends at length desisted from their efforts. We sent her to the hospital. Every medical assistance was given, but, after lingering twenty hours, in excruciating pain, her spirit departed.” Such is the superstition of heathen lands. Its forms are vari- ous, but its spirit is everywhere the same. It leads its vota- ries to defile themselves with the mud of the streets, to measure the distance from their homes to their temples, by the length of their bodies prostrated every six feet of the way, — to swing in the air, suspended by hooks thrust through the muscles of the back, and to submit to a thousand other tortures, in honor of some cruel but imaginary deity. It teaches the brother to betray the sister, — the mother to imbrue her hands in the blood of her own offspring, — and the son to light the pile which consumes the mother that gave him life. It glories in deeds like these, as more pleasing to the gods than any alleviation of human woe that kindness can effect, and more intrinsically meritorious than all the moral virtues commended by the philosophy of Seneca, or the precepts of Christ. But it is time to close. We have now cursorily glanced at the character of woman, as unaffected by the refining and elevating influences of Christianity. We have seen her trodden down as the mire of the streets by him whom Heaven created to be her protector and comforter. We have seen unevangelized man everywhere, like the fabled generation of warriors springing from the serpent’s teeth armed for the work of destruction, direct- ing his chief malignities against woman, — his best friend, his safest counsellor, — his most unfailing solace, — because her native timidity and weakness invite the violence and insult of a coward- * A HINDU MOTHER LAMENTING THE DEATH OF HER CHILD. “From time immemorial, mothers have thrown their children into the Ganges, to he devoured by alligators, not because they were destitute of maternal affection, but because a mother’s love was overpowered by her fears of the wrath of some offended deity.”— P. 161. - . . ■ ' LECTURE ON WOMEN. 165 arm ! We have seen her lost to self-respect, dead to instinctive affection, ignorant of the rights with which her Maker has invested her, unacquainted with her relations to eternity, indulgent to the wildest passions of depraved nature, and plunged far down the abyss of unnatural crime. We have marked her wanderings, listened to her complaints, and seen her scalding tears. And have we no sympathy in her sufferings? — no arm that will extend to her relief? — no voice that will call her to Calvary, and direct her eye to woman’s friend and Saviour, and thence to a world of unmingled purity and love' 1 Measures are in pro- gress (thank God !) for restoring woman to her true dignity, and re-establishing her just relations to man as her husband, guar- dian, and unfailing friend. The same measures will restore the world to the dominion of Christ, and man, in all his tribes, to the sway of reason and revelation. Then shall it no more be said that “ his ambition is to sink, To reach a depth profounder still, and still Profounder, in the fathomless abyss Of folly, plunging in pursuit of death but he shall rise to. “glory, honor, and immortality,” and share it with the helper of his faith and love, the mother of his chil- dren, the softener of his dying pillow, — the kind angel that hovers over him as his soaring spirit takes its flight. Not far distant is the day, unless we quite mistake the “ signs of the times,” when, throughout all nations, woman shall resume the station Heaven first assigned her, and form again the loveliest ornament of humanity, — man’s coadjutor in wnrks of faith and labors of love, and childhood’s most persuasive teacher of all that is virtu- ous, lovely, and of good report, in human disposition and action. Soon let that day of brightness dawn, — that glorious era be fully ushered in ; for it shall prove the termination of earth’s bitterest woes, and the consummation of Heaven’s most earnest labors • Ul A Thug disguised as a Merchant. , * • . HABITS AND SUPERSTITIONS OF TIIE THUGS, , A SECT WHO PROFESS TO BE DIVINELY AUTHORIZED TO PLUNDER AND MURDER. COMPILED PRINCIPALLY FROM THE OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS OP CAPT. 8LEEMAN, AGENT OF THE EAST INDIA COMPANY FOR THE SUPPRESSION OF THUGGEE While Europeans have generally travelled through India in comparative security, arising from the dread inspired by the power and dominion of the British government, the path of the native has been beset with perils by hordes of ferocious robbers, which every where abound, from the highest regions of the Himelaya Mountains to the southern extremity of Hindoostan. The most sanguinary class of these freebooters are the Thugs, "br Phansigars. Their existence appears to have been entirely unknown to Europeans until about the year 1800. From Janu- ary, 1S26, to December, 1S35, the number of Thugs committed by various magistrates amounted to 1562. Of these 328 were punished by death, 999 by transportation, 77 by imprisonment for life; from 21 security was required; 71 were sentenced to limited periods of imprisonment; making a total of 1450 con- victed. Of the remainder, 21 were acquitted, 11 escaped, 31 died before sentence, and 49 were admitted evidence for the prosecution. Gangs of Thugs sometimes consist of two or three hundred persons. In such instances, they commonly follow each other, in small parties of ten or twenty, upon roads parallel to each other, being prepared to concentrate on any point, when neces- sary. Different parties frequently act in concert, apprizing one another of the approach of travellers whose destruction promises a valuable booty. They assume the appearance of ordinary travellers : sometimes they pretend to be traders ; and, if en- riched by former spoliations, travel on horseback, with tents, and pass for wealthy merchants, or other persons of consequence. Sometimes they commence their route in more humble charac- ters ; but acquiring, in their rapacious progress, horses and bul- locks, these at once furnish them with the means of transporting the remainder of their plunder, and of making pretensions to higher degrees of wealth and station. 170 HABITS AND SUPERSTITIONS Thugs are accustomed to wait at choultries, on the high roads, or near towns where travellers rest. They arrive at such places, and enter towns and villages, in straggling parties of three or four persons, appearing to meet by accident, and to have no pre- vious acquaintance. On such occasions, some of the gang are employed as emissaries, to collect information, and, especially, to learn if any persons with property in their possession are about to undertake a journey. They are often accompanied by children of ten years of age and upwards ; who, while they per- form menial offices, are gradually initiated into the horrid prac- tices of Thuggee, and contribute to prevent suspicion of their real character. Skilled in the arts of deception, they enter into conversation, and insinuate themselves by obsequious attentions into the confidence of travellers of all descriptions, to learn from them whence they came, whither and for what purpose they are journeying, and of what property they are possessed. When, after obtaining such information as they deem requisite, the Thugs determine to attack a traveller, they usually propose to him, under the specious plea of mutual safety,- or for the sake of society, to travel together ; or else they follow him at a little distance, and, when a fit opportunity offers for effecting their purpose, one of the gang suddenly throws a rope or sash round the neck of the unfortunate victim, while the rest contribute, in various ways, to aid the murderous work. Intrepidity does not appear to be a characteristic of the Thugs ; and, in truth, it is a quality not to be looked for in assassins by profession. A superiority in physical force is generally regarded as an indispensable preliminary to success. Two Thugs, at the least, are thought necessary for the murder of one man ; and, more commonly, three are engaged. Some Thugs pride them- selves upon being able to strangle a man single-handed ; and this is esteemed a most honorable distinction. But the majority of them are, and ever have been, firm adherents of the maxim, that “ discretion is the better part of valor.” Some variations have existed in the manner of perpetrating the murders ; but the following seems to be the most general. While travelling along, one of the gang suddenly throws the rope or cloth round the neck of the devoted individual, and retains hold of one end, the other end being seized by an accom- plice. The instrument of death, crossed behind the neck, is then drawn very tight, the two Thugs who hold it pressing the head of the victim forwards: a third villain, who is in readiness OF THE THUGS. 171 behind the traveller, seizes him by the legs, and he is thus thrown on the ground. In this situation, there is little opportu- nity of resistance. The operation of the noose is aided by kicks inflicted in the manner most likely to produce vital injury, and the sufferer is thus quickly despatched. The best precautions are taken to guard against discovery or surprise. Before the perpetration of the murder, some of the gang are sent in advance, and some left in the rear of the place, to keep watch, to prevent intrusion, and to give warning, if occasion requires, to those engaged in the act. Should any persons unexpectedly pass that way before the murdered body is buried, some artifice is practised to prevent discovery, such as covering the body with a cloth, while loud lamentations are made, professedly on account of the sickness or death of one of their comrades ; or one of the watchers will fall down, apparently writhing with pain, in order to excite the pity of the intruding travellers, and to detain them from the scene of murder. Such are the perseverance and caution of the Thugs, that, in the absence of a convenient opportunity, they have been known to travel in company with persons, whom they have devoted to destruction, for several days before they executed their inten- tion. If circumstances favor them, they generally commit the murder in a jungle, or in an unfrequented part of the country, and near a sandy place or dry watercourse. Particular tracts are chosen, in every part of India, where they may exercise their horrid profession with the greatest convenience and security. The most favorite places are much-frequented roads, passing through extensive jungles, where the ground is soft for the grave, and where the local authorities take no notice of the bodies. In these chosen spots, a hole, three or four feet in depth, usu- ally forms the grave of the unhappy traveller, who is placed in it with his face downwards. The barbarous character of the Thugs is displayed in their treatment of the wretched remains of the murdered persons. Though death brings a termination of suffering, it does not put an end to the outrages of the murder- ers. Long and deep gashes are made in various parts of the bodies : sometimes the limbs are disjointed, and the figure dis- torted into unusual positions. These outrages arise from various motives. Their intention generally is to expedite the decom- position of the body, and to prevent its inflation, which, by causing fissures in the superincumbent sand, might attract jack- als, and thus lead to the discovery of the corpse. Sometimes, 172 HABITS AND SUPERSTITIONS however, these deeds have been the result of disappointment, and the emanations of a petty and unmanly revenge. When the amount of plunder is less than had been expected, the villains have frequently vented their displeasure in wanton indignities on the unconscious remains of the dead. If, when a murder is perpetrated, a convenient place for inter- ring the body be not near, or if the Thugs be apprehensive of dis- covery, it is either tied in a sack, and carried to some spot where it is not likely to be found, or is put into a river or a well. In Oude, where the fields are almost all irrigated from wells, the bodies were generally thrown into them ; and when the cultivat- ors discovered these relics of crime, they hardly ever thought it worth while to ask how they came there — so accustomed were they to find them. If none of these expedients be advisable, a shallow hole is dug, in which the corpse is buried till a fit place for interring it can be discovered, when it is removed, and cut in the manner already mentioned. If compelled to perform the interment under circumstances which subject them to the risk of observation, the Thugs put up a screen on the wall for a tent, and bury the body within the enclosure ; pretending, if inquiries are made, that their women are within the screen. If the traveller had a dog, it is killed, lest the affection of the ani- mal should cause the discovery of the body of his murdered master. Travellers resting in the same choultry with Thugs are some- times destroyed in the night. On these occasions, a person is not always murdered when asleep ; as, while he is in a recum- bent posture, the stranglers find a difficulty in applying the cloth. The usual practice is, first to awaken him suddenly, with an alarm of a snake or a scorpion, and then to strangle him. In attacking a traveller on horseback, one of the gang goes in front of the horse, and another has his station in the rear ; a third, walking by the side of the traveller, keeps him engaged in con- versation, till, finding that he is off his guard, he suddenly seizes the victim by the arm, and drags him to the ground, the horse at the same time being seized by the foremost villain: the mis- erable sufferer is then strangled in the usual manner. Against Thugs, it must be obvious that arms, and the ordinary precautions taken against robbers, are unavailing. When a per- son is armed with a dagger, it is usual for one of the villains to secure his hands. It sometimes happens that entire parties of travellers, while journeying in imaginary security, are suddenly OF THE THUGS. 173 cut off. Such are the cruelty and cupidity of these wretches, that, on the presumption of every traveller possessing concealed treasure, or some property, however trifling, the greatest appa- rent indigence does not always afford security. The plunder is sometimes carried home, sometimes disposed of on the road. If the murdered person resided near the place of his assassination, the property is carried to a distance : if, as is more commonly the case, he is a stranger, they do not scru- ple to offer the fruits of their rapine in the immediate vicinity of their crime : the only precaution taken is, that the place of sale be in advance of that where the murder was committed, and not a village where the traveller had previously been seen. A portion of the plunder is usually appropriated to defraying the expenses of religious ceremonies ; and sometimes a part is also allotted for the benefit of widows and families of deceased members of the gang. The residue of the booty, being divided into several parts, is generally shared as follows — to the leader, two shares ; to the men actually concerned in perpetrating the murder, and to the person who cut the dead body, each one share and a half ; and to the remainder of the gang, each one share. The operations of the Thugs are facilitated, and their designs cloaked, by a peculiar dialect : they have recourse, also, to a variety of signs. Drawing the back of the hand along the chin, from the throat outwards, implies that caution is requisite — that some stranger is approaching. Putting the open hand over the mouth, and drawing it gently down, implies that there is no longer cause for alarm. If an advanced party of Thugs over- take any traveller whom they design to destroy, but have need of more assistance, they make certain marks on the roads, by which those of the gang who follow understand that they are required to hasten forward. A party in advance also leaves certain marks, where a road branches off, as intimations to those who are behind. They draw their feet along the dust, in the direc- tion they have taken ; and if their friends are to follow quickly, they leave the dust piled up at the end of the line where the foot drops, or make a hole in the dust with the heel. If the road afford no dust, they leave two stones, placed one upon the other, in the line they have taken, and strew a few leaves of trees along the road. If their coadjutors are to make haste, they make a very long line of leaves. They have many other signs, for similar purposes. 174 HABITS AND SUPERSTITIONS Of the number of persons who fall victims to these lawless associations, it is obvious that no estimate can be made deserving of the slightest confidence. The number has, without doubt, varied greatly at different periods. There is reason to believe that, from the time of the conquest of Mysore, in 1799, to 1807 and 1808, the practice, in that part of India, reached its height, and that hundreds of persons were annually destroyed. In one of his reports, the magistrate of Chittoor observes, “ I believe that some of the Phansigars have been concerned in above two hundred murders: nor will this estimate appear extravagant, if it be remembered that murder was their profession — frequently their only means of gaining a subsistence. Every man of fifty years of age has probably been actively engaged, during twenty- five years of his life, in murder ; and, on the most moderate com- putation, it may be reckoned that he has made one excursion a year, and met, each time, with ten victims.” The profession of a Thug, like almost every thing in India, is hereditary, the fraternity, however, receiving occasional reen- forcement from strangers ; but these are admitted with great caution, and seldom after they have attained mature age. The children of Thugs, during their more tender years, are kept in ignorance of the occupation of their fathers. After a time they are permitted to accompany them ; but a veil is thrown over the darker scenes of the drama. To the novice, indeed, the expedition presents nothing but an aspect of pleasure. He is mounted on a pony ; and being, by the laws of the Thugs, entitled to his share of the booty, he receives a portion of it, in presents suited to his years; the delight attending the acquisi- tion being unallpyed by any consciousness of the means by which it has been obtained. The truth reveals itself by degrees. In a short time, the tyro becomes aware that his presents are the fruits of robbery. After a while, he has reason to suspect that robbery is aggravated by a fouler crime. At length, suspicion passes into certainty ; and finally, the pupil is permitted to wit- ness the exercise of the frightful handicraft which he is destined to pursue. The moral contamination is now complete ; but it is long before the disciple is intrusted with the performance of the last atrocity. He passes through a long course of prepara- tory study — being first employed as a scout, next as a sexton, then as a holder of the limbs — before he is in any case thought worthy of being elevated to the dignity of a strangler. A too precipitate disclosure of the frightful truth has some- OF THE THUGS. 