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CURIOSITIES OF SUPERSTITION,

And Sketches of some Unrevealed Religions.

by

W. H. DAVENPORT ADAMS,

Author of “Heroes of the Cross,” etc.

  “To my mind there is no study more absorbing than that of
  the Religions of the World,--the study, if I may so call
  it, of the various languages in which man has spoken to
  his Maker, and of that language in which his Maker ‘at
  sundry times and in divers manners’ spake to man.”--MAX MÜLLER.

  “Primus in orbe Deos fecit timor.”--STATIUS, _Thebaid_, 661.


  LONDON:
  J. MASTERS AND CO., 78, NEW BOND STREET.
  MDCCCLXXXII.







London:
J. Masters and Co., 78, New Bond Street.
MDCCCLXXXII.

London:
Printed by J. Masters and Co.,
Albion Buildings, Bartholomew Close.




CONTENTS.


  CHAPTER                                                             PAGE

      I. BUDDHISM, ITS ORIGIN AND CEREMONIES                             1

     II. MAGIANISM: THE PARSEES                                         43

    III. JEWISH SUPERSTITIONS                                           68

     IV. BRAHMANISM                                                     84

      V. HINDU MYTHOLOGY, AND THE VISHNU PURANA                         99

     VI. IN CHINA: CONFUCIANISM, TAOUISM, AND BUDDHISM                 119

    VII. AMONG THE MALAYS, THE SLAMATAN BROMOK, THE DYAKS, THE
         PAPUAN TRIBES, THE AHETAS                                     142

   VIII. THE SAVAGE RACES OF ASIA: THE SAMOJEDES; THE MONGOLS;
         THE OSTIAKS; IN TIBET                                         155

     IX. SOME AFRICAN SUPERSTITIONS                                    171

      X. THE ZULU WITCH-FINDERS                                        180

     XI. ZABIANISM AND SERPENT-WORSHIP                                 186

    XII. POLYNESIAN SUPERSTITIONS                                      214

   XIII. THE FIJI ISLANDERS                                            230

    XIV. THE RELIGION OF THE MAORIES                                   241

     XV. THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS                                    254

    XVI. AMONG THE ESKIMOS                                             274

   XVII. A MEDIÆVAL SUPERSTITION: THE FLAGELLANTS                      279

  XVIII. SCOTTISH SUPERSTITIONS: HALLOWEEN                             288

    XIX. SECOND SIGHT: DIVINATION: UNIVERSALITY OF CERTAIN
         SUPERSTITIONS: FAIRIES IN SCOTLAND                            300




CURIOSITIES OF SUPERSTITION.




CHAPTER I.

_BUDDHISM: ITS ORIGIN AND CEREMONIES._


PRAYER-WHEELS OF THE BUDDHISTS.

Travelling on the borders of Chinese Tartary, in the country of the Lamas
or Buddhists, Miss Gordon Cumming remarks that it was strange, every now
and again, to meet some respectable-looking workman, twirling little brass
cylinders, only about six inches in length, which were incessantly
spinning round and round as they walked along the road. What could they
be? Not pedometers, not any of the trigonometrical instruments with which
the officers of the Ordnance Survey go about armed? No; she was informed
that they were prayer-wheels, and that turning them was just about
equivalent to the telling of beads, which in Continental lands workmen may
often be seen counting as homeward along the road they plod their weary
way.

The telling of beads seems to the Protestant a superfluous piece of
formalism: what then are we to think of prayer by machinery? The prayers,
or rather invocations, to Buddha--the Buddhists never pray, in the
Christian sense--are all closely written upon strips of cloth or paper;
the same sentence being repeated some thousands of times. These strips are
placed inside a cylinder, revolving on a long spindle, the end of which is
the handle. From the wind-cylinder depends a small lump of metal, which,
whirling round, communicates the necessary impetus to the little machine,
so that it rotates with the slightest possible effort, and continues to
grind any required number of acts of worship, while the owner, with the
plaything in his hand, carries on his daily work. His religion requires
that he should be all his time immersed in holy contemplation of the
perfections of Buddha, but to a busy man no such self-absorption is
possible. He is content, therefore, to say the sentences aloud at the
beginning and end of his devotions, and in the interval twirls slowly,
while a tiny bell marks each rotation, and reminds him if he should
unconsciously quicken his pace.

Tennyson finely speaks of Prayer as that by which

  “The whole round world is every way
  Bound by gold chains around the feet of GOD;”

but no such efficacy can be ascribed to the cylinders of brass, copper, or
gold, which are fashionable among the Buddhists. Yet we must not condemn
too unreservedly: Prayer, even among Christians, is apt to degenerate into
a dull, mechanical uniformity, and to become scarcely less perfunctory
than that which the Tibetans grind out of their prayer-machine.

In a Lama temple, Miss Gordon Cumming once saw a colossal prayer-wheel,
which might almost have sufficed for the necessities of a nation. It was
turned by a great iron crank, which acted as a handle. The cylinder
measured about twelve feet in height, and six to eight feet in diameter.
Circular bands of gold and vermilion adorned it, each band bearing the
well-known Buddhist ascription, or invocation, “To the jewel on the
Lotus.” Of this inscription, multiplied on strips of paper and cloth, the
cylinder was full, and each time that it revolved on its axis, the devotee
was accredited with having uttered the pious invocation just as often as
it was repeated within the cylinder. The whole history of Superstition
offers scarcely any fact more curious or suggestive than this method of
prayer by machinery; and that such a grotesque extravagance should have
emanated from so subtle and metaphysical a faith as Buddhism is an anomaly
not easily to be explained.

Each votary who is too poor to possess a prayer-wheel of his own, attends
the temple, does homage to the head Lama, receives his benediction, and
then, squatting in front of the great wheel, he turns the crank on behalf
of himself and his family. But if there be a considerable number of
worshippers, the priest himself works the handle, that all may participate
simultaneously in the act of prayer.

The use of these machines is traced back for fully fourteen centuries, and
is supposed to have originated in the belief that it was a meritorious
act, and a patent cure for sin, to be continually reading or reciting
portions of the sacred books of Buddha. But as many of the people could
not read, a substitute had to be found, and it came to be considered
sufficient if they turned over the rolled manuscripts which embodied the
invaluable precepts. And as a vast amount of time and trouble was saved by
this process, a further simplification became possible and popular,--the
invention of wheels termed _Tehu-Chor_,--great cylindrical bands full of
prayers; a cord being attached to the base of the band, which, when the
cord was pulled, twirled like a children’s toy. Prayer-wheels of this kind
are set up in all public places in Tibet, so that the poor who do not
possess little pocket Wheels of Devotion may not lose their chance of
accumulating merit. In some of the monasteries the rows of small cylinders
are so arranged, that the priest, or any passer-by can set them all in
simultaneous motion, by just drawing his hand along them.

According to Miss Cumming, who is confirmed by other travellers, the
cylinders vary in size, from tiny hand-mills, about as big as a
policeman’s rattle, to huge machines, eight or ten feet in diameter,
worked by a heavy iron crank, or sometimes by wind or water power. The
wind prayer-mills are turned by wings, which, like the cylinder, are
plentifully covered with prayers. The water-mills are placed over streams,
so as to dispense with human aid, and allow the running water to turn them
for the general welfare of the village. Through the cylinder passes a
wooden axle, which is fastened to a horizontal wheel, whose cogs are
turned diagonally to the water.

“One such group of little mills we noticed,” says Miss Cumming,[1] “set in
a clear stream half-way between Rarung and Pangi, a lively, rapid river,
rushing headlong down the mountain side to join the Sutlej. Having never
then heard of prayer-mills, we assumed them to be for corn, as perhaps
they were. At all events, we passed them without inspection, to our
subsequent infinite regret. These wheels rotate with the action of the
water, and so turn the cylinder, which must invariably stand upright.
Sometimes several of these are placed almost across the stream, and the
rudest form of temple is built over them.

“They are so placed that the wheel must invariably turn from right to
left, following the course of the sun; to invert that course would not
only involve ill-luck, but would amount to being a sin. Hence the
exceeding unwillingness of the people we met to let us tend their little
wheels, knowing from sad experience that the English sahibs rather enjoy
the fun of turning them the wrong way, and so undoing the efficacy of all
their morning’s work.

“Some of the little pocket cylinders are very beautifully wrought; some
are even inlaid with precious stones. I saw one great beauty which I
coveted exceedingly. The owner would on no account sell it. I returned to
the temple next morning, wishing at least to make a drawing of it, but I
think he mistrusted me, for he and his plaything had both vanished, and I
had to be content with a much simpler one of bronze, inlaid with copper.
The people have the greatest reluctance to sell even the ugliest old
mills. They cling to them as lovingly as you might do to your dear old
Bible; but, as I said before, not merely from the charm of association,
but from a dread lest a careless hand should turn them against the sun,
and so change their past acts of merit into positive sin. So there was a
great deal of talk, and many irons in the fire, before I was allowed to
purchase two of these, at a price which would have supplied half the
village with new ones.”

The prayer-mill sometimes contains the Tibetan prayer, or litany, for the
six classes of living creatures, namely, the souls in heaven, the evil
spirits in the air, men, animals, souls in purgatory, and souls in hell;
but, as a rule, the Lama worship begins and ends in the famous inscription
to which we have already alluded--_Aum Mani Padmi Hoong_ (to the jewel in
the lotus.) These mystic words are raised in embossed letters on the
exterior of the cylinder, and are closely written on strips of paper
inside. All the sacred places are covered with them; the face of the rock,
the walls of the temple; just as the Alhambra glitters with its
_azulejos_, its blazoned inscriptions from the Kúran.

This mystic sentence is composed as follows: _Aum_ or _Om_, equivalent to
the Hebrew JAH or JEHOVAH, the most glorious title of the Almighty;
_Mani_, the jewel, one of Buddha’s appellations; _Padmi_, the lotus, in
allusion to his lotus-throne; and _Hoong_, synonymous with _Amen_. The
Buddhists regard this “six-syllabled” charm as a talisman of never-failing
efficacy; but by some of the sects it is more or less varied. For
instance: the Chinese Fo-ists read it as _Aum-mi-to-fuh_, which is also
one of Buddha’s titles; and every devout Fo-ist aims at repeating it at
least three hundred thousand times in the course of his life. Some of
their priests will shut themselves up in the temples for months at a time,
and devote themselves to the dreary task of repetition, hour after hour,
day and night. Sometimes, ten or twelve devotees will voluntarily
sequester themselves, and continue all day to cry aloud in chorus; and at
night they undertake the task successively, one person droning through the
monotonous chant while the others sleep. Thus do they think to be heard
for their much speaking! Similar excesses of formalism, however, are
recorded in the history of mediæval Christianity,--in the biographies of
saints and ascetics who have substituted for a practical Christianity and
the active performance of social duties the dreary vanity of an
unprofitable solitude, spent in the discharge of useless penances.

The Buddhist prayer which is consecrated to Buddha as the Chakravarta
Rajah, or King of the Wheel, proves, on examination, to be closely related
to that Sun-worship which prevailed in the early ages of the world. The
wheel is, in many creeds, the symbol of the sun’s chariot, that is, of the
revolution of the heavenly bodies. In a sculpture, nearly two thousand
years old, on the Bilsah Tepe, Buddha is represented simply by a wheel,
overshadowed by the mystic _chattah_, or golden umbrella, which is a
common emblem of his power. His worshippers are represented as making
their offerings to the King of the Wheel. “This sacred Wheel of the Law,
or Wheel of Faith, is found again and again among the fain and Buddhist
sculptures in the caves of Ellora and Ajunta, in most cases projecting in
front of Buddha’s Lotus-Throne. In one instance an astronomical table is
carved above the wheel. In another it is supported on either side by a
stag, supposed to represent the fleetness wherewith the sun runs his daily
circuit, ‘going forth from the uttermost part of the heaven, and running
about unto the end of it again.’”


THE HINDU TEMPLES.

Visiting the Temples at Hardwar, one of the sacred cities of India, Miss
Gordon Cumming remarks upon the number of their hideous idols, painted and
carved, their multitudinous brass bells, their brazen horns, their sacred
courts all covered with elaborate carving, and their mythological
sculptures.

She says:--“I frankly confess that there is something startling in the
rapidity with which one gets quite at home amongst all this paraphernalia
of heathenism, and how very soon idolatry ceases to shock the mind, and
becomes merely a curious study with picturesque adjuncts. Six months
previously the sight of a veritable temple with its hideous idols and
devout worshippers was a thing from which one shrank in shuddering pity.”
But she soon became a connoisseur, and “lounged from one temple to
another, inspecting jewels and exquisite stone carving, and anything
wonderful the priests had to show, and quite forgot to be shocked, it was
all so perfectly natural, and seemed so entirely in keeping with the
tastes of the people.” In this remark there is a wonderful _naïveté_; for
it may reasonably be supposed that the tastes of the people would be in
accord with a religion which, during its career of two thousand years,
must have exercised so great an influence in forming them!

In some of the temples, according to the same writer, there are sacred
bulls, carved in white marble and adorned with costly necklaces. In others
the attendant priests spend the whole day in pouring single drops of
precious oil on holy pebbles brought from the Nerbudda and other sacred
streams, and here arranged in little trays. Amongst the privileged
inhabitants are the monkeys, who frolic about incessantly with their
babies in their arms, or sitting on their backs, and twining their little
arms round the parental necks.

The ceremonies in the different temples are, on the whole, very similar;
and the following description, taken from the Rão Mãlã, applies, except in
minor details, to all.

The day is marked by five services: the first at sunrise, when bells are
rung in the temple, and drums or conch-shells sounded, to rouse the Du, or
god, from his slumbers. After performing copious ablutions, the
officiating priest enters the holy place, and swings before the idol a
lamp with five or seven branches. An hour or two later, the Du is attired
in raiment appropriate to the season. He wears a quilted coat in cold
weather, and has a lighted brazier placed beside him; whereas, in hot
weather, he is anointed with sandal-wood dust and water, clothed in fine
linen, and decked out with gems and flowers. Placed close to a cool
fountain, he is assiduously fanned by his attendants. In rainy weather, he
is wrapped about in scarlet cloth and shawls. When he is dressed, a light
breakfast of rice and milk is served up, and his votaries perform “the
sixteen acts of worship.” At noon a third service takes place. The Du is
again rubbed with oil of sandal-wood, or sandal-dust and water, and
adorned with fresh flowers. The lamps are trimmed; incense is burned; and
his dinner is set before him: after which he is supposed to indulge in his
noonday sleep, and profound silence is maintained throughout the temple.

At three in the afternoon a drum beats, and the god awakes! His attendants
hasten to serve fruits and sweetmeats, and perform various games for his
amusement. At sunset he is enshrined: his feet are basted, he is sprinkled
with water, his mouth is washed, and another offering is made of
sandal-wood dust, and flowers, and incense. He is once more clothed; an
elaborate dinner is spread before him; betel leaves are presented; and
again the many-branched candlestick is waved, while all the votaries
present for the second time perform “the sixteen acts of worship.”

The last service takes place at night, when the image is supposed to sup
on bread and water. After receiving the usual oblations of incense and
flowers, he is undressed, and if he be movable, put to bed, or if not, is
warmly covered with shawls and quilts.

Not the least remarkable objects in the Hindu temples are their great
statues of bulls in marble or in metal. It is worthy of note that “in the
great Brazen Laver, which Solomon was commanded to make for the use of the
Temple at Jerusalem, the symbols selected for the adornment of that
consecrated Molten Sea should have been those which in later ages were to
hold so prominent a place in the symbolism of faiths so widely spread as
those of Brahma and Buddha. That huge laver was supported by twelve oxen
of cast metal, three looking to each point of the compass, while the brim
of the great sea itself was all wrought with flowers of lilies, much the
same as the pattern of lotus or water-lily with which the shrine of Buddha
is invariably edged.” The bull is another symbol which seems to connect
the creed of the Hindu with the old nature-worship; for the vernal equinox
takes place when the sun enters the sign of Taurus, and this event was
always and everywhere a signal for feasting and rejoicing.

But, as Max Müller observes, the ancient religion of the Aryan inhabitants
of India started, like the religion of Greece and Rome, of the Germans,
Slavs, and Celts, with a simple and intelligible mythological
phraseology.[2] In the Veda, the names of all the so-called gods or Devas
undisguisedly betray their original physical character and meaning. Under
the name of Agni (ignis) was praised and invoked the fire; the earth by
that of Prithvî (the brave); the sky by the name of Dyu (Zeus, Jupiter),
and afterwards of Indra; the firmament and the waters by the name of
Οὐρανός. Under many appellations was the sun invoked, such as Sûrya,
Savitri, Vishnu, or Mitra; and the dawn by the titles of Ushas, Urvasî,
Ahanâ, and Sûrya. Nor was the moon forgotten: for though not often
mentioned under its usual name of Kandra, reference is made to it under
its more sacred appellation of Soma; and a particular denomination was
reserved for each of its phases. There is hardly any fact of nature, if it
could impress the human mind in any way with the ideas of a higher power,
of order, eternity, or beneficence,--whether the woods, or the rivers, or
the trees, or the mountains,--without a name and representative in the
early Hindu Pantheon. No doubt there existed in the human mind, from the
very beginning, something, whether we call it a suspicion, an innate idea,
an intuition, or a sense of the Divine. What distinguishes man from the
rest of the animal creation is chiefly his ineradicable feeling of
dependence and reliance upon some higher power; that consciousness of
bondage, from which the very name of “religion” was derived. “It is He
that hath made us, and not we ourselves.” The presence of that power was
felt everywhere, and nowhere more clearly and strongly than in the rising
and setting of the sun, in the change of day and night, of spring and
winter, of birth and death. But although the Divine Presence was felt
everywhere, it was impossible, in that early period of thought, and with a
language incapable as yet of defining anything but material objects, to
conceive the idea of God in its purity and fulness, or to assign to it an
adequate and worthy expression.

It must also be remembered that the influence of the genius and forces of
Nature would necessarily be greater in an age when the human mind was
occupied by few objects of thought, than now when it ranges over the whole
world of art and science. Moreover, to the eye of ignorance everything
seems large and portentous, or dim and inscrutable. The fire from heaven,
the reverberating thunder, the gale that crashed down the mountain ravines
and felled great trees before it, the planetary bodies steadily revolving
in their courses, the stream with its glow and its ripple, the dense
shadows of the haunted forest, the recurring rush and roll of the
sea,--all these were things which for early man had a constant novelty and
strangeness, and seemed incessantly to claim his reverent consideration.
He could not account for them: whether a bane or a delight they were
equally unintelligible. They represented, therefore, some Power which he
could regard only with awe and reverence. And of that Power the sun would
necessarily be the chief type and symbol. All life and love seemed
dependent upon it. The trees throve, and the flowers bloomed, and the
banks rippled, and the birds sang, and the harvests ripened, through the
sun. It was the source of light and heat, of the vigour and activity of
nature. While it shone men’s hearts leaped with joy, and the wheels of
labour revolved with pleasant toil; but when it disappeared, and the
darkness usurped the heavens, the spirits sank, and humanity felt in the
change of scene a presentiment and presage of the darkness of death. All
vitality, all motion centred in the sun. “It was like a deep furrow,” says
Max Müller, “which that heavenly luminary drew, in its silent procession
from east to west, over the fallow mind of the gazing multitude; and in
the impression left there by the first rising and setting of the sun,
there lay the dark seed of a faith in a more than human being, the first
intimation of a life without beginning, of a world without end.” Who can
wonder that the Chaldean, and the Celt, alike ascended to the high places,
and paid their worship of symbolic fires to the great fountain of life and
light, the central force of the universe? Who can wonder that all the
Aryan tribes made it, so to speak, the nucleus of their religious systems?
The Hindu peasant, centuries ago, addressed it in his heart in much the
same language which Gawain Douglas afterwards employed. As its glorious
orb rose above the gleaming horizon, he sent forth to it a message of
welcome:

  “Welcome, the lord of light and lamp of day;
  Welcome, fosterer of tender herbis green;
  Welcome, quickener of flourished flowers’ sheen;
  Welcome, support of every root and vein;
  Welcome, comfort of all kind fruits and grain;
  Welcome, the bird’s green beild upon the brier;
  Welcome, master and ruler of the year;
  Welcome, welfare of husbands at the ploughs;
  Welcome, repairer of woods, trees, and boughs;
  Welcome, depainter of the bloomit meads;
  Welcome, the life of everything that spreads.”

And because it was all this, and more, the Hindu saw in it something
greater than a mere luminary,--a planetary body; he endowed it with Divine
attributes, he made it a god, he gave it his worship, and by an elaborate
symbolism kept it ever before him.

A necessary consequence of this deification of the sun was the
deification of the other bodies that shared with him the firmament; but as
they were inferior in splendour and utility, they naturally became
recognized as inferior gods. And when once the religious feeling of
humanity had gone thus far, its further development became only a question
of time. The homage given to the stars was soon extended to the winds and
streams and groves. A legion of gods sprang into existence, and for a
while they seemed to satisfy the needs and aspirations of humanity. But as
the thoughts of men expanded, as their intellect ripened with the ages,
and grew strong enough to doubt, and bold enough to question the
conclusions of the common faith, a revolt took place against “the
contradictions of a mythological phraseology, though it had been hallowed
by sacred customs and traditions.” Men grew tired of so complex and
cumbrous a religious system, and having observed a definite fundamental
unity of nature in spite of the diversity of its operations, they came to
believe in a similar unity of the Divine Power. The idea of a supreme
authority once entertained, men soon understood that supremacy meant
oneness; that if there were a God over all, He must be one and
indivisible. One of the earliest proclamations of this sublime truth is
found in the Rig-Veda, which says:[3]--

“That which is one the sages speak of in many ways--they call it Agni,
Yama, Malarisvan.”

And again:[4]--

“In the beginning there came the Source of golden light--He was the only
true Lord of all that is--He stablished the earth and this sky:--Who is
God to whom we shall offer our sacrifice?

“He who gives life, He who gives strength; whose blessing all the bright
gods desire; whose shadow is immortality; whose shadow is death:--Who is
the God to whom we shall offer our sacrifice?

“He who through His power is the only King of the breathing and awakening
world; He who governs all, man and beast:--Who is the God to whom we shall
offer our sacrifice?

“He whose power these snowy mountains, whose power the sea proclaims,
with the distant river--He whose these regions are, as it were, His two
arms:--Who is the God to whom we shall offer our sacrifice?

“He through whom the sky is bright and the earth firm--He through whom
heaven was stablished--nay, the highest heaven--He who measured out the
light in the air:--Who is the God to whom we shall offer our sacrifice?

“He to whom heaven and earth, standing firm by His will, look up,
trembling inwardly--He over whom the rising sun shines forth:--Who is the
GOD to whom we shall offer our sacrifice?

“Wherever the mighty water-clouds went, where they placed the reed and lit
the fire, thence even He, who is the only life of the bright gods:--Who is
the GOD to whom we shall offer our sacrifice?

“He, who of His might looked even over the water-clouds, the clouds which
gave strength and lit the sacrifice, He _who is God above all gods_:--Who
is the God to whom we shall offer our sacrifice?

“May He not destroy us--He the creator of the earth; or He, the righteous,
who created Heaven; He who also created the bright and mighty waters:--Who
is the God to whom we shall offer our sacrifice?”

       *       *       *       *       *

The creed of a plurality of gods was one that carried in itself the seeds
of its destruction. But there was another cause of weakness in their
mortal attributes. Deriving their existence from the life of nature, they
were subject to the accidents which that life involved. Thus, the sun at
noonday might glow with splendour, but at night it was conquered by the
shadows, and in winter it seemed to yield to some stronger Power. The moon
waxed and waned, and was frequently eclipsed. As nature is subject to
change, so also must be the gods that represent its forces and aspects.
Such instability, such inherent weakness could not long satisfy the human
mind; having risen to the height of the idea of one God, it next demanded
that that God should be immutable. What rest, what contentment would it
find in the supposition of deities as changeful as the winds? Tossed about
by the currents of passion and feeling, buffeted by adverse circumstances,
the soul yearns intensely for something fixed, something absolute,
something unaffected by vicissitude, and finds it in the Divine Being, the
same to-day as yesterday, and the same to-morrow as to-day.

These two opposite principles did not come into immediate collision; the
priests of heathendom laboured long and earnestly to avert such a
catastrophe. In Greece they succeeded by transferring the mortal or
changeable element from “the gods” to “the heroes.”[5] The human details
in the characters and lives of Zeus and Apollon were transferred to the
demi-gods or heroes represented as the sons or favourites of the gods. The
two-fold character of Herakles as a god and a hero is recognized even by
Herodotus; and indeed, some of the epithets applied to him sufficiently
indicate his solar and originally divine personality. But to make some of
the solar myths of which Herakles was the centre intelligible and
conceivable, it became needful to depict Herakles as a mere human being,
and to raise him to the seat of the Immortals only after he had endured
toils and sufferings incompatible with the dignity of an Olympian
divinity.

In Peru the same treatment was adopted, but with different results. A
thinking, or, as he was called, a free-thinking Inca, remarked that the
sun’s perpetual travelling--he knew nothing, of course, of the Copernican
theory--was a sign of servitude, and he threw doubts on the divine nature
of aught so restless as the great luminary appeared to him to be. These
doubts led to a tradition, which, even if unhistorical was not wholly
untrue, that in Peru had existed an earlier worship--that of an Invisible
Deity, the Creator of the World--Pachacamac.

“In Greece, also, there are signs of a similar craving after the ‘Unknown
God.’ A supreme God was wanted, and Zeus, the stripling of Creta, was
raised to that rank. He became God above all gods--ἁπάντων κύριος, as
Pindar calls him. Yet more was wanted than a mere Zeus; and then a supreme
Fate or Spell was imagined before which all the gods, and even Zeus, had
to bow. And even this Fate was not allowed to remain supreme, and there
was something in the destinies of man which was called ὑπέρμορον or
‘beyond Fate.’ The most awful solution, however, of the problem belongs
to Teutonic mythology. Here, also, some heroes were introduced; but their
death was only the beginning of the final catastrophe. ‘All gods must
die.’ Such is the last word of that religion which had grown up in the
forests of Germany, and found a last refuge among the glaciers and
volcanoes of Iceland. The death of Sigurd, the descendant of Odin, could
not avert the death of Balder, the son of Odin, and the death of Balder
was soon to be followed by the death of Odin himself, and of all the
immortal gods.”

Such a catastrophe was inevitable, so that Prometheus, the man of
forethought, could safely predict the fall of Zeus.[6]

A similar issue was worked out in India, but with this difference; that
the seeming triumph of reason threatened to end in the destruction of all
religious belief. At the outset no vehement contention took place. On the
basis of the old mythology arose two new formations,--the Brahmanical
philosophy and the Brahmanical ceremonial; the former opening up all
avenues of philosophical inquiry, the latter immuring religious sentiment
and sympathy within the narrowest possible barriers. Both, however,
claimed to find their origin and antiquity in the sacred book of the Veda.

It was in the sixteenth or fifteenth century before CHRIST that the
Brahmans, a branch of the white Aryans, passed into Hindustan from the
north-west, and mixed with a more numerous race of coloured and barbarous
aborigines. Among their immigrants the sacerdotal and the royal or noble
classes already occupied an authoritative and a distinct position; and
soon after their settlement in India, the lower classes, by a natural
process, sank into the markedly inferior condition of the aborigines. Thus
was established a singularly rigorous system of caste,--the priesthood
and the aristocracy combining to oppress and keep down the two inferior
orders of the Brahmans and the aborigines. Intermarriage was strictly
forbidden, and every device adopted which could be made useful in
strengthening and perpetuating the class-distinction.

This revolution in the social world assisted the revolution in the
religious; and the educated classes rapidly abandoned their nature worship
in favour of the idea of an infinite and everlasting Godhead, which soared
far above the feeblenesses and sins of humanity. To become one with this
Godhead by throwing off the personality linked with a mind that was mean
and miserable, thenceforth constituted the religious aspiration of the
Brahman. And in attaining this object he was instructed to seek the help
of the Brahmanical priesthood; nay, he was taught that without that help
he would never succeed, and for this purpose a complex and comprehensive
ceremonial was enjoined upon him. From his cradle to his grave it dogged
his footsteps. Put forward as a stay and support, it was really a clog, an
encumbrance. Not an event in his life could take place for which a formula
of praise or prayer was not invented. Thanksgiving and sacrifice were
alike minutely regulated. For the benefit of the inferior castes the old
Pantheon of gods and demons had been retained, and the priesthood allotted
to each his share of the worshipper’s offerings and oblations. Each was
represented as insisting so strongly on certain observances, and punishing
so heavily any neglect or violation of them, that the votary feared to
approach their shrine unless under the protection and guidance of their
priests. Otherwise he might unwittingly rush into all kinds of sins. They
alone knew what food might be eaten, what dress might be worn, what god
might be addressed, what sacrifice paid. An error in pronunciation, a
mistake about clarified butter, an unauthorised arrangement of raiment or
hair, might involve the unassisted worshipper in pains and penalties of
the most awful character. Never was so complete and absolute a ceremonial
system known as that by which the Hindu priesthood obtained an entire
mastery over the Hindu people. Never was any law more minute in its
provisions, or more Draconic in the severity with which it punished their
violation.

Yet, strange to say, this ceremonial did not interfere with liberty of
thought. Any amount of heresy was compatible with its observance. A man
might think as he liked so long as he complied with its various
conditions. In some of the Brahmanical schools of thought the names of the
devs or gods were never heard; in others their existence was ignored, was
virtually contradicted. Thus, one philosophical system maintained the
existence of a single Supreme Being, and asserted that everything else
which seemed to exist was but a dream and an illusion which might and
would be dispelled by a true knowledge of the One God. Another contended
for two principles,--first, a Mind, subjective and self-existent; second,
Matter endowed with qualities; and explained that the world with its cloud
and sunshine, its sorrows and joys, was the result of the subjective self,
reflected in the mirror of Matter, and that the freedom of the soul could
be secured only by diverting the gaze from the shows and phantasms of
Nature, and becoming absorbed in the knowledge of the true and absolute
self. A third system allowed the existence of atoms, and referred every
effect, including the elements and the mind, gods, men, and animals to
their fortuitous concourse. This was identical with the Lucretian system,
which in its turn was related to the Epicurean. Hence it has been said
that the history of the philosophy of India is an abridgment of the
history of philosophy. Each of these systems was traced back to the sacred
books of the Vedas, Brâhmanas and Upanishads; and those who believed in
any one of them was considered as orthodox as the most devout worshipper
of Agni,--if the latter were saved by works and faith, the former was
saved by faith and knowledge,--a distinction not unknown in the Christian
philosophy.[7]

Out of this condition of the Hindu mind arose Buddhism, springing from it
as naturally as the flower from the seed.

The remarkable man[8] who founded this wide-spread religion is reputed to
have been a prince of the name of Siddhartha, son of Suddhodana, king of
Kapilavastu, a territory supposed to have been situated on the borders of
Oudh and Nipal. He is often called Sakya, after his family, and also
Gautama, from the great “Solar” race of which the family was a branch.[9]
Having at an early age exhibited an ascetic and contemplative tendency,
his father fearing he might be induced to abandon his high station as
Kshatriga, found him a wife in a princess of great personal charms, and
involved him in all the pomp and luxury of a magnificent court. But
Siddhartha drank of the cup only to taste the bitter in the draught; and
each year’s experience of the world convinced him of its inability to
satisfy the aspirations of the soul; so that, like Solomon, he would
exclaim, “Vanity, vanity, all is vanity.” The joys of life could not
render him forgetful of its sorrows. The thought would force itself upon
him that at any moment he might be afflicted with some loathsome or
torturing disease; that his friends might be suddenly snatched away; that
however sunny and bright the present, it could not prevent the inevitable
approach of old age, with its grey hairs, its wrinkled brow, and its
tottering limbs; and that the moral of the whole show was to be sought in
the darkness of the grave. Unable to endure any longer the mental conflict
begotten of his keen sense of the realities as compared with the illusions
of the world, he stole from the guarded palace, and at the age of 29 or
30, went forth as a beggar, or religious mendicant, to study in the
schools of the Brahman priests. He underwent their penances; he mastered
their philosophy; but dissatisfied with their cumbrous code of
superstitious ceremonial, he withdrew into the forest, and adopted a
course of religious asceticism.

This lasted for six or seven years, but brought him no repose. Then he
resolved on returning once more to human companionship. Beset by the
Spirit of Evil he fought long and bravely against temptation, and having
triumphed, prepared to attain the secret of happiness by giving himself up
to abstruse meditation. Week after week he was absorbed in thought,
continually investigating the origin of things, and the mystery of
existence. All the evils under which he, in common with his fellow-men,
groaned, he traced back to birth. Were we not born, we could not suffer.
But whence comes birth or continued existence?... We have no room,
however, to dwell on his processes of thought; enough to say that he came
to the conclusion that the ultimate cause of existence is ignorance, and
that the removal of ignorance means, therefore, the termination of
existence, and of all the pain and sorrow which existence implies and
induces. Realising this absolute unconsciousness of the outer world in his
own self, he claimed and assumed the name of the Buddha, or “Enlightened.”

The scene of his victory over life and the world received the name of
Bodhimanda, (the seat of intelligence,) and the tree under which the
religious reformer sat in his hour of moral and intellectual triumph was
called Bodhidruma, (the tree of intelligence,) whence Bo-tree. The
Buddhists believe that it marks the centre of the earth. Hiouen-thsang,
the Chinese pilgrim, professes to have found the Bodhidruma, or some tree
that passed for it, twelve hundred years after Buddha’s death, at a spot
near Gaya Proper, in Bahar, where still may be seen an old dagoba, or
temple, and some considerable ruins.

Having at last attained to a knowledge of the causes of human suffering,
and of the method of removing and counteracting them, the Buddha felt that
the task was imposed upon him of communicating that knowledge to others.
He began “to turn the wheel of the law,”--that is to preach,--at Benares;
and among his earliest disciples was Bimbisara, the ruler of Magadha. His
career as a teacher extended over forty years, during which period he
travelled over almost every part of Northern India, making a large number
of converts, and firmly establishing his religious system. He died at
Kusinagara in Oudh, in 543 B.C., at the age of eighty, and his body being
burned, the relics were distributed among numerous claimants, who raised
monumental tumuli, or topes, for their preservation.

All the expositions and teachings of the Buddha were oral, and the task of
committing them to writing was undertaken by the chief of his disciples
shortly after his death. These canonical books are divided into three
classes, forming the “Tripitaka,” or “three-fold basket.” In the first
class we find the _Soutras_, or Sermons of the Buddha; in the second, the
_Vinaya_, or book of discipline; in the third, the _Abhidharma_, or
philosophy. After a period of a century or so, the Buddhist leaders met
and revised the Tripitaka, and a third revision took place in 250 or 240
B.C., since which date the text has remained without alteration.

The doctrine of Buddha has been defined as a development of four main
principles, (or “Sublime Verities.”) 1st. That every kind of existence is
painful and transitory; 2nd. That all existence is the result of passion;
3rd. That, therefore, the extinction of passion is the one means of escape
from existence and from the misery necessarily attendant upon it; 4th.
That all obstacles to this existence must be swept away.

But what is meant by existence? That separation from the general Being of
the world which is involved in individual life, and in the opposition of
the subject which thinks, and the object which is thought about. And what
is meant by its extinction? Not so much annihilation, as the becoming one
with nature, wherein that form of consciousness which separates subject
and object is set aside. This extinction Buddha called Nirvâna, or “the
blowing out of the lamp;” it does not necessarily mean the annihilation of
consciousness altogether, but only of a finite form of it, which may be as
the light of a lamp compared with the light of day.

Buddha’s doctrine has been stigmatised as Atheism and Nihilism, and was
unquestionably liable on its metaphysical side to both charges. It was
Atheistic, not because it denied, for it simply ignored, the existence of
such gods as Indra and Brahma, but because, like the Sankhya philosophy,
it admitted but one subjective Self, and considered creation as an
illusion of that Self, imaging itself for a while in the mirror of Nature.
If there were no reality in nature, there would be no real Creator.

Says Max Müller,[10] stating with his usual clearness a problem which has
perplexed most students of the history of religion: “How a religion which
taught the annihilation of all existence, of all thought, of all
individuality and personality, as the highest object of all endeavours,
could have laid hold of the minds of millions of human beings, and how at
the same time, by enforcing the duties of morality, justice, kindness, and
self-sacrifice, it could have exercised a decided beneficial influence,
not only on the natives of India, but on the lowest barbarians of Central
Asia, is one of the riddles which no philosophy yet has been able to
solve. The morality which it teaches is not a morality of expediency and
rewards. Virtue is not enjoined because it necessarily leads to happiness.
No; virtue is to be practised, but happiness is to be shunned, and the
only reward for virtue is, that it subdues the passions, and thus prepares
the human mind for that knowledge which is to end in complete
annihilation.”

Probably no religious system has ever attained a wide-spread influence
over the minds of men which has held out so few of those inducements most
alluring to human nature. The idea of complete annihilation might
recommend itself to a philosopher, but would hardly have been regarded as
likely to attract the masses. We suppose the explanation is to be found in
the particularity of ritual enjoined by the Buddhist priests, this
particularity of ritual having always had a fascination for the multitude.

“There are ten commandments which Buddha imposes on his disciples. They
are--not to kill, not to steal, not to commit adultery, not to lie, not to
get intoxicated, to abstain from unseasonable meals, to abstain from
public spectacles, to abstain from expensive dresses, not to have a large
bed, not to receive silver or gold. The duties of those who embraced a
religious life were most severe. They were not allowed to wear any dress
except rags collected in cemeteries, and these rags they had to sew
together with their own hands; a yellow cloak was to be thrown over these
rags. Their food was to be extremely simple, and they were not to possess
anything except what they could get by collecting alms from door to door
in their wooden bowl. They had but one meal in the morning, and were not
allowed to touch any food after midday. They were to live in forests, not
in cities, and their only shelter was to be the shadow of a tree. There
they were to sit, to spread their carpet, but not to lie down, even during
sleep. They were allowed to enter the nearest city or village in order to
beg, but they had to return to their forest before night, and the only
change which was allowed, or rather prescribed, was, when they had to
spend some nights in the cemeteries, there to meditate on the vanity of
all things. And what was the object of all this asceticism? Simply to
guide each individual towards that path which would finally bring him to
Nirvâna, to utter extinction or annihilation. The very definition of
virtue was that it helped man to cross over to the other shore, and that
other shore was not death, but the cessation of all being. Thus charity
was considered a virtue; modesty, patience, courage, contemplation, and
science, all were virtues, but they were practised only as a means of
arriving at deliverance.”

Buddha himself was an incarnation of the virtues. His charity, for
example, was melting as day. When he saw a tigress standing, and unable to
feed her cubs, he offered up his body to be devoured by them. The Chinese
pilgrim, visiting the spot on the banks of the Indus where this miracle
was supposed to have occurred, remarks that the soil was still red with
the blood of Buddha, as were also the trees and flowers.

Then as to his modesty, it was as supreme as that of a virgin who has
never seen men. One day Prasenagit, his royal disciple and protector,
besought him to work some miracles in order to silence his adversaries,
the Brahmans. Buddha complied, and performed the required miracles; but at
the same time he exclaimed, “Great King, I do not teach the law to my
pupils, telling them, Go, ye saints, and before the eyes of the Brahmans
and householders perform, by means of your supernatural powers, miracles
greater than any man can perform. I tell them, when I teach the law, Live,
ye saints, hiding your good works and showing your sins.” And yet, all
this self-sacrificing charity, all this self-sacrificing humility by which
the life of Buddha was distinguished throughout, and which he preached to
the multitudes that came to listen to him, had but one object, and that
object was final annihilation.[11]

Annihilation! what drearier prospect can be opened to the heart, or soul,
or mind of man? The utter cessation of that individuality of which the
meanest and wretchedest among us feels proudly conscious; of the thoughts
which animate, the desires which warm, the dreams that delight, the hopes
that stimulate, the affections that inspire! Do we indeed suffer all the
sorrows and uncertainties of life,--do we indeed strive, and endure, and
struggle,--do we, indeed, learn to labour and to wait, to bear the burden
of the day and the torture of the night, for no other purpose, with no
other prospect, than when the brief fever is over, to pass away into
nothingness? With so much difficulty can the mind reconcile itself to such
a dreary hypothesis that the creed of almost every race and people has
contemplated a future stage of existence, even when it has failed to
attain to anything like a clear and full conviction of the immortality of
the soul. The law of compensation seems to demand that a future life shall
redress the inequalities of the present.

Yet this doctrine of Annihilation was preached by Buddha, and apparently
accepted by the millions who became his disciples. But did they really
accept it as he preached it? No; the truth is, they read into it, as it
were, their own innate, unconquerable belief in a hereafter, and converted
his Nirvâna into a Paradise, which they embellished with the bright
colours of imagination. It can hardly be doubted that this was not the
meaning or intention of Buddha himself. Look, for a moment, at his “Four
Verities.” The first of these, as we have already stated, asserts the
existence of pain; the second, that the cause of pain is sin; the third,
that the cessation of pain may be secured by Nirvâna; the fourth, that the
way to this Nirvâna consists of eight things: right faith or orthodoxy,
right judgment or logic, right language or veracity, right purpose or
honesty, right practice or religious life, right obedience or lawful life,
right memory, and right meditation.

These precepts may be understood as the usual laws of an elevated
morality, pointing to and terminating in a state of meditation on the
highest object of thought, such as has been enjoined by several
philosophical or religious systems;--such as was revived in France and
Germany in the seventeenth century under the name of Pietism. There is
nothing in this teaching incompatible with a belief in the immortality of
the soul and the existence of a GOD. But with the Buddhist Nirvâna it is
otherwise. Its motive principle, by the way, is a mean and cowardly one,
for it makes happiness depend upon the cessation of pain; represents as
the highest purpose of human effort the escape from pain. The Buddhist
insists that life is a prolonged misery; that birth is the cause of all
evil; and he adds that even death cannot deliver him from this evil,
because he believes in transmigration, or an eternal cycle of existence.
To escape from it we must free ourselves from the bondage, not of life
only, but of existence; and this must be done “by extirpating the cause of
existence.”

But what _is_ that cause?

The Buddhist teacher, involving himself in a cloud of metaphysics,
answers, that it is attachment; an inclination towards something, having
its root in thirst or desire. “Desire presupposes perception of the object
desired; perception presupposes contact; contact, at least a sentient
contact, presupposes the senses; and as the senses can only perform what
has form and name, or what is distinct, distinction is the real cause of
all the effects which end in existence, birth, and pain. Now this
conception is itself the result of conceptions or ideas; but these ideas,
so far from being, as in Greek philosophy, the true and everlasting forms
of the Absolute, are in themselves mere illusions, the effects of
ignorance. Ignorance, therefore, is really the primary cause of all that
seems to exist. To know that ignorance, as the root of all evil, is the
same as to destroy it, and with it all effects that flowed from it.”

In Buddha’s own case we may see how such teaching operated upon the
individual.

He entered into the first stage of meditation when he became conscious of
freedom from sin, acquired a knowledge of the nature of all things, and
yearned after nothing but Nirvâna. But he was still open to the sensation
of pleasure, and could employ his powers of discrimination and reasoning.

In the second stage he ceased to use those powers, and nothing remained
but the desire of Nirvâna, and the satisfaction inherent to his
intellectual perfection.

In the third stage indifference succeeded to satisfaction; but
self-consciousness remained, and a certain amount of physical
gratification.

These, too, faded away in the fourth stage, along with memory, and all
sense of pain; and before the neophyte opened the doors of Nirvâna.

After having gone through the four stages once, Buddha began them a second
time, but died before he attained the fourth stage.

After passing through the four stages of meditation, every Buddhist enters
into the infinity of space; thence rises into the infinity of
intelligence; to soar, afterwards, into the region of Nothing. But even
there he finds no repose; something still remains--the idea of the Nothing
in which he rejoices. This is annihilated in the fourth and last region,
and then he enjoys absolute, perfect rest, “undisturbed by nothing, or
what is not nothing.”

Buddha taught that this Nirvâna--which to most persons will seem a
metaphysical incomprehensibility--could be attained by all men. As there
is no difference between the body of a prince and the body of a beggar, so
is there none between their spirits. Every man is equally capable of
coming to a knowledge of the truth, and if he but _will_ to do so, of
working out his own emancipation.

It is important to observe the absence of any theological element in
Buddhism. Its founder seems never to have spoken of God, and his Nirvâna
is wholly different from the Brahmanic idea of absorption into the Divine
Essence. Of the gods of the people he taught that they were, like men,
subject to the law of Metempsychosis, or Transmigration, and therefore
that as they were unable to deliver, they were unworthy to be worshipped.
A recent writer thinks it would be incorrect to speak of Buddha either as
a theist or an atheist, and asserts that he simply describes a condition
of absolute rest as an escape from the popular metempsychosis, which may
be interpreted either in a theistic or an atheistic sense. But a careful
examination of his system shows, we think, that it was wholly alien to a
belief in a Supreme Spirit.

“Buddhism,” says Barthélémy Saint-Hilaire, “has no God; it has not even
the confused and vague notion of a Universal Spirit, in which the human
soul, according to the orthodox doctrine of Brahmanism, and the Sânkhya
philosophy, may be absorbed. Nor does it admit Nature, in the proper sense
of the word, and it ignores that profound division between spirit and
matter which forms the system and the glory of Kapila. It confounds man
with all that surrounds him, all the while preaching to him the laws of
virtue. Buddhism, therefore, cannot unite the human soul, which it does
not even mention, with a God, whom it ignores; nor with nature, which it
does not know better. Nothing remained but to annihilate the soul; and in
order to be quite sure that the soul may not re-appear under some new
guise in this world, which has been cursed as the abode of illusion and
misery, Buddhism destroys its very elements, and never wearies of glorying
in this achievement. What more is wanted? if this be not the Absolute
Nothing, what is Nirvâna?”

       *       *       *       *       *

Repellent as seems to us the central doctrine of Buddhism, it extended
rapidly. This extension was due, however, to the simplicity of the ritual
which Buddha enjoined; the pure morality which he advocated; the equality
of all men on which he insisted; and the spirit of love, tenderness,
gentleness, compassion, and toleration which he inspired. Hence it came to
pass that his disciples multiplied in the north-western territories of
Hindustan, and his creed found acceptance, at a later period, probably
about three centuries before CHRIST, all over India. In Ceylon it was
adopted at a very early period; but it was not until the second century
before CHRIST that it made its way into China and Tibet. From Ceylon it
spread into Birmah and Siam, and the islands of the Indian Archipelago,
and from China it penetrated into Japan. It is now the religion of more
than one fifth of the whole human race.

Its influence has been very considerable, and may distinctly be traced in
some of the Gnostic teaching and in the Alexandrine or Neo-Platonic
philosophy. It modified the old Brahmanic religion, which, acting under
its impulse, threw off its human sacrifices and more barbarous rites. The
festival of Juggernaut, which for the time places in abeyance all caste
distinctions, and adopts many Buddhist symbols, shows that the Brahmans,
even when they drove it out of India, were compelled to retain some of
its relics, just as they were under the necessity of recognising Buddha as
one of the Avatars of their god Vishnu. Buddhism may be described as “the
parent of Indian architecture,” which, fashioned at first on the Greek
patterns, speedily assumed a character of its own, as may be seen in its
colossal temples.

But, as is the case with all religious systems of purely human origin,
Buddhism gradually fell away from the standard of its founder. The heart
craves an object of worship, a something or some one on which or on whom
to rest its hopes and fears, and the Buddhists, untaught to reverence a
Supreme Being, transferred their adoration to Buddha himself, whose life
and work they involved in a cloud of myth and legend. His relics came to
be worshipped, and reliquary towers for their preservation were everywhere
erected.

The enthusiasm which fired the Buddhists, and largely contributed to the
rapid extension of their creed, for Buddhism, unlike Brahmanism, is a
proselytising religion, finds a striking illustration in the career of
Hiouen-thsang, the Chinese pilgrim, who, in the middle of the seventh
century, crossed the deserts and mountains which separate China from
India, and visited the principal cities of the Indian Peninsula.


HIOUEN-THSANG, A BUDDHIST PILGRIM.[12]

Hiouen-thsang was born in a provincial town of China, in one of the
revolutionary and anarchical periods of the Chinese Empire. His father,
having quitted the public service, was able to devote his leisure to the
education of his four children, one of whom, Hiouen-thsang, was
distinguished at an early age by his genius and his thirst for knowledge.
After receiving instruction at a Buddhist monastery, he was admitted as a
monk, when only thirteen years old. During the next seven years, he
travelled about with his brethren from place to place, in order to profit
by the lectures of the most eminent professors; but his peaceful studies
were frequently interrupted by the horrors of war, and he was forced to
seek refuge in the more remote provinces of the empire.

At the age of twenty he took priest’s orders, having already become famous
for his multifarious learning. He had studied the chief canonical book of
the Buddhist faith, the records of Buddha’s life and teaching, the system
of ethics and metaphysics, and had completely mastered the works of
K’ung-fu-tze and Lao-tse. But, like many inquiring minds, he was tortured
by doubt. For six years more he prosecuted his studies in the principal
places of learning in China, and was frequently solicited to teach when he
had come to learn. Baffled in all his efforts to satisfy his anxious and
restless intellect, he resolved at last on paying a visit to India, the
parent-land of Buddhism, where he knew he should find the original of the
works, which, in their Chinese translation, had proved so dubious and
excited so much mistrust. From the records of his pilgrim predecessors he
was aware of the dangers of his journey; yet the glory, as he says, of
recovering the Law, which was to be a guide to all men, and the means of
their salvation, seemed to him worthy of attainment. In common with
several other priests, he applied for the Imperial permission to travel
out of China. It was refused, and his companions lost heart. But
Hiouen-thsang was made of sterner stuff. His mother had often told him
how, before his birth, she had had visions of her future offspring
travelling to the Far West in search of the law; and he himself had been
similarly encouraged.

Having no worldly pleasures to enfeeble him, and believing only in one
object as worth living for, he resolved to face danger and difficulty;
made his way to the Hoang-Ho, and the place of departure of the caravans
for the West, and, eluding the vigilance of the Governor, succeeded in
crossing the frontier. He was without friends or helpers; but after
spending the night in fervent prayer, found a guide in a person who, next
morning, unexpectedly presented himself. For some distance this guide
conducted him faithfully, but abandoned him when they reached the Desert.
There were still five watch-towers to be passed, and the uncertain track
through the Desert was indicated only by skeletons and the hoof-marks of
horses. Bravely went the pilgrim on his way, and though misled by the
“mirage” of the Desert, he safely reached the first tower. There he
narrowly escaped death from the arrows of the watchman, but the officer in
command was himself a devout Buddhist, and he not only allowed
Hiouen-thsang to proceed, but gave him letters of recommendation to the
governors of the other towers. At the last tower, however, he was refused
leave to pass, and neither bribes nor entreaties proved of any avail. He
was compelled to retrace his steps, and make a long détour, in the course
of which he lost his way. His water-bag burst, and for the first time his
courage wavered. Should he not return? But no; he had taken an oath never
to make a step backward until he had reached India. It were better to die
with his face to the West, than return to the East and live.

For four nights and five days he traversed the Desert, without a drop of
water to quench his thirst, with no other refreshment than that which he
derived from his prayers; and that these should afford any hope or
consolation seems strange enough, when we remember that Buddhism held out
to him no hope of a God or a Saviour. “It is incredible in how exhausted
an atmosphere the Divine spark within us will glimmer on, and even warm
the dark chambers of the human heart.” Comforted by his prayers, he
resumed his onward march, and in due time arrived at a large lake in the
country of the Oigom Tatars, by whom he was received with an abundant
hospitality. One of the Tatar Khans insisted that he should reside with
him and teach his people; and as he would listen to no remonstrances or
explanations, Hiouen-thsang was driven to a desperate expedient. The king,
he said, might fetter his body, but had no power over his mind and will;
and he refused all food, with a view to put an end to a life which he no
longer regarded as of value. In this resolution he persisted for three
days, and the Khan, afraid that he would perish, was compelled at last to
yield. But he extracted from him a promise that on his return to China he
would visit him, and abide with him for three years. At last, after a
month’s detention, during which the Khan and his court daily attended the
lectures of the pious monk, he resumed his journey, attended by a strong
escort, and furnished with letters of introduction to the twenty-four
princes whose dominions he must cross.

His route lay through what is now called Dsungary, across the
Musur-dabaghan mountains, the northern chain of the Belur-tag, the valley
of the Yaxartes, Bactria, and Kabulistan. The pilgrim’s description of the
scenes through which he passed is interesting and vivid; he was a keen
observer, and gifted with considerable powers of expression.

Of the Musur-dabaghan mountains he says:--

“The crest of these heights rises to the sky. Since the beginning of the
world the snow has been accumulating, and it is now transformed into
masses of ice, which never melt, either in spring or summer. Hard shining
sheets of snow are spread out until they vanish into the infinite, and
mingle with the clouds. If one looks at them, one’s eyes are dazzled by
the splendour. Frozen peaks impend over both sides of the wood, some
hundred feet in height, and some twenty or thirty feet in thickness. It is
not without difficulty and danger that the traveller can clear them or
climb over them. Sudden gusts of hurricane and tornadoes of snow attack
the pilgrims. Even with double shoes, and in thick furs, one cannot help
trembling and shivering.”

But as Max Müller justly observes, what is more important in the early
portion of our traveller’s narrative than any descriptions of scenery, is
his account of the high degree of civilisation that then obtained among
the tribes of Central Asia. Historians have learned to believe in the
early civilisation of Egypt, Babylon, China, India; but they will have to
abandon all their old ideas of barbarism and barbarians now that they find
the Tatar hordes possessing, in the seventh century, “the chief arts and
institutions of an advanced society.” The theory of M. Oppert, who gives
to a Turanian or Scythian race the original invention of the cuneiform
letters and a civilisation anterior to that of Babylon and Nineveh, ceases
to be improbable; since no new wave of civilisation could have touched
these countries between the cuneiform period of their literature and
history and the epoch of Hiouen-thsang’s visit.[13]

“In the kingdom of Okini, on the western portion of China, Hiouen-thsang
found an active commerce, gold, silver, and copper coinage; monasteries,
where the chief works of Buddhism were studied, and an alphabet derived
from Sanskrit. As he travelled on he met with mines, with agriculture,
including pears, plums, peaches, almonds, grapes, pomegranates, rice, and
wheat. The inhabitants were dressed in silk and woollen materials. There
were musicians in the chief cities who played on the flute and the guitar.
Buddhism was the prevailing religion, but there were traces of an earlier
worship, the Bactrian fire-worship. The country was everywhere studded
with halls, monasteries, monuments and statues. Samarkand formed at that
early time a kind of Athens, and its manners were copied by all the tribes
in the neighbourhood. Balkh, the old capital of Bactria, was still an
important place on the Oxus, well-fortified, and full of sacred buildings.
And the details which our traveller gives of the exact circumference of
the cities, the number of their inhabitants, the products of the soil, the
articles of trade, can leave no doubt in our minds that he relates what he
had seen and heard himself. A new page in the history of the world is here
opened, and new ruins pointed out, which would reward the pickaxe of a
Layard.”

Hiouen-thsang passed into India by way of Kabul. Shortly before he reached
Pou-lou-cha-pou-lo, the Sanskrit Purushapura, the modern Peshawer, he was
informed of a remarkable cave, where Buddha had converted a dragon, and
had promised to leave it his shadow, in order that, whenever the fierce
passions of its dragon-nature should awake, it might be reminded of its
vows by the presence of its master’s shadowy features. The promise was
fulfilled, and the dragon-cave became a favourite resort for pilgrims. Our
traveller was warned that the roads to the cave were haunted by robbers,
so that for three years no pilgrim had been known to return from it. But
he replied that it would be difficult during a hundred thousand Kalpas to
meet once with the true shadow of Buddha, and that having come so near it
in his pilgrimage, he could not pass on without paying the tribute of his
adoration.

He left his companions in their security, and having, with some
difficulty, obtained a guide, proceeded on his way. They had accomplished
but a few miles when they were attacked by five robbers. Hiouen-thsang
showed them his shaven head and priestly robes. “Master,” said one of the
fraternity, “where are you going?” “I desire,” replied Hiouen-thsang, “to
adore the shadow of Buddha.” “Master,” said the robber, “do you not know
that these roads are full of bandits?” “Robbers are men,” was the answer,
“and as for me, when I am going to adore the shadow of Buddha, though the
roads might be full of wild beasts, I shall walk on fearless. And inasmuch
as I will not fear you, because you are men, you will not be insensible to
pity.” These words, in their simple faith, produced a strange effect upon
the robbers, who opened their minds to the enlightenment of the wise man’s
teaching.

Hiouen-thsang resumed his journey, with his guide, and passed a stream
which rushed tumultuously between the walls of a precipitous ravine. In
the rock was a door opening into a depth of darkness. With a fervent
prayer the pilgrim entered boldly, advanced towards the east, then moved
fifty steps backwards, and began his devotions. He made one hundred
salutations, but saw nothing. This he conceived to be a punishment for his
sins; he reproached himself despairingly and wept bitter tears, because he
was denied the happiness of seeing Buddha’s shadow. At last, after many
prayers and invocations, he saw on the eastern wall a dim patch of light.
But it passed away. With mingled joy and pain he continued to pray, and
again he saw a light, and again it vanished swiftly. Then, in his ecstasy
of loving devotion, he vowed that he would never leave the place until he
had seen the “Venerable of the age.” After two hundred prayers, he saw the
cave suddenly fill with radiance, and the shadow of Buddha, of a brilliant
white colour, rose majestically on the wall, as when the clouds are riven,
and all at once flashes on the wondering eye the marvellous image of the
“Mountain of Light.” The features of the divine countenance were
illuminated with a dazzling glow. Hiouen-thsang was absorbed in wondering
contemplation, and from an object so sublime and incomparable he could not
turn his eyes away.

After he awoke from his trance, he called in six men, and bade them kindle
a fire in the cave, that he might burn incense; but as the glitter of the
flame made the shadow of Buddha disappear, he ordered it to be
extinguished. Five of the attendants saw the shadow, but the sixth saw
nothing; and the guide, when Hiouen-thsang told him of the vision, could
only express his astonishment. “Master,” he said, “without the sincerity
of your faith and the energy of your vows, you could not have seen such a
miracle.”

Such is the account which Hiouen-thsang’s biographers give of his visit to
Buddha’s cave; but Max Müller remarks, to the credit of Hiouen-thsang
himself, that in the _Si-yu-hi_, which contains his own diary, the story
is told much more simply. After describing the cave, he merely
adds:--“Formerly, the shadow of Buddha was seen in the cave, bright, like
his natural appearance, and with all the marks of his divine beauty. One
might have said, it was Buddha himself. For some centuries, however, it
has not been possible to see it completely. Though one does perceive
something, it is only a feeble and doubtful resemblance. If a man prays
with sincere faith, and if he have received from above a secret
impression, he sees the shadow clearly, but cannot enjoy the sight for any
length of time.”

       *       *       *       *       *

From Peshawer the undaunted pilgrim proceeded to Kashmir, visited the
principal towns of Central India, and arrived at last in Magadha, the Holy
land of the Buddhists. There, for a space of five years, he devoted
himself to the study of Sanskrit and Buddhist literature; he explored
every place which was consecrated by memories of the past. Passing through
Bengal, he travelled southward, with the view of visiting Ceylon, the
chief seat of Buddhism. But, unable to carry out his design, he crossed
the peninsula from east to west, ascended the Malabar coast, reached the
Indus, and after numerous excursions to scenes of interest in
North-Western India, returned to Magadha to enjoy, with his old friends,
the delights of learned leisure and intellectual companionship.

Eventually, his return to China became necessary, and traversing the
Punjab, Kabulistan, and Bactria, he struck the river Oxus, following its
course nearly up to its springhead on the remote Pamir tableland; and
after a residence of some duration in the three chief towns of Turkistan,
Khasgar, Yarkand, and Khoten, he found himself again, after sixteen years
of varied experience, in his native land. By this time he had attained a
world-wide reputation, and he was received by the Emperor with the honours
usually accorded to a military hero. His entry into the capital was marked
by public rejoicings; the streets were decked with gay carpets, festoons
of flowers, and waving banners. The splendour of martial pomp was not
wanting; the civic magistrates lent the dignity of their presence to the
scene; and all the monks of the district issued forth in solemn
procession.

If this were a triumph of unusual character, not less unaccustomed were
the trophies which figured in it.

First, 150 grains of Buddha’s dust;

Second, a golden statue of Buddha;

Third, another statue of sandal-wood;

Fourth, a statue of sandal-wood, representing Buddha as descending from
heaven;

Fifth, a statue of silver;

Sixth, a golden statue, representing Buddha victorious over the dragon;

Seventh, a statue of sandal-wood, representing Buddha as a preacher; and

Eighth, a collection of 657 Buddhist works in 520 volumes.

       *       *       *       *       *

Admitted to an audience of the Emperor in the Phœnix Palace, he was
offered, but declined, a high position in the Government. “The doctrine of
Confucius,” he said, “is still the soul of the administration;” and he
preferred to devote his remaining years to the study of the Law of Buddha.
The Emperor invited him to write a narrative of his travels, and placed at
his disposal a monastery where he might employ himself in peaceful and
happy seclusion in translating the works he had brought back from India.
He quickly wrote and published his travels, but the translation of the
Sanskrit MSS. occupied the rest of his life. It is said that the number of
the works he translated, with the assistance of a large staff of monks,
amounted to 740, in 1335 volumes. Often he might be seen pondering a
passage of difficulty, when suddenly a flash of inspiration would seem to
enlighten his mind. His soul was cheered, as when a man walking in
darkness sees all at once the sun piercing the clouds and shining in its
full brightness; and, unwilling to trust to his own understanding, he used
to attribute his knowledge to a secret inspiration of Buddha and the
Bôdhisattvas.

When his last hour approached, he divided all his property among the poor,
invited his friends to come and see him, and take a cheerful farewell of
the impure body of Hiouen-thsang. “I desire,” he said, “that whatever
merits I may have gained by good works may fall upon other people. May I
be born again with them in the heaven of the blessed, be admitted to the
family of Mi-le, and serve the Buddha of the future, who is full of
kindness and affection. When I descend again upon earth to pass through
other forms of existence, I desire at every new birth to fulfil my duties
towards Buddha, and arrive at the last at the highest and most perfect
intelligence.” He died in the year 664.

The life of Hiouen-thsang, and his narrative of travel, have been
translated into French by M. Stanislas Julien.[14] The foregoing
particulars have been borrowed from a review of M. Julien’s work, by Max
Müller, which originally appeared in the “Times” of April 17 and 20, 1857.

We translate from Stanislas Julien’s “Vie et Voyages de Hiouen-thsang” the
Chinese narrative of the pilgrim’s last days:--

“After completing his translation of the Pradjñâ, the Master of the Law
became conscious that his strength was failing, and that his end was near
at hand. Accordingly he spoke to his disciples: ‘If I came into the palace
of Yu-hoa-kong, it was, as you know, on account of the sacred book of the
Pradjñâ. Now that the work is finished, I feel that my thread of life is
run out. When after death you remove me to my last resting-place, see that
everything be done in a modest and simple manner. You will wrap my body
in a mat, and deposit it in some calm and solitary spot in the bosom of a
valley. Carefully avoid the neighbourhood of palace or convent; a body so
impure as mine should be separated from it by a great distance.’

“On hearing these words, his disciples broke out into sobs and cries.
Drying their tears, they said to him: ‘Master, you have still a reserve of
strength and vigour; your countenance is in no wise altered; why do you
give sudden utterance to such miserable words?’

“‘I know it through and in myself,’ replied the Master of the Law; ‘how
would it be possible for you to understand my presentiments?’

“On the first day of the first moon in the spring of the first year
_Lin-te_ (664), the neighbouring interpreters and all the religious of the
convent, came to solicit him, with the most pressing earnestness, to
translate the collection of the _Ratnakoûta soûtra_.

“The Master of the Law, yielding to their fervid persistency, made an
effort to overcome his weakness, and translated a few lines. Then, closing
the Hindu text, he said: ‘This collection is as great as that of the
_Pradjñâ_, but I feel I have not sufficient strength to complete such an
enterprise. My last moments have arrived, and my life can be only of short
duration. To-day I would fain visit the valley of Lantchi, to offer my
last homages to the statues of the innumerable Buddhas.’

“Accordingly, he set forth with his disciples. The monks, at his
departure, did not cease to shed tears.

“After this pious excursion he returned to the convent. Thenceforward he
ceased to translate, and occupied himself solely in his religious duties.

“On the eighth day, one of his disciples, the monk Hiouen-Khio, originally
of Kao-tch’ang, related to the Master of the Law a dream which he had had.
He had seen a _Fesu-thou_ (or _Stoûpa_,) of imposing aspect and prodigious
height, crumble suddenly to the ground. Awakened by the fall, he ran to
inform the Master of the Law. ‘The event does not concern you,’ said
Hiouen-thsang; ‘it is the presage of my approaching end.’

“On the evening of the ninth day, as he crossed the bridge of a canal in
the rear of his residence, he fell, and injured his leg. From that moment
his strength declined perceptibly.

“On the sixteenth day he cried out, as if awaking from a dream: ‘Before my
eyes I see an immense lotus-flower, charming in its freshness and purity.’

“He had another dream on the seventeenth day, in which he saw hundreds and
thousands of men of tall stature, who, decorated with garments of
embroidered silk, with flowers of marvellous beauty, and jewels of great
price, issued from the sleeping-chamber of the Master of the Law, and
proceeded to set out, both internally and externally, the hall consecrated
to the translation of the holy books. Afterwards, in the rear of that
hall, on a wooded mountain, they everywhere planted rich banners of the
most vivid colours, and created an harmonious music. He saw moreover,
without the gate, an innumerable multitude of splendid chariots loaded
with perfumed viands and fruits of more than a thousand kinds, as
beautiful in form as in colour; no fruits were there of terrestrial
growth! The people brought them to him, one after the other, and offered
him a profusion; but he refused them, saying: ‘Such viands as these belong
only to those who have obtained the superior intelligence. Hiouen-thsang
has not yet arrived at that sublime rank: how could he dare to receive
them?’ In spite of his energetic refusal they continued to serve him
without intermission.

“The disciples who watched by him happening to make some slight sound, he
opened his eyes suddenly, and related his dream to the sub-director
(_Karmmadana_), a certain Hoeï-te.”

“‘And from these omens,’ added the Master, ‘it seems to me that such
merits as I have been able to acquire during my life have not fallen into
oblivion, and I believe, with an entire faith, that it is not in vain one
practises the doctrine of the Buddha.’

“Immediately, he ordered the master Kia-chang to make a written list of
the titles of the sacred books and the treatises which he had translated,
forming altogether seven hundred and forty works and thirteen hundred and
thirty-five volumes (_livres_). He wrote down also the _Kôti_ (ten
millions) of paintings of the Buddha, as well as the thousand images of
_Mi-le_ (_Mâitrêya bôdhisattva_), painted on silk, which he had caused to
be executed. There were, moreover, the _Kôtis_ (one hundred millions) of
statuettes of uniform colour. He had also caused to be written a thousand
copies of the following sacred books:

    _Nong-touan-pan-jo-king (Vadjra tchhêdika pradjñâ parâmitâ soûtra)._

    _Yo-sse-jou-laï-pou-youen-kong-te-king (Arya bhagavati bhâichadja
    gourou poûrwa pranidhâna nâma mahâ yâna soûtra)._

    _Lou-men-t’o-lo-ni-king (Chat moukhi dhârani)._”

He had ministered to the wants of upwards of twenty thousand persons among
the faithful and heretical; he had kindled a hundred thousand lamps, and
purchased thousands upon thousands (_ocean_) of creatures.

When Kia-chang had finished this long catalogue of good works, he was
ordered to read it aloud. After hearing it, the religious crossed their
hands and loaded the Master with congratulations. Then he said to
them:--“The moment of my death approaches; already my mind grows feeble
and seems to be on the point of quitting me. Distribute at once in alms my
clothes and goods; let statues be fabricated; and order the religious to
recite some prayers.”

On the twenty-third day, a meal was given to the poor, at which alms were
distributed. On the same day, he ordered a moulder named Song-kia-tchi, to
raise, in the Kia-cheou-tien palace, a statue of the Intelligence
(Buddha); after which he invited the population of the convent, the
translators, and his disciples, to bid “a joyous farewell to that impure
and contemptible body of Hiouen-thsang, who, having finished his work,
merited no longer existence. I desire,” he added, “to see poured back upon
other men the merits which I have acquired by any good works; to be born
with them in the heaven of the Touchitas; to be admitted into the family
of _Mi-le_ (_Mâitrêya_); and to serve the Buddha, full of tenderness and
affection. When I shall return to earth to pass through other existences,
I desire, at each new birth, to discharge with boundless zeal my duties
towards the Buddha, and finally to arrive at the Transcendent Intelligence
(_Anouttara samyak sambôdhi_).”

After having made these adieux, he was silent, and engaged in meditation;
then with his dying tongue he faltered forth his bitter regret that he did
not enjoy more of the “world of the eyes” (the faculty of seeing), of the
“world of the thought” (the faculty of thinking), of “the world of the
knowledge which springs from observation” (the knowledge of sensible
objects); of the “world of the knowledge which springs from the
mind”--_l’esprit_ (the perception of spiritual things); and that he did
not possess the fulness of the Intelligence. Finally, he pronounced two
_gubhas_, which he caused to be repeated to the persons near him:--

“Adoration to _Maitrêya Tathagata_, gifted with a sublime intelligence! I
desire, with all men, to see your affectionate visage.

“Adoration to _Maitrêya Tathagata_! I desire, when I quit this life, to be
born again in the midst of the multitude who surround you.”

The Master of the Law, after having long fixed his gaze upon Te-hoeï, the
sub-director of the convent (_Karmmadana_), raised his right hand to his
chin and his left upon his breast; then he stretched out his legs, crossed
them, and lay down on the right side.

He remained thus, immovable, without taking anything, until the fifth day
of the second moon. In the middle of the night his disciples asked him:

“Master, have you at length obtained to be born in the midst of the
assembly of _Maitrêya_?”

“Yes,” he replied, with a failing voice. And having spoken, his breathing
grew rapidly weaker, and in a few moments, his soul passed away.

His servants, feeling quietly, found that his feet were already cold, but
that the back part of the head retained its warmth.

On the seventh day (of the second moon) his countenance had not undergone
any alteration, and his body exhaled no odour.

The religious of the convent having passed several days in prayers, it was
not until the morning of the ninth day that the sad news reached the
capital.

       *       *       *       *       *

The Master of the Law was seven _tchi_ high; his face was of a fresh
complexion. His eyebrows were wide apart, his eyes brilliant. His air was
grave and majestic, and his features were full of grace and vivacity. The
quality or tone (_timbre_) of his voice was pure and penetrating, and his
language at times soared to a lofty eloquence, so noble and so harmonious
that one could not refuse to listen. When he was surrounded by his
disciples, or animated by the presence of an illustrious guest, he would
often speak for half-a-day, while his hearers sat riveted in an immovable
attitude. His favourite attire was a robe of fine cotton stuff,
proportioned to his height and figure; his gait was light and easy; he
looked straight before him, throwing his glances neither to the right nor
to the left. He was majestic as those great rivers which embrace the
earth; calm and shining as the lotus which springs in the midst of the
waters. A severe observer of discipline, he was unchanged and
unchangeable. Nothing could equal his affectionate benevolence and tender
pity, the fervour of his zeal or his inviolable attachment to the
practices of the Law. He was reserved in his friendship, made no hasty
bonds, and when once he had entered his convent, nothing but an imperial
decree could have drawn him from his pious retreat.

On the third day of the second moon (of the period _Lin-te_,--664), the
Master of the Law had sent Hiu-hiouen-pi to inform the Emperor of the
wound he had received, and of the malady it had induced.

On the seventh day of the same month the Emperor, by a decree, ordered one
of the imperial physicians to take with him medicaments and attend upon
the Master of the Law, but by the time he arrived, the Master was already
dead. Teou-sse-lun, governor of Fang-tcheou, announced by a report this
melancholy event.

At the news, the Emperor shed tears copiously, and cried aloud in his
sorrow, declaring that he had just lost the treasure of the empire. For
several days he suspended the usual audiences.

All the civil and military functionaries abandoned themselves to groans
and tears: the Emperor himself was unable to repress his sobs or moderate
his grief. On the next day but one, he spoke to his great officers as
follows:

“What a misfortune for my empire is the loss of Thsang, the Master of the
Law! It may well be said that the great family of Cakya has seen its sole
support shattered beneath it, and that all men remain without master and
without guide. Do they not resemble the mariner who sees himself sinking
into the abyss, when the storm has destroyed his oars and his shallop? the
traveller astray in the midst of the darkness, whose lamp dies out at the
entrance to a bottomless gulf?”

When he had uttered these words, the Emperor groaned again, and sighed
many times.

On the twenty-sixth day of the same month, the Emperor issued the
following decree:

“In accordance with a report addressed to me by Teou-sse-lun on the death
of the Master of the Law, Hiouen-thsang, of the convent _Yu-hoa-sse_, I
order that his funeral take place at the expense of the State.”

