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devoured by tigers on the island of Saugor, or other spots near the mouth of that sacred river.

While over all India the same deities are worshipped, and the same books held sacred, there is still found scope for the love of novelty and the propensity natural to mankind to separate into sects; each party esteeming themselves wiser and holier than the rest of the world. Mr. Wilson even considers the successive books of the Vedas, the Puranas, and the Mahabarat as constituting really new systems, since, amid the veneration expressed for the ancient doctrines and modes of worship, they introduce others essentially different. Zealots in general select some particular deity, of whom, in preference to all others, they profess themselves the votaries. Brama, as already observed, notwithstanding his supremacy in the Hindoo pantheon, does not stand at the head of any sect. Vishnu and Siva, the two powers next to him, divide in a great measure the worship of Indian devotees. The writer just named reckons that among forty-three leading denominations, twenty attach themselves to Vishnu, nine to Siva, four to his wife Doorga, under the name of Saktas, while ten select inferior objects of adoration. The zealous adherents of the rival sects of Vishnuvites and Sivites, addicting themselves, according to Indian usage, to pilgrimage and mendicity, rove through the country in large bands, who have a great resemblance to sturdy beggars. These sectaries, exalting to an extraordinary degree the object of their own special homage, view one another with great antipathy, and often engage in violent contention. symbols and creed of each are on such occasions held up by their opponents to odium and derision. When they meet at Hurdwar, or any other place of religious resort, the collision becomes formidable, and often ends in bloodshed.

The

But the most important schism is that between the disciples of Brama and the adherents of Boodh. The latter have objects of worship, a creed, ceremonies, and institutions entirely peculiar. They are even stigmatized as atheists, not yielding divine honours to any great First Cause, but solely to deified mortals. The priests of this order reside in spacious convents, where they devote themselves to celibacy and other observances so closely allied to the Romish church that the less enlightened missionaries

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of the latter faith have been induced to believe the two religions to be the same. The Boodhists erect temples much larger and more magnificent, and images of more gigantic dimensions, than the worshippers of Brama. But the most remarkable feature in this belief is its local situation, from which attempts have been made to deduce its origin and history. There was evidently a time when it prevailed extensively throughout India; and several great dynasties, particularly of Magadha, were Boodhist. But now almost every trace of it has been obliterated from Hindostan, while it rules in all the neighbouring countries to the east and north, and has overspread nearly the whole extent of Eastern Asia. It is fully established in Thibet, Bootan, Birmah, Siam, and Ceylon: it is supposed to be the same with that of Fo, which is prevalent in China, and with that of Shamanism, which is diffused through the wide regions of Tartary. From these facts Mr. Joinville and other writers deduce the inference that this creed was once held by a large proportion of the people of Hindostan; that a bloody war, imbittered by a furious persecution, was waged between them and the votaries of Brama; and that the latter were completely victorious, when the followers of Boodh were expelled and sought refuge in all the surrounding states, where they succeeded in establishing their faith. We cannot but consider this opinion as somewhat conjectural; and it must appear singular that there should not remain any record of the wars and persecution which are here supposed to have taken place. However, the two religions cannot have had an origin remote from each other, since, as we learn from Dr. Leyden, the Pali, or sacred language of the Boodhist Birmahs, is only a dialect of the Sanscrit.

But as Boodhism is no longer professed in India, we are not called upon to explain its doctrines. Its moral precepts appear fully as pure and efficacious as the Braminical. The doctrine of transmigration is still more deeply rooted in it, being particularly cherished by the followers of the Grand Lama or priest-sovereign of Thibet, whose soul, when it quits this earthly abode, is supposed instantly to animate the frame of an infant, and thereby to perpetuate his own identity.