175 times produced fatal consequences. The following affecting story, related by a Thug who had become approver against his comrades, will illustrate this. “ About twelve years ago,” said the narrator, “ my cousin, Aman Subahdar, took out with us my cousin Kurhora, brother of Omrow, (approver,) a lad of fourteen, for the first time, lie was mounted on a pretty pony ; and Hursooka, an adopted son of Aman, was appointed to take charge of the boy. We fell in with five Sieks; and when we set out before daylight in the morning, Hursooka, who had been already on three expeditions, was ordered to take the bridle, and keep the boy in the rear, out of sight and hearing. The boy became alarmed and impatient, got away from Hursooka, and galloped up at the instant the hirnee,' or signal for murder, was given. He heard the screams of the men, and saw them all strangled. He was seized with a trembling, and fell from his pony. He became immediately delirious, was dreadfully alarmed at the turbans of the murdered men, and, when any one touched or spoke to him, talked wildly about the murders, screamed as if in sleep, and trembled violently. We could not get him for- ward ; and, after burying the bodies, Aman, myself, and a few others, sat by him while the gang went on. We were very fond of him, and tried all we could to tranquillize him, but he never recovered his senses, and before evening he died. I have seen many instances of feelings greatly shocked at the sight of the first murder, but never one so strong as this. Kurhora was a fine boy ; and Hursooka took his death much to heart, and turned Byragee. He is now at some temple on the banks of the Nerbudda River.” The indiscriminate slaughter in which these miscreants might oe tempted to indulge is in some degree restrained by supersti- tion. It is deemed unlucky to kill certain castes and classes ; and their members are therefore usually respected. The most important and extended exception to the general rule of murder, is that of the female sex. Thugs, who have any real regard to the principles which they profess to respect, never take the lives of women. It cannot, however, be supposed that such a rule should be invariably observed by such persons as form the soci- ety of Thugs ; and, in fact, it is constantly violated. “ Among us,” said one of the approvers interrogated by Captain Sleeman, “ it is a rule never to kill a woman ; but if a rich old woman is found, the gang sometimes get a man to strangle her, by giving him an extra share of the booty, and inducing him to take the 176 HABITS AND SUPERSTITIONS responsibility upon himself. We have sometimes killed other prohibited people, particularly those of low caste, whom we ought not even to have touched.” Among the privileged classes are washermen, poets, profess- ors of dancing, blacksmiths, carpenters, musicians, oil-venders, sweepers, the maimed, the leprous, and those persons who carry the water of the Ganges into distant parts of India, to be used for religious purposes. some difficulty, they were persuaded to sell the cow to the Thugs ; who, to induce the travellers to consent to the sale, pretended that they had vowed to make an offering of a cow at Shaphore, and were much in want of one. The cow was actually presented to a Brahman at Shaphore ; and, the obsta- cle being removed, the whole of the unsuspecting travellers, including the females, were, two or three hours afterwards, strangled. The movements of the followers of Thuggee are invariably governed by omens with which they believe their goddess favors them. However favorably an expedition may have been com- menced, success is liable to be postponed by a multiplicity of ominous appearances. The dog enjoys the prerogative of putting a veto on their proceedings, by shaking his head. Sneezing entitles all the travellers within the gripe of the assassins to the A Carrier of the Ganges Water. The sacred cow, in the eyes of all Hindoos who have any preten- sions to consistency, is a protection to its pos- sessor ; art is, howev- er, sometimes resorted to, for the purpose of removing this impedi- ment to business. A party of Thugs pro- jected the murder of fourteen persons, in- cluding several wo- men ; but the design could not be carried into effect, because the victims had a cow with them. W ith OF THE THUGS. 177 privilege of an escape, and no one dares to put them to death. The fighting of cats, in the fore part of the night, is a good omen ; but, if heard towards morning, it betokens evil ; the evil, however, may be averted by gargling the mouth with a little sour milk, and then spirting it out. The fighting of cats during the day is a very bad omen, and threatens great evil: if the cats fall down from a height while fighting, it is still worse. These ills are beyond the healing influence of sour milk, and call for nothing less than sacrifice. The noise of jackals fight- ing is also a very bad omen, and involves the necessity of leav- ing the part of the country in which the gang hears it. Almost every sound made by animals, birds, and insects, and also their various movements, are regarded as ominous either of good or of evil. “ There are always signs around us,” say the Thugs, “ to guide us to rich booty and to warn us of danger ; and if we are only wise enough to discern them, and religious enough to attend to them, we shall prosper in all our undertakings.” The following colloquy will illustrate the opinions, enter- tained by Thugs generally, as to the danger of associating with those who have not been regularly educated ; the importance of attending to rules and omens ; and the value and excellence of Thug learning. Capt. Sleeman. You consider that a borka (a leader) is capable of forming a gang, in any part of India to which he may be obliged to flee ? Sahib and Nasir. Certainly ; in any part that we have seen of it. Capt. S. Do you know any instance of it ? Sahib and Nasir. A great number. Mudee Khan was from the old Sindouse stock, and was obliged to emigrate after the attack upon that place. Many years afterwards, we met him in the Deccan ; and he had then a gang of fifty Thugs, of all castes and descriptions. We asked him who they were : he told us that they were weavers, braziers, bracelet-makers, and all kinds of ragamuffins, whom he had scraped together, about his new abode on the banks of the Heran and Nerbudda Rivers, in the districts of Jebulpore and Nursingpore. He was a Mussulman ; and so were Lai Khan, and Kalee Khan, who formed gangs, after the Sindouse dispersion, along the same rivers. Capt. S. But these men have all been punished ; which does not indicate the protection of Davy. Sahib and Nasir. It indicates the danger of scraping to- 12 178 HABITS AND SUPERSTITIONS gether such a set of fellows for Thuggee. They killed all people indiscriminately, women and men, of all castes and pro- fessions ; and knew so little about omens, that they entered upon their expeditions, and killed people, in spite of such as the most ignorant ought to have known were prohibited. They were punished, in consequence, as we all knew that they would be ; and we always used to think it dangerous to be associated with them, for even a few days. Ask many of them who are now here — Kureem Khan, Sheikh Kureem, Rumzanee, and others — whether this is not true ; and whether they ever let go even a sweeper, if he appeared to have a rupee about him. Capt. S. And you think that, if they had been well instruct- ed in the signs and rules, and attended to them, they would have thrived? Sahib and Nasir. Undoubtedly! so should we all. Capt. S. You think that an inexperienced person could not any where form a gang of Thugs of himself? Sahib and Nasir. Never. He could know nothing of our rules of augury, or proceedings ; and how could he possibly suc- ceed ? Does not all our success depend upon knowing and ob- serving omens and rules ? Capt. S. It would, therefore, never be very dangerous to release such a man. Sahib and Nasir. Never ; unless he could join men better instructed than himself. Every one must be convinced, that it is by knowing and attending to omens and rules that Thuggee has thrived. The practice of Thuggee is not confined to adventurers upon land. The rivers of India are infested by bands of fresh-water pirates, of similar habits to those of the land Thugs, possessing the same feeling, and differing from them only in a few trifling particulars. There is still another class of Thugs, who murder such persons only as are travelling with their children. Their only object is to secure the children and sell them into slavery. The dark and cheerless night of superstition, which has long clouded the moral vision of India, has given rise to institutions and practices so horrible, that, without the most convincing evi- dence, their existence could not be credited by minds trained under happier circumstances than those which prevail in the East. That giant power, which has held the human race in chains wherever the pure and unadulterated doctrines of revelation have not penetrated, has, in India, revelled in the wantonness of OF THE THUGS. 179 prosperity ; the foundations of delusion have been laid wide and deep ; the poison of a false and brutalizing creed has been insin- uated into every action of daily life ; and the most obvious dis- tinctions of right and wrong have been obliterated. The fact of the existence of the cold-blooded miscreants who, in India, make a trade of assassination, is sufficiently horrible ; but when it is added, that their occupation is sanctioned by the national religion, — that the Thugs regard themselves as engaged in the special service of one of the dark divinities of the Hindoo cree d, — that the instruments of murder are in their eyes holy, — and that their faith in the protection of their goddess, and the perpetuity of their craft, is not to be shaken, — we must be struck by the reflection, that we have opened a page in the history of man, fearful and humiliating beyond the ordinary records of iniquity. The genius of Paganism, which has deified every vice, and thus provided a justification of the indulgence of every evil pro- pensity, has furnished the Thugs with a patron goddess worthy of those whom she is believed to protect. Of Kalee, the deity of destruction, they are the most devout and assiduous worship- pers : in her name they practise their execrable art ; and their victims are immolated in her honor. The Thugs believe that Kalee formerly cooperated more directly with them, by dispos- ing of the bodies of those whom they murdered, but she required them not to look back to witness her operations. All was well, so long as they observed this rule ; but the services of the god- dess as a sextoness were lost through the carelessness or indiscreet curiosity of one of the association. Of the circumstances attend- ant on this mischance, there are different versions ; and at least two are in pretty general circulation. According to one, a party of Thugs, having destroyed a traveller, left the body, as usual, unburied, in perfect confidence of receiving the wonted aid from the goddess. A novice, however, unguardedly looking behind him, saw the patroness of the Thugs in the act of feasting on the corpse, one half of it hanging out of her mouth. According to another report, the person looking back was a slave ; and the goddess was engaged, not in satisfying the demands of hunger, or gratifying a taste for luxury by swallowing the murdered traveller, but in tossing the body into the air ; for what purpose does not appear. The offence to the goddess is said, also, to have been aggravated by the fact that she was not attired with sufficient strictness to satisfy her sense of decorum. Both tales 180 HABITS AND SUPERSTITIONS agree in representing the goddess as highly displeased, and as visit- ing her displeasure upon her servants, the Thugs, by condemning them to bury their victims themselves. Though she refused any longer to relieve the earth of the loathsome burdens with which her worshippers encumbered it, she was so considerate as to pre- sent her friends with one of her teeth for a pickaxe, a rib for a knife, and the hem of her lower garment for a noose. Whether or not this origin of the pickaxe be generally received, it is certain that this instrument is held by the Thugs, throughout India, in the highest veneration. Its fabrication is superintended with the greatest care ; and it is consecrated to the holy duty to which it is destined with many ceremonies. In the first place, a lucky day must be fixed upon : the leader of the gang then instructs a smith to make the required tool, and the process is conducted with the most profound secrecy. The door is peremptorily closed against all intrusion ; the leader never quits the forge while the manufacture is going on ; and the smith must engage in no other work till his sacred task is completed. The pickaxe, being made, must next be consecrated. Certain days of the week are deemed more auspicious for this purpose than the rest : Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday, enjoy the distinction. Care is taken that the shadow of no living thing may fall on the axe, as this would contaminate the devoted implement, and frustrate all the pains that had been taken in its formation. A doctor most deeply versed in the learning of the Thugs undertakes the solemn office of consecration. He sits down with his face to the west, and receives the pickaxe in a brass dish. The instru- ment which is to supply the want occasioned by the cessation of the goddess’s personal labors is first washed in water, which is received into a pit dug for the purpose. The pickaxe then re- ceives three other ablutions. The second washing is made with a mixture of sugar and water; the third with sour milk; and the fourth with ardent spirits. With red lead the pickaxe is marked, from the head to the point, with seven spots. It is again placed on the brass dish, and, with it, a cocoa-nut, some cloves, white sandal-wood, sugar, and a few other articles. A fire is now kindled, and the fuel consists uf dried cow-dung and the wood of the mango or byr-tree. All the articles deposited in the brass pan are, with the exception of the cocoa-nut, thrown into the fire ; and when the flame rises, the Thug priest, hold- ing the pickaxe with both hands, passes it seven times through the fire. The cocoa-nut is now stripped of its outer coat, and OF THE THUGS. 181 placed on the ground. The controller of the pickaxe, holding it by the point, then says, “ Shall I strike ? ” The by-standers sig- nifying their assent, he strikes the cocoa-nut with the butt-end of the pickaxe, and breaks it, exclaiming, “ All hail, mighty Davy,* great Mother of us all ! ” The surrounding spectators respond, “All hail, Davy! and prosper the Thugs!” This is a most interesting and exciting moment ; for, upon the hardness ol the nut, the skill of the operator, and the accidental circumstances which may affect the force or direction of the blow, depends the realization of the hopes of the community. If the cocoa-nut be not severed at one blow, all the labor is thrown away ; the goddess is understood to be unpropitious; another day must be selected for the repetition of the ceremonies, and all the trouble be incurred again. If, however, the nut is cleft at once, the proof of the approval of the goddess is indisputable. The whole of the shell, and some of the kernel of the nut, is thrown into the fire ; the pickaxe is carefully tied up in a clean white cloth, and, being placed on the ground to the west, the assembled specta- tors, turning in that direction, prostrate themselves in adoration before “ that which their own hands have made ; ” that which the labor of the smith might have fashioned with ecptal facility into an object of reverence or of contempt ; and which, while it receives divine honors, is destined to assist in a series of acts most horrible and disgusting. The ceremony of prostration concluded, all present receive a portion of the cocoa-nut. The fragments are then collected, and thrown into the pit which had been previously prepared, lest, if they remained on the ground, the sacred relics might be outraged by the defiling touch of some human foot. These ceremonies, elaborate as they are, suffice only for a single expedition. When the sacred pickaxe is thus prepared, it must be placed in safe custody : it is not every Thug who can be trusted with it. The person who bears it is selected, principally, for his shrewdness, caution, and sobriety. It is, however, only when on a journey that it is intrusted to human care at all. When in camp, it is deposited in the earth, under the especial protection of the goddess. When buried, it is always placed with the point in the direction in which the party intend to proceed ; and they have the fullest confidence that, if another course is to be preferred, the point will be found to have veered round so as to indicate the better way. * Davy, Bhowanee, and Kalee, are different names of the same goddess. 