On the sixth day of the third moon, he issued a new decree as follows:

“By the death of Thsang, the Master of the Law, the translation of the
sacred books is stopped. In conformity to the ancient ordinances, the
magistrates will cause the translations already completed to be copied
carefully: as for the (Indian) manuscripts which have not yet been
translated, they will be handed over in their entirety to the director of
the convent _Ts’e’-en-sse_ (of the Great Beneficence,) who will watch over
their safety. The disciples of Hiouen-thsang and the translators’ company,
who previously did not belong to the convent _Yu-hoa-sse_, will all return
to their respective convents.”

On the fifth day of the third moon appeared the following decree:

“On the day of the funeral of the Master of the Law, Hiouen-thsang, I
permit the male and female religious of the capital to accompany him _with
banners and parasols_ to his last resting-place. The Master of the Law
shone by his noble conduct and his eminent virtues, and was the idol of
his age. Wherefore, now he is no more, it is just that I should diffuse
again abundant benefits to honour the memory of a man who has had no equal
in past times.”

His disciples, faithful to his last wishes, formed a litter of coarse
mats, removed his body to the capital, and deposited it in the convent of
the Great Beneficence, in the middle of the hall devoted to the labours
of translation. United by the sentiment of a common sorrow, they uttered
such cries as might have shaken the earth. The religious and the laics of
the capital hastened to the spot, and poured out tears mingled with sobs
and cries. Every day the crowd was swollen by fresh arrivals.

On the fourteenth day of the fourth month, preparations were made for his
interment in the capital of the West. The male and female religious, and a
multitude of the men of the people, prepared upwards of five hundred
objects necessary for the celebration of his obsequies; parasols of smooth
(_unia_) silk, banners and standards, the tent and the litter of the
_Ni-ouan_ (Nirvâna;) the inner coffin of gold, the outer one of silver,
the _so-lo_ trees (_salas_,) and disposed them in the middle of the
streets to be traversed by the procession. The plaintive cadences of the
funereal music, and the mournful dirges of the bearers resounded even to
Heaven. The inhabitants of the capital and of the districts situated
within a radius of five hundred _li_ (fifty leagues,) who formed the
procession, exceeded one million in number. Though the obsequies were
celebrated with pomp, the coffin of the Master nevertheless was borne upon
a litter composed of rude coarse mats. The silk manufacturers of the East
had employed three thousand pieces of different colours in making the
chariot of the Nirvâna, which they had ornamented with flowers and
garlands, loaded with precious stones. They had asked permission to place
the body of the Master of the Law upon this resplendent catafalque; but
afraid of infringing his dying command, his disciples had refused. So it
went first, bearing the Master’s three robes and his religious mantle, of
the value of one hundred ounces of silver; next came the litter
constructed of coarse mats. Not one of the assistants but shed copious
tears or was almost choked with grief!

Upwards of thirty thousand religious and laics spent the night near his
tomb.

On the morning of the fifteenth day the grave was closed; then, at the
place of sepulture, an immense distribution of alms was made, and the
crowd afterwards dispersed in silence.

On the eighth day of the fourth moon of the second year of the
Tsong-tchang period (669,) the Emperor decreed that the tomb of the Master
of the Law should be transported into a plain, situated to the west of the
_Fan-tch’ouen_ valley, and that a tower should be erected in his
honour.[15]




CHAPTER II.

_MAGIANISM: THE PARSEES._


THE ZENDAVESTA.[16]

When the pure morality of Christianity is adduced as a proof of its high
origin, one of the favourite devices of Modern Unbelief is to claim an
equally high standard for the morality inculcated by the primitive creeds,
and to rain praises upon the ethical systems embodied in the Soûtras of
the Buddhists, the Rig-Veda of the Brahmans, or the Zendavesta of the
Parsees. In making this claim our philosophers probably calculate on the
little knowledge which the multitude possess of any creeds but their own.
They are well aware that, to the popular mind, the teaching of Buddha or
Zoroaster is necessarily a sealed book, and that the whole extent of its
purport is known only to a few scholars. Hence, when they come to support
their thesis by quotations, they are able to select those isolated
passages which shine with the lustre of genuine diamonds, and produce an
absolutely false impression of the general character of the writings in
which they occur; thin veins of precious metal shining here and there
through masses of worthless ore. No doubt the Veda contains numerous
utterances of the highest beauty, in which the soul’s devotion to a
Supreme Power is expressed with a lyrical fervour inferior only to that of
the Sweet Singer of Israel. No doubt the Zendavesta, or the books of
K’ung-fu-tze, like the works of later and maturer intellects--a Xenophon
and a Plato, a Seneca and a Marcus Aurelius--are enriched with thoughts of
the loftiest description, and frequently breathe the most exalted
aspirations. But what we have to remember is, that these are wholly
exceptional; that they are the most arduous efforts of each self-absorbed
thinker, and the indications of his boldest flights. At other times the
wing grows feeble; at other times the music is faint and even discordant;
the bird can do no more than creep along the ground. In the sayings of our
Lord, however, or in the writings of His Apostles, the tone is always
sustained, clear, definite. There is no uncertainty or hesitation. Nothing
mean or unworthy is woven in their texture. No concessions are made to
man’s coarser desires or grosser passions. The system set before us is
rounded in perfection, and shows not a flaw from beginning to end. We feel
that He who speaks, whether in His own Person or through His disciples,
speaks as never man spoke before; and that the Voice which fills our ears
and stirs our hearts is, in deed and in truth, a Voice from Heaven.

We propose to furnish in this chapter a general view of the construction
and teaching of the Parsee Scriptures, with the view of showing the signal
inferiority of the creed it embodies to Christianity in all that can
elevate the mind and satisfy the soul. At the same time we admit that the
Parsee creed, and all similar creeds, possess an intrinsic value, apart
from their ethical deficiencies, as illustrating the recognition of an
Almighty Will, an Eternal and Supreme Force, by all the higher races of
mankind. They show us the hopes, fears, and desires of great tribes and
peoples which existed in the days before men wrote history; and they show
us how their wisest teachers groped in the dark, and stumbled in the
thorny path,--favoured occasionally, it is true, with a wonderful glimpse
of light, and striking now and again into the pleasant places, but never
rejoicing in the glory which rose upon earth with the Sun of
Righteousness, never treading in that narrow but secure way which leads to
Eternal Life. We see in them the great minds of the early world, like
children on the seashore, perplexed by a music which they could not
comprehend, and astonished by a power which they were unable to define.
Yet happier and wiser they than the cold materialist of a later age, who
resolves all mysteries, all phenomena, into the working of a blind
inflexible Law, and takes out of creation its light, beauty, and joy by
denying the existence of an all-powerful and all-loving Creator.

The religion professed by the ancient Persians, and still accepted by the
Parsees of Western India, and by a scattered population in Yezd and
Kerman, is taught in the books known as the Zend-Avesta. This title comes
from the Sassanian term _Avesta_ or _Apusta_, that is, the text;[17] and
_Zend_, or _Zand_, that is, the commentary upon it. The meaning of the
latter word, however, seems to have varied at different periods.
Originally it signified the interpretation of the sacred texts handed down
from Zoroaster (or Zarathustra) and his disciples. In course of time the
interpretation came to be esteemed not less authoritative and sacred than
the original text, and both were called _Avesta_. But the language in
which they were written having died out, they became unintelligible to the
majority of the people, and a new _Zend_ or commentary was required before
they could be understood. The new “Zend” was the work of the most learned
priests of the Sassanian period, and consisted of a translation of the
double “Avesta” into the vernacular language then in vogue.[18] And as
this translation is the only key which the priests of modern Persia
possess to the old creed as taught by Zarathustra, it has usurped the
place of the original Zend, and is now the recognised official commentary.

But, anciently, the word “Zend” implied something more than a simple
interpretation of the “Avesta,” or sacred texts. That interpretation was
the source of certain new doctrines, the whole of which were considered
orthodox, and designated _Zandi-agahi_, or Zend doctrines; doctrines
which, it can hardly be doubted, supplied Plutarch and some other of the
Greeks with ethical suggestions. The name _Pazend_, which frequently
occurs in connection with _Avesta_ and _Zend_, denotes a further
exposition of Zarathustrian teaching, as contained in the Vendidad, to
which we shall shortly refer.

Thus far we have been indebted to Dr. Haug’s account of the origin of the
Zendavesta. His views are confirmed by Westergaard, who asserts that the
sacred books belong to two epochs; that is, that they are written in one
age, and collected and systematised in another, in much the same way as,
according to Wolf, the Homeric poems were produced and assumed their
present form. All the earlier traditions ascribe their origin to
Zarathustra; but modern philologists affirm that they could not have
sprung from any single mind, because they present no defined or
self-consistent system of religious belief or moral economy. Like the
hymns of the Vedas, and the strains of the Norse Edda, the several
portions of the Zendavesta, so they say, must have been composed by
different bards, each of whom coloured his particular theme according to
the hues of his lively imagination. This theory, however, though it may
have an element of truth in it, is hardly the whole truth. The Zendavesta
is unquestionably wanting in unity and completeness. But it seems to us
that traces of a dominant mind are everywhere visible; that the various
parts are held together as on a thread by the teaching of Zarathustra
himself; and that the additions made by later and inferior writers are not
such as wholly to obscure the original work.

It is to the celebrated Frenchman, Anquetil Duperron, that the scholars of
the West owe their knowledge of these remarkable books. Happening to see a
facsimile of a few pages written in Zend characters, he resolved on
setting out for India in order to purchase manuscripts of all the sacred
books of the Zarathustrian religion, to acquire a thorough insight into
their signification, and to obtain a knowledge of the rites and religious
observances of the Parsees. His means being limited, he entered himself as
a sailor on board a ship of the Dutch Indian Company, and worked his way
out to Bombay in 1754. With money supplied by the French Government to
assist him in his ingenious researches, he bribed one of the most learned
_dustoors_ or priests, Dustoor Darat, or Surat, to procure the treasures
he desired, and to instruct him in the Zend and Pehlvi languages. As soon
as he had acquired the requisite proficiency, he addressed himself to the
task of translating the whole of the Zendavesta into French. This was in
1759. Returning to Europe, he convinced himself of the genuineness of his
purchases by comparing them with MSS. in the Bodleian Library; and, after
several years of arduous labour, produced the first European version in
1771. At the outset, the authenticity of his work was challenged both in
England and Germany; but all doubts have been set at rest by the inquiries
of Rask and others; and thus, through the fanciful enterprise of a young
Frenchman, the veil has been lifted which for so long a period shrouded
the mysterious religion of the Magi.

We do not, however, possess the whole of the Avesta. It is asserted by an
Arabian writer that Zarathustra himself covered with his verses no fewer
than twelve thousand parchments, and who shall compute the extent of the
literature accumulated by his disciples? Whether this literature perished
at the epoch of the Macedonian conquest of Persia, or whether it was
destroyed by Alexander the Great, or whether it gradually perished as the
influence of the Greek philosophy prevailed over the Zarathustrian
theology, it is impossible to determine. The remains of the sacred books,
however, with short summaries of their contents, have been handed down to
us. Originally they were twenty-one in number, called _Nosks_, and each
_Nosk_ consisting of “Avesta” and “Zend”--text and commentary. The number
twenty-one corresponded to the number of words composing the “Honovar,” or
most sacred prayer, of the Zarathustrians. It is, we may add, a magical
number, being the result of the multiplication of the sacred numbers,
_three_ and _seven_.

Of these divisions the _précis_ now extant, and collected for the first
time by the Danish scholar Westergaard, comprise the following books:
First, the _Yasna_, which sets before us the devotions proper to be
offered in connection with the sacrificial ceremonies. This Yasna is
divided into seventy-two chapters, representing the six Yahânhârs, or
“seasons” during which Ahura-Mazda, the Good Principle, created the world.
The reader will here note the coincidence between the six creative seasons
of the Magian seer, and the six creative days of the Hebrew lawgiver. The
Yasna consists of two parts, the older of which is written in what is
called the Gâtha dialect, and had acquired a peculiar sanctity prior to
the date of composition of the other books. It may be described as a
treasury of songs, hymns, and metrical prayers, which embody a variety of
abstruse reflections upon subjects of metaphysical inquiry, and are much
better adapted to stimulate the intellect of the student than to foster
the devotion of the worshipper. They are rhymeless, like the poetical
effusions of Cædmon, and in their metrical structure bear a curious
resemblance to the Vedic hymns. Of these collections, or Gâthas, there are
five, and their leading title seems to be: “The Revealed Thought, the
Revealed Word, and the Revealed Deed of Zarathustra the Holy.” It is added
that the Archangels first sang the Gâthas. Their general purport is an
exposition of the work and teaching of the great founder of Magianism, who
is represented as inveighing against a belief in the _devas_, or gods, and
exhorting his disciples to lift up their hearts only to Ahura-Mazda, the
Supreme Goodness.

Now it seems necessary to correct a popular error, that the Zendavesta is
largely liturgical: an error confirmed by the assertion of Gibbon, who
says: “Every mode of religion, to make a deep and lasting impression on
the human mind, must exercise our obedience, by enjoining practices of
devotion for which we can assign no reason; and must acquire our esteem by
inculcating moral duties analogous to the dictates of our own hearts. The
religion of Zoroaster was abundantly provided with the former, and
possessed a sufficient portion of the latter.” But Zarathustra himself, in
one of his best-known precepts, warns his followers that “he who sows the
ground with care and diligence, acquires a greater stock of religious
merit than he would gain by the repetition of ten thousand prayers.” It is
the tendency of all ethico-religious systems, at least in their earliest
stage of development, to discourage purely liturgical observances, and to
enjoin on the disciple a state of self-concentration and self-absorption
varied only by physical activity. Unaided by a divine Revelation, their
founders never rise higher than the passive virtues of endurance and
patience. As time passes away, and the new creed falls into the hands of a
special school of expounders, minute rites and rigid practices are
accumulated in order to impose upon the neophyte, and deepen the influence
of those who alone possess a clue to their meaning. The formalities which
encumber the Zarathustrian worship were invented long after the death of
the master, and no indication of them appears in the oldest section of
the Zendavesta. They are to be found chiefly in the much later pages of
the _Sadder_, where fifteen different genuflexions and prayers are
required of the devout Persian every time he cuts his finger-nails!

To return to the Yasna. The Gâthas, of which we have been speaking, were
not improbably composed by Zarathustra himself, and may be held to express
his belief and his thoughts in his own words. The second part, or “Younger
Yasna,” is of a much later date and less lofty tone. The invention of some
of the Master’s disciples or priests, it re-establishes the Polytheism
which Zarathustra so strenuously condemned; and furnishes the believer
with a manual of prayers and incantations (in prose) to the genii of the
woods and streams and hills, the powers of fire and earth and water, and
all the invisible spirits which haunt the luminous air.

We come next to the _Visparad_, a collection of prayers in
three-and-twenty chapters, written in Zend, and of a similar tenour to
those in the younger Yasna. These prayers refer to the preparation of the
sacred water, and the consecration of certain offerings--such as the
sacred bread--which are carried round about the sacred fire, and after
having been exhibited to it, are eaten by the priest and by the votary on
whose behalf the ceremony is performed.

The _Yashts_ (Yêsti)--that is, worship by prayers and sacrifices--fall to
be considered in the third place. Of these devotions, which are
consecrated to the praise and worship of one Divine Being, and of a
certain limited group of inferior deities, twenty-four are extant. In
using them the votary endeavours, by a wearisome enumeration of the
glorious achievements of the deity he is addressing, and of the miracles
he has wrought, to induce him to come and enjoy the meal prepared for him,
and then to bestow on his fervid worshipper a blessing not inferior to the
boons bestowed on his children in bygone times. So far as concerns the
legendary history of the ancient Iranians, and in connection with their
belief in the pantheon of Magianism, the Yashts are of great value, and
indeed, from this point of view, are the most precious portion of the
Zendavesta.

While the three parts already described exhibit more or less of a
liturgical character, the fourth division, known as the _Vendidad_, forms
a collection of customs, observances, laws, pains, and penalties, the
growth of a period much later than that of Zarathustra, when Ritual began
its encroachments on Religion. It is the essence of all _genuine_ Ritual
that it should illustrate and explain Doctrine, but this is never found to
be the case in the primitive creeds. In all such it becomes merely the
ingenious invention of a subtle priesthood, by which its members
established their influence over an ignorant community. In the eyes of the
unlearned its complex character invested it with an air of mystery; they
were led to look upon the “form” as of greater importance than the
“spirit,” and to attribute a strange, a wonderful potency to rites and
ceremonies which they could not understand. While it is the special
feature of the faith of CHRIST that it appeals in its sweet simplicity to
every heart, and that it requires of the believer to present himself
before the altar with the innocence and trustfulness of a little child;
that it seeks not to confuse by a multiplicity of minute observances, and
even sums up its leading tenets in two brief and easily intelligible
commandments; Magianism, conscious of its inherent defects, unable to fall
back on the redeeming sacrifice of a SAVIOUR, deficient in any enduring
principle of vitality, sought to build up its structure on a foundation of
ceremonies and formalities. And when it could not feed the soul with the
bread of truth, it dazzled the senses by imposing spectacles, and confused
the imagination with a cumbrous code of the most complicated ritualistic
frivolities; so that the Persian worship, with its incantations and
devices, laid the foundation of the later Magic.

       *       *       *       *       *

Turning our attention now to that portion of the Zendavesta which is
called the Vendidad, we find that it is divided into twenty-two Fargards,
or chapters.

In the first of these we find an account of the creation by Ahura-Mazda,
of sixteen holy regions, sinless spotless Edens, localities of perfect
bliss; each of which is destroyed in succession by Ahriman, the Spirit of
Evil,--a fable evidently suggested by the Mosaic history of Paradise. The
second treats of a certain king, Yimo Vivaugham, who introduced
agriculture into the land of Iran. The third sets forth the various means
by which Zoma, or the Earth, may be rendered happy. You must beware of
excavating deep holes in it, for through these the _devs_, or demons, pass
to and fro between hell and earth; nor must you bury within it the dead
bodies of men or dogs, or other animals. The fourth chapter enumerates six
categories of crime, and the several punishments connected with them. The
fifth and sixth are occupied with a description of various kinds of
impurity. The seventh and eighth contain liturgical directions in
reference to the disposal of the carcases of men and dogs;[19] and it is
stated that whoever eats of flesh so unclean can never be purified, but
that hell will undoubtedly be his portion. Even the house in which a man
or a dog dies must immediately be purified by the use of incense or
sweet-smelling odours; a sanitary precaution of some importance in hot
climates. In the ninth occurs an elaborate detail of the rite of
purification denominated the _Barathium_, to be performed by, and on
behalf of a person who shall have been unwittingly defiled by touching the
dead. The tenth and eleventh are not less minute in their directions what
word must be repeated twice, and thrice, and four times at the different
Gâthas, in order that Ahriman and his lieutenants may be expelled from men
and women who have been in contact with the dead, and from houses, cities,
and provinces into which they have obtained an entrance.

The twelfth Fargard treats of various funeral ceremonies, and repeats a
number of injunctions relative to the cleansing of places, of clothes and
other articles, polluted by lifeless bodies. It concludes with elaborate
warnings against a two-footed _dev_, called Ashmog. The thirteenth and
fourteenth run riot in praise of the noble qualities of dogs, and severe
in their rebuke of the “superior animals” who ill-use them. The fifteenth
reads like a Commination Service, in its denunciation of certain crimes
which can never be undone even by the profoundest penitential offices, and
are punished by Ahura-Mazda with eternal condemnation. The seventeenth,
like the sixteenth, is tediously liturgical, and discusses such minutiæ as
the arrangement of the hair of the head, the extraction of bad or gray
hairs, and the cutting of nails. If these operations are performed
without certain prescribed ceremonies, the devs come upon earth, and
parasitical organisms are produced to the great discomfort and injury of
man. The eighteenth lays down the distinctions which should characterise
an _Athrava_, or priest. He must wear the _padan_, a mouth-cover, of two
fingers’ breadth; must carry an instrument for disposing of parasitical
insects; devote his nights to study, keep alive the sacred fire, and
succour the distressed. The nineteenth chapter recounts the perils to
which Zarathustra was exposed, when he had left the south on his mission,
from the murderous assaults of Ahriman and his host, who hastened up from
the north; the north, to an inhabitant of the warm sunny south, naturally
appearing the fit home and haunt of the Spirit of Evil. The twentieth is
devoted to the praise of Taneslied, who is represented as having swept
away disease, death, bloodshed, war, evil-doers, falsehood, and all kinds
of wickedness. The twenty-first enjoins the salutations to be paid to the
sacred Bull, and extols some of its illustrious qualities. Finally, the
twenty-second narrates the mission of Zarathustra, and describes the evil
he will dispel through the influence of the Word; Ahura-Mazda having
ordered him to establish his worship in the region called Airya-Mava, or
Irman, so that it may become bright, pure, and happy as the abode of
Ahura-Mazda himself, free from sin, and, consequently, free from sorrow
and suffering.

From this brief summary it will be seen that the religion of the Parsees
in its present form is a definite Dualism, recognizing the existence of
two distinct principles, Good and Evil, impersonated by spirits of equal
power, named Ahura-Mazda, (or Spento-Manyus,) and Ahriman, (or
Angro-Manyus.) But no such doctrine was taught by Zarathustra himself. His
creed, like all the earliest creeds, was purely Monotheistic. He set
before men, as the sole object of their love and adoration, one Supreme
Being, Ahura-Mazda, the great “Life-Giver” or the “Living Wisdom,” as the
name is variously explained. Nor was his conception of this one God
altogether unworthy of the Founder of a Religion. He does not represent
Him, indeed, as the “Father,” loving, sympathetic, compassionate, and so
full of condescension, that He is willing to give His Son to die for the
salvation of erring Humanity; for he did not enjoy that fuller revelation
of the Divine Nature which was vouchsafed to the Hebrew race. But he shows
Him as the “Lord over all lords, the Forgiving, the Omniscient.” He is
ineffably pure, the source of all Truth, the Holy God. In the Khordah
Avesta, Zarathustra is introduced as inquiring: “Tell me the name, O pure
Ahura-Mazda, which is Thy greatest, best, and fairest name?” Ahura-Mazda
replies: “My name is He who may be questioned: the Gatherer of the people:
the Most Pure: He who takes account of the actions of men. My name is God
(Ahura); My name is the Great Wise One (Mazdas.) I am the All-Seeing, the
Desirer of Good for My creatures, He who cannot be deceived: the
Protector: the Tormentor of tormentors: He who smiteth once and only once:
the Creator of All.”

His happiness, like His holiness, is without spot or blemish; every
blessing is His that man can imagine--health and wealth, virtue, wisdom,
prosperity, immortality; and these blessings He is willing to bestow on
His creatures if in thought and word and deed they eschew impurity. But we
nowhere read that He will assist them in the struggle against sin by
creating in them a new heart, or by vouchsafing the grace of His Holy
Spirit. The mystery of the Atonement was beyond the reach of the soul and
intellect even of Zarathustra; and the highest conception of God to which
he could attain was that of a Being of perfect Goodness, sitting enthroned
in a strange awful loneliness, with no other feeling than that of approval
of Good and disapproval of Evil. He is, of course, the supreme type of
Power: all that _is_ flows from Him, as light from the Sun: He creates
both the shadow and the brightness of the human existence, good and ill,
fortune and misfortune. So far above all human intelligence is He placed,
that images of Him are forbidden, though He is understood to be symbolised
by the sun and by fire. He can be served only by prayers and offerings, by
a life of purity and truth, by abstinence from sinful passions, by the
banishment of sinful thoughts. Thus Herodotus says of the Zarathustrians,
that they reject the use of temples, of altars, and of statues. “They
smile,” he says, “at the folly of those nations who imagine that the Gods
are descended from, or have any affinity with, human nature. The loftiest
mountain-tops are the places chosen for their sacrifices. Hymns and
prayers are their principal forms of worship. And the Supreme God, who
fills the vast sphere of Heaven, is the object to whom they are
addressed.”

The service of Ahura-Mazda consisted, then, as we see, in the performance
of good works, in the cultivation of virtue, and in the due offering up of
prayer and praise. It was an intellectual worship that Zarathustra
prescribed; a worship that might assist in the development of a high
morality, but could not inculcate a deep and true religious feeling. Of
contrition for sin, of humbling oneself before God, of self-sacrifice and
self-abnegation, of love, and faith, and hope, the creed of Zarathustra
took no account. And here, as well as elsewhere, we observe its vast
inferiority to the religion of CHRIST. It made no provision for the
awakening and fostering of those tender emotions of profound humility,
thankful adoration, and unutterable gratitude which are awakened in the
Christian’s heart by the name of JESUS. It could never have called forth
such an utterance of the son’s glad submission to the will of the FATHER
as we find, for example, in the ejaculatory verse of Ben Jonson:

  “Hear me, O GOD!
    A broken heart
    Is my best part:
  Use still Thy rod,
    That I may prove
    Therein Thy love.

  “If Thou hadst not
    Been stern to me,
    But left me free,
  I had forgot
    Myself and Thee.

  “For sin’s so sweet,
    As minds ill-bent
    Rarely repent,
  Until they meet
    Their punishment.”

Such lines as these indicate a relation between man and his GOD which
could never obtain between the Zarathustrian and his Ahura-Mazda. His was
a cold, unimpassioned, logical creed, warmed by no single heart-throb of
Divine love and mercy; a creed which demanded human worship for a sinless
God, but did not invite human faith in a loving Redeemer; and,
consequently, a creed which left untouched the deepest springs and most
responsive chords of our humanity.

       *       *       *       *       *

Both the excellencies and the short-comings of Magianism are shown in the
confessions and prayers included in the Zendavesta. For example, there is
much that is elevated and noble in the following, yet its tone is
curiously Pharisaical, and may be contrasted with that of Ben Jonson’s
verses. Instead of being the aspiration of a sinful soul after
forgiveness, and a reaching forth towards love and light, it is the
self-eulogium of a mind confident in its own sustaining power, and to
appreciate its weakness we need only to contrast it with the fervour of a
David or a S. Paul. We remember that the Hebrew king exclaimed: “My heart
panteth, my strength faileth me: as for the light of mine eyes, it also is
gone from me,” and how the Apostle confessed himself “the chief of
sinners.” With no such aching consciousness of weakness does the
Zarathustrian bow himself before God. There is all the pride of
self-righteousness in his prayer. Thus:

“I remain standing fast in the statutes of the law which Ahura-Mazda gave
to Zarathustra. As long as life endures I will stand fast in good thoughts
in my soul, in good words in my speech, in good deeds in my actions. With
all good am I in harmony, with all evil am I at variance. With the
punishments of the future life I am content. I have taken hold of good
thoughts, words, and works. I have forsaken evil thoughts, words, and
works. May the power of Ahriman be broken! may the reign of Ahura-Mazda
increase!”

And again:

“I am steadfast in this faith, and turn myself not away from it, for the
sake of a happy life, or for the sake of a longer life, nor for power, nor
for a kingdom. If I must give up my body for the sake of my soul, I give
it willingly. I believe firmly in the good Mazda-yusaian faith; in the
Resurrection; in the bridge of souls,[20] in the invariable reward of good
deeds and punishment of bad deeds, in the everlasting continuance of
paradise and the annihilation of hell; and I believe that, at the last,
Ahura-Mazda will be victorious, and Ahrimanes will perish with the Devs,
and all the children of darkness.... I am full of hope that I shall attain
to Paradise and the shining Garathânan, where all majesty dwelleth. I make
this confession in the hope that I may hereafter become more zealous to
accomplish good works and keep myself more from sin; and that my good
deeds may serve for the diminution of evil and the increase of good till
the rising again.”

We know the form of prayer taught us by JESUS CHRIST; how simple it is,
how complete, how absolute in its renunciation of self, how comprehensive
in its charity. “Thy will be done”.... “Forgive us our trespasses as we
forgive them who trespass against us”.... “Lead us not into temptation.”
Such are its leading thoughts: submission before GOD, charity before Man;
both implying and demanding the conquest and humiliation of self. Let us
contrast it with a Zarathustrian prayer:

“In the name of God the Giver and Forgiver, Rich in Love, praise be to
Ahura-Mazda, the God with the name ... ‘Who always was, always is, and
always will be.’... Ahura-Mazda the Wise, the Creator, the Over-seeing
God, pure, good, and just! With all strength bring I thank-offerings and
praise to the Lord, the completer of good works, who made men greater than
all earthly beings, and through the gift of speech created them to rule
over the creatures and to war against the evil spirits. Praise to the
omniscience of God who has sent through the holy Zarathustra power and
knowledge of the law. All good do I accept at Thy command, O God, and
think, speak, and do it. I believe in the pure law, and by every good work
I seek forgiveness for sins. I keep pure the six powers--thought, speech,
act, memory, reason, understanding. According to Thy will am I able to
fulfil (these resolutions.) O Accomplisher of Good, to Thy honour are good
thoughts, good words, and good works. I enter on the shining way to
Paradise. May the terror of hell not overcome me! May I pass the bridge
Chinavat and attain to Paradise, the bright and odoriferous, where are all
joys. Praise to the Lord who awards those who accomplish good deeds
according to His will, who purifies the obedient, and at last purifies the
wicked in hell. All praise be to the Creator, Ahura-Mazda, the All-Wise,
the Mighty, the Rich in Love.”

       *       *       *       *       *

Prayer, according to Zarathustra, is not the humbling of the soul before
its Creator, not the aspirations of the spirit towards the Source of all
Love and Mercy, not the desire of the creature to be at peace with GOD,
but the renunciation of will,--a noble and worthy aim in itself, but not
fulfilling the Christian idea of prayer. To do good and to shun evil is,
no doubt, the motive of the Christian life; but prayer is something more
and something higher, the sacrifice of an humble and a contrite heart.

  “Heaven is the magazine wherein GOD puts
  Both good and evil; prayer’s the key that shuts
  And opens this great treasure; ’tis a key
  Whose wards are Faith, and Hope, and Charity.
  Wouldst thou prevent a judgment due to sin?
  Turn but the key and thou mayst lock it in.
  Or wouldst thou have a blessing fall upon thee!
  Open the door and it will shower on thee.”[21]

But no such conception as this is discernible throughout the length and
breadth of the Parsee Scriptures, which here, as elsewhere, and in
relation to other matters, attain a lofty, but not the loftiest, level;
rise above earth, but do not soar to Heaven. They seem instinct with
echoes of the original revelation vouchsafed to man, but those echoes are
faint and imperfect; whereas, in the Hebrew creed, the voices of GOD are
repeated with a fulness and a power which leaves the heart nothing to
desire. In this vast superiority we cannot fail to see a strong and
striking proof of its authenticity. If it be found difficult to account
for the moral excellence and æsthetic beauty of Zarathustrianism without
tracing it back in some indirect way to a Divine origin; how shall we
explain the sublimity and grandeur of the Hebrew Theism, unless we admit
that it is all it professes to be,--is, in very truth, the expression of
the will of the everliving GOD?

We have spoken of Zarathustra’s religion as originally monotheistic; its
purity, however, was not long preserved, and the cause of its corruption
lay in itself. Zarathustra could not deny the existence of Evil, and to
explain it was driven to concoct an extraordinary hypothesis. As in every
electrified object there are two poles, a positive and a negative, so,
according to the Prophet, in Ahura-Mazda, and in all rational beings, man
included, are present a good and holy Will, and its shadow or negative,--a
higher and a lower nature,--the Positive and the Negative Mind. How
Zarathustra reconciled this idea with his conception of Ahura-Mazda, as
Perfect Goodness, we are unable to comprehend. At all events, it contained
the germs of the future Dualism of the Persian religion. The Negative Mind
soon came to be separated from the good and holy Will, and was quickly
personified as an independent evil being, a Power of Night and Darkness,
Ahriman (Angro-Manyus,) equal in might to Ahura-Mazda, and disputing with
him the possession of the world. Thus arose the myth of the constant
struggle between the two powers, as between Day and Night; the servants of
Ahura-Mazda being sent forth to encounter, resist, and overcome the slaves
and works of Ahriman, thereby bringing about the end of all things, when
Ahriman himself should be vanquished and reconciled.

In course of time the difficulties of this dual theory were detected by
acute intellects, and at the Sassanian Revival an attempt was made to
dispose of them by introducing the doctrine of Monotheism under a new
form, that of a Great Primal Cause (Zervana Akarana), the Boundless Time
or Uncreated Whole, such as we trace in the later Greek poetry, and
apparently rather a “metaphysical abstraction,” like the Greek Ἀνάγκη, or
the Roman Nemesis, than “an active and presiding deity.” Thence proceeded
both the Good and the Evil Principles; the two antagonist creators who
balanced against each other in perpetual conflict a race of spiritual and
material beings, light and darkness, good and evil. The wise benevolence
of Ahura-Mazda formed men capable of virtuous impulses, and endowed each
with everything that could contribute to his happiness. He preserved by
his watchful providence the harmonious movements of the planets, and the
temperate combination of the elements. But the malice of Ahriman has long
since pierced Ahura-Mazda’s “egg;” in other words, violated the sweet
accord and bounteous beauty of His works. Since that fatal irruption, the
most minute articles of good and evil are alternately commingled and
agitated together; the most poisonous herbs spring up among the most
wholesome plants; the warfare of deluges, earthquakes, and conflagrations
disturbs the serenity of nature; and humanity is subjected to all the
blighting influences of sin, suffering, and sorrow. While the rest of
mankind were led away captive in the chains of their terrible enemy, the
faithful Persian alone remained constant in his faith in Ahura-Mazda, and
fought under his banner of light, looking forward to a triumphant day when
Good should prevail over all the world.

It seems to us impossible to doubt that, in this later development of the
Zoroastrian faith, its priests and teachers were largely indebted to the
Sacred Writings, though into what they borrowed they introduced much
original and fanciful speculation.

A Parsee, with a firm faith in Ahura-Mazda, and conscious of having obeyed
the law, offered up prayer and praise, and renounced, in intention at
least, evil thoughts and deeds and words, lay down on his death bed in a
certain hope and expectation of the Eternal life. We have seen that the
Zendavesta appointed a variety of penances, by the performance of which
the believer obtained immediate pardon for ordinary transgressions; and
therefore, full of the self-righteousness which his creed was so well
adapted to inculcate, he faced the passage of the Dark River without fear.
He knew not of any need to implore the mercy of a Redeemer, to humble
himself in sackcloth and ashes, to base his hope on the infinite love of
GOD made man, on the glorious sacrifice of the Cross; his soul passed
straight to Paradise, as an arrow flies towards its mark. In the Khordah
Avesta we can follow the stages of its journey:--On the first night after
death the soul dwelt near the head of the inanimate body it had just
deserted, and sat there praying, rejoicing in as much joy as is vouchsafed
to the whole living world. And so did it dwell on the second night,
praying. And so did it dwell on the third night, praying. But when the
third night verged upon dawn, the soul of the pure man went forward. A
wind, sweeter than all other winds, blew to meet it from the south. And in
that wind came to embrace the pilgrim _his own law_, under the figure of a
maiden beautiful and shining, fair as the fairest of created beings. The
pilgrim then took the first step in his celestial progress, and arrived in
the paradise _Hamata_; he took the second, and reached the paradise
_Hûkhta_; he took the third, and arrived at the paradise _Hvarsta_. The
beatified wanderer made yet another step, and gained the presence of the
Eternal Light. There was he addressed by an already beatified soul: “How
art thou, O pure deceased, who hast come from the perishable world hither
to the imperishable?” Ahura-Mazda here interrupted: “Ask him not, for he
has come on the fearful trembling way, the separation of soul and body.
Bring him hither of the food of the full fatness, that is, of the filling
food for those who think, speak, and do good, for the pure after death.”

A recent writer says of this notion of a progressive advance to the
“Eternal Light,” of the welcome received from the blessed, and from the
gentle words of Ahura-Mazda himself; and of the conducting angel who
represents the man’s own earthly faith and life, (like Bunyan’s Mr.
Good-Conscience meeting old Honest beside the River of Death,) “all
these,” he says, “are beautiful thoughts.” Surely fanciful, rather than
beautiful; and better adapted to amuse religious sentimentalists than to
satisfy healthy and earnest believers. The obvious reference to the three
days and nights spent by our LORD “in prison” appears to indicate that
this is a comparatively modern portion of the Zendavesta, founded upon
some vague knowledge of the mystery of the Resurrection.

While the pure soul proceeded, as we have seen, by three stages or
gradations to the Paradise of Light and Sweetness, the evil and unclean
soul, on the other hand, descended, also by three stages, to the terrors
of Douzakh, the dark abode of Ahriman and the Devs. There it suffered
according to its sinfulness until the general day of Resurrection. At that
great epoch these nights of indescribable woe will be undergone by all who
have not expiated their earthly offences; woe so terrible, that the
Blessed, looking down upon it from their celestial battlements, will be
moved to tears of pity. And then the massive mountains and the solid rocks
shall be melted by the heat, and streams of liquid gold shall flow, in
which both the pure and evil shall receive a regenerating bath. Ahriman
and his devs shall share in the universal happiness, and all created life
shall swell the song of praise sent up in honour of Ahura-Mazda.

While we are unable to doubt that in the Zendavesta, as it has come down
to us, may be traced the direct influence of the Hebrew creed, and that
ideas and principles of a still later date were borrowed more or less
closely from Christianity, we can as little doubt that Zarathustrianism
had no inconsiderable effect on the Jewish popular belief. The Jewish
prophets, after the Captivity, would seem to have adopted much of what may
be called their poetic language and machinery from the writings of the
Magian teachers. The Talmud contains unmistakable evidence of its
indebtedness to the same source. The Angelology of the Jewish doctors
originated, probably during the captivity of the Tribes in Babylonia, in
the Magian superstitions; and it was then that the complete angelic
hierarchy was evolved, with its seven great archangels corresponding to
the seven Amchaspands of the Zendavesta. It was then that for the first
time the Jewish popular creed recognised the existence of two antagonistic
hosts of spiritual beings, arrayed against each other in everlasting
battle. Then was developed the fancy of a guardian angel attending every
individual to shelter him from the malignant hostility of his Dev or
demon. So that much of the mythology which Milton employs so effectively
in “Paradise Lost,” having borrowed it from the traditions and legends of
the Hebrew race, came originally from the far East, and was invented by
the followers of Zarathustra. The Miltonic and popular conception of
Satan, so unlike the Biblical representation of the great Destroyer, was
largely coloured from the Magian sketch of Ahriman, the Power of Darkness.

It is certain that the grand and lofty Hebrew revelation of the One GOD
was modified and debased by its contact with the Magian teaching. It has
been well remarked that wherever any approximation had been made to this
sublime truth of the existence of the one great First Cause, either “awful
religious reverence” or “philosophic abstraction” had removed the Creative
Power absolutely out of the range of human sense, and supposed that the
intercourse of the Divinity with man, the moral government, and even the
actual creative work, had been carried on by the intermediate agency of,
in Oriental phrase, an Emanation, or, in Platonic language, of the
“Wisdom,” “Reason,” or “Intelligence” of the Supreme. The Jews, under the
influence of their intercourse with the Persians, adopted that conception,
and, departing from the path laid down for them by Revelation, interposed
one or more intermediate beings as the channels of communication between
GOD and man. The Apostle seizes on the popular fancy, and endeavours to
restore from it the original truth, when he tells his readers that the
“Word” of which they spoke so vaguely and presumptuously was none other
than GOD Himself,--the SON of GOD, but equal with the FATHER,--the
brightness of His glory and the express image of His person. He showed
them that the mediation between the lofty spiritual nature of GOD and the
intellectual and moral being of Man was not to be accomplished through any
independent agency, but by the revelation of GOD Himself in the person and
presence of His beloved SON. That this, the essential and central truth of
Christianity, was one which the unassisted human intellect could never
have developed we know, from the fact that it is found in no creed of
admittedly human origin, and that it is never clearly set forth even in
any religious system which has borrowed from Christianity.

We can imagine the ability of man to shape out for himself an idea of some
awful Power, some mighty First Cause, which created and ordered the
universe, and controlled and shaped its destinies. Looking around upon
creation, he might, perhaps, without any severe intellectual effort,
attain to the thought of a Creator. This conception once realised, he
might in due time come to believe that the Creator could be pleased or
angered by the doings of His creatures; and that the anger of One so
powerful would be something to dread and avoid. But the idea of this grand
and terrible Creator sending from Heaven His own Son to take upon Himself
humanity, and thereby save the creature from the just wrath it had
provoked, and the dread retribution it had deserved,--an idea, so glorious
and consoling, could never, we believe, have been grasped by the loftiest
human intellect, unless aided by a revelation from above.

The exact relation of Zarathustrianism to Christianity it is somewhat
difficult to define, because a cloud of doubt and uncertainty hangs over
the compilation of the later portions of the Zendavesta. While the great
antiquity of the Gâthas cannot be disputed, while there is clear evidence
that they contain much of the original teaching of Zarathustra,--teaching
nobler and more exalted than that of his followers,--it seems not less
certain that the doctrines of the Resurrection and the Future Life were
borrowed from the Hebrews. What then is left to justify a comparison with
Christianity? The keynote of its scheme is intellectual pride; that of the
Christian religion, spiritual abasement. The former urges on its disciples
the necessity of good thoughts, words, and deeds in order to please
Ahura-Mazda; the latter, as a proof of faith in the mission of its
Founder. The former teaches an excellent code of morals, so far as relates
to the individual; the latter lays down one golden rule, “Do unto others
as thou wouldest they should do unto thee.” The former enforces the law of
self-control; the latter of self-renunciation. It is impossible to pretend
that Magianism shows the same insight into man’s wants, failings,
passions, temptations, as Christianity shows; or provides a system so
capable of adaptation to every age, and rank, and character.

We see no reason to doubt the authenticity and antiquity of the
Zendavesta; but it is somewhat surprising that scholars who make haste to
accept _it_ as genuine, should show so much scepticism in reference to the
Christian Scriptures. Surely, as regards the latter, the evidence of
genuineness is infinitely stronger than as regards the former. We know
that they were implicitly accepted by men who lived almost in the very
time of those who recorded them; on the other hand, of Zarathustra and his
contemporaries or successors we know absolutely nothing. Some authorities
represent him to have flourished as early as 2200 B.C.; others as late as
500 B.C. Some consider him to have been the founder of a dynasty; others
invest him with a supernatural personality. But at the best he remains
_nominis umbra_; as indistinct and shadowy, as in his teaching he is cold
and clear. Of the authenticity of his writings the principal proofs are
those derivable from the writings themselves. But if we allow that such
proofs are admissible, what shall we say of those to be found in the
Gospels and Epistles? As their morality is so much more elevated than that
of the Zendavesta, so is the certainty of their Divine origin infinitely
more assured. The class of testimony which asserts the authenticity of the
one not less convincingly affirms the genuineness of the other. And if the
Gospels are all that they purport to be, how can we avoid the conclusion
that they are truthful also in the witness they bear to the life and
character of CHRIST?

We may point to a remarkable contrast between Magianism and
Christianity,--that the former has undergone an almost complete revolution
of meaning and doctrine, while, in spite of sectarian glosses, the latter
remains virtually unaltered. The faith once for all delivered to the
saints is held by believers to-day in all its original purity. We repeat
the Creed just as it fell from the rapt lips of martyrs, saints and
confessors. But the monotheism of Zarathustra has been broken up into a
curious Dualism; and upon the religious system of the Gâthas has been
accumulated such a burden of ritual, of novel teaching, of borrowed
dogmas, and alien mysteries, that the acutest students are almost baffled
in their endeavours to distinguish the false from the true, and the new
from the old. It is almost impossible to determine what belongs to the
Zarathustrian original, and what to perversions or adaptations from the
Jewish Scriptures.

It is an indisputable testimony to the living force and divine genius of
Christianity, that it occupies a void which no one of the primitive
religions has ever been able to fill. We find it difficult to conceive
that any man who has once been a Christian could voluntarily embrace
Zarathustrianism or Buddhism, and attempt to satisfy his soul with it, any
more than with the philosophy of the Stoics. We are tempted to ask,
indeed, whether either could at any time have satisfied the cravings of
humanity. We know that all their ethical schemes could not lift the sages
of Greece and Rome out of the deep, the intense sadness which possessed
them, nor respond to their yearnings after a something they could neither
describe nor define. Their state of thought and feeling has been expressed
by a modern poet, Matthew Arnold, with what seems to us a wonderful
fidelity:--

            “Nor only in the intent
            To attach blame elsewhere,
            Do we at will invent
            Stern powers who make their care
  To embitter human life, malignant deities.

            “But next, we would reverse
            The scheme ourselves have spun,
            And what we made to curse
            We now would lean upon,
  And feign kind gods who perfect what man vainly tries....

            “We pause, we hush our heart,
            And then address the gods:
            ‘The world hath failed to impart
            The joy our youth forebodes,
  Failed to fill up the void which in our breasts we bear!’”

Their principles of thought were pure, but they felt that there existed a
purity which was beyond their reach; their standard of conduct was high,
but they were inwardly conscious that it ought to be higher. On that
golden “ladder of sunbeams” which rises from earth to the angel-guarded
battlements of heaven, they had ascended a few timid steps, but above and
beyond they could see a glory to which it was not given them to rise.
Hence it has often been said, and justly, that the men were greater than
their system; and such, so far as Magianism was concerned, may well have
been the case with the loftier minds of Bactria and Persia. But it can
never be pretended that the Christian is greater than Christianity. Let
him be ever so holy in his living, ever so exalted in his aspirations, he
will not seek for something _beyond_ and _out of_ Christianity, because he
feels and knows that he cannot exhaust all its capabilities; that it soars
far higher than he can ever soar. It has truths which the profoundest
psychologist cannot fathom; it opens up visions which the boldest
imagination cannot comprehend; it contains a wealth of emotion and
sympathy which the most passionate soul can never exhaust. After we have
said and done all we can, after we have mastered all that has been said
and done by other men, we still find in the life and character of CHRIST
that which may well engage, and yet never weary our attention. And here we
touch upon a feature which no human system of religion or morality has
ever matched. Strip the Zendavesta, if you will, of all its later and less
worthy adjuncts, and yet it cannot, any more than the Rig-Veda, present us
with the divine beauty of the Man of Sorrows. But this it is which fills,
soothes, blesses, inspires the aching, restless, craving human heart. When
it can no longer satisfy itself with the cold moralities of philosophy,
when it pines for a deeper and a warmer life, when it is weary with
problems which it cannot solve, and disappointed in hopes which it has
seen fade away like dreams of the night, it turns to the Cross and is
comforted. The mysteries which perplexed it vanish in the light that
emanates from the Divine history of the SON of GOD. The awe with which it
regards the passionless abstraction of a great First Cause, a supreme
entity of Power and Wisdom without Love, passes into reverent admiration
and joyous thanksgiving when it looks up into the face of the Good
Shepherd, and reposes in the shadow of the Vine, and learns how that He
Who was with the FATHER before the beginning, has suffered even as we
suffer, has borne the heavy burden of the flesh even as we have borne it,
and now sits on the right hand of GOD,--not an idea, not a principle, not
a Spirit, but a PERSON, bidding all who believe to come unto Him and be at
rest.

This, indeed, is the cardinal merit of Christianity,--it has given us
CHRIST.

GOD forbid that we should deny a certain value even to the “unconscious
prophecies of heathendom,” or refuse to see something of the spirit of
CHRIST in the teaching of the ancient sages and philosophers; but when an
attempt is made to raise Magianism to an equal rank with Christianity, and
the cold intellectual utterances of the Zendavesta to rank with the
living voices of Holy Writ, it is essential to point out how vast, how
impassable is the gulf between them; how little Magianism did or could do
to elevate man’s spiritual nature; and how largely Christianity surpasses
it, in and through the manifestation of the Divine love in the mystery of
GOD made Man.




CHAPTER III.

_JEWISH SUPERSTITIONS._


THE TALMUD.

The Talmud, (from the Hebrew _lamad_, to learn,) is the name given to the
great code of the Jewish civil and canonical law. It is divided, like the
Zendavesta, into two parts, the Mishna and the Gemara; the former being,
as it were, the text, and the latter the commentary and supplement. Of
late years public attention has been exceptionally drawn to it by the
writings of the late Emanuel Deutsch, and it has obtained, as we think, a
wholly undeserved amount of panegyric.

Deutsch, an enthusiast in his attachment to the land and religion of his
forefathers, put it forward as a wondrous treasure, the real value of
which had been wholly overlooked. It contained, he seemed to say, a
complete _corpus juris_; and, as an encyclopædia of law, should be
compared with the corresponding collections of Roman or of English law,
with the Pandects of Justinian and the Commentaries of Blackstone. Herein
lies the excuse for rules that have been considered unduly subtle, or in
other ways offensive to modern taste. But it contains something more than
a body of law; it is also a collection of Jewish poetry and legend, of
Jewish science, and Jewish metaphysical speculation. The Mishna is a
development of the laws contained in the Pentateuch. The members of the
Sanhedrim, who were chiefly concerned in the formation of this law, were
obliged (so argues Deutsch) to be accomplished men. It was necessary that
they should possess some knowledge of physical science, or at least of
zoology, botany, and geography in their then condition. It was necessary
also that they should be good linguists, having some acquaintance with
Latin and Greek, as well as with Aramaic, Syriac, and Hebrew. Disreputable
men were kept out, and all were compelled to be married men and fathers of
families. “The origin of the Talmud,” he says, “is coeval with the return
from the Babylonish captivity.” And though it is the glory of Christianity
to have carried into the heart of humanity at large the golden germs of
thought previously hidden in the schools of the learned, yet numerous
precepts, supposed to be purely Christian, lie enshrined in the pages of
the Talmud. It would be difficult to find a penal legislation more
distinctly humane. As for its myths, its allegories, its apparent
absurdities, they should be read in the spirit in which Christians read
Bunyan’s “Pilgrim’s Progress.” The Talmud insists upon the pre-existence
of the soul, on the dogmas of Immortality and the Resurrection, it denies
the doctrine of everlasting damnation; it excludes no human being from the
world to come. And as the Talmud, continues Deutsch, although redacted at
a later period, is, in point of time, prior to the New Testament, the
beautiful maxims of the former cannot have been borrowed from the latter.
In a word, it is a collection which took nearly a thousand years to form,
and has been commented upon for a thousand years since. It breathes
charity to all men. If we except a few items of coarseness, such as must
occur in every legal code, it is all good; at least, it is never bad; it
deserves all possible respect and even reverence. Such, in a condensed
form, is the account of the Talmud which Deutsch asks us to accept.

But it cannot be admitted that the defects of the Talmud are trivial, any
more than that the spirit of the Rabbins towards Christianity was
tolerant. Nor can it be admitted that the Talmud owes nothing to the
Christian Scriptures.

On the first point hear what Professor Hurwitz says:--“The Talmud contains
many things which every enlightened, nay, every pious Jew, must sincerely
wish had never appeared there, or should at least long ago have been
expunged from its pages. Some of these Agadatha are objectionable _per
se_; others, indeed, are susceptible of explanations, but without them are
calculated to produce false and erroneous impressions.” So much may be
said, we think, of the legends in the Talmud; such as the size of
Leviathan and the way in which he is to be killed and cooked for the
chosen people, and the marriage of Adam with Lilith before the creation of
Eve, with the diabolic progeny which sprang from them.

Another point to be considered is the influence of the Alexandrian books,
commonly known by us as the Apocrypha. Of these the Books of Wisdom and
Ecclesiasticus at any rate exhibit the reflections of singularly devout
and thoughtful minds, which had exercised themselves in the contemplation
of the writings of Moses and the prophets in combination with no
inconsiderable tincture of Greek philosophy. It would be a question of
great interest to see how far ideas suggested in those very remarkable
compositions have found their way into the Talmud.

As regards the sentiments of the Rabbins towards Christianity: in the
reign of Domitian, (that is, about A.D. 90,) the Sanhedrim took measures
against the Minim, that is to say, the degenerated; for so they called the
Jews who had been converted to Christianity. The Rabbi Tarphon said:--“The
Gospels and all the books of the Minim deserve to be burnt, for Paganism
is less dangerous: the Pagans misunderstand the truths of Judaism from
ignorance, the Minim deny them with full knowledge of the case. Better to
seek an asylum in a Pagan temple than in the synagogues of the Minim.” The
Sanhedrim of Jamnia and other similar bodies adopted the like tone. And it
was men like these who helped to form the Talmud.

Not the less it remains true, that every powerful movement which has
occurred in the world’s history has shown a part of its power in the way
it has influenced opponents. The Reformation, as the Ultramontane De
Maistre is compelled to admit, wrought a very perceptible change even
among Roman Catholics. The French Revolution of 1793 did not leave
Legitimists in the position they had occupied before its outbreak. Now
Christianity is the greatest movement the world has ever seen. Dean
Merivale in his excellent “History of the Romans under the Empire,” states
with no less eloquence than truth the immense indirect influence which it
had begun to exercise on heathen thought by the end even of the first
century. We can trace it in Pagan literature. But Deutsch and similar
Talmudophilists would have us believe that it had no influence whatever
upon the Talmud, and that whenever we find kindred thoughts in the
teaching of Christianity, and in the teaching of their favourite work, it
is the Gospel which is indebted to the Talmud and not the Talmud to the
Gospel.

But for our part we wholly dissent from this extraordinary theory, which,
indeed, cannot be supported by any chronological evidence. There are
occasions, of course, in which dates become of comparatively trifling
importance. A man feels troubled, for example, with the enigmas of life,
and finds light and consolation in reading the book of Job; that most
beautiful book--_quel bellissimo libro_, as the Italian poet Giusti called
it. Some friend, finding him thus engaged, begins to argue in favour of
Bishop Warburton’s view, that it is a composition of comparatively late
date, perhaps of the age of Jeremiah, and not (as used to be generally
supposed) as early as the time of Moses. In such a case a man may well
reply, that without any wish to discourage critical inquiry in its proper
place, he is content for the present to go on reading for his soul’s
health, to accept the words before him as a message from above, and to
feel sure that whenever GOD gave it, it was given at the time when it was
most needed. But in the case of the Talmud dates are of real and living
importance, though we own that it is difficult to fix them with accuracy.
We believe, however, with one of Deutsch’s critics, that Christian
elements _have_ found their way into the Talmud, though doubtless,
pre-Christian ideas, similar to those which are met with in the Books of
Wisdom and Ecclesiasticus, are also to be found there. Is it not true that
the Mishna was brought into its present form by Rabbi Jehudah, surnamed
the Holy, about A.D. 200, and that the Gemara was not completed until A.D.
500? Deutsch, indeed, appeals to the article in the “Novellæ
Constitutiones” (or _Novels_, as they are commonly called) of Justinian
against the Talmud. The reference is correct enough, but the _Novels_
belong to the later parts of Justinian’s reign, and were not promulgated
before the year 534.

It is well known that at the present time there are three parties among
the Jews who differ widely as to the amount of respect which ought to be
paid to the legislation contained within the pages of the Talmud. Two out
of these parties would greatly modify it, or actually sweep it away. We
believe that its influence upon practice is not destined to endure; and
that though there _is_ a book which will continue so to influence life,
that book is not the Talmud, but the Bible. The Talmud has its curiosities
and even beauties, as well as its gross absurdities and defects; but,
after all, it will be found, we believe, that it often reflects but too
truly the mind of those of whom it was said, “Ye have made the commandment
of GOD of none effect by your traditions.”

       *       *       *       *       *

With these preliminary observations, we pass on to a more particular
description of the Talmud.

There are two Talmuds, the one called the Talmud of the Occidentals, or
the “Jerusalem” Talmud, and the other the “Babylonian” Talmud. The former
of these originally included the whole of the first five _Sedarim_ (or
portions,) but now consists of only thirty-nine treatises. Its final
redaction is supposed to have taken place towards the close of the fourth
Christian century, but the authorities engaged in the work cannot now be
determined. But it is certainly distinguished by more accuracy of
expression and precision of statement than the second or Babylonian, or
“our” Talmud, which makes use of its predecessor, and was not completed
for a century later. Its editor is generally considered to be Rabbi Ashi,
president of the Academy of Syro in Babylon (A.D. 365-427.) Both the
Mishna, though revised in A.D. 219, and the “Palestine” Gemara, had become
greatly corrupted through the interpolation of gross traditions and the
critical judgments of different schools, when Rabbi Ashi, with the
assistance of his friend and disciple, Abina, undertook the labour of
sifting the old from the new, and introducing order into chaos.

Ashi was appointed to the headship of the school of Sora at the age of
twenty-three, and under his rule Sora became the head-quarters of
Rabbinism in the East. When he entered on the redaction of the Mishna and
Gemara, he began by assembling yearly at the great feasts the most learned
Hebrews, and examining them with respect to their traditional practices
and expositions. He then called together his disciples every spring, and
gave out to them a particular treatise of the Mishna; in the autumn they
again came before him with all the information relative to it they had
collected in the interval. This he personally investigated, and reduced
into shape. The Mishna being composed of sixty-three treatises, he was
thus engaged for upwards of thirty years. The final revision occupied him
twenty-two years. At the time of his death (in his seventy-fifth year) the
work was all but completed; the last touches were given by his friend,
Rabbi Abina.

The Mosaic is the written law of the Jews; the Mishna, the oral. The
latter is the very basis of Judaism, is its civil, religious, and
juridico-political code,--an explanation and amplification of the Mosaic.
It was developed out of the authoritative decisions of the schools and of
certain distinct and well-authenticated traditions which were traced back
to Sinai itself. Thus there were two chief sections, or parts: _Halacoth_,
the rabbinical decisions, and _Haggadah_, the traditional narratives and
popular illustrations. Of the great bulk of the former the reputed author
is Hillel, the head of the Sanhedrim in the early part of Herod the
Great’s reign, but, probably, he only collected them. Maimonides arranges
them under five heads:--

    _a._ Mosaic and Scriptural;

    _b._ Mosaic and traditional;

    _c._ Dicta and decisions generally received, but doubtful;

    _d._ Decisions of the wise, given by them as “hedges of the law;” and

    _e._ Counsels of prudence, which it was well to follow, though they
    had no legal authority.

The Haggadic narratives are generally of a light and amusing character,
though occasionally a deep significance underlies them, converting them
into allegories and fables and parables well worthy the attention of the
student, though he may not think so highly of them as Frankel, who
exclaims: “They are as vivid flashes: or as those spirits of light in
Jewish myth, that flow forth in daily myriads from GOD’S throne, and then
vanish to make way for others.”

The Halacoth and Haggadoth accumulated rapidly after the Captivity,
representing in due time “a body of traditional exposition of high
authority, which increased rapidly, and required the life-long study of a
numerous body of Sopherim, or Scribes, to digest and hand on without loss
to succeeding generations.” Soon it outgrew the grasp of even the
strongest memory and the profoundest application, and it became evident
that, unless put upon record, all that was valuable would perish, and only
that be preserved which chanced to be in accordance with popular
sentiment. To the digest made by Hillel, Simon ben Gamaliel added the
worthiest of the later material; and his son, Jehudah the Holy, entered on
a complete redaction and revision, which he published in A.D. 219. Hillel,
grandfather of the Gamaliel at whose feet S. Paul sat, had arranged the
traditional Halacoth under eighteen heads; Jehudah re-arranged them into
six Sedarim, or sections:--

    1. _Zeraïm_ (Seeds,) on Agriculture;

    2. _Moed_ (Feast,) on the Sabbath, Festivals, and Fasts;

    3. _Nashim_ (Women,) on Marriage, Divorce, &c., including the laws on
    Vows and the Nazirship;

    4. _Nizikin_ (Damages,) chiefly civil and penal law, including the
    ethical treatise Aboth;

    5. _Kadashim_ (Sacred things,) Sacrifices, &c., a description of the
    Temple at Jerusalem, &c.;

    6. _Tehoroth_ (Purifications,) on pure and impure persons and things.

We now see that, about A.D. 221 Jehudah the Holy created the Mishna, we
have already seen that three centuries later, the same exhaustive work of
redaction and revision was done for the Gemara,--the two forming what is
now known as the Talmud. The two “editors” received each his peculiar
title of honour; Jehudah was styled Rabbina, Ashi Rabban.

Of the language of the Babylon Talmud it is said that it is debased with
foreign and barbarous terms and grammatical solecisms to a much greater
extent than the “Jerusalem Talmud.” Mr. Blunt asserts that “the Haggadic
narratives resemble more closely the vernacular Aramaic, showing their
origin in ordinary folk lore. The Halacoth are in Mishnic Hebrew, carrying
evidence of higher date. The style is so exceedingly concise as to make
the sense that it contains a microscopic study. The difficulties indeed
of the Gemara are so great, that no one need think to master them
thoroughly who has not drawn in Gemara with his mother’s milk. The study
of the Talmud presumes a thorough knowledge also of the Hebrew Bible, a
single word often indicating an entire passage. The wonderful moral
confusion of the Talmud, the mixed character of which may be detected in
every page, is nowhere more strikingly exemplified than in the prayer put
by the Gemarist into the mouth of Rabbi Nechoniah ben Hakakana, on
entering the school, or Beth Midrash, and quitting it again in the
evening.”

The morning prayer was as follows:--

“I beseech Thee that no scandal may occur through fault of mine, and that
I err not in matters of Halacah, so as to cause my colleagues to exult.
May I not call impurity pure, or purity impure; and may my colleagues not
blunder in matters of Halacah, that I may have no cause to triumph over
them.”

The spirit of this prayer, in its meekness and modesty, is truly
commendable, and presents a striking contrast to that of the evening
prayer:--

“I thank Thee that Thou hast given me my portion among those who have a
seat in the Beth Midrash, and that Thou hast not cast my lot among those
who sit in the corner. I early rise, and they early rise; but I rise to
the service of the law, they to vanity. I labour, and they also labour,
but I labour and receive a recompense; they labour, but receive nothing. I
hasten, and they also hasten; but I hasten in the direction of the world
to come, they hasten towards the pit of destruction.”

It is impossible to believe that both these prayers come from the same
source; “sweet waters and bitter” do not alike flow from the fountain of
Marah.

With respect to the general character of the Talmud, with all its weakness
and strength, its beauty and deformity, its poetry and commonplace, its
tender wisdom and glaring absurdity, we cannot do better than quote the
moderate opinion of the writer already cited, as infinitely more
trustworthy than the dithyrambic utterances of Deutsch and his imitators.
He says:--

“In its origin it was the result of an almost necessary development.
Starting with the axiom that the law of Moses is binding on the children
of Abraham in every generation, its precepts have been applied to the
changing habits and customs of the Jews in different ages and under
various climates, by a literal interpretation when possible, otherwise on
the _ci-près_ principle, rarely by giving a new direction to its
enactments, as instanced under the Hillel _régime_. It is this application
of the Law to the needs of Jewish Society, by a process slow and gradual,
that has made each successive stage of development, in Jewish opinion,
more valuable than its predecessors. Thus if the Law has been likened to
water, the Mishna, which gives a later direction to its precepts, is as
wine; and the Gemara, declaring as it does the sense in which the Mishnic
Hilkoth are to be taken, is as hippocras. It is not that the Law is less,
or that the traditional decisions and expository matter are more sacred,
but the latest phase of judicial interpretation is the most binding; and
where the rule of action is clear and decisive, no antecedent utterance
need trouble the inquirer. Yet the Talmud has always been antiquated. It
has never known the sunshine of youth. It has still been the mouldering,
moss-grown ruin. In its origin it presupposed vital action where there was
nothing but death; Temple service with the Temple hopelessly in ruins,
‘not one stone upon another;’ sacrificial rites that were impossible
without an altar, and for which certain prayers were substituted,
carefully numbered out, and made binding on the individual in lieu of
public offering.... Nothing can be more completely out of place than
strict Talmudism amid the complications of modern society; it is
impossible to make its precepts consist with the social and political
duties of the highly educated Jew. Our LORD, Who came not to destroy the
Law, but to fulfil it, has pointed out those modes of dealing with the Law
in its higher and more spiritual bearings, that in the end must be
accepted by Israel as his truest wisdom.”

Mr. Deutsch gives the following account of the six sections of the
Mishna:--

“Section I. _Seeds_: of Agrarian laws, commencing with a chapter on
Prayers. In this section the various tithes and donations due to the
Priests, the Levites, and the poor, from the products of the lands, and
further the Sabbatical year, and the prohibited mixtures in plants,
animals, and garments, are treated of.

“Section II. _Feasts_: of Sabbaths, Feast and Fast days, the work
prohibited, the ceremonies ordained, the sacrifices to be offered, on
them. Special chapters are devoted to the Feast of the Exodus from Egypt,
to the New Year’s Day, to the Day of Atonement (one of the most impressive
portions of the whole book,) to the Feast of Tabernacles, and to that of
Haman.

“Section III. _Women_: of betrothal, marriage, divorce, &c.; also of vows.

“Section IV. _Damages_: including a great part of the civil and criminal
law. It treats of a law of trades, of buying and selling, and the ordinary
monetary transactions. Further, of the greatest crime known to the law,
viz., idolatry. Next of witnesses, of oaths, of legal punishments, and of
the Sanhedrim itself. This section concludes with the so-called ‘Sentences
of the Fathers,’ containing some of the sublimest ethical dicta known in
the history of religious philosophy.

“Section V. _Sacred Things_: of sacrifices, the first-born, &c.; also of
the measurements of the Temple (Middoth).

“Section VI. _Purifications_: of the various Levitical and other Hygienic
laws, of impure things and persons, their purification, &c.”[22]

In defence of the Haggadah, with all its incongruities, puerilities, and
absurdities, it is only just to hear what Deutsch, its enthusiastic
apostle, has to say. And first he applies to it the rhyming apology which
Bunyan put forward on behalf of his great allegory,--which, by the way,
Mr. Deutsch surely misrepresents and misunderstands when he speaks of it
as Haggadistic:--

  “... Wouldst thou divert thyself from melancholy?
  Wouldst thou be pleasant, yet be far from folly?
  Wouldst thou read riddles and their explanation?
  Or else be drownèd in thy contemplation?
  Dost thou love picking meat? Or wouldst thou see
  A man in the clouds, and hear him speak to thee?
  Wouldst thou be in a dream, and yet not sleep?
  Or wouldst thou in a moment laugh and weep?
  Wouldst lose thyself, and catch no harm?
  And find thyself again without a charm?
  Wouldst read thyself, and read thou know’st not what
  And yet know whether thou art blest or not
  By reading the same lines? O then come hither,
  And lay this book, thy head and heart together.”

Mr. Deutsch thus seeks to disarm antagonists by a skilful concession. He
does not wonder--not he--that the so-called “Rabbinical stories,”
submitted at intervals to the English public, should have met with an
unflattering reception. The Talmud, which has always at hand a drastic
word, says of their collectors:--“They dived into an ocean, and brought up
a potsherd.” But then, he says, these follies form only a small item in
the vast mass of allegories, parables, and the like, that compose the
Haggadah. And, besides, they are partly ill-chosen, partly ill-translated,
and partly did not even belong to the Talmud, but to some recent Jewish
story books. Herder--to name the most famous critic of the “Poetry of
Peoples”--has spoken most eulogistically of what he saw of the genuine
specimens. And, indeed, “not only is the entire world of pious biblical
legend which Islam has said and sung in its many tongues to the delight of
the wise and simple for twelve centuries, now to be found either in embryo
or fully developed in the Haggadah, but much that is familiar among
ourselves in the circles of mediæval sagas, in Dante, in Boccaccio, in
Cervantes, in Milton, in Bunyan, has consciously or unconsciously flowed
out of this wondrous realm, the Haggadah. That much of it is overstrained,
even according to Eastern notions, we do not deny. But,” argues Mr.
Deutsch, “there are feeble passages even in Homer and Shakespeare.” To
this it may be replied, that in Homer and Shakespeare such passages are
rare, and do not form the bulk of their writings; and, moreover, that for
the Iliad or for Hamlet we do not claim the position of authority which is
claimed for the Talmud.

Let us glance briefly at the cosmogony of the Talmud. It assumes that the
universe has been developed by means of a series of cataclysms; that world
was destroyed after world, until GOD made “this world, and saw that it
was very good.” It assumes also that the kosmos was wrought out of some
original substance, itself created by GOD. “One or three things were
before this world,--Water, Fire, and Wind; Water begat the darkness, Fire
begat light, and Wind begat the spirit of Wisdom.”

“The _how_ of the creation was not mere matter of speculation. The
co-operation of angels, whose existence was warranted by Scripture, and a
whole hierarchy of whom had been built up under Persian influences, was
distinctly denied. In a discussion about the day of their creation, it is
agreed on all hands that there were no angels at first, lest men might
say, ‘Michael spanned out the firmament on the south, and Gabriel to the
north.’” There is a distinct foreshadowing of the Gnostic Demiurgos--that
antique link between the Divine Spirit and the world of matter--to be
found in the Talmud. What with Plato were the Ideas, with Philo the Logos,
with the Kabbalists the “World of Aziluth,” what the Gnostics called more
emphatically the wisdom (σοφία), or power (δύναμις), and Plotinus the
νοῦς, that the Talmudical authors call Metation. There is a good deal, in
the post-captivity Talmud, about the Angels, borrowed from the Persian.
The Archangels or Angelic princes are seven in number, and their Hebrew
names and functions correspond almost exactly to those of their Persian
prototypes. There are also hosts of ministering angels, the Persian
_Yazatas_, whose functions, besides that of being messengers, were
twofold,--to praise GOD, and to be guardians of man. In their first
capacity they are daily created by GOD’S breath out of a stream of fire
that rolls its waves under the supernal throne. In their second, two of
them accompany every man, and for every new good deed man acquires a new
guardian angel, who always watches over his steps. When a righteous man
dies, three hosts of angels descend from the celestial battlements to meet
him. One says, (in the words of Scripture,) “He shall go in peace;” the
second takes up the strain and says, “Who has walked in righteousness;”
and the third concludes, “Let him come in peace and rest upon his bed.” In
like manner, when the wicked man passes away, three hosts of wicked angels
are ready to escort him, but their address is not couched in any spirit of
consolation or encouragement.

There are various indications in the Talmud of a belief in the
resurrection and immortality of the soul. The resurrection, it teaches, is
to be brought about by the mystic influence of the “Dew of life” in
Jerusalem. It does not uphold the dogma of everlasting damnation, though
it allows that the punishment of apostates, idolaters, and traitors will
endure for “generations upon generations.”

In conclusion, it is but fair that we should present the brighter and
better aspect of this extraordinary book, its ethical side, and afford
some illustrations of the moral and religious philosophy which pervades
it,--which is its salt, and preserves its savour. The following sayings
have been translated by Deutsch.[23] Many of them bear a striking
resemblance to the great and glorious sayings of the Gospels; and to us it
seems impossible to doubt that they evidence the influence of the former.
It is true that the Talmud as a whole preceded the New Testament, but as
its redaction took place at a much later period, we see nothing absurd in
the hypothesis that its redactors had felt the spell of the Christian
teaching, and occasionally introduced some of its rare and precious
threads of purest silk into the coarse woof woven by traditionalists,
scholiasts, and commentators:--

The house that does not open to the poor shall open to the physician; even
the birds in the air despise the miser. He who gives charity in secret is
greater than Moses himself. Honour the sons of the poor, it is they who
bring science into splendour.

Let the honour of thy neighbour be to thee like thine own. Rather be
thrown into a fiery furnace than bring any one to public shame.

Hospitality is the most important part of divine worship. There are three
crowns: of the law, the priesthood, the kingship; but the crown of a good
name is greater than they all.

Iron breaks the stone, fire melts iron, water extinguishes fire, the
clouds drink up the water, a storm drives away the clouds, man withstands
the storm, fear unmans man, wine dispels fear, sleep drives away wine, and
death sweeps all away--even sleep. But Solomon the Wise says, Charity
saves from death.

The dog sticks to you on account of the crumbs in your pocket.

The camel wanted to have horns, and they took away his ears.

The soldiers fight, and the kings are the heroes.

He in whose family there has been one hanged should not say to his
neighbour, Pray hang this little fish up for me.

The cock and the owl both await the daylight. The light, says the cock,
brings delight to me; but what are _you_ waiting for?

When the thief has no opportunity for stealing, he considers himself an
honest man.

If thy friends agree in calling thee an ass, go and get a halter round
thee.

Fools are no proof.

One eats, another says grace.

He who is ashamed will not easily commit sin. There is a great difference
between him who is ashamed before his own self, and him who is only
ashamed before others. It is a good sign in man to be capable of being
ashamed. One contrition in man’s heart is better than many flagellations.

How can you escape sin? Think of three things,--whence thou camest,
whither thou goest, and to whom thou wilt have to account for all thy
deeds,--even to the King of kings, the All-holy, praised be He.

Love your wife like yourself, honour her more than yourself. Whosoever
lives unmarried lives without joy, without comfort, without blessing.
Descend a step in choosing a wife. If thy wife is small, bend down to her
and whisper into her ear. He who forsakes the love of his youth, GOD’S
altar weeps for him. He who sees his wife die before him, has, as it were,
been present at the destruction of the sanctuary itself, around him the
world grows dark. It is woman alone through whom GOD’S blessings are
vouchsafed to a house. She teaches the children, speeds the husband to the
place of worship and instruction, welcomes him when he returns, keeps the
house godly and pure, and GOD’S blessings rest upon all these things. He
who marries for money, his children shall be a curse to him.

After the thief runs the theft; after the beggar, poverty.

While thy foot is shod, smash the thorn.

When the ox is down, many are the butchers.

Luck makes rich, luck makes wise.

If you wish to hang yourself, choose a big tree.

When the pitcher falls upon the stone, woe unto the pitcher; when the
stone falls upon the pitcher, woe unto the pitcher; whatever befalls, woe
unto the pitcher.

Youth is a garland of roses, age a crown of thorns.