The Jains, or Joinas, are a sect very numerous in Western

Hindostan. They combine in some measure the practice and doctrine of the two rival systems of Brama and Boodh. In accordance with the former, they have four castes, while their ceremonies, as well as their order of priesthood, are very similar; and they agree also with the Boodhists in various tenets, particularly in worshipping only deified heroes. They have very splendid temples, with images of more gigantic size than are now made by other Hindoos. One of these, called Gomut Iswara, is eighteen times the height of a man; while a tradition is preserved of another five hundred times as large, consisting of pure gold, but which is now sunk in the bottom of the sea. It has been supposed that the Jains were originally pure Boodhists; but when the Bramins attained the superiority, fear or interest induced them to admit into their system various modifications from that of the triumphant sect.

The Seiks have already been mentioned as having attempted to form an alliance between the two creeds of the Mohammedan and the Hindoo. These sectaries are equally remarkable for their political as their religious principles; and the furious persecutions to which they were once exposed have stamped upon them a peculiarly fierce and vindictive character. As a nation they are now masters of a great part of the territory bordering on the Indus, and form the only state in that part of Asia which is completely independent of the English, with whom they have never measured their strength.

An interesting fact is presented by the colonies of early Christians and Jews formed in the interior of Cochin and Travancore at the southern extremity of the coast of Malabar. The Christians are called Syriac from their using that language, and are supposed to have been disciples of St. Thomas. In 1806 Dr. Claudius Buchanan paid them a visit, and was much edified by the amiable and primitive simplicity of their manners. They had places of worship whose structure much resembled that of some old English churches, where, by the unwonted sound of bells, the visiter was strongly reminded of his native country. A bishop in white vestments courteously received Dr. Buchanan, and introduced him to three presbyters, Jesu, Zecharias, and Urias. The people were poor; but the general diffusion of intelligence, and the liberty allowed to the female sex,

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with the propriety of their demeanour, suggested the idea of a Protestant country. They had, however, only a few copies of the Bible, and those in manuscript. Mr. Wredé says their number is computed to amount to 150,000; but Mr. Baber, in his late evidence before parliament, estimates them at only 100,000, and adds that they are the best subjects their princes have.

The Jews are divided into two colonies, the white and the black, whose establishment appears to have taken place at different eras. The former report themselves to have arrived soon after the destruction of Jerusalem; while the latter, from their complexion and appearance, are supposed to have settled at a much earlier period. They had ancient Hebrew manuscripts written on goat's skin, one of which Dr. Buchanan with some difficulty obtained permission to carry away. It was deposited in the university of Cambridge, where it was shown to the present writer by the late Dr. Clarke, who stated that on collation there appeared little difference between it and our authorized text.

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CHAPTER VII.

Hindoo Manners and Literature.

National Character-Government-Village System Castes-Bramins -Cshatryas-Vaisyas-Sudras-Mixed-Loss of Caste-PariahsVarious Estimates of Hindoo Character-General Result-DecoityDomestic Life-Females of India-Modes of spending Money-Literature-The Vedas-The Puranas-Mahabarat and Ramayana-Amorous Poems-Metaphysical Works-Fable or Apologue-Modern Writings-Study of English Literature-Detached Hindon TribesRajpootana-Her Nobles--Bards-Princesses-Infanticide-The Jharejahs-Nayrs of Calicut--Bheels-Tudas-Mahommedan Population -Parsees--Jits or Jauts.

THERE are certain features in national character which not only discriminate one people from another in distant parts of the globe, but also the same people from their immediate neighbours, that may be generally traced by an attentive observer, though many circumstances render the delineation of them extremely difficult and uncertain. The distinguishing peculiarities are blended with others that are common to mankind in general. The task, besides, requires that nice observation which is possessed by very few writers, and which, in all cases, is easily biassed by passion and prejudice. Hence the character of the Hindoo has been drawn in very opposite colours, according to the suggestion of those party impressions which in this case are perhaps stronger than in regard to any other people. Before attempting to balance and estimate such conflicting testimonies, it may be advantageous to bring into view some leading distinctions which influence the national character. The outlines of their religious system have already been traced; and we have now to consider their political arrangements, and the peculiar castes and classes into which society is divided.

The Hindoos appear to have been always ruled by despotic governments, and for many ages their subjection to a foreign race, wholly differing in religion, manners, aspect, and language, has been peculiarly humiliating. Even the

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