182 HABITS AND SUPERSTITIONS When the pickaxe is huried, no foot must touch the earth which covers it ; nor must it, at any time, be approached by an unclean animal, or any object which bears contamination. After each time that it has been used for the preparation of a grave, it must be submitted to the purification of the bath. If the pickaxe falls from the hand of the man who bears it, dismay spreads through the gang. The omen is regarded as of the most fearful description : its horrors are aggravated by uncertainty as to the nature of the approaching evil, and even as to the party upon whom it is to descend. The omen may indicate the death of the individual who had the care of the sacred weapon, and who, through heedlessness or unavoidable fatality, suffered it to drop from his embrace ; or it may fore- bode some dreadful reverse to the fortunes of the gang. Meas- ures are immediately taken to frustrate the evil omen ; and the first step is, to deprive the unhappy pickaxe-bearer of his office. The enterprise in which they are engaged, whatever it be, is immediately abandoned ; and the pickaxe must be consecrated anew. Even these precautions are insufficient to restore things to their original state. The misfortune upon the gang is a sen- tence of excommunication from the society of all faithful Thugs. No other party will ever associate with one whose pickaxe has fallen, lest they should be involved in the evil which is appre- hended to the “doomed ones.” The pickaxe affords the most solemn sanction of an oath among these murderers ; and if any sanction can bind their con- sciences, it is. perhaps, the only one capable of effecting that pur- pose. Compared with it, neither the water of the Ganges weighs with the Hindoo, nor the Koran with the Mussulman. “If any man swears to a falsehood upon a pickaxe properly consecrated,” said the Thugs, “ we will consent to be hanged if he survive the time appointed. Appoint one, two, or three days, when he swears, and we pledge ourselves that he does not live a moment beyond the time. He will die a horrid death ; his head will turn round, his face towards the back ; and he will writhe in torture till he dies.” The pickaxe is, in short, the standard around which all the gloomy family of Thug superstitions rally ; it is regarded as the great source of security and prosperity. The instrument of strangulation is held in esteem : but that of burial in infinitely more; the Thugs think of it with enthusiasm. “Do we not,” said one interrogated by Captain Sleeman — “do OF THE THUGS. 183 we not worship it every seventh day ? Is it not our standard r Is its sound ever heard, when digging the grave, by any but a Thug? And can any man ever swear to a falsehood upon it? ” “ How could we dig graves,” asked another, “with any other instrument ? This is the one appointed by Davy, and conse- crated ; and we should never have survived the attempt to use any other. No man,” it was added, “ but a Thug, who has been a strangler, and is remarkable for his cleanliness and decoriuu, is permitted to carry it.” The Thugs profess to believe that their system of murder and plunder was instituted by Kalee, the goddess whom they serve, and is, consequently, of divine origin. This they attempt to prove by the following legend : — In remote ages, a demon infested the earth, and devoured man- kind as soon as created. This devouring monster was so gigan- tic, that the water did not reach his waist in the unfathomable parts of the ocean ; and he strode over the world unrestrained, rioting in the destruction of the human race. The world was thus kept unpeopled, until the goddess of the Thugs came to the rescue. She attacked the demon, and cut him down ; but from every drop of his blood another demon arose ; and though the goddess continued to cut down these rising demons with won- derful alacrity and scientific skill, other demons sprang from their blood, and the diabolical race consequently multiplied with fearful rapidity. The never-ending labor of cutting down de- mons, whose number was only increased by this operation, at length fatigued and disheartened the goddess. She found it indispensably necessary to make a change in her tactics ; — and here the tale, which is thus far universally received, becomes subject to variations. It is admitted by all Hindoos, that the demons multiplied in the manner described ; but there is a dif- ference of opinion respecting the manner in which they were finally disposed of. The orthodox opinion is that, when the goddess found the drops of blood thus rapidly passing into de- mons, — a fact which, with all her divine attributes, it seems, she only learned by experience, — she hit upon a very happy expedient to prevent the blood reaching the earth, where the demoniacal transformation took place. Being furnished with a tongue of extraordinary dimensions, she, after every blow, promptly and carefully licked the blood away ! A preventive check being thus placed upon the further propagation of demons, the goddess was enabled to destroy, at her leisure, those previ- 184 HABITS AND SUPERSTITIONS ously existing. Such is the commonly received account of the goddess’s dexterity and address. That of the Thugs is varied, for the purpose of affording a superhuman sanction to their mode of assassination. According to Thug mythology, the goddess, when she became embarrassed by the constant reenforcements of the demon army which accrued from her labors, relinquished all personal efforts for their suppression, and formed two men from the perspiration brushed from her arms. To each of these men she gave a handkerchief ; how fabricated, at a time when reels and looms were not, is a question open to the discussion of the learned. With these handkerchiefs they were commanded to put all the demons to death, without shedding a drop of blood. It does not appear why the goddess might not thus have plied the handkerchief herself : it may be presumed that she was too much exhausted by her previous exertions. Her commands, however, were faithfully executed; and the demons were all strangled without delay. There is some difficulty in understanding how demons so pow- erful succumbed thus readily to two agents, who, though sprung from an exudation of the goddess’s arms, were, as appears by the sequel of the tale, merely children of mortality. But the difficulty never seems to have occurred to the Thugs, whose faith, like that of the mass of their countrymen, is of a very un- scrupulous character. The story is wound up with such poet- ical justice as might be expected in a Hindoo legend. The champions, having vanquished all the demons, offered, like hon- est men, to return the handkerchiefs ; but their patroness, in the spi-'t. of a grateful goddess, desired that they would retain them, not merely as memorials of their heroism, but as the implements of a lucrative trade in which their descendants were to labor and thrive. They were not only permitted, but commanded, to strangle men, as they had strangled demons. They forbore, indeed, to exercise this privilege for a long period, and several generations passed before Thuggee became practised as a profes- sion. Whether this forbearance was founded on the principle according to which a sportsman suffers game to accumulate, is not stated. The privilege slept ; but, though dormant, it was not lost ; and in due time it was abundantly exercised. The lapse between the grant of the patent and the use of it might tend to raise a presumption against its having been granted; but Hindoo casuists are not accustomed to scrutinize evidence with the severity which prevails in Westminster Hall. OF THE THUGS. 185 The convic- tion of the divine origin of Thug- gee is strength- ened in the minds of its followers by the belief that its mysteries are exhibited by the numerous im- ages sculptured on the walls of the cave temples atEllora. On this subject is the following conversation of Captain Sleeman, in the employment of the East India Company, and some Thugs who had become witnesses for the prosecution instituted against their confed- erates. Capt. S. You told Mr. Johnstone, the traveller, while he was at Saugor, that the operations of your trade were to be seen in the caves of Ellora. Feringeea. All ! Every one of the operations is to be seen there. In one place, you see men strangling ; in another, bury- ing the bodies ; in another, carrying them off to the graves. There is not an operation in Thuggee that is not exhibited in the caves of Ellora. Dorgha. In those caves are to be seen the operations of every trade in the world. Chotee. Whenever we passed near, we used to go and see these caves. Every man will there find his trade described, however secret he may think it ; and they were all made in one night. Capt. S. Does any person besides yourselves consider that any of these figures represent Thugs? Feringeea. Nobody else. But all Thugs know that they do. We never told any body else what we thought about them. Every body there can see the secret operations of his trade ; but he does not tell others of them ; and no other person can understand what they mean. They are the works of God. No human hands were employed upon them ; that every body admits. 186 HABITS AND SUPERSTITIONS Capt. S. What particular operations are there represented by the sculptures ? Sahib Khan. I have seen the sotha, (inveigler,) sitting upon the same carpet with the traveller, and in close conversation with him, just as we are when we are worming out their secrets. In another place, the strangler has got his roomal over his neck, and is strangling him ; while another, the chumochee, is hold- ing him by the legs. These are the only two operations that I have seen represented. Nasir. These I have also Seen ; and there is no mistaking them. The chumochee has close hold of the legs, and is pulling at them, thus ; while the bhurtote is tightening the roomal round his neck, thus ! Capt. S. Have you seen no others ? Feringeea. I have seen these two ; and also the lughas car- rying away the bodies to the grave, in this manner, and the sex- tons digging the grave with the sacred pickaxe. All is done just as if we had ourselves done it : nothing could be more exact. Capt. S. And who do you think could have executed this work ? Feringeea. It could not have been done by Thugs, because they would never have exposed the secret of their trade ; and no other human being could have done it. It must be the work of the gods ; human hands could never have performed it. Capt. S. And, supposing so, you go and worship it ? Sahib Khan. No. We go to gratify curiosity, and not to worship. We look upon it as a mausoleum, a collection of curi- ous figures cut by some demons, who knew the secrets of all mankind, and amused themselves here in describing them. The high office of a strangler is not attained until after a novitiate of considerable length. When the disciple has been sufficiently prepared, or at least when he believes that the con- quest of natural feeling is so far complete as to enable him to perform, without shrinking, that which he has learned to con- template without horror, he applies to one of the most experi- enced and respected of the gang to become his gooroo. This word appears to be derived from the goor, or coarse sugar, which forms an important ingredient in the ceremonies of initia- tion ; and the office of the person honored with this title is, to introduce the aspirant to the actual exercise of his profession ; to instruct him in the science of hangmanship ; and to preside OF THE THUGS. 187 over the rites by which the pupil is to be consecrated to his dia- bolical work. Precautions are taken that the young beginner may not be embarrassed by difficulties. A victim is selected, for his first essay in guilt, whose strength is below the average; and the chosen period of operation is at the moment when the senses of the traveller are bewildered by being suddenly roused from sleep. While the latter is reposing himself, the prepara- tion takes place. The gooroo takes the pupil into a field, ac- companied by three or four of the older members of the gang, and the ceremonies commence by the whole party facing in the direction in which they intend to move. The gooroo then pro- ceeds to take the auspices; and, having invoked a favorable sign from the goddess, half an hour is allowed for the fulfilment of their wishes. If in the course of that time the required sign is obtained, all is well, and the goddess is believed to regard the attempt of the young Thug with benignity ; but if no sign is ob- tained, or if it is of an unfavorable nature, the ambition of the novice is for that time disappointed, and the destined victim must fall by hands already practised in the murderous work. If the sanction of the goddess be indicated, tl\e group retire, in high spirits, to the place where the sleeping traveller awaits his death. The gooroo then, turning to the west, takes a hand- kerchief, and ties at one end a knot, in which he encloses a rupee. This knot is of a peculiar description, and the privilege of tying it confined to those who have been regularly intro- duced to their occupation. The clumsy intruder, who has not participated in the advantages derived from a regular appren- ticeship to the art, leaves the end of the roomal exposed: the more accomplished practitioner manifests his science and ele- gance by concealing the end within the knot. This is the marie of his regular induction, and the ribbon of the order to which he has the honor to belong. The knot being duly tied by the gooroo, the roomal is deliv- ered to the incipient strangler, who receives it with all the rev- erence due to so precious a gift, bestowed by such venerated hands. The interest of the scene now increases. The execu- tioner, attended by a ghumgeea, or holder of hands, stands before his victim, whose tranquil state is but an emblem of that deeper sleep which is about to seal his eyes forever. His last earthly slumber is gradually interrupted ; the victim is roused for slaughter ; the fatal noose is cast over his neck by the hand of the youthful assassin, and, with the aid of the attendant ruf- 188 HABITS AND SUPERSTITIONS fian, the work is soon completed. One human being has passed into eternity ; another has taken the last step in guilt and infamy ! The horrible work is over ; and, so far from being actuated by any sensations of pity or remorse, the wretch, who has at- tested the strength of his nerves and the weakness of his moral perceptions, knows no feeling but that of delight, flowing from gratified ambition. To his instructor, guide, and priest, his grat- itude is boundless: he bows before his gooroo, and touches his feet with both hands, in token of the deepest and most affection- ate respect. But his gratitude, if confined to the person of his preceptor, would be felt to be inadequate and niggardly. The relations and friends of the reverend man are entitled to share the warm feelings of the now accomplished assassin ; and to them he tenders the same homage which he has previously paid to his father in crime. A lucky omen is once more anxiously looked for ; and, as soon as it is afforded, the newly-admitted strangler opens the knot tied in the handkerchief by the hands of his tutor, and takes out the rupee which had been placed within it. This coin, with all the other silver which he has, the pupil presents to the precep- tor : the latter adds his own stock of money to the offering ; and, after setting apart one rupee and a quarter to the purchase of goor for the tapoonee , the remainder is expended in sweatmeats. The tapoonee is a solemn sacrifice performed after every murder. The goor is placed upon a blanket or sheet, spread upon a clean spot. On the cloth, near the goor, is deposited the consecrated pickaxe, and a piece of silver for an offering. The Thug whose reputation for professional learning stands the high- est, and who is supposed to enjoy the largest share of the favor of the goddess, also takes his place on the cloth, with his face to the west : the most accomplished and scientific Stranglers are associated with him in this place of honor. The number of this select body must be an even one ; but its extent is limited only by the size of the cloth. Those of the higher grade who are unable to find accommodation among their brethren, and the vulgar herd who have no claim to distinction, arrange them- selves around the cloth which bears the sacrifice and those who preside over it. The leader then makes a hole in the ground, and, having poured into it a little of the goor, clasps his hands in the attitude of fervent devotion, and raising them, in harmony with his upturned eyes, to heaven, gives utterance to the follow- OF THE THUGS. 