Be thou the cursed, not he who curses. Be of them that are persecuted, not
of them that persecute. Look at Scripture, there is not a single bird more
persecuted than the dove, yet GOD has chosen her to be offered up on His
altar. The bull is hunted by the lion, the sheep by the wolf, the goat by
the tiger. And GOD said, “Bring Me a sacrifice not from them that
persecute, but from them that are persecuted.”

“Hath GOD pleasure in the meat and blood of sacrifices?” asks the prophet.
No; He has not so much ordained as permitted them. It is for yourselves,
He says, not for Me that you offer, Like a king, who sees his son
carousing daily with all manner of evil companions: You shall henceforth
eat and drink entirely at your will at my own table, he says. They offered
sacrifices to demons and devils, for they loved sacrificing, and would not
do without it. And the LORD said, “Bring your offerings to Me, you shall
then at least offer to the true GOD.”

Even when the gates of heaven are shut to prayer, they are open to tears.

The reward of good works is like dates, sweet and late to ripen.

Life is a passing shadow, says the Scripture. Is it the shadow of a tower,
of a tree? A shadow that prevails for a while? No, it is the shadow of a
bird in his flight,--away speeds the bird, and there is neither bird nor
shadow.

Repent one day before thy death. There was a king who bade all his
servants to a great repast, but did not indicate the hour; some went home
and put on their best garments, and stood at the door of the palace;
others said, There is ample time, the king will let us know beforehand.
But the king summoned them of a sudden; and those that came in their best
garments were well received, but the foolish ones, who came in their
slovenliness, were turned away in disgrace. Repent to-day, lest to-morrow
you might be called.

He who has more learning than good works is like a tree with many branches
but few roots, which the first wind throws on its face; whilst he whose
works are greater than his knowledge, is like a tree with many roots but
fewer branches, but which all the winds of heaven cannot uproot.




CHAPTER IV.

_BRAHMANISM._


THE BRAHMANS.

In the “Book of Sir Marco Polo” occurs a quaint description of the
_Abraiaman_ or Brahmans, which, though inaccurate in some of its details,
seems worth quotation here:--

You must know, he says, that these Abraiaman are the best merchants in the
world [an obvious misconception!] and the most truthful, for they would
not tell a lie for anything on earth. If a foreign merchant who does not
know the ways of the country apply to them, and place his goods in their
hands, they will take charge of them most loyally, selling them to the
best advantage, seeking jealously the profit of the foreigner, and asking
no commission except what he pleases to bestow. They eat no flesh, drink
no wine, and live a life of great chastity; nor would they on any account
take what belongs to another, for so their law commands. And they are all
distinguished by wearing a thread of cotton over one shoulder and tied
under the other arm, so that it crosses the breast and the back.

They have a rich and powerful king, who is eager to purchase precious
stones and large pearls; and he sends these Abraiaman merchants into the
kingdom of Maabar called Soli, which is the best and noblest Province of
India, and where the best pearls are found, to fetch him as many of these
as they can get, and he pays them double the cost price for all. So in
this way he has a vast treasure of such valuables.

These Abraiaman are idolaters; and they give greater heed to signs and
omens than any people that exist. I will mention one of their customs as
an example. To every day of the week they assign a special augury. Suppose
some purchase is on foot; he who proposes to become the buyer takes note,
when he rises in the morning, of his shadow in the sun, which ought, he
says, on that day to be of such and such a length; and should his shadow
be of the proper length for that day he completes his purchase; if it be
not, he will on no account do so, but waits till his shadow reaches the
prescribed measurement. For there is a certain length fixed for every day
in the week; and the merchant will not complete any business unless he
finds his shadow of the length set down for that particular day. Also to
each day in the week they assign one hour as unlucky, which they term
_Choiach_. For example, on Monday the hour of Half-tierce (7 to 8 a.m.),
on Tuesday that of Tierce, (9 to 10 a.m.), on Wednesday Nones (12 to 1
p.m.), and so on.

Again, if one of them be in the house, and, while meditating a purchase,
should see a tarantula (such as is very common in that country) on the
wall, provided that it advance from a quarter which he deems lucky, he
will complete his purchase at once; but if it come from a quarter which he
considers unlucky, he will not do so on any inducement. Moreover, if, on
going forth, he hear any one sneeze, he will proceed if he consider it a
good omen; but, if the reverse, he will straightway sit down in his place
for as long as he thinks it well to tarry. Or if, in travelling along the
road, he see a swallow fly past, should its direction be lucky he will
proceed, but, if not, he will turn back again: in fact, they are worse, in
these vagaries, than so many Patarins! (i.e. heretics.)

These Abraiaman are very long-lived, owing to their extreme abstinence in
eating. And they never allow themselves to let blood in any part of the
body. They have capital teeth, which is due to a certain herb they chew;
it greatly improves their appearance, and is also very good for the
health.

There is another class of people called _Chugi_ [Jogi], who are indeed
properly Abraiaman, but they form a religious order devoted to the Idols.
They are extremely long-lived, every man of them living to 150 or 200
years. They eat very little, but what they do eat is good; rice and milk
chiefly. And these people make use of a very strange beverage; for they
brew a potion of mixed sulphur and quicksilver, and drink it twice every
month. This, they say, gives them long life; and they are used to take it
from their childhood.

Certain members of this Order lead the most ascetic life imaginable, going
completely naked; they worship the Ox. Most of them wear a small image of
an ox, in brass, pewter, or gold, tied over the forehead. Moreover, they
take cow-dung, and burn it, and make a powder of it; and then they make it
into an ointment, with which they daub themselves as devoutly as
Christians use holy water. Further, if they meet any person who treats
them well, they daub a little of this powder on the middle of his
forehead.

They do not eat from bowls or trenchers, but place their food on leaves of
the Apple of Paradise and other large leaves; these, however, they use
dry, never green. For they say the green leaves have a soul in them, and
so it would be a sin. And they would rather die than do what their Law
pronounces to be sin. If any one ask how it comes that they are not
ashamed to go about in their nudity, they say:--“We go naked because naked
we came into the world, and we desire to have nothing about us that is of
this world. Moreover, we have no sin of the flesh to be conscious of, and
therefore we are not ashamed of our nakedness, any more than you are to
show your hand or your face. You who are conscious of the sins of the
flesh do well to be ashamed, and to cover your nakedness.”

On no account would they kill an animal, not even a fly, or a flea, or a
louse, or anything in fact that has life; for they say all these have
souls, and it would be sinful to do so. They eat no vegetables in a green
state, only when they are dry. And they sleep on the ground, naked,
without a rag of clothing over them or under them; so that it is a marvel
they do not all die, instead of living so long as I have told you. They
fast every day in the year, and drink nothing but water. And when a novice
has to be received among them they keep him awhile in their convent, and
make him follow their rule of life.

They are such cruel and perfidious idolaters that it is very devilry! They
say that they burn the bodies of the dead, because if they were not burnt,
worms would generate and consume them; and when no more food remained for
them, they would die, and the souls belonging to those bodies would bear
the sin and the punishment of their death.

       *       *       *       *       *

In another part of his immortal work, Marco Polo speaks of the
fish-charmers of Ceylon as Brahmans (or _Abraiaman_.) The pearl-fishers,
he says, pay one twentieth part of all that they take to these men, who
charm the great fishes, and prevent them from injuring the divers whilst
engaged in seeking pearls under water. Their charm holds good only for the
day; at night they dissolve it, so that the fishes can work mischief at
their will. These Abraiaman, he adds, know also how to charm beasts and
birds and every living thing.

Commenting on this statement, Colonel Yule observes that the modern
snake-charmers do not seem entitled to the distinctive appellation of
Abraiaman, or Brahmans, though they may have been so in former days. At
the diamond-mines of the Northern Circars Brahmans are employed in the
similar task of propitiating the tutelary genii. The snake-charmers are
called in Tamul _Kadal-kalti_, “Sea-binders,” and in Hindustani,
_Haibanda_, or “Shark-binders.” At Aripo they belong to one family,
supposed to enjoy monopoly of the charm. The chief operator is (or was,
not many years ago) paid by Government, and he also received two oysters
from each boat daily during the fishery. Turnoub, on his visit, found the
incumbent of the office to be a Roman Catholic Christian, but that did not
seem to affect the exercise or the validity of his practices. It is
remarkable that when Turnoub wrote, not more than one authenticated
accident from sharks had taken place, during the whole period of the
British occupation.

       *       *       *       *       *

Among the shepherds, or hillmen, in the neighbourhood of Rampore (or “City
of Rama,”)--the Paharis, as they are called,--a curious custom lingers,
which resembles the strange old Highland ceremony of the sunwise turn, or
Deisul, round any particular object, partly for luck, partly as a survival
of the sun-worship of the men of old. Sometimes the villagers gather their
flocks into one great herd, and, walking at the head, lead them slowly
round the village, following the solar course. Gradually they quicken
their pace to a run, and in this fashion perambulate the village thrice or
even oftener.

This sunwise turn is practised in other cases, as in sickness or accident.
Sheep and goats are solemnly paraded round the sufferer; after which they
lose their heads. If the sufferer be wealthy, the number so sacrificed to
the demons is often considerable. But the Paharis very firmly hold that
though the lesser spirits may be thus propitiated, no sacrifice is
acceptable to the Supreme Deity; that all He claims is devout worship.

They believe in the existence of three and thirty millions of good and
evil spirits, but their special adoration seems to be reserved for the
spirit which watches over their particular village, and in their temples
they reserve for him a kind of ark or shrine, wherein his veiled image is
carefully preserved. Every day this ark is slung upon long poles, and
taken out for an airing; and once a year it is borne through the country
side in solemn procession, and the people assemble and dance before it, as
the Israelites of old danced before the tabernacle. The said ark is gaily
decorated with bright-coloured hangings, and upon it is set a brazen head,
with four or more faces, overshadowed by yaks’ tails, like huge plumes of
dark or scarlet wool. Sometimes the whole structure is adorned with faces
of polished metal, which gleam and reflect like mirrors in the sun.
Moreover, it is usually draped all around with a deep fringe of silky
white yaks’ tails, depending almost to the ground, and concealing the
bodies of the bearers, so that the tabernacle seems to crawl along upon
its own feet.

To the service of the temple certain people are set apart in every
village. In the morning they sound an alarm in honour of the god with
bell, and conch, and cymbal, and again in the evening with a similar din
they announce the close of day. Ablutions are ignored by the villagers in
their own case, but they will have their goddess washed and dressed
daily. They burn incense before her, and serve her with offerings of
leaves of wild mint.

Occasionally, all the tribes assemble at a religious festival, and each
village sends forth its ark, with the men and women attired in their
brightest colours, and glittering with all their jewels. The various
processions, with dance and song and gambol, proceed towards the appointed
rendezvous; one of their little temples, of rudely carved cedar-wood,
situated in the calm shade of a group of forest-trees. Near this temple is
usually prepared a neatly-levelled space, covered with green turf, or,
perhaps, paved; and here the Khudas, or arks, are solemnly deposited. For
three days the festivities are kept up, and the sound of singing and
dancing seems continuous. Every now and then each village-company raises
its Khuda from the ground, and carries it in a little circle, sunwise,
while the nodding plumes seem to keep time to the rude chant of the simple
worshippers, and an outer ring of men, joining hands, follow the rhythm in
fantastic dance. Then the idol is set down; the people prepare their
homage; the dance goes on; and the women, in a long undulating chain,
sunwise revolve around the mystic Khuda.

Each woman, throwing one arm around her neighbour’s waist, keeps the other
free, and waves a plume-like chowni or yak’s tail, as she bows to the
Khuda. They do not all wave simultaneously, but in swift succession, so as
to produce the effect of a continuous graceful motion. If one of the women
retire, from fatigue, another slips into her place: sometimes the men form
the circle, then both men and women join, always carrying on the same
evolutions, the same circular motion. At nightfall the huge fires are
kindled, and the lurid gleams of pine-wood torches flicker athwart the
darkness, while the echoes ring incessantly with the monotonous clang of
great trumpet-shells and tomtoms.

When they have expended all their energies the revellers bring the
festival to a close, and each village-company bears back its
patron-goddess to her own little sanctuary.

Whether, as some surmise, this ceremony is associated with any tradition
of Noah’s Ark, we cannot pretend to determine. But it is certain that some
legends of the Flood still linger among the hillmen. There is a popular
myth which tells of a mighty ship built by Manu and the Seven Sages, in
which they stored the seed of all kinds of life, and of its being rescued
by Brahma when the Deluge overwhelmed the primitive earth. Brahma, it
says, drew the great vessel for many days until he reached a high peak of
the Himalayas, where he moored it securely. In memory whereof, the peak
has ever since borne the name of _Naubandhana_.

Mr. W. Simpson, who has seen much of India and the Indians, describes an
Ark-festival which he witnessed in a Himalayan valley. After indulging in
the usual ceremonial ablutions, the people of the district assembled at
the village of Coatee to do honour to its patron-goddess. The Khuda was
brought out, and with dance and music, conducted in noisy procession
through the deep shades of the forest and its lonesome glens, until they
reached a certain grove, in which a small temple was situated. The Khuda
was then deposited on the paved space in front; and an aged priest washed
all the brazen faces with mint leaves and water previous to offering up
incense, flowers, fruit, and bread.

A number of playful young kids were next brought forward. The priest
sprinkled them with water. On the ground lay a large flat brazen dish, and
one of the villagers stood beside it with a sacred hatchet, rudely
ornamented. At a single blow he struck off the head of a kid. The priest’s
assistant raised the head, and muttering certain words, presented it to
the Khuda. Dipping his finger into the blood, he flicked some drops upon
the carven image, and placed the head with the other offerings. Meanwhile,
the kid’s body had been so disposed that all its blood dripped into the
brazen vessel; and when two or three animals had been sacrificed and the
dish was full, one of the men lifted it up, and, first presenting it to
the Khuda, turned round, and swang the body against the whitewashed wall
of the temple, so as to empty it of blood. This ceremony was thrice
repeated.

The festival is known as the _Akrot-ka-pooja_, or Walnut Festival, from
the pastime that follows the sacrificial scene. The priest, with a few
companions, takes his place in the balcony of the temple, and all the
young men present pelt them liberally with walnuts and green pine-cones,
which the group in the balcony rapidly collect and return in plentiful
volleys. For about half-an-hour this severe encounter lasts, when the
assailed descend, and once more mingle with the crowd.

By this time the sacrificial kids have been cooked, and the people seating
themselves on the paved space in front of the Khuda, cakes and flesh are
served out among them. In opposition to the usual Eastern custom, the
women are helped before the men. It is now time for the homeward journey,
but the mysterious oscillation of the Khuda is understood to signify its
desire to visit the neighbouring village of Cheenee; and thither the
multitude at once proceed, dancing, singing, shouting, while the forest
glades resound with the trumpets and the tomtoms, and a few of the
nimbler-footed speed ahead to give notice to the authorities at Cheenee of
the honour in store for them. When near the latter village, the procession
is met by the goddess of Cheenee, with her retinue, and an exchange of
courtesies takes place. Next morning, the goddess of Kothi, or Coatee,
returns to her own charge.


SHAMANISM: DEVIL-DANCING.

In many parts of Central and Southern India the rite of Devil-Dancing is
practised, and Bishop Caldwell gives a striking description of it as it
exists among the Shawars of Tinnevelly:[24]

“When the preparations are completed and the devil-dance is about to
commence, the music is at first comparatively slow; the dancer seems
impassive and sullen, and he either stands still or moves about in gloomy
silence. Gradually, as the music becomes quicker and louder, his
excitement begins to rise. Sometimes, to help him to work himself up into
a frenzy, he uses medicated draughts, cuts and lacerates himself till the
blood flows, lashes himself with a huge whip, presses a burning torch to
his breast, drinks the blood which flows from his own wounds, or drains
the blood of the sacrifice, putting the throat of the decapitated goat to
his mouth. Then, as if he had acquired new life, he begins to brandish his
staff of bells, and to dance with a quick but wild unsteady step.
Suddenly the afflatus descends; there is no mistaking that glare, or those
frantic leaps. He snorts, he swears, he gyrates. The demon has now taken
bodily possession of him, and though he retains the power of utterance and
motion, both are under the demon’s control, and his separate consciousness
is in abeyance. The bystanders signalize the event by raising a long
shout, attended with a peculiar vibratory noise, caused by the motion of
the hand and tongue, or the tongue alone. The devil-dancer is now
worshipped as a present deity, and every bystander consults him respecting
his diseases, his wants, the welfare of his absent relatives, the
offerings to be made for the accomplishment of his wishes, and, in short,
everything for which superhuman knowledge is supposed to be available.”

       *       *       *       *       *

Before we quit this subject, it may be for the interest and convenience of
the reader, if we offer a brief account of the doctrines and rites of
Brahmism. This movement against the old Hindu faith, initiated by Rammohun
Roy, and developed by Babu Keshub Chunda Sen, owes its origin, however
unconsciously, to the influence of Christianity, which the Hindu mind, on
awaking from its long sleep of centuries, found, as it were, by its side,
and the pure and elevated character of which it could not but recognise.

Rammohun Roy was born in the district of Moorshadabad in 1772, and was
upwards of forty years of age when he undertook the part of a religious
reformer. A man of considerable natural powers, he had cultivated them
carefully, acquired a thorough knowledge of Sanskrit and Arabic, and
accompanied his meditations on the Sastras, or Hindu religious books, with
a close study of the English Scriptures. Removing to Calcutta in 1814, he
endeavoured to engage his friends in the same pursuits, and as this effort
led him naturally to new inquiries, he soon came to abandon his belief in
traditional Hinduism. A cry of ‘infidel!’ was immediately raised against
him; he became the subject of an incessant hostility; was on one occasion
mobbed in the streets of Calcutta; and owed his life to the protection of
the British Government. Persecution, however, could not quench his thirst
after knowledge. He applied himself to the study of Greek and Hebrew,
that by reading the Bible in its original languages, he might penetrate
more thoroughly into the spirit of Hebrew and Christian devotion.

Having dismissed the authority of the Puranas, he rested his faith on the
Vedas, the oldest of the Hindu sacred books, in the conviction (an
erroneous one) that the old creed of Hinduism was monotheistic, and the
belief (a justifiable one) that the Puranas represented the degeneracy of
a later age. Strange to say, he did not detect the Pantheism that
overflows the Vedas: in the Upanishads or treatises attached to them, he
fancied that he saw a pure Deism, and to diffuse this among his
countrymen, he published numerous translations and organised a society of
believers, who recited texts from the Vedas, and chanted Christian hymns.
In 1830 he went further; founding a prayer-meeting, which proved the seed
of what is now known as the Brahma Samáj. The building erected for the
purpose of holding the meetings was, according to the trust deed, to be
open to people of all sorts and conditions, “who shall behave and conduct
themselves in an orderly, sober, religious, and devout manner, for the
worship and adoration of the Eternal, Unsearchable, and Immutable Being,
who is the Author and Preserver of the Universe, but not under and by any
other name, designation, or title, peculiarly used for and applied to any
particular Being or Beings by any man or set of men whatsoever.” It
provided also, in direct opposition to the practices of Hinduism, that no
graven image, sculpture, carving, picture, painting, portrait, or likeness
of anything, should “be admitted within the walls of this building;” that
no animal sacrifices should take place there; that no eating or drinking,
feasting or rioting, should be permitted; that evil speaking against the
beliefs of men should be prohibited; and that no prayer, or sermon, or
teaching should be allowed, unless it had “a tendency to the contemplation
of the Author and Preserver of the Universe, or to the promotion of
charity, morality, piety, benevolence, virtue, and the strengthening of
the bonds of union between men of all religious persuasions and creeds.”

Here we have a distinct advance on Brahmanism and even on Buddhism, but
the religious system indicated in the closing sentence is nevertheless as
vague as it is cold; and lacks that vital element which Christianity
derives from its recognition of GOD the FATHER and CHRIST the SAVIOUR.
However, Rammohun Roy, in his fashion, was a sincere “seeker after GOD;”
and in his vague endeavour to grasp the truth he persevered in the face of
an intolerant opposition. He still continued to give a foremost place to
the Vedas as channels of religious instruction, but he introduced the
Psalms of David; and as time wore on, he separated himself more and more
completely from the traditions of orthodox Hinduism. Even his faith in the
Vedas came to be much shaken; and finding himself at last in that state of
isolation which is the suffering and martyrdom of the man in advance of
his age, he quitted India and went to live in England. At Bristol he
resided, much esteemed, until his death in 1833.

For awhile the torch which he had lighted flickered ominously near to
extinction, until, in 1841, it passed into the hands of Babu Debendronath
Tagore. By him it was again lighted up; and as much had happened since
Rammohun Roy’s departure, as education had gradually weakened the old
traditional prejudices, it became the rallying-point of a crowd of earnest
inquirers. Debendronath Tagore devoted himself with eager unselfishness,
giving unsparingly of his time, his money, and his talents. His work
derived no inconsiderable moral support from his unblemished personal
character. He provided the Samáj with a printing-press, expended much
money in fitting up their place of worship, and collected a valuable
library of the Hindu sacred books, besides providing for the support of
poor but promising students, sent to Benares to prosecute their studies.

A remarkable change, however, soon came over the faith and teaching of the
Samáj. Hitherto, as we have seen, they had been based upon the Vedas, as
the authorized rule of Hindu theology; but inquiry and criticism had
gradually disclosed their Pantheistic character, and their consequent
incompatibility with the creed of the Samáj. Thus it came to pass that
about 1850 the Vedas had to go; and the members of the Samáj no longer
called themselves Vedantists but Brahmoists, or Brahmists (from _Brahm_,
or Brahma, the Supreme Being.) In other words, they openly became
Theists.

A religious sect, brought together by a common monotheism and accepting a
common covenant, was naturally impelled towards an expansion of their
creed. But this expansion in the case of the Brahma Samáj, was probably
hastened by the number of branch Samájes that sprang up in the
neighbourhood of the metropolis and in some of the larger towns of the
Bengal presidency. These branches, constantly increasing in number through
the accessions of educated young men from the colleges and zillah schools,
naturally looked to the parent Samáj to define and establish their creed;
and what must be regarded as an authoritative exposition of it was
published in 1868. The following is a summary of it:--

“1. The book of Nature and Intuition form the basis of the Brahmaic faith.

“2. Although the Brahmas do not consider any book written by man the basis
of their religion, yet do they accept with pleasure and respect any
_truth_ contained in any book.

“3. The Brahmas believe that the religious condition of man is
progressive, like the other facts of his condition in this world.

“4. They believe that the fundamental doctrines of their religion are at
the basis of every religion followed by man.

“5. They believe in the existence of One Supreme GOD--a GOD endowed with a
distinct personality, and attributes equal to His nature, and intelligence
befitting the Governor of the Universe; and worship Him--Him alone. They
do not believe in His incarnation.

“6. They believe in the immortality and progressive state of the soul, and
declare that there is a state of conscious existence succeeding life in
this world, and supplementary to it as respects the action of the
universal moral government.

“7. They believe that atonement is the only way to salvation. They do not
recognise any other mode of reconcilement to the offended but loving
Father.

“8. They pray for _spiritual_ welfare, and believe in the _efficacy_ of
real prayers.

“9. They believe in the Providential care of the Divine Father.

“10. They avow that love towards Him, and performing the works He loveth,
constitute His worship.

“11. They recognise the necessity of public worship, but do not believe
that they cannot hold communion with the Great Father without resorting to
any fixed place at any fixed time. They maintain that we can adore Him at
any time and at any place, provided that time and that place are
calculated to compose and direct the mind towards Him.

“12. They do not believe in pilgrimages, but declare that holiness can be
attained only by elevating and purifying the mind.

“13. They do not perform any rites and ceremonies, or believe in penances,
as instrumental in obtaining the grace of GOD. They declare that moral
righteousness, the gaining of wisdom, Divine contemplation, charity, and
the cultivation of devotional feelings, are their rites and ceremonies.
They further say, Govern and regulate your feelings, discharge your duties
to GOD and to man, and you will gain everlasting blessedness; purify your
hearts, cultivate devotional feelings, and you will see Him who is Unseen.

“14. Theoretically, there is no distinction of caste among the Brahmas.
They declare that we are all the children of GOD, and, therefore, must
consider ourselves as brothers and sisters.”

Briefly speaking, the religious system herein set forth may be described
as Christianity without CHRIST; and yet it was unwilling to acknowledge
its obligations to Christianity. Its apostles sought to persuade
themselves and others that they derived everything from the Vedas and
nothing from the Bible; and when they were compelled to abandon the Vedas,
they fell back upon Nature as a Divine Revelation. But, as an Anglo-Indian
authority contends, it is certain that but for the new life which at this
time flowed in with the tide of Western thought, and the study of a
literature “saturated at every pore” with Christian sentiment and the high
Gospel morality; and but for the strong and ceaseless opposition
maintained by Christianity in the person of its missionaries against the
Atheism, which was the first, though a short-lived result of the sudden
intellectual quickening the young men of Calcutta experienced when Western
science was substituted for Oriental myths, neither would the study of the
Vedas have been revived, nor would the great lessons of nature have
appeared so intelligible as they then became.[25]

We have seen that Brahmanism made one advance under Rammohun Roy; it was
led still further forward by Debendronath Tagore; and then he too suddenly
halted, as his predecessor had done. The leadership next devolved upon a
man of higher courage, not less fitted to lead a great movement by his
enthusiasm than by his ability, Babu Keshub Chunda Sen. Keshub was
determined that the challenge should be thrown down to orthodox Hinduism:
and persuaded Debendronath Tagore, when his daughter was married, to
celebrate the occasion without the usual idolatrous ceremony. After this,
he purified of their idolatrous element the rites observed at birth and
death. Still, Debendronath Tagore supported him; but, at last, when an
attempt was made to eliminate not only what was purely idolatrous, but
also everything offensive to enlightened feeling and a purer taste,
Debendronath and the conservative party opposed, and a schism was the
result.

“The time had arrived,” says the writer already quoted, “when Brahmism, if
it was a power and not mere talk, must do battle with the system of caste
distinctions. The first step in this direction taken by Keshub Chunda Sen,
was the celebration of a marriage between persons belonging to different
castes. That was an innovation such as might well startle the venerable
pundits of Nuddea and Benares. There could henceforward be no doubt as to
the more than heretical tendency of the theistic doctrine. An electric
shock ran through society: all Hindudom was roused from its slumber, and
began suspiciously to ponder what Brahmism meant by such daring. But the
real test of principle was yet to come. It was comparatively safe to make
a few modifications in domestic religious rites: the marriage of people of
different castes compromised the principals chiefly: it was necessary that
the entire Brahma community should by some act be universally committed to
war against the evils and iniquities of caste. Keshub and his party
accepted this necessity, threw off the sacred thread that distinguished
them as Brahmans, and insisted that all who desired membership with their
Samáj should consent to renounce caste. There could be no greater triumph
than this, of principle over traditionalism: it stamped Brahmism as a
power in the land, and not an idle theological speculation.”

Thenceforward, Keshub Chunda Sen became the recognised leader of “the
Brahma Samáj of India,” and the new sect adopted an active proselytism.
Branch Samájes have been established all over the country; missionaries
have been sent as far as Madras and Bombay and the Punjab. Tracts and
lectures have been freely circulated. In Calcutta a so-called “church” has
been built, and is well attended every Sunday evening, not only by men,
but by women, for whom special accommodation is provided. The services are
conducted in the vernacular, so as to be intelligible to all worshippers.
Brahmist hymns are sung to the accompaniment of the harmonium, and the
solemn _mridong_ (a kind of drum): passages are read from a book of
selections in which the extracts from the Bible greatly outnumber those
from any other source; extemporaneous prayers are offered with an
intensity of spiritual feeling that could do no disgrace to a Christian
congregation; and discourses are delivered which breathe a pure and noble
tone of sentiment and feeling. Two weekly periodicals, one Bengali and the
other English, the “Dharma Tattwa” and the “Indian Mirror,” are the
recognised exponents of the views and teaching of the Samáj.




CHAPTER V.

_THE HINDU MYTHOLOGY: AND THE VISHNU PURANA._


The word _Purana_ means “old,” and the original object of the Puranas
would seem to have been the preservation of ancient mythological fictions
and historical traditions. But in the form in which they have come down to
us they do something more than this. They comprehend, more or less
thoroughly, the five following subjects:--1, Primary creation, or
cosmogony; 2, Secondary creation, or the destruction and renovation of
worlds, including chronology; 3, Genealogy of gods and patriarchs; 4,
Reigns of the Manus, or periods called Manwantaras; and 5, History, or
such particulars as are extant of the princes of the solar and lunar
races, and of their descendants to modern times. According to Professor
Wilson, they are evidently derived from the same religious system as the
Rámáyana and Mahábhárata, or from what he calls the mytho-heroic stage of
Hindu belief. “They present, however, peculiarities which designate their
belonging to a later period, and to an important modification in the
progress of opinion. They repeat the theoretical cosmogony of the two
great poems; they expound and systematise the chronological computations;
and they give a more definite and connected representation of the
mythological fictions and the historical traditions. But besides these and
other particulars, which may be derivable from an old, if not from a
primitive era, they offer characteristic peculiarities of a more modern
description, in the paramount importance which they assign to individual
divinities, in the variety and purport of the rites and observances
addressed to them, and in the invention of new legends illustrative of the
power and graciousness of those deities, and of the efficacy of implicit
devotion to them.”

The form of composition adopted in the Puranas is that of a dialogue, in
which its contents are related by one imaginary individual in reply to
another. Several dialogues are eventually woven together; and they purport
to have been held on different occasions between different individuals, in
consequence of similar questions having been asked. Usually the immediate
narrator is Lomaharshaná or Romaharshána, the disciple of Vyasa, who, as
Plato did for Socrates, communicates to the reader his great master’s
utterances. The Vyasa or compiler here meant was Krishna Dwaipáyana, the
son of Parásara; it is said of him that he taught the Vedas and Puranas to
various pupils, but it seems more probable that he was at the head of a
school or college, the members of which moulded the sacred literature of
the Hindus into its present form.

There appear to have been eighteen Puranas: namely, 1, Brahma; 2, Padma;
3, Vaishnava; 4, Saiva; 5, Bhagavata; 6, Náradíya; 7, Márkándeya; 8,
Agneya; 9, Bhavishya; 10, Brahma Vaivarta; 11, Lainga; 12, Váráha; 13,
Skánda; 14, Vámana; 15, Kaurma; 16, Mátsya; 17, Gáruda; 18, Bráhmanda.

The Vishnu Purana is described as that in which Parásara, beginning with
the events of the Varáha Kalpa, expounds man’s moral and religious
obligations in about seven thousand stanzas. It is divided into six
books:--

The first deals chiefly with the details of creation, primary (Sarga) and
secondary (Pratisarga); the first explaining how the universe proceeds
from Prakriti or eternal crude matter; the second, in what way “the forms
of things are developed from the elementary substances previously evolved,
or how they reappear after their temporary destruction.” Both these
creations are periodical; the first does not end until the life of Brahma
ends, when not only the gods and all other forms are annihilated, but the
elements are resolved into the primary substance, besides which one only
spiritual being exists. The latter occurs at the end of every Kalpa, æon,
or day of Brahma, and is wholly limited to the forms of inferior creatures
and the lower worlds; leaving untouched sages and gods and the substance
of the heavens. A description of the ages or periods of time on which
these events depend is involved in the explanation; and it is given
accordingly in wearisome detail. Their character has been a source of very
unnecessary perplexity to European writers; for they belong to a wholly
mythological scheme of chronology, which has no reference to any real or
supposed history of the Hindus, but prefigures, according to their system,
the infinite and eternal revolutions of the universe.

By a singular incongruity the existence of Pradhána, or crude matter, is
identified with Vishnu, who is declared to be both spirit and crude
matter, and not only crude matter, but all visible substance, and Time. He
is Purusha, “spirit;” Pradhána, “crude matter;” Vyakta, “visible form;”
and Kála, “time.” “This,” says Professor Wilson, “cannot but be regarded
as a departure from the primitive dogmas of the Hindus, in which the
distinctness of the Deity and His works was enunciated; in which, upon His
willing the world to be, it was; and in which His interposition in
creation, held to be inconsistent with the quiescence of perfection, was
explained away by the personification of attributes in action, which
afterwards came to be considered as real divinities, Brahma, Vishnu, and
Siva, charged severally, for a given season, with the creation,
preservation, and temporary annihilation of material forms.” In the Vishnu
Purana, these divinities are declared to be no other than Vishnu.

The earth having been duly prepared for the reception of living creatures,
it was peopled by the will-begotten sons of Brahma, the Prajapatis or
patriarchs. But it was necessary to provide these “grey forefathers” of
the early world with wives. For this purpose, the Manu Swayambhuva and his
wife Satarupa, were invented; and their daughters supplied the patriarchs
with female partners. Numerous legends were built up on this basis, and
the whole story assumed an allegorical form. Swayhambhuva, the son of the
self-born or uncreated, and his wife Satarupa, the hundred-formed or
multiform, are themselves allegories; and their female descendants, who
became the wives of the Rishis, are Faith, Devotion, Content,
Intelligence, Tradition, and the like; whilst among their posterity are
found the different phases of the moon and the sacrificial fires. There
are other legends in explanation of the peopling of the earth. All seem to
indicate that the Prajapatis and Rishis were “real personages, the authors
of the Hindu system of social, moral, and religious obligations, and the
first observers of the heavens, and teachers of astronomical science.”

The genealogy is traced of the royal personages of this first race or
dynasty, and is continued into the second book; after which comes a detail
of the geographical system of the Puranas, with Mount Meru, the seven
circular continents, and their surrounding oceans, to the limits of the
world. This (except so far as India or Bharata is concerned) is purely
mythological. In the early portion of the third book, the arrangement of
the Vedas and other sacred writings of the Hindus is described. Then
follows an account of the principal Hindu institutions, the duties of
castes, the obligations of different stages of life, and the celebration
of funeral rites, in a brief but primitive strain, and in harmony with the
laws of Manu. “It is a distinguishing feature of the Vishnu Purana, and it
is characteristic of its being the work of an earlier period than most of
the Puranas, that it enjoins no sectarial or other acts of supererogation;
no Vratas, occasional self-imposed observances; no holy days, no birthdays
of Krishna, no nights dedicated to Lakshmi; no sacrifices or modes of
worship other than those conformable to the ritual of the Vedas. It
contains no Máhálinyas or golden legends, even of the temples in which
Vishnu is adored.”

The fourth book contains a tolerably full list of royal dynasties and
individuals, with a dull chronicle of events, the authenticity of which
cannot always be accepted. In the fifth book we have the life of Krishna,
one of the avatars or manifestations of Vishnu; and in the last an account
of the dissolution of the world, “in both its major and minor cataclysms,”
which, “in the particulars of the end of all things by fire and water, as
well as in the principle of their perpetual renovation, presents a
faithful exhibition of opinions that were general in the ancient world.”

We now proceed to give a few specimens of the contents of this remarkable
work.


_Origin of Rudra_ (Bk. i. c. 8.)

In the beginning of the Kalpa, as Brahma proposed to create a son, who
should be like himself, a youth of a purple complexion appeared; crying
with a low cry, and running about. Brahma, when he beheld him thus
afflicted, said to him: “Why dost thou weep?” “Give me a name,” replied
the boy. “Rudra be thy name,” rejoined the great father of all creatures:
“be composed; desist from tears.” But, though thus addressed, the boy
still wept seven times; and Brahma therefore gave to him seven other
denominations: and to these eight persons regions and wives and posterity
belong. The eight manifestations, then, are named Rudra, Bhava, Sarva,
Isana, Pasaputi, Bhima, Ugra, and Mahádeva, which were given to them by
their great progenitor. He also assigned to them their respective
stations, the sun, water, earth, air, fire, ether, the ministrant Brahman,
and the moon; for these are their several forms. The wives of the sun and
the other manifestations, termed Rudra and the east, were, respectively:
Suvarchalá, Ushá, Vikésí, Sívá, Swáhá, Disas, Dikshá, and Rohini. Now hear
an account of their progeny, by whose successive generations this world
has been peopled. Their sons were severally: Sawaischara (Saturn,) Sukra
(Venus,) the fiery-bodied (Mars,) Mamjava, Skanda, Swarga, Santána, and
Budha (Mercury.)


_Sacrifice of Daksha._

(This remarkable legend, according to Professor Wilson, is intended to
allegorise a struggle between the worshippers of Siva and of Vishnu, in
which the former, after a temporary defeat, obtained the victory.)

There was formerly a peak of Meru, named Sávitra, abounding with gems,
radiant as the sun, and celebrated throughout the three worlds; of immense
extent, difficult of access, and an object of universal adoration. Upon
that glorious eminence, rich with mineral treasures, as upon a splendid
couch, the deity Siva reclined, accompanied by the daughter of the
sovereign of mountains, and attended by the mighty Adityas, the powerful
Vasus, and by the heavenly physicians, the sons of Aswini; by Kubera,
surrounded by his train of Guhyakas, the lord of the Yakshas, who dwells
on Kailása. There also was the great Muni Usanas: there were Rishis of the
first order, with Sanatkumará at their head, divine Rishis, preceded by
Angiras; Viswavasu, with his bands of heavenly choristers; the sages
Nárada and Parvata; and innumerable troops of celestial nymphs.

The breeze blew upon the mountain, bland, pure, and fragrant; and the
trees were decorated with flowers that blossomed in every season.

The Vidyadharas and Siddhas, affluent in devotion, waited upon Mahádeva,
the lord of living creatures; and many other beings, of various forms, did
him homage. Prákshasas of terrific semblance, and Pisáchas of great
strength, of different shapes and features, armed with various weapons,
and blazing like fire, were delighted to be present, as the followers of
the god. There stood the royal Naudin, high in the favour of his lord,
armed with a fiery trident, shining with inherent lustre; and there the
best of rivers, Ganga, the assemblage of all holy waters, stood adoring
the mighty deity. Thus worshipped by all the most excellent of sages and
of gods, abode the omnipotent and all-glorious Mahádeva.

In former times Daksha commenced a holy sacrifice on the side of Himavat,
at the sacred spot Gangádwara, frequented by the Rishis. The gods,
desirous of assisting at this solemn rite, came, with Indra at their head,
to Mahádeva, and intimated their purpose, and having received his
permission, departed, in their splendid chariots, to Gangádwara, as
tradition reports. They found Daksha, the best of the devout, surrounded
by the singers and nymphs of heaven, and by numerous sages, beneath the
shade of clustering trees and climbing plants; and all of them, whether
dwellers on earth, in air, or in the regions above the skies, approached
the patriarch with outward gestures of respect. The Adityas, Vasus,
Rudras, Maruts, all entitled to partake of the oblations, together with
Jishnu, were present.

The (four classes of Pitris) Ushmapas, Somapas, Ajyapas, and Dhúmapas, (or
those who feed upon the flame, the acid juice, the butter, or the smoke of
offerings,) the Aswins, and the progenitors, came along with Brahmá.
Creatures of every class, born from the womb, the egg, from vapour, or
vegetation, came upon their invocation; as did all the gods, with their
brides, who, in their resplendent vehicles, blazed like so many fires.

Beholding them thus assembled, the sage Dadhicha was filled with
indignation, and observed: “The man who worships what ought not to be
worshipped, or pays not reverence where veneration is due, is guilty, most
assuredly, of heinous sin.” Then, addressing Daksha, he said to him: “Why
do you not offer homage to the god who is the lord of life (Pasubhartri?)”
Daksha spake: “I have already many Rudras present, armed with tridents,
wearing braided hair, and existing in eleven forms. I recognise no other
Mahádeva.” Dadhicha spake: “The invocation that is not addressed to Isa
is, for all, but a solitary (and imperfect) summons. Inasmuch as I behold
no other divinity who is superior to Sankhara, this sacrifice of Daksha
will not be completed.” Daksha spake: “I offer in a golden cup, this
entire oblation, which has been consecrated by many prayers, as an
offering ever due to the unequalled Vishnu, the sovereign lord of all....”

(After a conversation between the mighty Maheswara and his spouse, whom he
addresses in epithets which have quite an Homeric sound:)

The mighty Maheswara created, from his mouth, a being like the fire of
fate; a divine being, with a thousand heads, a thousand eyes, a thousand
feet; wielding a thousand clubs, a thousand shafts; holding the shell, the
discus, the mace, and bearing a blazing bow and battle-axe; fierce and
terrific, shining with dreadful splendour, and decorated with the crescent
moon; clothed in a tiger’s skin dripping with blood, having a capacious
stomach, and a vast mouth armed with formidable tusks. His ears were
erect, his lips were pendulous; his tongue was lightning; his hand
brandished the thunderbolt; flames streamed from his hair; a necklace of
pearls wound round his neck; a garland of flame descended on his breast.

Radiant with lustre, he looked like the final fire that consumes the
world. Four tremendous tusks projected from a mouth which extended from
ear to ear.

He was of vast bulk, vast strength, a mighty male and lord, the destroyer
of the universe, and like a large fig tree in circumference; shining like
a hundred moons at once; fierce as the fire of love; having four heads,
sharp white teeth, and of mighty fierceness, vigour, activity, and
courage; glowing with the blaze of a thousand fiery suns at the end of the
world; like a thousand undimmed moons; in bulk like Himádri, Kailása, or
Sumnu, or Mundara, with all its gleaming herbs; bright as the sun of
destruction at end of ages; of irresistible prowess and beautiful aspect;
irascible, with lowering eyes, and a countenance burning like fire;
clothed in the hide of the elephant and lion, and girt round with snakes;
wearing a turban on his head, a moon on his brow: sometimes savage,
sometimes mild; having a chaplet of many flowers on his head, anointed
with various unguents, adorned with different ornaments and many sorts of
jewels, wearing a garland of heavenly Karnikara flowers, and rolling his
eyes with rage. Sometimes he danced; sometimes he laughed aloud; sometimes
he stood wrapt in meditation; sometimes he trampled upon the earth;
sometimes he sang; sometimes he wept repeatedly. And he was endowed with
the faculties of wisdom, dispassion, power, penance, truth, endurance,
fortitude, dominion, and self-knowledge.

This being then knelt down upon the ground, and raising his hands
respectfully to his head, said to Mahádeva: “Sovereign of the gods,
command what it is that I must do for thee;” to which Maheswara replied:
“Spoil the sacrifice of Daksha.” Then the mighty Virabhadra, having heard
the pleasure of his lord, bowed down his head to the feet of Prajápati,
and starting like a lion loosed from bonds, despoiled the sacrifice of
Daksha; knowing that he had been created by the displeasure of Devi. She,
too, in her wrath, as the fearful goddess Rudrakáli, accompanied him, with
all her train, to witness his deeds. Virabhadra, the fierce, abiding in
the region of ghosts, is the minister of the anger of Devi. And he then
created, from the pores of his skin, powerful demigods, the mighty
attendants upon Rudra, of equal valour and strength, who started by
hundreds and by thousands into existence. A loud and confused clamour
straightway filled all the expanse of ether, and inspired the denizens of
heaven with dread. The mountains tottered, and earth shook; the winds
roared, and the depths of the sea were disturbed; the fires lost their
radiance, and the sun grew pale; the planets of the firmament shone not,
neither did the stars give light; the Rishis ceased their hymns, and gods
and demons were mute; and thick darkness eclipsed the chariot of the
skies.

Then from the gloom emerged fearful and numerous forms, shouting the cry
of battle; who instantly broke or overturned the sacrificial columns,
trampled upon the altars, and danced amidst the oblations. Running wildly
hither and thither, with the speed of wind, they tossed about the
implements and vessels of sacrifice, which looked like stars precipitated
from the heavens. The piles of food and beverage for the gods, which had
been heaped up like mountains;[26] the rivers of milk; the tanks of curds
and butter; the masses of honey, and butter-milk, and sugar; the mounds of
condiments and spices of every flavour; the undulating knolls of flesh and
other viands; the celestial liquors; pastes and confections which had been
prepared; these the spirits of wrath devoured, or defiled, or scattered
abroad. And, falling upon the host of the gods, these vast and resistless
Rudras beat or terrified them, mocked and insulted the nymphs and
goddesses, and quickly put an end to the rite, although defended by all
the gods; being the ministers of Rudra’s wrath, and similar to himself.
Some then made a hideous clamour, whilst others fearfully shouted, when
Yajna was decapitated. For the divine Yajna, the lord of sacrifice, began
to fly up to heaven, in the shape of a deer; and Virabhadra, of
immeasurable spirit, apprehending his power, cut off his vast head, after
he had mounted into the sky.

Daksha, the patriarch, his sacrifice being destroyed, overcome with
terror, and utterly broken in spirit, fell prone upon the ground, where
his head was spurned by the feet of the cruel Virabhadra. The thirty
scores of sacred divinities were all presently bound, with a band of fire,
by their lion-like foe; and they all addressed him, crying: “O Rudra, have
mercy upon thy servants! O lord, dismiss thine anger!” This spake Brahma,
and the other gods, and the patriarch Daksha; and, raising their hands,
they said: “Declare, mighty being, who thou art.”

Virabhadra said: “I am not a god, nor an Aditya, nor am I come hither for
enjoyment, nor curious to behold the chiefs of the divinities. Know that I
am come to destroy the sacrifice of Daksha, and that I am called
Virabhadra, the issue of the wrath of Rudra. Bhadrakali, also, who has
sprung from the anger of Devi, is sent here, by the god of gods, to
destroy this rite. Take refuge, king of kings, with him who is the lord of
Uma. For better is the anger of Rudra than the blessings of other gods.”

Having heard the words of Virabhadra, the righteous Daksha propitiated the
mighty god, the holder of the trident, Maheswara. The hearth of sacrifice,
deserted by the Brahmans, had been consumed; Yajna had been metamorphosed
to an antelope; the fires of Rudra’s wrath had been kindled; the
attendants, wounded by the tridents of the servants of the god, were
groaning with pain; the pieces of the uprooted sacrificial posts were
scattered here and there; and the fragments of the meat-offerings were
carried off by flights of hungry vultures and herds of howling jackals.

Suppressing his vital airs, and taking up a posture of meditation, the
many-sighted victor of his foes, Daksha, fixed his eyes everywhere upon
his thoughts. And the god of gods appeared from the altar resplendent as a
thousand suns, and smiling upon him, said, “Daksha, thy sacrifice has been
destroyed through sacred knowledge, I am well pleased with thee.” And he
smiled again, and exclaimed, “What shall I do for thee? Declare, together
with the preceptor of the gods.”

And Daksha, frightened, alarmed, and agitated, his eyes suffused with
tears, raised his hands reverently to his brow, and said, “If, lord, thou
art pleased; if I have found favour in thy sight; if I am to be the object
of thy benevolence; if thou wilt confer upon me a boon, this is the
blessing I solicit, that all these provisions for the solemn sacrifice
which have been collected with much trouble and during a long time, and
have now been eaten, drunk, devoured, burnt, broken, scattered abroad, may
not have been prepared in vain.” “So let it be,” replied Hara, the subduer
of Indra. And thereupon Daksha knelt down upon the earth, and praised
gratefully the author of righteousness, the three-eyed god Mahádeva,
repeating the eight thousand names of the deity whose emblem is a bull.


_Public Games._ (Bk. v., c. 10.)

As Krishna and Rama proceeded along the high road, they saw coming towards
them a young girl, who was crooked, carrying a pot of unguent. Addressing
her sportively, Krishna said, “For whom are you carrying that unguent?
Tell me, lovely maiden, tell me truly.” Spoken to as it were through
affection, Kubja[27], well disposed towards Hari, replied to him also
mirthfully, being smitten by his appearance, “Know you not, beloved, that
I am the servant of Kamsa, and appointed, crooked as I am, to prepare his
perfumes? Of unguent ground by any other he does not approve, and hence I
am enriched through his liberal rewards.” Then said Krishna, “Fair-faced
damsel, give us of this unguent,--fragrant and fit for kings,--as much as
we may rub upon our bodies.” “Take it,” answered Kubja. And she gave them
as much of the unguent as was sufficient for their persons. And they
rubbed it on various parts of their faces and bodies, till they looked
like two clouds, one white and one black, decorated by the many-tinted bow
of Indra.

And Krishna, skilled in the curative art, took hold of her under the chin
with the thumb and two fingers, and lifted up her head, whilst with his
feet he pressed down her feet, and in this way he made her straight.

When she was thus relieved from her deformity, she was a most beautiful
woman; and filled with gratitude and affection, she took Govinda by the
garment, and invited him to her house. Promising to come at some other
time, Krishna smilingly dismissed her, and then laughed aloud on beholding
the countenance of Baladeva.

Dressed in blue and yellow garments, and anointed with fragrant unguents,
Krishna and Rama proceeded to the hall of arms, which was hung round with
garlands. Inquiring of the warders which bow he was to try, and being
directed to it, Krishna took it, and bent it. But drawing it with
violence, he snapped it in two, and all Mathura resounded with the noise
which its fracture occasioned. Abused by the warders for breaking the bow,
Krishna and Rama retorted, and defied them, and left the hall.

When Kamsa knew that Akrura had returned, and heard that the bow had been
broken, he then said to Chanura and Mushtika, his boxers, “Two youths,
cowherd boys, have arrived. You must kill them both, in a trial of
strength, in my presence; for they practise against my life. I shall be
well pleased if you kill them in the match, and will give you whatever you
wish, but not otherwise. These two foes of mine must be killed by you,
fairly or unfairly. The kingdom shall be ours in common when they have
perished.”

Having given them their orders, he sent next for his elephant driver, and
desired him to station his great elephant, Kuvalayapida,--who was as vast
as a cloud charged with rain,--near the gate of the arena, and drive him
upon the two boys when they should attempt to enter. When Kamsa had issued
these commands, and ascertained that the platforms were all ready (for the
spectators), he awaited the rising of the sun, unconscious of impending
death.

In the morning the citizens assembled on the platforms set apart for them;
and the princes, with the ministers and courtiers, occupied the royal
seats. Near the centre of the circle, judges of the games were stationed
by Kamsa, whilst he himself sat apart close by, upon a lofty throne.
Separate platforms were erected for the ladies of the palace, for the
courtesans, and for the wives of the citizens. Nanda and the cowherds had
places appropriated to them, at the end of which sat Akrura and Vasudeva.
Amongst the wives of the citizens appeared Devaki, mourning for her son,
whose lovely face she longed to behold, even in the hour of his
destruction.

When the musical instruments sounded, Chanura sprang forth, and the people
cried, “Alas!” and Mushtika slapped his arms in defiance. Covered with
blood and mud from the elephant, which, when goaded upon them by its
driver, they had slain, and armed with its tusks, Balabhadra and Janardana
confidently entered the arena, like two lions amidst a herd of deer.
Exclamations of pity arose from all the spectators, along with expressions
of astonishment. “This, then,” said the people, “is Krishna. This is
Balabhadra. This is he by whom the fierce night-walker Putana was slain;
by whom the waggon was overturned, and the two Arjuna trees felled. This
is the boy who trampled and danced on the serpent Kaliya; who upheld the
mountain Govardhana for seven nights; who killed, as if in play, the
iniquitous Arishta, Dhenuka, and Kisra. This, whom we see, is Achyuta.
This is he who has been foretold by the wise, skilled in the sense of the
Puranas, as Gopala, who shall exalt the depressed Yadava race. This is a
portion of the all-existing, all-generating Vishnu, descended upon earth,
who will, assuredly, lighten her load.”

Thus did the citizens describe Rama and Krishna, as soon as they appeared:
whilst the breast of Devaki glowed with maternal affection; and Vasudeva,
forgetting his infirmities, felt himself young again, on beholding the
countenances of his sons as a season of rejoicing. The women of the
palace, and the wives of the citizens, wide opened their eyes, and gazed
intently upon Krishna.

“Look, friends,” said they to their companions; “look at the face of
Krishna. His eyes are reddened by his conflict with the elephant; and the
drops of perspiration stand upon his cheeks, outvying a full-blown lotus
in autumn, studded with glittering dew. Avail yourself, now, of the
faculty of vision. Observe his breast,--the seat of splendour, marked
with the mystic sign,--and his arms, menacing destruction to his foes. Do
you not notice Balabhadra, dressed in a blue garment,--his countenance as
fair as the jasmine, as the moon, as the fibres of the lotus-stem? See how
he gently smiles at the gestures of Mushtika and Chanura, as they spring
up.

“And now behold Hari advance to encounter Chanura. What! Are there no
elders, judges of the field? How can the delicate form of Hari,--only yet
in the dawn of adolescence,--be regarded as a match for the vast and
adamantine bulk of the great demon? Two youths, of light and elegant
persons, are in the arena, to oppose athletic fiends, headed by the cruel
Chanura. This is a great sin in the judges of the games, for the umpires
to suffer a contest between boys and strong men.”

As thus the women of the city conversed with one another, Hari, having
tightened his girdle, danced in the ring, shaking the ground on which he
trod. Balabhadra also danced, slapping his arms in defiance. Where the
ground was firm, the invincible Krishna contended, foot to foot, with
Chanura. The practised demon Mushtika was opposed by Balabhadra. Mutually
entwining, and pushing, and pulling, and beating each other with fists,
arms, and elbows, pressing each other with their knees, interlacing their
arms, kicking with their feet, pressing with their whole weight upon one
another, fought Hari and Chanura.

Desperate was the struggle, though without weapons, and one for life and
death, to the great gratification of the spectators. In proportion as the
contest continued, so Chanura was gradually losing something of his
original vigour, and the wreath upon his head trembled from his fury and
distress; whilst the world-comprehending Krishna wrestled with him as if
but in sport. Beholding Chanura losing, and Krishna gaining strength,
Kamsa, furious with rage, commanded the music to cease.

As soon as the drums and trumpets were silenced, a numerous band of
heavenly instruments was heard in the sky; and the unseen gods exclaimed:
“Victory to Govinda! Kesava, kill the demon Chanura!” Madhusudana, having,
for a long time, dallied with his adversary, at last lifted him up, and
whirled him round, with the intention of putting an end to him. Having
whirled Chanura round a hundred times, until his breath was expended in
the air, Krishna dashed him on the ground, with such violence as to smash
his body into a hundred fragments, and strew the earth with a hundred
pools of gory mire.

Whilst this took place, the mighty Baladeva was engaged, in the same
manner, with the demon bruiser, Mushtika. Striking him on the head with
his fists, and on the breast with his knees, he stretched him on the
ground, and pummelled him there till he was dead. Again, Krishna
encountered the royal bruiser Tosaluka, and felled him to the earth with a
blow of his left hand. When the other athletes saw Chanura, Mushtika, and
Tosaluka killed, they fled from the field; and Krishna and Sankarshana
danced, victorious, on the arena, dragging along with them, by force, the
cowherds of their own age. Kamsa, his eyes reddening with wrath, called
aloud to the surrounding people:--“Drive those two cowboys out of the
assembly: seize the villain Nanda, and secure him with chains of iron; put
Vasudeva to death with tortures intolerable to his years: and lay hands
upon the cattle, and whatever else belongs to those cowherds who are the
associates of Krishna.”

Upon hearing these orders, the destroyer of Madhu laughed at Kamsa, and,
springing up to the place where he was seated, laid hold of him by the
hair of his head, and struck his tiara to the ground. Then, casting him
down upon the earth, Govinda threw himself upon him. Crushed by the weight
of the upholder of the universe, the son of Ugrasena (Kamsa), the king,
gave up the ghost. Krishna then dragged the dead body, by the hair of the
head, into the centre of the arena; and a deep furrow was made by the vast
and heavy carcase of Kamsa, when it was dragged along the ground by
Krishna, as if a torrent of water had rushed through it.

Seeing Kamsa thus treated, his brother Sunaman came to his succour: but he
was encountered, and easily killed, by Balabhadra. Then arose a general
cry of grief from the surrounding circle, as they beheld the King of
Mathura thus slain, and treated with such contumely, by Krishna. Krishna,
accompanied by Balabhadra, embraced the feet of Vasudeva and of Devaki:
but Vasudeva raised him up; and he and Devaki recalling to recollection
what he had said to them at his birth, they bowed to Janardana; and the
former thus addressed him: “Have compassion upon mortals, O god,
benefactor, and lord of deities. It is by thy favour to us two that thou
hast become the present upholder of the world. That, for the punishment of
the rebellious, thou hast descended upon earth in my house, having been
propitiated by my prayers, sanctifies our race. Thou art the heart of all
creatures; thou abidest in all creatures; and all that has been, or will
be, emanates from thee, O universal spirit. Thou, Achyuta, who
comprehendest all the gods, art eternally worshipped with sacrifices: thou
art sacrifice itself, and the offerer of sacrifices. The affection that
inspires my heart, and the heart of Devaki, towards thee, as if thou wert
our child, is, indeed, but an error and a great delusion.

“How shall the tongue of a mortal such as I am call the creator of all
things, who is without beginning or end, son? Is it consistent that the
lord of the world, from whom the world proceeds, should be born of me,
except through illusion? How should he, in whom all fixed and moveable
things are contained, be conceived in the womb and born of a mortal being?
Have compassion, therefore, indeed, O supreme lord, and, in thy descended
portions, protect the universe. Thou art no son of mine. This whole world,
from Brahma to a tree, thou art. Wherefore dost thou, who art one with the
Supreme, beguile us? Blinded by delusion, I thought thee my son, and for
thee, who art beyond all fear, I dreaded the anger of Kamsa; and,
therefore, did I take thee, in my turn, to Gokula, where thou hast grown
up. But I no longer claim thee as mine own. Thou, Vishnu,--the sovereign
lord of all, whose actions Rudra, Maruts, the Aswins, Indra, and the gods
cannot equal, although they behold them; thou, who hast come amongst us,
for the benefit of the world,--art recognised; and delusion is no more.”

We shall furnish but one other specimen:--


_Anecdotes of Khandikya and Kesidhwaja._

Maitreya, addressing Parasara, says: “Reverend teacher, I am desirous of
being informed what is meant by the term meditation (_yoga_), by
understanding which I may behold the Supreme Being, the upholder of the
universe.”

Parasara, in reply, says that he will repeat the explanation formerly
given by Kesidhwaja to the magnanimous Khandikya, also called Janaka.

Whereupon Maitreya replies: “Tell me, first, Brahman, who Kandikya was and
who Kesidhwaja; and how it happened that a conversation relating to the
practice of Yoga occurred between them.”

Thereupon follows Parasara’s narrative:

There was Janaka, named Dharmadhwaja, who had two sons, Mitadhwaja and
Kritadhwaja; and the latter was a king ever intent upon existent supreme
spirit: his son was the celebrated Kesidhwaja. The son of Mitadhwaja was
Janaka, called Khandikya. Khandikya was diligent in the way of works, and
was renowned, on earth, for religious rites. Kesidhwaja, on the other
hand, was endowed with spiritual knowledge. These two were engaged in
hostilities; and Khandikya was driven from his principality by Kesidhwaja.
Expelled from his dominions, he wandered, with a few followers, his
priest, and his counsellors, amidst woods and mountains, where, destitute
of true wisdom, he performed many sacrifices, expecting, thereby, to
obtain divine truth, and to escape from death by ignorance.

Once, while the best of those who are skilled in devotion (Kesidhwaja) was
engaged in devout exercises, a fierce tiger slew his milch-cow, in the
lonely forest. When the Raja heard that the cow had been killed, he asked
the ministering priests what form of penance would expiate the crime. They
replied, that they did not know, and referred him to Kaseru. Kaseru, when
the Raja consulted him, told him that he, too, knew not, but that Sunaka
would be able to tell him. Accordingly, the Raja went to Sunaka; but he
replied: “I am as unable, great king, to answer your question as Kaseru
has been; and there is no one now, upon earth, who can give you the
information, except your enemy Khandikya, whom you have conquered.”

Upon receiving this answer, Kesidhwaja said: “I will go, then, and pay a
visit to my foe. If he kill me, no matter; for, then, I shall obtain the
reward that attends being killed in a holy cause. If (on the contrary) he
tell me what penance to perform, then my sacrifice will be unimpaired in
efficacy.”

Accordingly, he ascended his car, having clothed himself in the deer skin
of the religious student, and went to the forest where the wise Khandikya
resided. When Khandikya beheld him approach, his eyes reddened with rage,
and he took up his bow and said to him: “You have armed yourself with the
deer skin to accomplish my destruction; imagining that, in such an attire,
you will be safe from me. But, fool, the deer upon whose backs this skin
is seen are slain, by you and me, with sharp arrows. So will I slay you:
you shall not go free, whilst I am living. You are an unprincipled felon,
who have robbed me of my kingdom, and are deserving of death.”

To this Kesidhwaja answered: “I have come hither, Khandikya, to ask you to
solve my doubts, and not with any hostile intention. Lay aside, therefore,
both your arrow and your anger.”

Thus spoken to, Khandikya retired awhile, with his counsellors and his
priest, and consulted them what course he should pursue. They strongly
urged him to slay Kesidhwaja while he was in his power, since by his death
he would again become the monarch of the whole world.

Khandikya replied to them:--“It is, no doubt, true that, by such an act, I
should become the monarch of the whole earth. He, however, would thereby
conquer the world to come; whilst the earth would be mine. Now, if I do
not kill him, I shall subdue the next world, and leave him this earth. It
seems to me that this world is not of more value than the next: for the
subjugation of the next world endures for ever; the conquest over this is
but for a brief season. I will, therefore, not kill him, but tell him what
he wishes to know.”

       *       *       *       *       *

Accordingly, Kesidhwaja proceeds to describe the benefits which result
from the Yoga or contemplative devotion.

The sage, or Yogin, when first applying himself to contemplative devotion,
is called the novice or practitioner (Yoga-yuj); when he has attained
spiritual union, he is termed the adept, or he whose meditations are
accomplished. Should the thoughts of the former be unvitiated by any
obstructing imperfection, he will obtain freedom, after practising
devotion through several lives. The latter speedily obtains liberation in
that existence in which he reaches perfection, all his acts being consumed
by the fire of contemplative devotion. The sage who would bring his mind
into a fit state for the performance of devout contemplation must be
devoid of desire, and observe invariably continence, compassion, truth,
honesty, and disinterestedness: he must fix his mind intently on the
supreme Brahma, practising holy study, purification, contentment, penance,
and self-control. These virtues, respectively termed the five acts of
restraint (Yama) and five of obligation (Niyama), bestow excellent
rewards, when practised for the sake of reward, and eternal liberation,
when they are not prompted by desire of transient benefits. Endowed with
these merits, the sage, self-restrained, should sit in one of the modes
termed Bhadrasana,[28] and engage in contemplation.

Bringing his vital airs, called Prana, under subjection, by frequent
repetition, is thence called a Pranayama, which is, as it were, a seed
with a seed. In this, the breath of expiration and that of inspiration are
alternately obstructed, constituting the act twofold; and the suppression
of both modes of breathing produces a third. The exercise of the Yogin,
whilst endeavouring to bring before his thoughts the gross form of the
Eternal, is denominated Alambana.[29] He is then to perform the
Pratyahara, which consists in restraining his organs of sense from
susceptibility to outward impressions, and directing them entirely to
mental perceptions. By these means the entire subjugation of the unsteady
senses is effected; and, if they are not controlled, the sage will not
accomplish his devotions. When, by the Pranayama, the vital airs are
restrained, and the senses are subjugated by the Pratyahara, then indeed
the sage will be able to keep his mind steady in its perfect asylum.

The sage now plunges into transcendentalism which would be barely
intelligible, and certainly uninteresting to the reader, and we shall
therefore decline to follow him, concluding our extract with the
description of Vishnu which Kesidhwaja furnishes to his inquiring guest.

Think of him as having a pleased and lovely countenance, with eyes like
the leaf of the lotus, marble cheeks, and a broad and brilliant forehead;
ears of equal size, the lobes of which are decorated with splendid
pendants; a painted neck; and a broad breast, on which shines the Srivatsa
mark; a belly falling in graceful folds, with a deep-seated navel; eight
long arms, or else four; and firm and well-knit thighs and legs, with
well-formed feet and toes. Let him, with well-governed thoughts,
contemplate, as long as he can persevere in unremitting attention, Hari,
as clad in a yellow robe, wearing a rich diadem on his head, and brilliant
armlets and bracelets on his arms, and bearing in his hands the bow, the
shell, the mace, the sword, the discus, the rosary, the lotus, and the
arrow.




CHAPTER VI.

_IN CHINA:--CONFUCIANISM, TAOUISM, AND BUDDHISM._


The creeds in vogue amongst the Chinese may be regarded as
three:--_Confucianism_, the religion of the state; _Taouism_, the religion
of the philosophers; and _Buddhism_, the religion of the people.

It has been justly said that a religion which, like Confucianism, has
exercised for twenty-four centuries a potent influence over the Chinese
mind, though owing its name and origin to a simple citizen, must possess
in it something well worthy of consideration. There must be in it a spell
which strongly attracts the popular sympathies. This spell is said to be,
though possibly we ought to search deeper and farther for it, the purely
practical character of its tenets, and the harmony which exists between
those tenets and the patriarchal character of the government and the
institutions of the country. And in fact it is not so much a religion as
an ethical system,--something such as Christianity would be, if we took
out of it JESUS CHRIST. Or we may distinguish it as “a system of
ceremonies on a moral basis,” and, as such, admirably adapted to the
tastes and needs of so ceremonial-loving a people as the Chinese. To this
day the Ly-pou watch with jealous vigilance the maintenance of all the old
traditional rites, and rigidly enforce the observance of the traditional
details in the construction of the temples. Moreover such particulars as
the six kinds of sceptres, the five kinds of mats, and the five kinds of
stools are strictly insisted upon; and it is known that the innumerable
prescribed sacrifices offered to the various gods of the heaven and the
earth, to a man’s forefathers, to the hills and the rivers, the sea and
the central mount, the god of the south pole and the god of thunder, are
the same now as they have been for upwards of 2,000 years.

The founder of Confucianism, Kong-foo-tse, or Confucius, (as the Jesuits
latinised the name,) was born about 550 B.C. in the state Loo, within the
district now called Keo-fou Hien, lying to the eastward of the great
Imperial canal, in the province of Shang-tung.

Tradition asserts that his father was a descendant of the imperial family
of Hoang-ty, of the dynasty of Chang (2,000 B.C.), and the chief minister
of his native kingdom. At an early age, as is common with most who are
destined to rise to greatness, Confucius gave indisputable proof of no
ordinary mental capacity, and these budding powers were carefully
developed by the training and tuition of the ablest masters. He was still
young when he made himself acquainted with the literature of the period,
and especially with the canonical and classical books attributed to the
ancient legislators Yam Chun, and others. His amiability of temper is
warmly commended, and no shadow of reproach rests upon his moral
character; except in so far as he exposed himself to censure by divorcing
his wife, after she had borne him a son, in order, it is said, “that he
might devote himself the more absolutely to his studies.” It is some
excuse for him that, at this time, he was only twenty. In the same year he
was appointed “superintendent of cattle,”--not exactly the ideal office
for a philosophical student. However his assiduity and fidelity soon
secured the approbation of his superiors; he was promoted to a more
influential position; and there seemed every probability of his attaining
to the highest rank, when a sudden revolution in the state for a time
obscured his prospects.

The next eight years of his life he spent in travel, assuming the role of
a religious reformer, and everywhere gathering round him a crowd of ardent
disciples, whom he instructed in the rules and principles of his ethical
system. It is said that they numbered as many as 3,000, of whom
seventy-two were specially distinguished by their devotion to their
master and their rigid observance of his tenets. Returning to Loo, when he
was about forty-three years old, he was again called to the service of the
state, and from grade to grade rose to the post of Prime Minister, or
“governor of the people.” Invested with plenary power, he proceeded, with
the ardour of an enthusiast, to realise his ideas, and rapidly brought
about a vast improvement in both the moral and physical condition of the
country. The poor were the particular objects of his care: he provided
them with plentiful supplies of cheap and good food, and released them
from the thraldom in which the nobles had held them. His energy and wisdom
extended to every department of the state; and with extraordinary
fertility of resource, he initiated measures for the extension of
commerce, the improvement of the bridges and highways, the impartial
administration of justice, and the extirpation of the robber bands which
infested the mountains. But the neighbouring sovereigns regarded with
alarm the progress of his bold reforms. No doubt they talked about
communistic and socialistic doctrines, and the advancing flood of
democracy, as timid people do in our own day. At all events they contrived
to put such a pressure upon the King of Loo that he was compelled to part
with his great minister, who fled from his enemies northward, and found
refuge in the kingdom of Tsi, on the Gulf of Petchali. For twelve, or, as
some say, fourteen years he wandered from place to place, adding to the
number of his proselytes; until spent with fatigue, and bowed down with
years, he retired with a few favourite disciples to a quiet valley in his
native land, and devoted the remainder of his life to the task of revising
and improving the famous writings which for so many centuries have been
consecrated by the devout acceptance of the Chinese. He died at the age of
seventy-three, in 477 B.C.,[30] “on the eighteenth day of the second
moon,” after a seven days’ illness. Like many other great reformers,
though but indifferently treated in his lifetime, he became after death
the object of universal admiration, and to this day the Chinese pay homage
to the memory of the “Great Master,” the “Chief Doctor,” the “Wise King of
Literature,” the “Saint,” the “Instructor of Emperors and Kings.” His
descendants have been loaded with honours and privileges, and now
constitute the only hereditary nobility in the Chinese empire. Like the
princes of the blood, they are exempt from taxation. And in every city of
the first, second, and third rank, stands at least one temple dedicated to
Confucius, where the emperor himself and the mandarins are bound to
worship, with offerings of wine, fruit, and flowers,--with burning of
fragrant gums, frankincense, and tapers of sandal wood,--and with singing
of appropriate hymns. The eighteenth day of the second moon is kept sacred
by the Chinese as the anniversary of his death.

       *       *       *       *       *

We have already said that the system of Confucius was ethical rather than
religious. It is absolutely free from any theological strain, and, indeed,
makes no mention of a Creator. “How should I know God,” he would say,
“when as yet I know not man?” “His system was essentially conservative; he
aimed at the correction of new vices which had crept into the body politic
by endeavouring to restore the old customs of the country; and hence the
high favour in which his system has ever been held by the rulers and
magnates of the empire. It inculcated the most perfect subordination, the
most servile obedience, and the most scrupulous adherence to ancient
usage; every social, civil, and political duty is set forth in it with the
greatest precision; but inasmuch as all the parts of the great machine of
empire are not absolutely deprived of volition, a rebellious cog-wheel or
insignificant pinion will sometimes disarrange and impede the entire
machinery.”

Confucius held that the universe had been generated by the union of two
material principles,--a heavenly and an earthly, Yang and Ya. He
represents man as having fallen by his own act from his original purity
and happiness, and asserts that by his own act he can recover that
condition. For this purpose he must lead a life of obedience to the law,
and he must not do unto others that which he would not have others do unto
him. He made the supremacy of parental authority the basis of his
political teaching, and strongly advocated that the son’s submission to
the father must be as complete as that of the servant to the master, of
the master to the magistrate, of the magistrate to the crown, and of the
crown to the law. Of course this implied that the reciprocal obligations
must be observed. This rigid application of the family ideal to the
administration of the government, and the consequent creation of a pure
despotism, has been the cause of all that is most perplexing to Europeans
in the Chinese civilisation, and explains why it has never advanced beyond
the standard or mark to which it had attained in the era of Confucius.

The Confucian doctrines are set forth in _Gze-Chou_, “The Four Books,” and
_King_, “The Five Canonical Works,” of which the following particulars may
interest the reader.


_The Ta-heo, or “Great Study.”_

The _Ta-heo_, or “School of Adults,” has been translated by Dr. Marshman,
in the “Clavis Sinica.” It is a treatise, in two chapters, on politics and
morals, rising gradually from the government of oneself to the government
of a family, thence to the government of a province, and finally to the
control of the affairs of an empire. Its leading principle is
self-improvement, self-culture. In one of the sections an eulogium is
bestowed upon the beauty of virtue as a means of self-enjoyment. And the
book closes with a fine exhortation to be just, and truthful, and honest,
to those whom fortune places at the head of the state.


_The Chung-Yung, or “The Invariable in the Mean,”_

Also translated as “the Safe Middle Course,” and “the Infallible Medium,”
describes the golden mean, the due medium by which a man should regulate
his conduct. He is not to be lifted up by prosperity, nor cast down by
adversity. Through thirty-three sections, in language sometimes clear and
strenuous, sometimes obscure, the subject is pursued, and the whole duty
of man inculcated. Here is a passage describing a kingly man which may be
compared with one in Seneca:--

“It is only the man supremely holy, who, by the faculty of knowing
thoroughly, and comprehending perfectly the primitive laws of living
beings, is worthy of possessing supreme authority, and governing men; who
by possessing a soul, grand, firm, constant, and imperturbable, is capable
of making justice and equity reign; who by his faculty of being always
honest, simple, upright, grave, and just, is able to attract respect and
veneration; who by his faculty of being clothed with the ornaments of the
mind, and the talents procured by assiduous study, and by the
enlightenment that springs from an exact investigation of the most hidden
things, and the most subtle principles, can with accuracy discern the true
from the false, and the good from the evil.”


_The Lun-Yu, or “Philosophical Conversation.”_

This is the Chinese _Phædo_, and contains a record of the conversations
held between Confucius and his disciples, but the author lacked the
eloquence and imagination of Plato. It is interesting however from its
anecdotes of the Great Teacher. In introducing his guests, it seems that
he kept his arms extended, like the wings of a bird; that he never ate
meat which had not been cut in a straight line; that he never used his
fingers to point to anything; and that he would not occupy the mat spread
for him as a seat unless it was regularly placed.