189 ing prayer : “ Great goddess ! as you vouchsafed one lac and sixty thousand rupees to Joora Naig and Koduck Bunwanee, in their need, so we pray thee fulfil our desires ! ” The enumera- tion of the precise number of thousands bestowed by the god- dess upon her favorites is not very poetical ; but the petition is so entirely accordant with Thug feeling, that no doubt can be entertained as to the sincerity with which it is offered. All the assembled followers repeat the prayer after the leader ; and the latter, after sprinkling water on the pit and pickaxe, puts a little of the goor upon the head of each Thug who has been so fortu- nate as to obtain a seat upon the carpet. The signal for stran- gling is now given, as if a murder were actually about to be com- mitted ; and the Thugs, who have received the portions of goor, eat them in solemn silence. The most perfect stillness prevails, till these privileged persons have swallowed the precious mor- sels distributed to them, and diluted the repast by drinking some water. The goor is now given to all whose rank entitles them to partake of it ; the greatest care being taken that no part shall fall to the ground. Should such an accident happen, the fallen fragments are carefully collected, and deposited in the pit. The misfortune is thus alleviated, so far as human prudence can avail, by preserving the hapless relics of the sugar, consecrated to murder, from contamination by the foot of man. The sacred goor is not imparted to all Thugs indiscriminate- ly : two conditions are necessary, to qualify them for a share of it. The participant must be in a state of freedom, servitude barring his admission to the privilege : the only remaining dis- qualification is found in innocence of murder. None but the prac- tical assassin can be allowed to partake of the sacred goor ; no one, but he whose hands have performed the office of strangling, is thought worthy of the food which derives its sanctity from the prayers of stranglers. For those who cannot boast the name of freemen, or whom youth, fear, or ill-fortune has withheld from performing, on any of their fellow-men, the honorable act of strangulation, some sugar is set apart, before it acquires its holy character. This the excluded eat, at the time when their more favored associates partake of that portion which has been sanc- tified. The sweetmeats which have been provided are distrib- uted among the gang generally. The expedition being closed, and the members of the commu- nity having retired to their quarters, the happy individual, who has passed from a state of pupilage into the maturity of a prac- 190 HABITS AND SUPERSTITIONS tised assassin, entertains his gooroo at a feast as magnificent as his circumstances will afford. If he have the means of defray- ing the expense, not only the immediate members of the goo- roo’s family, but all his relatives, are invited, and the grateful murderer equips his tutor, from head to foot, with a complete array of new vestments. The same compliment is paid to the gooroo’s lady, and sometimes to all his relatives. Soon after this feast, the gooroo invites his pupil to an entertainment. The connection between them is henceforward indissoluble ; and the most intimate and sacred relations of nature are considered as nothing, in comparison with it. A Thug will rather betray his father than the gooroo by whom he has been introduced to the honors of his profession. J1 Thug riding in a Palanquin to a Feast prepared by his Gooroo. The dignity and sanctity with which murder is invested by the creed of the Thugs afford lamentable proof of the inseparable connection subsisting between the corruption of religion and the corruption of morals. To obliterate all religious feeling from the heart of man is a difficult, if not an impossible task ; to sub- stitute superstitious belief for reasonable faith is, unhappily, a very easy one ; and sound morals invariably disappear with sound religion. Indeed, between false religion and false morals there is a mutual action and reaction. The wayward desires of man lead him to indulge in that which true religion forbids : he therefore seeks shelter in a false one. Again ; superstition sanctions, and even commands, practices against which pure morality revolts : hence the moral judgment is depraved, the restraints of conscience abolished, and that feeling which should conduct men to all that is good, and pure, and excellent, be- comes the pilot to every vice, and the ^prompter of the most horrible crimes. OF THE THUGS. 191 The effect of the consecrated sugar, or goor, is believed to be irresistible. Captain Sleeman, having reproached some of the fraternity on account of a murder marked by many ferocious and unmanly features, one of the party replied, “ We all feel pity sometimes ; but the goor of the taponee changes our na- ture : it would change the nature of a horse. Let any man once taste of that goor, and he will be a Thug, though he know all the trades, and have all the wealth, in the world. I never wanted food. My mother’s family was opulent ; her relations high in office. I have been high in office myself, and became so great a favorite, wherever I went, that I was sure of promo- tion ; yet I was always miserable when absent from my gang, and obliged to return to Thuggee. My father made me taste of that fatal goor when I was yet a mere boy ; and if I were to live a thousand years, 1 should never be able to follow any other trade.” The superstitions of the Thugs are all of Hindoo origin ; yet Mahometans adopt them with a belief equally implicit, and a devotion equally ardent. They pay divine honors to Kalee, the 192 HABITS AND SUPERSTITIONS impersonation of destruction, which, in the eyes of all sound Mahometans, must be idolatry — a crime severely denounced in the Koran, and held by all good Mussulmans in abhorrence. Their mode of escaping the difficulties in which they are in- volved, by the inconsistency of their creed with their practice, is illustrated by a conversation held by Captain Sleeman with some Mahometan Thugs. Capt. S. Has Bhowanee been any where named in the Koran ? Sahib. Nowhere. “ Here,” (says Captain Sleeman,) “ a Mussulman Thug interposed, and said he thought Bhowanee, and Fatima, the daughter of Mahomet, were one and the same person; and that it was Fatima who invented the use of the roomal, to strangle the great demon Rukut-beejdana. This led to a dis- cussion between him and some of my Mussulman native officers, who did not like to find the amiable Fatima made a goddess of Thuggee.” Capt. S. Then has Bhowanee any thing to do with your Paradise ? Sahib. Nothing. Capt. S. She has no influence upon your future state ? Sahib. None. Capt. S. Does Mahomet, your prophet, any where sanc- tion crimes like yours ; — the murder in cold blood of your fel- low-creatures, for the sake of their money ? Sahib. No. Capt. S. Does he not say that such crimes will be punished by God in the next world ? Sahib. Yes. Capt. S. Then do you never feel any dread of punishment hereafter ? Sahib. Never. We never murder unless the omens are favorable ; and we consider favorable omens as the mandates of the deity. Capt. S. What deity ? Sahib. Bhowanee. Capt. S. But Bhowanee, you say, has no influence upon the welfare, or otherwise, of your soul hereafter. Sahib. None, we believe ; but she influences our fates in this world ; and what she orders, in this world, we believe that God will not punish in the next. The conjoint adoration of the deities of different and discord- OF THE THUGS. 193 ant creeds is neither new nor uncommon in the East. In the Old Testament many instances are recorded, in which nations, as well as individuals, paid a divided homage to the true God and to a multiplicity of idols ; and, in various parts of India, the Ma- hometans, from having long been surrounded by a Hindoo popu- lation, have been led to adopt many of their opinions and prac- tices. Indru , King of the minor Deities. In another interview, one of the Thug witnesses was asked — Capt. Sleeman. And do you never feel sympathy for the persons murdered, — never pity or compunction ? Sahib. Never. Capt. S. How can you murder old men and young children without some emotions of pity, — calmly and deliberately, as they sit with you, and converse with you, and tell you of their private affairs ? Sahib. From the time that the omens have been favorable 13 194 HABITS AND SUPERSTITIONS we consider them as victims thrown into our hands by the deity, to be killed, and that we are the mere instrument in her hands to destroy them ; that if we do not kill them, she will never be again propitious to us, and we and our families will be involved in misery and want. Copt. S. And you can sleep as soundly, by the bodies or over the graves of those yoa have murdered, and eat your meals with as much appetite, as ever ? Sahib. Just the same. We sleep and eat just tne same, unless we are afraid of being discovered. Capt. S. And when you see or hear a bad omen, you think it is the order of the deity not to kill the travellers you have with you, or are in pursuit of? Sahib. Yes : it is the order not to kill them, and we dare not disobey. Some Thugs let very poor travellers escape, in hope of find- ing better game : others regard forbearance, in such a case, as an act of abominable impiety. A further extract will show the respective views of these conflicting sects, and the reasoning by which they are supported. Capt. S. When you have a poor traveller with you, or a party of travellers who appear to have little property about them, and you hear or see a very good omen, do you not let them go, in the hope that the return of the omen will guide you to better prey ? Dorgha, (Mussulman.) Let them go? Never, never ! Nasir, (Mussulman of Tclingana. ) How could we let them go? Is not the good omen the order from Heaven to kill them? and would it not be disobedience to let them go? If we did not kill them, should we ever get any more travellers? Feringeca, (Brahman.) I have known the experiment tried with good effect. I have known travellers, who promised little, let go ; and the virtue of the omen brought better. Inaent , (Mussulman.) Yes; the virtue of the omen remains ; and the traveller who has little should be let go ; for you are sure to get a better. Sahib Khan, (of Telingana.) Never, never! This is one of your Ilindoostanee heresies. You could never let him go, without losing all the fruits of your expedition. You might get property, but it would never do you any good. No success could result from your disobedience. Morlee, (Rajpoot.) Certainly not. The travellers who are in OF THE THUGS. 195 our hands, when we have a good omen, must never be let go, whether they promise little or much. The omen is unquestion- ably the order, as Nasir says. Nasir. The idea of securing the good-will of Davy by dis- obeying her order is quite monstrous. We Deccan Thugs do not understand how you got hold of it. Our ancestors never were guilty of such folly. Feringeea. You do not mean to say, that we of Murnae and Sindouse were not as well instructed as you of Telingana? Nasir and Sahib Khan. We only mean to say, that you have clearly mistaken the nature of a good omen in this case. It is the order of Davy to take what she has put in our way ; at least, so we in the Deccan understand it. So long as the Thugs were faithful to their Kalee, — so long as they attended to all the rites, the ceremonies, and offerings, by which they rendered to her worship and honor, — so long as the order remained pure, and was not contaminated by the low and disreputable castes who never fail to infect those with whom they are associated, — so long they prospered in their profession, and so long did they enjoy the favor and the protection of their deity. But now, in consequence of these corruptions, they have fallen under her displeasure, and their system is likely to be exploded. In obedience to the supposed commands of Kalee, the traveller was arrested on his journey ; the ascetic was strangled on his road to Juggernaut ; the young, sometimes, have had their brains dashed out against a stone, and the old have had no mercy shown to them on account of their infirmities ; the beautiful female has been treated with the same ferocious cruelty as the bold and daring ; the wealthy merchant has lost his life, as well as his gains and his riches ; and the rajah, equipped for his journey, attended by his friends, his servants, and his train of followers, accompanied by his elephants, his horses, his camels, his oxen, and all the paraphernalia of Eastern grandeur, has, with all his attendants, been murdered in a moment. The kindness of friendship, the claims of hospitality, the interchange of social intercourse, the solemn promise, vows of protection to the young, the infirm, and the lovely, — were, by these cruel murder- ers, entirely disregarded ; and when a kind host has been enter- taining them at his table, and reposing his confidence in their brotherly regard, many of his guests have been engaged, outside the tent, in preparing his tomb, and have given him and his relatives a sepulchre, as a reward for his entertainment. 196 IIABITS AND SUPERSTITIONS A Thug leader, possessed of most polished manners and great eloquence, being asked by a native whether he never felt compunction in murdering innocent people, answered, with a smile, “ Does any man feel compunction in following his trade ? and are not all our trades assigned us by Providence ? ” The native gentleman said, ‘'How many people have you, in the course of your life, killed with your own hands, at a rough guess?” “I have killed none!” “Have you not been just describing to me a number of murders?” “Yes; but do you suppose I could have committed them ? Is any man killed from man’s killing ? Admeeke marne se Icoee murta. Is it not the hand of God that kills him ? and are we not mere instruments in the hand of God ? ” Fatalism is a prominent dogma of the creed of the Thugs ; and they consider themselves, in the exercise of their trade, to be entirely exempt from moral responsibility. Yet, in the attention to omens, or in the neglect of these instructions, they strangely enough appear to regard themselves as free agents, who may expect reward for obedience and punishment for disobedi- ence. In their view, to commit murder is inevitable, and a matter of necessity : to murder according to rule is an act of choice ; and to choose aright is meritorious. How. it may well be asked, could such a fraternity grow up in Hindoostan, and be permitted to carry on their depredations for so many ages ? But the same religion that allowed the mother to strangle her infant, that suffered the Brahmans to offer up their human sacrifices, that commanded the helpless female to mount the funeral pile, that encouraged the devotee to throw himself under the wheels of Juggernaut, patronized the Thugs in their assassinations, and gave them the license of plunder at their will. What class in the community, then, could dispute their right, or question their authority? Many of the native rajahs had licensed the infamous system ; a certain tax was levied upon every house which was known to be inhabited by a Thug ; and, under the sanction of the law and the government, the assassin was permitted to carry on his atrocious deeds throughout the country. Nay, such was the encouragement these murderers received, and so useful were they to the public treasury, that, when the British government resolved to put them down, and applied to the independent princes to cooperate with it in accomplishing this object, the rajah of Joudpoor contended that he had a right to protect the Thugs, and refused to give up OF TIIE THUGS. 197 those who had taken refuge in his territory ; and had it not been for the firmness of Lord William Bentinck, who ordered an army to assemble on the frontier of his dominions, and showed him that it was impossible the Joudpoor province should become the ren- dezvous of a banditti who would commit their depredations with impunity upon the other states of the empire, the system would have flourished, under such protection, to this day. Procession al a Hindu Festival. - ' +■ . ( A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF TWO OF THE PRINCIPAL HINDU FESTIVALS. In India, the division of time into weeks has all along been observed. The remembrance, however, of the seventh as a Sabbath, or sacred day of rest, has been completely l'st. In- stead thereof, there have been substituted certain periodical or anniversary days of high festival, in honor of the principal divin- ities. These are so numerous, that it would be impossible within our limits to describe them all, as the description would be exceedingly voluminous. Every sect has its own favorite tutelary deity, in honor of whom stated periodical festivals are held.' There is scarcely a day in the twelvemonth on which the anniversary of one or other of the gods is not celebrated by one or other of the leading sects, or sub-sects. It is quite enough for our purpose, to refer to one or two of those festivals which — from the superiority of the divinity adored, the prodigious multitudes that engage in the religious rites, and the universal suspension of business among all classes for several days — may strictly and truly be denominated national. In Bengal, in par- ticular, the consort of Shiva, the destroying power, is the divin- ity that engrosses the largest proportion of daily, monthly, and annual devotion. Like the other principal deities, she has been manifested under an immense variety of forms. Of these a thousand are usually enumerated, under as many distinct appel- lations. Of the thousand forms, there are two that have risen to unrivalled preeminence above the rest. These are the forms of Durga and Kali. To these, therefore, our attention may be chiefly directed.* * This description of the Durga and Kali Festivals is compiled from the writings of Rev. Alexander Duff, D. D., of Calcutta. These festivals have been witnessed by the writer and also by the compiler. The Hindu Goddess Durga. In the form of Durga, the consort of Shiva has been said to blend in herself the characters of the Olympian Juno and the Pallas, or armed Minerva, of the Greeks. She is, however, a far more tremendous personage than both of these combined. Hav- ing been endowed by all the gods severally with their distinc- tive attributes, she concentrates in herself their united power and divinity. She has thus become at once their champion and protectress. Hence her towering preeminence above them all in popular estimation ; and hence, of all the annual festivals, that of Durga is most extensively celebrated in Eastern India. In this character, she is usually represented with ten arms, into which the principal gods delivered their respective weapons of warfare. From one she received the trident ; from a second, a quiver and arrows ; from a third, a battle-axe ; from a fourth, an iron club ; from a fifth, spears and thunderbolts ; and so, from other gods, various other warlike instruments ; together with the befitting ornaments of a golden crown, and robes mag- nificently adorned with jewels, and a necklace of pearls, and a wreathed circlet of snakes. Thus martially accoutred, the belligerent goddess is ever ready to encounter the mightiest giants, and most malignant demons, that dare to invade the repose of the immortals. It was in consequence of destroying a giant, of such terrible potency as to have dispossessed the gods of their dominion, that she gained the name of Durga. As the description of this celebrated con- DURGA FESTIVAL. 203 test is a fair specimen of the manner in which the founders of Hinduism conceived and depicted those numberless battles of gods with which the sacred books abound, and as the reiter- ated rehearsal of it enters largely into all the meditations and prayers, the invocations and praise, the songs and the hymns, of millions of adoring worshippers, on days of high festival, it may be well to introduce the original account of it, though in a somewhat abridged form, from the volumes of Ward. In remote ages, a giant named Durga, having performed re- ligious austerities of transcendent merit, in honor of Brahma, obtained his blessing, and became a great oppressor. He con- quered the three worlds ; dethroned all the gods, except the sacred Triad ; banished them from their respective heavens to live in forests ; and compelled them, at his nod, to come and bow down and worship before him, and celebrate his praise. He abolished all religious ceremonies. The Brahmans, through fear of him, forsook the reading of the Vedas. The rivers changed their courses. Fire lost its energy. The terrified stars retired from his sight. He assumed the forms of the clouds, and gave rain whenever he pleased ; the earth, through fear, gave an abundant increase ; and the trees yielded flowers and fruits out of season. The gods at length applied to Shiva. One said, He has dethroned me ; another, He has taken my king- dom ; and thus all the gods related their misfortunes. Shiva, pitying their case, desired his wife, Parvati, to go and destroy the giant. She willingly accepted the commission. Durga prepared to meet her with an army of thirty thousand giants, who were such monsters in size, that they covered the surface of the earth, — ten millions of swift-footed horses, — a hundred millions of chariots, — a hundred and twenty thousand millions of elephants, — and soldiers beyond the power of arithmetic to number. Parvati, having assumed a thousand arms, sat down upon a mountain, coolly awaiting the approach of her formidable foes. The troops of the giant poured their arrows at her, thick as the drops of rain in a storm ; they even tore up the trees and the mountains, and hurled them at the goddess : she turned them all away, and caused millions of strange beings to issue from her body, which devoured all her enemies except their great leader. He then hurled a flaming dart at the goddess ; she easily turned it aside. He discharged another ; this she resisted by a hundred arrows. He levelled at her a club and pike ; these, too, she repelled. He broke off the peak of a moun- 204 DURGA FESTIVAL. tain, and threw it at her ; she cut it into seven pieces by her spear. He now assumed the shape of an elephant as large as a mountain, and approached the goddess; but she tied his legs, and with her nails, which were like cimeters, tore him to pieces. He then arose in the form of a buffalo, and with his horns cast stones and mountains at the goddess, tearing up the trees by the breath of his nostrils ; she pierced him with a trident, when he reeled to and fro. Renouncing the form of a buffalo, he reassumed his original body as a giant, with a thou- sand arms, and weapons in each ; she seized him by his thousand arms and carried him into the air, from whence she threw him down with a dreadful force. Perceiving, however, that this had no effect, she pierced him in the breast with an arrow ; when the blood issued in streams from his mouth, and he expired. The gods, filled with joy, immediately reascended their thrones, and were reinstated in their former splendor. The Brahmans recommenced the study of the Vedas. Sacrifices were again regularly performed. Every thing reassumed its pristine state. The heavens rang with the praises of Parvati ; and the gods, in return for so signal a deliverance, immortalized the victory by transferring to the heroine the name of Durga. Suppose, then, you were in Calcutta in the month of Sep- tember, you might every where witness the most splendid and extensive preparations for the annual festival of Durga. In going along the streets of the native city, your eye might be chiefly arrested by the profusion of images unceremoniously ex- posed to sale like the commonest commodity. On inquiry, you are told that wealthy natives have images of the goddess in their houses, made of gold, silver, brass, copper, crystal, stone, or mixed metal, which are daily worshipped. These are stable and per- manent heir-looms in a family ; and are transmitted from sire to son, like any other of the goods and chattels that become hered- itary property. But, besides these, you are next informed that, for the ceremonial purpose of a great festival, multitudes of temporary images are prepared. The reason why we call these temporary will appear by and by. These may be made of a composition of hay, sticks, clay, wood, or other cheap and light materials. They may be made of any size, from a few inches to ten, twelve, or twenty feet in height. But the ordinary size is that of the human stature. The only limitation is that of the form. This is prescribed by divine authority ; and from it there must be no departure. Hence all are framed or fashioned DDRGA FESTIVAL. 205 after the same divine model. This, we may remark in passing, is one of the principal reasons why, in India, the arts of painting and statuary have for ages been stationary. These images may be made by the worshipping parties themselves, and made so ■small, and of substances so little expensive, that the poorest may be provided with one as well as the richest. But if the parties do not choose to make the images themselves, they can be at no loss. There is an abundance of image-makers by profession. And, alas ! in a city like Calcutta, the craft of image-making is by far the most lucrative and unfluctuating of all crafts. If there be thousands and tens of thousands of families that are to engage in the celebration of the festival, there must be thousands and tens of thousands of images prepared for it. This explains to you the origin of the spectacle presented to your eyes in passing along the streets of Calcutta. Before, behind, on the right and on the left, here, and there, and every where, you seem encompassed with a forest of images of different sizes, and piles of limbs, and bodies, and fragments of images, of divers materials, finished and unfinished, — in all the intermediate stages of progressive fabrication. But not only is the sense of vision affected ; the ears, too, are assailed by the noise of implements busily wielded by the workmen. You step aside, and, standing at the door of an image-maker’s work- shop, you gaze with wonder at the novel process. After the abatement of the first surprise, you are impelled to address the men. . A DESCRIPTION OF THE SIIASTERS. By J. J. WEITBRECIIT, FOR MANY YEARS A RESIDENT IN INDIA. A learned Brahmin, on being asked how many volumes their Shasters contained, replied, “ Who is able to calculate that ? No man can number them ; the palace of the Rajah of Burdwan would not contain them ; they are like the ocean, unfathomable,, without measure, and without end.” That celebrated searcher into Hindu mythology, Sir William Jones, appeared to coincide in the same view, when, in astonish- ment and surprise, he exclaimed, “ To whatever part of this literature we may direct our attention, we are every where struck with the thought of infinity.” The Iliad of Homer numbers twenty-four thousand verses, but the Mahabharat of the Hindus four hundred thousand ; and the Purannas, comprehending only a small portion of their religious books, extend to two millions of verses. The Hindus divide the voluminous masses of their Shasters into eighteen parts, asserting that they contain eighteen distinct kinds of knowledge. To the first class belong the Four Yedas. The Brahmins believe these to be as old as eternity. They also assert that they were communicated to mankind, not through the medium of a mortal, but by the mouth of Brahma himself. The Yedas consist of a compilation of prayers, called Mun- ii'us ; and, at a later period, a collection of doctrines and precepts, which are called Brahmanas , was added. They detail an endless number of ceremonies which are to be performed by the priest, the ascetic, and the hermit, at their religious services. One of the oldest sages of Hindu antiquity collected the Brahmanas, or religious statutes from the Yedas, into special tracts, with the title of Upanishads. This compilation is a kind of compendium of Hindu theology, generally known under the appellation of Vedanta. 238 DESCRIPTION OF THE SHASTERS. There have been men, professed Christians, who have spoken with enthusiastic admiration of the Hindu writings. Their primi- tive religion, it has been said, contained the most sublime doc- trines, and inculcated the most pure morality. But this is an egregious delusion. “ Many an object appears beautiful when seen at a distance, and through a mist ; but, when you approach it nearer, you will smile at the deception. As you become more intimately acquainted with the Shasters, you must feel struck with the absurd character of their doctrines, and the laxity of their morals.” The second class of sacred books treat on the art of healing, music, war, architecture, and sixty-four various mechanical arts. Hence you perceive the Shasters of the Hindus teach not merely religion, but every kind of science and knowledge. By far the most numerous class of Shasters is comprehended in the poetical works of the Purannas, treating on the creation of the world, the power and attributes of the gods, the incarnations of Vishnu, &c. Among the most interesting of these may be numbered the Mahabharat and Bhagavat Gita. The latter contains a description of Krishna’s life. The Ramayun, an epic poem, gives a history of Ram, an incarnation of Vishnu. The historical details afford remarkable specimens of the ancient history of Hindustan. In the preface of the Ramayun it is stated, “ He who constantly hears and sings this poem will obtain the highest bliss, and will become like the gods.” Besides these, there is an endless mass of writings, counted sacred, namely, the Nyay Shasters, the Smritis, the Mimangsa, of philosophical, juristical, and metaphysical tendency. The age of the Vedas has never been ascertained wjth any degree of certainty. Some enthusiastic admirers of them put them far before the time of the deluge. A learned professor in America actually requested Sir W. Jones to search among the Hindus for the Adamic books. The amazing credulity of skeptics and unbelievers, in every thing except the records of the Sacred Scriptures, is notorious. The latter gentleman, who is regarded as one of the most profound scholars in Hindu antiquity, con- cluded, from internal and external evidence, the age of the Vedas to be about three thousand years ; accordingly, they stand in antiquity nearest to the books of Moses. All the other Sanscrit writings are of more recent date. After this cursory glance into the impenetrable chaos of Hindu Shasters, we proceed a step farther. The question we have now DESCRIPTION OF THE SHASTERS. 239 to consider is this : What view has the Brahmin of a Divine Being 1 and we shall be sadly mistaken if we expect to find in the Hindu Shasters a confession of faith laid down which the learned unifoimly acknowledge as the groundwork of their belief. As a north-wester hurricane in Bengal, after a glowing, fiery, hot day, mingles clouds with dust, leaves, wood, and earth, in its destructive course, so we find in the wild confusion of the Shasters all the nobler divine thoughts, and purer ideas of the majesty of God, interwoven and mixed up with the most puerile nonsense. You cannot lay your hand on one point of doctrine, which is not in conflict with another, or denied by some rival system. The Hindu, however, acknowledges one Supreme Being as the ground and foundation of his religion. “ Ek Brumho, dit- tyo nashti,” — One God, and beside him no other, — this sentence is become a proverb, and is in the mouth of every Brahmin. His writings dignify this supreme and eternal Being with the title “ Brahm,” which is to be carefully distinguished from Brahma, an emanation of the former, and the first person in the Hindu trinity. The Shasters describe Brahm as a being without beginning and without end, almighty, omniscient, unchangeable ; in short, as being possessed of all the divine attributes, as the sublimest conceptions of the Holy Scriptures describe Jehovah. This being, however, all spirit and without form, is devoid of qualities. The Shasters declare that the very idea of allowing attributes in Brahm renders a multiplication of him a necessary consequence. For this very reason, the Brahmin will not allow the God of the Bible, because to him it appears impossible and irrational to believe that spirit can act and create without being united with matter. Brahm is therefore represented without mind, without will, without consciousness of his existence. No wonder that many Hindus, in going one step farther, declare the Supreme is noth- ing ; for a spirit without power and energy is like a thing of nought. Nevertheless, it is asserted, on the other hand, that he enjoys the highest beatitude, — it is the bliss of a deep, uninter- rupted sleep. Brahm, however, must one day have awaked from his long sleep : or, in other words, the negative character of his existence must have changed into the positive. This was necessary for calling the world into existence. On this important point, the 240 DESCRIPTION OF THE SHASTERS. different philosophical systems, headed by their respective lead- ers, have carried on a never-ceasing warfare. Brahm awoke, say the Yedas, and, feeling desire arising, said, “ Let me be many.” Forthwith he took upon himself a material form ; and henceforth he is like a spider, sitting in the centre, spinning out his interminable threads, and fastening what he pro- duces from himself to the right and, left, towards all quarters of the infinite vacuum. Here, then, the shell of Hinduism begins to open ; the creation of the world, according to its teaching, is nothing more or less than a manifestation of Brahm in visible material forms. It is the most perfect system of pantheism. The cosmogony of the Shasters runs thus : All the germs or seed corns of the world that was to come into existence were condensed in the shape of an egg, and the supreme took possession of it in the form of Brahma. One year of the creation, or one thousand jugs, which, according to our reckoning, makes three hundred millions of common years, elapsed before the egg was hatched. During that long period, it was swimming like a bubble upon the mighty deep or chaos ; its brightness resembled that of a thousand suns. At last it broke, and Brahma sprang forth. His appearance was terrific ; he had a thousand heads, a thousand eyes, and a thousand arms — a suitable complement to undertake the work of creation. Another monstrous being escaped from the egg with him, evidently signifying the crude materials from which the great mundane machine was to be prepared. The hairs of this monster were the trees and plants of the forests, his head the clouds, his beard the lightning, his breath the atmosphere, his voice the thunder, his eyes the sun and moon, his nails the rocks, his bones the mountains of the earth. When the egg was fabricated, Brahm, as creator, retired from the scene ; and hence- forth he troubled himself no lotiger with the concerns of the world. He relapsed into his former sleep, and nothing will dis- turb him in his dreams until the time when the dissolution of the present universe is to awaken him to renewed activity. No temple in India is consecrated to this “unknown God.” The reason of this is obvious: the Hindu expects nothing, fears nothing, hopes nothing from a god who is asleep, wrapped up in sweet dreams, and who has communicated his power to those who are now managing the government of the world as his dele- gates. When the great egg opened, it brought forth, likewise, the three DESCRIPTION OF TIIE SIIASTERS. 