_The Meng-tze, or “Mencius,”_

Is a Commentary upon Confucius, written about a century after his death by
his disciple Meng-tze. The subjects treated in it are of various nature.
In one part the virtues of individual life and of domestic relations are
discussed; in another, the order of affairs. Here are investigated the
duties of superiors, from the sovereign to the lowest magistrate, for the
attainment of good government. There are expounded the labours of
students, peasants, traders, artisans, while, in the course of the work,
the laws of the physical world, of the heavens and the earth, the
mountains and rivers, of birds, fishes, quadrupeds, insects, plants, and
trees, are occasionally described. The great number of affairs which
Mencius managed, in the course of his life, in his intercourse with men,
his occasional conversations with people of rank, his instructions to his
pupils, his expositions of books, ancient and modern,--all these details
are incorporated in this publication. It is a collection of historical
facts, and of the words of ancient ages, put together for the instruction
of mankind.

Mencius died when he was eighty-four years of age; his memory is revered
by the Chinese next to that of Confucius, and his descendants are treated
with a distinction inferior only to that which is accorded to those of
Confucius.


_King; or, The Five Canonical Works._

These, which were either written or compiled by Confucius, are the most
venerable existing monuments of Chinese literature, and embody the
fundamental principles of the earliest creeds and customs of China.

The first is the _Y-King_, or “Sacred Book of Changes,” which may be
termed a Chinese Cyclopædia, and contains a great variety of subjects,
morals, physics, and metaphysics. It is founded on the combinations of
sixty-four lines,--some entire, and some broken,--and called _Koua_; the
discovery of which has been attributed to Fo-hi, the traditional founder
of Chinese civilisation. He found them, it is said, on the shell of a
tortoise, and asserted that they were capable of explaining all things. It
does not seem easy, however, to explain _them_, and the commentaries upon
them are more numerous than even the commentaries upon Shakespeare. The
Imperial Library at Peking contains no fewer than 1450.

Second in order comes the _Shu-King_, or “Book of History,” which, despite
its imperfect and fragmentary condition, is full of interest. It contains
a concise narrative of Early Chinese history, down to the eighth century
before our era; including the speeches addressed by several emperors to
their high officers, and numerous valuable documents of great antiquity.
Reference is made in its pages to a great deluge, which some suppose to be
the Flood recorded in the book of Genesis, but others, with more
probability, identify with one of the early and extensive inundations of
the Hoang-Ho.

The third is the _Shi-King_, or “Book of Sacred Songs,” a collection of
311 poems, ancient, national, and official, the best of which every
well-educated Chinaman commits to memory. They range from the eighteenth
to the third century before our era, and are divided into four parts:
first, the Ku-fung, or songs of “the manners of different states;” second
and third, songs for state occasions; and fourth, Soong, a collection of
eulogies on the various emperors of the Chow dynasty. This book is
described as replete with very interesting and probably authentic
information on the ancient manners of China, and is frequently quoted by
both Confucius and Mencius, and by them recommended to the study of their
disciples.

Fourth comes the _Li-King_, or “Book of Rites and Ceremonies,” in which we
find a mass of fragments dating from the time of Confucius downwards, and
throwing a vivid light on the permanent characteristics of the Chinese
civilisation, and on the causes which made it what it is in all its iron
immutability. The ceremonial usages of China, as prescribed in this
ritual, number about 3000; and one of the six tribunals, the Ly-pou, is
specially charged with their custody and interpretation.

Fifth and last is the _Chun-tsien_, or _Tchuntsiou_, or “Book of Spring
and Autumn,” so called from the seasons in which it was respectively begun
and ended by Confucius. Here the Great Teacher has simply written down the
earlier history of his native land of Loo; with the view of recalling the
princes of his age to a conservative spirit of reverence for the customs
of the past by indicating the misfortunes that took place after they fell
into neglect.

       *       *       *       *       *

Strictly speaking, Confucianism has no priests, no distinct sacerdotal
order; the emperor himself is the patriarch or head, and every magistrate,
within the sphere of his jurisdiction is a religious official or
hierophant. “Generally, all literary persons, and those who propose to
become such, in attaching themselves to it do not necessarily renounce
practices borrowed from other religions. But, in fact, faith does not seem
to have anything to do with the matter; and habit alone induces them to
conform to ceremonies which they themselves turn into ridicule--such as
divinations, horoscopes, and calculating lucky and unlucky days, all of
which superstitions are in great vogue throughout the empire.”

China possesses an enormous number of pagodas, or idol-temples; Peking
boasts of 10,000; every village has several, and they are distributed all
along the roads and all over the fields. Some are remarkable for their
splendour; but the majority do not differ in appearance, or very slightly,
from other buildings. Often they are nothing more than small chapels, in
which are niches containing idols and vases filled with burning perfumes,
or the ashes of gilt paper on which prayers have been printed, these
papers having been burnt, as a religious rite, by devotees. The
worshippers, if such they may be called, display the utmost indifference
of behaviour in these temples: they enter them to enjoy a rest or a sleep;
or they walk about with their hats on, whistling, smoking, laughing,
chattering. Round the sides are seated the vendors of the aforesaid gilt
paper prayers and pastiles; ever and anon they demand attention to their
wares by striking a gong; while the people incessantly burn paper models
of clothing, shoes, money, junks, and the like, to assist their deceased
friends on their long journey. For though the Chinese have no distinct
recognition of a future state, the worship of the dead is a prominent
element of their religion. Noble and peasant alike bring offerings, or
send them by proxy, and kneel before the shades of their ancestors: this
duty at least is always remembered, whatever other may be forgotten.

The following may be given as an example of the prayers used upon such
occasions:--

“I, Lea Kwang, second son of the third generation, presume to come before
the grave of my ancestors. Revolving years have brought again the season
of Spring; I sweep your tomb with reverence, and, prostrate, beg you to be
spiritually present, and grant that your posterity may be illustrious. At
this season I desire to recompense the root of my existence, and
reverently, therefore, before your holy spirit present the five-fold
offering of pork, fowl, duck, goose, and fish; with five fruits and the
drink _samshu_;[31] entreating that you will condescend to inspect them.
This announcement is presented on high.”

Such offerings as are not accepted by the priests are generally taken home
again to furnish full the worshipper’s own table.

       *       *       *       *       *

The Ritual State Worship, which concerns the Emperor and his court, but
affects not the great body of the people, we must glance at very briefly.
It may be defined as the ceremonial of a philosophical pantheism,
unconnected with any theological doctrine. Three classes of natural
objects are distinguished, to which the “Great,” the “Medium,” and the
“Lesser” Sacrifices are offered. The first class, the _Ta-sze_, includes
the Heaven and the Earth, and along with and equal to these, the great
Temple of Imperial Ancestors. Among the _Chung-sze_, or “Medium
Sacrifices,” are the Genii, the Great Light and the Evening Light (that
is, the Sun and the Moon), the Gods of Land and Grain, the God of Letters,
and the Inventors of Agriculture, Manufactures, and the Useful Arts. To
the “Lesser Sacrifices,” or _Scaou-sze_, belong the Founder of the Art of
Healing, as well as the spirits of statesmen, scholars, and persons of
eminent virtue. They are offered also to various natural phenomena, such
as the clouds, the rain, the wind, the thunder. The God of War, and Lung
Wang, the dragon-king, who represents the rivers and streams, have their
worshippers; nor is Tien-How, the Queen of Heaven, forgotten. There are,
besides, a host of household deities, like the Lares and Penates of the
ancients, who are propitiated by domestic sacrifices at the new year, when
they are supposed to pay a brief visit to the Other World, and report, as
it were, the doings and misdoings of the families over which they preside.

The chief sacrificial seasons are these: the winter solstice for all
offered to heaven, the summer season for all offered to earth. The others
have their appointed dates. Then, in the course of the year, numerous
festivals of a more or less religious character are held. First among them
is the Imperial Ploughing of the Sacred Field, which takes place towards
the end of March. The Emperor, attended by some of the princes of the
blood and his chief ministers, then proceeds to a field on one side of the
central street in Peking, where fitting preparations have, of course, been
made. After certain sacrifices, consisting chiefly of grain preserved from
the produce of the same field, the Emperor takes the plough, and drives a
few furrows. His example is followed by the princes and ministers in
succession: a red tablet indicating the space allotted to each
distinguished amateur. The “five sorts of grain” are then sown; and when
the Emperor has seen the work completed by the attendant husbandmen, the
field is committed to the charge of an officer whose business it is to
collect and store the produce with a view to future sacrifices to the Gods
of the Harvest.

       *       *       *       *       *

Of the _Shae-tung_, or Feast of Lanterns, every traveller has spoken.
There are also the _Too-te-tan_, or birthdays of the familiar gods of the
city; the _Tsing-ming-tsee_, or Feast of Tombs; the festivals of all and
sundry deities; and the birthdays of the living Emperor and Empress, as
well as the anniversaries of the deaths of their predecessors, which,
however, are observed only by the mandarins. So numerous are the festivals
that were they celebrated everywhere by everybody there would be neither
“time” nor “hands” for the works of agriculture or commerce, trade,
science, or the arts.

       *       *       *       *       *

We pass on to a brief account of


TAOUISM.

The founder of Taouism, the doctrine of Tao, or Reason, was a celebrated
philosopher named Lao-tsze, who was born in the third year of the Emperor
Ting-wang, of the Chow dynasty (B.C. 604) in the state of Tseu, now known
as Hoo-pih and Hoo-nan. He preceded Confucius by half a century. His
family name was _Le_, or Plum, and his youthful name, _Urh_, or Ear, in
allusion to the exceptional size of his “auricular appendages.” The events
of his career are so obscured in an atmosphere of legend and fable,
created by admiring disciples, that it is difficult to get at any
authentic particulars; but he seems to have been an assiduous student, and
the historian or chronologist of a king of the Chow dynasty. Visiting,
about B.C. 600, the western parts of China, he gained there a knowledge of
the system of Fo, or Buddha, and soon afterwards began to develope his own
religious teaching. So great was his fame that Confucius went to see him;
but the interview was hardly of the character that might have been
expected when two religious philosophers met. Lao-tsze reproached the
younger sage with pride and ostentation and vanity, affirming that
philosophers loved retirement and seclusion, and made no boast of virtue
and knowledge. It speaks well for the good nature of Confucius that he
replied to this tirade by highly commending Lao-tsze to his followers, and
describing him as a dragon soaring to the clouds of Heaven, unsurpassed
and unsurpassable.

Lao-tsze inquired of Confucius if he had discovered the _Taou_, the “path”
or “reason” by which Heaven acts, and was informed that the philosopher
had searched for it unsuccessfully. Lao-tsze replied that the wealthy
dismissed their friends with presents, and sages theirs with good counsel;
and that for himself, he humbly claimed to be thought a sage--an indirect
way of advising Confucius to continue his quest of the _Taou_. Retiring to
Han-kwan, he wrote there his _Taou-tih-king_, or Book of Reason and
Virtue. He died, or as his followers say, ascended to Heaven on a black
buffalo, in the twenty-first year of the reign of King-wang of the Chow or
Cheu dynasty, or B.C. 523, having attained the age of 119 years.[32]

The contrast between the system of Lao-tsze and that of Confucius may be
indicated in a word: the former was _speculative_, the latter _practical_,
and it is no wonder, therefore that the latter, addressing itself to man’s
actual necessities and daily duties, prevailed over the former. But, in an
abstract sense, Lao’s, as originally defined by himself, was the purer and
more elevated; for it aimed at securing the immortality of man through the
contemplation of GOD, the subjugation of the passions, and the absolute
tranquillity of the soul. He taught that Silence and the Void generated
the Taou, the “Logos” or reason by which movement was produced; and that
all beings containing in themselves the duality of male and female sprang
from them.

Man, he said, was composed of two principles, the material and the
spiritual: from the latter he emanated, and to it he ought to return, by
throwing off the fetters and snares of the world, crushing out the
material passions, the desires of the soul, and the pleasures of the body,
and abandoning riches, honours, and the ties of life.

Before Lao-tsze’s time, the Chinese seem to have worshipped the
_Shang-te_, or Supreme Ruler, and the _Tien_, or Heaven: but Lao-tsze
preached in their place the _Taou_, or “reason” of the Kosmos. Of a
Supreme Creative and Eternal Power he had no conception. There was as
little theology in his system as in that of Confucius; but its morality
was not less admirable; it insisted on the practice of those virtues which
form the moral code of all the higher religions,--charity, benevolence,
chastity, and the free-will, moral agency, and responsibility of man. But
there was an obscurity about Lao-tsze’s teaching, which enabled his
followers successfully to pervert it, and it gradually assumed a form
which the Teacher himself would undoubtedly have been the first to
repudiate. The Taossi, as they were called, professed to have discovered
the drink of immortality, and practised divination, alchemy, the
invocation of spirits, and other superstitious rites. These follies were
gravely ridiculed by the Joo-Keaou, or sect of Confucius, and gradually
were abandoned by all but the most illiterate.

Among the host of deities worshipped by this sect we may instance the
_San-tsing_, or “Three Pure Ones,” the three-fold ruler of the assembled
gods in heaven, the sun, the moon, and the stars, who delivers his name
and benevolent commands to be promulgated amongst mankind, that all who
see and recite that name may be delivered from all evil, and obtain
infinite happiness. “It is impossible to doubt,” says a writer, “that we
see here traces of a Divine revelation, corrupted though it has now
become. China has her Trinity in Taouism as well as in Buddhism; as other
Pagan nations have had theirs in the Orphic mythology, where there were
‘counsel, and light, and life;’ in the Platonic theology, which had its
‘good, and mind, and the soul of the world,’ as in the Egyptian mysteries
there were ‘On, and Isis, and Neith;’ and in that of Fo, ‘Brahma, Vishnu,
and Seeva.’”

The Taossi, Tien-sze, or “Celestial Doctors,”--the priests of
Taouism,--are outwardly distinguished amongst the Chinese by the manner in
which they dress their hair. They shave the sides of the head, and coil
the remaining hair in a tuft on the crown. Moreover, they wear
slate-coloured robes. There are two orders; one, the keepers of the
temples, vowed to celibacy; the others, who are free to marry, live in
their own houses, or wander about the country selling charms and medical
nostrums. In the feast of one of their deities, the “High Emperor of all
the Sombre Heavens,” they assemble before his temple, and having kindled a
huge fire, about fifteen or twenty feet in diameter, go over it barefoot,
carrying the gods in their arms. “They firmly assert,” says Williams,
“that if they possess a sincere mind they will not be injured by the fire;
but both priests and people get miserably burnt on these occasions.”
Escayrac de Lauture says that they leap, dance, and whirl round the fire,
striking at the devils with a straight Roman-like sword, and sometimes
wounding themselves as the priests of Baal and Moloch were wont to do.

       *       *       *       *       *

Some interesting particulars of the Buddhist temples of China are supplied
by Mr. Fortune. He speaks of the temple of Tien-tung as a congeries of
temples, a collection of spacious structures, which occupy the site of
former buildings. All of these are crowded with idols, or images of the
favourite gods, such as the “Three precious Buddhas,” “the Queen of
Heaven,” represented as sitting on the celebrated lotus or nelumbium--“the
God of War,” and many other deified kings and great men of former days.
Many of these images are from thirty to forty feet in height, and have a
striking appearance as they stand arranged in the spacious lofty halls.
The priests themselves reside in a range of low buildings, erected at
right angles with the different temples and courts that divide them. Each
has a little temple under his own roof; a family altar crowded with petty
images, where he is often engaged in private devotion.

Mr. Fortune, after inspecting the various temples and the belfry, which
contains a noble bronze bell of large dimensions, was conducted to the
house of the principal priest, where dinner was already spread upon the
table. The Buddhist priests are not permitted to eat animal food at any of
their meals. The dinner, therefore, consisted entirely of vegetables,
served _à la Chinoise_, in numerous small round basins, the contents of
each--soups excepted--being cut up into small square bits, to be eaten
with chopsticks. The Buddhist priests contrive to procure a quantity of
vegetables of different kinds, which, by a peculiar mode of preparation,
are rendered very savoury. “In fact,” says Mr. Fortune,[33] “so nearly do
they resemble animal food in taste and in appearance, that at first we
were deceived, imagining that the little bits we were able to get hold of
with our chopsticks were really pieces of fowl or beef. Such, however, was
not the case, as our good host was consistent on this day at least, and
had nothing but vegetable productions at his table. Several other priests
sat with us at table, and a large number of others of inferior rank with
servants, crowded around the doors and windows outside.”

During dinner, Mr. Fortune learned that about a hundred priests were
connected with the monastery, but that many were always about on missions
to various parts of the country. A considerable portion of land in the
vicinity belonged to the temple, and supplied its revenue: large sums were
raised every year from the sale of bamboos, which are here very excellent,
and of the branches of trees and brushwood, which are made up in bundles
for firewood. Many rice and tea farms also belong to the priests and are
cultivated by them. In addition to the sums thus raised, a considerable
revenue must accrue from the contributions of the devotees who frequent
the temple, as well as from the alms and donations collected by the
mendicant priests of the order, who are sent out on begging excursions at
stated periods of the year. There are, of course, all grades of priests;
some being merely the servants of the others, both domestic and
agricultural.

The temple forms the centre of a fine landscape. It stands at the head of
a fertile valley, with green hills all around it; this valley echoes with
the music of several bright mountain streams, and yields abundant crops of
rice. On the lower slopes of the more fertile hills grow masses of tea
shrubs, with dark green leaves, lending a fine background to the picture.
A long avenue of Chinese pine trees leads up to the temple. At first it is
straight, but near the temple it winds picturesquely round the edges of
the artificial lakes, to end at a flight of stone steps. Behind, and on
each side, the mountains rise in irregular ridges, from 1,000 to 2,000
feet above the sea level; not bare and desolate like the mountains of the
south, but clothed to their tops with a dense tropical-looking growth of
brushwood, shrubs, and trees. Some of the finest bamboos of China flourish
in the ravines, and the sombre-coloured pine attains to a large size on
the acclivities.

A quaint account of the origin of the monastery was given by one of the
head priests:--

“Many hundred years ago a pious old man retired from the world, and came
to dwell in these mountains, giving himself up entirely to the performance
of religious duties. So earnest was he in his devotions that he neglected
everything relating to his temporal wants, even to his daily food.
Providence, however, would not suffer so good a man to starve. Some boys
were sent in a miraculous manner, who daily supplied him with food. In the
course of time the fame of the sage extended all over the adjacent
country, and disciples flocked to him from all quarters. A small range of
temples was built, and thus commenced the extensive buildings which now
bear the name of ‘Tien-tung,’ or the ‘Temple of the Heavenly Boys;’ _Tien_
signifying heaven, and _tung_, a boy. At last the old man died, but his
disciples supplied his place. The fame of the temple spread far and wide,
and votaries came from the most distant parts of the empire--one of the
Chinese kings being amongst the number--to worship and leave their
offerings at its altars. Larger temples were built in front of the
original ones, and these again in their turn gave way to those spacious
buildings which form the principal part of the structure of the present
day.”

Mr. Fortune remarks that a large number of Buddhist temples are scattered
over all this part of the country. Their architects have shown as keen a
sympathy with nature as the Cistercian founders in Europe, always building
them in the most lovely and picturesque situations, amongst the green
hills, and in the shelter of spreading woods--the leafy enclosures that in
England indicate the presence of an old manor house, or “ancestral hall.”
_Poo-to_, or the Worshipping Island, as foreigners call it, is one of the
eastern islands in the Chusan Archipelago, and seems to be one of the
great Buddhist centres. The principal group of temples is situated in a
fine romantic glen, and from the high ground above it, seems like a town
of considerable size. As the traveller approaches nearer, he finds the
view of great interest. In front extends a large artificial pond, filled
with the broad green leaves and noble red and white flowers of the
nelumbium speciosum,--a plant in high favour with the Chinese. Access to
the monastery is obtained by a very ornamental bridge thrown across this
piece of water.

The temples or halls containing the idols are extremely spacious; many of
the idols are thirty or forty feet high, generally made of wood or clay,
and then richly gilt. In a temple of far less pretentious character than
any of the others Mr. Fortune met with some exquisite bronze statues, of
undoubted value.

Having examined these temples, our traveller made his way towards another
group of them, about two miles to the eastward, and close on the sea
shore. Entering the courts through a kind of triumphal arch, which looked
out upon the sapphire sea, he found that these temples were constructed on
the same plan.

On the following day he inspected various parts of the island. In addition
to the larger temples just noticed, about sixty or seventy smaller ones
are built on all the hill sides, each containing three or four priests,
who are all under the abbot, or superior, residing near one of the large
temples. “Even on the top of the highest hill,” he says, “probably 1,500
or 1,800 feet above the level of the sea, we found a temple of
considerable size and in excellent repair. There are winding stone steps
from the sea-beach all the way up to this temple, and a small
resting-place about half-way up the hill, where the weary devotee may
rest and drink of the refreshing stream which flows down the sides of the
mountain, and in the little temple close at hand, which is also crowded
with idols, he can supplicate Buddha for strength to enable him to reach
the end of his journey. We were surprised to find a Buddhist temple in
such excellent order as the one on the summit of the hill proved to be in.
It is a striking fact, that almost all these places are crumbling fast
into ruins. There are a few exceptions, in cases where they happen to get
a good name amongst the people from the supposed kindness of the gods; but
the great mass are in a state of decay.”

The island of Poo-to is nothing but a residence for Buddhist priests, and
no other persons are allowed to live there but their servants and
attendants. No women are admitted, as the principles of Buddhism insist
upon sacerdotal celibacy. There are about 2,000 priests, many of whom are
constantly absent on begging expeditions for the maintenance of their
religion. On certain high days, at different periods of the year, many
thousands of both sexes, but more particularly females, visit these
temples, clothed in their gayest attire, to pay their vows and engage in
the other practices of heathen worship. In the temples or at the doorways
stand little stalls, for the sale of incense, candles, paper made up to
resemble ingots of Sycee-silver, and other holy things, which are regarded
as acceptable offerings to the gods, and are either consumed in the
temples or carried home to bring, it is supposed, a blessing upon the
homes and families of their purchasers. The profits of these sales go, of
course, to the maintenance of the establishment. Whatever we may think of
the superstitious character of Buddhism, it is impossible to doubt the
sincerity of its disciples, when we find them sometimes travelling a
distance of several hundred miles to worship in their temples.

“I was once staying,” says Fortune,[34] “in the temple of Tien-tung when
it was visited for three days by devotees from all parts of the country.
As they lined the roads on their way to the temple, clad in the graceful
and flowing costumes of the East, the mind was naturally led back to
those days of Scripture History when Jerusalem was in its glory, and the
Jews, the chosen people of God, came from afar to worship in its temple.”

Mr. Gutzlaff, the missionary, is of opinion that the priests and devotees
of Buddhism entertain no sincere conviction of the truth of their creed.
Describing a visit to Poo-to, he says: “We were present at the vespers of
the priests, which they chanted in the Pali language, not unlike the Latin
service of the Romish Church. They held rosaries in their hands, which
rested folded upon their breasts. One of them had a small bell, by the
tinkling of which their service was regulated; and they occasionally beat
the drum and large bell to rouse Buddha’s attention to their prayers. The
same words were a hundred times repeated. None of the officiating persons
showed any interest in the ceremony, for some were looking round laughing
and joking, while others muttered their prayers. The few people who were
present, not to attend the worship, but to gaze at us, did not seem, in
the least degree, to feel the solemnity of the service.” But to condemn
the whole Buddhist sect from this solitary instance would be as reasonable
as to pronounce all Protestants insincere because a West-end congregation
in London may have shown signs of frivolity and indifference! Mr. Fortune,
on the contrary, declares that he was much impressed by the solemnity with
which the devotional exercises of the Buddhists were generally conducted.
“I have often walked,” he says, “into Chinese temples when the priests
were engaged in prayer, and although there would have been some apology
for them had their attention been diverted, they went on in the most
solemn manner until the conclusion of the service, as if no foreigner were
present. They then came politely up to me, examining my dress and
everything about me with the most earnest curiosity. Nor does this apply
to priests only; the laity, and particularly the female sex, seem equally
sincere when they engage in their public devotions. Whether they are what
they appear to be, or how often they are in this pious frame of mind, are
questions which I cannot answer. Before judging harshly of the Chinese,
let the reader consider what effect would be produced upon the members of
a Christian church by the unexpected entrance of a small-footed Chinese
lady, or a Mandarin, with the gold button and peacock feather mounted on
his hat, and his long tail dangling over his shoulders. I am far from
being an admirer of the Buddhist priesthood; they are generally an
imbecile race, and shamefully ignorant of everything but the simple forms
of their religion, but nevertheless there are many traits in their
character not unworthy of imitation.”

The superstitious credulity of the Chinese is demonstrated by the nature
of their various religious ceremonies. In all the southern towns every
house has its temple or altar, both within and without. In the interior
the altar generally occupies the end of the principal hall or shop, as the
case may be; is raised a few feet from the ground, and adorned with an
effigy of the household god, enveloped in gaudy tinsel paper. By the way,
of what we call “taste,” the Chinese do not seem to know even the
rudiments; nor do they appear to have any feeling for harmony of colour or
proportion. On the first day of the Chinese month, and other festivals,
candles and incense flare and smoke on the table in front of it. The altar
outside the door is like to a small furnace, and here the same ceremonies
are regularly performed.

The traveller, as he passes in the neighbourhood of small villages, or in
even more sequestered localities, comes upon little joss-houses or
temples, all glaringly decorated in the same style with paintings and
tinsel paper, and stuck round about with bits of candles and sticks of
incense. Shops for the sale of idols of all kinds and sizes, but of
unvarying ugliness, at prices varying from a few pence to many pounds, are
found in all the large towns. Some are evidently very ancient, and have
passed through the hands of a long succession of proprietors. It is a
capital custom--is it not?--when you are tired of your god, because he
does not fulfil your wishes, to purchase another and a more powerful at a
slight increase of price! A deity who would really gratify _all_ our
petitions would be worth--so far as this world is concerned--a heavy sum!

       *       *       *       *       *

Nothing in China is more remarkable than the periodical offerings of a
Chinese family to its gods. The traveller already cited witnessed such a
ceremony in a house at Shanghai. The principal hall was duly set out at an
early hour in the morning; a large table was placed in the centre; and
shortly afterwards covered with small dishes filled with the various
articles commonly used as food by the Chinese. All these were of the very
best description which could be procured. After a certain time had elapsed
numerous candles were lighted, and from the burning incense rose columns
of fragrant smoke. The inmates of the house and their friends were all
clothed in their best attire, and came in turn to _ko-too_, or bow lowly
and repeatedly in front of the table and the altar. “The scene,” says our
authority, “although it was an idolatrous one, seemed to me to have
something very impressive about it, and whilst I pitied the delusion of
our host and his friends, I could not but admire their devotion. In a
short time after this ceremony was completed a large quantity of tinsel
paper, made up in the form and shape of the ingots of Sycee silver common
in China, was heaped on the floor in front of the tables, the burning
incense was then taken from the table and placed in the midst of it, and
the whole consumed together. By-and-by, when the gods were supposed to
have finished their repast, all the articles of food were removed from the
tables, cut up, and consumed by people connected with the family.”

On another occasion, Mr. Fortune, when at Ning-po, having been abroad all
day, did not return to the city until nightfall. The city gates were
closed, but, on knocking, he was admitted by the warder. Passing into the
widest and finest street in the city, he observed a blaze of light and a
general liveliness very unusual in any Chinese town after dark. The sounds
of music fell upon his ear, the monotonous beat of the drum and gong, and
the more pleasing and varied tones of several wind instruments. On
approaching nearer he discovered that a public offering was being made to
the gods, and it proved to be a more striking scene than he could have
anticipated. The table was spread in the open street, and all the
preparations were on a large and expensive scale. Instead of small dishes,
whole animals were sacrificed. On one side of the table was placed a pig,
on the other a sheep; the former, scraped clean in the usual fashion, the
latter skinned; of both the entrails had been removed, and on both were
placed flowers, an onion, and a knife. The other parts of the table
“groaned” with the delicacies in vogue among the more respectable Chinese,
such as fowls, ducks, numerous compound dishes, fruits, vegetables, and
rice. At one end of the table, when the gods were supposed to sit during
the meal, chairs were set; and chopsticks were laid in order by the side
of every dish. The whole place glared with light, and wreaths of incense
filled the air with sweet odours. At intervals, bands of musicians struck
up the favourite national airs, which are all of a plaintive cast, and
altogether the scene was a strange and curious revelation of human
superstition.[35]

       *       *       *       *       *

Processions in honour of the gods are of frequent occurrence. Mr. Fortune
speaks of one which he saw at Shanghai as at least a mile in length. The
gods, or josses, arrayed in the finest silks, were carried about in
splendid sedan-chairs, in the centre of a long train of devotees, all
superbly dressed for the occasion, and all bearing their different
insignia of office. The dresses of the officials exactly resembled those
of some of the attendants who figure in the suite of the higher mandarins.
Some wore on the sides of their hats a broad fan, composed of
peacock-feathers; others strutted in gaudy theatrical costumes, with two
long black feathers stuck, like horns, in their low caps. The scowling
executioners carried long conical black hats on their heads, and whips in
their hands, for the prompt chastisement of the refractory. Bands of
music, in different parts of the procession, played at intervals as it
marched along.

On arriving at a temple in the suburbs, it came to a halt. The gods were
taken out of the sedan-chairs, and with a great exhibition of reverence,
replaced in the temple, from which they had been removed in the morning.
Then their worshippers bent low before their altars, burning incense, and
depositing their gifts. Numerous groups of well-dressed ladies and their
children were scattered over the ground in the neighbourhood of the
temple; all were kneeling, and apparently they conducted their devotions
with great earnestness. A large quantity of paper, in the shape of the
Sycee silver ingots, was piled up on the grass by the different devotees,
and when the ceremonies of the day were being brought to a conclusion, the
whole was burned in honour of, or as an offering to, the gods.




CHAPTER VII.

_AMONG THE MALAYS: THE SLAMATAN BROMOK; THE DYAKS; THE PAPUAN TRIBES; THE
AHETAS._


THE SLAMATAN BROMOK.

A religious ceremony exists in Java which has an obvious affinity to the
old Nature-Worship, and finds its excuse in the dread with which the
uncivilised races regarded the mysterious forces of Nature, unseen in
themselves, but palpable in their results. About three miles from the town
of Tosari, rises the barren cone of the Bromok, a still active volcano,
which is strangely situated in the bosom of green wooded hills and
mountains,--a significant blur upon the landscape. The traveller who
desires to accomplish its ascent climbs up the rough and almost
precipitous slope by a path winding through immense breadths of a tall
yellow grass called the alang-alang. When he has attained to the brink of
the Monegal, an enormous extinct crater, reputed to be the largest in the
world, he will do well to pause, and survey the landscape before him. Of
the knot of mountains on which his eye rests, the foremost is called the
Batok, or Butak, that is, the Bald; in allusion, probably, to its barren
summit, for its sides are well clothed with herbage. It is shaped like a
cone, with deep grooves down its declivities, indicating the course taken
by the lava-streams formerly ejected from its interior. To its right, a
little in the rear, stretches the sharp pointed chain of the Dedari and
Widadarea, or “abode of fairies;” while, on the left, shrouded in smoke
clouds, which partially conceal its bulk, is situated the mass of the
dreary Bromok.

Descending into the crater, we cross its sandy floor, the Dasar,--or, as
it is appropriately called, the Sandy Sea,--where grows not tree nor
shrub, and the only signs of vegetation are a few scattered patches of
dried and scrubby grass. The surface is strangely corrugated or ridged,
like the sea-sand at ebb of tide; and the whole landscape is as full of
gloom as the waste of the African Sahara.

Like many other volcanoes, the Bromok is a truncated cone. From one of its
sides project numerous irregular masses, or mounds of mud and sand,
incrusted in a baked clay like red lava. Some of these have been largely
reduced in size by the heavy tropical rains, which have ploughed deep
broad fissures in the Sandy Sea; while others, still supplied with liquid
matter from the volcano, are encroaching on the Dasar, and covering so
much of it as lies within the more immediate neighbourhood of the crater.
Large blocks of lime and limestone lie embedded in these mounds; also huge
black stones veined like marble and glittering like granite. These, as
well as the scoriæ which abound in every direction, were products, it is
supposed, of the last eruption of the Bromok.

Climbing to the summit of the ridge, and looking down into the abyss of
the crater, the traveller at first is tempted to suppose that before him
lies one of the “circles” of Dante’s mediæval Inferno. A yawning pit in
the centre belches dense volumes of sulphureous smoke, accompanied by
terrific sounds, like groans and shrieks and yells. The inner crater forms
a large basin, about 350 feet in diameter, with irregular broken sides,
descending to a depth of fully 250 feet. The sides, as well as the bottom,
are encrusted with deposits of yellow sulphureous matter.

The ceremony of the benediction of this dread volcano takes place two or
three times a year; it is not without its picturesque details. Groups of
pilgrims are scattered about the Sandy Sea; some eating, others praying;
some singing, others laughing, talking, chaffering. Men are selling, and
finding a ready market for, amulets, charms, and volcanic stones, which,
in language as extravagant as that of the European proprietor of a patent
pill, they declare to be sovereign remedies for every human malady.
Provisions of all kinds are on sale, and lie exposed upon roughly
constructed stands, resembling those which are seen at English fairs; a
plank or two, supported on a couple of stone trestles. “Wodonos and
Mantries”--the Javanese nobles--parade up and down in gay attire, their
burnished krisses glittering amidst the folds of their sarong. Old men and
old women, who have come to pay their last homage to the shrine, totter
along feebly; watching with delight, however, the frolics of their
grandchildren as they scamper about in unchecked glee.

At one part of the Sandy Sea twenty mats are ranged in a row, and upon
each a young priest kneels, having before him a box of myrrh,
frankincense, aloes, and other spices, which are sold for offerings. At
right angles runs another row, with the same number of priests, all
kneeling in the Arab fashion, their bodies partly resting on the calves of
their legs. These are older than the former group, and may be regarded as
the patriarchs of their respective villages. Behind each stands a
payong-bearer, shading his master from the sun with a large umbrella.
Their dress consists of a white gown worn over the sarong, which is tied
to the waist by a broad red belt. Over the shoulders hang two bands of
yellow silk, bound with scarlet, and their ends ornamented with tassels
and gold coins. The head-dress consists of a large turban, adorned with
gay silken scarfs. In front of each priest are spread small packets made
of plantain leaves, containing incense, sandal-wood chips, and other
preparations; wooden censers, throwing forth jets of fragrant smoke; and a
vessel, made of plaited ratan, for holding water.

At a short distance from the priests a motley crowd is assembled, waiting
for the various offerings they have deposited upon specially prepared
bamboo stands, to be consecrated. These offerings consist of cocoa-nuts,
plantains, pine-apples, mangoes, and other fruits; of baskets of young
chickens; of trays loaded with all kinds of cakes; of strips of silk and
calico; of gold, silver, and copper coins.

After spending a few minutes in prayer, the priest dips his goupillon or
cup into the vessel of water before him, mutters a few unintelligible
words, and sprinkles the oblations as they are successively presented.
Then all the holy men bow their heads, and repeat loudly and distinctly a
ritual prayer.

The oldest rises up, followed in succession by his sacerdotal companions,
uttering a phrase which sounds like “Ayo, ayo, Bromok!” and probably
means, “Forward, forward to the Bromok!” At this signal all the crowd rush
to the Bromok, impressed with a belief that he who first gains the ridge
will be the favourite of fortune, and presently meet with some exceptional
stroke of good luck. At intervals some of the older priests come to a
halt, spread their mats, and prostrate themselves in prayer for five or
ten minutes, thus securing an interval of rest at the same time that they
win a reputation for special devoutness.

On reaching the summit of the volcano, the various families and
individuals again present their offerings to the priests, who mumble over
them a few additional words: they are then thrown into the crater, each
person eagerly repeating some prayer or wish. And thus concludes the
strange ceremony by which the spirits of the Bromok are supposed to be
propitiated. The crowd descend from the volcano to join in various games
and pastimes; towards evening they begin to disperse, and as the night
spreads its cloud of darkness over the scene, the Sea of Sand resumes its
ordinary aspect of loneliness and desolation.


THE DYAKS OF BORNEO.

It is not certain that the Dyaks possess any religion. Temminck asserts
that they _have_, and that it bears a close resemblance to “fetichism.”
The god Djath, he says, rules the sublunar world, and the god Sangjang
presides over hell. These gods wear the human form, but are invisible; the
Dyaks invoke them by sprinkling rice on the ground, and offering various
sacrifices. In the houses of the Dyaks, adds Temminck, wooden idols are
frequently met with.

Other travellers are of opinion that they profess a kind of Pantheism, and
represent them as believing, like the ancient Greeks, in a multitude of
gods, gods above and gods below the world, as well as innumerable good and
evil spirits, of whom Budjang-Brani is undoubtedly the most wicked. All
diseases are caused by the agency of evil demons, and all misfortunes; and
therefore the Dyaks make vigorous efforts to drive them away by shouts,
and shrieks, and the discordant gong. So in some of the West Indian
islands the natives, during an eclipse, would seek, by a horrible clamour,
to frighten away the monster they supposed to be devouring the moon.

Some authorities go so far as to represent the Dyaks as cherishing vague
ideas of the Unity of the Godhead and the immortality of the soul.

Madame Ida Pfeiffer was by no means a philosophical traveller, but she was
an honest observer; and as the result of her explorations in Borneo, she
positively affirms that among the tribes she visited are neither temples
nor idols, priests nor sacrifices. On the occasions of their births,
marriages and funerals they perform certain ceremonies, but these appear
to be devoid of all religious character. Usually on such occasions they
kill fowls as well as hogs. When concluding treaties of peace they always
slaughter swine, but they do not eat them, and in this custom we may trace
perhaps the propitiatory idea. A few tribes burn their dead, and preserve
the ashes in hollow trees; others inter them in the least accessible
localities, such as the summits of lofty mountains; others bind the corpse
to the trunk of a tree in the position in which S. Peter was crucified,
that is, with the feet upwards and the head downwards.


IN BOURU.

The inhabitants of Bouru, one of the islands of the Malay Archipelago,
profess a creed which was taught them by one called Nabiata. From some of
its articles he would seem to have been a Mohammedan, or acquainted with
Mohammedanism; but whence he came, or how, or when he made his way to
Bouru, it is impossible to ascertain. The natives say that there is one
Supreme Being, Who created all things, and is the source of both good and
evil. He permits the existence of evil spirits. Those who pray to Him He
rewards with prosperity; those who neglect this duty He never fails to
punish. It was owing to His infinite love for man that He sent him this
inspired teacher Nabiata, who resided among the mountains, and delivered
his Master’s will in seven commandments:--

    1. Thou shalt not kill nor wound.

    2. Thou shalt not steal.

    3. Thou shalt not commit adultery.

    4. Thou shalt not set thyself up against thy _fenna_ (priest.)

    5. A man shall not set himself up against the chief of his tribe.

    6. A chief shall not set himself up against him who is over his or
    other tribes.

    7. The chief over more than one tribe shall not set himself up against
    him who is placed over all the tribes.

Nabiata also taught that though the body perishes, the soul will live for
ever; that those who keep the foregoing commandments, (and all the acts of
men are duly recorded by the Supreme Being,) shall dwell in His presence
far above the firmament; while those who have lived wickedly shall never
rise to the abode of the happy, nor shall they remain upon earth, but for
ever and ever, lonely and in sorrow, wander among the clouds, yearning
with a desire that can never be fulfilled, to join their brethren in the
heaven above or on the earth beneath.

Nabiata also introduced the rite of circumcision, and ordained that it
should be performed on children of both sexes when they attained the age
of eight or ten years.


THE PAPUAN TRIBES.

Among the Dorians, or the inhabitants of the north coast of New Guinea,
near Port Dory, an almost childish superstition prevails. Always and
everywhere they carry about with them a variety of charms and talismans,
such as bits of bone, or quartz, or carved wood, to which, for some reason
or other, an artificial value has come to be attached. Those among them
who have acquired a slight knowledge of Mohammedanism use verses of the
Koran written upon narrow strips of paper by the Mohammedan priests of
Ceram and Tidore. But most of the Dorians are pagans, and worship an idol
called “Karwar,” a clumsy figure of which, carved in wood, holding a
shield, and distinguished by an exceptionally large head, with a sharp
nose and a wide mouth, is kept in every house, and plays the part of a
dumb oracle. Its owner, when involved in any difficulty or danger, hastens
to crouch before it, bowing or salaaming repeatedly, with his hands
clasped upon his forehead. If while thus engaged he experiences an emotion
of doubt or despondency, it is considered an evil sign, and he proceeds to
abandon whatever may have been his wish or object. It will thus be seen
that everything depends upon the votary’s temperament or natural
disposition,--if he be a sanguine and resolute man, it is not likely that
he will be conscious of any untoward sensation; and, in such a case, he of
course concludes that he has the sanction of his “Karwar.” In other words,
his will fortifies him to carry out his wishes. But even among civilised
nations a similar method of “consulting the oracle,”--of soliciting the
advice of another with the intention of following it only if it coincides
with one’s own desires,--is sometimes heard of!

The Dorians appear to maintain a priestly caste; but its functions are
confined to the interpretation of dreams and omens; besides which its
members act as “medicine men.” There are no religious rites, no
sacrifices. The two notable events of marriage and death pass with little
show. In the former, the intending bride and bridegroom sit down before
the Karwar, the woman offers the man homage in the shape of tobacco and
betel-leaf; then they join hands, rise up, and are recognised as man and
wife. When a death occurs, the corpse is wrapped in a white calico shroud,
and interred in a pit about five feet deep. There it lies upon its side in
the midst of its weapons and ornaments, and a porcelain dish under its
ear. The grave is afterwards filled up with earth, roofed over with dried
grass, and crowned with the Karwar of the departed.

The Aruans, like the Papuans, belong to the Australo-Malay division of the
Archipelago, and their religious system is but a little more developed.
And here we may note that as we recede from Asia and advance through the
great chain of the Eastern islands to Australia, we observe a gradual
religious decadence, until the depth of barbarism is reached in the
wretched aboriginal tribes of the great “island continent.” The Aruans
have no idea of a heaven or a hell; no sense of any “world beyond the
grave,” but their funeral rites are conducted on an extensive scale.

When an Aruan dies, his kinsmen at once assemble and destroy all the goods
and chattels he has accumulated during his lifetime; breaking even the
gongs in pieces, which are carefully thrown away. The body is next laid
out on a small mat, and propped up against a ladder for three or four
days; after which the relatives again assemble, and apparently to prevent
further decay, cover the exposed parts with lime. Meanwhile the hut is
filled with the fumes of burning dammar or resin, and the guests sit in
the perfumed atmosphere drinking large draughts of arrack, and of a spirit
which they contrive to distil from the juice of some indigenous fruit. The
stimulant soon does its work; they give vent to their feelings in violent
shouts, which mingle with the howls and wails of the women and the hoarse
discord of the gongs. Food is offered to the deceased, and the mouth
crammed with various kinds of edibles, rice, and arrack.

By this time all the friends and relatives of the departed have
assembled--as at a Scotch funeral; the body is placed on a kind of bier,
which is strewn with numerous pieces of cloth according to the wealth of
the deceased; while large dishes of China porcelain are set beneath to
catch any moisture that may fall from it. A high value is afterwards set
upon these dishes. Being taken out of the house, the body is supported
against a post, and another effort made to induce it to eat. The hollow
jaws are again stuffed with lighted cigars, rice, fruit, and arrack; and
the mourners join in a loud chant, inquiring whether the sleeper will not
awake at the sight of so many friends and fellow-villagers. Alas, the long
slumber continues! The body is again placed upon its bier, which is
carried into the forest, and it is hoisted upon the summit of four posts.
A tree, usually the _Pavetta Indica_, is then planted near it; and at this
final ceremony none, it is said, but naked women are allowed to be
present. This is called the _sudah buang_, and signifies that the body is
thenceforth abandoned to the silence of the wilderness as unable any
longer to see, hear, think, or feel.

       *       *       *       *       *

The religion of savage or uncivilised men is, necessarily, coloured and
determined by the natural influences that surround them, and according as
they live in the African desert or the American forest, among the snows of
Siberia or on the table-land of Tibet, will bear its distinctive and
appropriate character. We do not doubt, therefore, but that Sherard Osborn
is right in the explanation he offers of the superstitious credulity of
the Malays, that the wonderful phenomena peculiar to the seas and islands
of the great Eastern Archipelago could never be intelligible to an
uneducated and highly imaginative race except on the supposition of
supernatural agency. Of course, this superstitious temperament is not
confined to the Malayan race. It is found, as we have said, in all savage
peoples, and springs from that profound though often vague and undefinable
sense of an overruling and mysterious Power which the influence of Nature
impresses on the heart of man.

There were proofs by the thousand among the Malays with whom Admiral
Sherard Osborn came in contact, of that connection with the Unseen World
which men in every stage of civilisation seem to accept and to be desirous
of developing. And he relates a striking instance of their great
credulity, which we may quote here as not wholly without illustrative
value.

Sherard Osborn’s gunboat was lying one night close to the southern point
of the Quedah river, where it flows into the Strait of Malacca. The air
was chill and damp, and the sky obscured with clouds, through which a
young moon sped occasional shafts of silver light.

About eleven o’clock his attention was directed to his look-out man, a
Malay, who, seated upon the fore-deck gun, was spitting violently, and
giving rapid utterance to expressions apparently of reproof or defiance.
Another Malay quickly joined him; pointed towards the jungle-loaded shore;
and then he too began the spitting and ejaculatory process. After awhile,
with an evident air of relief, the second Malay went down below. Unable
any longer to restrain his curiosity, Sherard Osborn walked forward. The
look-out man had turned his back to the jungle, but ever and anon threw a
furtive glance over his shoulder, and uttered sentences in which the name
of “Allah” frequently occurred. He seemed delighted at the coming of his
captain, and, springing to his feet, saluted him.

“Anything new?” said Osborn; “any prahus in sight?”

“Teda, Touhan--no, sir,” was the reply; and then observing that his
officer was looking in the direction of the jungle, he made signs that it
was better to look anywhere but there.

Calling Jamboo, his interpreter, Osborn desired him to ask the Malay what
he saw in the jungle. Judge his astonishment at the reply:

“He says he saw a spirit, sir.”

“Nonsense. Ask him how or where? It may be some Malay scouts.”

Again came the answer: that the man had distinctly seen an _untoo_, or
spirit, moving about among the trees close to the margin of the water; and
that he had been assiduously praying and expectorating, in order to
prevent it from approaching the gunboat, as it was evidently a very bad
spirit, very dangerous, and clothed in a long dress.

Sherard Osborn reprimanded his interpreter for repeating so ridiculous a
fancy, and ordered him to explain to the man that there were no such
things as “spirits,” and that if he had seen anything, it must have been
an animal or a man. But he was earnestly assured by Jamboo, the
interpreter, that Malays frequently saw untoos; that some were dangerous,
and some harmless; and that as for the untoo he had just seen, the captain
would see it too, if he looked carefully.

Accordingly, the English captain sat down by the side of the Malay sailor,
and looked in the same direction. The gunboat lay at anchor about one
hundred and fifty yards from the jungle; the water flowed up to its very
margin; among the spreading roots of the mangrove trees lay small ridges
of white shingle and broken shells, which receded into darkness or shone
out into distinct relief as the moonlight fell upon them. When these white
gleams became visible, Osborn immediately pointed to them, and hinted that
these were the Malay’s “spirit.”

“No, no!” he answered vehemently, and Jamboo added, “He says he will warn
you immediately he sees _it_.”

Suddenly he touched his officer, and pointing earnestly, exclaimed, “Look,
look!”

Sherard Osborn _did_ look, and for a moment yielded to the delusion as he
caught sight of what appeared to be, and probably was, the figure of a
female with drapery thrown around her. Gliding out of the dark forest
shadows, it halted at a hillock of white sand not more than three hundred
yards distant. Osborn rubbed his eyes; the interpreter called vigorously
on a Romish saint, and the Malay spat energetically, as if some unclean
animal had crossed his path. Again the captain looked, and again he saw
the form, which had passed a dense clump of trees, and was slowly crossing
another avenue in the forest.

“Feeling the folly,” says Sherard Osborn, “of yielding to the impression
of reality which the illusion was certainly creating in my mind, I walked
away, and kept the Malay employed in different ways until midnight; he,
however, every now and then spat vehemently, and cursed all evil spirits
with true Mohammedan fervour.”


THE ORANG-LAUTS.

Of this singular race of Malays, the Orang-Lauts, “Men of the Seas,” or
“Sea-Gipsies,” it is said that they do not seem to know anything of a
Creator. “A fact so difficult to believe,” says Mr. Thomson, “when we find
that the most degraded of the human race, in other quarters of the globe,
have an intuitive idea of this unerring and primary truth imprinted on
their minds, that I took the greatest care to find a slight image of the
Deity within the chaos of their thoughts, however degraded such might be,
but was disappointed. They knew neither the God nor the Devil of the
Christians or Mohammedans, although they confessed they had been told of
such; nor any of the demi-gods of Hindu mythology, many of whom were
recounted to them.”

The three great epochs of individual life, birth, marriage, death, pass
unnoticed by them. At birth, the mother’s joy is the only welcome to a
world it is not likely to find very bright or happy. At marriage, the sole
solemnity is the exchange between the male and the female of a mouthful of
tobacco and a cheepah, or gallon, of water. At death, the body of the
deceased is wrapped in his rags and tatters, and with, perhaps, a few
tears from the attendant women, committed to the earth. They have none of
that exquisite enjoyment of life which is felt by a cultured race; and
neither the entrance upon it nor the passage from it seems to them an
event calculated to awaken any emotion of interest. And as they are
absolutely without religion, so are they wholly free from superstition;
the solemn influences of Nature seem to produce no effect upon their
stolid dispositions. Of the pârus, and dewas, and nambangs, and other
phantom forms which, in the quick imagination of the Malay, haunt each
mountain, rock, and tree, they nothing know; and knowing nothing, they do
not fear. Terror is as often the result of knowledge as of ignorance. The
mind that has no conception of an unseen world or a supernatural force,
must necessarily be free from all apprehension of it.

       *       *       *       *       *

Passing on to the Philippine Islands, we meet there with the Ahetas, who,
like the Orang-Lauts, have no religious system, but, unlike the
Orang-Lauts, cherish at least a religious sentiment. It appears that they
have learned from--or have taught--the Tanguianes, a brave race dwelling
in the vicinity, the practice of worshipping--for a day--the trunk of a
distorted tree, or a fragment of rock, in which they trace some fancied
resemblance to an animal. Then they turn away from it, and think no more
about gods until they encounter another strange and fantastical form, for
the existence of which they are unable to account: this, in turn, they
make the object of a fugitive devotion. For the dead their reverence is
pathetic. Year after year they visit their graves, with as much fidelity
as a Christian mourner, though without the Christian’s faith in a future
reunion, and place there a modest offering of tobacco and betel. The bows
and arrows of the departed are suspended above his grave on the day of
interment, and the Ahetas fondly believe that every night he rises from
his resting-place to pursue the shadowy hunt in the haunted glades of the
forest.

In the case of an aged person afflicted with a mortal illness, they adopt
too often a summary procedure, not waiting for him to die before they bury
him. But no sooner has the body been deposited in the grave, than it
becomes imperative, according to their traditions, that his death
should be avenged; and, accordingly, the warriors of the tribe sally
forth, with lance and arrow, to slay the first living creature they
encounter,--whether man, or stag, or wild hog, or buffalo. When thus in
quest of an expiatory victim, they take the precaution of breaking off the
young shoots of the shrubs as they pass by, and leave the broken ends
hanging in the direction of their roots, as a warning to travellers or
neighbours to shun the path they are taking; for were one of their own
people to be the first to come across the avengers, they dare not suffer
him to escape any more than Agamemnon could spare his daughter Iphigenia.
As she suffered for her father’s vow, so must the ill-fated Aheta suffer
for the custom of his tribe.

Their superiority to many savage races is attested by their faithfulness
in marriage; they practise monogamy. When a young man has chosen his
future partner, his friends or relatives ask the consent of their parents,
which is never refused. The marriage day is fixed, and in the morning,
before sunrise, the maiden is despatched into the forest, where she
conceals herself or not, according to her inclinations towards her suitor.
An hour’s grace is allowed, and the young man then goes in search of her:
if he succeed in finding her, and bringing her back to her friends before
sunset, she becomes his wife; but if he fail, he is required to abandon
all further claim to the damsel. A strange custom! But there is this much
at least to be said for it, that it allows the maiden more liberty of
choice than she always enjoys in civilised society!

Whether the Ahetas (or Negritos) sprang from a mixture of Malay and Papuan
blood, or are of purely Papuan origin, our ethnologists do not seem to
have determined. But in their present development they are certainly
superior to the Papuan races.[36]




CHAPTER VIII.

_THE SAVAGE RACES OF ASIA: THE SAMOJEDES; THE MONGOLS; THE OSTIAKS; IN
TIBET._


THE SAMOJEDES.

The Samojedes are a people of Arctic Asia, where they inhabit the forests
and stony tundras of Northern Russia and Western Siberia; driving their
herds of reindeer from the banks of the Chatanga to the ice-bound shores
of the White Sea, or hunting the wild beasts in the thick forests which
extend between the Obi and the Yenisei.

Their superstition is of a very coarse and degrading character. It is true
that they recognise the existence of a Supreme Deity, named
Jilibeambaertje, or Num, who resides in the air, and, like the Greek Zeus,
sends down rain and snow, thunder and lightning; and they afford a proof
of that latent capacity for poetical feeling, which some of even the most
barbarous tribes possess, in their description of the rainbow as “the hem
of his garment.” To them, however, he seems so elevated above the things
of earth, so indifferent to the woes or joys of humanity, that they regard
it as useless to seek to propitiate him either by prayer or sacrifice; and
accordingly they appeal to the inferior gods who have, as they believe,
the control of human affairs, and can be affected by incantations, vows,
or special homage.

The bleak and lonely island of Waigatz is still, as in the days of the
Dutch adventurer, Barentz, supposed to be the residence of the chief of
these minor divinities. There a block of stone, pointed at the summit,
bears a certain resemblance to a human head, having been wrought into
this likeness by a freak of Nature. The Samojede image-makers have taken
it for their model, and multiplied it in wood and stone; and the idols
thus easily manufactured they call _sjadæi_, because they wear a human (or
semi-human) countenance (_sja._) They attire them in reindeer skins, and
embellish them with innumerable coloured rags. In addition to the
_sjadæi_, they adopt as idols any curiously contorted tree or irregularly
shapen stone; and the household idol (_Hahe_) they carry about with them,
carefully wrapped up, in a sledge reserved for the purpose, the
_hahengan_. One of the said Penates is supposed to be the guardian of
wedded happiness, another of the fishery, a third of the health of his
worshippers, a fourth of their herds of reindeer. When his services are
needed, the Hahe is removed from its resting-place, and erected in the
tent or on the pasture-ground, in the wood, or on the river’s bank. Then
his mouth is smeared with oil or blood, and before him is set a dish of
fish or flesh, in return for which repast it is expected that he will use
his power on behalf of his entertainers. When his aid is no longer needed,
he is returned to the hahengan.

Besides these obliging deities, the Samojede believes in the existence of
an order of invisible spirits which he calls _Tadebtsois_. These are ever
and everywhere around him, and bent rather upon his injury than his
welfare. It becomes important, therefore, to propitiate them; but this can
be done only through the intervention of a _Tadibe_, or sorcerer; who, on
occasion, stimulates himself into a wildly excited condition, like the
frenzy of the Pythean or Delphic priestess. When the credulous Samojede
invokes his assistance, he attires himself in full necromantic costume: a
kind of shirt, made of reindeer leather; and trimmed with red cloth. Its
seams are similarly trimmed; and the shoulders are decorated with red
cloth tags, or epaulettes. A visor of red cloth conceals his face, and
upon his breast gleams a plate of polished metal.

Thus imposingly arrayed, the Tadibe takes his drum of reindeer skin,
ornamented with brass rings, and, attended by a neophyte, walks round and
round with singular stateliness, while invoking the presence of the
spirits by a discordant rattle. This gradually increases in violence, and
is accompanied by the droning incantation of the words of enchantment. In
due time the spirits are supposed to appear, and the Tadibe proceeds to
consult them: beating his drum more gently, and occasionally pausing in
his lugubrious chant,--which, however, the novice is careful not to
interrupt,--to listen, as he pretends, to the answers of the deities. At
length the interrogations cease; the chant breaks into a fierce howl; more
and more loudly rattles the drum: the Tadibe appears possessed by a
supernatural influence; his body writhes; the foam-drops gather on his
lips. All at once the wild intoxication ceases; and the Tadibe delivers
the supposed will of the Tadebtsois: advises how a stray reindeer may be
recovered, or the disease of the Samojede worshipper relieved, or the
fisherman’s labour may secure a plenteous “harvest of the sea.”

The Tadibe’s office is usually hereditary; but occasionally some outsider,
predisposed by nature to hysteric manifestations, and gifted with a warm,
irregular imagination, is initiated into its mysteries. His morbid fancy
is intensified by long solitary self-communings and protracted fasts and
vigils; and his frame debilitated by the use of pernicious narcotics and
stimulants, until he comes to believe that he has been visited by the
spirits. He is then received as a Tadibe, with numerous ceremonies, which
take place at midnight, and is invested with the magic drum. It is
evident, therefore, that the Tadibe, if he deceive others, is the victim
to some extent of self-deception. But, in order to impose upon his
ignorant countrymen, he does not disdain to resort to the commonest cheats
of the conjuror. Among these is the notorious rope-trick, introduced into
England by the performers known as the “Davenport Brothers,” and since
repeated by so many “professional artists.” With hands and feet to all
appearance securely fastened, he sits down on a carpet of reindeer skin,
and, the lights being put out, summons the spirits to his assistance.
Their presence is speedily made known by singular noises; squirrels seem
to rustle, snakes to hiss, bears to growl. At length the disturbance
ceases; the lights are rekindled; and the Tadibe steps forward unbound;
the spectators of course believing that he has been assisted by the
Tadebtsois.

Not less barbarous than the poor creatures who submit to his guidance,
the Tadibe is incapable, and probably not desirous, of improving their
moral condition. Similar impostors, claiming and exercising a similar
spiritual dictatorship,--_Schamans_, as the Tungusi call them, _Angekoks_
among the Eskimos, _Medicine-men_ among the Crees and Chepewyans,--we find
among all the Arctic tribes of the Old and New World, where their
authority has not been overthrown by Christianity or Buddhism; and this
dreary superstition still prevails over at least half a million of souls,
from the White Sea to the extremity of Asia, and from the Pacific to
Hudson’s Bay.

Like the peoples of Siberia, the Samojedes offer up sacrifices to the
dead, and perform various ceremonies in their honour. Like the North
American Indians, they believe that the desires and pursuits of the
departed continue exactly the same as if they were still living; and
hence, that they may not be in want of weapons or implements, they deposit
in or about the graves a sledge, a spear, a knife, an axe, a cooking-pot.

At the funeral, and for several years afterwards, the kinsmen sacrifice
reindeer over the grave.

When a chief or Starochina dies,--the owner, it may be, of several herds
of reindeer,--his nearest relatives fashion an image, which is kept in the
tent of the deceased, and receives the same measure of respect that was
paid to the man himself in his lifetime. At every meal it occupies his
accustomed seat; every evening it is solemnly undressed, and duly laid
down in his bed. For three years these honours are regularly paid; after
which the image is buried, in a belief that the body must by that time
have decayed, and lost all recollection of the past. Only the souls of the
Tadibes, and of those who have died a violent death, are in the enjoyment
of immortality, and hover about the air as disembodied spirits.


THE OSTIAKS.

Further to the east, and occupying the northernmost part of Siberia from
the Oural Mountains to Kamtschatka, are the Ostiaks.

The Russians have imposed upon this people the Christian religion, as
taught by the Greek Church; but it seems probable that the majority adhere
in secret to their heathen creed. Madame Felinska, a Polish lady, who for
some years lived in exile in Siberia, relates that, one day, when she was
seeking a pathway through a wood, she came upon a couple of Ostiaks, on
the point of performing their devotions. These are certainly of a much
simpler kind than the rites enjoined by the Greek Church: the worshipper
simply places himself before a tree--he appears to prefer the larch--in
some sequestered forest-nook, and performs in rapid succession the most
extravagant contortions and gestures. As the practice is prohibited by the
Russian Government, it is necessarily made a matter of secresy.

An Ostiak generally carries about him a rude image of one of the deities
or demons which he adores under the name of Schaïtan; but he conforms to
Russian customs by wearing a small crucifix of copper on his breast. The
Schaïtan is a rude imitation of the human figure, carved in wood. It is of
different sizes, according to the uses for which it is intended; if for
wearing on the person, it is a miniature doll; but as part of the
furniture of an Ostiak’s hut it is made on a large scale. It is always
attired in seven pearl-broidered chemises, and suspended to the neck by a
string of silver coins. In every hut it fills the place of
honour,--sometimes in company with an image of the Virgin Mary or some
Russian saint; and when they sit down to their meals, the Ostiaks are
careful to offer it the daintiest morsels, smearing its lips with fish or
raw game; this sacred duty fulfilled, they attack with eagerness the
viands set before them.

The Ostiak priests are called _Schamans_. Their influence is very great,
but is wholly employed in the promotion of their own selfish interests,
through the encouragement of the basest superstitions.


WEATHER-CONJURING AMONG THE MONGOLS.

There are many allusions in Mongol history to the practice of
weather-conjuring. The operation was performed by means of a stone
supposed to be endowed with magical virtues, called _Yadah_ or _Jadah
Tásh_; this was suspended over or hung in a basin of water with sundry
ceremonies. Ibn Mohalhal, an early Arab traveller, asserts that the
_Kímák_, a great tribe of the Turks, possessed such a stone. In the war
waged against Chinghiz and Aung Khan by a powerful tribal confederation in
1202, it is recorded that Sengun, the son of Aung Khan, who had been
despatched to arrest the enemy’s advance, caused them to be enchanted, so
that all the movements they attempted against him were defeated by dense
mists and blinding snow-storms. So thick was the mist, so intense was the
darkness, that men and horses stumbled over precipices, and many also
perished with cold.

The celebrated conqueror, Timur, in his _Memoirs_, records that the Jets
resorted to incantations to produce heavy rains which hindered his cavalry
from acting against them. A _Yadachi_, or weather-conjuror, was taken
prisoner, and after he had been beheaded the storm ceased.

Babu refers to one of his early friends, Khwaja ka Mulai, as conspicuous
for his skill in falconry and his knowledge of _Yadageri_, or the science
of inducing rain and snow by means of enchantment. The Russians were much
distressed by heavy rains in 1552, when besieging Kazan, and universally
ascribed the unfavourable weather to the arts of the Tartar queen, who was
an enchantress.

Early in the 18th century, the Emperor Shi-tsung issued a proclamation
against rain-conjuring, addressed to the Eight Banners of Mongolia. “If,”
indignantly observes the Emperor, “if I, offering prayers in sincerity,
have yet cause to fear that it may please heaven to leave MY prayer
unanswered, it is truly intolerable that mere common people wishing for
rain should of their own fancy set up altars of earth; and bring together
a rabble of Hoshang (Buddhist Bonzes) and Taossi to conjure the spirits to
gratify their wishes.”

The belief in the efficacy of weather-conjuring prevailed all over Europe.
In the _Cento Novelle Antiche_, certain necromancers gave specimens of
their skill before the Emperor Frederic Barbarossa; and the weather began
to be overcast; and lo, of a sudden rain fell with continued thunders and
lightnings, as if the world were come to an end, and hailstones of the
size and appearance of steel caps.


IN TIBET.

Marco Polo, describing his visit to the Kaan’s Palace at Chandu, once
known as Kaipingfu, speaks of the immense stud of pure white mares which
the Kaan kept there, and adds:--“When the Kaan sets out from the Park on
the 28th of August, the milk of all those mares is taken and sprinkled on
the ground. And this is done on the injunction of the Idolaters and
Idol-priests, who affirm that it is an excellent thing to sprinkle that
milk on the ground every 28th of August, so that the Earth and the Air and
the False Gods shall have their share of it, and likewise the spirits that
inhabit the Air and the Earth. And then those beings will protect and
bless the Kaan and his children and his wives and his folk and his gear,
and his cattle and his horses, his corn and all that is his.”

Marco Polo proceeds:--“But I must now tell you a strange thing which
hitherto I have forgotten to mention. During the three months of every
year that the Emperor resides at that place, if it should happen to be bad
weather, there are enchanters and astrologers in his train, who are such
adepts in necromancy and diabolic arts, that they are able to prevent any
cloud or storm from passing over the spot on which the Emperor’s Palace
stands. The sorcerers who do this are called Tebet and Kesimar, which are
the names of two nations of idolaters. Whatever they do in this way is by
the help of the Devil, but they make those people believe that it is
compassed by dint of their own sanctity and the help of GOD....

“There is another marvel performed by those Bacsi of whom I have been
speaking as knowing so many enchantments. For when the great Kaan is at
his capital and in his great palace, seated at his table, which stands on
a platform some eight cubits above the ground, his cups are set before him
on a great buffet in the middle of the hall pavement, at a distance of
some ten paces from the table, and filled with wine, or other good spiced
liquor such as they use. Now when the Kaan desires to drink, these
enchanters by the power of their enchantments cause the cups to move from
their place without being touched by anybody, and to present themselves to
the Emperor! This every one present may witness, and there are oftentimes
more than ten thousand persons thus present. ’Tis a truth and no lie! and
so will tell you the sages of our own country who understand necromancy,
for they also can perform it.”

On the occasion of one of these Idol Festivals, the Bacsi would go to the
Prince and say:--“Sire, the feast of such a god is come.” And he would
continue:--“My Lord, you know that this god, when he gets no offering,
always sends bad weather and spoils our seasons. So we pray you to give us
such and such a number of black-faced sheep,” (naming any number they
please). “And we beg also, good my Lord, that we may have such a quantity
of incense, and such a quantity of lign-aloes, and”--so much of this or so
much of that, according to the measure of their cupidity or the
probability of their expectations being gratified--“that we may perform a
solemn service and a great sacrifice to our Idols, and that so they may be
induced to protect us and all our property.”

When the Bacsi have obtained from the Kaan the fulfilment of their
desires, they make a great feast in honour of their god, and hold great
ceremonies of worship with grand illuminations and quantities of incense
of a variety of odours, which they make up from different aromatic spices.
And when the viands are cooked, they set them before the idols, and
sprinkle the bush about, affirming that in this way the idols obtain a
sufficiency. Thus it is that they keep their festivals. Each idol, we must
add, has a name of his own, and a feast-day, just as the Saints of the
Christian Church have their anniversaries.

Large minsters and abbeys are theirs, some of them of the size of a small
town, with upwards of 2,000 monks in a single abbey. These monks dress
more decorously than the rest of the people, and have the head and the
beard shaven. Among them a limited number are, by their rule, allowed to
marry.

Another kind of devotees were called the Seusin, men of extraordinary
abstemiousness, who led a life of extreme endurance. Their sole food was
bran mixed with hot water, so that one might call their lives a prolonged
fast. They had numerous idols, and idols of a monstrous size, but they
also worshipped fire. Idolaters not belonging to this sect naturally
called them “heretics,” on the old principle that “my doxy” is
“orthodoxy,” and “your doxy” “heterodoxy.” Their dresses were made of
hempen stuff, black and blue, and they slept upon mats. In fact, says
Marco Polo, “their asceticism is something remarkable.”

       *       *       *       *       *

Chandu, or Xanadu, and its palace, suggested to Coleridge one of his most
exquisite passages of description:--

  “In Xanadu did Kubla Kaan
    A stately pleasure dome decree:
  Where Alph, the sacred river, ran,
  By caverns measureless to man,
    Down to a sunless sea.
  So twice five miles of fertile ground,
  With walls and towers were girdled round:
  And there were gardens bright with sinuous rills,
    Where blossomed many an incense-bearing tree;
  And here were forests, ancient as the hills,
    Enfolding sunny spots of greenery.”

Xanadu has disappeared, and so has its palace, but the superstitions
practised in it are still in vogue among the Mongolian peoples. The word
“Bakhshi,” however, has come to have a different meaning in different
districts; among the Kirghiz Kazzaks it is applied, as Marco Polo applied
it, to a conjuror or medicine-man; among the modern Mongols it signifies
“a teacher,” and is bestowed on the oldest and most learned priest of a
community; in Western Turkestan it means “a bard;” in our Indian army it
is “a paymaster.”

The jugglery of the goblets, to which Marco Polo refers, was not uncommon
in Mediæval Europe. Colonel Yule cites[37] the Jesuit Delrio as lamenting
the credulity of certain princes, otherwise of pious repute, who allowed
diabolic tricks to be played in their presence; as for instance that
things of iron, and silver goblets, or other heavy articles, should be
moved by bounds from one end of a table to the other, without the use of a
magnet or of any attachment. The pious prince appears to have been Charles
IX., and the conjuror a certain Cesare Maltesio. In old legends this
trick is one of the sorceries ascribed to Simon Magus. “He made statues to
walk; leapt into the fire without being burnt; flew in the air; made bread
of stones; changed his shape; assumed two faces at once,”--an
accomplishment not confined to conjurors,--“converted himself into a
pillar; caused closed doors to fly open of their own will; and made the
vessels in a house seem to move of themselves.”

Colonel Yule asserts that the profession and practice of exorcism and
magic in general is much more prominent in Lamaism, or Tibetan Buddhism,
than in any other known form of that religion. “Indeed,” he says, “the old
form of Lamaism, as it existed in Marco Polo’s day, and till the reforms
of Tsongkhapa (1357-1419), and as it is still professed by the _Red_ sect
in Tibet, seems to be a kind of compromise between Indian Buddhism and the
old indigenous Shamanism. Even the reformed doctrine of the Yellow sect
recognises an orthodox kind of magic, which is due in great measure to the
combination of Sivaism with the Buddhist doctrines, and of which the
institutes are contained in the vast collection of the _Jud_ or Tantras,
recognised among the holy books. The magic arts of this code open even a
short road to the Buddhahood itself. To attain that perfection of power
and wisdom culminating in the cessation of sensible existence, requires,
according to the ordinary paths, a period of three _asankhyas_ (or say
Unaccountable Time × 3), whereas by means of the magic arts of the
_Tantras_, it may be reached in the course of three _rebirths_ only, nay,
of one! But from the Tantras also can be learned how to acquire miraculous
powers for objects entirely selfish and secular, and how to exercise these
by means of _Dhárani_, or mystic Indian charms.”

The commonplace and vulgar exhibition of such exploits as blowing fire,
cutting off heads, and swallowing knives, is formally repudiated by the
orthodox Yellow Lamas; but as the crowd cannot be satisfied without them,
each of the great Yellow Lama monasteries in Tibet maintains a conjuror,
as of old each European sovereign kept his jester. This conjuror is not a
member of the monastic fraternity, and lives in a particular part of the
convent, out of the atmosphere of their sanctity. He is called _Choicong_,
or protector of religion, and is free to marry. The Choicong hand down
their magic lore from generation to generation orally, and by their cries
and howls, and their frenzied gestures, and their fantastic dress, are
connected with the Shamanist devil dancers.

Magic seems to have always borne the same character in every country. The
marvels accomplished by the Indian mystic charms, or _Dhárani_, are
exactly those which the Mediæval magicians of Europe professed to achieve.
To make water flow backwards, to resuscitate the dead, to fly through the
air, to read a man’s inmost thoughts, these were the wonders done by Simon
Magus in his day, and by Albertus Magnus and his followers in their day;
and form what may be called the ordinary stock-in-trade of the old
necromancers. The Bakhshis included them in their series of performances.
“There are certain men,” says Ricold, “whom the Tartars honour above all
in the world, viz., the _Baxitæ_, (or _Bakhshis_), who are a kind of idol
priests. These are men from India, persons of deep wisdom, well conducted,
and of the gravest morals. They are usually acquainted with magic arts,
and depend on the counsel and aid of demons; they exhibit many illusions,
and predict some future events. For instance, one of eminence among them
was said to fly; the truth however was (as it proved) that he did not fly,
but did walk close to the surface of the ground without touching it; and
would seem to sit down without having any substance to support him.” Ibn
Batuta describes a performance of this kind as witnessed by him at Delhi,
in the presence of Sultan Mahomed Tughlak. Francis Valentyn, at a later
date, speaks of it as common in India. He was told, he says, that a man
would first go and sit upon three sticks which had been so put together as
to form a tripod, after which, first one stick, then a second, then a
third would be removed from under him, and yet the man would not fall, but
would remain suspended in the air. He could not bring himself to believe
it, so manifestly contrary was it to reason, yet he had spoken with two
friends who had both seen it done on the same occasion, and one of them
mistrusting his own eyes, had felt about with a long stick to ascertain if
there were not something on which the body rested, but could discover
nought.

Superstition, like history, repeats itself,--some of the marvels with
which the Lama conjurors and the Tartar Bakhshis deluded their people are
repeated by the spiritualistic “mediums,” of the present day and put
forward by them as the credentials of their pretended mission.