241 worlds, viz., the uppermost, which is inhabited by the gods, the middle, intended for the dwelling-place of man, and the infernal world, destined to be the habitation of demons and all sorts of fearful beings. The earth, according to the description of the Shasters, is a flat plain of circular form, resembling the water-lily, measuring four hundred millions of miles in circumference. The inhabitable part of it consists of seven islands of similar shape, each of which is surrounded by an ocean. The innermost island, bounded by the ocean of salt water, is called Jampadrcip ; the second island is surrounded by a sea consisting of the juice of the sugar-cane ; the sea surrounding the third contains spirituous liquors ; the fourth, clarified butter ; the fifth, sour milk ; the sixth, sweet milk ; and the seventh contains sweet water. Beyond the latter there is a land of pure gold, but inaccessible to man ; and far beyond it extends the land of darkness and the hell. The earth is resting upon an enormous snake with a hundred heads, and the snake upon a tortoise. Whenever the former shakes one of his heads, an earthquake is caused thereby. The bigoted Brahmin is firmly persuaded of the indubitable fact, that no cir- cumnavigator of the globe has ever succeeded in passing beyond the salt-water ocean ; and let the English become ever so skilful in the art of navigation, they will always be obliged to sail with- in its confines. In the centre of the vast plain of the earth, which is two hundred and fifty thousand miles in diameter, the loftiest of all mountains, Sumeru, rises to the enormous height of more than two hundred thousand miles. It is crowned with three golden sum- mits, which are the favorite residences of Brahma, Vishnu, and Shi- va. The highest clouds reach to about a third part of the height of the mountain. At the foot of this mountain there are three small- er hills, placed like sentinels, on the top of each of which grows the mangoe-tree, above two thousand miles in height.. These trees bear a fruit, as delicious as nectar, which measures several hundred feet in diameter. When it falls to the ground, juice ex- udes from it, whose spicy fragrance perfumes the air ; and those who eat thereof diffuse a most agreeable smell for many miles around them. The rose-apple-tree is likewise growing on those hills, the fruit of which is as large as an elephant, and so full of juice that at the season of maturity it flows along in a stream, and whatever it touches in its course is changed into the purest 16 242 DESCRIPTION OF THE SHASTERS. gold. Here is a specimen of geography, which surpasses all out preconceived and short-sighted notions of the globe we inhabit ! I mentioned above that the cosmogonies in the mythology of the Hindus are many. One of the most popular among them deserves to be noticed. The god Vishnu slept in the depth of the ocean. From him grew a water-lily, which swam on the surface of the water, and out of which proceeded Brahma, to whom the gods delivered the work of the creation of the uni- verse. In order to accomplish his purpose, he led for a long time the life of an ascetic. But he was unsuccessful. The disappoint- ment drove him into a rage, and the fears gushed from his eyes. Out of these briny drops arose gigantic beings of terrific shape. One of his deepest sighs over this sad catastrophe produced the god Rodru, that is, light and warmth, who, upon Brahma’s request, undertook the continuation of the arduous task. But it did not proceed in his hands. Brahma was therefore obliged to resume it again ; and, after much anxiety, various beings issued from his fingers, ears, and other members. The work then ad- vanced with more success; and fire, earth, and wind, followed each other in quick succession. Upon this, Brahma divided himself into human forms, and created men ; then he assumed the shape of a bullock, and after- wards that of a horse, and thus produced the various kinds of four-footed animals, birds, &c. In this way the uncounted mul- titudes of animated beings, which now people the earth and other worlds, rose gradually into existence. Thus yon see how the idea of pantheism pervades the base fiction of this very absurd and immoral history of the creation. To create is, in fact, nothing but a manifestation of Brahma in new forms ; he becomes an elephant, a mountain, a river ; and * thus he produces and propagates the different species of living beings. The whole universe is a portion of himself. In this view he is represented in the Vedas : “ Brahma is not separated from the creation : he is the light of the sun, of the moon, and of the fire ; the Vedas are the breath of his nostrils ; the primi- tive elements are his eyes; the shaking movements of events are his laugh ; his sleep is the destruction of the world. In various forms he enlivens the creature : in the form of fire, he digests their nourishment; in the form of air, he preserves their life ; as water, he quenches their thirst ; as the sun, he ripens the fruits ; as the moon, he gives them refreshing sleep. The progress of time is the step of his foot. Brahma hears and sees every thing. Ho DESCRIPTION OF THE SHASTERS. 243 cultivates the field ; he is turned into a cloud to give it moisture ; he becomes corn and satisfies mankind. While he dwells in the body, he sustains its vital warmth ; if he withdraw, it will get cold and die. He destroys sin in the devout, as the cotton thread is singed in the fire. lie is the source of all truth and of all lies. He who takes his refuge to him will become holy ; he who turns his face from him will become a blasphemer.” Such is one of the most sublime songs which the priests sing in honor of their Creator. The distinction of caste is traced in its origin to the creation of man. By successive emanations from himself, Brahma called various classes of mankind into existence. First the Brahmin escaped from his mouth, as the representative of God in human form. The nature of his birth signified him to be, not only the highest and most exalted of all human beings, but likewise the intended teacher, and the mediator between the gods and man- kind. From the arm of Brahma, the defence of the body, sprung the Kshutryu, or the caste of warriors ; the object of whose crea- tion was evident, from the nature of his birth : he was to protect the people by his powerful arm, and to shield and defend his brethren against the aggression and oppression of the wicked. From Brahma’s breast issued the Voishnu, or caste of merchants and tradesmen, to provide for the necessities of mankind ; and from the humblest member, his foot, came the despised Sudra, or the servile caste. Their allotted task was to perform every kind of menial labor for their nobler-born brethren, both at home and in the field. The Sudras constitute by far the greatest number of the in- habitants of Bengal ; and probably it is the same in other parts of India. For thirty centuries past have those unhappy beings groaned uuder the curse of the haughty Brahmin, and patiently borne the intolerable burden. “ What God has appointed,” say they, “we cannot alter.” So holy and unchangeable is this insti- tution of castes, in the eyes of the people, and so firm is the belief of the Hindu as to the appointment being of divine authority, that a transition from one caste to the other is absolutely impos- sible. A prince cannot purchase the Brahminical thread, which is the badge of their dignity, for millions. As a mouse can never be changed into an elephant, or the thorn-bush into an orange-tree, so neither can a Sudra be turned into a Brahmin. The Brahmin may sink : if he offend against his caste, his holiness will withdraw itself ; he forfeits his nobility and is degraded. If he marry the 244 DESCRIPTION OF THE SHASTERS. daughter of a Sudra, his progeny will be a sort of illegitimate caste. Accordingly, at the present day, Brahmins of the first, second, and third class, are met with in India. The purest and most honored are, of course, those who, both on the paternal and maternal side, have derived their descent from ancestors of pure blood. In modern times, however, the castes have been considerably intermixed with each other. The Kshutryus were nearly extir- pated, even before the country was conquered by the Mohamme- dans, because they resisted the dominion of the Brahmins. The Voishnus, or merchants’ caste, is no longer found in Bengal, and it is believed that they have been amalgamated with, and lost among, the Sudras ; while these latter have, especially in Southern India, sunk down almost to a level with the brute creation. The laws of the Hindus are peculiarly calculated for the preservation of the power and authority of the priests. In the time when Hinduism was in its flower, the Brahmin could in no wise be touched. The prince dared not execute him, though he might have committed every possible crime. As flesh and blood are pervaded in him by divine holiness, his moral character must be judged by quite a different standard to that of the Sudra. A good action possesses with him a much higher value ; and the most hideous crime loses in his case a great deal of its heinous nature. When a Brahmin robbed his Sudra brother, he had to pay a fine in money ; but, when the latter was the offender, he had to be burned at the stake ; and, if he took a Brahmin by his beard, the law commanded his hands to be cut off. Yea, the revenge of this hateful priest pursued the poor wretch into the other world ; for, if a Sudra should meet him in an irreverential manner, he will after death become a tree ; and, should he venture to cast an angry glance at him, Yama, the god of the lower regions, will tear out. his eyes ; or, if he beat the Brahmin but with a straw, he will in twenty transmigrations be born of impure beasts. India is, like Italy, a paradise for priests. All the offerings which the Hindu presents to his gods fall, as a matter of course, to the Brahmin. He that feeds a number of them has the promise of all the blessedness of heaven. The dying Hindu, who leaves him in his will some of his goods and cattle, will, freed from sin, enter forthwith into Shiva’s heaven. He who sells his cow will go to hell ; but, if he make it over to a Brah- min, he will go to heaven. He who presents him an umbrella will be protected against the injurious influence of the sun ; if SPECIMENS OF THE SHASTEHS. 245 any one will give him a pair of shoes, his feet will not be blistered on a journey ; and if a person honor him with gilts of aromatic spices, he will be preserved from offensive smells and exhalations all his days. The husbandman may not cultivate his field, — he may not put the sickle into the ripe corn, — without first giving the Brahmin his due. He is the first at court, and in attendance on the Rajah. In the most fertile parts of the country, in towns and villages, where the inhabitants are in comfortable circumstances, Brahmins are found in the greatest numbers. In the western parts of Bengal, where forests abound, and where the ground is less pro- ductive, they are but rarely seen ; they “love to eat the fat, and drink the sweet,” and have taken good care to obtain both for their portion. SPECIMENS OF THE SHASTERS. From the Shiva Puran, Part ■ II. SUTA’S NARRATIVE. “ Hear, O Rishi ! * a most excellent and sin-destroying nar- rative, which l will relate as I heard it with other Rishis from Vyasa. Formerly there was a famous Rishi, named Gautama , and his virtuous wife was named Ahalya ; with her he performed, during a thousand years, a rigorous tapas t in the southern coun- try, near the mountain Brahmadri. At this time a drought had desolated the country, and neither moisture nor rain had the earth experienced for a hundred years ; water there was not ; and ascetics, men, birds, and beasts, died every where. On beholding this lamentable state, Gautama, having reflected, performed for six months the severest mortifications in honor of Yaruna ; at the termination of which the god appeared to him and thus said : ‘ I am propitiated by thee, O holy devotee ! Demand whatever boon thou wishest, and I will grant it.’ Gautama then requested rain ; but Varuna replied, ‘ How can I transgress the divine command ? Ask some other boon, which it may be * Saint. f A tapas is a course of severe penance, either to propitiate a divinity or for other purposes, and the advantage derived from it is always superhuman. 246 SPECIMENS OF THE SHASTERS. in my power to bestow upon thee.’ On hearing this, Gautama said, ‘ 0 god ! if thou art pleased with me, and willing to grant me a favor, I will request that which thou catist easily perform : cause, then, to appear a hermitage which shall surpass all others in beauty, and shaded from the sun by fragrant and fruit-bearing trees, where men and women by holy meditation shall be liberated from pain, sorrow, and anxiety ; and also, as thou art the lord of water, let it enjoy a perennial fountain.’ Yanina replied, ‘So be it ; ’ and then, causing a pit to be filled with water, he thus said : ‘ This water shall remain unex- hausted, and thy name shall become celebrated by this reservoir becoming a place of pilgrimage.’ Having thus spoken, Yaruna disappeared. In this manner did Gautama obtain water, with which he performed in due manner the daily ceremonies. He sowed, also, rice for holy offerings, and watered it from this inex- haustible fountain ; and grain of various kinds, trees, flowers, and fruits adorned his hermitage. Thus the grove of Gautama became the loveliest on the terrestrial orb ; and there resorted ascetics, birds, and beasts, to live in happiness ; and there, likewise, holy men fixed their abode with their sons and disci- ples. In this grove none knew sorrow, and gladness alone pre- vailed. But listen to what afterwards happened. “ On one day Gautama had sent his disciples to bring water ; but, when they approached the fountain, some Brahmin women who were there prevented them, and scoffingly called out, ‘ YVc are the wives of holy anchorets; after we have filled our pitchers, you may then draw water.’ The disciples returned, and mentioned this circumstance to the wife of Gautama ; and Ahalya, having consoled them, proceeded herself to the fountain, and, having drawn water, brought it to her husband. Thus she did daily ; and the other Brahmin women not only scoffed her, but at length went, and thus each falsely addressed her husband : ‘ My lord ! Ahalya daily taunts me and the other Brahmin women, and I have no other resource than thee. Vio- lence, falsehood, deceit, foolishness, covetousness, and inconsid- erateness, are the innate vices of women ; and, alas ! of what avail will holy meditation be to me if I suffer every day the reproaches of Ahalya ? ’ Each husband, having heard these words, revolved them in his mind, ar.d thought that they could not be true, and that they would be guilty of ingratitude if they noticed them. But their wicked wives every day reproached them for not affording them redress ; and at length, one day, as SPECIMENS OF THE SH ASTERS. 247 they were passing through the grove, they overheard their wives making the same complaints to Gautama, and therefore believed that what they had said was true. The devotees, having then assembled together, began to consult respecting the manner in which they might resent this injury, so that their revenge might not appear to proceed from them ; and, after deliberation, deter- mined on invoking the assistance of Ganesha. They then pro- pitiated him with offerings of durwa, lotoses, and rice ; of vermilion, sandal-wood, and incense ; of rice-milk, cakes, and sweetmeats ; and with prostrations, prayers, and burnt-offerings. Well pleased, the god appeared and thus spoke : ‘ I am propi- tiated : say, what boon do you desire ? ’ They replied, ‘If thou art willing to grant us a favor, contrive to remove Gautama from his hermitage ; for, if we adopt any means for that purpose, we shall expose ourselves to censure.’ Ganesha answered, ‘ To injure or destroy a man who is free from blame is not just ; and to return evil for good will be productive of sorrow, and not of benefit. Whoever performs holy meditation will obtain the happiest result ; but the injuring of another will destroy the advantages which would be derived from it. Gautama has given you gold, and you wish to return glass ; but that which is right ought to be per- formed.’ Having heard these words, the devotees, from mental delusion, thus replied : ‘Olord! we entreat thee to do what we have requested, as we desire no other favor.’ Ganesha then said, ‘Good cannot produce evil, nor evil g^od: from its very essence, evil must produce misery, and good happiness. Gautama will enjoy happiness from his holy meditation ; but sorrow alone can result from your present wish. But you are deluded by female fascination, and you cannot, therefore, discriminate between good and evil. I will, however, comply with your request ; though you will undoubtedly hereafter regret having made it.’ Having thus spoken, Ganesha disappeared. “ Gautama, unacquainted with the evil intentions of the devo- tees, joyfully performed each day the sacred ceremonies ; but one day, being in a field of rice and barley, Ganapati, having assumed the form of an extremely debilitated cow, appeared there trem- bling, and scarcely able to move, and began to eat the rice and barley. Observing this, the compassionate Gautama lifted a stalk of grass and struck the cow with it, in order to drive her away ; but scarcely was she touched with the stalk when she dropped on the ground, and immediately died, while all the devotees beheld what passed with looks of distress. The 248 SPECIMENS OF THE SHASTERS. holy men and their lovely wives then exclaimed, ‘ O Gautama! what hast thou done ? ’ Gautama, also, in amazement, thus addressed Ahalya : 1 What an accident ! How can I have incurred the anger of the gods ? what shall I do ? where shall I go ? thus involved in the guilt of the murder of a cow ! ’ The devotees at the same time thus reproached him : ‘ Alas ! O holy Rishi ! of what avail has been thy knowledge ? Alas ! of what avail thy burnt-offering and thy strict performance of every ceremony ? ’ In the same manner, their wives thus reproached the wife of Gautama: ‘Alas ! Ahalya, of what avail have been thy wisdom, and the universal respect shown to thee? Alas! of what avail thy virtue and piety ? ’ Thus they reviled Gautama and his wife, and then exclaimed to each other, ‘ Let us not look on the face of this slayer of a cow : whoever looks on his countenance will become equally guilty ; and whoever approaches his hermit- age, that man’s offerings neither will fire nor the manes receive.’ Thus reviling Gautama, they all threw stones at him. Gautama then exclaimed, ‘ Alas ! alas ! what shall I do ? I swear, O holy men ! that I will depart from this place.’ Having thus spoken, he removed to a distant spot, and there erected a hermitage ; but as long as this sin, falsely imputed to him, remained unexpiated, he could perform no holy ceremony, and his wife continued ex- posed to the insults of the other Brahmin women ; and thus Gautama suffered the greatest misery. At length, after a short time, Gautama assembled the holy men, and thus addressed them : ‘ Have compassion on me, and acquaint me with the cere- monies by which my sin may be expiated ; for without instruc- tion no good act can be effected.’ The Brahmins then consulted together respecting the penance which ought to be prescribed, while Gautama stood at a distance in an humble posture; and, after deliberation, they thus said : ‘ Sin can never be expiated except by suitable purification : for this purpose, therefore, do thou circumambulate the whole earth, and, on returning here, circumambulate a hundred times the mountain of Brahma, and thus thou wilt be purified ; or make ablutions in the Ganges, and on its banks, having made ten millions of earthen lingams, worship the god whose symbol is the lingam, and then perambu- late the sacred mountain and bathe in the hundred holy pools. By these means thy sin will be expiated.’ Having heard these words, Gautama first circumambulated the holy mountain ; and afterwards, as directed, formed the earthen lingams, in order that he might be restored to his pristine purity. He then, with SPECIMENS OF THE SH ASTERS. 249 Alialya, aiul his disciples, worshipped Shiva with the holiest rites and most intense devotion. At length the lord of the mountain-born goddess descended from the summit of Kailasa and thus addressed him : ‘ Say, what boon dost thou desire ? ’ On beholding that form divine, a sight of which is so difficult to be obtained, Gautama was filled with delight, and, having reverenced the mighty god with laudatory strains, requested that he would liberate him from the guilt that he had incurred. Shiva Gautama, or Budh. replied, ‘ Happy art thou, O mighty Rishi ! and the fruit of all thy pious acts hast thou obtained, for thou art free from sin. Thou hast been deceived by these wicked men, for even the three worlds become purified by thy presence. How, then, canst thou be polluted by an act committed by these evil-minded men. 250 SPECIMENS OF THE SHASTERS. and who will suffer for it hereafter ? ’ Shankara * theu explained to him all their wickedness and ingratitude, and Gautama listened with astonishment ; and after Shankara had ceased speaking, he thus said : ‘ These Brahmins have done me the greatest favor, for, if it had not been for their act, I should not have enjoyed the felicity of beholding thee, O lord ! ’ Pleased with these words, Shiva again expressed his satisfaction with the piety and devotion of Gautama, and desired him to ask a boon. Gautama replied that all he entreated was, that the Ganga [the River Ganges] might there appear, in order that he might purify himself in it. With this request Shiva complied; and the conse- quence was the establishment of the sacred place of pilgrimage at Trimbucka, on the Godavery.” Gautama is the principal divinity of the Burmese. According to tradition, he was so offended with the Brahmins that he de- termined to separate himself from them and establish a new religion. From the Matsya Puran. A DELUGE. Suta, addressing the Sages : — “ Formerly, there was a king named Manu, distinguished by every virtue ; who, having re- signed his kingdom to his son, withdrew to a certain spot, and there, indifferent to pain and pleasure, performed the severest devotional penance for a hundred thousand years. At length Brahma appeared to him and said, ‘ Choose whatever boon thy mind desires.’ The king, bowing to Brahma, thus replied : ‘ From thee one most excellent boon I crave ; and wish that, when the pralaya takes place, I may be preserved from that destruction in which all things movable and immovable shall be involved.’ ‘ So be it,’ Brahma replied, and then disappeared ; and the angels rained on the king from heaven a shower of flowers. “ Some time after, as near his hermitage he was offering water to the manes, a small fish came into his hands along with the water ; and the compassionate king, in order to preserve it, placed it in a small vessel. But in one night it increased sixteen inches in size, and exclaimed, ‘ Save me ! save me ! ’ The king • Shankara is nnotlier name for Shiva. Some of the Hindu divinities have many names, and they are used interchangeably, to prevent repetition. The Chinese Dtuih. SPECIMENS OF THE SHASTERS. 253 then successively threw it in a jar, a well, a lake, and a river ; but, in each night, the fish grew larger, and entreated a more roomy place of abode. At length the king threw it into the sea, when it immediately occupied with its bulk the whole ocean. Manu, then alarmed, exclaimed, ‘ What god art thou ? or canst thou be any other than Yasudeva, whose form has thus expanded to such immensity ? I know thee now ; but why hast thou thus pained me, by assuming the form of a fish, O Keshava ! Praise be to thee, O Vishnu, lord of the universe ! ’ The lord replied, * Excellent ! excellent ! Thou hast discovered the truth, 0 sinless one ! Know that in a short time this earth shall be sub- merged in water, and that this ship has been prepared by all the gods for thy preservation. When, therefore, the deluge takes place, enter this ship, and take with thee all kinds of seeds, and of animals that are produced from heat, from eggs, or from the womb ; and fasten it to this horn of mine. Thus shalt thou be preserved, and after the deluge has ceased, shalt thou become, on the renovation of the world, the progenitor of all beings ; and thus shall a holy devotee, steadfast in ascetic practices, and com- pletely conversant in divine knowledge, become, at the beginning of the Krita Yug, the lord of a manwantara.’ Having thus spoken, the lord disappeared, and Manu continued his devotions to Vasudeva until the deluge took place, as foretold by Vishnu; and then Janardana appeared in the form of a horned fish ; and, while the ship into which Manu had entered was attached to its horn, Vishnu, under the form of this fish, in answer to the ques- tions of Manu, revealed unto him the Matsya Puran.” From the Bhagawat, Book III. Chap. 13. THE EARTH RAISED FROM THE WATERS OF A DELUGE. “ Parameshti, then, beholding the earth sunk amidst the waters, long meditated on the means by which it might be re- placed in its former situation. ‘ Whose divine aid,’ he thought, ‘ shall I implore to upraise from the deep abyss that earth which I formerly created ? That lord from whose heart I sprang can alone effect this mighty work.’ As Brahma thus resolved, suddenly from his nostrils sprang a young boar, no larger than the thumb ; but, as he viewed it, in an instant it wonderfully in- creased to the size of a mighty elephant. The Rishis Prajapatis, Rumaras, and Manu, beholding the boar-like form in astonish- ment, thus in their minds conjectured : ‘ What can be this delu- 254 crrciMENS of the shasters. sive form of a boar, since, in reality, it must be of a divine nature ? How wonderful that it should spring from Brahma’s nostrils no larger than the top of the thumb, and, in an instant, become equal to a mighty mountain ! Can it be that mighty lord, on whom we meditate with minds devout ? ’ While thus they thought, that lord, who was the primeval victim, emitted a sound loud as thunder, and, as the eight regions reechoed the sound, Brahma and his sons were delighted ; for they hence knew the lord, and, their anxiety being dissipated, the pure in- habitants of Janalok, Tapalok, and Satyalok, united in addressing to him their holy praise. Pleased with these praises, the won- drous boar displayed himself like a vast mountain, with tail erect, mane waving, his bristles sharp as lances, and hoofs strik- ing the sky, and snuffing, in imitation of a boar, to discover the earth. Then he of the terrible tusk, with terror-divested eyes regarding those who were adoring him, like a sportive elephant dived into the abyss of waters ; and the waters being divided, as if a thunderbolt vast as a mountain had fallen precipitately into them, resounded like the thunder; and, raising in pain its wide billows, the abyss profound exclaimed, ‘ Save me, O lord of sac- rifice ! ’ Thus, subduing the waters with his sharp hoofs, he reached their utmost extremity, and saw lying there the earth, which he had originally intended for the abode of souls. Having then slain the demon Hiranyaksha, he uplifted it on his tusks from the dark abyss, and Brahma and his sons extolled his wondrous power.” From the Padma Puran , Chap. 5. DAKSHA’S SACRIFICE. Pulastya , addressing Bhishma : — “ Formerly, O Bhishma ! Daksha prepared a sacrifice at Gungadwara, to which came all the immortals and divine sages. At this festival celestial viands abounded. The consecrated place of sacrifice extended for several yojanas. Numerous altars were erected. The sacred rites and ceremonies were duly performed by Vasishta, Angiras, Yrihaspati, and Narada ; and Vishnu protected the sacrifice. But Sati thus addressed her father : ‘ My lord ! all the immortals, the divine sages, and my sisters with their husbands, adorned in the costli- est manner, have honored this festival with their presence ; and I observe that not a single one has been uninvited except my hus- band. But, unless he attend, empty will be all these rites, and Vishnu. Huneinan. Huneman . . SPECIMENS OF THE SHASTERS. 257 productive of no advantage. Say, then, has it been through forgetfulness that thou didst not invite my lord ? ’ On hearing these words, Daksha, with parental affection, placed his youthful daughter, who showed such fondness for her husband, in his lap, and thus replied : ‘ Listen, my darling ! while I explain the reason why thy husband has not been invited. It is because that he is the bearer of a human skull, a delighter in cemeteries, ac- companied by ghosts and goblins, naked or merely clothed with a tiger’s or elephant’s skin, covered with ashes, wearing a neck- lace of human skulls, ornamented with serpents, always wander- ing about as a mendicant, sometimes dancing and sometimes singing, and neglecting all divine ordinances. Such evil prac- tices, my darling ! render thy husband the shame of the three worlds, and unworthy to be admitted at a sacrifice where Brahma, Vishnu, and all the immortals and divine sages, are present.’ He ceased, and Sati, incensed by his words, with anger-inflamed eyes thus spoke : ‘ That god is the lord of the universe, from whom all things and beings have received their rank and station, and wh(?se supreme excellence no tongue is able to declare ; and, though delighting in cemeteries, covered with ashes, and adorned with human bones and serpents, he is the creator, the provider, and the preserver. It was alone through the favor of Rudra [Shiva] that Indra obtained heaven ; through the will, also, of Rudra, Brahma creates ; and, were it not for Rudra, how could Vishnu have the power to preserve ? If, therefore, I have derived might from my devotion, and if I be beloved by Rudra, since thou hast despised him, this sacrifice shall be undoubtedly destroyed.’ Having thus spoken, Sati fixed her mind in profound abstraction, and by her own splendor con- sumed her body, while all the immortals exclaimed in astonish- ment, 1 How wonderful ! ’ On being informed of this event, Shiva, much afflicted, collected myriads of ghosts, goblins, and demons, and hastened to Daksha’s place of sacrifice ; which he completely destroyed, after having vanquished all the immortals that opposed him.” From the Skanda Puran, the Chapter entitled u Kapardi Mahatmyam .” GANESA CREATED. Shiva, addressing Parvati: — “Formerly, during the twilight that intervened between the Dwapara and Kali Yugs, women, 17 258 SPECIMENS OF THE SHASTERS. barbarians, Sudras, and other workers of sin, obtained en- trance into heaven by visiting the celebrated temple of Somesh- wara. Sacrifices, ascetic practices, charitable gifts, and all the other prescribed ordinances ceased, and men thronged only to the temple of Shiva. Hence old and young, the skilled in the Vedas and those ignorant of them, and even women and Sudras, ascended to heaven, until at length it became crowded to excess. Then Indra and the gods, afflicted at being thus overcome by men, sought the protection of Shiva, and thus with reverence addressed him : ‘ O Shankara ! by thy favor heaven is pervaded by men, and we are nearly expelled from it. These mortals wander wherever they please, exclaiming, “ I am the greatest ! I am the greatest ! ” and Dharma Rajah, beholding the register of their good and evil deeds, remains silent, lost in astonishment. For the seven hells were most assuredly intended for their recep- tion ; but, having visited thy shrine, their sins have been re- mitted, and they have obtained a most excellent futurity.’ Shiva replied, 1 Such was my promise to Soma, nor can it be infringed ; and all men, therefore, who visit the temple of Someshwara must ascend to heaven. But supplicate Parvati, and she will contrive some means for extricating you from this distress.’ The gods then kneeling before Parvati, with folded hands and bended heads, thus invoked her assistance with laudatory strains : ‘ Praise be to thee, O supreme of goddesses, supporter of the universe ! Praise be to thee, O lotos-eyed, resplendent as gold ! Praise be to thee, O beloved of Shiva, who createst and destroyest ! Praise be to thee, O mountain-born ! Praise be to thee, O Kalarattri, O Durga, who pervadest the universe, and art the sole substance from which all female forms, whether mortal or immortal, originate ! Grant us thy aid, and save us from this fearful distress ! ’ Having heard the supplication of Indra and the gods, thou, O goddess! wert moved with com- passion, and, gently rubbing thy body, there was thence produced a wondrous being with four arms and the head of an elephant ; when thou thus addressedst the gods : ‘ Desirous of your advantage have I created this being, who will occasion obstacles to men, and, deluding them, will deprive them of the wish to visit Somana- tha, and thus shall they fall into hell.’ This jieard, the gods The Hindu Serpent God. Colossal Bust of Shiva at Elephanta. Shiva. Hr it ifiJL ! ' \ I SPECIMENS OF THE SHASTEKS. 261 were delighted, and returned to their own abodes, relieved from all fear of mankind.” From the Lainga Puran, Part II., Chap. 100. KALI CREATED. Suta thus spoke : — “ Formerly a female Asura,* named Daruka, had through devotion obtained such power, that she con- sumed like fire the gods and Brahmins. But, as she was at- tended by a numerous host of female Asuras, Vishnu, and all the gods, were afraid to engage in battle with her, lest they should incur the sin of feminicide. They in consequence proceeded to Shiva, and with laudatory strains entreated his assistance ; and he then, regarding Devi, thus addressed her : ‘ Let me request, O lovely one ! that thou wouldst now, for the benefit of the uni- verse, effect the destruction of this Daruka.’ Having heard these words, Parvati created from her own substance a maiden of black color, with matted locks, with an eye in her forehead, bearing in her hands a trident and a skull, of aspect terrible to behold, and arrayed in celestial garments and adorned with all kinds of orna- ments. On beholding this terrific form of darkness, the gods retreated in alarm. Parvati then created innumerable ghosts, goblins, and demons; and, attended by these, Kali in obedience to her order, attacked and destroyed Daruka, and removed the distress of the world.” This legend concludes in the following singular manner : “ Shiva also appeared as an infant in a cemetery surrounded by ghosts, and on beholding him Kali took him up, and, caressing him, gave him her breast. He sucked the nectareous fluid ; but becoming angry,- in order to divert and pacify him, Kali, clasping him to her bosom, danced with her attendant goblins and demons amongst the dead until he was pleased and delighted ; while Vishnu, Brahma, Indra, and all the gods, bowing themselves, praised with laudatory strains the god of gods, Parvati and Kali.” From the Garura Puran. INVOCATION TO DURGA, OR KALI. “ On the ninth of each half month invoke Durga with these words : ‘ Hrim, protect me, O Durga ! O chief of the divine mothers! giver of blessings ! accept these various offerings of flesh and my prayers.'' On the third, also, of Margashirsha commence Demon. 262 SPECIMENS OF THE SHASTERS. the worship of Durga before her image having eighteen hands, and holding in them a mace, a bell, a looking-glass, an iron rod, a bow, a banner, a small drum, a battle-axe, a noose, a lance, a club, a trident, a disk, a shield, an ankush, a dart, a thunderbolt, and a skull ; and address to her the following hymn : ‘ Om, praise be to thee, O Bhagawati, Chamunda ! dweller in cemeteries, bearer of a skull, borne on a car drawn by ghosts, Kalarattri, large-mouthed, many-armed, sounding thy bell and drum, laugh- ing terribly, gnashing thy horrid teeth loudly, clothed in an ele- phant’s skin, with a body full of flesh and blood, and a tremen- dous tongue ! Praise be to thee, O Kali ! with terrific tusks and fear-inspiring eyes flashing like lightning, with a countenance dark with frowns, bearing the moon on thy matted locks, and on thy neck a string of skulls ! Hram, Hram , O destroyer of diffi- culties ! quickly accomplish this business ! O delighter in flesh and blood ! be propitious, be propitious, and enter this place ! Enter, enter ! tread, tread ! dance, dance ! Why delayest thou to enter ? O wearer of human heads and skulls ! seize, seize ! tear, tear ! consume, consume ! slay, slay ! Hrum, Hrum, de- stroy, destroy ! pierce, pierce with thy trident ! kill, kill with thy thunderbolt ! smite, smite with thy rod ! cut off, cut off with thy disk ! fell, fell with thy mace ! strike, strike with thy axe ! Come, come, O Maheshwari! come, O Kamarini ! come, O Varahi ! come, O Aindri ! come, O Chamunda! come, O Kapa- lini ! come, O Mahakali ! come, O frequenter of Kailasa ! enter, enter this place, O thou who executest the wrath of Rudra, and causest the destruction of the Asuras ! ’ ” The Introduction or Dedication of the Mahabarat. A HYMN OF PRAISE TO DURGA. Hail, greatest of goddesses, victory unto thee, Victory unto thee, Hurree Chandee ! In thy forehead thy red mark appeared so glowing, O Dabee ! we tremble to see thee. At thy ears hang the gold rings so large and so brilliant ; At thy nose is the rich gapamatee ; * Thy hands hold the cleaver, and trident, and blood-dish — So dreadful appears Bhagabattee ! Sixty-four times ten millions of witches and spectres, Thee their patroness and mistress attending. Thou art Loksmee, the primeval mother of all things, In creation we see thee extending. * Jewel. SPECIMENS OF THE SHASTERS. 