They fall short, however, of the extraordinary feats performed by the
professional jugglers who laid no claim to a religious character, if we
may credit the accounts of the early travellers. Ibn Batuta, for instance,
gravely describes what he saw, or thought he saw, at a great entertainment
given by the Viceroy of Khansa:--

A juggler, he says, one of the Kaan’s slaves, made his appearance, and at
the Amir’s bidding, began to display his surprising accomplishments.
Taking a wooden ball, with several holes in it, through which long thongs
were passed, he laid hold of one of these, and slung the ball into the
air. It went so high, that the spectators wholly lost sight of it.
Observe, that the scene was the palace-court, _sub Jove_. There remained
only a little of the end of the thong in the juggler’s hand, and of this
he desired a juvenile assistant to lay hold, and mount. He did so,
climbing by the thong, and was speedily lost to sight also. The conjuror
called him thrice, but receiving no answer, snatched up a knife, as if in
a great rage, laid hold of the thong, and in _his_ turn disappeared.
By-and-by he threw down one of the boy’s hands, then a foot, then the
other hand, the other foot, the trunk, and lastly, the head! Finally, he
himself came down, all puffing and panting, and with blood-besmeared
clothes kissed the ground before the Amir, addressing him in Chinese. The
Amir made some reply; and straightway the juggler took the boy’s _disjecta
membra_, laid them in their places, gave a kick, and lo and behold, the
boy arose and stood erect, “clothed and in his right mind.” “All this,”
says Ibn Batuta, “astonished me beyond measure,”--and no wonder!--“and I
had an attack of palpitation like that which overcame me once before in
the presence of the Sultan of India, when he showed me something of the
same kind. They gave me a cordial, however, which cured the attack. The
Kazi Afkharuddin was next to me, and quoth he, ‘Wallah! ’tis my opinion
there has been neither going up nor coming down, neither maiming nor
mending; ’tis all hocus pocus!’”

Impartial scientific observers have passed a similar verdict on the
proceedings of the “mediums,” who, however, have never achieved anything
so surprising as the feat here recorded. Before we incredulously reject
the Arab traveller’s narrative, let us compare it with an account
furnished by Edward Melton, an Anglo-Dutch traveller, of the performances
of some Chinese conjurors, which he saw at Batavia. Passing over the
basket-murder trick, which Houdin and others have made familiar to the
English public, we come to “a thing which surpasses all belief;” which,
indeed, Mr. Melton would scarcely have ventured to relate had not
thousands witnessed it at the same time as himself.

One of the gang took a ball of cord, and grasping one end in his hand
hurled the other up into the air with such force that it was entirely lost
to sight. He then climbed up the cord as rapidly as a sailor up his ship’s
rigging, and to such a height that he became invisible. Melton stood full
of astonishment, and at a loss to know what next would happen; when,
behold, a leg tumbled out of the air! A conjuror who was on the watch for
it immediately snatched it up, and threw it into a basket. Down came a
hand, and then another leg, and, in short, all the members of the body
successively fell from the air, to find shelter in the basket. The last of
the ghastly shower was the head; and no sooner had it touched the ground
than the man who had gathered the limbs and stowed them in the basket,
turned them all out again topsy-turvy. Straightway they began to creep
together, until they composed a whole man, who stood up and walked about
just as before, having sustained apparently no damage! “Never in my life,”
says Melton, “was I so astonished as when I beheld this wonderful
performance, and I doubted now no longer that those misguided men did it
by the help of the Devil. For it seems to me totally impossible that such
things should be accomplished by natural means.”[38]

The Emperor Jahángir in his “Memoirs” (cited by Yule) describes the
exploits of some Bengali jugglers, who exhibited before him. Two of them
bear a close resemblance to the foregoing. Thus: they produced a man whom
they divided limb from limb, actually severing his head from the body.
These mutilated members they scattered along the ground, where they
remained for some time. A sheet or curtain was extended over the spot, and
one of the men placing himself under it, in a few minutes reappeared, in
company with the individual supposed to have been so roughly dissected, in
such perfect health and condition, that one might have safely sworn he had
never received the slightest wound or injury.

Again: they produced a chain, fifty cubits long, and one end of it threw
towards the sky, when it remained as if fastened to something in the air.
A dog was then brought forward, and being placed at the lower end of the
chain, ran up it to the other end, and immediately vanished. In the same
manner a boy, a panther, a lion, and a tiger were successively sent up the
chain to disappear, in their turn, at the other end of it. And, lastly,
the chain was taken down and put away in a bag, without any of the
spectators discovering in what manner the different animals had been
spirited into space!

The surprising dexterity of these jugglers is emulated by their
descendants, and many of the Indian conjurors produce illusions scarcely
less wonderful than any we have described.

Take the pretty mango-trick. The juggler who exhibits has no other drapery
than half a yard of cotton, and no other apparatus than a handful of
common toys. He has none of those elaborate mechanical contrivances, on
which the European professors of legerdemain mostly rely for their
effects.

He takes a mango-stone, buries it in a little mud, and covers it with a
jar.

A few minutes later, the jar is lifted up; and lo, a tender green
seed-leaf has delicately sprouted. Another peep into the magic hotbed, and
we see that the tiny leaf has withered, and that a flourishing young tree
has sprung into sudden existence.

Or we have the egg-trick, which an eye-witness thus describes:--[39]

“One of the party, a very handsome woman, fixed on her head a fillet of
strong texture, to which were fastened, at equal distances, twenty pieces
of string of equal length, with a common noose at the end of each. Under
her arm she carried a basket, in which were carefully deposited twenty
eggs. Her basket, the fillet, and the nooses were carefully examined by
us. There was evidently no deception.

“The woman advanced alone, and stood before us. She then began to move
rapidly round on one spot, whence she never for one instant moved,
spinning round and round like a top.

“When her pace was at its height, she drew down one of the strings, which
now flew horizontally round her head, and, securing an egg in the noose,
she jerked it back to its original position, still twirling round with
undiminished velocity, and repeating the process until she had secured the
whole twenty eggs in the nooses previously prepared for them. She
projected them rapidly from her hand the moment she had secured them,
until at length the whole twenty were flying round her in an unbroken
circle. Thus she continued spinning at undiminished speed for fully five
minutes; after which, taking the eggs one by one from their nooses, she
replaced them in her basket; and then in one instant stopped, without the
movement of a limb, or even the vibration of a muscle, as if she had been
suddenly transformed into marble. The countenance was perfectly calm, nor
did she exhibit the slightest distress from her extraordinary exertions.”

The basket-murder trick, to which we have already referred, is as
follows:--

The juggler stepping forward, invites your examination of a light wicker
basket, and when you profess yourself satisfied, he places it over a
child, about eight years old, who is perfectly naked. He then asks the
child some indifferent question, and you hear her reply to it from the
basket. Question and answer are repeated frequently, each time in a louder
and more impassioned manner, until the juggler, in a seeming fit of rage,
threatens to kill the girl, who vainly supplicates for mercy.

The dramatic character of the scene is as perfect in its realism as it is
horrible. The man plants his foot furiously on the frail basket, and
plunges his sword into it again and again, while the ears of the
spectators are rent and their hearts touched by the child’s cries of
agony. For a moment it is impossible to believe that you are witnessing a
deception, as you listen to the passionate shrieks and watch the man’s
furious face. Blood flows in a stream from the basket, and by degrees the
groans of the victim grow fainter and fainter, until all is hushed in a
silence so intense that you hear your heart beat. You are about to rush on
the murderer, and inflict summary punishment, when he mutters a few
cabalistic words, takes up the basket, and shows you--only a little
blood-stained earth; while the child, you know not how or whence, has come
to mingle with the crowd, and ask for baksheesh.

Two simpler exploits may be recorded:--

Taking a large, wide-mouthed, earthen vessel, filled with water, the
conjuror turns it upside down, and, of course, the contents run out.

He then reverses the jar, which to your amazement is seen to be perfectly
full, while all the earth round about is--dry! The jar is again emptied,
and submitted to the inspection of the spectators. He asks you to fill it
to the brim; after which he reverses it: not a drop of water flows, and
yet when you look into it, it is perfectly empty. At last the conjuror
breaks the jar by way of a practical demonstration of the fact that it is
made of common earthenware.

A large basket is produced: the conjuror raises it, and a Pariah dog
appears crouching on the ground. The basket-cover is replaced; and a
second examination shows you a bitch with a litter of seven puppies. A
goat, a pig, and various other animals, come forth in due time from this
inexhaustible cornucopia.

All these exploits are performed by a single exhibitor, who stands quite
alone, and at a distance of several feet from the crowd, so that collusion
with confederates would seem to be impossible.




CHAPTER IX.

_SOME AFRICAN SUPERSTITIONS._


Africa is the land of superstition,--dark, cruel, ghastly superstition. It
accompanies its victim from the cradle to the grave; throws its fell
shadow over every scene and incident of life. We cannot attempt, nor do we
desire, to paint it in all its horrors. For our purpose it will be
sufficient to glance at some of the ceremonies, hideous or grotesque,
which are practised by the Equatorial Savage.

In his childhood he has to be initiated into certain mysteries. What those
are Mr. Winwood Reade learned from a negro steward, who informed him that
he was taken into a fetich, or idol house, severely flogged, and plastered
with goat-dung: this ceremony, like the rites of masonry, being conducted
to the sound of music. Afterwards from behind a kind of screen or shrine
issued uncouth and terrible sounds such as he had never before heard.
These, he was told, emanated from the spirit called Ukuk. He afterwards
brought to Mr. Winwood Reade the instrument with which the fetich-man
produces the noise. It may be described as a whistle made of hollowed
mangrove wood, about two inches long, and covered at one end with a scrap
of bat’s wing. For a period of five days after initiation the novice wears
an apron of dry palm leaves.

He is next instructed in the science of fetich; and afterwards he learns
what kinds of food are forbidden to his tribe, for one tribe may not eat
crocodile, another hippopotamus, nor a third buffalo. He learns to
reverence and dread the spirit _Ukuk_, which dwells, it is said, in the
bowels of the earth, and visits the upper world only when he has some
business to perform. On the occasion of his visits, he abides in the
fetich-house, which is built in a peculiar form, roofed with dry plantain
leaves, and always kept in darkness. Thence strange dread sounds, like the
growling of a tiger, are heard to proceed, so that the women and children
shudder as they listen. When the mangrove-tube is thus at work, the
initiated hasten to the house, and a “lodge” or “council” is held.

“The natives of Equatorial Africa worship also the spirits of their
ancestors; a worship for which their minds are prepared by the veneration
which they pay to old age. Young men never enter the presence of an aged
person without curtseying (a genuine curtsey like that of a charity-school
girl), and passing in a stooping attitude, as if they were going under a
low door. When seated in his presence, it is always at a humble distance.
If they hand him a lighted pipe, or a mug of water, they fall on one knee.
If an old man, they address him as _rora_--father; if an old woman as
_ngwe_--mother. It is customary for only the old people to communicate bad
news to one another; and it is not to be wondered at that we find the
negroes such perfect courtiers, since it is the etiquette of the country
that the aged should only be addressed in terms of flattery and adulation.

“When they die their relics are honoured. In the Congo country their
bodies are dried into mummies. Here, their bones are sometimes stored up
and visited at set periods. Or, when a person noted for his wisdom has
died, his head, when partially decomposed, is often cut off and suspended,
so as to drip upon a mass of chalk placed underneath. This matter is
supposed to be the wisdom which formerly animated the brain, and which,
rubbed upon the foreheads of others, will communicate its virtue.”

It can easily be understood how this reverence paid to the relics of one’s
ancestors would develope into the worship of their spirits. The Equatorial
Savage believes that the manes of his forefathers influence his life and
fortunes entirely to his advantage, and by a dying friend or relative will
often send messages to them. Mr. Reade adds that a son has been known to
kill his aged mother from a conviction that her spirit would be of more
service to him than her substance; a reason for matricide which would
hardly be accepted as conclusive in civilised countries! The savage lives,
however, in constant communion and sympathy with the spirit-world. The
visions which come to him in his dreams, and the sounds which he fancies
himself to hear, are those of the Unseen. And as he is always brooding
upon his dreams and relating them to his friends, he necessarily dreams
the more, until it becomes difficult for him to draw a line between the
dream and the reality.

When any calamity befalls the tribe, or at the approach of any imminent
danger, they gather together on the brink of some lofty bluff, or on the
forest’s haunted threshold, and stretching their arms towards the sky,
while the women wail and the children weep, they call upon the spirits of
the departed to come and help them.

They have a remarkable ceremony which illustrates the force and vividness
of their belief in spirits:

When the dead are weary of staying in the bush, they come for one of their
people whom they most affect. And the spirit will say to the man: “I am
tired of dwelling in the bush; please to build for me in the town a little
house as close as possible to your own.” And he tells him to dance and
sing too; and accordingly the man assembles the women at night to join in
dance and song.

Then, next day, the people repair to the grave of the _Obambo_, or ghost,
and make a rude idol; after which the bamboo bier on which the body is
conveyed to the grave, and some of the dust of the ground, are carried
into a little hut erected near the house of the visited, and a white cloth
is draped over the door.

It is a curious fact, which seems to show that they have a legend
something like the old Greek myth of Charon and the Styx, that in one of
the songs chanted during this ceremony occurs the following line: “You are
well dressed, but you have no canoe to carry you across to the other
side.”

According to Mr. Reade, these savages have their Naiads and Dryads; their
spirits of the mountains and the forests, the lakes and the streams, and
the high places. They have also their Typhon and their Osiris, their Good
and Evil Genius; thus recognising, in common with almost every other
race, the enduring antagonism between the Principles and Powers of Good
and Evil. The Evil Spirit, _Mbwiri_, they worship with a special homage;
his might is to be dreaded, and his anger, if possible, averted. He is the
lord of earth; and before him, as before a tyrant whose hand can grasp
their lives and fortunes, they bend in humble adoration. But as the Good
Spirit will do them no injury, they conceive it unnecessary to address to
it any regular or formal prayer. “The word by which they express this
Supreme Being answers exactly to our word of God. Like the Jehovah of the
Hebrews, like that word in masonry which is only known to masters, and
never pronounced but in a whisper and in full lodge, this word they seldom
dare to speak; and they display uneasiness if it is uttered before them.
Twice only,” says Mr. Reade, “I remember having heard it. Once when we
were in a dangerous storm, the men threw their clenched hands upwards and
cried it twice. And again, when I was at Ngambi, taking down words from an
Ashira slave, I asked him what was the word for God in the language of his
country. He raised his eyes, and pointing to heaven, said in a soft voice,
_Njambi_.”

Epileptic diseases, in almost all uncivilised countries, are assumed to be
the result of demoniac possession. In Africa the sufferer is supposed to
be possessed by Mbwiri, and he can be relieved only by the intervention of
the medicine-man or fetich. In the middle of the street a hut is built for
his accommodation, and there he resides until cured, or maddened, along
with the priest and his disciples. There for ten days or a fortnight a
continuous revel is held; much eating and drinking at the expense of the
patient’s relatives, and unending dances to the sound of flute and drum.
For obvious reasons the fetich gives out that Mbwiri regards good living
with aversion. The patient dances, usually shamming madness, until the
epileptic attack comes on, with all its dreadful concomitants--the
frenzied stare, the convulsed limbs, the gnashing teeth, and the
foam-flecked lips. The man’s actions at this period are not ascribed to
himself, but to the demon which has control of him. When a cure has been
effected, real or pretended, the patient builds a little fetich-house,
avoids certain kinds of food, and performs certain duties. Sometimes the
process terminates in the patient’s insanity; he has been known to run
away to the bush, hide from all human beings, and live on the roots and
berries of the forest.

“These fetich-men are priest doctors, like those of the ancient Germans.
They have a profound knowledge of herbs, and also of human nature, for
they always monopolize the real power in the state. But it is very
doubtful whether they possess any secrets save that of extracting virtue
and poison from plants. During the first trip which I made into the bush I
sent for one of these doctors. At that time I was staying among the
Shekani, who are celebrated for their fetich. He came attended by
half-a-dozen disciples. He was a tall man, dressed in white, with a girdle
of leopard’s skin, from which hung an iron bell, of the same shape as our
sheep bells. He had two chalk marks over his eyes. I took some of my own
hair, frizzled it with a burning glass, and gave it to him. He popped it
with alacrity into his little grass bag; for white man’s hair is fetich of
the first order. Then I poured out some raspberry vinegar into a glass,
drank a little of it first, country fashion, and offered it to him,
telling him that it was blood from the brains of great doctors. Upon this
he received it with great reverence, and dipping his fingers into it as if
it was snap-dragon, sprinkled with it his forehead, both feet between the
two first toes, and the ground behind his back. He then handed his glass
to a disciple, who emptied it, and smacked his lips afterwards in a very
secular manner. I then desired to see a little of his fetich. He drew on
the ground with red chalk some hieroglyphics, among which I distinguished
the circle, the cross, and the crescent. He said that if I would give him
a fine ‘dush,’ he would tell me all about it. But as he would not take
anything in reason, and as I knew that he would tell me nothing of very
great importance in public, negotiations were suspended.”

The fetich-man seldom finds a native disposed to question his claim to
supernatural powers. He is not only a doctor and a priest,--two capacities
in which his influence is necessarily very powerful; he is also a
witch-finder, and this is an office which invests him with a truly
formidable authority. When a man of worth dies, his death is invariably
ascribed to witchcraft, and the aid of the fetich-man is invoked to
discover the witch.

“When a man is sick a long time,” said Mongilombas, “they call _Ngembi_,
and if she cannot make him well, the fetich-man. He comes at night, in a
white dress, with cock’s feathers on his head, and having his bell and
little glass. He calls two or three relations together into a room. He
does not speak, but always looks in his glass. Then he tells them that the
sickness is not of Mbwiri, nor of Obambo, nor of God, but that it comes
from a witch. They say to him, ‘What shall we do?’ He goes out and says,
‘I have told you: I have no more to say.’ They give him a dollar’s worth
of cloth; and every night they gather together in the street, and they
cry, ‘I know that man who witch my brother. It is good for you to make him
well.’ Then the witch makes him well. But if the man do _not_ recover,
they call the bush doctor from the Shekani country. He sings in the
language of the bush. At night he goes into the street; all the people
flock about him. With a tiger-cat skin in his hand, he walks to and fro,
until, singing all the while, he lays the tiger skin at the feet of the
witch. At the conclusion of his song the people seize the witch, and put
him, or her, in chains, saying, ‘If you don’t restore our brother to
health, we will kill you.’”

One evening, as Mr. Reade was sitting in a mission house at Corisco, with
the windows open, he heard a wild and piteous cry rising from a village at
a short distance. A sudden silence fell upon his friends. The school was
in the next room, and two girls who belonged to that village lifted up
their voices and wept. It was the death-knell, and the knell of more lives
than one. A chieftain for some time had been lying in a hopeless
condition, and a woman had been denounced for having bewitched him. She
had a son of about seven years of age, and fearing lest when he reached
manhood, he should become her avenger, the accusers included him also in
their denunciation. Both had been made prisoners, and on the death of the
chief would be killed.

The following day was Sunday, and Mr. Reade accompanied Mr. Mackay, the
missionary, to the village. The man was not dead; but he had suddenly
become speechless, and his attendants had concluded that the spirit had
departed. Entering the house, Mr. Reade found him lying on the bamboo
bedstead in a state of stupor. The house was thronged with women, who had
stripped off their garments and shaved the heads in token of mourning, and
were “raining tears” in their purchased and admirably acted grief.
Sometimes one of them would sit by his side, and flinging her arms around
him, would shriek--almost in the very words of the Irish death-wail,--“Why
did ye die, darling? why did ye die?” For they regarded him as really
dead, when he could neither look at them nor speak to them.

In contrast to their loud sorrow was the silent mourning of the men who,
hushed and fasting, sat in the chief house of the town. In their midst
crouched the seven years old boy, the marks of a severe wound visible on
his arm, and his wrists securely bound together. The dogged expression of
the child’s face was something wonderful. It wore that look of stolid
endurance which seems natural to the negro. One of the men with horrible
pleasantry held an axe below his eyes; but the boy contemplated it without
emotion--he displayed all the cold indifference of the ancient Stoicism.
When his name was first mentioned, his eyes flashed; but this indication
of passion was only momentary. He showed the same indifference when a plea
was put in for his life, as when, just before, he had been threatened and
taunted with death.

Mr. Reade did not see the unfortunate mother, but was afterwards told that
she had been flogged into confessing that she and she only had bewitched
the man. Her son had acknowledged the crime as soon as he was charged with
it. It is well known that such confessions amount to nothing. During the
witch epidemic in Mediæval Europe, scores of unhappy creatures confessed
to the practice of witchcraft, though by so doing they doomed themselves
to death. The imagination in some way or other is powerfully excited, and
completely overcomes the judgment; or it may be from a fear of torture or
a thirst for notoriety that such confessions are made.

Mr. Mackey, the missionary, said that he had come to speak to Okota, the
nearest kinsman of the dying chief, upon whom, in all such cases, the
responsibility rests. Okota came out from the throng, placed his stool
near the feet of the missionary, and listened to him attentively.

“Death,” said the missionary, “must come to all. It is foolish to think
that because a man dies he has been bewitched.”

“Yes,” replied Okota, “death must come to all, but not always from GOD.
Sometimes it comes from the hand of man.”

“But how do you know that in this instance it comes from the hand of man?”

“The woman has been given _quai_ (the drink of ordeal) to drink, and the
_quai_ says that she bewitched him.”

“But the _quai_ is not always right. When Cabinda went to the Muni, he was
a long time lost. All people said that he was dead. A man you declared was
the witch, you gave him _quai_; _quai_ said that the man had killed
Cabinda, but Cabinda came back alive, and _quai_ was wrong.”

A roar of laughter acknowledged the force of this pertinent reply.

“It is not only _quai_,” said Okota, “the woman confesses that she has
used the arts of witchcraft. Will any man come to you and say, ‘I have
stolen your fowl,’ if he has not stolen it? This woman is killing my
brother, when my brother is dead I will kill her.”

After so decisive a declaration, further argument was useless, and Mr.
Mackey was compelled to retire, unsuccessful.

The ordeal drink of Equatorial Africa is not identical with the
“red-water” of Northern Guinea. It is prepared from the root of a small
shrub called _Nkazya_, or _Quai_. Half a pint of the decoction is given to
the accused, and small sticks being laid down on the ground at a distance
of two feet apart, he is compelled to step over them five times. If the
potion act upon him as a diuretic, he is pronounced innocent; but in some
persons it produces vertigo. The sticks before his dizzy eyes rise like
great logs, and in his awkward efforts to stride across them, he reels,
falls to the ground, and is immediately assumed to be guilty.

Ultimately the chief died, and the woman and boy both suffered death. The
woman was taken out to sea in a boat, killed with an axe, and thrown
overboard. The boy was burnt alive, bags of gunpowder being tied to his
legs to shorten his sufferings.

Apart from these superstitions, Mr. Reade asserts that the negroes possess
the remnants of a noble and sublime religion, though they have forgotten
its precepts, and debased its ceremonies. They still retain their belief
in GOD, the One, the Supreme, the Creator. He has made mankind and the
world; He thunders in the air, He destroys the wicked with His bolts. He
rewards the good with long life; He gives them the rain, the fruits of the
earth, and all things that are good. He is far above all the other gods.

In some parts of Guinea the daily prayer is, “O GOD, I know Thee not, but
Thou knowest me, Thy aid is necessary to me.” At meals they say, “O GOD,
Thou hast given me this, Thou hast made it grow.” And when they work, “O
GOD, Thou hast caused that I should have strength to do this.” And another
of their prayers runs, “O GOD, help us, we do not know whether we shall
live to-morrow; we are in Thy hand.”[40]




CHAPTER X.

_THE ZULU WITCH-FINDERS._


English Law now reigns in Zululand, and the occupation of the
Witch-finders is almost gone; but in times past they were potent
personages, whom an enslaving superstition had armed with despotic
influence. The Zulu witch-finders are regular Amazons--perfectly fearless,
with a martial gait, and grave composure of mien. It is their pride,
according to Lady Barker, to be looked upon as men when once they embrace
their dread profession, which the men sometimes share with them. They are
permitted to bear shield and spear as warriors, and they hunt and kill
with their own hands the wild beasts and reptiles whose skins they wear.
“It is not difficult to understand,” says Lady Barker,[41] “bearing in
mind the superstition and cruelty which existed in remote parts of England
not so very long ago--how powerful such women become among a savage
people, or how tempting an opportunity they could furnish of getting rid
of an enemy. Of course they are exceptional individuals; more observant,
more shrewd, and more dauntless, than the average fat, hard-working Kafir
women; besides possessing the contradictory mixture of great physical
powers and strong hysterical tendencies. They work themselves up to a
pitch of frenzy, and get to believe as firmly in their own supernatural
discernment as any individual among the trembling circle of Zulus to whom
a touch from the whisk they carry is a sentence of instant death.”

The magician, like the melodramatist, must have his accompaniment of
music, and the Zulu witch-finders are attended by a circle of black girls
and women, who, like a Greek chorus, clap their hands together, and drone
through a low monotonous chant, the measure and rhythm of which change at
times with a stamp and a swing. Not less necessary is a ceremonial dress;
for such things appeal directly to the imagination of the crowd, and
prepare them to be readily influenced by the necromancer’s devices. The
“Isinyanga,” “Abangoma,” or “witch-finders,” whom Lady Barker describes
for us, were attired with an eye for effect which would have done credit
to a London theatre. It will suffice to depict one of them, by name
Nozinyanga. Her fierce face, spotted with gouts of red paint on cheek and
brow, was partly overshadowed by a helmet-like plume of the tall feathers
of the sakabula bird. In her right hand she carried a light sheaf of
assegais or lances, and on her left arm was slung a small and pretty
shield of dappled ox-hide. Her petticoat, made of a couple of large gay
handkerchiefs, was worn kilt-wise. But if there were little decoration in
her skirts, the deficiency was more than compensated by the bravery of the
bead-necklaces, the goat’s-hair fringes, and the scarlet tassels which
covered her from throat to waist. Her ample chest rose and fell beneath a
baldric of leopard skin, fastened across it with huge brazen knobs; while
down her back hung a beautifully dried and flattened skin of an enormous
boa-constrictor.

The interest attaching to these women is derived from the fact that it was
of old the custom, among the Zulu and other South African tribes, to
attribute all mishaps or catastrophes, political or social, to the agency
of witches. It is not for Englishmen to look down with contempt upon this
manifestation of barbarism and ignorance, considering that a similar
belief prevailed very generally among us up to the reign of Charles I.,
and, in truth, is not wholly extinct even now: while the extent to which
the science of witch-finding was developed in New England will be known to
every reader of Cotton Mather.

When the community had resolved that a certain misfortune was due to the
witches, the next step obviously would be to detect and punish them. For
this purpose the king would summon a great meeting, and cause his subjects
to sit on the ground in a ring or circle, for four or five days. The
witch-finders took their places in the centre, and as they gradually
worked themselves up to a frantic state of frenzy, resembling demoniacal
possession, they lightly switched with their quagga-tail one or other of
the trembling spectators, who was immediately dragged away and butchered
on the spot. And not only he, but all the living things in his hut--wives
and children, dogs and cats--not one was left alive, nor was a stick left
standing. Sometimes a whole kraal would be exterminated in this way; and
the reader will perceive how terribly the cruel custom could be made to
gratify private revenge or to work out the king’s tyrannical inclinations.

A terrible little sorceress is described under the name of Nozilwane,[42]
whose weird wistful glance had in it something uncanny and uncomfortable.
She was really dressed beautifully for her part, in lynx skins folded over
and over from waist to knee, the upper part of her body being covered by
strings of wild beasts’ teeth and fangs, beads, skeins of gaily-coloured
yarn, strips of snake’s skin, and fringes of Angora-goat fleece. This, as
a decoration, was both graceful and effective; it was worn round the body
and above each elbow, and fell in soft white flakes among the brilliant
colouring and against the dusky skin. Lynx-tails depended like lappets on
each side of her face, which was overshadowed and almost hidden by a
profusion of sakabula feathers. “This bird,” says Lady Barker, “has a very
beautiful plumage, and is sufficiently rare for the natives to attach a
peculiar value and charm to the tail-feathers; they are like those of a
young cock, curved and slender, and of a dark chestnut colour, with a
white eye at the extreme tip of each feather.” Among all this thick,
floating plumage were interspersed small bladders, and skewers or pins
wrought out of tusks. Each witch-finder wore her own hair, or rather wool;
highly greased, and twisted up with twine until it ceases to wear the
appearance of hair, and hangs around the face like a thick fringe, dyed
deep red.

Bent double, and with a creeping, cat-like gait, as if seeking a trail,
out stepped Nozilwane. Every movement of her undulating body kept time to
the beat of the girls’ hands and their low crooning chant. Presently she
pretended to find the thing she sought, and with a series of wild
pirouettes leaped into the air, shaking her spears and brandishing her
little shield like a Bacchante. Nowamso, another of the party, was
determined that her companion should not carry off all the applause, and
she too, with a yell and a leap, sprang into the dance to the sound of
louder grunts and harder hand-claps. Nowamso showed much anxiety to
display her back, where a magnificent snake skin, studded in a regular
pattern with brass-headed nails, floated like a stream. She was attired
also in a splendid kilt of leopard skins, decorated with red rosettes, and
her toilette was considered more careful and artistic than any of the
others. Brighter her bangles, whiter her goat-fringes, and more
elaborately painted her face. Nozilwane, however, had youth and a
wonderful self-reliance on her side. The others, though they all joined in
and hunted out an imaginary enemy, and in turn exulted over his discovery,
soon became breathless and spent, and were glad when their attendants led
them away to be anointed and to drink water.

“As for another of the ‘witch-finders,’ the great, big Nozinyanga, she
danced like Queen Elizabeth, ‘high and disposedly,’ and no wonder, for I
should think she weighed at least fifteen stone. Ungiteni, in a petticoat
of white Angora-goat skin, and a corsage of bladders and teeth, beads and
viper skins, was nothing remarkable; neither was Um-à-noujozzla, a
melancholy-looking personage, with an enormous wig-like coiffure of red
woollen ringlets and white skewers. The physiognomy, too, was a trifle
more stolid and commonplace than that of her comrades, and altogether she
gave me the impression of being a sensible, respectable woman, who was
very much ashamed of herself for playing such antics. However, she
brandished her divining brush with the rest, and cut in now and then to
‘keep the fleer’ with the untiring Nozilwane.”

Lady Barker and her friends grew tired of this imaginary “witch-finding,”
and to end the affair it was proposed to test the professed power of the
“weird women” to discover lost property. A silver pipe stem had recently
“gone a-missing,” and they were requested to find what had been lost, and
where. They set to work in a curious and interesting way. In front,
squatted on heels and haunches, a semicircle of about a dozen men, who
were supposed to have invited the assistance of the sisterhood. They had
no idea of what was asked for, and were told to go on with their part
until a signal was given that the article had been named.

“What is it the Inkos has lost?” they cried; “discover, reveal, make plain
to us.”

The witch-finders, by their singing and dancing, had wrought themselves up
to a highly-excited and enthusiastic condition, so that they
unhesitatingly accepted the challenge, Nowamso crying, “Sing for me: make
a cadence for me.” Then, after a moment’s pause, she went on rapidly, in
her own language.

“Is this real? is it a test? is it but a show? Do the white chiefs want to
laugh at our pretensions? Has the white lady called us only to show other
white people that we can do nothing? Is anything really lost? is it not
hidden? No, it _is_ lost. Is it lost by a black person? No, a white person
has lost it. Is it lost by the great white chief? No, it is lost by an
ordinary white man. Let me see what it is that is lost. Is it money? No.
Is it a weighty thing? No, it can be always carried about--it is not
heavy. All people like to carry it, especially the white Inkosi: it is
made of the same metal as money. I could tell you more, but there is no
earnestness in all this,--it is only a spectacle.”

Between each of these ejaculations she made a pause, looking eagerly into
the faces of the men before her, who, for sole answer, gave a loud,
simultaneous snap of finger and thumb, pointing towards the ground as they
did so, and shouting the one word, “Yiz-ora,” (the first syllable strongly
accented and much prolonged;) “discover, reveal!” They can say nothing
more to urge her on, because they themselves are ignorant: but the weird
women watch their countenances eagerly, to detect, if they can, some
unconscious sign or token that their guesses are near the truth.
Suspecting a trick, Nowamso lapses into silence; but Nozilwane rushes
about like one possessed, sobbing and quivering with excitement, “It is
this--it is that!” The tall Nozinyanga strikes her lance firmly into the
ground, and cries haughtily, in her own tongue, “It is his watch!”
throwing around a haughty glance, as if daring any one to contradict her.
The others then join hands, and gallop round and round, making a
suggestion here and a suggestion there, all alike improbable; the
“inquirers,” as the kneeling men are called, affording them no assistance.
At last Nozilwane strikes home: “His pipe!” she exclaims; “Yoziva, yoziva,
a thing which has come off his pipe.”

And so it is. Nozilwane’s pluck, and perseverance, and cunning scrutiny of
our faces at each hit she made, have brought her off victoriously.

A murmur, or rather grunt, of admiration goes around. The “inquirers” jump
up, and “subside into ebony images of impassive respectability.” The weary
chorus disperses in small groups, and the exhausted sisterhood drop, as if
by one consent, on their knees, sitting back on their heels, and raise
their right hands in salutation.[43]




CHAPTER XI.

_ZABIANISM AND SERPENT-WORSHIP._


There can be no question as to the antiquity or universality of
Serpent-Worship, whatever may be the difference of opinion as to its
origin. According to Bryant it began in Chaldea, and was “the first
variation from the purer Zabaism.” But this statement requires from us a
brief preliminary explanation of that ancient form of worship.

Zabaism, or Zabism, has had its two sects,--first the Chaldean Zabians of
the Kuran,--the “Parsified” Chaldee heathen, or non-Christian
Gnostics,--the ancestors of the present Mendaites, or so-called Joannes
Christians, who reside in the neighbourhood of the Persian Gulf, and speak
a corrupt form of Chaldee-Aramaic. And second, the Pseudo-Zabians, or
Syrian Zabians, in Harran, Edessa, Rakkah, and Bagdad. It is the latter
who now chiefly represent Zabism.

The first named, or Chaldean Zabians, who transferred the name to the
Harranic, and greatly influenced the development of the peculiar system of
the latter, are the people so designated in the Kuran, and by the
Mohammedans of to-day. The Harranians, who rose about A.D. 830, profess to
derive their denomination from one Zâbi, who is variously called a son of
Seth, son of Adam, or a son of Enoch or Idris, or a son of Methuselah, or
of some fictitious Badi or Mari, a supposed companion of Abraham; while
Mohammedan writers trace it to the word _ssaba_, “to turn, to move,”
because its professors turned from the path of true religion, that is,
Islam, or, as the Zabians say, because they have turned _to_ the proper
faith.

The Zabian creed, as professed by the Harranic Zabians, would appear to
resolve itself into the following elements:--

It teaches that the Creator is, in His essence, primitivity, originality,
and eternity, One; but in His numerous manifestations in bodily figures,
manifold. Chiefly He is personified by the seven principal planets, and by
the good, knowing, excellent earthly bodies. This, however, is without any
disturbance of His unity. It is, say the Zabians, as if the seven planets
were His seven limbs, and as if our seven limbs were His seven spheres in
which He manifests Himself,--so that He speaks with our tongues, sees with
our eyes, hears with our ears, touches with our hands, comes and goes with
our feet, and acts through our members.

It teaches further, that GOD is too great and too sublime to occupy
Himself directly with the affairs of this world; that its government He
has therefore entrusted to other gods, and that it is only to the highest
things of destiny He Himself devotes His attention,--an attribution of
cold superiority and intellectual indifference in striking contrast to the
idea of GOD _the Father_ developed by Christianity, that all-loving, as
well as all-powerful GOD, Who watches over the fall of a sparrow, and
listens with tender ear to the prayer of even the meanest of His
creatures. Moreover, Zabism inculcates the chilling doctrine that man is
too feeble to offer his homage directly to the Supreme, and must therefore
address the inferior deities to whom the regimen of the world has been
handed. In this way we see that the veneration shown to the planets and
the worship of idols are only a symbolism resulting from the humiliating
doctrines just defined.

Zabism is a polytheistic system,--it absolutely revels in gods and
goddesses. There are the spirits that direct and guide the planets, the
spirits that originate or represent every action in this world,--not a
natural effect, great or little, which does not emanate from a deity.
Whatever appears in the air, whatever is formed near the sky or springs
from the earth, must be traced to certain gods that govern these
manifestations, so that every flake of snow, every drop of rain has its
presiding spirit.

These spirits also “mould and shape everything bodily from one form into
the other, and gradually bring all created things to the state of their
highest possible perfection, and communicate their powers to all
substances, beings, and things. By the movement and guidance of these
spiritual beings, the different elements and natural compositions are
influenced in such a way that the tenderest plant may pierce the hardest
cliff. He who guides this world is called the first spirit. These gods
know our most secret thoughts, and all our future is open to them. The
female deities seem to have been conceived as the feeling or passive
principle. These gods or intelligences emanate directly from GOD without
His will, as rays do from the sun. They are, further, of abstract forms,
free of all matter, and neither made of any substance or material. They
consist chiefly of a light in which there is no darkness, which the senses
cannot conceive by reason of its immense clearness, which the
understanding cannot comprehend by reason of its extreme delicacy, and
which fancy and imagination cannot fathom.”

Free from all animal desires, these spirits are created wholly for love
and harmony, for friendship and unity. They are unaffected by local and
temporal changes, and control the planetary spheres, without finding the
motion of the heaviest too heavy, or of the lightest too light. Their
never-ending existence is a prolonged happiness, owing to their nearness
to the Supreme GOD; whom they praise day and night, like the Angels, with
no sense of fatigue or satiety, and whose will they ever obey with the
keenest joy. Free agents, they are never inclined towards the evil. They
turn towards the good as readily as the flower towards the light.

Passing on to the cosmogonical part of the Zabian system, we find that it
is based on the existence of five primæval principles,--the Creator,
Reason, the Soul, Space, and the Void. These are the constituents of all
creation. But apart from these, or comprehending these, the Zabians seem
to have regarded two principles, GOD and the Soul, as specially active and
ever-living. Some writers represent them as believing also in a passive
principle, Matter; and in two principles which are neither living nor
passive, Time and Space. They appear to have regarded Matter as primeval
and everlasting, and to have ascribed to it the origin and duration of
Evil. GOD Himself created only the spheres, and the heavenly bodies which
they contain. These spheres (fathers) convey the types or ideas to the
elementary substances (mothers), and out of the combination, conjunction,
and motion of these spheres and elements are produced the various earthly
things (children). According to the Zabians, the world is renewed with
every “world-year,” or cycle, that is once every 36,425 ordinary years.
And at the close of each cycle, the life, vegetable, animal, and human
that had flourished within it cease to multiply, and new forms or types
spring into existence.

The vacillating and contending nature of man is due to the contradictory
elements of which he is composed. The desires and passions which sway him
to and fro, depress him to the low standard of the brute creation, and his
fall would be complete but for such religious rites as purifications,
sacrifices, and other means of grace. Through these he is able again to
draw near to the great gods, and to attain a resemblance unto them. The
human soul is dual, that is, it consists partly of the nature of the
animal soul and partly of that of the angelic soul. It is immortal, and
subject to future recompense and punishment, but not for ever, nor in any
world but this, though at different epochs of existence. Hence, our
present happiness is a reward for the good deeds done by us in an earlier
stage of existence; and our present suffering the just chastisement for
evil actions committed in the past. In its nature they hold that the soul
is primitive, because otherwise it must be material, and a material soul
is an impossibility.

“The soul,” says Kathibi, one of the Zabian teachers, “is thus immaterial,
and exists from eternity; is the involuntary reason of the first types, as
GOD is the First Cause of the Intelligences. Once on a time the soul
beheld matter and loved it. Glowing with the desire of assuming a bodily
shape, it would not again separate itself from that matter of which the
world was created. Since that time, the soul forgot itself, its
everlasting existence, its original abode, and knew nothing more of what
it had formerly known. But GOD, who converts all things to the best,
united it to matter, which it loved, and out of this union the heavens,
the elements, and other composite things arose. In order that the soul
might not wholly perish within matter, He endowed it with intelligence,
whereby it conceived its high origin, the spiritual world, and itself. It
further conceived through it that it was but a stranger in this world, in
which it was subject to many sufferings, and that even the joys of this
world are but the sources of new sufferings. As soon as the soul had
perceived all this, it began to yearn again for its spiritual home, as a
man who is away from his birthplace pines for his homestead. It then also
learned, that, in order to return to its primitive state, it had to shake
off the fetters of sensuous desires, and liberate itself from all
materialistic tendencies. Far from them all, it would once more regain its
heavenly sphere, and enjoy the bliss of the spiritual world.”[44]

Such is an outline of the religious system which flourished from the
middle of the ninth to the middle of the eleventh century, under the name
of Zabism.

Evidently, out of _this_ Zabaism Serpent-worship could not spring, because
it is of much greater antiquity. What then is the Zabism to which Bryant
alludes? A purely imaginary creed, which the mediæval, Jewish, Arabic, and
Persian writers identified with star-worship. The Mohammedan and other
writers of the twelfth century bestowed the name of Zabians indifferently
upon the ancient Chaldeans, the Buddhists, even the ante-Zoroastrian
Persians; and Bryant has followed their mistaken example. As a matter of
fact, Serpent-worship is a relic of nature-worship,--more particularly of
the old solar worship,--and the Serpent at first was unquestionably an
emblem of the Sun.

In Babylon large serpents of silver supported the image of the goddess
Rhea, in the temple of Bel, or Belus; and the name Bel itself is thought
by some writers to be an abbreviation of Ob-el, “the Serpent-God.” In the
Apocryphal book of Bel and the Dragon, we read: “In that same place there
was a great Dragon, which they of Babylon worshipped. And the king said
unto Daniel: Wilt thou say that this is of brass? lo, he eateth and
drinketh: thou canst not say he is no living god: therefore worship him.”

Speaking of the earlier stage of the Persian religion, Eusebius remarks
that all the Persians worshipped the First Principles under the form of
Serpents, having dedicated to them temples in which they performed
sacrifices, and held festivals and orgies, esteeming them the greatest of
Gods, and governors of the Universe.

These first principles were the principles of Good and Evil, or Ormuzd and
Ahriman, whose terrible struggle for the supremacy of the universe was
symbolised in Persian mythology by two serpents contending for the mundane
egg. They are represented as standing upon their tails, and each of them
has fastened its teeth upon the disputed prize. But, more generally, the
Evil Principle alone was represented by the serpent, and a fable in the
Zendavesta recalls to our recollection the opening of the Book of Genesis;
for it says that Ahriman assumed a serpent’s form in order to destroy the
first of the human race, whom he accordingly poisoned.

In the Saddu, or Suddu, it is said: “When you kill serpents, you shall
repeat the Zendavesta, whereby you will obtain great merit; for it is the
same as if you had killed so many devils.”

Mithras, the Persian sun-god, was represented encircled by a serpent; and
in his rites a custom was observed similar to that practised in the
mysteries of Sebazius: a serpent was cast into the bosom of the neophyte,
and taken out at the lower part of his garments.[45]

The hierogram of the winged circle and serpent is a remarkable and
significant emblem of Ophiolatreia, and is found in almost every country
where Serpent-worship prevailed. It is to be traced in the Egyptian, the
Persian, and even the Aztec hieroglyphics; and on the monuments of China,
Greece, Italy, Asia Minor, and India. Enthusiasts allege that it has been
discovered in Britain. It seems to have been a general symbol of
_consecration_, and as such mention is made of it by the poet Persius:

  “Pinge duos angues; pueri sacer est locus.”
                                _Satir._ i. 113.

Reference is here made to _two_ snakes, which, as we have seen, is the
hierogram of the worshippers of the Two Principles, each being represented
by a serpent. Generally, however, it is one serpent only that issues from
the winged circle, and sometimes the circle is without wings. As a
consecrating symbol, the ophite hierogram was inscribed upon the massive
portals of the Egyptian temples. Mr. Deane contends that the Druids “with
the consistent magnificence which characterised their religion,”
transferred the symbol from the portal to the temple; and instead of
placing the circle and serpent over the entrance into their sanctuaries,
erected the whole building in the form of the ophite hierogram, as at
Abury in Wiltshire, and Stanton Drew in Somersetshire. The former
represents the ophite hierogram with one serpent, the latter is double; in
both cases the circle has no wings.

In Argyllshire, near Oban, exists a huge serpent-shaped mound, discovered
by Mr. Phené in 1871, which must be mentioned in this connection. Looking
down upon it from the high ground to the westward, you see it rising
conspicuously from the flat grassy plain, which extends for some distance
on either side, with scarcely an undulation, save two artificial circular
mounds, in one of which lie several large stones forming a cromlech. A
recent visitor writes:

“Finding ourselves in the very presence of the Great Dragon, we hastened
to improve our acquaintance, and in a couple of minutes had scrambled on
to the ridge which forms his backbone, and thence perceived that we were
standing on an artificial mound three hundred feet in length, forming a
double curve like a huge letter S, and wonderfully perfect in anatomical
outline. This we perceived the more perfectly on reaching the head, which
lies at the western end, whence diverge small ridges, which may have
represented the paws of the reptile. On the head rests a circle of stones,
supposed to be emblematic of the solar disc, and exactly corresponding
with the solar circle as represented on the head of the mystic serpents of
Egypt and Phœnicia, and in the great American Serpent Mound. At the time
of Mr. Phené’s first visit to this spot there still remained in the centre
of this circle some traces of an altar, which, thanks to the depredations
of cattle and herd-boys, have since wholly disappeared....

“The circle was excavated on the 12th of October, 1871, and within it were
found three large stones, forming a chamber, which contained burnt human
bones, charcoal, and charred hazel-nuts. Surely the spirits of our Pagan
ancestors must rejoice to see how faithfully we, their descendants,
continue to burn our hazel-nuts on Hallow-e’en, their old autumnal Fire
Festival, though our modern divination is practised only with reference to
such a trivial matter as the faith of sweethearts! A flint was also found,
beautifully and minutely serrated at the edge; nevertheless, it was at
once evident, on opening the cairn, that the place had already been
ransacked, probably in secret, by treasure-seekers, as there is no
tradition of any excavation for scientific purposes having ever been made
here.

“On the removal of the peat-moss and heather from the ridge of the
serpent’s back, it was found that the whole length of the spine was
carefully constructed with regularly and symmetrically placed stones, at
such an angle as to throw off rain; an adjustment to which we doubtless
owe the preservation, or at least the perfection, of this most remarkable
relic. To those who know how slow is the growth of peat-moss, even in damp
and undrained places, the depth to which it has here attained, though in a
dry and thoroughly exposed situation and raised from seventeen to twenty
feet above the level of the surrounding moss, tells of many a long century
of silent undisturbed growth, since the days when the serpent’s spine was
the well-worn path daily trodden by reverent feet. The spine is, in fact,
a long narrow causeway, made of large stones, set like the vertebræ of
some huge animal. They form a ridge sloping off in an angle at each side,
which is continued downwards with an arrangement of smaller stones,
suggestive of ribs.”

This strange memorial of a departed age and a vanished faith, lying in the
silence and solitude of the lonely shore of Loch Nell, recalls to mind
the eloquent lines of an American poet:[46]

  “All desolate their ruins rest,
  Like bark that in mid-ocean rolls,
  Her name effaced, her masts o’erthrown,
  And none remaining of the souls
  That once sailed in her, to relate
  From what far distant port she came;
  Whither she sailed and what her fate,
  And what her nation and her name.
  But only may conjecture guess
  The fancied story of this place,
  And from these crumbling ruins gain
  Some knowledge of the vanished race.”

It must be noticed that the serpent-mound has been so disposed that the
worshipper standing at the altar would naturally look eastward, directly
along the whole length of the great reptile, and across the dark lake, to
the threefold peaks of Ben Cruachan. That this position was intentionally
selected is evident from the fact that the three peaks are visible from no
other point.

And hence arises the not wholly fanciful conjecture that the people who
erected the great mound had some dim idea of the Triune character of GOD.
The serpent was the emblem of His wisdom, as the solar circle was of His
Eternal Unity; and this marked reverence for the triple-peaked mountain
seems to indicate that with a knowledge of His unity was combined a
recognition of His threefold manifestation.

The writer whom we have already quoted remarks that, whatever doubts may
arise on speculative points, the clearly defined outlines of the great
Serpent-mound of Oban are beyond dispute; though it may long prove a
fertile subject for discussion, whether its serpentine, or rather, Saurian
form is to be accepted as direct evidence of ophiolatry in this land, or
whether we should regard it as simply the representative of some
tribe,--as, in short, a Totem of some extinct British race answering to
the Nagas, or snake-tribes of the East. The former supposition seems the
more reasonable, when we remember that the serpent and the serpent’s egg
were held sacred by the Druids. Serpent-worship prevailed in every nation
of antiquity. It flourished in Greece and Rome, in Egypt and Chaldea, in
Arabia and Central Asia; it extended throughout the Indian peninsula from
Cape Comorin to Kashmir; it was practised in Ceylon and the islands of the
eastern seas; in Mexico and Peru; throughout the whole of Africa. Passing
northward, we find that it existed in Scythia and Scandinavia, as also
among vast tribes near the Oural mountains and throughout Northern Europe,
and particularly among the tribes on the Ob or Obi river, which owes its
name, it is said, to the veneration paid to the reptile. Until the end of
the fourteenth century, when Christianity was introduced, the people of
Poland worshipped domestic serpents, which were allowed to run free in
every house, and carefully tended, every mishap that occurred being
attributed to some negligence in their service. The Lapps, the Finns, the
Norwegians, the Swedes, the Danes, all fostered these strange household
gods, and shared with them the children’s milk. The Vandals also kept
them; some lived in hollow trees, and thither repaired the women, with
their offerings of milk, as is common at the present day in Ceylon and
many parts of India. Long after they had accepted the faith of CHRIST, the
Lombards continued a form of serpent-worship, adoring, or paying homage
to, a golden viper and a tree. In 663, Barbatus, Bishop of Benevento,
finding the custom still observed, made a successful appeal to the
worshippers to cut down the tree, and allow him to melt the golden viper
into a sacramental chalice.

One of the most interesting of the supposed Serpent-temples, or
_dracontia_, is that of Karnak. It is situated half a mile from the
village of that name, in the department of the Morbihan in Brittany, and
about nine miles from the picturesque town of Auray. It is also within a
mile of the Bay of Quiberon.

The whole length of “the Stones of Karnak,” as the temple is called,
measures, if we include its sinuosities, eight miles. The width varies
from 250 to 350 feet. The highest stones are as much as seventeen feet
high, and from thirty to forty feet in circumference. Vacant spaces have
unfortunately been cleared by ruthless spoliators for the erection of the
adjacent villages of Ploermel and Karnak, and the boundary walls of the
neighbouring fields. But what toil and time must have been originally
expended on its construction, we may infer from the fact that it consisted
of eleven rows of stones, about ten thousand in number, of which upwards
of three hundred averaged from fifteen to seventeen feet in height, and
from sixteen to twenty or thirty feet in girth; one stone even measuring
the huge circumference of forty-two feet.

A glance at any engraving of this famous antiquity will show that the
course of the avenues is distinctly sinuous, and that it defines the
figure of an enormous serpent undulating over the ground. Necessarily,
however, the resemblance is more striking to one who views the original
_in situ_. To such, the alternations of the high and low stones, regularly
disposed, may seem to mark with sufficient accuracy “the swelling of the
serpent’s muscles as he moves along,” though this seems rather a flight of
imagination. But at all events the spectator will acknowledge the evidence
of design which clearly appears in the construction of the avenues.

The Dracontium contains ten regularly defined areas; one near the village
of Karnak, which is shaped like a bell or horse-shoe; the other, towards
the eastern extremity, which approaches the figure of a rude circle, and
is in reality a parallelogram with rounded corners.

The circle and the horse-shoe were both sacred figures in the Druidical
religion, as may be seen in Stonehenge, where they are united, the outer
circles enclosing inner horse-shoes. The connection between the latter
symbol and the Celtic faith is not very clear, unless it be intended as a
representation of the moon. It has been conjectured that from this symbol,
whatever may have been its signification, arose the superstition--even not
now wholly defunct--of nailing a horse-shoe over a door as a protection
against evil spirits.

It is curious that at Erdeven, where the temple begins, an annual dance,
descriptive of the Ophite hierogram of the circle and serpent, is still
celebrated by the peasants at the Carnival. But the only tradition which
survives respecting the stones is one which lingers in various parts of
England where similar memorials are found, that they were originally
endowed with life, and were petrified as they stand. Some of the Bretons
believe they were the Roman army who pursued the centurion Cornelius on
account of his conversion to Christianity, and were stricken into stone
through his prayers. Others imagine that certain supernatural dwarfs
erected them in a single night, and that each still inhabits the stone he
reared.

Mr. Deane tells us that near the Karnak side of the dracontium rises a
singular mound of great elevation, which has once been conical, and the
upper portion of which is evidently artificial.[47] He regards it as
analogous to the remarkable hill of Silbury, which occupies much the same
position towards the Albury dracontium. Probably these mounds served as
altars, on which, in conformity with the practices of the Solar worship,
was kept burning the perpetual fire kindled by the sun. They are of common
occurrence in Persia, and seem to be identical with “the high places” of
Scripture where the priests of Baal celebrated their sacrifices. The
conical mound near Karnak--which may be seen for miles around--has been
consecrated by the Christians to the Archangel Michael, who is the patron
saint of every height, hill, or cone, natural or artificial, in Brittany.
The reason of this dedication has been conjectured to be that S. Michael
is the assailant and conqueror of the spiritual Dragon of the Apocalypse.
The mutilated image of that great serpent lies prostrate below the mound;
and when its worshippers were converted to the religion of CHRIST, they
naturally erected on the Solar mount a chapel consecrated to its
archangelic slayer. This consecration indicates, therefore, the triumph of
Christianity over Ophiolatry; and it is but consistent, says Deane, that
the people who allegorised the conversion of the Ophites by the metaphor
of a victory over _serpents_, should, in token of the victory, erect upon
the high places of idolatry chapels to the great Archangel.

It is possible that the mound gave name to the adjacent village: that is,
Karn-ak, or Carnac, from “_cairn_” a hill, and “_hac_,” a snake. The
“serpent’s hill” would be no unsuitable title for Mont S. Michel. In the
same manner the group of pillars called _Lemaenac_, may have been named
from _maen_, stones, and _hac_.

It is curious to find proofs of the existence of Serpent-worship in the
New World as in the Old; to meet with its traces in Mexico as well as in
Egypt or Chaldea. But certain it is that the religion of Mexico had many
features which were common to the Egyptian and Chaldean creeds; the same
Solar Worship, the same pyramidal monuments, and the same Ophiolatrous
symbols.

For instance, we learn that the temple of Huitziliputli, in Mexico, was
built of great stones, in the fashion of snakes tied one to another, and
that the circuit was called “the circuit of snakes,” because the walls of
the enclosure were covered with the figures of snakes. This
truculent-looking deity held in his right hand a staff cut in the fashion
of a serpent; and the four corners of the ark or tabernacle, in which he
was seated, terminated each with a carved effigy of a serpent’s head.

The Mexican astronomers represented a century by a circle, with a sun in
the centre, surrounded by the symbols of the years. The circumference was
a serpent twisted into four knots at the cardinal points.

The Mexican month was divided into twenty days, two of which were
symbolised by the serpent and dragon. Further, the doorway of the temple,
dedicated to “the god of the air,” was so wrought as to resemble a
serpent’s mouth.

The Mexicans, however, went beyond the _symbolical_ worship of the sacred
serpent, and like many other branches of the Ophite family, they fostered
living serpents in their dwellings as household gods. Mr. Bullock asserts
that they make the rattlesnake an object of their worship and veneration;
and that representations of this reptile, and of others of its species,
are very commonly met with among the remains of their ancient idolatry. He
says that the finest known to be in existence may be seen in a deserted
part of the cloister of the Dominican convent, opposite to the Palace of
the Inquisition. It is curled up in an irritated, erect position, with the
jaws extended, and is represented in the act of gorging a woman, richly
dressed, who lies between its fangs, crushed and lacerated.

The Conquistadors, or Spanish followers of Cortez, all assert that the
Aztecs, or inhabitants of Mexico, worshipped an idol wrought into the
shape of a serpent. Bonal Dias del Castello, one of the Spanish invader’s
veteran captains, and the chronicler of the expedition, describes the
interior of the principal temple, to which he and his leader were
conducted by the Emperor Montezuma: “When we had ascended to the summit of
the temple, we observed on the platform as we passed, the large stones on
which were placed the victims intended for sacrifice. Here was a great
figure representing a Dragon, and much blood lay spilled. Cortez,
addressing Montezuma, requested him to do him the favour to show his gods.
After consulting the priests, Montezuma led them into a tower where was a
kind of hall. Here were two altars, highly adorned with richly-wrought
timbers on the roof; above the roof, spread gigantic figures like unto
men. The one on the right hand was Huitzilopochtli, their war god, with a
great face and terrible eyes. This figure was entirely covered with gold
and jewels, and his body wreathed about with golden serpents. Before the
idol smoked a pan of incense, in which the hearts of three human victims
were burning, mixed with copal. The other great figure, on the left, with
a face like a bear’s, was the god of the infernal regions. His body was
everywhere covered with figures of devils, having serpents’ tails. In this
place was kept a drum of most enormous dimensions, the head of which was
made of the skins of large serpents. At a short distance from the temple
stood a tower, and at the door grinned frightful idols, like serpents and
devils: in front of these were tables and knives for sacrifice.”

Mr. Bullock, who made a valuable collection of Mexican antiquities,
describes an idol, “the goddess of war,” on which Cortez and his followers
may possibly have looked:

“This monstrous idol,” he says, “is, with its pedestal, twelve feet high,
and four feet wide. Its form is partly human and partly composed of
rattlesnakes and the tiger. The head, enormously wide, seems that of two
rattlesnakes united; the fangs hanging out of the mouth, on which the
still-palpitating hearts of the unfortunate victims were rubbed as an act
of the most acceptable oblation. The body is that of a deformed man, the
place of arms being supplied by the heads of rattlesnakes, placed on
square plinths, and united by fringed ornaments. Round the waist is a
girdle, which was originally encrusted with gold; and beneath this,
reaching nearly to the ground, and partly covering its deformed cloven
feet, a drapery entirely composed of wreathed rattlesnakes, which the
natives call “a garment of serpents.... Between the feet, descending from
the body, another wreathed serpent rests his head upon the ground.”

“The only worship,” says Mr. Deane,[48] “which can vie with that of the
Serpent in antiquity or universality, is the adoration of the SUN. But
uniformly with the progress of the Solar superstitions has advanced the
sacred serpent from Babylon to Peru. If the worship of the Sun, therefore,
was the first deviation from the truth, the worship of the Serpent was one
of the first innovations of idolatry. Whatever doubt may exist as to which
was the first error, little doubt can arise as to the primitive and
antediluvian character of both. For in the earliest heathen records we
find them inexplicably interwoven as the first of superstitions. Thus
Egyptian mythology informs us, that Helios (the Sun) was the first of the
Egyptian gods; for in early history, kings and gods are generally
confounded. But Helios married Ops, the serpent deity, and became father
of Osiris, Isis, Typhœus, Apollo, and Venus: a tradition which would make
the superstitions coeval. This fable being reduced to more simple laws,
informs us, that the Sun, having married the Serpent, became, by this
union, the father of Adam and Eve, the Evil Spirit, the Serpent-solar
deity, and Lust; which appears to be a confusion of Scriptural truths, in
which chronological order is sacrificed from the simplification of a
fable. But--_ex pede Herculem_--from the small fragments of the truth
which are here combined, we may judge of the original dimensions of the
knowledge whose ruins are thus heaped together. We may conclude that,
since idolatry, lust, the serpent, and the evil spirit, are here said to
have been synchronous with the First Man and Woman, the whole fable is
little more than a mythological version of the events in Paradise.”

Mr. Deane, who lived before the days of Comparative Mythology, read into
the old fables a meaning which they are hardly capable of bearing. It is
clear enough that Serpent-worship had an astronomical origin; but we may
agree with him that it was as ancient and universal as the worship of the
Sun, with which, indeed, it was closely connected.

       *       *       *       *       *

We shall now borrow a few illustrations of the character, extent, and
significance of Serpent-worship from Mr. Fergusson’s elaborate work,[49]
in which he deals particularly with the Topes at Sanchi and Amravati. But,
first, a word or two in explanation of the origin and purpose of the Topes
will be desirable.

The era of stone architecture in India seems to have begun with the reign
of Asoka about 250 B.C. It is contemporaneous with the rise of Buddhism,
whose followers gradually usurped the place formerly occupied by the
Aryans. The Buddhist buildings then erected may be divided into three
principal classes:

1st. _Topes_ or _Stupas_, with their surrounding rails and lats:

2nd. _Chaityas_, which, in form and purpose, closely resemble the early
Churches of the Christians, though several of those cut in the rock were,
in all probability, excavated before the Christian era: and,

3rd. _Viharas_, or Monasteries, forming in the earliest times the
dwellings of the monks or priests who ministered in the Topes or Chaityas,
but afterwards becoming the independent abode of monastic communities, who
had chapels or oratories appropriated to their use within the walls of
their monasteries.

We are here concerned only with the Tope or Stupa.

In its origin we suspect that it simply took the place of the mound or
tumulus which the Turanian and other races had from earliest ages been
accustomed to raise over the last resting-place of their dead. No such
tumuli now exist in India, having probably been washed away by the
tropical rains or river-floods; but some are still found in Afghanistan.
The Indian type is distinguished from the tumulus of other countries by
its material and its shape. It is built of brick or stone, in a rounded or
conical form. It is distinguished also by the circumstance that instead of
being the place of interment of a corpse, it is the depository of relics.

Besides being used as a relic-shrine, the Tope was frequently employed as
a memorial tower to indicate a sacred spot. Of the 84,000 Stupas which,
according to tradition, Asoka erected, fully one half would seem to have
been raised to mark the scenes where Buddha or some Bôdhisatwa had
performed a miracle or done something worthy of being remembered by the
faithful.

The “rails,” or stone-circles, surrounding the Indian Topes are often of
as much importance as the Topes themselves; and in the case of Sanchi and
Amravati, are even _more_ important. As with the Topes, they are
sepulchral in origin. “The circles of rude stones found all over Europe
certainly are so in most cases. They may sometimes enclose holy spots, and
may possibly have in some instances places of assembly, though this is
improbable. Their application to the purposes of ancestral worship is,
however, not only probable, but appropriate. Sometimes a circle of stones
encloses a sepulchral mound, as at New Grange in Ireland, and very
frequently in Scandinavia and Algeria. In India rude stone circles are of
frequent occurrence.” Some hundreds are found in the neighbourhood of
Amravati alone, and all are sepulchral; but like the Topes when adopted by
the Buddhists, they were “sublimated into a symbol instead of a reality.”

Reference must briefly be made to another group of early Buddhist
monuments, the lats or stembhas, of which very few are now extant in
India, the British engineer having used them for his roads, and the native
zemindar for his rice or sugar mills. Those erected by Asoka are uniform
in character: circular stone shafts, monoliths, thirty or forty feet high,
and surmounted by a capital of a bell-shaped or falling leaf form,
imitated from the later Grecian architecture. They were erected in order
that certain edicts might be engraved upon them, which Asoka desired to
keep constantly in the remembrance and before the eyes of his subjects.
But in the fifth century, those raised by the Guptas had no other object
than to perpetuate the name and fame of their royal founders.

       *       *       *       *       *

The Topes at Sanchi form part of a large group of Topes situated between
the towns of Bhilsa and Bhopul in Central India. They range over an area
about seventeen miles from east to west, and about ten miles from north to
south, in five or six different clusters, and number in all between forty
and fifty of various dimensions. It is believed that the smallest are
merely the places of interment of local chiefs; others are strictly
Dagobas, or relic-shrines; while the largest is a chaitya or stupa,
designed apparently to consecrate some sacred spot, or perpetuate the
memory of some remarkable event in Buddhist history.

Architecturally speaking, it consists, first, of a basement 121 feet in
diameter and 14 feet in height. This is surmounted by a platform or
procession path, within which the dome or tumulus itself rises in the
shape of a truncated hemisphere to a height of 39 feet. The summit is a
level area, measuring 34 feet across, and surrounded by a circular railing
or barrier of stones, which enclosed a square Tu or reliquary, 11½ feet
square, and this in its turn enclosed a circular support for the sacred
and symbolic umbrella that always crowned these edifices.

At a distance of 9½ feet from the base, the tope is encircled by a rail,
eleven feet high, and consisting apparently of one hundred pillars,
exclusive of the gateways. Each pillar seems to have been the gift of an
individual, and even the rails between them have apparently been
contributed by different persons. The rail or circle is devoid of
sculpture; but four gateways which were added to it about the Christian
era are covered with sculptured work of the most elaborate kind.

The human figures represented in these sculptures belong in the main to
two great races. One of them is easily recognised as “Hindus,”--“meaning
by that term the civilized race who formerly occupied the valley of the
Ganges, and who, from their capitals of Ayodhyâ and Indraprastha or
Pâtaliputra (Palibothra), had been the dominant class in India for at
least two thousand years before the time to which we are now referring.”
It may be taken as proved that these people were originally pure
immigrant Aryans, but by intermixture with other races their blood took,
as it were, a new colouring, though they did not lose the civilisation and
pre-eminence which they owed to their intellectual superiority.

We know them in the sculptures by their costume; by the dhoti, wrapped
round the loins exactly as it is worn now-a-days; the chadder over their
shoulders; and the turban on their heads. So much for the dress of the
men; of the undress of the women it is more difficult to speak. They are
always decorated with enormous bangles about the wrists and ankles, and
strings of beads round the neck; but with the exception of a bead belt
round the body below the waist they wear little body clothing. From this
belt slips of cloth are sometimes suspended, more generally at the sides
or behind than in front,--and sometimes also a cloth not unlike a dhoti,
invariably of transparent texture. This scantiness of attire can hardly be
regarded as finding compensation in the dimensions and amplitude of the
head-dress, which, consisting of two long plaits of hair mixed with beads,
and a thick roll of cloth, forms almost a kind of tippet, covering the
whole of the woman’s back.

Mr. Fergusson remarks:[50]

“It is, however, not only in the Topes that this absence of dress is so
conspicuous. In all the sculptures at Karli, or Ellora, or Mahavellipore,
or in the paintings in Ajanta, the same peculiarity is observable.
Everywhere, indeed, before the Mahometan conquest, nudity in India
conveyed no sense of indecency. The wife and mother of Buddha are at times
represented in this manner. The queen on her throne, the female disciples
of Buddha, listening to his exhortations, and on every public occasion on
which women take part in what is going on, the costume is the same. It is
equally remarkable that in those days those unveiled females seem to have
taken part in every public transaction and show, and to have mixed with
the men as freely as women do in Europe at the present day.

“All this is the more remarkable, as in Buddhist books modesty of dress in
women is frequently insisted upon. In the Dulva, for instance, a story is
told of the King of Kalinga presenting to the King of Kosála (probably
Padh), a piece of muslin, which afterwards fell into the hands of a lewd
priestess. She, it is said, wore it in public, while it was so thin that
she, notwithstanding this, appeared naked to the great scandal of all who
witnessed the exhibition.[51] The probability is, that the story and the
book that contains it are of very much more modern date than our
sculptures. It certainly is in direct conflict with their evidence.”

The want of shame in women, to which this exposure of the person bears
witness, is always the mark and sign of inferior civilisation.

The other race depicted in the sculptures has its distinctive
characteristics. The male costume consists of a kilt,--not a cloth wrapped
round the loins, but a kilt, shaped, sewn, and fastened by buckle or
string;--and also of a cloak or tippet, which seems to be similarly shaped
and sewn. As for the hair, it is twisted into a long rope or plait like a
Chinaman’s, and then folded round the head in a conical form, or a piece
of cloth or rope was treated in this way. The beard is worn, whereas no
single individual of the Hindu race, either at Sanchi or Amravati, has any
trace of beard or moustache; a circumstance the more remarkable, because,
according to Nearchus, the Hindus dyed their beards with various colours,
so that some were red, some white, some black, others purple, some green.
The female dress differs from that of the Hindus even more than the male.
A striped petticoat is gathered in at the knees so as to form a neat and
modest garb, and a cloak or tippet like that of the men is thrown
generally over one shoulder so as to leave one breast bare, but sometimes
both are covered. The head-dress is a neat and elegant turban.

Who then are these people? From the peculiarities of their costume, and
their living in the woods, some authorities are inclined to regard them as
priests or ascetics, though, it is to be noted, they are nowhere
represented as worshipping Topes, hero-wheels, or the disc and crescent
symbols (the sun and moon.) In one compartment, however, they are
evidently worshipping the serpent in a fire-temple. Fergusson concludes
that they were the aboriginal inhabitants of Malwa, to whom came the
Hindus as conquerors or missionaries (or both?) The Topes were erected
and the sculpture wrought by the conquering race, and the others are
always represented as inferior and engaged in servile employments, but not
as converts to Buddhism. The only act of adoration in which we see them
concerned is the adoration of the five-headed Naga. Mr. Fergusson proposes
to call them Dasyus, not because such a name has any local or traditional
authority, but because in the Vedas and the heroic poems it seems to be
applied to the aboriginal people of India as opposed to the Aryans.

       *       *       *       *       *

Proceeding now to a consideration of the sculptures, we find that one half
of those at Sanchi represent religious acts, such as the worship of the
Dagoba or of Trees. Once or twice the Wheel is the object of adoration,
and once the Serpent. Other bas-reliefs represent events in history, and
some again are devoted to the ordinary incidents of every man’s life.
Their general execution is vigorous though rude. Those at Amravati “are
perhaps as near in scale of excellence to the contemporary art of the
Roman empire under Constantine, as to any other that could be named; or,
rather, they should be compared with the sculptures of the early Italian
Renaissance, as it culminated in the hands of Ghiberti, and before the
true limits between the provinces of painting and sculpture were
understood.”

Let us describe an upper bas-relief which has been found on the eastern
gateway.

Here the people whom Mr. Fergusson calls Dasyus are represented
worshipping the five-headed Naga, or Serpent, which appears in a small
hexagonal temple, raising its head over something very like an altar. In
front stands a pot of fire,--probably a fire-altar,--and in spite of Mr.
Fergusson’s doubts, we think both the Serpent and the Fire are connected
with the old Sun-worship.[52]

In the foreground an old man is seated in a circular leaf-thatched hut,
with, according to a frequent Indian custom, a scarf bound round his knees
and loins. Behind him in the hut is suspended his upper garment, and in
front a bearded senior, of his own tribe, is, to all appearance,
addressing him. Near this individual stands another pot of fire, with
three pairs of tongs or ladles, and a bundle of sticks to feed the flame.
Close beside him we see one elephant, two buffaloes, sheep, and deer. The
scene takes place in a forest. Above are trees and cocks, with monkeys and
peacocks; below, a reedy marsh opens into a lake blooming with
lotus-flowers and occupied by geese.

A lower bas-relief in the same gateway puts before us a very different
scene:

In the centre of the upper part blooms the sacred Buddhist Tree, behind
its altar, with its Chattee and garlands, occupying a position similar to
that of the serpent in the other bas-relief. Two Garudas or Devas, or
flying figures, present garlands, and two females, instead of griffins,
approach it on either side.

In the lower part of the picture, the Inja, or chief male personage, sits
enthroned upon the Naga, and is sheltered by its five-headed hood. On his
right crouch three women on stools, eating and drinking, and each with her
tutelary or snake behind her; and above them are a female Chaori bearer
and a woman with a bottle--there are snakes behind both. On the other side
are two women playing on drums, two on harps, one on a flute, and a fifth
dancing, but all likewise with snakes, and all in the costume which Mr.
Fergusson defines as that of the Hindus.

The worship of the Naga by the bearded Dasyus as represented in the upper
bas-relief, does not occur again at Sanchi, and occurs only once at
Amravati. There, however, the five-headed snake is seen very frequently in
front of the dagoba, and in a position which is designed to command the
worship, not only of the Dasyus, but of the whole world.

The Hindu male or chief canopied by the Naga, as shown in the lower
bas-relief, occurs at least ten times at Sanchi, and must have occurred
several hundred times at Amravati.

Mr. Fergusson asks, what are we to infer from these facts? Is it that the
Naga, or serpent, was the god of the aborigines, whom the conquering
Hindus adopted as their own deity, and pretended that it was for _them_ he
reserved his patronage and support? We must recollect that the Topes were
built and the sculptures carved by Hindus, and that there is no
representation of a Hindu doing honour to a snake; on the contrary, the
snake always does homage to the Hindu.

Shall we conclude, then, that the Hindus were the real Naga-worshipping
people, and that it was they who enforced serpent-worship on the Dasyus? A
conquered people have not infrequently imposed their language, laws, and
religion on their conquerors.

It is, perhaps, impossible to answer these questions: a cloud of obscurity
hangs over the whole subject of Snake-worship; but we take it to have been
the old and prevalent faith of the aborigines of India prior to the Aryan
immigration, and we believe that the Aryans adopted it more and more
generally as they mixed more and more widely with the Hindus, and their
blood became less and less pure. It is not mentioned in the Vedas; there
is scarcely an allusion in the Râmâyana; in the Mahâbâhrata it occupies a
considerable space; it appears timidly at Sanchi in the first century of
the Christian era; is triumphant at Amravati in the fourth; and might have
become the dominant faith of India had it not been elbowed from its pride
of place by Vishnuism and Sivaism, which took its position when it fell
together with the Buddhism to which it had allied itself so closely.

       *       *       *       *       *

We turn to the celebrated Tope at Amravati, a town situated on the river
Kishna. The dimensions of the Tope are 195 feet for inside diameter of the
outer circle, and 165 feet for that of the inner. The procession path is
paved with slabs 13 feet long, and the inner rail is 2 feet wide. It has
four gateways, and projecting about 30 feet beyond the outer rail; but
these are in so dilapidated a condition that their size cannot be
accurately ascertained.

These circles, or circular bas-reliefs, from the intermediate rails of the
outer enclosure are thus described:

In the upper circle on the right hand side a group of Buddhist priests,
in their yellow robes, may be seen worshipping. In front two supple women,
such as so frequently occur in these sculptures, bend in attitudes of
adoration, and on the left a chief in the ordinary Hindu
costume--surrounded by the women of his family--presents his little son to
the Buddha-emblem.

In the lower circle the same structural arrangements occur up to the
Trisul (or emblem), but the whole is surmounted by the Chakra, or Wheel,
which we know to be the symbol of Dharma or the Law. Here all the
worshippers are men; it is, we are told, one of the very few scenes in
these sculptures from which women are entirely excluded. Whether it was
considered that the study of the Law was unsuited for women, or whether
some other motive governed the designers, certain it is that, contrary to
the usual rule, the whole of the worshippers are of one sex and one race.
The only other noticeable peculiarity is the introduction of two
antelopes, one on each side of the throne.

The second circle represents the Trisul ornament, or emblem, not on a
throne, but behind an altar. The sacred feet of Buddha are depicted, but
there are no relics. In the upper compartment the principal worshippers
are two men with seven-headed snake-hoods, and two women with single
snakes.

In the centre of the bas-relief sits the principal personage, with a
nine-headed snake-hood, between two of his wives, and beyond, on both rims
of the circle, stands a female figure, supporting herself by the branches
of a tree. On each a young girl waits; one of these girls has a snake at
the back of her head. In front are three musicians, also with snakes; and
on their right a lady _without_ a snake receives the assistance of a girl
_with_ a snake.

“This distinction,” says Mr. Fergusson, “between people with snakes and
those without is most curious and perplexing. After the most attentive
study I have been unable to detect any characteristic either of feature or
costume by which the races can be distinguished, beyond the possession or
absence of this strange adjunct. That those with snakes are the Naga
people we read of, can hardly be doubted; yet they never are seen actually
worshipping the snake like the Dasyus, but rather as protected by it. The
snake seems their tutelary genius, watching over, perhaps inspiring them;
but whether they borrowed this strange emblem from the natives of the
country, or brought it with them from the north-west, are questions we are
hardly yet in a position to answer satisfactorily.”

       *       *       *       *       *

We have thus abundant evidence of the prevalence of Serpent-worship in
India in “olden times;” the reader will, perhaps, be surprised to hear
that it lingers still throughout the peninsula. Dr. Balfour, who had an
intimate acquaintance with the habits and customs of the natives, asserts
that the worship both of the sculptured form and the living creature, is
general. The sculpture invariably represents the Nag or Cobra, and almost
every hamlet owns its Serpent deity. Sometimes it is a single snake, with
the hood spread open. Occasionally the sculptured figures are nine in
number, forming the _Nao Nag_, which is designed to represent a parent
snake and eight of its young, but the prevalent form is that of two snakes
twining in the manner of the Esculapian rod of classical antiquity.

It is the opinion of some Hindus that the living snake is not worshipped
as a devata, or deity, but simply reverenced in commemoration of some
ancient event--possibly of some astronomical occurrences. Others, however,
distinctly assert that it is worshipped as a devata. However this may be,
there can be no doubt that the living snake is worshipped throughout all
Southern India. On their feast days the worshippers resort to the snake’s
lair, which they bedaub with vermilion streaks and patches of turmeric and
of wheat flour, and close at hand they suspend garlands of flowers, strung
upon white cotton thread, and laid over wooden frames. During the rainy
seasons occurs the great Nagpanchanic festival, when the Hindus go in
search of snakes, or have them brought to their houses by the Sanpeli, the
snake-charmers who ensnare them. The snakes are then worshipped, and
offerings of milk are made to them, and in almost every house figures of
snakes, drawn on paper, are affixed to the walls, and worshipped. Those
who visit the snakes’ abodes, or tents, plant sticks around the hole, and
about and over these sticks wind white cotton thread. A bevy of Mahrathi
women repair to the hût, and joining hands, wind round it in a circle five
times, singing songs; after which they prostrate themselves. They pour
milk into the hole; hang festoons of Chembela flowers and cucumber fruit,
and sprinkle a mixture of sugar and flour.

In reference to this festival, Colonel Meadows Taylor writes:--

On this occasion, Nags or Cobras are worshipped by most of the lower
classes of the people in the Dekhan, and more particularly in the
Shorapore country. The ceremonies are very simple: the worshippers bathe,
smear their foreheads with red colour, and in small parties,--generally
families acquainted with one another,--resort to the places known to be
frequented by snakes. In such places there are generally sacred stones, to
which various offerings are made, and they are anointed with red colour
and ground turmeric, and invocations are addressed to the local genius and
to the serpents. Near the stones are placed small new earthen saucers,
filled with milk; for cobras are fond of milk, and are believed to watch
the ceremony, coming out of their holes and drinking the milk, even while
the worshippers are near, or are lingering in the distance to see if their
offerings be received. It is considered a fortunate augury for the
worshippers if the snake should appear and drink. Should the snake _not_
appear, the worshippers, after waiting awhile, return to the place next
morning, to ascertain the result: if the milk have disappeared, the rite
has been accepted, but not under such favourable auspices as if the
reptile had come out at once. These ceremonies end with a feast.

Colonel Meadows Taylor (whose language we are partly adopting)
continues:--

It is on behalf of children that Snake-worship is particularly practised;
and the women and children of a family invariably accompany the male head,
not only at the annual festival, but whenever a vow has been made to a
Serpent Deity. The first hair shaved from a child which has passed
teething, and gone through the other infantile ailments, is frequently
dedicated to a Serpent. On such occasions the child is taken to the
locality of the vow, the usual ceremonies are performed, and with the
other offerings is included the child’s hair. In every case a feast
follows, served near the spot, and the attendant Brahmins receive alms and
largess.

“In the Shakti ceremonies, Pooma-elhishék, which belong, I think, to
aboriginal customs, the worship of the Snake forms a portion, as
emblematical of energy and wisdom. Most of these ceremonies are, however,
of an inconceivably obscene and licentious character. They are not
confined to the lowest classes, though rarely perhaps resorted to by
Brahmins; but many of the middle class sects, of obscure origin and
denomination, practise them in secret, under the strange delusion that the
divine energy of nature is to be obtained thereby, with exemption from
earthly troubles.

“Although Snake-worship ordinarily belongs professedly to the descendants
of aboriginal tribes, yet Brahmins never or rarely pass them over, and the
Nagpanchani is observed as a festival of kindly greeting and visiting
between families and friends--as a day of gifts of new clothes or
ornaments to wives or children, &c.

“The worship of Gram Deotas, or village divinities, is universal all over
the Dekhan, and indeed I believe throughout India. These divinities have
no temples nor priests. Sacrifice and oblation is made to them at sowing
time and harvest, for rain or fine weather, in time of cholera, malignant
fever, or other disease or pestilence. The Nag is always one of the Gram
Deota, the rest being known by local names. The Gram Deota are known as
heaps of stones, generally in a grove or quiet spot near every village,
and are smeared some with black and others with red colour.

“Nâg is a common name both for males and females among all classes of
Hindus, from Brahmins downwards to the lowest classes of Sudras and
Mléchhas. Nâgo Rao, Nâgoju, &c., are common Mahratta names, as Nagappa,
Nagowa, and the like are among the Canarese and Telugu population.

“No Hindu will kill a Nag or Cobra willingly. Should any one be killed
within the precincts of a village, by Mahomedans or others, a piece of
copper money is put into its mouth, and the body is burned with offerings
to avert the evil.

“It is, perhaps, remarkable, that the Snake festival is held after the
season or at the season of casting the skin, and when the Snake, addressed
or worshipped, is supposed to have been purified. Some Brahmins always
keep the skin of a Nag in one of their sacred books.

“In reference to the lower castes alluded to, I may mention those who
practise Snake-worship with the greatest reverence:--1, Beydars. 2,
Dhungars or shepherds, Ahens or milkmen, Waddiwars or stone-masons,
Khungins or rope-makers, Brinjaras and other wandering tribes, Mangs,
Dhérs, and Chennars, Ramorsers, Bhils, Ghonds, and Kohs, all which I
believe, with many others, to be descendants of aboriginal tribes, partly
received within the pale of Hinduism.

“Lingayots, who are schismatics from Hinduism, and who deny _in toto_ the
religious supremacy of the Brahmins, are nevertheless Snake-worshippers,
many of them bearing the name Nag, both male and female.

“I cannot speak of the North of India, but in the whole of the South of
India, from the Nerbudda to Cape Comorin, Snake-worship is now
existent.”[53]




CHAPTER XII.

_POLYNESIAN SUPERSTITIONS._


When Captain Cook first visited those beautiful islands of the South
Pacific which are now included under the general name of Polynesia, he
found their inhabitants given over to the lowest and coarsest idolatry.
Many of their rites and ceremonies were as lewd as any practised in
ancient times under the auspices of the Paphian Venus. Gradually they were
brought within the influence of the missionary work of the Christian
Church; and though, if we may credit the testimony of recent observers,
much heathenism still prevails, and gross superstitions are still secretly
nourished, there cannot be a doubt, that, on the whole, their moral
condition has been materially elevated.

Among the pioneers of the Cross in these “Summer-isles of Eden” one of the
most eminent and successful was the Rev. John Williams; a missionary of
the true type, of an enlightened mind and broad sympathies, who, after a
long career of noble labour, sealed his witness to the truth with his
blood, and lives in the Gospel record as the Martyr of Erromanga. From the
plain, unvarnished, and effective chronicle of his “Missionary
Enterprises” we glean much interesting information respecting the
idolatrous ways of the islanders, revealing their identity with the
superstitions that from all times have dominated over uncivilised man. In
Rarotonga as in Mexico, for instance, the gods were supposed to be
propitiated by human sacrifices; and in many of the islands cannibalism
existed in its most disgusting form and under the sanction of a religious
ordinance.

From the chief of Aitutaki Mr. Williams obtained some curious relics of
idolatry. As for example:--an idol named _Te-rongo_, one of the great
deities, called a _Kaitangata_, or man-eater. The priests of this idol
were supposed to be inspired by the shark.

Tangarou, the great national god of Aitutaki, and of almost all the
adjacent islands. He holds the net with which he catches the spirits of
men as they fly from their bodies, and a spear with which he kills them.

A rod, with snares at the end, made of the fibres of the cocoa-nut husk,
with which the priest caught the spirit of the god. It was used in cases
of pregnancy, when the female was ambitious that her child should be a
son, and become a famous warrior. It was also employed in wartime to catch
the god by his leg, to secure his influence on the side of the party
performing the ceremony.

Ruanu; a chief from Raiatea, who, ages ago, sailed in a canoe from that
island, and settled at Aitutaki. From him a genealogy is traced. He died
at Aitutaki, and was deified as _Te atua taitai tere_, or the conductor of
fleets.

Tanu; with his fan and other appendages; the god of thunder. The natives,
when they heard a peal of thunder, were accustomed to say that this god
was flying: and produced this sound by the flapping of his wings.

The Rarotongan idols were of a singular character. From their size they
might have suited Swift’s nation of Brobdingnagians, for the smallest
seems to have been about fifteen feet high. Each was wrought out of a
piece of _aito_, or iron wood, about four inches in diameter, carved with
a rude imitation of the human hand at one end, and with an obscene figure
at the other; round it were wrapped numerous folds of native cloth, until
it measured two or three yards in circumference. Near the wooden image
some red feathers were strewn, and a string of small pieces of polished
pearl shells was regarded as the _manava_, or soul of the god.

An idol, somewhat resembling a Chinese joss, was placed in the fore-part
of every fishing-canoe; and prior to their departure on a fishing
excursion, the boatmen aways presented it with offerings, and invoked it
to grant them a successful issue.

A striking scene was that when Papeiha, a converted islander, lifted up
his voice against idolatry, for the first time, among the banana-groves of
Rarotonga.

The Rarotongans had assembled in great numbers at a _marae_, or sacred
enclosure, for the purpose of making offerings of food to the gods. Many
priests, pretending to be inspired, were filling the air with shouts and
yells; whilst around them gathered the deluded worshippers, some with one
side of their face and body blackened with charcoal; others were painted
with stripes of various colours; others figured as warriors, wearing large
caps adorned with white cowrie shells and birds’ feathers. Breaking into
their midst, Papeiha boldly addressed them on their folly in devoting such
large quantities of food to a log of wood which they had carved and
decorated and called a god. This challenge was immediately accepted by one
of the priests, who springing to his feet, protested that their god was a
real god, and a very powerful god, and that they were that day celebrating
a very sacred feast.

Papeiha replied that the day was at hand when their folly would be
revealed to them by the true GOD JEHOVAH, who would make their so-called
gods “fuel for the fire.” This strong declaration greatly perplexed the
crowd, but they continued to listen attentively while Papeiha commented on
the love of GOD in giving HIS SON to die for sinners. After he had ceased,
the people asked him many questions; among others,--“Where does your GOD
live?” He answered, that Heaven was His dwelling-place, but that both
Heaven and Earth were filled with the majesty of His presence. They
rejoined, in their inability to conceive of an Invisible but Omnipresent
Deity;--“We cannot see Him, but ours are here before our eyes, and, if the
earth was full of your GOD, He would surely be big enough to be seen.”
“And,” said another, “why do we not run against Him?” To which Papeiha
ingeniously responded:--“That the earth was full of air, but we did not
run against it: that we were surrounded by light, but it did not impede
our progress.”

Five months later, a priest came to Papeiha and his associate missionary
Tiberio, announcing his resolve to burn his idols; and he brought with him
his eldest son, a boy of ten years old, to place under their care, lest
the gods in their wrath should destroy him. Evidently, in spite of his
iconoclastic purpose, the priest still cherished a belief in the power of
his wooden deities. Leaving the child with the two teachers, he returned
home, and next day at early dawn returned, staggering under the weight of
his cumbrous idol. A crowd followed him, shouting at him as a madman, and
looking upon him as one pre-doomed to destruction by his own folly; but he
held fast to his resolve to embrace the word of JEHOVAH, and declared that
he had no fear of the issue. He threw his idol at the feet of the
teachers, one of whom fetched his saw to cut it up; but the crowd, as soon
as they saw the instrument applied to the head of the god, were stricken
with panic fear, and fled away. As no catastrophe occurred, they gradually
returned impelled by curiosity, which is sometimes stronger than fear; and
in their presence, amidst profound excitement, the first rejected idol of
Rarotonga was committed to the flames.

To convince the people of the absurdity of their apprehensions, the
teachers, as soon as the idol was converted into ashes, roasted some
bananas upon them, of which they ate, and invited the spectators to
partake. None however were brave enough to admit so dangerous a morsel
into their mouths, and they waited, open-eyed, for the expected result of
the profane audacity of the two teachers. But, like the inhabitants of
Melita, “after they had looked a great while and saw no harm come to them,
they changed their minds,” and in less than ten days after this event no
fewer than fourteen idols were destroyed. Soon afterwards, the chief
Tinomana sent for the missionaries, and on their arrival at his
mountain-home, informed them that after much deliberation, he had resolved
to become a Christian, and to place himself under their direction. He
therefore wished to know what was the first step he ought to take. They
informed him that he must destroy his maraes and burn his idols; to which
he immediately replied, “Come with me and see them destroyed.” On reaching
the place he desired some person to take a firebrand and set fire to the
temple, the _ataraw_, or altar, and the _unus_, or sacred pieces of carved
wood by which the marae was decorated. Four huge idols were then deposited
at the feet of the teachers, who, having read a portion of the tenth
chapter of S. Luke’s Gospel, which was peculiarly appropriate, especially
from verse 17 to 20, stripped them of their linen wrappings, which they
distributed among the people, and threw them into the flames.

Some of the spectators waxed wroth with the chief, and expressed
themselves with great violence, denouncing him as a fool and a madman for
burning his gods, and listening to worthless fellows who “were drift-wood
from the sea, washed on shore by the waves of the ocean.” The women were
specially vehement in their grief, and broke out into the loudest and
dolefulest lamentations imaginable. Many of them inflicted deep gashes on
their heads with sharp shells and shark’s teeth, and ran wildly to and
fro, smeared with the blood which streamed from their wounds, and crying
in tones of the deepest melancholy, “Alas, alas, the gods of the madman
Tinomana, the gods of the insane chief are given to the flames!” Others,
blackened with charcoal, were not less demonstrative.

In the course of a few days a clean sweep was made of the idols of the
district; never were Iconoclasts, not even our Puritan forefathers, more
thorough or more resolute. The teachers then advised Tinomana and their
other converts to prepare their food for the Sunday, and attend worship at
the mission station. This they did,--but they came armed as for battle,
with war-caps, slings, and spears, fearing lest the irate _Satanus_ (as
they called the idolaters) should attack them. Neither in coming nor
going, however, were they molested.

“At this time,” says Mr. Williams,[54] “a ludicrous circumstance occurred,
which will illustrate the ignorance and superstition of this people. A
favourite cat had been taken on shore by one of the teachers’ wives on our
first visit, and not liking his new companions, Tom fled to the mountains.
The house of the priest Tiaki, who had just destroyed his idol, was
situated at a distance from the settlement, and at midnight while he was
lying asleep on his mat, his wife, who was sitting awake by his side
musing upon the strange events of the day, beheld with consternation two
fires glistening in the doorway, and heard with surprise a mysterious
voice. Almost petrified with fear, she awoke her husband, and began to
upbraid him for his folly in burning his god, who, she declared, was now
come to be avenged of them. ‘Get up and pray, get up and pray,’ she said.
The husband arose, and on opening his eyes beheld the same glaring lights,
and heard the same ominous sound. Impelled by the extreme urgency of the
case, he commenced, with all possible vehemence, vociferating the alphabet
as a prayer to GOD to deliver them from the vengeance of Satan. On hearing
this, the cat, as much alarmed as the priest and his wife, of whose
nocturnal peace he had been the unconscious disturber, ran away, leaving
the poor people congratulating themselves on the efficacy of their
prayer.”

Afterwards, in the course of his wanderings, Puss reached the district of
the _Satanus_; and, as the marae was situated in a sequestered corner, and
overshadowed by the luxuriant foliage of patriarchal trees, the graybeards
of the wood, he was well pleased with the place. In order to keep the best
of company, he took up his abode with the gods; and as he met with no
opposition from within, he little expected any from without. But some few
days after came the priest, accompanied by a number of worshippers, to
present some offerings to the god; on his opening the door, Tom
respectfully welcomed him with a _miaou_. At this unwonted salutation he
rushed back in terror, shouting to his followers: “Here’s a monster from
the deep! here’s a monster from the deep!”

Whereupon the whole party hastened home, assembled several hundreds of
their companions, assumed their war-caps, equipped themselves with spear,
club, and sling, blackened their bodies with charcoal, and in all this
pomp and circumstance of Polynesian war, rushed, with yells, cries, and
shouts, to attack poor Puss. He, however, daunted by their grim and
strange array, did not await their approach. The moment the door was open,
a leap and a bound--he was gone! _Abiit, evasit, erupit._ As he darted
through the assembled warriors, they fled precipitately in all directions.

The religious system of the Samoans, according to Mr. Williams, differed
in essential respects from that which prevailed at the Tahitian, Society,
and other Polynesian groups. They had neither maraes nor temples, nor
altars nor offerings; and consequently none of the barbarous and
sanguinary rites to which we have alluded. They shed no human blood; they
strewed no maraes with the skulls and bones of their victims; they
dedicated no sacred groves to brutal and sensual observances. Hence the
Rarotongans denounced them for their impiety, and “a godless Samoan” was a
proverbial phrase. Yet they were not without their superstitions; they had
lords many and gods many; and their credulity was as marked as that of any
other savage race on whom the light of Christianity and civilisation had
never shone.

In considering the religion of the Polynesians, there are four points to
be glanced at; 1, their gods; 2, their cultus; 3, their ideas of
immortality; and 4, the means by which they hoped to secure future
happiness.

1. Their gods consisted of three kinds: their deified ancestors, their
idols, and their etus.

Some of their ancestors were deified, after the Greek fashion, for the
supposed boons they had conferred upon mankind. For example, it was
believed that the world was formerly in darkness; but that the sun, moon,
and stars were created by one of their progenitors in a manner too absurd
to be described. Also, that the heavens were of old so close to the earth
that men could not walk erect, and were compelled to crawl; until a great
man conceived the idea of elevating them to their present height; which he
effected by the employment of almost Herculean energy. By his first effort
he raised them to the top of a tender plant, called _teve_, about four
feet high. There they remained until he had refreshed and rested himself.
A second effort, and he upheaved them to the height of a tree called
_kanariki_, which is as tall as the sycamore. His third attempt carried
them to the summits of the mountains; and after a long period of repose,
and another tremendous struggle, he raised them to their present altitude,
at which they have ever since remained. This wonderful personage was
appropriately apotheosized; and down to the date of the introduction of
Christianity, was everywhere worshipped as “the Elevator of the Heavens.”

The fisherman had his god; so had the husbandman, the voyager, the
warrior, the thief; mothers dedicated their offspring to one or other of
these numerous Powers, and chiefly to Hero, the god of thieves, and to
Oro, the god of war. “If to the former, the mother, while pregnant, went
to the marae with the requisite offerings, when the priest performed the
ceremony of catching the spirit of the god with the snare previously
described, and infusing it into the child even prior to its birth, that it
might become a clever and desperate thief. Most parents, however, were
anxious that their children should become brave and renowned warriors.
This appears to have been the very summit of a heathen mother’s ambition,
and to secure it, numerous ceremonies were performed before the child was
born; and after its birth it was taken to the marae, and formally
dedicated to Oro. The spirit of the god was then caught, and imparted to
the infant, and the ceremony was completed by numerous offerings and
prayers. At New Zealand, stones were thrust down the throat of the babe,
to give it a stony heart, and make it a dauntless and desperate warrior.”

This dedication of the child to the sanguinary war-god points to a
condition of society in which life was verily and indeed a battle, and
every one had to hold his own by right of a strong arm and a reckless
spirit. There was no room for the feeble in such a system; they crawled
aside to die; or were trampled to death in the rush and press of the
crowd. Civilisation has its victims; but assuredly they are few in
comparison to the thousands and tens of thousands destroyed by the
merciless tyranny of Heathenism. Civilisation does at least teach us our
duties towards our neighbours; while Savage Man had little sentiment of
compassion or affection for father or brother, daughter or wife.

The second class of objects regarded with religious veneration was
_Idols_. In every island and district these were different; but in every
island and district they abounded. Some were large, some small; some
hideous in the extreme, others were almost comely. No fixed pattern
appears to have been before the idol-makers; each man followed his own
fancy.

The third object of worship was the _Etu_,--that is, some bird, fish, or
reptile, in which the natives believed that a spirit resided. This form of
idolatry was more in vogue in the Samoas than in any other island-group.
Among the Samoans, the objects regarded as _etus_ were, indeed, almost
innumerable, and frequently they were of extraordinary triviality. It was
not unusual to see a chief, in other matters really intelligent, muttering
his prayers to a fly, an ant, or a lizard, if such chanced to crawl or
alight in his presence.

“On one occasion,” says Mr. Williams, “a vessel from New South Wales
touched at the Samoas, the captain of which had on board a cockatoo that
talked. A chief was invited to the ship, and shortly after he entered the
cabin the captain began a colloquy with the bird. At this he was struck
with amazement, trembled exceedingly, and immediately sprang upon deck,
leaped into the sea, and called aloud to the people to follow him,
affirming the captain had his _devolo_ on board, which he had both seen
and heard. Every native dashed at once into the sea, and swam to shore
with haste and consternation; and it was with much difficulty that they
could be induced to revisit the ship, as they believed that the bird was
the captain’s _etu_, and that the spirit of the devil was in it.”

Another illustration is given by Mr. Williams:--

“While walking,” he says, “on one occasion, across a small uninhabited
island, in the vicinity of Tongatabu, I happened to tread upon a nest of
sea snakes. At first I was startled at the circumstance, but being assured
that they were perfectly harmless, I desired a native to kill the largest
of them as a specimen. We then sailed to another island, where a number of
heathen fishermen were preparing their nets. Taking my seat upon a stone
under a tou tree, I desired my people to bring the reptile, and dry it on
the rocks; but as soon as the fishermen saw it, they raised a most
terrific yell, and, seizing their clubs, rushed upon the Christian
natives, shouting: ‘You have killed our god, you have killed our god!’ I
stepped in between them, and with some difficulty stayed their violence,
on the condition that the reptile should be immediately carried back to
the boat.”

The Polynesian islanders, or most of them, seem to have cherished a
general idea of a Supreme Being, whom they regarded as the Creator of all
things and the Author of their mercies. They called him Tangatoa; and at
their great feasts, before the food was distributed, an orator would
rise, and after enumerating each viand on the board, would say: “Thank you
for this, great Tangatoa!”

The worship or _cultus_ observed by the islanders included prayers,
offerings of pigs, fish, vegetables, canoes, native cloth, and the like,
and incantations. To these must be added the dread rite of human
sacrifice. Of the style of their addresses to the gods one may form an
idea from the formula with which they were accustomed to conclude it.
Having presented the gift, the priest would say: “Now, if you are a god of
mercy, come this way, and be propitious to our offering; but if you are a
god of anger, go outside the world,--you shall have neither temples,
offerings, nor worshippers here.”

As in other savage countries, they sought to propitiate the gods by
inflicting physical injuries upon themselves. The Sandwich Islanders, in
performing some of their rites, would knock out their front teeth; the
Friendly Islanders would cut off one or two of the bones of their little
fingers. So common was the latter practice, that few were to be found who
had not in this way mutilated their hands. One missionary relates that, on
one occasion, a chief’s daughter,--a fine young woman about eighteen years
of age,--was standing by his side, when he observed by the condition of
the wound that she had recently performed the ceremony. Taking her hand,
he asked why she had cut off her finger? There was a touch of pathos in
her reply. Her mother was ill, and fearing lest she should die, she had
mutilated herself in the hope the gods would preserve her life. “Well, and
how did you do it?” “I took a sharp shell, and worked it about until the
joint was separated, and then I allowed the blood to stream from it. This
was my offering to persuade the gods to restore my mother.” One cannot
doubt the genuineness of the filial affection which could make such a
sacrifice, though we may wish that it had been more wisely exercised.

When a second offering was required, the votary severed the second joint
of the same finger. If a third or fourth were demanded, he amputated the
same bones of the other little finger; and when he had no more joints that
he could conveniently spare, he would rub the stumps of his mutilated
fingers with rough stones, until the blood again streamed from the wounds.

Human sacrifices, as we have said, were very numerous, especially in the
Henry, the Tahitian, and the Society island groups. At the so-called Feast
of Restoration (_Raumatavchi raa_,) no fewer than seven victims were
required. It was always celebrated after an invading army had forced the
inhabitants to retreat to the mountains, and had desecrated the maraes by
cutting down the branches of the sacred trees, and cooking their food with
them, and with the wooden altars and decorations of the sacred place.

At the inauguration of their greatest kings, the islanders used what was
called _Maro ura_, or the red sash. This was a piece of network, about six
feet long and seven inches wide, upon which the red feathers of the
parroquet were neatly fastened. A chief could receive no more honourable
appellation than that of _Arii maro ura_, “King of the Red Sash.” A new
piece, about eighteen inches long, was attached at every sovereign’s
inauguration; and on all such occasions several human victims were
required. A sacrifice was made, first for the _mau raa tite_, or the
extension of the network upon pegs, in order to attach to it the new
piece. A second was necessary for the _fatu raa_, or actual attachment;
and a third for the _piu raa_, or twitching the sacred relic off the pegs.
These ceremonies not only invested the sash itself with peculiar
solemnity, but also rendered the chiefs who wore it more important in the
eyes of the people. Well might it be so, when the thing was dyed, as it
were, in innocent human blood.

Human sacrifices were also offered on the breaking out of war. Mr.
Williams remarks that a correct idea of the extent to which this system is
carried may be obtained from a relation of the circumstances under which
the last Tahitian victim fell, immediately prior to the introduction of
Christianity. Pomare, king of Tahiti, was on the point of fighting a
battle which would assure his supremacy or deprive him of his dominions.
It became to him, therefore, a matter of the highest concern to propitiate
the gods by the most valuable offerings he could command. For this
purpose, rolls of native cloth, pigs, fish, and immense quantities of
other food were presented at the maraes; but the gods (or their priests)
would not be satisfied; a human victim was demanded. Pomare, therefore,
sent two of his messengers to the house of the victim, whom he had marked
for the occasion. On reaching the place they inquired of the wife where
her husband was, and she, in her innocence, gave the required explanation.
“Well,” they continued, “we are thirsty; give us some cocoa-nut water.”
She had no nuts in the house, she replied, but they were at liberty to
climb the trees, and take as many as they desired. They then requested her
to lend them the _O_,--a piece of ironwood, about four feet long and an
inch and a half in diameter, with which the natives open the cocoa-nut.
She cheerfully consented, little suspecting that she was placing in their
murderous hands the instrument which, in a few moments, was to inflict a
fatal blow on her husband’s head. Upon receiving the _O_, the men left the
house, and went in search of their victim; and the woman, her suspicions
being excited, followed them shortly afterwards, reaching the scene just
in time to see the blow inflicted, and her husband fall.

She rushed forward to take a last embrace, but was immediately seized and
bound hand and foot, while her husband’s body was placed in a long basket
made of cocoa-nut leaves, and carried from her sight. The sacrificers were
always exceedingly careful to prevent the wife, or daughter, or any female
relative from touching the corpse; for so polluting were females
considered, that a victim would have been desecrated by a woman’s touch or
breath, to such a degree as to have rendered it unfit for an offering to
the gods.

While the men were bearing their victim to the marae, he recovered from
the stunning effect of the blow, and, bound as he was in the cocoa-nut
leaf basket, said to his murderers: “Friends, I know what you are about to
do with me; you are about to kill me, and offer me as a _tabu_ to your
savage gods; and I also know that it is useless for me to beg for mercy,
for you will not spare my life. You may kill my body, but you cannot hurt
my soul; for I have begun to pray to Jesus, the knowledge of Whom the
missionaries have brought to our island: you may kill my body, but you
cannot hurt my soul.”

This address did not move the compassion of his murderers. Laying their
victim on the ground with a stone under his head, they crushed it to
pieces with another. It appears that he had been selected as a victim
because he had “begun to pray for JESUS;” and it is not unjust, therefore,
to claim for this poor Tahitian savage a place in the noble army of
martyrs.

“The manner in which human victims were sought,” says Williams, “is
strikingly illustrative of many passages of Scripture which portray the
character of heathenism. As soon as the priest announced that such a
sacrifice was required, the king despatched messengers to the chiefs of
the various districts, and upon entering the dwelling they would inquire
whether the chief had a _broken calabash_ at hand, or a _rotten
cocoa-nut_. These and sinister terms were invariably used, and well
understood, when such applications were made. It generally happened that
the chief had some individual on his premises whom he intended to devote
to this horrid purpose. When, therefore, such a request was made, he would
notify, by a motion of the hand or head, the individual to be taken. The
only weapon with which these procurers of sacrifices were armed, was a
small round stone concealed in the hollow of their hand. With this they
would strike their victim a stunning blow upon the back of the head, when
others who were in readiness would rush in and complete the horrid work.
The body was then carried, amid songs and shouts of savage triumph, to the
marae, there to be offered to the gods. At other times, the king’s gang of
desperadoes would arm themselves with spears, surround the house of their
victim, and enjoy the sport of spearing him through the apertures between
the poles which encircled the house. In these circumstances, the object of
their savage amusement, frenzied with pain and dread, would rush from one
part of the house to the other; but wherever he ran he found the spear
entering his body; and at length, perceiving no possibility of escape, he
would cover himself in his cloth, throw himself upon the floor, and wait
until a spear should pierce his heart.”

The Polynesian ideas of a future state were sufficiently curious. While
believing in its existence, the natives had no conception of the value and
immortality of the soul, no conception of the Everlasting. According to
the Tahitians, there were two places of existence for separated spirits:
one called _Roohutu noanoa_, or sweet-scented Roohutu, which in many
points resembled the paradise of the Rarotongans; and the other was
_Roohutu namu-namua_, or foul-scented Roohutu, of which it is impossible
to furnish a description. According to the Rarotongans, paradise was a
very long house, surrounded with beautiful shrubs and flowers, unfading,
and of perpetual sweetness; its inmates enjoyed a beauty which never
waned, and a youth which never waxed old, while passing their days,
without weariness, in dancing, merriment, and festivity. This was the
highest idea of Heaven and future blessedness to which they could attain,
and was as materialistic as that of the Mohammedans.

It was not necessary that a man should live a pure, true, and noble life
to gain admission to the Polynesian paradise, nor was he excluded from it
on account of his sins. In order to pass the departed spirit into elysium,
the corpse was dressed in the best attire the relatives could provide, the
head was wreathed with flowers, and other decorations were added. A pig
was then baked whole, and placed on the deceased’s body, surrounded by a
pile of vegetable food. After this, supposing the departed to have been a
son, the father would deliver some such speech as the following:--“My son,
when you were alive I treated you with kindness, and when you were taken
ill I did my best to restore you to health; and now you are dead, there’s
your _momoe o_, or property of admission. Go, my son, and with that gain
an entrance into the palace of Tiki, and do not come to this world again
to disturb or alarm us.” Body, pig, and food would then be buried; and, if
the kinsman received no contrary intimation within a few days of the
interment, they believed that the offerings had obtained for the departed
the desired admission. But if a cricket were heard on the premises, it was
considered an ill omen, and they would utter the dismalest howls, and such
expressions as the following: “Oh, our brother! his spirit has not entered
the Paradise; he is suffering from hunger, he is shivering with cold!” The
grave would immediately be opened, and the offering repeated,--generally
with success.

The sacrifices of the Fijians are of a costlier character. The Fijian
chiefs had from twenty to a hundred wives, according to their rank; and at
the interment of a principal chief, the body was laid in state “upon a
spacious lawn,” in the presence of a great crowd of interested spectators.
After the natives had exercised all the taste and skill at their command
in adorning her person, the principal wife would walk out and take her
seat near her husband’s body. A rope was passed round her neck; eight or
ten powerful men pulled at it with all their strength until she died of
suffocation; and the body was then laid by that of the chief. This done, a
second wife seated herself in the same place; the process of strangulation
was repeated, and she, too, died. A third and a fourth became voluntary
sacrifices in the same manner; and all were interred in a common grave,
one above, one below, and one on either side of the husband. The motive of
this barbarous practice was said to be, that the spirit of the chief might
not be lonely in its passage to the invisible world, and that by such an
offering its happiness might be at once secured.[55]

       *       *       *       *       *

The Earl of Pembroke, in his light, gossipy book entitled, “South Sea
Bubbles,” describes a visit which he paid to one of the old sacrificial
_maraes_, or inclosures, in the island of Raiatea.

“Strange places they were,” he says; “built of enormous slabs of rock or
coral, arranged in an oblong shape, and the space inside them filled with
shingle and coral, so as to form a platform about eight feet high. I think
the largest was about fifty yards long; we scrambled up on to it by help
of a tree, and stood on the spot stained with so much blood shed in the
_name_ of religion. What horrible stories those stones could tell if they
could speak!...

“What made the human sacrifices of the Society Islands so strangely
ghastly and horrible, was the fact that the wretched victim was always
chosen from one of certain families, set apart for that special purpose
for generation after generation for ever. How this caste originated I do
not know. Many of these families used to put to sea secretly in canoes,
preferring an almost certain death by drowning or starvation to the
terribly uncertain fate that was always hanging over their heads.

“When a man came to the priests to beg some heavenly, or rather infernal,
favour, they would tell him, either from whim, malice, or some reason best
known to themselves, that the god required a human sacrifice, and naming
the victim, present the supplicant with the death-warrant in the shape of
a sacred stone. He hides this carefully somewhere about him, and
collecting a few friends, seeks out the doomed man. At last they find him
sitting lazily under a tree or mending his canoe, and squatting down round
him begin talking about the weather, fishing, or what not. Suddenly a hand
is opened--the death stone discovered to his horrified view. He starts up
terror-stricken, and tries to escape--one short, furious struggle and he
is knocked down, secured, and carried off to the merciless priests. Ugh!
it is an ugly picture.”[56]




CHAPTER XIII.

_THE FIJI ISLANDERS._


The annexation of the Fiji Islands to the British empire lends to the
practices and beliefs of their inhabitants a peculiar interest, though to
a great extent these have been abandoned since the establishment of
Christianity.

Their creed is undiluted polytheism; their pantheon is full of all kinds
of gods, differing in rank and power, and very widely represented on earth
by some animate or inanimate object. Each Fijian has a god of his own,
under whose care he supposes himself to be placed. They do not seem to
have any religious teaching; but they have a priesthood, and that
priesthood has, of course, its traditional formulas of worship. But
nothing like regular worship, as Christians understand the phrase, is
accepted or observed, and the Fijian religion is really a superstition,
because its sole inspiring motive is fear. This motive the priests
carefully develope, making it the basis of their claims and the source of
their influence.

No man can gain access to the gods except through the priests; and the
priests insist upon liberal offerings. When the worshipper comes upon
questions of importance, the _Soro_ or sacrifice consists of whales’ teeth
and large quantities of food. For matters of inferior moment, the god is
content with a mat, a club, a spear, or a tooth, or even young nuts coated
with turmeric powder. On one occasion, when the chief Tuikilakila
solicited the help of the Somo-somo gods in war, he built a large new
temple to the war-god, and presented a quantity of cooked food, numerous
turtles, and whales’ teeth.

Part of the offering, or _sogaria_, is set apart for the god, and the rest
forms a feast to which everybody is invited. The god’s portion, as the
reader will immediately conclude, is eaten by the priest and old men, but
to the younger members of the community is strictly _tapu_.

Strangers who desire to consult a god begin by cutting a pile of firewood
for the table. Sometimes only a whale’s tooth and a dish of yams are
presented. It is not necessary that the offering should be made in the
temple. Mr. Williams speaks of priests to whom the inspiration came in a
private house or in the open air.

He who designs to consult the oracle dresses and anoints himself, and,
attended by his friends, goes to the priest, who, we will suppose, has
been previously informed of the intended visit, and is lying near the
sacred corner, preparing his response. When the votary arrives, the priest
rises and sits so that his back is near the white cloth by which the god
visits him, while the others occupy the opposite side. The votary presents
a whale’s tooth, states the object of his visit, and expresses a hope that
the god will regard him with favour. Sometimes in front of the tooth is
placed a dish of scented oil, with which the priest anoints himself, and
then receives the tooth, eyeing it with deep and serious attention.

Unbroken silence follows. The priest, says Mr. Williams, grows absorbed in
thought, and all gaze upon him with unwavering steadfastness. In a few
minutes he trembles; his face appears slightly distorted, and twitching
movements are seen in his limbs. These increase to a violent muscular
action, which spreads until the whole frame is strongly convulsed, and the
man shivers as with an ague fit. In some islands, adds Mr. Williams, this
is accompanied with sobs and murmurs, the veins expand, and the
circulation of the blood is quickened.

The priest is now possessed by his god, and all his words and actions are
henceforth considered as the god’s and not his own. Shrill cries of “Koi
au! Koi au!” (It is I! It is I!) fill the air, and are supposed to
indicate the deity’s approach. While delivering the oracle, the priest’s
eyes stand out and roll, as if a frenzy had seized him; his voice is
unnatural and his face pallid; his lips turn white; his breathing is
laboured; and his whole appearance resembles that of “a furious madman.”
The perspiration streams from every pore; the tears start from his
strained eyes. But by degrees the symptoms disappear, and the priest
stares around with purposeless gaze. Then as the god says “I depart,” he
throws himself down violently on the mat, or suddenly beats the ground
with a club; whereupon those at a distance are informed by blasts on the
conch, or the discharge of a musket, that the deity has returned into the
world of spirits.

It would be a mistake to conclude that in these scenes the priest-actor is
always a conscious impostor; he is frequently the victim of his own
imagination, which he stimulates into an excess of frenzy.

The Fijians conceive that the way to Buruto, or Heaven, is impeded by many
difficulties, except for the great chiefs, and that, therefore, the only
certain plan for a man of inferior rank is to impose upon the god with a
lie,--declaring himself to be a chief with so much earnestness that the
god believes him, and allows him to pass! Probably in no other creed is
admission to heaven made to depend upon a lie! With his war club and a
whale’s tooth on his shoulder, the spirit journeys to the world’s end.
There grows the sacred pine, at which the spirit hurls his whale’s tooth.
If he miss the mark, his journey comes to an abrupt termination; if he hit
it, he travels onward until he reaches the spot where the spirits of the
women murdered at his death await his arrival.

With these faithful attendants he goes forward, but is opposed by a god
called Ravuyalo, against whom he employs his club. If he be defeated, the
god kills and eats him; if he conquer, he again goes forward until he
falls in with a canoe. Embarking, he is conveyed to the celestial heights
where dwells the supreme god, Ndengei. Over the brink of the cliff
stretches the long-steering oar of the god’s canoe. He is asked his name
and rank, and to this inquiry he replies with a detailed and very
imaginative recital of his greatness and opulence, the heroic deeds he has
achieved, the devastation he has effected, and the realms over which he
has ruled. He is then commanded to seat himself on the blade of the oar,
and, if his story have met with credence, he is borne aloft into Buruto;
if Ndengei disbelieves it, the oar is tilted up, and he is hurled down for
ever into the watery depths of blackness.

Bachelors are not admitted into Buruto, because as we have stated, the
spirit waits for his wives, to prove that he is married. And if an
unmarried man venture on the journey, a goddess called the Great Woman,
throws herself in his way. She bears towards bachelors an implacable
hatred, and no sooner sees one than she springs upon him and tears him to
pieces. In her haste she sometimes misses him; but even then he has to
contend against another god, who conceals himself by the side of the path,
and as the bachelor spirit passes by, leaps upon him, and dashes him
against a stone.

There is a ghastliness about the funeral ceremonies of the Fijians which
far surpasses even the dreary desolation of those in vogue among
ourselves.

In common with several other savage tribes they hold that men and women
who have grown decrepit and infirm have lived their lives, and should
withdraw from this world of activity. Accordingly though they may be
neither dead nor dying, preparations are made for their interment. And it
seems that the moribund themselves do not object to this summary
anticipation of the moment of dissolution; on the contrary, when they
become sensible of infirmity, they invite their sons to strangle them.
While the sons, far from objecting to an act of parricide, will intimate
to their aged parents, if they delay the request, that they have lived
long enough, and that it will be well for them to enjoy the rest of the
grave. On both sides this singular conduct is due apparently to the Fijian
belief that the condition of the spirit in the next world will exactly
resemble that of the individual in this; and consequently everybody is
desirous to cross the threshold while he retains some degree of activity
of body.

Alone we must die, but we need not pass alone into the spirit-world! Such
is the conviction of the Fijians, and accordingly they provide a dead
chief with attendants, by strangling at his grave his favourite wives. And
they slay a valiant warrior that he may precede him on his journey, and do
battle for him with all evil spirits or demons. These victims are called
“grass,” and lie at the bottom of the chieftain’s grave; the wives decked
out in fleecy folds of the softest masi, the servants with their various
implements in their hands, and the warrior equipped for the strife, with
his favourite club by his side. No resistance is offered by any one of the
sufferers; no attempt is made to escape; all seem to contend for the
honour of escorting their chief into the other world.

Mr. Williams was present at the funeral of the King of Somo-somo in
August, 1845. Age was beginning to tell upon him, but there was no
immediately dangerous symptom, and on the 21st, when Mr. Williams visited
him, he was better than he had been for two or three days before. Judge,
then, of the missionary’s surprise, when, on the 24th, he was informed
that the king was dead, and that preparations were being made for his
interment, he could scarcely believe the report. The ominous word
“preparations” induced him to hasten at once to the scene of action, but
his utmost speed failed to bring him to Nasima, the king’s house, in time.
The moment he entered it was evident that, as far as concerned two of the
women, he was too late to save their lives. The effect of that ghastly
scene was overwhelming. Scores of deliberate murderers in the very act
surrounded him; yet was there no confusion, and the unearthly horrid
stillness was broken only by an occasional word from him who presided.
Nature seemed to lend her aid to enhance the impression of horror; there
was not a breath in the air, and the half subdued light in that hall of
death revealed every object with unusual distinctness.

“All was motionless as sculpture, and”--writes Mr. Williams--“a strange
feeling came upon me, as though I was myself becoming a statue. To speak
was impossible; I was unconscious that I breathed; and involuntarily, or
rather against my will, I sank to the floor, assuming the cowering posture
of those who were actually engaged in murder. My arrival was during a
hush, just at the crisis of death, and to that strange silence must be
attributed my emotions; and I was but too familiar with murders of this
kind, neither was there anything novel in the apparatus employed.
Occupying the centre of that large room were two groups, the business of
whom could not be mistaken.

“All sat on the floor; the middle figure of each group being held in a
sitting posture by several females, and hidden by a large veil. On either
side of each veiled figure was a company of eight or ten strong men, one
company hauling against the other a white cord which was passed twice
round the neck of the doomed one, who thus in a few minutes ceased to
live. As my self-command was returning to me the group furthest from me
began to move; the men slackened their hold, and the attendant women
removed the large covering, making it into a couch for the victim.”

Mr. Williams now repaired to the hut of the deceased king, to intercede
with his successor on behalf of the other intended victims. Judge of his
surprise and horror to find the king still alive. He was very feeble, it
was true, but he retained complete consciousness, and occasionally put his
hand to his side as his cough shook and tortured him. The young king
seemed overcome with grief, and embracing Mr. Williams, said: “See, the
father of us two is dead.” He regarded his father’s movements, even his
speaking and taking food, as mechanical; in his view, the spirit had
departed, and nothing remained but an infirm, and, therefore, valueless
body. The preparations for the funeral were not interrupted, and Mr.
Williams could obtain no hearing for his expostulations. The young chief’s
principal wife and an attendant busily dusted his body with black powder,
as if dressing him for the war-dance; and bound his arms and legs with
long rolls of white masi, tied in rosettes, with the ends streaming on the
ground. He was attired in a new masi robe, which fell about him in ample
folds; his head was decorated with a scarlet handkerchief, arranged
turban-wise, and ornamented with white cowrie-shells, strings of which
flashed on his dusky arms; while round his neck depended an ivory
necklace, composed of long curved claw-like pieces of whale’s teeth.

At the sound of a couple of conch-shells the chiefs present did homage, so
to speak, to their new king, who was still deeply affected, and gazing on
the body of one of the murdered women, his father’s eldest and most loving
wife, exclaimed: “Alas, Moalivu! There lies a woman truly unwearied, not
only in the day but the night also; the fire consumed the fuel gathered by
her hands. If we awoke in the still night, the sound of her feet reached
our ears, and if harshly spoken to, she continued to labour only.
Moalivu! alas, Moalivu!”

The bodies of the victims were then wrapped up in mats, placed on a bier,
and carried out of the door; but the old king was borne through a gap
purposely made in the wall of the house. On arriving at the seaside, they
were deposited in a canoe, the old king reclining on the deck, attended by
his wife and the chief priest, who fanned away the insects. The place of
sepulture was at Weilangi. There, in a grave lined with mats, were laid as
“grass” the murdered women. Upon them was stretched the dying king, who
was stripped of his regal ornaments, and completely enveloped in mats.
Lastly, the earth was heaped over him, though he was still alive. At the
end of the ceremony the new king returned to his “palace,” not unmindful
of the fact that in the course of time a similar fate awaited himself.

       *       *       *       *       *

Since the annexation of the Fiji Islands, such a scene as this has, of
course, become impossible. Cannibalism, to which the Fijians were largely
addicted, has also, been prohibited. Lord George Campbell, in his “Log of
the Challenger,” written in 1876, says that those who lived in the
interior still cherished cannibalistic tendencies, and he seems to have
been of opinion that cannibalism prevailed in those parts to which
missionaries or civilisation had not yet penetrated. But under the firm
rule of Sir Arthur Gordon it was doubtless extirpated.

Even in Lord George Campbell’s time the change effected by the sacred
influence of Christianity had been “great indeed.” A party of English
officers made a boat-excursion to the large island of Bau, where the king
lived. They found him dressed in a waist-cloth, lying on his face in a
hut, reading the Bible. Not far distant were the great stones against
which they used to kill the sacrificial victims, battering their heads
against them till dead. There too they saw a great religious “maki-maki,”
hundreds of men and women dancing, and singing New Testament verses before
Wesleyan missionaries, who, sitting at a table, received the
money-offerings of their converts as they defiled before them dancing and
singing.

We have sketched a hideous scene belonging to the past, and associated
with the darkest superstitions of the Fijians. We shall adapt from Lord
George Campbell a more pleasing picture, in which the past mingles with
the present, and the old and the new are not unhappily blended.

The chronicler of the cruise of the “Challenger” was witness of a native
dance or “maki-maki,” given at Kandavu in honour of the English officers.
When he landed the first “set” had already begun, and torches, consisting
of bundles of palm branches tied together, threw a lurid light over the
savage scene. On a strip of grass in front of the huts were gathered the
dancers, and close around grouped picturesquely on the top of great piles
of cocoa-nuts, or squatting on the ground, were the natives of Kandavu and
the neighbouring villages, officiating as critics, but prepared in their
turn to take part in the wild revelry.

“Glorious Rembrandt effects, as the torches’ flames leapt and fell in the
still night air, bathing with ruddy glow that strange scene around,--the
semi-nude dusky natives chattering, laughing, glistening eyes and white
gleaming teeth, on the reed-built huts, on the foliage above, and flushing
redly up the white trunks of the cocoa-palms. Round a standing group of
tawny-hued boys and girls who formed the band, some two dozen men, dressed
in fantastic manner, their faces blackened, and skins shiny with cocoa-nut
oil, were dancing. Wound round their waists they wore great rolls of
tappa, or white cloth, falling nearly to the knees, and over these, belts
fringed with long narrow streamers of brightly coloured stuff--red,
yellow, and white, surging and rustling with every movement; on their
heads turbans of finely-beaten tappa, transparent and gauzy, piled high in
a peak; gaiters of long black seaweed or grass, strung with white beads;
anklets and armlets of large bone rings, or of beads worked in patterns;
tortoiseshell bracelets and bead necklaces, from which hung in front one
great curled boar’s tusk. Some are dressed better than others, but all in
the same wild style. Moving slowly in a circle round and round the band,
whose clapping and rollicking strain they accompanied by a loud droning
kind of chant, at the end of each stave chiming in with the band with a
simultaneous shout, a sudden swaying of the body, a loud hollow clap of
the hands, once or twice repeated, and a heavy stamp, stamp of the feet;
a moment’s halt and silence, broken plaintively by one of the singers,
quickly taken up by the remainder to a clapping, rattling, and vowely
measure, and again the dancers circle slowly round, swinging their arms
and bodies, clapping, shouting, and droning in faultless time together.”

The first dances were dances of peace; pantomimic representations of the
chief pursuits of a Fijian’s life, as, for instance, fishermen hauling in
their lines, or the tillers of the field planting tare and gathering in
their crops.

Next came the war dances, which reproduced the incidents of the past,
incidents never likely to be repeated under British rule. A solitary
singer began the strain, and the others gradually joined in,--clappingly,
jinglingly, bubblingly, slightly nasally, a strange ring audible
throughout, and not less audible the stirring boom of a bamboo drum.
Suddenly, from out the surrounding gloom, against which in strong contrast
stood the white stems of the cocoa-trees, and into the red light of the
torches, merged slowly one after another, in Indian file, a string of
“mad, savage-looking devils.” Crouching and bounding, now backwards, now
forwards, from side to side, they gradually approached. Their hands
carried great clubs, the tips of which were decked with white plumes of
silvery “reva-reva,” flashing whitely as they were whirled around; their
fantastic finery rustling loudly with every wild movement, eyeballs
glaring out from blackened faces, their motions sudden and simultaneous,
their splendid stalwart forms swelling with muscles and shining with
oil,--they looked “awfully savage and fine;” and to a captive bound and
about to be eaten, one would imagine well that the whole performance would
be thoroughly enjoyable.

“Now stealthily working their arms and clubs, as if feeling their victim,
then with a shout bounding forward, brandishing aloft their clubs,
suddenly, as if struck by some unseen hand, falling to the ground on
bended knee, swaying first to the right, then to the left, and bringing
their clubs down with an ominous thud; again leaping up, bounding back,
from side to side, then to the right-about, and all over the place; it is
impossible for me to attempt describing them, so I won’t. They were, I
suppose, braining enemies by the dozen, and as they worked themselves
into mad excitement, so the more they bounded, smashed their enemies’
heads, and were happy. Their drilling was admirable; standing in line with
the string, every club whirled as one, every bound and frantic motion went
together, and we are told they make fine soldiers, as far as drill is
concerned, from this idea of time that they have. In their dances they
were led by a small boy--a chief’s son, this function being their
prerogative,--a lithe tawny little savage, with a great mop of frizzled
yellow hair, and his face dabbed with charcoal. In his hands he carried an
enormous palm-leaf fan, with which he directed the dancers. Going through
all the movements of the dance, he at the same time careered over the
ground, now shouting loud words of command to the singers, and now to the
dancers, yards away on their flanks. He was simply splendid, flying about
like a demented demon, here, there, and everywhere, the dancers, whether
their backs were turned or not, all keeping exact time with him. As these
men appeared, so, slowly, still bounding voicelessly, terrifically about,
and whirling their clubs, they vanished into the darkness.”

Out of darkness cometh light, and a future, irradiated by the light of
Christianity, succeeds to the ghastly past of Fiji, with all its cruel and
odious superstitions.


NOTE ON THE POLYNESIAN ISLANDS.

_Exorcism._

When Captain Moresby, of H.M.S. Basilisk, visited Shepherd Isle, near the
Torres group, he found himself compelled to submit to a curious process of
exorcism before he was permitted to land.

A “devil-man,” fantastically painted, and adorned with leaves and flowers,
waded out to meet his boat, waving a bunch of palm leaves round his head,
and as the captain jumped on shore, the devil-man rushed at him, and
grasping his right hand, waved the palms round his head in the same
manner. It was evident that he meant no harm, and the captain therefore
offered no resistance. He placed the leaves in the captain’s right hand
and a small twig in his own mouth, and then, as if with a great effort,
drew out the twig,--which was supposed to extract the evil spirit,--and
blew violently, as if to hurry it away. Afterwards the captain held a twig
between _his_ teeth, and the devil-man repeated the process, all the while
showing signs of strong excitement.

“He led me then,” says Captain Moresby, “to the edge of the bush, and I
began to feel rather reluctant, and doubtful as to how all was going to
end, but thought I had better see it out. Here two sticks, ornamented with
leaves, were fixed in the ground, and bent to an angle at the top, with
leaves tied to the point, and round these sticks the devil-man and I raced
in breathless circles till I was perfectly dizzy. He, however, did not
seem to mind it at all, and presently flew off with me up a steep path
into the bush, where at a short distance we came to two smaller sticks
crossed; here he dropped my hand, and taking the bunch of palm leaves from
me, waved them, and sprang over the sticks and back again. Then placing
both his hands on my shoulders, he leaped with extraordinary agility,
bringing his knees to the level of my face at each bound, as if to show
that he had conquered the devil, and was now trampling him into the earth.
When he had leaped for awhile, he made signs that all was over, and we
walked back together to the officers, who had been rather anxiously
watching these singular proceedings. The natives, who had kept quietly
aloof, now came freely about us, and showed by their manner that they
considered us free of the island.”




CHAPTER XIV.

_THE RELIGION OF THE MAORIES._


We meet in New Zealand with that curious system of “taboo” or “tapu” which
prevails throughout the greater part of the Polynesian Archipelago; a
system evidently conceived in the interest of the priesthood, and forming,
to a great extent, the basis of its power.

We meet also with a recognition of the two Principles of Good and Evil,
whose antagonism colours the creed of almost every race.

The Good Spirit of the Maories is called Atua; the Evil Spirit, Wairua.
All evil spirits, or all the objects representing them, are known as
Wairuas, and all the emblems or types of the Good Spirit as Atuas; but
there is one supreme Goodness, one great and overruling God, to which the
name of Atua is also applied.

According to Mr. Angas, the _Kakariki_, or green lizard, is specially
venerated as an Atua. On one occasion, during the early days of Christian
mission work in New Zealand, a missionary was examining a phial of green
lizards, and a Maori entering the room, the missionary showed it to him.
Whereupon the Maori immediately exhibited all the signs of extreme terror,
and exclaiming, “I shall die! I shall die!” proceeded to crawl away on his
hands and knees. Any novel object, any object beyond the intelligence of
the Maories, they convert into an Atua. Thus, a barometer is an Atua,
because it indicates changes of weather; a compass, because it points to
the north; a watch, because it mysteriously records the progress of time.
Not to these typical atuas, however, does the Maori render the homage of
prayer and praise; this he reserves for the supreme and unseen Atua, and
offers through the agency of his priests or tohungas. It is to be feared
that these prayers are often unintelligible to those on whose behalf they
are offered, but the Maories do not the less heartily believe in them;
and, indeed, the history of religion all over the world presents
innumerable illustrations of the fact that faith is not incompatible with
ignorance. It is the very essence and secret of Superstition. Whether they
understand the prayers of the tohungas or not, they delight in their
frequent repetition, and insist upon their use in almost every
circumstance of life. They are generally accompanied by offerings of
animal and vegetable food, which, of course, become the perquisites of the
tohungas.

The Maori priesthood is hereditary, father transmits his office to son,
after carefully educating him in its duties. Dr. Dieffenbach was present
when an aged tohunga was giving a lesson to a neophyte. The old priest, he
says, was sitting under a tree, with part of a man’s skull, filled with
water, by his side. At intervals he dipped a green branch into the water,
and sprinkled the hand of a boy, who reclined at his feet, and listened
attentively to his recital of a long string of words. Dr. Dieffenbach
doubts the common statement that the prayers are often without meaning,
while agreeing that they are unintelligible to the majority of the
worshippers. He thinks they are couched in a language now forgotten; or,
what is more probable, that among the Maories as among many of the nations
of antiquity, the religious mysteries are carefully confined to a certain
class of men, who conceal them from the _profanum vulgus_, or reveal only
such portions as they think proper. The claims of the exponents of an
artificial creed must necessarily depend in a great degree upon the amount
of mystery in which they involve it. With the common people familiarity
breeds contempt; they venerate that only which they do not understand; it
is darkness and not light which moves their wonder, and excites their awe.

Devoid as it is of elevated attributes, the religion of the Maori rises
above some of the Polynesian creeds in its acknowledgment of the
immortality of man, though on this point its teaching is very vague.

The Maori believes that, after death, his soul enters the Reinga, or abode
of departed spirits; and, with an unwonted touch of poetry, he looks upon
shooting and falling stars as souls passing swiftly to this undiscovered
bourne; the entrance to which he supposes to lie beneath a precipice at
Cape Maria Van Diemen. The spirits in falling are supposed to rest
momentarily, in order to break the descent, against an ancient tree, which
grows about half way down. The natives were wont to indicate a particular
branch as being the halting-place of the spirits; but a missionary having
cut it off, the tree has of late diminished in sanctity.

The entrance to the Reinga is not accomplished by all spirits in the same
manner. Those of the chiefs ascend in the first place to the upper
heavens, where each chief leaves his left eye, this left eye becoming a
new star. Hence the custom in Maori warfare for the victor to eat the left
eye of a chief slain in battle, in the conviction that by this process he
absorbed into his own system the skill, sagacity, and courage of the
departed.

It is humiliating, perhaps, to record these illustrations of human folly;
but they are valuable as proofs of the depths to which Humanity descends
when unaided by the elevating influence of revealed religion.

According to the Maories, the soul is not confined absolutely within the
limits of the Reinga, but may at its will revisit “the glimpses of the
moon,” and converse with its former friends and kinsmen,--of course, only
through the medium of the tohungas. The latter are sometimes favoured with
a view of the spiritual visitor, who takes the form of a sunbeam or a
shadow, and speaks with a low whistling voice, like the sound of a light
air passing through trees. This voice is occasionally heard by the
uninitiated, but the language it speaks can be comprehended by none but
the tohungas.

       *       *       *       *       *

Respecting the wairuas, it is difficult to gather any satisfactory
information. The word “wairua” means either “a dream,” or “the soul,” and
Dr. Dieffenbach says it is chiefly used to signify the spirit of some
dead man or woman who is supposed to cherish a malignant feeling towards
the living. The wairuas frequent certain localities, such as
mountain-tops, which the Maori consequently takes good care not to visit.

       *       *       *       *       *

It is a necessary result of the Maori belief in atuas and wairuas that
these should foster a belief in witchcraft. Individuals of bolder and
stronger minds than the majority will always claim a special relationship
to the unseen Powers, and avail themselves of this pretended relationship
to work upon the popular imagination. Convince the ignorant of the
existence of evil deities, and he will listen readily to any who tell him
that they can shield him from their malignant influence. And then it
naturally follows, “as the night the day,” that all misfortunes arising
from unseen or unintelligible causes, will be attributed to witchcraft. A
vast--an almost boundless field is thus opened up to the practice of human
unscrupulousness and the weakness of human incredulity.

Let a Maori chief lose some valued article, or suffer from an attack of
illness, and he immediately concludes that he has been bewitched. Who has
bewitched him? He fixes, as a matter of course, on the individual whom he
conceives to be his enemy, and orders him to be put to death. Or he
resorts to some potent witch, and bribes her to exercise her influence to
remove the maleficent spell under which he is labouring.

According to Dr. Dieffenbach, the particular haunt of the witches is--or
rather _was_, for Christianity has rapidly extended its blessed power over
the population of New Zealand--a place called Urewera, in the North
Island, between Hawkes Bay and Taupo. The natives of this wild and
deserted district are reported to be the greatest witches in the country;
are much feared and studiously avoided by the neighbouring tribes. When
they come down to the coast, the natives there are almost afraid to oppose
their most extravagant demands, lest they should incur their displeasure.
It is said that they use the saliva of the people they design to bewitch,
and, therefore, visitors carefully conceal it, so as to deprive them of
the opportunity of working mischief. Yet, like the witches and sorcerers
of mediæval England, they appear to be more sinned against than sinning,
and by no means to deserve the ill reputation which attaches to them.

It is a curious fact, says Dr. Dieffenbach, which has been noticed in
Tahiti, Hawaii, and the Polynesian islands generally, that the first
intercourse of their inhabitants with Europeans produces civil war and
social degradation, but that a change of ideas is rapidly effected, and
the most ancient and apparently inveterate prejudices soon become a
subject of ridicule, and are swept away. The grey priest, or tohunga,
skilled in all the mysteries of witchcraft and native medical treatment,
readily yields in his attendance on the sick to every European who
possesses, or affects to possess, a knowledge of the science of surgery or
medicine, and laughs at the former credulity of his patient. It is evident
that, while deceiving others, he never deceived himself, and was well
aware of the futility of his pretended remedies.

When a New Zealand chief or his wife fell sick, the most influential
tohunga, or some woman enjoying a special odour of sanctity, was instantly
called in, and waited night and day upon the patient, sometimes repeating
incantations over him, and sometimes sitting in front of the house, and
praying. The following is the incantation which the priests profess to be
a cure for headache. The officiant pulls out two stalks of the _Pteris
esculenta_, from which the fibres of the root must be removed, and beating
them together over the patient’s head, says this chant. It is entitled, “A
prayer for the sick man, when his head aches: to Atua this prayer is
offered, that the sick man may become well.”

On the occasion of a chiefs illness, all his kith and kin gather around
his house, and give way to the loudest lamentations, in which the invalid
is careful to join. When the weeping and wailing capacities of one village
have been exhausted he is carried to another, and the process is repeated.
But in New Zealand, as elsewhere, the common lot cannot be averted by
sorrowing humanity; the sick man dies; and then all that remains to the
survivors is to show their respect and regret by such funeral pomp as they
are able to devise. They assemble round the dead body, after it has been
equipped in its bravest attire, and indulge in the most violent
demonstrations of grief,--partly feigned, no doubt, but partly sincere.
This luxury of woe, however, is chiefly accorded to the women, who display
that extravagance of passion we are accustomed to regard as characteristic
of the Southern nations. They throw themselves upon the ground, wrap their
faces and bodies in their mantles, shriek and sob aloud, wave their arms
frantically in the air, and finally gash and scar their skin with long,
deep cuts, which they fill in with charcoal until they become indelible
records of the loss they have sustained. Funeral orations, full of the
most vehement eulogies, and interrupted by complaints and reproaches
against the dead man for his unkindness in going away from them, are
incessantly delivered. These ceremonies completed, they place the corpse
in a kind of coffin, along with various emblems of the rank of the
departed, and leave it to decay.

The process of decomposition is completed in about seven or eight months;
the ceremony of the _hahunga_ then takes place. The friends and relatives
assemble; the bones are removed from the coffin, and cleaned; a supply of
provisions is passed around; a new series of funeral panegyric is spoken;
and the _tiki_, _merai_, and other symbols of the departed chieftain’s
headship are handed over to his eldest son, who is thus invested with his
father’s power and privileges.

The place where the dead body lies while undergoing decomposition, the
waki-tapu, as it is called, is frequently distinguished by peculiar signs,
and the neighbourhood left uninhabited. Mr. Angas describes a visit which
he paid to the village of Huriwonua. Its chief had died about six weeks
before the visit, and Mr. Angas, on arriving there, found it entirely
deserted. “From the moment the chief was laid beneath the upright canoe,
on which were inscribed his name and rank, the whole village, he says,
became strictly tapu, or sacred, and not a native, on pain of death, was
permitted to trespass near the spot. The houses were all fastened up, and
on most of the doors were inscriptions denoting that the property of such
an one remained there. An utter silence pervaded the place. After
ascertaining,” says Mr. Angas, “that no natives were in the vicinity of
the forbidden spot, I landed, and trod the sacred ground; and my footsteps
were probably the first, since the desertion of the village, that had
echoed along its palisaded passages.

“On arriving at the tomb, I was struck with the contrast between the
monument of the savage and that of the civilised European. In the erection
of the latter, marble and stone and the most durable of metals are
employed, while rapidly-decaying wood, red ochre, and feathers form the
decorations of the Maori tomb. Huriwonua having been buried only six
weeks, the ornaments of the _waki-tapu_, or sacred place, as those
erections are called, were fresh and uninjured. The central upright canoe
was thickly painted with black and red, and at the top was written the
name of the chief; above which there hung in clusters bunches of _kaka_
feathers, forming a large mass at the summit of the canoe. A double fence
of high palings, also painted red, and ornamented with devices in
arabesque work, extended round the grave, and at every fastening of flax,
when the horizontal rails were attached to the upright fencing, were stuck
two feathers of the albatross, the snowy whiteness of which contrasted
beautifully with the sombre black and red of the remainder of the
monument.”

We have entered at some length into an explanation of the system of Tapu,
or Taboo, in our remarks on the religion of the Polynesians. It prevails,
as we have already stated, in New Zealand; and though its disadvantages
are many, and it is capable of great abuse, it serves nevertheless as a
substitute for law, and to a large extent protects both life and property.
For, supported and enforced as it is by the superstitious feelings of the
people, it erects an insuperable barrier between possession and
acquisition; it plays the part of a social police; it maintains the moral
standard; it shields the feeble from the oppression of the strong. A man
quits his dwelling for his day’s work: he places the tapu mark on his
door, and thenceforward his dwelling is inviolate. Or he selects a tree
which will fashion into a good canoe; he distinguishes it with the tapu
mark, and it becomes his own. Civilisation has designed no more effectual
protection.

But like all restrictive and prohibitive systems, it is easily pushed to
an inconvenient excess, and made an instrument of extortion or oppression
in the hands of the chief or priest. It is much in favour, says Mr.
Williams, among the chiefs, who adjust it so that it sits easily on
themselves, while they use it to gain influence over those who are nearly
their equals; by means of it they supply their most important wants, and
command at will all who are beneath them. If any object touch a chief’s
garment it becomes tapu; so, too, if a drop of his blood fall upon it;
and, more particularly, it consecrates his head. To mention or refer to a
chief’s head is an insult. Mr. Angas says that a friend of his, in
conversing with a Maori chief about his crops, inadvertently said: “Oh, I
have some apples in my garden as large as that little boy’s head!”
pointing at the same time to the chief’s son. This reference was felt and
resented as a deadly insult, and it was only with the greatest difficulty
that the incautious speaker obtained forgiveness. So very much _tapu_ is a
chiefs head that, should he touch it with his own fingers, he must touch
nothing else until he has applied the hand to his nostrils and smelt it,
and thus restored to the head the virtue that departed from it when first
touched. The hair is likewise sacred; it is cut by one of his wives, who
receives every particle in a cloth, and buries it in the ground. The
operation renders _her_ tapu, for a week, during which time she is not
allowed to make use of her hands.

The carved image of a chief’s head is not less sacred than the head
itself. Dr. Dieffenbach says: “In one of the houses of Te Puai, the head
chief of all the Waikato, I saw a bust, made by himself, with all the
serpentine lines of the aroko, or tattooing. I asked him to give it to me,
but it was only after much pressing that he parted with it. I had to go to
his house to fetch it myself, as none of his tribe could legally touch it,
and he licked it all over before he gave it to me; whether to take the
tapu off, or whether to make it more strictly sacred, I do not know. He
particularly engaged me not to put it into the provision-bag, nor to let
the natives see it at Rotu-rua, whither I was going, or he would certainly
die in consequence.”

       *       *       *       *       *

Cannibalism is now extinct in New Zealand, having been crushed out by the
strong arm of British authority, and the ever-increasing influence of
British civilisation. But it was hard to die, and lingered down to a very
recent date. As practised by the Maories, it lost few of its repulsive
features. We must admit, however, that they did not indulge in it from a
craving after human flesh, nor in time of peace, but after battles, from a
belief that he who ate the flesh or blood, or even the left eye, of a
slain warrior assimilated in his system all his martial and manly
qualities. When the fight was at an end, the dead bodies were collected,
and with much rejoicing carried into the villages, where they were roasted
in the cook-houses, and duly eaten. But, first, the tohunga cut off a
portion of the flesh, and with certain incantations and mystic gestures,
suspended it upon a tree or pole, as an offering to the gods.

Mr. Angas describes one of the cooking-houses set apart for this horrid
orgy. It was erected by a Maori chief in the Waitahanui Pah; and when
visited by Mr. Angas, had happily ceased for some time to be used. The Pah
stands on a low swampy peninsula, which is washed on one side by the river
Waikato and on the other by the Taupo Lake. “The long façade of the Pah
presents an imposing appearance when viewed from the lake; a line of
fortifications, composed of upright poles and stakes, extending for at
least half a mile in a direction parallel to the water. On the top of many
of the posts are carved figures, much larger than life, of men in the act
of defiance, and in the most savage postures, having enormous protruding
tongues; and, like all the Maori carvings, these images, or waikapokos,
are coloured with kokowai, or red ochre.

“The entire pah is now (1863) in ruins, and has been made tapu by Te
Heuhen since its destruction. Here, then, all was forbidden ground; but I
eluded the suspicions of our natives, and rambled about all day amongst
the decaying memorials of the past, making drawings of the most striking
and peculiar objects within the pah. The cook-houses, where the father of
Te Heuhen had his original establishment, remained in a perfect state; the
only entrances to these buildings were a series of circular apertures, in
and out of which the slaves engaged in preparing the food were obliged to
crawl.

“Near to the cook-houses stood a carved patuka, which was the receptacle
of the sacred food of the chief; and nothing could exceed the richness of
the elaborate carving that adorned this storehouse.... Ruined
houses--many of them once beautifully ornamented and richly
carved--numerous _waki-tapu_, and other heathen remains with images and
carved posts, occur in various portions of this extensive pah; but in
other places the hand of Time has so effectually destroyed the buildings
as to leave them but an unintelligible mass of ruins. The situation of
this pah is admirably adapted for the security of the inmates: it commands
the lake on the one side, and the other fronts the extensive marshes of
Tukanu, where a strong palisade and a deep moat afford protection against
any sudden attack. Water is conveyed into the pah through a sluice or
canal for the supply of the besieged in times of war.

“There was an air of solitude and gloomy desolation about the whole pah,
that was heightened by the screams of the plover and the tern, as they
uttered their mournful cry through the deserted coasts. I rambled over the
scenes of many savage deeds.”

       *       *       *       *       *

Cannibalism, or to use the scientific term, anthropophagy, has its origin
in different causes, and assumes different forms. Among some of the savage
peoples it is, as among the Maories, simply the expression of a sanguinary
instinct, of an atrocious sentiment of revenge. Among others it originates
in a chronic condition of misery and famine. Yet, again, it is sometimes
connected with the custom of human sacrifices, as among the Aztecs, and
those who practise it come to esteem it a sacred duty, pleasing to their
deities, or even to the _manes_ of their hapless victims.