2ii In each house dost thou enter, on holiness thinking; There to dwell with the pure thou art wont Fifteen million times than a warrior stronger, Thine arm Moyassoor did slay ; Thy sword Roktnbija, the dread demon, laid low, And the fear of the gods did allay. The wife of Eswara, a strange, fearful demon, A ghost and the mother of all. Nineteen millions of devils, all females and fearful, From thy body came forth at thy call. With round eyes and flat forehead thou starest portentious, And utterest thy dread voice in thunder. With thy cleaver and blood-dish and bloody tongue quivering, Thou enterest graveyards, devouring choice corpses, Still with battle-field slaughter unfilled. How sweet is the blood of the good man unto thee ! Still his gore from thy mouth is distilled. Thou rejoicest to hear the dread battle’s loud slaughter, The sound of the Ra ! Ra ! so dire. The chief of the holy, thy names, lady, are many, At the cry of 11a ! Ra ! swiftly flying. Nine hundred times counted, one thousand of witches, Of ghosts and of devils obey thee. In the silence of midnight, when dark, are thy witches A corpse for a vehicle using, When the fresh dead are lying, thou a feast gladly makest, With the green skulls thy fancy amusing. When the flames of the funeral gleam through the night’s darkness, When the dead they are wont to consume, How swiftly thou runnest to snuff the rich odors ! To thee they are richest perfume. To thy timbrel’s jingle, in the air ever sounding, Ghosts and devils innumerable dance ; They share in thy honors and share in thy worship, As thy name and thy praise they advance. Thou art greater than Brahma, or Vishnu, or Shiva Thou art called the great Bhagabattee. Translated by Rev. Charles Lacey, for Caleb Wright. From the Matsya Pur an, Chap. 3, 4. BRAHMA’S INCEST. Brahma next formed from his own immaculate substance a female, who is celebrated under the names of Shatarupa, Savitri, Sarasvati, Gayatri, and Brahmani. Then, beholding his daughter, born from his own body, Brahma became wounded with the arrows of love, and exclaimed, 1 How surpassing lovely she is ! ’ But Shatarupa turned to the right side from his gaze, and, as Brahma wished to look after her, a second head appeared ; 264 SPECIMENS OF THE SHASTERS. and thus, as she passed, m order to avoid his amorous glances, to his left and his rear, two other heads successively manifested themselves. At length she sprang into the sky, and, as Brahma was anxious to gaze after her, a fifth head was immediately formed. Then Brahma thus called to his daughter : ‘ Let us generate all kinds of animated beings, men, Suras, and Asuras.’* On hearing these words she descended ; and, Brahma having espoused her, they withdrew into a secluded spot, and there indulged in the delights of love for one hundred divine years.” From the Vamana Puran, Chap. 6. “ Then Hara, wounded by the arrows of Kama, [the god of love,] wandered into a deep forest, named Daruvanam , where holy sages and their wives resided. The sages, on beholding Shiva, saluted him with bended heads, and he, wearied, said to them, ‘ Give me alms.’ Thus he went begging round the differ- ent hermitages ; and, wherever he came, the minds of the sages’ wives, on seeing him, became disturbed and agitated with the pain of love, and all commenced to follow him. But, when the sages saw their holy dwellings thus deserted, they exclaimed, l May the lingam of this man f fall to the ground ! ’ That instant the lingam of Shiva fell to the ground ; and the god immediately disappeared. The lingam, then, as it fell, penetrated through the lower worlds, and increased in height until its top towered above the heavens. The earth quaked, and all things movable and immovable were agitated ; on perceiving which, Brahma hastened to the Sea of Milk, and said to Vishnu, ‘ Say, why does the universe thus tremble?’ Hari replied, ‘On ac- count of the falling of Shiva’s lingam, in consequence of the curse of the holy and divine sages.’ On hearing of this most wonderful event, Brahma said, ‘ Let us go and behold this lingam.’ The two gods then repaired to Daruvanam; and, on beholding it without beginning or end, Vishnu mounted the king of birds and descended into the lower regions in order to ascertain its base ; and, for the purpose of discovering its top, Brahma in a lotos car ascended the heavens. But they returned from their search wearied and disappointed, and together ap- proaching the lingam, with due reverence and praises, entreated * Suras are gods, and Asuras are demons. * Shiva was disguised, and the sages, therefore, did not know him. SPECIMENS OF THE SHASTERS. 2t>5 Shiva to resume his lingam. Thus propitiated, that god appeared in his own form, and said, ‘ If gods and men will worship* my lingam, I will resume it; but not otherwise.’ To this proposa 1 Vishnu, Brahma, and the gods, assented.”! From the Bhagavat Gceta, p. 90. PART OF ARJOON’S DESCRIPTION OF KRISHNA, WHOM HE SAW IN A VISION. “ The winds, alike with me, are terrified to behold thy wondrous form gigantic ; with many mouths and eyes ; with many arms, and legs, and breasts; with many bellies, and with rows of dreadful teeth ! Thus, as I see thee, touching the heavens, and shining with such glory, of such various hues, with widely-opened mouths, and bright, expanded eyes, I am disturbed within me ; my resolution faileth me, O Vish- nu ! and I find no rest ! Having beholden thy dreadful teeth, and gazed on thy countenance, — emblem of time’s last fire, — I know not which way to turn ! I find no peace ! Have mercy, then, O god of gods ! thou mansion of the universe ! The sons of Dhreetarashtra now, with all those rulers of the land, Bheeshma, Drona, the son of Soot, and even the fronts of our army, seem to be precipitating themselves hastily into thy mouth, discovering such frightful rows of teeth ! whilst some appear to stick between thy teeth with their bodies sorely mangled. As the rapid streams of full-flowing rivers roll on to meet the ocean’s bed, even so these heroes of the human race rush on towards thy flaming mouths. As troops of insects, with * It is now the principal object of worship in more than half of the temples of India. f “ The lingam is formed of stone, and consists of a base three or four feet high, the top of which is surrounded by a raised rim ; and in the middle is slightly excavated, and raised on a level with the rim, the figure of a yoni, ( pudendum mu- liebre,) from the centre of which rises a smooth, round stone, slightly conical towards the top, of a foot and a half in height and about three inches diameter at the base. Major Moor has, therefore, very justly observed, ‘ It is some com- parative and negative praise to the Hindus, that the emblems under which they exhibit the elements and operations of nature are not externally indecorous. Unlike the abominable realities of Egypt and Greece, we see the phallic emblem in the Hindu Pantheon without offence ; and know not, until the information be extorted, that we are contemplating a symbol whose prototype is indelicate. The plates of my book may be turned and examined, over and over, and the uninformed observer will not be aware that in several of them he has viewed the typical rep- resentation of the generative organs or powers of humanity.’ ” — Ancient and Hindu Mythology, by Col. Kennedy, pp. 103, 104. 266 SPECIMENS OF THE SHATTERS. increasing speed, seek their own destruction in the flaming fire, even so these people, with swelling fury, seek their own destruc- tion. Thou involvest and swallowest them altogether, even unto the last, with thy flaming mouths, whilst the whole is filled with thy glory, as thy awful beams, O Vishnu, shine forth on all sides ! ” THE MOON PLANT SACRIFICE. The moon-plant must he collected in a moonlight night, from the table-land on the top of a mountain, and carted to the place of sacrifice by two rams or he-goats. The juice of the plant, mixed with barley and other ingredients, becomes, by fermenta- tion, a very intoxicating liquor. The officiating Brahmins are to drink this liquor as a part of the performance. The sacrifice continues several weeks, and is accompanied by numerous aus- terities which endanger the lives of the worshippers. Tuka Rama, a sage who flourished about three hundred years ago, speaks of muzzling the animals used in carting the moon- plant, and of beating them to death by the fists of the Brahmins. His verses are to the following effect : — “ Beat to death the ram you’ve muzzled, And offer the Soma with sacred song : — So they say ; but yet I’m puzzled, And half suspect such worship wrong ; For rites like these are at best but scurvy, That turn religion topsy-turvy.” In the Sama Veda, there is a series of about a thousand verses, designed to be chanted or sung at the moon-plant sacrifice. The following extracts will serve as specimens. Each paragraph, the last one excepted, contains an entire verse. “ O Agni ! whether I now speak with true intonations or with false, I mean to praise thee. Come hither, therefore, and grow great by drinking this moon-plant juice.” “ 0 India ! drinker of the moon-plant juice, these thy friends [the attendant priests] look on thee, with the affection that the cattle-feeder looks on his cattle.” “ We call on thee, the performer of meritorious acts, day by day, as men call on the cow to the milking.” “Let these moon-plants fill thee with delight, 0 holder of the thunderbolt ! Do thou procure for us wealth, and, at the same time, kill outright all who hate the Brahmins.” SPECIMENS OF THE SHASTERS. 267 “ 0 India ! wherever — whether in some strong chest or in some hill or well — treasure worthy of regard is laid up, thence do thou bring it to us.” “O Indra! this morning accept our sacrifice, accompanied with rice, curds, sweet cakes, and praises.” “ Come into our presence to partake of the moon-plant juice and other viands. Do not get angry with us, [but bear with us] as an elderly man does with a young wife.” “ We, who are eager for the possession of riches, take hold of thy right hand, O Indra, lord of wealth !’ We know thee, O mighty god ! to be lord of cattle ; give us then that wealth which consists in cows that yield large supplies of milk.” “ O worthy of all praise ! let our eucharistic songs fix thee, as firmly as the charioteer is fixed in his seat, and let their sym- phony sound before thee like the lowing of newly-calved cows for their calves.” “ When, O Indra ! those who come to worship invoke thee, and delight thee with sacrificial viands, and ceremonies used for the obtaining victory over our enemies, then do thou yoke thy banquet-going horses, and having slain some one, and seized his wealth, bestow it on us.” “ Bestow on us a good and auspicious intellect, along with wisdom and food, that we may secure thy friendship ; and do thou delight in our spirituous liquors as cows do in rich pasturage.” “ He who causes the well-filled golden-colored horses’ grain- dish to glisten, is the man who will stand in the first place before thy rain-causing, cow-conferring chariot. O Indra ! now yoke thy horses.” “ Come, O Indra ! with all thy bands, like the herd of cows collected in the cow-house.” The mountain-produced, pressed moon-plant is distilling its juice in the holy place. Thou, O Soma! art the embroiler of all things in thy drunken frolics.” ;£ The Brahmins, void of malice, sing praises before the beloved, much-desired presence of Indra, with the affection cow-mother3 lick their calves in the day they are produced.” “ [O priests,] we praise all the day long that renowned, foe- destnnnng Indra of yours, who gets muzzy on the sacrificial bever- age placed in the sacred vessels, with voices raised as loud as those of milch-cows lowing for their calves. [Indra,] we desire of thee quickly to give us food of heavenly origin, worthy of being 268 SPECIMENS OF THE SHASTERS. bestowed, encircled with majesty as a mountain with clouds, capable of feeding multitudes, worthy of being extolled, in hun- dreds and thousands of different kinds of measure, and, united with it, abundance of cows.” “ The sweet moon-plants, when pressed, flow in a stream, and with a loud voice, for the production of inebriation. The juices flow down during the time of bruising with a noise for the glorious toper Indra, who gives its splendor to the morning.” From the Padma Puran, Chap. IX. OCCURRENCES IN THE HEAVEN KAILASA. Narada said : — “ At this time I went and informed Jalandhara that Shambhu * had promised to effect his destruction. Jaland- hara then said to me, ‘ O holy sage ! what precious things are contained in the abode of the bearer * of the trident ? Acquaint me with the whole, as war should not be unless there be booty/ I replied, * Shambhu is old, covered with ashes, his neck marked with the poison of serpents, mounted on a bull, bearing a beggar’s dish in his hand, and with an elephant-headed and a six-headed son,f and he has nothing valuable belonging to him except the lovely and full-bosomed daughter of the mountain. Inflamed with love and captivated by her beauty, Mahesha * passes his days in sport and dalliance, or sings and dances to amuse her. She is named Parvati, and far excels in loveliness either Vrinda or the nymphs of heaven.’ Having thus spoken, and excited the desire of Jalandhara, I disappeared. “ After this the son of the sea despatched Rahu on an embassy to Kailasa, who arrived there in a moment ; and, on beholding the resplendent abode of Shambhu, he exclaimed to himself, 1 How wonderful is this place ! ’ He then wished to enter, but was prevented by the warders, who demanded his business. Rahu replied, ‘ I am the ambassador of Jalandhara ; but the mes- sage of a mighty king is not addressed unto a doorkeeper. 1 Nandi, hearing these words, hastened and informed Shiva ; and, having received his commands, introduced Rahu. Having en- tered, he beheld Shambhu, five-faced and ten-armed, his sacri- ficial cord formed of a snake, and his matted locks adorned with the moon, waited upon by vile and ugly servants, but attended * Shiva. f Ganesa and Kartika. See the engraving of Gnncsa on page 21. Nandi is the Bull on which Shiva is said to perform his jourriies. It appears from an extract from the Shasters commencing on the opposite page that Nandi is a quadruped of no ordinary attainments. His image in this temple is rudely carved from a large block of block granite. * I SPECIMENS OF THE SHASTERS. 271 by all the immortals, who, looking to the ambassador, desired him to speak. Raliu then began : ‘ O lord ! I am sent to thee by Jalandhara : hear his auspicious words from my mouth ; and do thou, who art addicted to devotion, devoid of affection, an abandoner of works, who hast neither father nor mother, nor observest the duties of the householder, obey his commands. The mighty Jalandhara enjoys the dominion of the three worlds : do thou also become subject to him. Why shouldst thou, old, libidinous, and the rider of a bull, refuse to obey him?’ While Rahu thus spoke, the sons of Shiva, Ganesa and Skanda,* were rubbing his body ; and, disturbed by their hands, Vasuki fell to the ground, and immediately began to swallow the rat, Ganesa's vehicle, beginning with the tail. Gananayaka,f on observing the snake about to swallow his courser, called out, ‘ Loose ! Skanda, or Kartika. 'oose ! ’ At this time Skanda’s peacock began to scream in the shrillest manner ;• and the serpent, frightened, disgorged the rat, and hastened to replace himself on the neck of Shiva, where, violently respiring, he dimmed the brightness of the moon with his poisonous breath. Then came the beloved of Vishnu, drip- ping from her couch in the Milky Sea, and bearing a vase full with the beverage of immortality, with which she reanimated the head of Brahma that Shiva’s hand eternally displays. The head, falling and rolling on the ground, exclaimed in boasting accents, while the spectators expressed to each other their aston- ishment, ‘ 1 am the first — I am the most ancient of beings — I am the creator — I am the lord of all things.’ At this moment, from the matted locks of Shiva sprang myriads of beings, three- # Kartika f Ganesa. 272 SPECIMENS OF THE SHASTERS. faced, three-footed, seven-armed, and with yellow hair hanging in long and matted locks, on seeing whom the head became mute as the dead. Having beheld these wonders, Rahu, in fear and aston- ishment, thus again addressed Mahesha: ‘ O lord! through the strength of thy devotion and abstraction, affections touch not thee ; why then dost thou sacrifice to feelings and passions ? Thou receivest adoration from Brahma and all other deities ; but who is the god whom thou adorest ? Thou art the supreme god ; why, therefore, dost thou collect the scraps of the beggar ? But, O chief of devotees ! since thou preferrest a state of pious mortifi- cation, yield up Gauri and thy two sons, Ganesa and Skanda ; and do thou, with a beggar’s dish, wander from door to door.’ Thus Rahu urged his request in many words ; but Maheshwara returned no answer. Then Rahu, as Isha would not break silence, thus addressed Nandi: ‘Thou art a minister and a general, and canst therefore inform me what means this departure from all received usages ; as it is not becoming that a prince, to whom an ambassador is sent, should preserve silence.’ But Nandi replied not, and immediately, on a sign from Shiva, reconducted and dismissed Rahu, who hastened to Jalandhara and related to him all that had passed.” “ The mighty Jalandhara, having heard the relation of his am- bassador, immediately arrayed his army and marched forward. Then the tumult of his approaching forces resounded through the inmost recesses of Mandara ; and wide was it spread by the echoes of Meru, while lions started from their dens; warlike instruments with their clangor, dear to the warrior, deafened the three worlds ; and, as trod the mighty Danavas, the lofty moun- tains trembled, and the seas were agitated. The armor of warriors clashed as on they marched, borne on various vehicles ; and the wheels of the war -chariots harsh grated along the ground. White umbrellas shaded the mighty host from the sun, and fans formed of peacocks’ feathers prevented heat. From the innumerable elephants, cars, horse, and foot, arose clouds of dust, which spread over the sky like the blue lotos, or the dark billows of the heaving ocean. * * * Then Nandi and Shumbha showered arrows on each other thick as the leaves are strown on Mandara when storms agitate its trees. At length Shumbha, throwing away his bow, rushed to the chariot of Nandi, and, wounding him on the breast, he fell senseless like a mountain struck by a thunderbolt.” DATE DUE Demco, Inc. 38-293