Unknown among the simple Eskimos, and, indeed, among all the hyperborean
races, anthropophagy prevails with more or less intensity among peoples
which have attained a rudimentary civilization.

Let us take, for example, the Khonds of Orissa, who keep up a system of
human sacrifice, absolutely elaborate in its details. Its primary
condition is that the victim, or Meriah, should be _bought_. Even if taken
in war, he must be sold and purchased before the priest will accept him.
No distinction is made as to age or sex; but the efficiency of the victim
seems to depend on the sum he costs, and therefore the healthy are
preferred to the feeble, and adults to children. The number consumed in a
twelvemonth must be very considerable; as the Khonds do not believe in the
success of any undertaking, or in the promise of their fields, unless a
Meriah is first offered.

The victims are kindly treated during the period of their captivity, which
is sometimes of considerable duration. In truth, a Meriah or dedicated
maiden is sometimes allowed to marry a Khond, and to live until she has
become twice or thrice a mother. Her children as well as herself are
destined to the sacrificial altar; but must never be slain in the village
in which they are born. To overcome this difficulty, one village exchanges
its Meriah children with another.

There are various modes of accomplishing the sacrifice. In Goomten the
offering is made to the Earth-god, Tado Pumor, who is represented by the
emblem of a peacock. For a month previous to the day of doom, the people
maintain an almost continuous revel, feasting and dancing round the
Meriah, who seems to enter into the festivity with as much zest as they
do. On the last day but one he is bound to a stout pole, the top of which
carries the peacock emblem of the Tado Pumor; and around him wheel and
wheel the revellers, protesting in their wild rude songs that they do not
murder a victim, but sacrifice one who has been fairly purchased, and
that, therefore, his blood will not be upon their heads. The Meriah, being
stupefied with drink, makes no answer; and his silence is interpreted as a
willing assent to his immolation. Next day he is anointed with oil, and
carried round the village; after which he is brought back to the post, at
the bottom of which a small pit has been dug. A hog is killed, and the
blood poured into the pit, and mixed with the soil until a thick mud is
formed. Into this mud the face of the Meriah is pressed until he dies from
suffocation. It should be added that he is always unconscious from
intoxication when brought to the post.

The zani, or officiating priest, cuts off a fragment of the victim’s
flesh, and buries it near the pit; as an offering to the earth; after
which the spectators precipitate themselves upon the body, hack it to
pieces, and carry away the fragments to bury in their fields as a
propitiation to the rural deities.

In Sumatra exists a tribe, that of the Battas, which has not only a
religion and a ceremonial worship, but a literature, a kind of
constitution, and a penal code. This code condemns certain classes of
criminals to be eaten alive. After the sentence has been pronounced by the
proper tribunal, two or three days are suffered to elapse, to give the
people time to assemble. On the day appointed, the criminal is led to the
place of execution, and bound to a stake. The prosecutor advances, and
selects the choicest morsel; after which the bystanders in due order
choose such pieces as strike their fancy, and, terrible to relate! hack
and hew them from the living body. At length the chief releases the poor
wretch from his long agony by striking off his head. The flesh is eaten on
the spot, raw or cooked, according to each man’s taste.

       *       *       *       *       *

We have seen that in some of the “sunny Eden-isles” of the Pacific, the
natives consider that they render a service to their aged and infirm
parents by putting them to death, and that, by eating them, they provide
the most honourable mode of sepulture. In others, as in New Zealand, the
belief prevails that a man, by devouring his enemy, gains possession of
all the virtues with which the latter may have been gifted. This
conviction is cherished by certain tribes on the river Amazon.

       *       *       *       *       *

But it seems clear that in the majority of cases, anthropophagy originates
in a constant scarcity of food, and in the lack of cattle and game; though
in some it may be true that the cannibals are attracted by the delicious
savour of human flesh, which they prefer to every other. Maury asserts
that among the Cobens of the Uaupis, man is regarded as a species of game,
and that they declare war against the neighbouring tribes solely for the
purpose of procuring a supply of human flesh. When they obtain more than
they require for their present need, they dry it and smoke it, and store
it away for future use.

In Africa, Captain Richard Burton discovered, on the shores of Lake
Tangauyika, a cannibal people, named the Worabunbosi, who fed upon
carrion, vermin, larvæ, and insects, and even carried their brutality to
such an extent as to eat raw and putrid human flesh. Although you may see
on every countenance, says this enterprising traveller,[57] the expression
of chronic hunger, the poor wretched, timid, stunted, degraded, foul, seem
far more dangerous enemies to the dead than to the living.

       *       *       *       *       *

We are speaking however of a barbarous custom which, from whatever cause
it may have arisen, is rapidly dying out. Owing to the constant advance of
the wave of civilisation, and to the vigorous efforts of our missionaries,
the practice of cannibalism, against which our better nature instinctively
rebels, is decaying even in the darkest and remotest regions of the globe.
In Polynesia, for instance, as in New Zealand, it is almost extinct. And
if we owed no other service to the heroic Soldiers of the Cross, this
result would of itself entitle them to our gratitude, the extermination of
Anthropophagy being the first step towards teaching man to reverence
humanity.




CHAPTER XV.

_THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS._


The general characteristics of the North American Indians, or the Red Men,
have been made familiar to us through the writings of travellers, and the
picturesque romances of Fenimore Cooper, the American novelist; though of
the latter it may be said, perhaps, that he has used bright colours too
uniformly, and introduced into his sketches too little shadow. The name by
which they are popularly known is, of course, ethnologically incorrect.
Just as, in speaking of the great Western Continent, our forefathers
employed the expression “the West Indies,” or the “Great Indies,” from a
mistaken conception of its geographical position, so they christened by
the term “Indians” all its aboriginal races; and the term has survived in
our common speech owing to its convenience.

Says De Maury: From the North Pole to Tierra del Fuego almost every shade
of human colouring, from black to yellow, finds its representatives.
According to their tribe, the Aborigines are of a brown-olive, a dark
brown, bronze, pale yellow, copper yellow, red, brown, and so on. Nor do
they differ less in stature. Between the dwarf-like proportions of the
Changos, and the tall stature of the Patagonians, we meet with a great
number of intermediary “sizes.” The contours of the body present the same
diversity. Some peoples, like those of the Pampas, are very long in the
bust; others, like the inhabitants of the Peruvian Andes, are short and
broad. So, too, with the shape and size of the head. Yet we recognize
between the various American populations an air of kinship, or certain
predominant and general features which distinguish them from the races of
the old world. As, for example, the pyramidal form of the head and the
narrowness of the forehead, characteristics of great antiquity among the
American populations, having been found in skulls discovered by Mr. Lund
in the caves of Brazil, in association with the bones of animals now
extinct.

In spite of this variety of type, we may divide the Aborigines of America
into two great races, of which one, at least, the Red Skins, is remarkable
for its complete homogeneity. The Red Skins,--with whom alone we shall
concern ourselves,--were formerly distributed over all the upper portion
of the American Continent; that is, over the territory of Canada and the
United States and the northern districts of Mexico. In the sixteenth
century they numbered, it is said, a million and a half of souls. The
“advance of civilisation,”--in other words, the greed and cruelty of the
white man,--have reduced them now to a few thousand families. A few years
more, and American rifles, brandy, poverty, and disease will have
virtually effected the extermination of a race, which has assuredly
merited the respect and recognition we are generally prone to render to
courage and endurance. True it is that our estimate of the Red Skins must
not be taken entirely from the imaginative pages of Chateaubriand and
Fenimore Cooper. The Deerskins, the Hawkeyes, and the Leatherstockings of
the novelist are ideal creations, the like of which have never been found
in the wildernesses of the West. Yet we cannot deny to the Indians a
character of true nobility and exceptional manliness. Their scorn of death
and pain, their stoical composure under tortures, the mere description of
which makes the blood of ordinary men run cold, their disdain of the
allurements of civilisation, their stern refusal of foreign supremacy,
their haughty pride, even their cold and calculated ferocity, are so many
traits which raise them to a higher platform than that occupied by most
savage races.

A hundred times in song, and romance, and drama have been portrayed the
manners of this remarkable people, their subtle stratagems in war and the
chase, the perseverance with which they hunt down their prey or enemy,
their astuteness, their impassiveness, their brooding revenge. Who has
not eagerly followed them in their unwearied wanderings across the rolling
prairies, and through the interminable forests? Who has not listened
eagerly, when seated round the watch-fire, with the calumet to their lips,
they have meditated on the chances of peace and war,--chief after chief
rising, with regal attitude and deliberate eloquence to take his part in
the stern debate? Who has not watched them in their furious
battle-charges, brandishing the dreadful tomahawk, and carrying off the
scalps of their defeated enemies to hang up in their wigwams as the
trophies of their prowess? Who has not breathlessly tracked them in their
pursuit of a flying foe, or in their skilful escape through the thick
brushwood from the pressure of some persistent antagonist? Assuredly this
was a race well worthy of attentive study; and their history, or the
narrative of their adventures, none can peruse without interest. There was
a strain of poetry in their faith, in their customs, in their language at
once laconic and picturesque, even in the names full of meaning which they
bestowed on each tribe, and chief, and warrior. We can hardly suppress a
feeling of regret that so much wild romance should have been swept off the
earth, unless we bring our minds to dwell upon the deep dark shades of the
picture, on their cruelty, perfidiousness, and lust. Even then our
humanity revolts from the treatment they have received at the hands of the
white man. Hunted from place to place like wild beasts, driven back from
one hunting-ground to another, brutalised by misery or drunkenness,
decimated by the diseases of civilisation, incapable of labour, the Red
Skins have struggled in vain against the irresistible onward movement of a
civilisation without bowels; a civilisation ill-adapted to attract and
persuade them, and more anxious to destroy than to assimilate.

The treatment of the Indians is a dark chapter in the history of the
United States. The great nations which were formerly the valued allies or
dreaded enemies of the European settlers, the Hurons, the Algonquins, the
Iroquois, the Natchez, the Leni-Lenapes, have entirely disappeared. The
wrecks of other but less important tribes still linger on the shores of
the great Northern lakes, in the woods and wildernesses of the Far West,
at the base of the Rocky Mountains, in Texas, in Arkansas, in California,
and in the northern provinces and deserts of Mexico. Such are the Sioux,
the Dacotahs, the Flatheads, the Big-Bellies, the Blackfoot, the Apaches,
the Comanches. The two latter people have been the most successful in
preserving their vitality. Their characteristics however are very diverse.
The Comanches are of a mild gentle nature, and eager to live on peaceable
terms with the whites. The Apaches, on the other hand, have vowed a
relentless hatred against the Pale Faces; they are the terror of the
_hacienderos_ (or farm proprietors) and gold seekers of Upper Mexico, and
the American journals to this day are full of their incursions, and their
acts of cruelty and brigandage.

Physiologically, the distinctive features of the Red Men are, in addition
to the colour of their skin and the pyramidal form of the head, the
prominency and arched outline of the nose, the width of the nasal
apertures, corresponding to a remarkable development of the olfactory
nerve, and the absence of beard.

The superstitions, or religious customs, of the Red Men are in themselves
a sufficiently interesting subject of study. We begin with an account of
the ceremony through which every one of their youths has to pass before he
is acknowledged to have entered upon manhood. Our knowledge of it is due
to Mr. Catlin, who, as a reputed “medicine-man,” lived for some time with
the Mandan tribe, and became acquainted with their most secret customs.

The object of this rite, which for savage cruelty seems unparalleled, is,
first, to propitiate the Great Spirit on behalf of the neophyte who
undergoes it, so that he may become a successful hunter and a valiant
warrior; and, second, to enable the leader and chief of the tribe, to
watch his behaviour, and determine whether he will be likely to maintain
its character and renown.

The Mandans, we must premise, cherish a legend of a flood which in times
long past inundated the earth, and of which only one man, who escaped in a
large canoe, was the survivor. In a large open space in the centre of the
village a representation of this canoe, a kind of tub, bound with wooden
hoops, and set up on one end, is carefully preserved.

The ceremony of initiation occurs once a year, at the season when the
willow-leaves under the river-bank burst from their shade, and bloom in
all their greenness. Early in the morning of the great day, a figure is
seen on the distant ridge of hills, slowly approaching the village.
Immediately the whole village is alive! The dogs are caught and muzzled;
the horses are brought in from the meadows; the bravos paint their faces
as if for battle, string their bows, feather their arrows, and grasp their
pointed spears. Then into the central area strides the visitor, his body
painted white, a plume of raven’s feathers waving on his head, a white
wolf’s skin flung across his stalwart shoulders, and in his hand a
mystery-pipe. The chief and his leading warriors immediately greet the new
comer, Nu-mohk-muck-a-nah, or the First Man, as he is called,--and conduct
him to the great medicine-lodge, which is open only on this occasion, and
now reeks with the fragrant odours of various aromatic herbs. The skulls
of men and bisons are solemnly laid on the floor; over the beams of the
timber roof are hung several new ropes, with a heap of strong wooden
skewers underneath them; and in the centre is raised a small daïs or
altar, on which the First Man deposits the medicine or mystery of the
tribe,--a profound, a sacred secret, known to none but himself.

To every hut in the village next stalks the First Man, pausing at the door
of each to weep aloud, and when the owner comes out, relating to him the
old, old story of the Flood, and of his own escape from it, and requiring
axe or knife as an offering to the Great Spirit. The demand is never
refused; and loaded with edged tools of various kinds, he returns to the
medicine-lodge. There they remain until the conclusion of the ceremonies,
when they are thrown into the river’s deepest pool.

Thus passes the first day, during which, as during the whole period of the
ceremony, an absolute silence prevails in the village. None know the place
where he sleeps, but on the second morning he re-enters the village, and
marches to the medicine-lodge, followed by a long train of neophytes, and
carrying his bow and arrows, shield, and medicine-bag, and each painted in
the most fantastic fashion. Hanging his weapons over his head, each man
silently seats himself in front of the lodge, and for four days maintains
his position, speaking to none, and neither eating, drinking, nor
sleeping. At the outset, the First Man kindles his pipe at the fire that
burns in the centre of the lodge, and harangues the neophytes, exhorting
them to be brave and patient, and praying the Great Spirit to grant them
strength to endure their trial.

Summoning an old medicine-man, he then appoints him to the charge of the
ceremonies, and as a symbol of office hands him the mystery-pipe. After
which he takes leave of the chiefs and their people, promising that he
will return next year to re-open the lodge, and with slow and stately step
passes out of the village, and disappears beyond the hills.

The master of the ceremonies hastens to put himself in the centre of the
lodge, where he re-lights the pipe, and with every whiff of smoke utters a
petition to the Great Spirit in behalf of the candidates.

During the three days’ silence of the neophytes, the tribe indulge in a
variety of pastimes.

       *       *       *       *       *

First and foremost is the buffalo dance, in which eight persons are
engaged, each wearing the skin of a bison, and carrying on his back a
large bundle of faggots. In one hand they hold a mystery-rattle, in the
other a small staff. In four couples they place themselves round the Big
Canoe, each couple facing one of the cardinal points of the compass, and
between them dances a young man,--two being got up in black, dotted with
white stars, to represent day, and two in red, to represent night.

A couple of medicine-men, dressed in the hides of grizzly bears, sit
beside the Big Canoe, and profess their intention of devouring the whole
village. To satiate their voracity, the women convey to them abundant
supplies of meat, which men, painted black all over, except their heads,
which are white, in imitation of the bald-headed eagle, carry off
immediately to the prairie, pursued by a number of little boys, painted
yellow, with white heads, who are called antelopes. After a swift chase
they overtake the eagle-men, seize the food, and devour it.

This rude frolic is repeated several times a day, the performers being
summoned by the master of the ceremonies, who, followed by his assistants,
issues from the medicine-lodge, and takes up his post against the Big
Canoe, pouring forth many tears.

On the first day the dance is four times repeated, on the second eight
times, on the third twelve times, and on the fourth sixteen; the dancers
issuing from the hut in which they attire themselves immediately that the
old man lifts up his head, and weeps.

During each performance, the old medicine-men keep up a rattle of drums,
except when they pause to announce to the crowd that the Great Spirit is
pleased with their offerings, and has given them peace; that even their
women and children can hold the mouths of grizzly bears, and the Evil One
does not appear to disturb them.

This bold declaration is repeated thirty-two times during the four days,
and repeated without challenge; but at the thirty-third, the Evil Spirit
makes his appearance, threads his way through the village, and breaks into
the circle,--an uncanny creature, entirely naked, his body painted black,
but with white rings, and his mouth blotched with white indentations like
so many tusks. Carrying in his hand a long magic staff tipped with a red
ball, which he slides before him on the ground, this Evil Spirit makes a
rush at each group of females in the excited crowd. They shriek for
assistance.

The master of the ceremonies straightway abandons his station by the Big
Canoe, and presents his magic pipe to the intruder, who stands immediately
as if petrified into stone, each limb quiescent, each muscle rigid,--a
statue, rather than a man.

The women take advantage of this sudden pause to escape from the Evil
Spirit’s clutch; and as soon as they are out of danger, though their
hearts still beat with excitement, they resume their ordinary quietude,
only laughing loudly and gleefully at the sudden discomfiture of their
antagonist, and at the awkward and ridiculous attitude in which he was
surprised.

The old man stands upright by his side, with his eyeballs glaring him in
the face, while the medicine-pipe holds under its mystic spell his Satanic
Majesty, neutralises all the powers of his magic wand, and deprives him
of the power of locomotion.

No two human beings, says Mr. Catlin, can ever present a more striking
group than is presented by those two individuals, with their fierce eyes
fixed in well-simulated hatred on each other; both contending for the
supremacy, both relying on the potency of their mystery or medicine; the
one, with dismal black body, pretending to be O-ku-hu-de, the Evil Spirit,
and pouring everlasting vengeance on the other, who sternly gazes back
with a look of contemptuous exultation, as he holds him bound by the
influence of his sacred mystery-pipe. Truly, these Red-skinned Mandans are
accomplished actors and pantomimists.

A repetition of this performance takes place until the power of the
mystery-pipe has been sufficiently proved; and the women, gaining
confidence in it, proceed to turn the tables on their persecutor, jeering
him, and overwhelming him with shrieks of laughter. At last, one of the
boldest dashes a handful of sand in his face; an insult which completely
overwhelms him, so that he begins to weep abundantly. Another woman takes
courage to seize his magic staff, and snaps it across her knee. Other
women pick up the broken halves and break them into fragments, which they
fling at O-ku-hu-de’s head. Bereft of all his power, he incontinently
turns tail, and dashes across the prairie, followed for half a mile or so
by volleys of mud and stones and slates.

Thus ends the battle of Armageddon. The Evil Spirit has come, and fought,
and been conquered. The next step is to remove the little altar and its
mysterious deposit from the centre of the great medicine-lodge, and pass
the hide ropes through openings in the roof to men stationed without. Then
the master of the ceremonies and his assistants, together with the chiefs
and bravos of the tribe, re-enter the lodge, and take up their positions.

Worn and wasted by four days of abstinence from food, drink, and sleep,
the first neophyte enters the lodge, when called, and takes his stand in
front of two of the executioners. One of them, with a blunt and jagged
double-edged knife, pinches up an inch or so of the flesh of the breast
or shoulder, inserts the knife, and through the incision thus
accomplished, forces a wooden skewer; repeating the process on the other
shoulder or breast, on each arm just below the shoulder and below the
elbow, upon each thigh, and upon each leg just below the knee.

Painful as the operation must be, the neophyte bears it unflinchingly; not
a sigh escapes him; his countenance remains as calm and unruffled as if he
were wrapped in a pleasant dream.

Two of the hide ropes are now let down from the roof, and twisted round
the skewers on the breast or shoulders. To the others are hung the
neophyte’s weapons, while the skulls of bisons depend from those of the
lower arm or leg. At a given signal the neophyte is hauled aloft, and
allowed to swing, at a height of six or eight feet from the ground,
suspended only by the two skewers, while he sustains, not only his own
weight, but that of the heavy skulls. With almost incredible fortitude, he
endures this protracted agony, until exhausted nature gives way, and he
falls into a swoon.

The bystanders seem no longer men, but demons intent on increasing his
tortures. They surround him, a dozen or more at a time, and consider what
new inventions can be adopted. At length, one advances towards the poor
wretch, and begins to turn him round with a pole, which he has brought for
the purpose. This is done very gently at first, but by degrees with more
rapidity and increasing violence, until the neophyte breaks down in his
self-control, and bursts forth into “the most lamentable and heart-rending
cries that the human voice is capable of producing,” imploring the Great
Spirit to support and protect him in his agony, and repeatedly expressing
his belief in that protection.

In this condition he revolves faster and faster, without the least hope of
escape or relief, until he again falls into a swoon; his voice falters,
his strugglings cease; he hangs a still and apparently lifeless thing.
“When he is by turning gradually brought to this condition, which is
generally done within ten or fifteen minutes, there is a close scrutiny
passed upon him among his tormentors, who are checking and holding each
other back as long as the least struggling or tremor can be discovered;
lest he should be removed, before he is, as they term it, dead.”

Having satisfied themselves that their victim is not feigning, they give a
signal; he is lowered to the ground; the skewers which passed through his
breast are removed, and the ropes attached to another candidate. He is
allowed to lie where he fell; none dare to touch him; to do so would be a
sacrilege, because he has placed himself under the protection of the Great
Spirit.

After awhile he partially recovers, and crawls to another part of the
lodge, where, with gleaming axe in hand and a bison’s skull before him,
sits a medicine-man. Holding up the little finger of his left hand as a
sacrifice to the Great Spirit, the neophyte lays it upon the skull, and,
in a moment, the medicine-man’s axe severs it. Sometimes the fore-finger
of the same hand is also offered, and only the thumb and two middle
fingers, which are necessary in holding the bow, are left.

Then comes the last scene of this strange, eventful history, bringing the
neophyte’s sufferings to a climax. The skewers by which he is suspended to
the roof are removed when he is lowered, but eight still remain; two in
each arm, and two in each leg. To each is attached a heavy weight, such as
a bison’s skull, and they must not be _drawn_ out, but must be _torn_ out
by sheer force. With this view he is required to run the last race,--which
takes place in the open air, and in the presence of a concourse of excited
spectators. Leaving the medicine-lodge, the master of the ceremonies leans
his head against the Big Canoe, and fills the air with a loud long wail.
Immediately a score or so of young men, all matched in height, wearing
beautiful dresses of eagle-quills, and carrying in one hand a wreath of
willow-boughs, issue from the dressing-hut. On arriving at the Big Canoe
they assemble round it in a circle, holding on to each other’s
willow-wreath, and then race around it at their utmost speed, screaming
and shouting until the air is filled with their uproar.

The candidates then come out of the medicine-lodge, dragging the heavy
weights attached to their limbs, and are stationed at equal intervals
outside the ring of runners. As each takes his place, two powerful young
men take charge of him, who pass round each of his wrists a broad
leathern strap, which they grasp very firmly, but without tying it.

When all the preliminaries are completed, a signal is given, and the
neophytes begin to race round the Big Canoe, outside the inner circle,
each man being dragged along by his custodians, until the skulls and other
weights drag out the skewers to which they are fastened. The bystanders
scream and yell and shout in a frenzy of excitement; eager, moreover, to
drown the groans of the sufferers, should the instincts of nature prevail
over their self-control, and desirous of encouraging them in their final
trial.

Sometimes the neophyte’s flesh proves to be so tough that the skewers
cannot be dragged out, and in such cases their friends jump on the skulls
as they rattle along the ground, so as to increase their weight.

Humanity cannot long endure a torture so horrible: the sufferers quickly
faint, though they are still hauled round in the barbarous race, nor set
free until the last weight is dragged from the quivering, bleeding body.
Then the unconscious wretch is released, and left, for the second time, in
the care and protection of the Great Spirit. In due time he recovers his
senses, struggles to his feet, totters through the crowd, is received by
his friends, and conducted to his own hut.

Mr. Catlin supplies two illustrations of the rigorous tenacity with which
the Indians adhere to the rule that the skewers must be _dragged_, not
_removed_, from the sufferer’s flesh.

In one case the skewer had chanced to pass under a sinew, and the neophyte
was dragged round and round the ring in vain. In vain his friends added
their weight to that of the bison’s skulls. The scene became so horrible
that even the spectators could no longer endure it, and in sympathy with
their cries the master of the ceremonies stopped the race, leaving the
youth, unconscious, on the ground. As soon as he regained his senses, he
crawled away to the prairie on his hands and knees, and there remained,
without food or drink, for three hours longer, until suppuration took
place, and he was enabled to get rid of the skewer. Then he crawled home,
and strange to say, notwithstanding the agony he had undergone, and his
loss of strength, recovered in a few days.

In the second case, two of the weights attached to the arms refused to
yield, and the hapless neophyte crept as best he could to the steep bluff
overhanging the river, where he drove a stake into the ground. Fastening
the weights to this stake by a couple of ropes, he lowered himself about
midway down the cliff, and so hung suspended for more than two days, until
the obstinate flesh gave way, and allowed him to drop into the water. He
swam to the side, crawled up the acclivity, and returned to his village.
It gives one a vivid idea of the remarkable vitality and physical force of
the Indian race, when one reads that this man, too, recovered!

       *       *       *       *       *

The Indian has a vague idea of God and immortality. He believes in a Great
Spirit, who, after death, admits the brave to his happy hunting-grounds,
where game is inexhaustible, and the pleasure of the chase is ever open to
the hunter. Beyond this dim and dubious conception, his imagination never
carries him.

He is prone, as might be supposed, for such proneness is the cause of
ignorance, and ignorance is the Red Man’s bane, to the wildest and
coarsest superstitions, and he is always at the mercy of the medicine-man
of his tribe. One of his most potent superstitions is that connected with
the “medicine-bag,” which he firmly believes to be his sole “secret of
success,” his all-powerful charm and talisman, without which he would fail
in every undertaking and be defeated and disgraced in battle.

At the age of fourteen or fifteen, the young Indian goes forth into the
woods in search of his medicine. On a litter of leaves and twigs he lies
for some days--as long, in fact, as his physical powers hold out--neither
eating nor drinking; for in proportion to the duration of his fast will be
the potency of his “medicine.” His endurance at length gives way, and he
goes to sleep. The bird, beast, or reptile of which he dreams becomes his
“medicine.” He returns home, and as soon as he has recovered his strength,
he sallies forth in quest of the charm; having found and killed the
animal, he preserves the skin in such shape as his fancy
suggests,--usually in the form of pouch or bag. If small, he slings it
round his neck, and wears it concealed. In other cases, it hangs from his
waist or shoulder.

However he may wear it, the Indian never parts from it. He would be
disgraced and defeated in battle--he would fail in his undertakings--if it
were absent from his person. Should he be deprived of it in battle, he is
overwhelmed with shame, until he can kill an enemy, and take _his_
medicine-bag to replace his own. If, without losing his own, he captures
that of an enemy, he is entitled to assume a “double medicine,” and with
two medicine-bags about him he stalks to and fro, the observed of all
observers. To take a medicine-bag is not less honourable than to take a
scalp, and the successful bearer has all the advantage of the double
protection afforded by the double charm.

It is seldom that an Indian will voluntarily part with his medicine-bag,
and if he does, he forfeits his reputation almost irretrievably. Now and
then he is persuaded by the white man to bury it, but its place of
interment immediately assumes an air of sanctity in his eyes. He frequents
the spot as if drawn thither by an irresistible influence, will throw
himself on the sod, and talk to the buried treasure as if it were alive.
Sometimes he will offer sacrifices to it, and if he be a rich man, will
even offer a horse. On the latter occasion, the whole tribe take part in
the ceremony, and march forth to the prairie in picturesque procession,
led by the owner of the medicine-bag, who drives before him his most
valued and valuable steed, decked with coloured devices. At the appointed
spot, he delivers a long prayer or oration to the Great Spirit, and sets
free the horse, which thenceforth enjoys the free life of the wild horses
of the prairie, and if at any time recaptured is immediately released.

The position which in most savage tribes is held by the priest, among the
American Indians is held by the “medicine-man.” His influence is
considerable, and his powers are supposed to be vast. He is called upon to
heal the sick and save the dying, and, above all, to bring down the genial
rain from heaven when it is needed for the growth of the crops.

We owe to Mr. Catlin an interesting description of the rain-making
ceremony. A drought had withered the maize-fields for some weeks, and
application for help having been made to the medicine-men they duly set to
work. On the first day one Wah-ku, or the Shield, came to the front; but
failed--that day an equally unsuccessful experiment was made by Om-pah, or
the Elk. The third day was devoted to Wa-rah-pa, or the Beaver, and on the
fourth recourse was had to Wak-a-dah-ha-ku, the White Buffalo Hair, who
was strong in the possession of a shield coloured with red lightnings, and
in the arrow which he carried in his hand.

Taking his station by the medicine-lodge, he harangued the people,
protesting that for the good of his tribe he was willing to sacrifice
himself, and that if he did not bring the much-desired rain, he was
content to live for the rest of his life with the old women and the dogs.
He asserted that the first medicine-man had failed, because his shield
warded off the rain-clouds; the second, who wore a head-dress made of a
raven’s skin, because the raven was a bird that soared above the storm,
and cared not whether the rain came or stayed; and the third, because the
beaver was always wet, and required no rain. But as for him,
Wak-a-dah-ha-ku, the red lightnings on his shield would attract the
rain-clouds, and his arrow would pierce them, and pour the water over the
thirsty fields.

It chanced that, as he ended his oration, a steamer, the first that had
ever ploughed the Missouri river, fired a salute from a twelve-pounder
gun, as she passed the Mandan village. To the Indians the roar of the
cannon was like the voice of thunder, and their joy knew no bounds. The
successful medicine-man was loaded with valuable gifts; mothers hastened
to offer their daughters to him in marriage; and the elder medicine-men
issued from the lodge, eager to enrol him in their order. But, from the
roof of the lodge, where he had taken his stand, Wak-a-dah-ha-ku
discovered the steamer, as she dashed up the river, and discharged her gun
again and yet again. He hastened to address the chiefs and people,
explaining that the sounds they heard were not those of thunder, but that
his potent medicine had brought a thunder-boat to the village. To the
river-bank rushed the wondering population, and the rest of the day was
spent in a fever of excitement, in which the rain-maker was forgotten.
Just before sunset his quick eyes discovered a black cloud, which,
unobserved by the noisy multitude, swiftly came up from the horizon. At
once he assumed his station on the roof of the lodge; strung his bow and
made ready his arrow; arrested the attention of his fellows by his loud
and exultant speech; and as the cloud impended over the village, shot his
arrow into the sky. Lo, the rain immediately descended in torrents,
wetting the rain-maker to the skin, but establishing in everybody’s mind a
firm and deep conviction of his power.

All night raged the storm; but unhappily a flash of lightning penetrated
one of the wigwams, and killed a young girl. The newly-made medicine-man
was sorely terrified by this catastrophe, which he feared the chiefs would
impute to him, making him responsible for the girl’s death, and punishing
him accordingly.

But he was a man of much astuteness, and early in the morning, collecting
three of his best horses, he mounted the lodge-roof again, and for a third
time addressed the people of his tribe.

“Friends,” he said, “my medicine was too strong, I am young, and I did not
know where to stop. I did not regulate its power. And now the wigwam of
Mah-sish is laid low, and many are the eyes that weep for Ko-ka, the
antelope. Wak-a-dah-ha-ku gives three horses to rejoice the hearts of
those who sorrow for Ko-ka. His medicine is great. His arrow pierced the
black cloud, and the lightning came, and with it the thunder-boat. Who
says that the medicine of Wak-a-dah-ha-ku is not strong?”

This artful address was received with much favour, and thenceforward
Wak-a-dah-ha-ku was known as the “Big Double Medicine.”

Of the medical practices of these medicine-men Mr. Kane, in his
“Wanderings of an Artist,” furnishes a striking illustration.

“About ten o’clock at night,” he says, “I strolled into the village, and
on hearing a great noise in one of the lodges, I entered it, and found an
old woman supporting one of the handsomest Indian girls I had ever seen.
She was in a state of nudity. Cross-legged and naked, in the middle of the
room, sat the medicine-man, with a wooden dish of water before him;
twelve or fifteen other men were sitting round the lodge. The object in
view was to cure the girl of a disease affecting her side. As soon as my
presence was noticed, a space was cleared for me to sit down.

“The officiating medicine-man appeared in a state of profuse perspiration,
from the exertions he had used, and soon took his seat among the rest, as
if quite exhausted; a younger medicine-man then took his place in front of
the bowl, and close beside the patient.

“Throwing off his blanket, he commenced singing and gesticulating in the
most violent manner, whilst the others kept time by beating with little
sticks in hollow wooden bowls and drums, singing continually. After
exercising himself in this manner for about half an hour, until the
perspiration ran down his body, he darted suddenly upon the young woman,
catching hold of her side with his teeth, and shaking her for a few
minutes, while the patient seemed to suffer great agony. He then
relinquished his hold, and cried out he had got it, at the same time
holding his hands to his mouth; after which he plunged them in the water
and pretended to hold down with great difficulty the disease which he had
extracted, lest it might spring out and return to its victim.

“At length, having obtained the mastery over it, he turned round to me in
an exulting manner, and held up something between the finger and thumb of
each hand, which had the appearance of a piece of cartilage; whereupon one
of the Indians sharpened his knife, and divided it in two, having one in
each hand. One of the pieces he threw into the water and the other into
the fire, accompanying the action with a diabolical noise which none but a
medicine-man can make. After which he got up perfectly satisfied with
himself, although the poor patient seemed to me anything but relieved by
the violent treatment she had undergone.”

       *       *       *       *       *

A considerable amount of superstition attaches to the calumet, or
medicine-pipe, by which all the great questions of peace and war are
settled. This pipe is borne by an individual specially selected for the
honour, who, during his term of office, is not less sacred than the pipe
he carries. His seat is always on the right side of the lodge, and no one
is suffered to interpose between him and the fire. He is not even allowed
to cut his own food, but his wives cut it for him, and place it in an
official food-bowl, specially reserved for his use. As for the calumet, it
is hung outside the lodge in a large bag, which is picturesquely and gaily
embroidered. Much ceremony attends its uncovering. Whatever the weather,
or the time of year, the bearer begins by stripping off all his garments
except his cloth, and he then pours upon a red-hot coal some fragrant gum,
which fills the air with perfumed smoke. Removing the different wrappers,
he fills the bowl with tobacco, and blows the smoke to the four points of
the compass, to the earth, and to the sky, with each breath uttering a
prayer to the Great Spirit for assistance in war against all enemies, and
for bison and corn from all parts. With equal ceremony the pipe, which no
woman is allowed to see, is restored to its bag. The whole proceeding
takes place in the deepest silence.

The bowl of the calumet is made of a peculiar stone, found in the Red
Pipe-stone Quarry, on the Citeau des Prairies, a place to which the
following tradition attaches. We give it as related by Mr. Catlin:

Here, he says, according to the Indian traditions, happened the mysterious
birth of the red pipe, which has blown its fumes of peace and war to the
remotest corners of the continent, which has visited every warrior, and
passed through its reddened stem the irrevocable oath of war and
desolation. And here, also, the peace-breathing calumet was born, and
fringed with the eagle’s quills, which has shed its thrilling fumes over
the land, and soothed the fury of the relentless savage.

At a remote period the Great Spirit here called the Indian nations
together, and, standing on the precipice of the red pipe-stone rock, broke
from its wall a piece, and made a huge pipe by turning it in his hand,
which he smoked over them, to the north, the south, the east, and the
west, and told that this stone was red,--that it was their flesh,--that
they must use it for their pipes of peace,--that it belonged to them
all,--and that the war-club and scalping-knife must not be raised on its
ground. At the last whiff of his pipe his head went into a great cloud,
and the whole surface of the rock for several miles was melted and
glazed. Two great ovens were opened beneath, and two women (guardian
spirits of the place) entered them in a blaze of fire; and they are heard
there yet, (Tso-mec-cos-tu and Tso-me-cos-te-won-du,) answering to
invocations of the high priests or medicine-men, who consult them when
they are visitors to this sacred place.

The reader will remember, perhaps, the allusion to the Peace-pipe in
Longfellow’s “Hiawatha,”--

  “On the mountains of the Prairie,
  On the great Red Pipe-stone quarry,
  Gitche Manito, the Mighty,
  He the Master of Life, descending,
  On the red crags of the quarry
  Stood erect, and called the nations,
  Called the tribes of men together.
    From his footprints flowed a river,
  Leaped into the light of morning,
  O’er the precipice plunging downward,
  Gleamed like Ishkoodah, the comet.
  And the Spirit, stooping earthward,
  With his finger on the meadows,
  Traced a winding pathway for it,
  Saying to it, ‘Run in this way!’
    From the red stone of the quarry
  With his hand he broke a fragment,
  Moulded it into a pipe-head,
  Shaped and fashioned it with figures;
  From the margin of the river
  Took a long reed for a pipe-stem,
  With its dark green leaves upon it;
  Filled the pipe with bark of willow;
  With the bark of the red willow;
  Breathed upon the neighbouring forest,
  Made its great boughs chafe together,
  Till in flame they burst and kindled;
  And erect upon the mountains,
  Gitche Manito, the mighty,
  Smoked the calumet, the Peace-pipe,
  As a signal to the nations.”

Some of the legends of the Indian tribes are of a very picturesque, and
even poetical character, as may be seen in Mr. Schoolcraft’s “Algic
Researches.” Take, as an example, the graceful tradition of the Red Swan.

Three brothers went out to the chase, excited by a wager to see who would
carry home the first game. But the binding and limiting condition was,
that each was to shoot no other animal than those he was in the habit of
killing.

They set out in different directions. Odjebwa, the youngest, had not gone
far before he saw a bear, an animal which by the agreement he had no right
to kill. He followed him close, however, and drove an arrow through him,
which brought him to the ground. Although contrary to the bet, he
immediately began to skin him, when suddenly something red tinged all the
air around him. He rubbed his eyes, thinking he was perhaps deceived, but
without effect, for the red hue continued. At length he heard a strange
noise in the distance. It first resembled a human voice; but after
following it up for some time, he reached the shores of a lake, and then
discovered the object he was in search of. Far out on the shining waters
sat a most beautiful Red Swan, whose plumage glittered in the sunshine;
and ever and anon he made the noise which had before attracted Odjebwa’s
attention. He was within longbow range, and pulling the arrow from the
bow-string up to his ear, he took deliberate aim, and shot. The arrow took
no effect, and he shot again and again until his quiver was empty. Still
the swan remained statelily circling round and round, stretching its long
neck, and dipping its bill into the water, indifferent to the missiles
aimed at it. Odjebwa ran home, secured all his own and his brother’s
arrows, and these too, ineffectually shot away: then stood and gazed at
the beautiful bird.

While thus standing, he remembered a saying of his brother’s, that in
their deceased father’s medicine-bag were three magic arrows. Off he
started, his anxiety to kill the swan overcoming every scruple. At any
other time he would have deemed it a sacrilege to open his father’s
medicine-bag, but now he hastily violated it, seized the three magic
arrows and ran back. The swan was still floating on the lake. He shot the
first arrow with great precision, and came very near his mark. The second
flew still nearer; and as he took the third and last arrow, he felt his
arm strengthen, and drawing it up with vigour, sent the shaft right
through the neck of the swan, a little above the breast. Still even this
death-stroke did not prevent the bird from flying off,--which it did very
slowly, flapping its wings, and rising gradually into the air, until it
passed far away into the sunset.

Quoting again from Longfellow, we place before the reader his allusion to
this pretty legend:--

  “Can it be the sun descending
  O’er the level plain of water?
  Or the Red Swan, floating, flying,
  Wounded by the magic arrow,
  Staining all the waves with crimson,
  With the crimson of its life-blood,
  Filling all the air with splendour,
  With the splendour of its plumage?
    Yes; it is the sun descending,
  Sinking down into the water;
  No; it is the Red Swan floating,
  Diving down beneath the water;
  To the sky its wings are lifted,
  With its blood the waves are reddened!”

The Indians regard the maize, or Indian corn, with almost superstitious
veneration,--which is not wonderful, perhaps, when its immense importance
to them is taken into consideration. They esteem it, says Schoolcraft, so
important and divine a grain, that their story-tellers invented various
tales, in which this idea is symbolised under the form of a special gift
from the Great Spirit. The Odjebwa-Algonquins, who call it Mon-da-min, or
the Spirit’s grain or berry, cherish a legend, in which the stalk in full
tassel is represented as descending from the sky, under the guise of a
handsome youth; in response to the prayers of a young man offered at his
fast of virility, or coming to manhood.

  “All around the happy village
  Stood the maize-fields, green and shining,
  Waved the green plumes of Mondamin,
  Waved his soft and sunny tresses,
  Filling all the land with plenty.”




CHAPTER XVI.

_AMONG THE ESKIMOS._


The success which has attended the labours of the Lutheran and Moravian
Missionaries among the Eskimos has been well deserved by their
self-denying devotedness. Few of the Arctic tribes are now outside the
pale of Christianity; and all have been more or less directly influenced
by its elements of purification and elevation. But prior to the coming of
the pioneers of the Cross, the moral code of the Eskimo was curiously
imperfect, and did not recognise murder, infanticide, incest, and the
burial of the living among its crimes. Woe to the unfortunate vessel which
touched upon the coast! The Eskimos were not less treacherous than the
Polynesians of the Eastern Seas. And Krantz relates the story of a Dutch
brig that was seized by the natives at the port of Disco in 1740. The
whole crew were murdered. Two years later a similar fate befell the crew
of another vessel that had accidentally stranded.

The religion or creed of the aborigines seems to have been very vague and
imperfect. It is certain, however, that they believed in the immortality
of the spirit, and in a heaven and a hell. It was natural enough that
their conception of the latter should be affected by the conditions under
which they lived; that their experience of the miseries of an Arctic
climate should lead them to think of hell as a region of darkness and of
ice, traversed by endless snow-storms, and without any seals.

They placed implicit confidence in their angekoks, or angekos, or
“medicine-men,” ascribing to them almost unlimited powers over the things
of earth and sea, this world and the next. When setting out for the chase,
or prostrated by illness, they always sought the assistance of the
angekoks, who, on such occasions, indulged in a variety of strange
ceremonies. The nature of these may be inferred from what was witnessed by
Captain Lyon, who, during his famous Arctic voyage, bribed an angekok,
named Toolemak, to summon a Tomga, or familiar demon, in the cabin of his
ship.

All light having been carefully excluded from the scene of operations, the
sorcerer began by vehemently chanting to his wife, who, in her turn,
responded with the Amna-aya, the favourite song of the Eskimo. This lasted
throughout the ceremony. Afterwards, Toolemak began to turn himself round
very rapidly, vociferating for Tomga, in a loud powerful voice and with
great impatience, at the same time blowing and snorting like a walrus. His
noise, agitation, and impatience increased every moment, and at length he
seated himself on the deck, varying his tones, and making a rustling with
his clothes.

Suddenly the voice seemed smothered, and was so managed as to give the
idea that it was retreating beneath the deck, each moment becoming more
distant, and ultimately sounding as if it were many feet below the cabin,
when it ceased entirely. In answer to Captain Lyon’s queries, the
sorcerer’s wife seriously declared that he had dived and would send up
Tomga.

And, in about half a minute, a distant blowing was heard approaching very
slowly, and a voice differing from that which had first been audible was
mixed with the blowing, until eventually both sounds became distinct, and
the old beldame said that Tomga had come to answer the stranger’s
questions. Captain Lyon thereupon put several queries to the sagacious
spirit, receiving what was understood to be an affirmative or a favourable
answer by two loud slaps on the deck.

A very hollow yet powerful voice, certainly differing greatly from that of
Toolemak, then chanted for some time; and a singular medley of hisses,
groans, shouts, and gobblings like a turkey’s, followed in swift
succession. The old woman sang with increased energy, and as Captain Lyon
conjectured that the exhibition was intended to astonish “the Kabloona,”
he said repeatedly that he was greatly terrified. As he expected, this
admission added fuel to the flame, until the form immortal, exhausted by
its own might, asked leave to retire. The voice gradually died away out of
hearing, as at first, and a very indistinct hissing succeeded. In its
advance it sounded like the tone produced by the wind upon the bass cord
of an Æolian harp; this was soon changed to a rapid hiss, like that of a
rocket, and Toolemak, with a yell, announced the spirit’s return. At the
first distant sibilation Captain Lyon held his breath, and twice exhausted
himself; but the Eskimo conjuror did not once respire, and even his
returning and powerful yell was uttered without previous pause or
inspiration of air.

When light was admitted, the wizard, as might be expected, was in a state
of profuse perspiration, and greatly exhausted by his exertions, which had
continued for at least half an hour. Captain Lyon then observed a couple
of bunches, each consisting of two strips of white deerskin and a long
piece of sinew, attached to the back of his coat. These he had not seen
before, and he was gravely told that they had been sewn on by Tomga while
he was below.

During his absence, the angekok professes to visit the dwelling-place of
the particular spirit he has invoked, and he will sometimes astonish his
audience with a description of the nether-world and its inhabitants. For
instance, there is a female spirit called Aywilliayoo, who commands, by
means of her right hand, all the bears, whales, seals, and walruses.
Therefore, when a lack of provisions is experienced, the angekok pays a
visit to Aywilliayoo, and attacks her hand. If he can cut off her nails,
the bears are immediately released; the loss of one finger-joint liberates
the small seals; the second joint dismisses the larger seals; the knuckles
place at liberty the whole herds of walruses, while the entire hand
liberates the whale.

Aywilliayoo is tall, with only one eye and one pigtail, but as this
pigtail is as large as a man’s leg, and descends to her knee, she may well
be contented with it. She owns a splendid house, which, however, Toolemak
refrained from entering, because it was guarded by a huge dog, with black
hindquarters and no tail. Her father, in size, might be mistaken for a
boy of ten years old; he has but one arm, which is always encased in a
large bear-skin mitten.

Dr. Kane considers it a fact of psychological interest, as it shows that
civilised or savage wonder-workers form a single family, that the angekoks
have a firm belief in their own powers. “I have known,” he says, “several
of them personally, and can speak with confidence on this point. I could
not detect them in any resort to jugglery or natural magic: their
deceptions are simply vocal, a change of voice, and perhaps a limited
profession of ventriloquism, made more imposing by the darkness.” They
have, however, like the members of the learned professions everywhere
else, a certain language or jargon of their own, in which they communicate
with each other.

While the angekoks are the dispensers of good, the issintok, or evil men,
are the workers of injurious spells, enchantments, and metamorphoses. Like
the witches of both Englands, the Old and the New, these malignant
creatures are rarely submitted to trial until they have suffered
punishment--the old “Jeddart justice”--_castigat auditque_. Two of them,
in 1818, suffered the penalty of their crime on the same day, one at
Kannonak, the other at Upernavik. The latter was laudably killed in
accordance with the “old custom” ... custom being everywhere the apology
for any act revolting to moral sense. He was first harpooned, then
disembowelled; a flap letdown from his forehead “to cover his eyes and
prevent his seeing again”--he had, it appears, the repute of an evil eye;
and then small portions of his heart were eaten, to ensure that he should
not come back to earth unchanged.

When an Eskimo has injured any one of his countrymen,--has cut his
seal-lines, or lamed his dogs, or burned his bladder-float--or perpetrated
some equally grievous offence--the angekok summons him to meet the
countryside before the tribunal of the hunapok. The friends of the
parties, and the idlers for miles around, assemble about the justice-seat;
it may be at some little cluster of huts, or, if the weather permit, in
the open air. The accuser rises, and strikes a few discords with a
seal-rib on a tom-tom or drum. “He then passes to the charge, and pours
out in long paragraphic words all the abuse and ridicule to which his
outrageous vernacular can give expression. The accused meanwhile is
silent; but, as the orator pauses after a signal hit, or to flourish a
cadence on his musical instrument, the whole audience, friends, neutrals,
and opponents signalise their approval by outcries as harmonious as those
we sometimes hear in our town meetings at home. Stimulated by the
applause, and warming with his own fires, the accuser renews the attack,
his eloquence becoming more and more licentious and vituperative, until it
has exhausted either his strength or his vocabulary of invective. Now
comes the accused, with defence, and counter-charge, and retorted abuse;
the assembly still listening and applauding through a lengthened session.
The Homeric debate at a close, the angekoks hold a powwow, and a penalty
is denounced against the accused for his guilt, or the accuser for his
unsustained prosecution.”




CHAPTER XVII.

_A MEDIÆVAL SUPERSTITION: THE FLAGELLANTS._


Among the extraordinary delusions of the human mind, none is more hateful
than the conviction cherished among so many sects, that the Supreme Being
can be propitiated by the self-imposed torture of His worshippers. And
nothing more vividly illustrates the difference between the GOD of the
Christian religion and the stern deity of so many human creeds, than the
aspect of the former as man’s Heavenly FATHER, Who requires from him no
other offering than that of a contrite and humble heart,--Who asks not
that the Indian Fakir should cramp his limbs and lacerate his body, or
that S. Simeon Stylites should stand night and day, in the scorching sun
of summer, and the freezing cold of winter, on his lonely pillar. It is a
proof of our wider and deeper knowledge of GOD that we are beginning to
emancipate ourselves from the thraldom of this evil idea, and to recognise
in Him a tender, compassionate Guide and Friend, Who, unto them that love
Him, causeth all things to work for the best. In modern Calvinism the
superstition still lingers, and it is supposed that a gloomy life,
unrelieved even by the most innocent pleasures, must needs be acceptable
to the Almighty Love; but this shadow in the Christian’s faith is rapidly
receding before the growing and broadening light. We are sons of GOD, and
heirs; and what He asks from us, what alone He will receive, is the
offering of affection and the sacrifice of fear. And the greatest claim
which Christianity puts forward to the hearts and minds of men is that it
has delivered, or will deliver them, when rightly understood, from the
degrading superstition of the ascetic solitary and the self-torturer.
“Its true dignity is, that unseen it has ever gone about doing good. Link
after link has it struck from the chain of every human thraldom; error
after error has it banished; pain after pain has it driven from body or
from mind; and so silently has the blessing come, that (like the sick man
whom the SAVIOUR made to walk) ‘he that was healed wist not who it was.’”

But error is slow to die; and long after the introduction of Christianity
men continued to think that GOD would not hear them, unless, like the
priests of Baal, they approached Him in blood and tears. At the bottom of
it lay, no doubt, a truth, that the spirit could be exalted and purified
only by contempt of the flesh:--and not perceiving that what was demanded
of them was a moral and spiritual victory, they sought, by sore treatment
of the body, to conquer its sinful appetites. They forgot that CHRIST had
spoken of the body as “a temple,”--the temple of the HOLY GHOST; that it
was as much the creation of GOD as the immortal soul, and as His wondrous
handiwork should be treated with the reverence due to all that He has
made. And they came to look upon the body as a deadly enemy, the slave and
accomplice of the devil, which could be subdued only by a regimen of pain
and terror. And so, when an evil suggestion tempted them, they scourged
themselves until the blood ran from their mangled flesh, or they plunged
naked into the deep winter snow, or barefooted they trod the flinty soil,
or they fasted until the exhausted brain sank into the stupor of delirium.

Thus we read of S. Hilarion:--

Covering his limbs only with a sackcloth, and having a cloak of skin, he
wandered forth into the desert that lies beyond Gaza, and enjoyed the
“vast and terrible solitude,” feeding on only fifteen figs after the
setting of the sun; and because the region was of ill repute from
robberies, no man had ever before stayed in that place. The devil, seeing
what he was doing, and whither he had gone, was tormented. And he who of
old boasted, saying: “I shall ascend into heaven, I shall sit above the
stars of heaven, and shall be like unto the Most High,” now saw that he
had been conquered by a boy, and trampled under foot by him, who, on
account of his youth, could commit no sin. He therefore began to tempt his
senses; but he, enraged with himself, and beating his breast with his
fist, as if he would drive out thoughts by blows, “I will force thee, mine
ass,” said he, “not to kick; and feed thee with straw, not barley. I will
wear thee out with hunger and thirst; I will burden thee with heavy loads;
I will hunt thee through heat and cold, till thou thinkest more of food
than of play.” He therefore sustained his sinking spirit with the juice of
herbs and a few figs, after each three or four days, praying frequently,
and singing psalms, and digging the ground with a mattock, to increase the
labour of fasting by that of work. At the same time, by weaving baskets of
rushes, he imitated the discipline of the Egyptian monks, and the
Apostle’s saying, “He that will not work, neither let him eat,” till he
was so attenuated, and his body so exhausted, that his flesh scarce clung
to his bones.

“From his sixteenth to his twentieth year,” says Kingsley, “he was
sheltered from the heat and rain in a tiny cabin, which he had woven of
rush and sedge. Afterwards he built a little cell, four feet wide and five
feet high,--that is lower than his own stature, and somewhat longer than
his small body needed,--so that you would believe it a tomb rather than a
dwelling. He cut his hair only once a year, on Easter Day, and lay till
his death on the bare ground and a layer of rushes, never washing the sack
in which he was clothed, and saying that it was superfluous to seek for
cleanliness in hair-cloth. Nor did he change his linen until the first was
utterly in rags. He knew the Scriptures by heart, and recited them after
his prayers and psalms as if GOD were present.”

Of S. Simeon Stylites we read that, having gone to the well one day to
draw water, he took the rope from the bucket, and wound it round his body
from his loins to his neck, and going in, he adventured an audacious
falsehood, for he said to his brethren, “I went out to draw water, and
found no rope on the bucket.” And they said, “Hold thy peace, brother,
lest the Abbot know it, till the thing has passed over.” But the tightness
and roughness of the rope wore grievous wounds in his body, as the
brethren at last discovered. Then with great trouble they took off the
rope, and his flesh with it, and attending to his wounds, healed them.

For twenty-eight years of his life he was continually experimenting in
long fasts--forty days at a time. Custom gradually made it comparatively
easy to him. For on the first days he used to stand and praise GOD; after
that, when through emptiness he could stand no longer, he would sit and
perform the divine office, and on the last day even lie down. For when his
strength failed slowly, he was forced to lie half dead. But after he stood
on the column he could not bear to lie down, but invented another way by
which he could stand. He fastened a beam to the column, and tied himself
to it by ropes, and so passed the forty days. But afterwards, when endued
with greater grace from on high, he did not need even that assistance, but
stood for the whole forty days, dispensing with food, but strengthened by
eagerness of soul and the divine help.

At length he caused a pillar to be built, first of six cubits, then of
twelve, next of twenty-two, and finally of thirty-six, and upon the top of
this he took his station. The sun beat upon his bare head in the summer,
and the winter snows fell upon him, and the pitiless rains soaked him to
the skin,--but still he endured his self-imposed penance. He bowed himself
frequently, offering adoration to GOD; so frequently that a spectator
counted 1244 adorations, and then missing gave up counting; and each time
he bowed himself, he touched his feet with his forehead. And ever in
spirit he deprecated the wrath of an offended GOD, to Whom, as a meet
sacrifice, he offered up his poor, wounded, tortured, emaciated body.

  “I will not cease to grasp the hope I hold
  Of saintdom, and to clamour, mourn and sob,
  Battering the gates of heaven with storms of prayer.
  Have mercy on me, LORD, and take away my sins,
  Let this avail, just, dreadful, mighty GOD,
  This not be all in vain, that thrice ten years
  Thrice multiplied by superhuman pangs....
  A sign between the meadow and the cloud,
  Patient on this tall pillar I have borne
  Rain, wind, frost, heat, hail, damp, and sleet, and snow;
  And I had hoped that ere this period closed,
  Thou wouldst have caught me up into Thy rest,
  Denying not these weather-beaten limbs
  The meed of saints, the white robe, and the palm.
  O take the meaning, LORD: I do not breathe
  Nor whisper any murmur of complaint.”[58]

We turn from these pictures of human error,--error based, it must be
owned, on a substratum of truth,--to put together a few particulars of the
Sect of the Flagellants, which practised on a curiously elaborate scale
the science of self-punishment.

This sect first made its appearance in Italy in 1210. The following
account of its origin is taken by Mr. Cooper from the “Chronicon Ursitius
Basiliensis” of the monk of Padua, S. Justin:[59]

“When all Italy was sullied with crimes of every kind, a certain sudden
superstition, hitherto unknown to the world, first seized the inhabitants
of Perusa, afterwards the Romans, and then almost all the nations of
Italy. To such a degree were they affected with the fear of GOD, that
noble as well as ignoble persons, young and old, even children five years
of age, would go naked about the streets without any sense of shame,
walking in public, two and two, in the manner of a solemn procession.
Every one of them held in his hand a scourge, made of leather thongs, and
with tears and groans they lashed themselves on their backs till the blood
ran: all the while weeping and giving tokens of the same bitter
affliction, as if they had really been spectators of the passion of our
SAVIOUR, imploring the forgiveness of GOD and His Mother, and praying that
He, Who had been appeased by the repentance of so many sinners, would not
disdain theirs. And not only in the daytime, but likewise during the
nights, hundreds, thousands, and ten thousands of these penitents ran,
notwithstanding the rigour of winter, about the streets, and in churches,
with lighted wax candles in their hands, and preceded by priests who
carried crosses and banners along with them, and with humility prostrated
themselves before the altars: the same scenes were to be seen in small
towns and villages; so that the mountains and fields seemed to resound
alike the voice of men who were crying to GOD.

“All musical instruments and love-songs ceased to be heard. The only music
that prevailed both in town and country was that of the lugubrious voice
of the penitent, whose mournful accents might have moved hearts of flint:
and even the eyes of the obdurate sinner could not refrain from tears. Nor
were women exempt from the general spirit of devotion we mention; for not
only those among the common people, but also matrons and young ladies of
noble families, would perform the same mortifications with modesty in
their own rooms.

“Then those who were at enmity with one another became again friends.
Usurers and robbers hastened to restore their ill-gotten riches to their
right owners. Others, who were contaminated with different crimes,
confessed them with humility, and renounced their vanities. Gaols were
opened; prisoners were delivered; and banished persons permitted to return
to their native habitations. So many and so great works of sanctity and
Christian charity, in short, were then performed by both men and women,
that it seemed as if an universal apprehension had seized mankind, that
the divine power was preparing either to consume them by fire, or destroy
them by shaking the earth, or some other of those means which Divine
justice knows how to employ for avenging crimes. Such a sudden repentance,
which had thus diffused itself all over Italy, and had even reached other
countries, not only the unlearned, but wise persons also admired. They
wondered whence such a vehement fervour of piety could have proceeded:
especially since such public penances and ceremonies had been unheard of
in former times, had not been approved by the sovereign pontiff, nor
recommended by any preacher or person of eminence; but had taken their
origin among simple persons, whose example both learned and unlearned
alike had followed.”

       *       *       *       *       *

In 1260, the sect was reconstituted by Rainer, a hermit of Perugia, and it
sprang up with such vigour and alacrity, that its members soon numbered
10,000, who marched in procession, carrying banners and crosses. The folly
soon crossed the Alps into Germany, and found its disciples in Bohemia and
Poland, Alsatia and Bavaria. It was sternly repressed by the different
governments, but in 1349, when the plague broke out in Germany, it again
lifted up its head. Albert of Strasburg relates[60] that two hundred came
from Schwaben to Speier, under one chief and two lieutenants, whom they
almost slavishly obeyed. Their form of proceedings was always the same:
placing themselves within a circle drawn on the ground, they removed their
clothing, until nothing was left but a covering for the loins. Then they
walked, with arms outstretched like a cross, round and round the circle
for a time, finally prostrating themselves on the ground. Springing to
their feet, each struck his neighbour with a scourge, armed with knots and
four iron points, regulating his blows by his singing of psalms. At a
given signal the discipline ceased, and the fanatics threw themselves
first on their knees, then flat upon the ground, groaning and sobbing. The
leader, on rising, gave a brief address, exhorting them to ask the mercy
of God upon their benefactors and enemies, and also on the souls in
purgatory. This was followed by another prostration, and then another
discipline. Those who had taken charge of the clothes now came forward,
and performed the same ceremonies.

“Penance took place twice a day: in the morning and evening the
flagellants went abroad in pairs, singing psalms amid the ringing of
bells, and when they arrived at the place of flagellation they stripped
the upper part of their bodies, and took off their shoes, wearing only a
linen dress from the waist to the ankles. Then they lay down in a large
circle in different positions, according to the nature of their crime: the
adulterer with his face to the ground; the perjurer on one side, holding
up three of his fingers, &c., and were then castigated, more or less
severely by the master, who gave the order to rise in the words of a
prescribed formula:

  ‘Stant uf durch der reinen Martel ere;
  Und hüte dich vor der Sünden mere.’”

After which they scourged themselves, chanting psalms and uttering prayers
for deliverance from the plague.

Hecker, quoted by Mr. Cooper, thus describes the resuscitation of the
sect:

“While all countries were filled with lamentations and woe, there first
arose in Hungary, and afterwards in Germany, the Brotherhood of the
Flagellants, called also the Brotherhood of the Cross, or Cross-Bearers,
who took upon themselves the repentance of the people for the sins they
had committed, and offered prayers and supplications for the averting of
this plague. The order consisted chiefly of the lowest class, who were
either actuated by sincere contrition, or joyfully availed themselves of
this pretext for idleness, and were hurried along with the tide of
distracting frenzy. But as these brotherhoods gained in repute, and were
welcomed by the people with veneration and enthusiasm, many nobles and
ecclesiastics ranged themselves under their standard, and their bands were
not unfrequently augmented by children, honourable women, and nuns, so
powerfully were minds of the most opposite temperaments enslaved by this
infatuation. They marched through the cities in well-organised
processions, with leaders and singers; their heads covered as far as their
eyes, their looks fixed on the ground, accompanied by every token of the
deepest contrition and mourning. They were robed in sombre garments with
red crosses on the breast, back, and cap, and bore triple scourges tied in
three or four knots, in which points of iron were fixed. Tapers and
magnificent banners of velvet and cloth of gold were carried before them;
wherever they made their appearance they were welcomed by the ringing of
bells, and crowds of people came from great distances to listen to their
hymns and to witness their penance with devotion and tears. In the year
1349, two hundred flagellants first entered Strasburg, where they were
received with great joy and hospitality, and lodged by the citizens. Above
a thousand joined the brotherhood, which now assumed the appearance of a
wandering tribe, and separated into two bodies for the purpose of
journeying to the north and to the south.”

The Flagellants, however, did not secure the favour of the ecclesiastical
authorities; who discerned only too clearly the demoralising effect of
their practices and pretensions. Pope Clement VI. issued a bull against
them, and their influence gradually waned and seemed on the point of
dying out, when, in 1414, it was revived by one Conrad, who, of course,
professed to have received a Divine commission. The terrors of the
Inquisition were now hurled against the sect, and ninety-one deluded
wretches were burned alive at Sangerhausen, besides numbers at other
places. It continued, however, to exhibit occasional signs of vitality;
and in the sixteenth century broke, in France, into three great branches,
the White, Black, and Grey Penitents, companions of whom were scattered
over the whole kingdom, but chiefly in the southern provinces. Catherine
de Medicis, at Avignon, in 1574, assumed the lead of the Black Penitents,
and took part in their disgusting ceremonies. Henry III., in 1585,
established a White Penance brotherhood, which paraded in public
procession through the streets of Paris. The better members of the clergy
preached against the fanaticism; the wits of Paris levelled their ridicule
at it; and finally, in 1601, the Parliament of Paris passed an act to
abolish a fraternity of Flagellants, called the Blue Penitents, in the
town of Bourges, and afterwards against all whipping brotherhoods without
distinction, declaring the members to be not only heretics, traitors, and
regicides, but unchaste. The fraternity thereafter declined, and finally
disappeared from France.




CHAPTER XVIII.

_SCOTTISH SUPERSTITIONS: HALLOWEEN._


The imaginative element in the character of the Celtic race naturally
predisposes them to the reception and retention of fanciful ideas in
connection with our relations to the unseen. Keenly sensible of the
existence of supernatural influences, they are morbidly curious as to the
mode in which they act upon humanity, and ever desirous to propitiate or
guard against them. There is something in the presence of the sea and the
mountains which fosters a habit of reverie; and the mind, awed and
perplexed by the vastness of the forces of Nature, is led to give them an
actual and definite embodiment, and to associate them directly with the
incidents of our mortal life. Granted the existence of invisible
creatures, there is no reason why man, who looks upon the universe as a
circle of which he is the centre, should not suppose them to be interested
in all that interests himself; and when this is once admitted, it follows
as an inevitable result, that he will endeavour to make them the agents of
his inclination or his will, unless he fears them as powers whose anger
must be reverently deprecated. It will be found that most of the popular
superstitions to which we refer are based upon these motives; that most of
them originate in the desire to bribe and cajole Fortune, or to command
and defeat it. Others will be found to have had their rise, as we have
hinted, in the feelings of awe and wonder awakened by the mystery or the
grandeur of Nature. The wail of waters against a rocky coast has suggested
the cries of the ocean maiden who seeks to lure the mariner to his
destruction; the wreathing mists floating in fantastic shapes across the
mountain valleys, has peopled their depths with a world of spirits or
friendly or inimical to mortals. The imagination, which has been quickened
by Nature, proceeds in turn to breathe into Nature a new life.

To some of the superstitions which haunt the glens, and peaks, and
torrents of the Scottish Highlands, the poet Collins has alluded in one of
his most beautiful odes. He speaks of the North as fancy’s land, where
still, it is said, the fairy people meet, beneath the shade of the
graceful birches, upon mead or hill. To the belief in a tribe of
hobgoblins, tiny creatures, visiting the peasant’s hut in the silence of
the night, he also refers:--

  “There, each trim lass, that skims the milky store,
    To the swart tribes their creamy bowls allots;
  By night they sip it round the cottage door,
    While airy minstrels warble jocund notes.”

The malicious disposition of the elves is thus insisted upon:--

  “There every herd, by sad experience, knows
    How, wing’d with fate, their elf-shot arrows fly,
  When the sick ewe her summer food foregoes,
    Or, stretch’d on earth, the heart-smit heifers lie.”

To superstitions of higher import the poet alludes in the following noble
lines:--

  “’Tis thine to sing, how, framing hideous spells,
    In Skye’s lone isle, the gifted wizard seer,
  Lodged in the wintry cave with fate’s fell spear,
    Or in the depth of Uist’s dark forest dwells:
  How they, whose sight such dreary dreams engross,
    With their own vision oft astonished droop,
  When, o’er the watery strath, or quaggy moss.
    They see the gliding ghosts’ unbodied troop.
  Or, if in sports, or on the festive green,
    Their destined glance some fated youth descry,
  Who now, perhaps, in lusty vigour seen,
    And rosy health, shall soon lamented die.
  For them the viewless forms of air obey;
    Their bidding heed, and at their beck repair:
  They know what spirit brews the stormful day,
    And heartless, oft like moody madness, stare
  To see the phantom train their secret work prepare.”

We may allow ourselves one more quotation, in which the poet accumulates
instances of the “second sight,” or power of divination, to which the
Highland seers laid claim:--

  “To monarchs dear, some hundred miles astray,
    Oft have they seen fate give the fatal blow!
    The sea, in Skye, shrieked as the blood did flow,
  When headless Charles warm on the scaffold lay!
  As Boreas threw his young Aurora forth,
    In the first year of the first George’s reign,
  And battles raged in welkin of the North,
    They mourned in air, fell, fell rebellion slain!
  And as, of late, they joyed in Preston’s fight,
    Saw, at sad Falkirk, all their hopes near crowned!
  They raved, divining through their second sight,
    Pale-red Culloden where these hopes were drowned.”

This same power of second sight forms the groundwork of Campbell’s poem of
“Lochiel’s Warning,” in which the poet represents the aged seer or
soothsayer in the act of warning the ferocious Highland chieftain against
the consequences of joining Prince Charles Edward’s expedition of the
’45:--

  “Lochiel, Lochiel, beware of the day
  When the Lowlands shall meet thee in battle array.
  The sunset of life gives me mystical lore,
  And coming events cast their shadows before!”

A curious superstition respecting “the non-giving of fire” lingers still
in some parts of Scotland, more particularly in the North, and seems to be
connected with the old sun-worship: a survival of the Pagan past which is
strange enough in this matter-of-fact and prosaic Present of ours. “At
Craigmillar, near Edinburgh, a woman, not long ago, refused to give a
neighbour ‘a bit peat’ to light her fire, because she was supposed to be
uncanny. The old woman muttered, as she turned away, that her churlish
neighbour might yet repent of her unkindness. This speech the other
repeated to her husband on his return from work, whereupon he went
straight to the old woman’s house, and gave her a sharp cut on the
forehead, for which he was duly called to account, and pleaded his belief
that scoring the witch above the breath would destroy her glamour.”

On certain days, such as Beltane (or S. John’s Eve,) Midsummer, Halloween,
and New Year’s Day, it is regarded as most unlucky to allow a neighbour to
take a brand from your hearth, or even to light his pipe.

Evil-disposed persons, desirous of doing their neighbours an ill turn,
will apply to them for “a kindling.” Thus, in Ross-shire, an old beldame
repaired to a neighbour’s house with this intent. There was only a child
of eight years old at home, but she was thoroughly acquainted with the
popular superstition, and stoutly refused the applicant tinder, match, or
lighted stick. When the old woman had departed, the girl fetched two
friends, who straightway followed her home, to find there a blazing fire
and a boiling pot. “See you,” exclaimed the lassie, “gin the _cailliach_
had gotten the kindling, my father would not get a herring this year.”

A poor tinker’s wife walked one morning into a house in Applecross--this
was as late as July, 1868--and snatched a live peat from the hearth to
kindle her own fire. Before she had gone any distance, she was observed,
and the gudewife sped after her, overtook her, and snatched away her
prize. To a stranger who remonstrated with her for the unkindness, the
gudewife exclaimed, “Do you think I am to allow my cow to be dried up? If
I allowed her to carry away the fire, I would not have a drop of milk
to-night to wet the bairns’ mouths.” And she flung the peat into a pail of
water in order to undo the evil charm so far as possible.

Allusions to this “non-giving of fire” abound in the old legends, but a
single illustration will suffice. Of old two brother giants, Akin and
Rhea, who dwelt on the Scottish mainland, were wont to pay frequent visits
to the Isle of Skye by leaping across the Straits. They reared for
themselves two strong towers in the Glenelg country, and there they lived
in peace and good fellowship, until one day, the younger brother,
returning from one of his excursions, found his hearth dark and cheerless,
and passed on therefore, to his brother’s castle. Stirring the smouldering
fire into a hearty blaze, he warmed himself luxuriously, and then returned
to his own tower, carrying with him a burning peat. Unhappily, at this
moment, his elder brother came in from the chase, and discovering the
theft, broke out into a violent passion. Off sped the culprit, and after
him went his brother, hurling rock after rock in his rage, until he
perceived that further pursuit was useless. The truth of this story is
attested by the boulders which to this day lie strewn all over the
valley-side.

A survival of the old Paganism is, undoubtedly, this apprehension of
ill-luck connected with the giving or stealing of fire; and it recalls to
us the days when every mountain-peak was as an altar raised to Baal, and
Sun and Moon were worshipped with solemn mysterious rites. On the great
Fire-festival the priests kindled fire by friction, and the people carried
it to their cottages, where it was kept alive all round the year and
extinguished only when a new supply was ready. “As the purchase of the
fire was a source of profit to the priests, it would naturally be
considered criminal for one neighbour to give it to another at the seasons
when every man was bound to purchase it for himself. Of course, though the
old customs are still retained, their original meaning is utterly
forgotten; and the man who throws a live peat after a woman who is about
to increase the population, or he who on Halloween throws a lighted brand
over his own shoulder without looking at whom he aims, little dreams
whence sprang these time-honoured games.” It is said that in many parts of
the remote glens of Perthshire there are women still living who on Beltane
morn always throw ashes and a live peat over their heads, repeating a
certain formula of words to bring them back. But the strictest secrecy is
observed, lest such practices should reach the ear of “the minister:” so
the stronger their belief, the less willing are they to confess to any
knowledge of such matters.

We cannot pass from this subject without an allusion to the Fire-Churn or
Need-Fire, which is held a sovereign charm against cattle-plague. When in
a Highland district an invasion of murrain was apprehended, a small shanty
or hut was erected near loch or river, and in it were placed various
wooden posts, vertical and horizontal: the horizontal were provided with
several spokes, and being rapidly turned round against the upright,
quickly generated a flame by the friction. Then all other fires upon the
farm were extinguished, to be re-lighted from the Need-fire, which all the
cattle were afterwards made to smell, until the charm was complete.

       *       *       *       *       *

It was on Halloween, or All Hallows’ Eve--the evening of the 31st of
October--that Superstition ran riot, because on that particular evening
the supernatural influences of the other world were supposed to be
specially prevalent, and the power of divination was likewise believed to
be at its height. Spirits then walked about with unusual freedom, and
readily responded to the call of those armed with due authority. In the
prehistoric past, the Druids at this time celebrated their great autumn
Fire-Festival, insisting that all fires, except their own, should be
extinguished, so as to compel men to purchase the sacred fire at a certain
price. This sacred fire was fed with the peeled wood of a certain tree,
and that it might not be polluted, was never blown with human breath.

Needless to say that the sacred fire has vanished with the Druids, but the
Halloween customs which still survive may be traced back to a hoar
antiquity. For instance, various kinds of divination are practised, and
chiefly with apples and nuts. Apples are a relic of the old Celtic fairy
lore. They are thrown into a tub of water, and you endeavour to catch one
in your mouth as they bob round and round in provoking fashion. When you
have caught one, you peel it carefully, and pass the long strip of peel
thrice, _sunwise_, round your head; after which you throw it over your
shoulder, and it falls to the ground in the shape of the initial letter of
your true love’s name.

As for the nuts, they would naturally suggest themselves to the dwellers
in mighty woods, such as covered the land of old. Brand says it is a
custom in Iceland, when the maiden would know if her lover be faithful, to
put three nuts upon the bar of the grate, naming them after her lover and
herself. If a nut crack or jump, the lover will prove faithless; if it
begin to blaze or burn, it’s a sign of the fervour of his affection. If
the nuts named after the girl and her swain burn together, they will be
married.

This lover’s divination is practised in Scotland, as everybody knows who
has read Burns’s poem of “Halloween:”--

  “The auld guidwife’s weel hoordet nits
    Are round and round divided,
  An’ monie lads and lasses’ fates
    Are there that night decided:
  Some kindle, couthie, side by side,
    An’ burn thegither trimly;
  Some start awa wi’ saucy pride,
    And jump out-owre the chimlie
          Fu’ high that night.

  “Jean slips in twa wi’ tentie e’e;
    Wha ’twas, she wadna tell;
  But this is _Jock_, an’ this is _me_,
    She says in to hersel’:
  He bleez’d owre her an’ she owre him,
    As they wad never mair part;
  Till, fuff! he started up the lum,
    An’ Jean had e’en a sair heart
          To see’t that night.”

In some places, on this mystic night, a stick is suspended horizontally
from the ceiling, with a candle at one end, and an apple at the other.
While it is made to revolve rapidly, the revellers successively leap up
and endeavour to grasp the apple with their teeth--the hands must not be
used--if they fail, the candle generally swings round in time to salute
them disagreeably. The reader will note the resemblance between this
pastime and the game of quintain, to which our forefathers were partial.

Another amusement is to dive for apples in a tub of water.

In Strathspey, a lass will steal away from the kitchen fire, make her way
to the kiln where the corn is dried, throw a ball of thread into it, and
wind it up slowly, while uttering certain words. The form of her future
lover will take hold of the end of the thread, and reveal itself to her.
The most arduous part of this charm is, that no speaking is allowed either
on the outward journey or the return.

Another mode of lover’s divination is for the young people, after being
duly blindfolded, to go forth into the kailyard, or garden, and pull the
first stalks they meet with. Returning to the fireside, they determine,
according as the stalk is big or little, straight or crooked, what the
future wife or husband will be. The quantity of earth adhering to the root
is emblematic of the dowry to be expected; and the temper is indicated by
the sweet or bitter taste of the _motoc_ or pith. Lastly, the stalks are
placed in order, over the door, and the Christian names of persons
afterwards entering the house signify in the same order those of the wives
and husbands _in futuris_.

Burns describes another custom:

  “In order on the clean hearth-stane,
    The luggies[61] three are ranged,
  And every time great care is ta’en
    To see them duly changed:
  And uncle John wha wedlock’s joys
    Sin’ Mar’s-year did desire,
  Because he gat the toom-dish[62] thrice,
    He heav’d them on the fire
          In wrath that night.”

For this amusement three dishes are taken: one filled with clean and one
with dirty water, and the other empty. They are set upon the hearth, and
the parties, blindfolded, advance in succession to dip their fingers. If
they chance upon the clean water, it is understood that they will marry a
maiden; if upon the foul, they will marry a widow; if upon the empty dish,
they will not marry at all.

Again: if a damsel eat an apple in front of a looking-glass, she will
shortly see her future husband peeping over her shoulder. So Burns:

  “Wee Jenny to her Grannie says,
    ‘Will ye go wi’ me, Grannie?
  I’ll eat the apple at the glass
    I gat frae uncle Johnie.’
  She fuff’t[63] her pipe wi’ sic a lunt,
    In wrath she was sae vap’rin’,
  She notic’t na an aizle[64] brunt,
    Her braw new worset apron,
          Out thro’ that night.

  “‘Ye little skelpie limmer’s[65] face!
    How daur you try sic sportin’,
  As seek the foul thief ony place,
    For him to spae your fortune:
  Nae doubt but ye may get a sight!
    Great cause ye hae to fear it;
  For mony a ane has gotten a fright,
    An’ liv’d an’ di’d deleeret,
          On sic a night.’”

A shirt-sleeve may be wetted, and hung before the fire to dry: then if
_he_ or _she_ lie in bed and watch it until midnight, _he_ or _she_ will
behold _his_ or _her_ future partner’s phantasm come in and turn it!

Children born on Halloween were formerly supposed to be gifted with
certain mysterious endowments, such as the power of perceiving and
conversing with the “dwellers on the threshold,” the inhabitants of the
World Invisible.

Once upon a time, all over Scotland a bonfire was lighted on every farm;
and often the bonfire was surrounded by a circular trench, symbolical of
the sun. Every year these bonfires decrease in number; but within the
recollection of living men no fewer than thirty could be seen on the high
hilltops between Dunkeld and Abergeldy. And a strange weird sight it was,
worthy of the pencil of a Rembrandt,--the dusky figures of the lads and
lasses dancing wildly around them, to the hoarse music of their own
voices! Miss Cumming writes that in the neighbourhood of Crieff, the
bale-fires, as the people call them, still blaze as brightly as ever; and
from personal observation we can assert that they are still lighted in
many parts of Argyllshire.

A remarkable Halloween story is recorded in Dr. Robert Chambers’s valuable
miscellany, “The Book of Days.” Mr. and Mrs. M., we are told, were a happy
young couple, who, in the middle of the last century, resided on their own
estate, in a pleasant part of the province of Leinster. Possessed of a
handsome fortune, they spent their time in various rural avocations, until
the birth of a child, a little girl, seemed to crown their felicity. On
the Halloween following this notable event, the parents retired to rest at
their usual hour, Mrs. M. cradling her infant on her bosom that she might
be roused if it showed the least sign of uneasiness. From teething or some
other ailment, the child, about midnight, became very restless, and not
receiving the usual attention from its mother, woke up Mr. M. by its
cries. He at once called his wife, and told her the baby was unwell; she
made no answer. She seemed in an uneasy slumber, and in spite of all her
husband’s efforts continued to sleep on, until he was compelled to take
the child himself and endeavour to soothe it to rest. From sheer
exhaustion it at last sank into silence, while the mother slumbered until
a much later hour than usual. When she at last awoke, her husband told her
of what had happened, and of the extent to which his night’s rest had been
disturbed. “I, too,” she replied, “have passed the most miserable night I
ever experienced: I now see that sleep and rest are two different things,
for I never felt so unrefreshed in my life. How I wish you had been able
to awake me--it would have spared me some of my fatigue and anxiety! I
thought I was dragged against my will into a strange part of the country,
where I had never been before, and, after what appeared to me a long and
weary journey on foot, I arrived at a comfortable looking house. I went in
longing to rest, but had no power to sit down, although there was a nice
supper laid out before a good fire, and every appearance of preparations
for an expected visitor. Exhausted as I felt, I was only allowed to stand
for a minute or two, and then hurried away by the same road back again;
but now it is over, and after all it was only a dream.”

Her husband listened with deep interest to this strange narrative, and
then, sighing deeply, said, “My dear Sarah, you will not long have me
beside you; whoever is to be your second husband played last night some
evil trick, of which you have been the victim.”

Shocked as she naturally was by this assertion, she sought to subdue her
own emotion, and to rally her husband’s spirits, hoping that the
impression would pass from his mind as soon as he entered into the
every-day work of life.

Months passed away, and both husband and wife had almost forgotten the
Halloween dream, when Mr. M.’s health began to fail, and to fail so
rapidly, that in spite of loving care and the best medical skill, he sank
into a premature grave. His wife mourned him sincerely, but her natural
energy and activity prevented her from yielding to a hopeless sorrow. She
continued to farm her husband’s estate, and in this employment, and in the
education of her little girl was able to divert her thoughts. Not less
admired for her conspicuous ability, than beloved for her benevolence and
amiability, she was more than once solicited to lay aside her widow’s
weeds; but she persisted in a calm refusal. Her uncle, a man of much
kindness of heart and clearness of judgment, frequently visited her,
inspected her farm, and gave her advice and assistance. He had a nephew,
whom we will call C., a prudent and energetic young man, in whom he had
every confidence, and whenever they met, he would strongly recommend him
to take to himself a wife, and “settle.” On one occasion C. replied that
it was not his fault he still remained a bachelor, but he had never yet
met with any woman whom he would care to call his wife. “Well, C.,” said
his uncle, “you seem difficult to please, but I think I know a lady who
would approve herself even to _your_ fastidious taste.” After a
good-humoured exchange of quip and repartee, the uncle invited the nephew
to ride over with him next day, and be introduced to his niece, whom C.
had never yet seen.

The invitation was accepted; the two friends set out early on the
following morning, and after a pleasant ride drew near their destination.
At a short distance they caught sight of Mrs. M. retiring towards her
house after her usual daily inspection of her farm. Mr. C. started
violently, and displayed a considerable agitation. Pointing towards the
lady, he exclaimed, “Uncle, we need go no further, for if ever I am to be
married, yonder goes my wife!” “Well, C.,” replied his uncle, “that is
fortunate, for yonder lady is my niece, to whom I am about to introduce
you. But tell me,” he continued, “is this what you call love at first
sight? Or what do you mean by such a sudden decision in favour of a lady
with whom you have never exchanged a word?” “Well, sir,” was the reply,
“as I have betrayed myself, it is well that I should make full confession.
A year or two ago, I was foolish enough to try a Halloween spell,--and sat
up all night to watch the result. I declare to you most solemnly that the
figure of that lady, as I now see her, entered my room, and looked at me.
She stood a minute or two by the fire, and then disappeared as suddenly
and as silently as she had entered. I was wide awake, and felt
considerable remorse at having thus ventured to tamper with the powers of
the Unseen World; but I assure you that every particular of her features,
dress, and figure have been so present to my mind ever since, that I could
not possibly make a mistake, and the moment I saw your niece I was
convinced that she was indeed the woman whose image I saw on that
never-forgotten Halloween.”

It is unnecessary to say that the uncle was considerably astonished at
this extraordinary narrative, but he forbore to comment upon it, as by
this time they had arrived at Mrs. M.’s house. The lady was delighted to
see her uncle, and made his friend heartily welcome, discharging the
duties of hostess with a simplicity and grace that fascinated her guest.

After her visitors had rested and refreshed themselves, her uncle walked
out with her to inspect the farm, and seized the opportunity, in the
absence of Mr. C., to bespeak for him his niece’s favourable
consideration. Many words were unnecessary, for the impression produced
had been mutually agreeable. Before leaving the house Mr. C. obtained Mrs.
M.’s permission to visit her in the character of a suitor for her
hand,--and after a brief courtship they were married. The story ends, as
all such stories _should_ end, with the affirmation that they lived long
and happily together, and it was from their daughter that Dr. Chambers’s
informant derived his knowledge of the preceding remarkable episode in
their career.

Dr. Chambers assures us that the leading incidents of the narrative may be
relied on as correct; but we think the reader will exercise a wise
incredulity: that at all events his belief will not go beyond the
admission of some possible resemblance, entirely accidental, between Mrs.
M. and the lady whom the imaginative Mr. C. had seen in his Halloween
dream, and whose image he had so carefully treasured in his memory.




CHAPTER XIX.

_SECOND SIGHT: DIVINATION: UNIVERSALITY OF CERTAIN SUPERSTITIONS: FAIRIES
IN SCOTLAND._


There are many aspects of the Past which have an interest for the
psychological student as well as for the antiquary, and there are not a
few to which everybody may occasionally direct their attention with
advantage. We are too much inclined to put it aside as a “sealed book,”
which none but the scholar can open,--which, when opened, is hardly worth
the reading. Or we are attracted only by its picturesque and romantic
side, and take no heed of the valuable lessons which may be deduced upon a
careful examination. Yet, as all history is more or less the history of
human error and human folly, those chapters which treat of the credulities
and superstitions of the Past, must surely embody many warnings and much
counsel for the present.

Our glance at Halloween superstitions in Scotland reminds us of other old
Scottish practices, which serve to point a moral, if not to adorn a tale.
We have met with a volume by a Mr. Walter Gregor, which furnishes some
curious illustrative instances. On his vivid picture of the gloom and
desolation of a Scottish Sabbath, we will not dwell, for our readers will
probably have gathered from other sources, or even from personal
experience, an idea of the dreariness of that sombre institution in the
days when bigotry was mistaken for zeal, and the spirit was killed
outright by the letter. It is pleasanter to read of the strong yearning
for knowledge that then possessed the hearts of our Scottish youth; and
how, in the age before School Boards were conceived of, the parish school
supplied for twenty shillings per annum an education which fitted the
scholar for entering the University. No Royal Road to Learning had as yet
been discovered; and with much sweat of brain did the aspiring student
brood over his Homer or Virgil by the flickering light of the peat-fire.
When the time came for his removal to Glasgow or Aberdeen, thither he
trudged afoot with his little “all” in a knapsack slung from his sturdy
shoulders; and during the “sessions” it was a hard hand-to-hand fight with
poverty which he stoutly fought, while delving deep into classical and
mathematical lore; not forgetting occasional excursions into that vague
metaphysical region which has always had so keen an attraction for the
strong Scotch intellect. Our “present-day” students would too often
shrink, we suspect, from the sacrifices demanded of their forefathers, and
give way under the hardships which they endured, when a few potatoes and a
salt herring served for dinner, and all the expenses of the academical
year were covered by some twelve to sixteen pounds! We are by no means
sure that knowledge was not more valued when it was attainable only at
such a cost of self-denial and rigid effort; and we certainly believe that
it was more thorough, more entirely a man’s own, because it was wrung, so
to speak, from the reluctant goddess by strenuous, steadfast work and
sheer mental travail. To the Age of Gold and the Age of Iron has succeeded
the Age of Veneer; and we trouble ourselves too little now-a-days, in
spite of the teaching of Ruskin and Carlyle, about the solidness and
durability of the material, so long as it will take a ready polish.

But what a strange world was that of the Scotch peasant in those far off
days--far off at least they _seem_, on account of the immense social
revolution that has taken place, and set between the _now_ and the _then_
a profound chasm. Men often speak of the hard-headedness and
matter-of-fact stolidity of the Scotch nature; but is it not true that
below the surface lies an abundant fountain of wild, quaint, original
fancy? And how, in the olden time, it surrounded itself with signs and
omens and wonders! How it loved to put itself in communion, as it were,
with that _other_ world which lies beyond and yet around us, which
perplexes us with its subtle intelligence, which we cannot discern,
though of its presence we are always sensible! From the cradle to the
grave the Scotch peasant went his way attended by the phantoms of this
mysterious world; always recognising its warnings, always seeing the
shadows which it cast of coming events, and so burdening himself with a
weight of grim and eëry superstition, that we marvel he did not stumble
and grow faint, seeing that his dreary Calvinistic creed could have
brought him little hope or comfort. Nay, it is a question whether his
superstition did not partly grow out of, or was fostered by, his hard,
cold religion. Superstition is the shadow of Religion, and from the shadow
we may infer the nature of the substance or object that casts it.

But of these darker things we shall not speak. Let us trace a few of the
common traditions and customs of the people, though in doing so we
digress, perhaps, from the main lines of the present volume. While less
impressive than the mere mystical practices, they proceeded from the same
source,--an imagination haunted by the formidable presence of Nature, by
the forms of lofty mountains, by the mysteries of pine-clad ravines, and
the murmurs of storm-swept lochs and falling waters. For it has been truly
said that the Scotch people have been made what they are by Scotland; that
the Land has moulded and fashioned the People; and that in their
literature, their religion, their manners, their history, the influence is
seen of the physical characteristics of the country.

On the birth of a child--to begin at the beginning--we read that both
mother and offspring were “sained,” a lighted fir-candle being carried
three times round the bed, and a Bible, with a bannock or bread and cheese
being placed under the pillow, while a kind of blessing was indistinctly
uttered. Sometimes a fir-candle was set on the bed to keep off fairies. If
the new-born showed any symptoms of fractiousness, it was supposed to be a
changeling; and to test the truth of the supposition, the child was placed
suddenly before a peat-fire, when, if really a changeling, it made its
escape by the “lum,” throwing back words of scorn as it disappeared. Great
was the eagerness to get the babe baptised, lest it should be stolen by
the fairies. If it died unchristened, it wandered in woods and solitary
places, bewailing its miserable fate. In Ramsay’s “Gentle Shepherd,”
Bauldy, describing Manse the witch, says of her:--

  “At midnight hours o’er the kirkyard she raves,
  And howks unchristened weans out of their graves.”

It was considered “unlucky” to mention the name of an “unchristened wean;”
and even at baptism the name was commonly written on a slip of paper,
which was handed to the officiating minister. What care was taken that the
consecrated water should not enter the child’s eyes! For if such a mishap
occurred, his future life, wherever he went and whatever he did, would be
constantly marred by the presence of wraiths and phantoms. If the babe
remained quiet at the font, it was supposed to be destined to a brief
career; and hence, to extort a cry, the woman who received it from the
father would handle it roughly or even pinch it. If a boy and girl were
baptised together, much anxiety was evinced lest the girl should first
receive the rite. And why? In the “Statistical Account of Scotland,” the
minister of an Orcadian parish says: “Within these last seven years the
minister has been twice interrupted in administering baptism to a female
child before the male child, who was baptised immediately after. When the
service was over, he was gravely told he had done very wrong, for, if the
female child was first baptised, she would, on her coming to the years of
discretion, most certainly have a strong beard, and the boy would have
none.”

Following up the course of human life through the honeyed days of “wooing
and wedding,” we find it darkened still by the clouds of Superstition. If
a maiden desired to call up the image of her future husband, she read the
third verse, seventeenth chapter of the Book of Job after supper, washed
the supper dishes, and retired to bed without uttering a single word,
placing before her pillow the Bible, with a pin thrust through the verse
she had read. It is curious to observe the use of the Bible in these wild
and foolish customs: was it not an indirect testimony to the reverence,
not always intelligent, perhaps, but certainly sincere, in which the holy
book was held? Nor are we certain that it is not sometimes turned to worse
purposes in these “enlightened days,” when a pseudo-science seeks to
convert it into the battle-field of audacious theories, and an ignorant
intolerance too often professes to discover in its bright and blessed
pages an excuse for its uncharitable follies.

But we must continue our _resumé_. It is curious to read that the
wedding-dress might not be “tried on” before the wedding-day, and if it
did not fit, it might not be cut or altered, but was adjusted in the best
manner possible. The bride, on the way to church, was forbidden to look
back, for to do so was to ensure a succession of disasters and quarrels in
the married state. It was considered inauspicious, moreover, if she did
not “greet” or weep on the marriage-day; a superstition obviously
connected with the wide-spread idea of the necessity of propitiating the
Fates which inspired the advice of Amasis to the too fortunate
Polycrates,[66] that he should fine himself for his success by throwing
some costly thing into the sea. It was thought well to marry at the time
of the growing moon, and among fisher-folk a flowing tide was regarded as
“lucky.” These customs were puerile enough, undoubtedly, but before we
censure them too severely we may ask whether our modern bridals are wholly
free from superstitious observances; whether we do not still pretend to
“bribe” the fickle Fortune by showers of rice and old slippers rained on
the departing couple!

It is needless to say that the “last scene of all” was invested with all
the attributes of grotesque terror the wayward popular imagination could
invent. Before it took place the light of the “death-candle”--the Welsh
call it the “corpse-candle”--might be seen hovering from chamber to
chamber; or the cock crowed before midnight; or the “dead-drap,” a sound
as of water falling monotonously and lingeringly, broke the silence of the
night; or three dismal and fatal knocks were heard, at regular intervals
of one or two minutes’ duration; or over the doomed person fluttered the
image of a white dove. And when the spirit had departed, the doors and
windows were immediately opened wide; the clocks were stopped; the mirrors
were covered; and it was held to disturb the rest of the dead, and to be
fatal to the living, if a tear fell upon the winding sheet. And thus, from
the cradle to the grave, Superstition dogged the steps of life; nor even
at the grave did it cease to vex and worry the minds of men with the
fancies and visions born of excited imaginations.

That such fancies, that customs so wild and grotesque, should have existed
in Scotland, and among a well-educated people, down to a comparatively
recent date, might be matter of wonder, if we were not aware of the
tenacity with which the heart clings to the “use and wont” of the Past.
Nor trivial as some, and inexcusable as all of them seem to the
philosophic eye, is it wise to regard them too contemptuously. They seem
to us to show how difficult man found it to realise to himself the idea of
a living, personal GOD,--of a GOD, a FATHER, ever watching over the
welfare of His children, chastening them in His mercy, but never refusing
them the light of His countenance when they have sought Him with faith in
the hour of sorrow and darkness. For want of this strengthening,
consoling, elevating idea, he has endeavoured to support himself by the
feeble prop of superstitious credulity, and instead of yielding wholly and
trustfully to the love of GOD the FATHER, has vainly striven to secure
some glimpse or foreshadowing of the Future, and to avert evil by peurile
practices and idle traditions.

We may next be allowed to point out the kinship in superstition which
prevails all over the world; so that the observance or custom which seems
peculiar to England or Scotland, is found in India or Tartary. This
remarkable similarity indicates a certain general tendency to attach an
“ominous significance” to particular things and events. Take as an
illustration, the act of sneezing. In Asia as well as Europe, among
Semitic peoples as well as among Aryan, it is usual to connect with the
act some form of blessing. Sometimes the sneezer is blessed by the
bystander; sometimes he blesses himself; if a Mohammedan, he blesses GOD.
In Italy, for example, the salutation addressed to him runs: “May GOD
preserve you!” or “May you have children!” In Hindi it takes the form of
“Sadàji’s” (May you live for ever!) and a similar salutation is used by
the Jews of Austria.

But in different places and at different times sneezing has been made to
carry a very different meaning. Among the Arabs, if, while a person is
making an assertion which some may think hazardous or dubious, another
sneezes, the speaker appeals to the omen as a confirmation of what he is
saying. A writer in the “Calcutta Review” thinks this notion as old as the
Greeks of the time of Xenophon, as appears from a well known passage in
Chap. ii. Book iii. of the Anabasis: Ἐπεὶ περί σωτηρὶας ἡμῶν λεγόντον
οἰωνὸς τοῦ Διὸς τοῦ σωτῆρος ἐφάνη. Sneezing among the Hindus, if it occur
behind your back, is regarded as so unfavourable an omen, that they at
once abandon the work on which at the time they may have been engaged.

Various but not satisfactory attempts have been made to explain these
customs. Thus, the Mohammedan accounts for his “Al hamdu-l Allah” by the
tradition that, when the breath of life was breathed into the nostrils of
Adam, he sneezed, and immediately uttered those words. While in Europe the
custom of blessing the sneezer has been traced to the occurrence in Italy
in the middle ages of some fatal epidemic, of which one of the symptoms
was sneezing.

The superstition which regards as a favourable omen the throbbing of the
eye, was well known to the ancient Greeks, is common in England, and
flourishes all over India. In England, it is the man’s right eye and the
woman’s left that is auspicious; and so it was in the Greece of
Theocritus, and so it is in India and Persia.

The curious superstition that ghosts are visible to dogs, to which we find
an allusion in Homer’s Odyssey, still flourishes in India. It may have
originated in the place given to the dog in the mythology of both Greek
and Hindu, or in the position enjoyed by the watch-dog among all the
shepherd peoples of the world. The belief belongs to the Semitic as well
as the Aryan races; and its true origin after all may be the apparently
causeless howling of the dog at night,--the time when “spirits walk
abroad.” Whatever the ground of the belief, it is probably in itself the
cause of the superstition that the howling of dogs presages death or
misfortune.

Another singular coincidence of this kind is furnished “by the custom of
spitting on the breast as a charm against fascination.” In his “Greek
Antiquities,” Potter notes that it was an ancient Greek custom to spit
three times on the breast at the sight of a madman; and Theocritus has,--

  τοιάδε μυθίζοισα τρὶς εἰς ἑὸν ἔπτυσε κόλπον.

“Precisely the same effect is attributed to the act among the Aryan
inhabitants of India, where its threefold repetition is also insisted on.
No sort of reason that we can imagine, can be found for this belief; and
in this case the idea is a complex one.

“The notion of a hiccough being an indication that some one is thinking of
the person affected, is equally common in Europe and in India.

“The same may be said of the superstition regarding an itching of the palm
of the hand; and further the idea that the palm should be rubbed against
something to make the event the more sure, prevails both in India and in
England. In England it should be ‘rubbed against wood,’ in India on the
forehead.”[67]

We supply but one more illustration, and that shall be in folk lore; a
nursery story which presents virtually the same features in the East as in
the West. The following is the Hindu parallel to the old Saxon nursery
tale of “The Woman that found a Silver Penny.” The coincidence will be
seen to be complete.

“Once upon a time, a little bird, on its way through the woods, picked up
a pea, and took it to the _barbhunja_ to be split; but, as ill luck would
have it, one half of it stuck fast in the mill-handle, and the _barbhunja_
being unable to get it out, the little bird went off to the carpenter, and
said, ‘Carpenter, carpenter, come and cut the mill-handle; my pea is in
the mill-handle; what shall I eat, what shall I drink, and what shall I
take to foreign countries?’ ‘Be off,’ said the carpenter, ‘is it likely I
shall come and cut the mill-handle for the sake of a single pea?’

“Then the little bird went to the king, and said, ‘King, king, chide the
carpenter; the carpenter won’t cut the mill-handle; my pea has stuck in
the mill-handle; what shall I eat, what shall I drink, and what shall I
take to foreign countries?’ ‘Be off with you,’ said the king, ‘do you
think that for the sake of a single pea I am going to chide the
carpenter?’

“Then the little bird went to the queen, and said, ‘Queen, queen, speak to
the king; the king won’t chide the carpenter; the carpenter won’t cut the
mill-handle; my pea is in the socket of the mill-handle; what shall I eat,
what shall I drink, and what shall I take to foreign countries?’ But the
queen said, ‘Be off with you, do you think that for the sake of a single
pea I am going to talk to the king?’

“Then the little bird went to the snake, and said, ‘Snake, snake, bite the
queen; the queen won’t talk to the king; the king won’t chide the
carpenter; the carpenter won’t cut the mill-handle; my pea is in the
socket of the mill-handle; what shall I eat, what shall I drink, and what
shall I take to foreign countries?’ But the snake said, ‘Be off with you,
do you think that for the sake of a single pea I am going to bite the
queen?’

“Then the little bird went to the stick, and said, ‘Stick, stick, beat the
snake; snake won’t bite queen; queen won’t talk to king; king won’t chide
carpenter; carpenter won’t cut mill-handle; my pea is in the socket of the
mill-handle; what shall I eat, what shall I drink, and what shall I take
to foreign countries?’ But the stick said, ‘Be off with you, do you think
that for the sake of a single pea I am going to beat the snake?’

“Then the little bird went to the fire, and said, ‘Fire, fire, burn stick;
stick won’t beat snake; snake won’t bite queen; queen won’t talk to king;
king won’t chide carpenter; carpenter won’t cut mill-handle; my pea is in
the socket of the mill-handle; what shall I eat, what shall I drink, and
what shall I take to foreign countries?’ But the fire said, ‘Be off with
you, do you think that for the sake of a single pea I am going to burn the
stick?’

“Then the little bird went to the sea, and said, ‘Sea, sea, quench fire;
fire won’t burn stick; stick won’t beat snake; snake won’t bite queen;
queen won’t talk to king; king won’t chide carpenter; carpenter won’t cut
mill-handle; my pea is in the socket of the mill-handle; what shall I eat,
what shall I drink, and what shall I take to foreign countries?’ But the
sea said, ‘Be off with you, do you think that for the sake of a single pea
I am going to quench the fire?’

“Then the little bird went to the elephant, and said, ‘Elephant, elephant,
dry up the sea; sea won’t quench fire; fire won’t burn stick; stick won’t
beat snake; snake won’t bite queen; queen won’t talk to king; king won’t
chide carpenter; carpenter won’t cut mill-handle; my pea is in the socket
of the mill-handle; what shall I eat, what shall I drink, and what shall I
take to foreign countries?’ But the elephant said, ‘Be off with you, to
dry up the sea would take the whole host of elephants; do you think that
for the sake of a single pea I am going to assemble all of my kith and
kin?’

“Then the bird went to the _bhaunr_, (a tangled creeping plant,) and said,
‘_Bhaunr_, _bhaunr_, snare the elephant; elephant won’t drink up sea; sea
won’t quench fire; fire won’t burn stick; stick won’t beat snake; snake
won’t bite queen; queen won’t talk to king; king won’t chide carpenter;
carpenter won’t cut mill-handle; my pea is in the socket of the
mill-handle; what shall I eat, what shall I drink, and what shall I take
to foreign countries?’ But the _bhaunr_ said, ‘Be off with you, do you
think that for the sake of a single pea I am going to snare the elephant?’

“Then the bird went to the mouse, and said, ‘Mouse, mouse, cut _bhaunr_;
_bhaunr_ won’t snare elephant; elephant won’t drink up sea; sea won’t
quench fire; fire won’t burn stick; stick won’t beat snake; snake won’t
bite queen; queen won’t talk to king; king won’t chide carpenter;
carpenter won’t cut mill-handle; my pea is in the socket of the
mill-handle; what shall I eat, what shall I drink, and what shall I take
to foreign countries?’ But the mouse said, ‘Be off with you, do you think
that for the sake of a single pea I am going to cut the _bhaunr_?’

“Then the bird went to the cat, and said, ‘Cat, cat, eat mouse; mouse
won’t cut _bhaunr_; _bhaunr_ won’t snare elephant; elephant won’t drink up
sea; sea won’t quench fire; fire won’t burn stick; stick won’t beat
snake; snake won’t bite queen; queen won’t talk to king; king won’t chide
carpenter; carpenter won’t cut mill-handle; my pea is in the socket of the
mill-handle; what shall I eat, what shall I drink, and what shall I take
to foreign countries?’ And the cat said, ‘By all means; the mouse is my
natural prey, why should I not eat it?’

“So the cat went to eat the mouse; and the mouse went to cut the _bhaunr_,
saying,--

  ‘Hamko khao, a o, mat koi,
  Ham bhaunr ko katat loi.’

‘Oh, oh, eat, oh! eat me no one, I will take and cut the _bhaunr_.’ And
the _bhaunr_ went to snare the elephant, saying, ‘Oh, cut, oh! cut me no
one, I’ll take and snare the elephant.’ And so on with each one, till it
came to the carpenter, who extracted the pea, and the bird took it, and
went away rejoicing.”

The close resemblance between this fable and the English one of “The
Silver Penny,” attests a common origin. For it cannot be supposed that
either was conveyed by means of oral communication from one country to the
other; and the only feasible conclusion seems to be that they are
different versions of a nursery tale which belonged to our common Aryan
forefathers. There can be no doubt as to its antiquity.[68]

       *       *       *       *       *

Among the earlier superstitions of Scotland was a belief in the efficacy
of charms, or metrical incantations; a belief prevailing in almost every
country and period, and indirectly attesting man’s strong inward
conviction of the existence of another world. That communications could be
maintained with the unseen creatures that live in the air, and “the ooze;”
above, beneath, and around us; that they could be made to assume a bodily
form and presence; that storms could be raised or dispelled, evil
prevented, secrets discovered, diseases cured, love engendered,--and that
all this was possible by the utterance of certain words arranged in
metrical form, though generally perfectly meaningless, was never doubted.
Many of those used in Scotland evidently had their origin in the reputed
efficacy of verses among the ancients; and being of an early date, they
are often “intermixed with the formula of the Roman Catholic ritual.” Thus
we read that one Elspeth Reoch (in 1616) had been supernaturally
instructed to cure distempers by resting on her right knee while pulling a
certain herb “betwixt her midfinger and thumb, and saying of, _In nomine
Patris, Filii, et Spiritus Sancti_.” An old and popular charm for curing
cattle (1607), is given by Dalyell as follows:--[69]

              “I charge thee for arrow shot,
              For deer shot, for womb shot,
              For eye shot, for tongue shot,
              For liver shot, for lung shot,
              For heart shot,--all the most:
  In the Name of the FATHER, the SON, and HOLY GHOST.
              To wind out of flesh and bone,
              Into oak and stone:
  In the Name of the FATHER, the SON, and HOLY GHOST.
                                                Amen.”

Sometimes these invocations were accompanied by the administration of
medicinal herbs which had been gathered before sunrise. A woman accused of
witchcraft, in 1588, declared that she saw “the guid nychtbours makand
thair sawis with pains and fyres, and gadderit thair herbis before the
sone rysing as sche did.” Among the various remedies prescribed for “the
trembling fever,” or ague, by Katharine Oswald, one related to plucking up
a nettle by the root, three successive mornings, before sunrise. A
favourite time for this herb-gathering rite was Midsummer; a relic of the
old Pagan superstition connected with the sun’s position in the Zodiac.
The metrical charm then made use of was popular also in England,--

  “Haile be thou, holie hearte,
    Growing on the ground;
  All in the Mount Calvarie
    First wast thou found.
  Thou art good for manie a sore,
    And healest manie a wound;
  In the Name of Sweet JESUS,
    I take thee from the ground.”

“Bleeding at the touch,” has been accepted in several countries as a
revelation of guilt. A man suspected of murder was brought to the side of
the murdered man’s body, and forced to touch it; if the suspicions were
just, blood immediately oozed from the wound, or at the mouth, or nose.
Even at the man’s approach this sign of crime would appear. It is easy to
see how precarious and dangerous a test was this; how readily it might
release the guilty, and betray the innocent. Naturally therefore it was
not accepted without reluctance. A man and his sister had quarrelled; he
died suddenly, and his body was found in his own house, naked, and with a
wound on the face, but bloodless. “Although many of the neighbours in the
town came into the house to see the dead corpse, yet she, the sister,
never offered to come, howbeit her dwelling was next door, nor had she so
much as any seeming grief for his death. But the minister and bailiffs of
the town taking great suspicion of her in respect of her carriage,
commanded that she should be brought in. But when she came, she came
trembling all the way to the house; she refused to come nigh to the
corpse, or to touch, saying, that she never touched a dead corpse in her
life. But being earnestly entreated by the minister and bailiffs, and her
brother’s friends, who was killed, that she would but touch the corpse
softly, she granted to do it. But before she did it, the sun shining in at
the house, she expressed herself thus: ‘Humbly desiring, as the LORD made
the sun to shine and give light into that house, that also He would give
light in discovering that murder.’ And with these words, she touching the
wound of the dead man very softly, it being white and clean, without any
spot of blood or the like, yet immediately, while her finger was upon it,
the blood rushed out of it, to the great admiration of all the beholders,
who took it as one discovery of the murder, according to her own prayer.”

It will seem astonishing to readers of the present day that a poor
creature’s life could be taken away on such fanciful and uncertain
evidence.

We read that a Sir James Standsfield was found lying dead in a stream. His
body was interred precipitately. Two days afterwards it was exhumed and
partially dissected, the neck in particular being laid open, in order to
ascertain the cause of death. After being well cleansed, blood burst from
that side supported by his son Philip, on returning the body to the coffin
for re-interment--not an unlikely result from the straining of the
incisions--and it deeply stained his hand. He was arraigned, on this
slight ground, for parricide; and in the course of the trial it was
gravely argued that it was the will of Providence to disclose by this
peculiar incident a secret crime.

       *       *       *       *       *

The preservation of health and the prolongation of life are necessarily
objects of interest to all mankind, and it was natural enough that around
them should flourish a rank growth of superstitions.

To ailing or diseased persons all kinds of potions, pills, and powders
were administered in the past as they are in the present; but whereas we
are now content with the mystic characters endorsed on his formula by the
physician, our ancestors were not satisfied unless certain mystical words,
numbers, or ceremonies accompanied them. The sign of the cross was in
constant requisition; or the medicine was to be taken according to
mystical numbers--thrice or nine times, as the case might be. For
hooping-cough was prescribed a draught from the horn of a living ox, nine
times repeated. The patient was also put “nine several times” in the
miller’s hopper.

The importance ascribed to the figure of a circle is probably a relic of
the influence of the old sun-worship. Consumptive invalids, or children
suffering from hectic fever, were thrice passed through a circular wreath
of woodbine, cut during the increase of the March moon, and let down over
the body from head to foot. We read of a sorceress who healed sundry women
by “taking a garland of green woodbine, and causing the patient to pass
thrice through it.” Afterwards, the garland was cut in nine pieces, which
were cast into the fire--generally an indispensable particular in
ceremonies of this kind. Another passed her patient through a heap of
green yarn, which the nurse shook, and then divided it into nine pieces,
which were buried in the lands of three owners. A certain Thomas Grieve
directed a patient to pass thrice through a heap of yarn, which he duly
burned. He also cured the wife of a Michael Glanis by having a hole broken
on the north side of the chimney, and putting a hoop of yarn thrice
through it, and taking it back at the door; and thereafter compelling the
patient to go nine times through the said hoop of yarn.

White of Selborne tells us of a custom, prevalent in his time in the south
of England, of stripping feeble and diseased children, and transmitting
them head foremost through an artificial cleft in a young tree, the
several parts of which were held forcibly asunder. The wound was then
bound up carefully, and it was expected that the child would recover as
the tree healed. If the cleft did not unite, the remedy proved abortive;
and if the tree were cut down, the patient relapsed or died.

Borlase speaks of a similar custom in Cornwall, except that a perforated
stone was used instead of a cleft tree.

In Persia, according to Alexander, passage through a long fissure or
crevice in a rock, by crawling on hands and knees, is employed as a test
of legitimate birth. And in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem,
to pass between the pillars supporting an altar and the neighbouring wall,
was practised as a like test. It has been suggested, as the meaning of
these various transmissions through cleft, aperture, skein of yarn, and
garland, that they are symbolical of regeneration; a second birth, whereby
a living soul is cleansed from its former impurities and imperfections.
Wilford speaks of a sanctified fissure in a rock in the East, to which
pilgrims resort “for the purpose of regeneration, by the efficacy of a
passage through this sacred type.”

       *       *       *       *       *

The faculty of divining events, passing at a distance from the seer, or of
passively receiving a knowledge that such events are taking place, is the
well-known “second sight,” which plays so important a part in many
Scottish stories. “In the stricter acceptation of this faculty,” we are
told, “contemporary objects and incidents are beheld at the time, however
remote their locality, but neither those which have passed, nor those
which have yet to come. If extending to futurity, the subject of the
vision is about to be realised. Therefore the second sight borders only on
prognostication. It is affirmed to be more peculiar to Scotland, for very
faint analogy to such a property has been claimed for other countries: and
that the highlanders chiefly, together with the inhabitants of the insular
districts, or that portion of the kingdom less advanced, have enjoyed it
in the highest perfection. Marvellous to be told, they have said that
their cattle are gifted with it as well as themselves.”

The faculty was one which knew no distinction of age or sex, or class; it
was enjoyed by man and woman, young and old, rich and poor, high-born and
plebeians, and in many cases was inherited. It might occasionally be
imparted by a gifted person, or acquired by study and preparation. It is a
proof, were proof needed, of the living influence of the imagination, that
the vision beheld by one individual only, might be revealed to a companion
visionary, thus confirmed in his belief in the value of his new
prerogative; simply by the pressure of the seer’s right foot on the
novice’s left, holding one hand on his head, while he was admonished to
look over the master’s right shoulder. Thus, Lilly, the
astrologer--Butler’s “hight Sidrophel”--relates how one John Scott desired
William Hodges, an astrologer in Staffordshire, to show him the person and
features of the person he should marry. Hodges carried him into a field
not far from his home; pulled out his magic crystal; bade Scott set his
foot against his, and after awhile desired him to inspect the crystal, and
observe what he saw there. Of course he saw exactly what his fevered
wishes were resolved to see.

Ceremonies of a more fantastic character were sometimes involved, and
round the novice’s body was coiled a hair rope with which a corpse had
been bound to its bier. He was then required to look through a hole left
by the removal of a fir knot; and, on stooping, he was instructed to look
back between his legs, until an advancing funeral procession should cross
the boundary of the estates of two different owners. The inconvenience of
this complicated performance is obvious; it might also be dangerous; for
if the wind changed while the novice was girded with the mystical cord, he
was liable to the penalty of death.

A seer gifted with this wonderful faculty could not divest himself of it,
though often he would fain have done so. However acquired, it was a
perilous endowment, fraught with physical and mental suffering, and
reputed to be no gift from on high, but to have come from the Father of
Evil.

The objects seen were generally sad and sorrowful; calamities to persons
or nations. Woodrow says that before the Marquis of Argyll went to London
in 1660, he was playing “at the bullets,” or bowls, with some Scottish
gentlemen; when one of them, as the Marquis stooped down to lift the
bullet, “fell pale,” and said to those about him: “Bless me, what is this
I see? my lord with his head off, and all his shoulder full of blood?”

On one occasion, a gentleman joined a company, all of whom were very frank
and cheerful. He had no sooner entered than one of the guests, who had not
previously known him, showed much depression of spirit. Without taking any
notice of it the new-comer quickly rose, and went his way. The other
thereupon showed great concern, and wished he would remain; for he saw
him, he said, with a shroud up to his neck, and he knew that this sign
foreboded his death. In vain some of the company would have persuaded the
doomed man to take warning, but he departed, and having ridden a short
distance, he and his horse fell, and he broke his neck.

On the morning of the battle of Bothwell Bridge, that sore defeat to the
Covenanters--so vigorously described by Scott in his “Old Mortality”--Mr.
John Cameron, minister at Lochhead in Kintyre, fell into a fit of
melancholy, so that Mr. Morison, of his elders, observing him through his
chamber door, sore weeping and wringing his hands, knocked until he opened
to him. Then he asked what was the matter? Were his wife and children
well? “Little matter for them,” he answered; “our friends at Bothwell are
gone.” Mr. Morison told him it might be a mistake, and the offcome of his
gloomy thoughts: “No, no,” said he, “I see them flying as clearly as I see
the wall.” As near as they could calculate by the accounts they afterwards
obtained, this incident at the Lochhead of Kintyre was contemporaneous
with the flight of the Covenanters at Bothwell.

Munro, the Scotch soldier of fortune, who bore himself so gallantly in the
wars of Gustavus Adolphus, tells a story of a vision that was seen by a
soldier of his company on the morning of the storm of Stralsund in 1628.
One Murdo Macleod, born in Assen, a soldier of tall stature and valiant
courage, being sleeping on his watch, awoke at break of day, and “jogged”
two of his comrades lying by him, much to their indignation at his
“stirring them.” He replied: “Before long, you shall be otherwise
stirred.” A soldier called Allan Tough, a Lochaber man, recommending his
soul to GOD, asked him what he had seen: “That you shall never behold your
country again.” The other replied, the loss was but small, if the rest of
the company were well. He answered: “No, for there was great hurt and
dearth of many very near.” The other again asked, what others he had seen
who would perish. He then told by name sundry of his comrades who would be
killed. The other asked, what would become of himself. Eventually, he
described by their clothes all the officers who would be hurt. “A pretty
quick boy near by,” asked him, what would become of the Major (that is,
Munro himself?) “He would be shot, but not deadly,” was the answer,--and
so it proved.

A good deal is said of this _Taisch_, or “Second Sight,” in Dr. Johnson’s
“Journey to the Hebrides,” and some striking anecdotes are told. It was
just the thing to interest his moody temperament, with its terrible dread
of death and its longing to lift the curtain that hides from us the
Unseen. He seems, however, to have been unable to convince himself of the
actual existence of such a power; all the evidence he could collect failed
to advance his curiosity to conviction, so that he could not believe,
while remaining willing to believe. To use the noble words of Goethe,
nobly rendered by Coleridge:

                            “As the sun,
  Ere it is risen, sometimes paints its image
  In the atmosphere, so often do the spirits
  Of great events stride on before the events,
  And in To-day already walks To-morrow.”

_This_ it is not difficult to accept. It seems fitting that presages
should herald the death of kings and the revolutions of nations; but the
mind cannot convince itself that the spirits of the dead will cross the
shadowy borders to foretell the trivial accidents that chequer ordinary
lives. Yet, as Johnson says: “A man on a journey far from home falls from
a horse; another who is perhaps at work about the house, sees him bleeding
on the ground, commonly with a landscape of the place where the accident
befalls him. Another seer, driving home his cattle, or wandering in
idleness, or musing in the sunshine, is suddenly surprised by the
appearance of a bridal ceremony or funeral procession, and counts the
mourners or attendants, of whom, if he knows them, he relates the names,
if he knows them not he can describe the dresses.”

Woodrow tells of “a popish lady,” living near Boroughbridge, who dreamed
that she saw a coach, and a lady in it, almost lost in the river. She
directed her servants to watch during two nights, to guard against an
accident, but nothing happened. “On the third night, pretty late, the Lady
Shawfield came, and of a sudden the coach was overturned, and filled with
water. The coachman got upon one of the horses, to save his life. The good
and religious Lady Shawfield was for some time under water: and upon the
cry rising, the popish lady’s servants came to their assistance. With much
difficulty, the coach and lady in it were got out of the water.” And the
Lady Shawfield, being laid upon the bank, gradually recovered her senses.

In the early months of the Commonwealth, while Mackenzie of Tarbat,
afterwards Earl of Cromarty, was riding in a field among his tenants, who
were manuring barley, a stranger “called that way on his foot, and stopped
likewise, and said to the countrymen, ‘You need not be so busy about that
barley, for I see the Englishmen’s horses tethered among it; and other
parts mowed down for them.’ Tarbet asked him how he knew them to be
Englishmen, and if he had ever seen any of them? He said, ‘No; but he saw
them strangers, and heard the English were in Scotland, and guessed it
could be no other than they.’ In the month of July, the thing happened
directly as the man said he saw it.”

The influence exercised on the imagination by events in which we are
deeply interested, and the manner in which our hopes or fears are mistaken
for predictions, may be illustrated by two examples from antiquity. On the
day that Cæsar and Pompey contended at Pharsalia for the mastery of the
world, Cornelius, a priest and patrician of Padua, declared, under a
sudden impulse of passion, that he beheld the eddies and currents of a
desperate battle, and the fall and flight of many of the combatants,
eventually exclaiming: “Cæsar has conquered!” His hearers laughed at him,
but his words were afterwards verified, and it appeared that he had
foretold not only the day, but the incidents, and the result of the famous
battle in Thessaly. The anecdote is related on the authority of the
“Noctes Atticæ” of Aulus Gellius.

Dio Cassius tells a similar story about the assassination of the Emperor
Domitian at Rome, by his freedman Stephanus. “It is to be admired,” he
says, “that, as accurately proved by persons in either place, Apollonius
Thyanæus, ascending an eminence at Ephesus or elsewhere, cried out before
the multitude: ‘Well done, Stephanus, well done! Strike the murderer! thou
hast struck him, thou hast wounded him, he is slain!’” But it may well be
supposed that a secret understanding existed between Apollonius and the
murderer.

       *       *       *       *       *

From “second sight” we pass on to “prediction” or “divination,” another of
the superstitious modes by which humanity has endeavoured to read the book
of the Future. In the north this power of prophecy was largely assumed by
women, a circumstance of which Scott has made ample and picturesque use in
more than one of his admirable fictions.

A woman foretold the tragical end of James I. of Scotland, in 1436. In the
early stage of a journey from Edinburgh to Leith, and in the midst of the
way, arose a woman of Ireland, who claimed to be a soothsayer, and as soon
as she saw the king, she cried with a loud voice, saying, “My lord king,
an ye pass this water, ye shall never turn again to live.” The king was
astonished at her words, for but shortly before he had fallen in with a
prophecy, that in the self-same year the King of Scots should be slain.
And as he rode onward, he called to him one of his knights, and commanded
him to return and speak with this woman, and ask of her what she would,
and what she meant by her loud crying: and she began and told him what
would befall the king if he passed that water. The king asked her how she
knew so much, and she said that Huthart told her so. “Sire,” quoth the
knight, “men may gallantly talk, nor take heed of yonder woman’s words,
for she is but a drunken fool, and wots not what she saith.” And so with
his folk he passed the water called the Scottish Sea, towards S. John’s
town [Perth,] about four miles from the country of the wild Scots, and
there, in a convent of Black Friars, outside the town, he held a great
feast. In the course of the revel came “the said woman of Ireland, who
called herself a divineress,” and made several vain attempts to gain
access to the king. Meanwhile the conspirators matured their plot, removed
the king’s guards, attacked him, and slew him.[70]

All the predictions which come true are preserved; we hear nothing of
those which fail, for no one has an interest in recording or repeating
them; hence an undue importance is gradually attached to what are nothing
more than remarkable coincidences. Many others are prophecies “after the
event.” Others are based on a careful calculation of probabilities. As in
the following example: An Orkney warlock, full of displeasure with James
Paplay, a proud and haughty chief, with whose character, doubtless, she
was well acquainted, broke forth into a torrent of predictive utterances:
“Thou art now the highest man that ever thou shalt be! Thou art gone to
shear thy corn, but it shall never do you good! Thou art going to set
house with thy wife,--ye shall have no joy of one another. Oil shall not
keep you and her; ye shall have such a meit-will [craving,] and shall have
nothing to eat, but be fain to eat grass under the stones and wair
(sea-weed) under the rocks.” It was seriously asserted that not only were
these predictions--or menaces--uttered, but that they were all fulfilled;
and it is possible that the prophet may have had something to do with
their fulfilment.

A curious anecdote is related of a Scottish minister, who, on the day of
the battle of Killiecrankie, was preaching at Anworth, and in his preface
before his prayer, according to his usual mode of homely expression, began
to this purpose: “Some of you will say, What news, minister? What news
about Clavers, who has done so much mischief in this country? That man
sets up to be a young Montrose, but as the LORD liveth, he shall be cut
short this day. Be not afraid,” added he, “I see them scattered and
flying: and as the LORD liveth, and sends this message by me, Claverhouse
shall no longer be a terror to GOD’S people. This day I see him
killed--lying a corpse.” And on that day, and at that hour, Claverhouse
fell[71] (July 27th, 1689.)

In their anxiety to obtain a glimpse of the dread writing in the Book of
Fate, men have resorted to divers strange expedients, applying to warlocks
and witches, or seeking to wring a response to their questionings from the
creatures of the Invisible World. The ceremony known as _Taghairm_, or
“Echo,” seems to have been peculiar to Scotland. The inquirer was wrapped
in a cow’s hide, his head being left free, and was carried by assistants
to a solitary spot, or left under the liquid arch formed by the “sheeted
column’s silvery perpendicular” in waterfall or cataract: there he
remained during the watches of the night, with phantoms fluttering round
about him, from whence he was supposed to derive the burden of the
oracular response he delivered to his comrades on the following day.

It is probable that this ceremony is the relic of some ancient form of
ritual. At all events, the skins of animals played an important part in
the old worship. When the Thebans slew a cow on the festival of Jupiter
Ammon, his image was clothed with the skin: all present in the temple then
struck the carcase, which was buried in a consecrated place.

Pausanias records that a temple in honour of the soothsayer Amphiaraus,
the reputed son of Apollo, stood in the territory of Oropus in Attica.
Votaries who resorted thither for the purpose of divination, underwent
certain lustrations, or purifying rites, sacrificed a ram, and, in
expectation of seeing visions, slept upon its skin.

Virgil, in one of the most elaborate scenes of the Æneid, represents to us
a similar oblation as being offered at a consecrated fountain, where the
priest, to prepare himself for the delivery of responses, slept on the
skin:--

                “Et cæsarum ovium sub nocte silenti
  Pellibus incubuit stratis, somnosque petivit;
  Multa modis simulacra videt volitantia miris
  Et varias audit voces.”[72]

It seems to have been an important part of the heathen ritual to make use
of the skin of the sacrificed animal for the purposes of clothing. Lucian,
describing the ceremonies practised in the temple of Hierapolis, says
that, on his arrival, the head and eyebrows of the novice were shaved; a
sheep was then sacrificed; he knelt on the skin, and covering his own head
with the head and feet of the animal, prayed that his offering might be
accepted while promising a worthier one.

The Spanish invaders of the New World discovered that the religion of its
most civilised race, the Aztecs, was founded upon human sacrifices. The
number of victims offered up to the Aztec gods is stated in figures which
seem almost incredible. Peculiar to the Aztec kingdom was the horrid
ceremony entitled “the flaying of men.” The Aztecs having demanded the
daughter of some neighbouring potentate as their queen, she was flayed on
the very night of her arrival by command of their deity, and a young man
clothed in her skin. In this originated the custom that a captive slave,
distinguished by the name, the honours, and the ornaments of the divinity,
should be sacrificed after a certain time; and another, clothed with his
skin, then exacted contributions for the service of the gods, which no
one, says Acosta, dared to refuse.

       *       *       *       *       *

We have no space to dwell on the various forms of divination that were
wont to prevail. Almost everything in nature, from the stars of heaven to
the clods of earth, was made to give indications of coming events. The
historian of the darker Superstitions of Scotland brings together a few
striking illustrations.

If a certain worm in a medicinal spring on the top of a hill in Strathdon,
were found alive, it was a sign that the patient would live; and in a well
of Ardwacloich, in Appin, if the patient were to die, a dead worm was
found in it, and a live one, if he were to recover. In the district of
Lorn, the figures assumed by an egg dropped into water were supposed to
indicate the appearance of a future spouse. “Also, one of four vessels
being filled with pure, and another with muddy water, the third with milk,
and the fourth with meal and water; if the diviner blindfold dips his hand
in the first, it augurs that his spouse shall be led to the nuptial couch
in all her pristine purity; but otherwise if dipping in the second: if
finding his way to the milk, a widow shall fall to his lot; and an old
woman awaits him from the meal and water. Three vessels are used in the
south of Scotland; one of them empty; and should fate direct the diviner
hither, it augurs perpetual celibacy.”

       *       *       *       *       *

A belief in Fairies was widespread, and has survived, in remote districts,
down even to our own time:

                    “Oft fairy elves
  Whose midnight revels by a forest side
  Or fountain, some belated peasant sees,
  Or dreams he sees, while overhead the moon
  Sits arbitress, and nearer to the earth
  Wheels her pale course, they on their mirth and dance
  Intent, with jocund music charm his ear:
  At once with joy and fear his heart rebounds.”[73]

It is not easy to reconcile the conflicting details of the disposition,
manners, habits, and influence of these liliputian spirits which we meet
with in the early writers. But on a general survey it appears that they
were very diminutive; in their intercourse with mortals sometimes
good-tempered, sometimes malignant; that they loved and married, and had
offspring; that they were very merry, and loved to dance upon the green,
and fill the air with choral music; that they possessed stores of gold and
silver, which they distributed freely; that they were invisible, but could
at will present themselves to mortals; that they were very timid, and
would inflict a summary punishment upon intruders. Their influence was at
its highest on Friday, at noon, and at midnight.

Kirk, the Scotch minister of Aberfoyle, who died in 1688, relates some
other particulars of the “good people.” Their substance, he says, is
denser than air; too subtle to be pierced, and, like that of Milton’s
angels, reuniting when divided, or when any attempt is made to cleave it
asunder. Their voice is like unto whistling. They change their places of
abode every quarter of the year, floating near the surface of the earth;
and persons gifted with the second sight have often had fierce encounters
with them. The Highlanders, to preserve themselves and their cattle
against them, went regularly to church on the first Sunday of every
quarter, though they might not return during the interval. At the name of
GOD or JESUS they vanished into thin air. They were of both sexes, and
like mankind, they were mortal.

“Some meagre allusions appear to the Queen of the Fairies, and especially
by King James, whose immediate knowledge may have been derived from the
vignettes in Olaus Magnus, and the words of his own unhappy subjects, who
perished on account of their credulity. Alexoun Perisoma was convicted, on
her confession, of repairing to the ‘queen of Elfame,’ with whom she was
familiar. Jean Wire (1670) declared that, while she taught a school at
Dalkeith, a woman desired to be employed ‘to speik to the Queen of Fairie,
and strike ane battell in hir behalf with the said Queen.’” The name of
Titania is familiar enough to all lovers of English literature. There was
a necromancer or wizard, in the reign of Charles I., who affirmed he had
an incantation--“O Micol, Micol, regina Pigmiorum, veni,”--that Titania
could not resist. Lilly tells us that when it was tested at Hurst wood,
first a gentle murmurous sound was heard; then rose a violent whirlwind,
which swelled into a hurricane; and lastly the Fairy Queen appeared in all
her radiance.

Fairies generally dwelt in subterraneous abodes; in the interiors of
grassy hillocks, whence issued dulcet sounds and flashes of weird light;
sometimes the side of a hill opened, and exposed them to the gaze of the
belated wayfarer. No doubt they were seen everywhere by the potent gaze of
imagination; on the meads and in the groves, or curled up among the
bending flowers; for

            “Visions as poetic eyes avow,
  Hang from each leaf, and cling to every bough.”

They were reputed to be well skilled in the medical art, and to favoured
mortals they sometimes imparted their knowledge. It is difficult to
understand why they were credited with the abstraction of children, and
with the substitution of other beings in their place. For this curious
kind of theft was commonly attributed to them. A “wise woman”--a dealer in
simples and herbal potions--having failed to cure a child, declared that
“the bairn had been taken away, and an elf substituted.”

Besides the fairies, Scotland could boast of its spirits of the waters,
just as Germany had its Loreleys and Ondines.

We can gather, however, no definite information respecting the
water-kelpie, the water-horses, or the water-bull, or of another anomalous
animal called shelly-coat. Describing Lochlomond, Graham says:--“It is
reported by the countrymen living thereabouts, that they sometimes see the
hippopotam or water-horse, where the river Cudrie falls into it, a mile
west of the church of Buchanan.” A river known as the Ugly Burn, in the
county of Ross, springing from Loch Glaish, was regarded with awe by all
the countryside, as the retreat of the water-horse and other spiritual
beings. Shetland is represented as having possessed a handsome water-horse
which, when mounted, carried the rider into the sea. Mr. Dalyell, writing
in 1835, says, that the water-bull is still believed to reside in Loch Awe
and Loch Rannoch, nor, he adds, are witnesses wanting to bear testimony to
the fact. It was reputed to be invulnerable against all except silver
shot; though no one had put it to the proof. In the Isle of Man certain
persons who saw the water-bull in a field were unable to distinguish him
from one of the ordinary terrestrial species, nor did the cows show any
disposition to avoid him. But his progeny always turned out to be a rude
lump of flesh and skin, without bones.

The spirit of the sea was believed to be malicious, and capable of
inflicting injury. Allusions are frequent to “sea-trowis, meermen,
meermaids, and a number of little creatures coming from the sea” in
response to spell and charm. Nor must we forget the practice of pouring
out libations to the aquatic divinities. A century ago, in Crawford Muir,
when a tenant was evicted and another took his place, he cut the throat of
a black lamb and threw it into a stream, with a malediction both upon
stream and lamb.

To this futile department of human error we can, however, devote no more
space. To treat it adequately we should need at least a couple of volumes
as closely printed as the present.




INDEX.


  Aborigines, the, of North America, 254.

  African Superstitions, 171.

  Ahetas, the, 153.

  Ancestors, Worship of, 220.

  Anecdotes of Khandikya and Kesidhwaja, 114.

  Apples, Halloween, 293.

  Ark-festival, an Indian, 90.

  Ashi, the Rabbi, 72.

  Asia, savage races of, 155.


  Babylonian Talmud, the, 72.

  Bouru, 146.

  Brahman Religion, the, 14, 84.

  Buddhism, 16.

  Buddhists, Prayer-wheels of the, 1.

  Buffalo-dance, the, 259.


  Cannibalism, 250.

  Caste, Brahman, 14.

  Cat, adventures of a, 218.

  Ceremonies, Hindu, 6;
    Eskimo, 275.

  Chandu, Palace of, 163.

  Charms, Scottish, 310.

  China, in, 119.

  Chinese offerings to gods, 139.

  Chinese temples, 132.

  Chunda Sen, Babu Keshub, 97.

  Chung-Yung, 123.

  Confucianism, 119.

  Confucius, Life of, 120.

  Court of Justice, an Eskimo, 277.

  Cumming, Miss Gordon, Experiences of, 1;
    quoted, 3.


  Daksha, sacrifice of, 103.

  Debendunath Tagore, 97.

  Devil-dancing, 91.

  Divination, 319.

  Dorians, the, 147.

  Dyaks, the, 145.


  Egg-trick, the, 169.

  Equatorial Savage, the, 172.

  Eskimos, the, 274.

  Etu, the, 221.


  Fairies, belief in, 323.

  Feast of Lanterns, the, 129.

  Fetich-man, the, 174.

  Fiji-islanders, the, 230.

  Fire-superstitions, 290.

  Fish-charmers, Brahman, 87.

  Flagellants, the, 279.


  Gemara, the, 69.

  Gods, belief in, 12.


  Halloween, 288.

  Health-superstitions, 313.

  Hilarion, S., 280.

  Hindu Mythology, the, 99.

  Hindus, the, 203.

  Hindu Temples, Ceremonies of the, 6.

  Hiouen-thsang, Career of, 26.


  Idol Worship, 221.

  Indians, North American, 254.


  Jerusalem Talmud, the, 72.

  Jewish Superstitions, 68.

  Jugglery, 163.


  Khudas, the, 89.

  King, or, the Five Canonical Works, 125.


  Lao-tsze, the Chinese Philosopher, 129.

  Lun-Yu, the, 124.


  Magianism, 43.

  Maize, Indian reverence for the, 273.

  Malays, among the, 142.

  Maories, the, 241.

  Medicine-bag, the Indian, 265.

  Medicine-man, the Indian, 174;
    the Eskimo, 274.

  Meng-tze, the, 124.

  Mishna, the, 68.

  Mongols, the, 157.

  Müller, Max, quoted, 10.


  Nâgpanchanic Festival, the, 210.

  New Zealand, 241.

  North American Indians, the, 254.

  Nursery tale, a Hindu, 307.


  Old age, African veneration of, 172.

  Orang-lauts, the, 152.

  Ormuzd and Ahriman, 191.

  Ostiaks, the, 158.


  Paharis, the Customs of, 87.

  Papeiha’s witness to Christianity, 215.

  Papuan Tribes, the, 147.

  Parsees, the, 43.

  Peace-pipe, the Indian, 270.

  Polo, Marco, 161.

  Polynesian Sacrifices, 228.

  Polynesian Superstitions, 214.

  Prayer-Wheels of the Buddhists, 1.

  Public Games, 109.

  Puranas, the, 99.


  Rammohun Roy, Life of, 92.

  Red Men, the, 257.

  Religion, Brahman, 14, 84;
    Buddhism, 16;
    Parsee, 43;
    Chinese, 119;
    among the Malays, 142;
    the Dyaks, 145;
    in Bouru, 146;
    among the Papuan tribes, 147;
    the Orang-lauts, 152;
    Savage nations of Asia, 155;
    in Tibet, 161;
    Zabianism, 186;
    in Polynesia, 214;
    among the Fiji-islanders, 230;
    the Maories, 241;
    North American Indians, 254.

  Rudra, Origin of, 103.


  Samoans, the, 219.

  Samojedes, 155.

  San-tsing, the Chinese deity, 131.

  Scottish Superstitions, 288.

  Second Sight, 290, 300, 314.

  Serpent-worship, 186.

  Shae-tung, the, 129.

  Shamanism, 91.

  Shang-te, the, of the Chinese, 131.

  Slamatan Bromok, the, 142.

  Snake-charmers, 87.

  Stylites, S. Simeon, 281.

  Sun-worship, 8, 200.

  Superstitions, African, 171.

  Supreme Being, belief in a, 11.


  Taboo, or Tapu, 241.

  Tadibe, the, 156.

  Ta-heo, the, 123.

  Talmud, the, 68.

  Taossi, the, 132.

  Taouism, 129.

  Tehu-Chor, the, 3.

  Thibetan Prayer or Litany, the, 4.

  Tibet, in, 161.

  Topes, the, 203.

  Typhon and Osiris, 173.


  Vishnu Purana, the, 100.


  Weather-conjuring among the Mongols, 159.

  Williams, Rev. John, 214.


  Yadageri, 160.


  Zabianism, 186.

  Zendavesta, the, 43.

  Zoroaster, 45.

  Zulu Witch-finders, 180.


J. MASTERS AND CO., PRINTERS, ALBION BUILDINGS, BARTHOLOMEW CLOSE.




FOOTNOTES:

[1] Miss Gordon Cumming, “From the Hebrides to the Himalayas,” ii. 226,
227.

[2] Max Müller, Buddhism and Buddhist Pilgrims, pp. 5, 6.

[3] Rig-Veda, i. 164, 46.

[4] Rig-Veda, x. 121, by Max Müller.

[5] The thought in this paragraph, and several of the expressions, are
from Max Müller.

[6] So in Shelley’s lyrical drama of “Prometheus Unbound:”--

  “_Mercury_ (addressing Prometheus.) Once more answer me:
                Thou knowest not the period of Jove’s power?
  _Prometheus._ I know but this, that it must come.
  _Mercury._                                       Alas!
                Thou canst not count thy years to come of pain.
  _Prometheus._ They last while Jove must reign; nor more nor less
                Or I desire or fear.”

[7] Max Müller, pp. 13, 14.

[8] Professor Wilson propounded a theory to the effect that there never
was any such man as Buddha, but the theory has found few supporters.

[9] The name “Sakya” is made into “Sakya-muni,”--_muni_ in Sanskrit
meaning “solitary,” (Greek, μόνος,) alluding to his solitary habits; and
to Gautama is often prefixed “Sramana,” or “ascetic.”

[10] Max Müller, pp. 14, 15.

[11] Max Müller, pp. 15, 16, 17.

[12] The following sketch is founded on M. Stanislas Julien’s “Voyages des
Pélerins Buddhistes,” and on Max Müller’s review of that valuable work.

[13] Max Müller, p. 36.

[14] Voyages des Pélerins Bouddhistes. Vol. I. Histoire de la Vie de
Hiouen-thsang, et ses Voyages dans l’Inde, depuis l’an 629 jusqu’en 645,
par Hoeï-li et Yen-thsong; traduite du Chinois par Stanislas Julien.

Vol. II. Mémoires sur les Contrées Occidentales, traduits du Sanscrit en
Chinois, en l’an 648, par Hiouen-thsang, et du Chinois en Français, par
Stanislas Julien. Paris, 1853-1857. B. Duprat.

[15] Hoeï-li terminates the last book of his biography of the Master with
a long and pompous panegyric of Hiouen-thsang. This _morceau_, which forms
(says Stanislas Julien,) twenty-five pages in the Imperial edition and ten
in the _Nan-king_, offers an analysis of the life and voyages of the
Master of the Law; but it contains no new fact or one of any interest in
relation to the history and geography of India or the Buddhist literature.
No English version has appeared of M. Julien’s elaborate translation of
the Chinese History of Hiouen-thsang.

[16] More correctly, Avesta-Zend.

[17] Sanscrit, _Avasthâ_. This is Haug’s conjecture.

[18] The Pazend language was identical with the Parsi, i.e., the ancient
Persian.

[19] Dogs are here associated with man on account of their high value in
an early stage of civilisation. Zarathustra protected them by special
ordinances and penalties.

[20] The bridge _Chinavat_ by which the souls of the good crossed into
Paradise; a fancy afterwards adopted by Muhámad.

[21] Quarles.

[22] Emanuel Deutsch, “Literary Remains,” (edit. 1874, pp. 32, 33.)

[23] E. Deutsch, Literary Remains, p. 55, sqq.

[24] The Tinnevelly Shawars, by R. Caldwell, Madras, 1849.

[25] Calcutta Review, lii. 112, 113.

[26] We are reminded by this extravagance of great King Arthur’s sumptuous
feast at Carlisle, as described by Mr. Frere (“Whistlecraft”):--

  “They served up salmon, venison, and wild boars
  By hundreds, and by dozens, and by scores.

  “Hogsheads of honey, kilderkins of mustard,
  Muttons, and fatted beeves, and bacon swine;
  Herons and bitterns, peacock, swan and bustard,
  Teal, mallard, pigeons, widgeons, and in fine
  Plum-puddings, pancakes, apple-pies and custard;
  And therewithal they drank good Gascon wine,
  With mead, and ale, and cyder of our own;
  For porter, punch and negus were not known.”

[27] That is, the crooked. One of the other Puranas calls her Trivakra (or
thrice-deformed.)

[28] The Yoga philosophy prescribes about eighty-four postures. The one to
which allusion is made in the text consisted of sitting with your legs
crossed underneath you, and laying hold of your feet, on each side, with
your hands.

[29] That is, the silent repetition of prayer.

[30] Others say in 479 B.C., at the age of seventy.

[31] A strong spirituous liquor, distilled from wine.

[32] In Rashiduddin’s “History of Cathay” we read: “In the reign of
Din-Wang, the twentieth King of the eleventh dynasty, _Tai Shang Lao Kun_
was born. This person is stated to have been accounted a prophet by the
people of Khita; his father’s name was Han; like Shak-muni (Buddha) he is
said to have been conceived by light, and it is related that his mother
bore him in her womb no less a period than eighty years. The people who
embraced his doctrine were called ش ش _Shan-shan_ or _Shin-shin_.” The
title used by Rashiduddin signifies “the Great Supreme Venerable Ruler.”

[33] Robert Fortune, “Three Years’ Wanderings in the Northern Provinces of
China,” p. 170, et sqq.

[34] “Three Years’ Wanderings,” p. 185.

[35] Fortune, pp. 190, 191.

[36] M. de la Gironiere, cit. in “The Eastern Archipelago,” pp. 522, 526,
527.

[37] Col. Yule, “Book of Sir Marco Polo,” Vol. I. pp. 306, 307.

[38] Edward Melton, “Engelsch Edelmans Zeldzaame en Gedenkwaardige Zee en
Land Reizen,” &c., 1660, 1677, p. 468.

[39] Miss Gordon Cumming. “From the Hebrides to the Himalayas,” ii. 68,
69.

[40] This chapter is adapted from Mr. Winwood Reade’s “Savage Africa,”
(Edit. 1863.)

[41] “A Year’s Housekeeping in South Africa,” p. 173.

[42] Lady Barker, “A Year’s Housekeeping in South Africa,” p. 179.

[43] Abridged from Lady Barker, “A Year’s Housekeeping in South Africa,”
pp. 181-184.

[44] Quoted from Chwolson (“Die Ssabier und der Ssabismus,” 1856,) by
Chambers.

[45] Deane, p. 49.

[46] Isaac McLellan.

[47] Deane, pp. 370-373.

[48] Deane, pp. 446, 447.

[49] “Tree and Serpent-worship,” by James Fergusson, (edit. 1868.)

[50] “Asiatic Researches,” Vol. XX. p. 85.

[51] Fergusson, “Tree and Serpent-worship,” p. 93.

[52] “We know,” says Mr. Fergusson, “that two of the principal Vedic
gods--Indra (the firmament) and Agni (fire)--were adopted into their
pantheon by the early Buddhists, and it seems more reasonable to connect
this appearance of fire with the pre-existing worship of Agni than with
any far-fetched allusion to solar worship.” But what was Agni but a type
of the sun?

[53] Col. Meadows Taylor, Appendix to Fergusson’s “Tree and
Serpent-worship,” pp. 236, 237.

[54] John Williams, “Missionary Enterprises,” p. 48.

[55] Rev. J. Williams, “Missionary Enterprises,” pp. 143-146 (edit. 1841.)

[56] “South Sea Bubbles,” by the Earl and the Doctor, pp. 114-117.

[57] R. F. Burton, “Lake Regions of Equatorial Africa.”

[58] Tennyson.

[59] Cooper, pp. 102, 104.

[60] Cooper, p. 105.

[61] Dishes.

[62] Empty.

[63] Puffed.

[64] Ash, or cinder.

[65] Saucy child.

[66] The unbounded good fortune of Polycrates, King of Samos, awakened the
fear of his friend, Amasis, King of Egypt, who wrote to warn him of the
jealousy of the gods:--

  “This counsel of thy friend disdain not--
          Invoke Adversity!
  And what of all thy worldly gear,
  Thy deepest heart esteems most dear,
          Cast into yonder sea!”

[67] Calcutta Review, LI. iii.

[68] Calcutta Review, LI., 118. In the Gaelic we find a similar story,
called “Moorochug and Meenachug.”

[69] We have Anglicised Mr. Dalyell’s version. See his “Darker
Superstitions of Scotland,” p. 22. (Edit. 1835.)

[70] This is the subject of D. G. Rossetti’s fine poem, “The King’s
Tragedy.”

[71] At the beginning of the action he had taken his place in front of his
little band of cavalry. He bade them follow him, and rode forward. But it
seemed to be decreed that, on that day, the lowland Scotch should in both
armies appear to disadvantage. The horse hesitated. Dundee turned round,
stood up in his stirrups, and, waving his hat, invited them to come on. As
he lifted his arm, his cuirass rose, and exposed the lower part of his
left side. A musket ball struck him: his horse sprang forward, and plunged
into a cloud of smoke and dust, which hid from both armies the fall of the
victorious general. A person named Johnstone was near him, and caught him
as he sank down from the saddle. “How goes the day?” said Dundee. “Well
for King James,” answered Johnstone; “but I am sorry for your lordship.”
“If it is well for him,” answered the dying man, “it matters the less for
me.” He never spoke again: but when, half an hour later, Lord Dunfermline
and some other friends came to the spot, they thought that they could
still discover some faint remains of life. The body, wrapped up in two
plaids, was carried to the Castle of Blair.--_Macaulay_, chap. xiii.

[72] Æneid. lib. vii. l. 87.

[73] Milton.