able to read and write. Not a single female seminary exists among the Hindoos; and possibly not twenty females, blest with the common rudiments of even Hindoo learning, are to be found among as many millions. How greatly must anation suffer from this barbarous system, which dooms one half of the immortal beings it contains to a state of brutal ignorance! This deficiency in the education and information of females not only prevents their becoming agreeable companions to their husbands, but renders them incapable of forming the minds of their children, and of giving them that instruction which lays the foundation of future excellence; by which tender offices, European mothers become greater benefactors to the age in which they live, than all the learned men with which a country can be blessed. The exclusion of females from every public and social circle, is another lamentable blemish in the civil institutions of the Hindoos; for who will deny, that to the company of the fair sex, we are to attribute very much of the politeness and urbanity which is found in the manners of modern times amongst European nations ! The permission of polygamy, and the ease with which a man may put away his wife,* must be highly unfavourable to the interests of virtue, and contribute greatly to the universal corruption of the people. It is only necessary for a man to call his wife by the name of mother, and all connubial intercourse is at an end this is the only bill of divorcement required. : Manners.-The natives are full of extravagant flattery, and the most fulsome panegyric. It is really curious to see the contrast betwixt the bluntness of an enlightened European or American, and the smooth, easy, and even dignified polish o these naked Hindoos. On proper occasions, their conduct is truly graceful; and perhaps they may not improperly be ranked amongst the politest nations on earth; yet, it is equally true, that, where a Hindoo feels that he is superior to a foreigner, in wealth or power, he is too often the most insolent fellow on earth. Connected with this defect in the Hindoo character, is their proneness to deception and falsehood. Perhaps this is the vice of all effeminate nations, while blunt honesty, and stern * "A barren wife may be superseded by another in the eighth year; she whose children are all dead in the tenth; she who brings forth only daughters, in the eleventh; she who speaks unkindly, without delay."-Munoo. integrity, are most common in climates where men are more robust. It is likewise certain, that people in a state of mental bondage are more deceitful; and that falsehood is most detested by men in a state of manly independence An English sailor, however vicious in other respects, scorns to take refuge in a falsehood: but the Hindoos, imitating the gods, and encouraged by the shastre, which admits of prevarication in cases of necessity, are notoriously addicted to falsehood, whenever their fears, their cupidity, or their pride, present the temptation. The author has heard Hindoos of all ranks declare, that it was impossible to transact business with a strict adherence to truth, and that falsehood, on such occasions, would not be noticed in a future state. At other times, they profess to have the greatest abhorrence of lying, and quote the words of their shastrus which prohibit this vice, with every appearance of conscientious indignation. They are very litigious and quarrelsome, and, in defence of a cause in a court of justice, will swear falsely in the most shocking manner, so that a judge never knows when he may safely believe Hindoo witnesses. It is said, that some of the courts of justice are infested by a set of men termed four anas' men; who, for so paltry a sum, are willing to make oath to any fact, however false. The treachery of this people to each other is so great, that it is not uncommon for persons to live together, for the greatest length of time, without the least confidence in each other; and, where the greatest union apparently exists, it is dissolved by the slightest collision. A European never has the heart of a Hindoo, who neither knows the influence of gratitude, nor feels the dignity of a disinterested attachment. The Hindoos are excessively addicted to covetousness, especially in the great towns, where they have been corrupted by commerce: almost the whole of their incidental conversation turns upon roopees and kourees. Gaming is another vice to which the Hindoos, encouraged by their sacred writings, are extremely addicted, and in the practice of which their holiest monarch, Yoodhistjhiru, twice lost his kingdom. They are fond of ostentation, and, for the sake of the applause of their neighbours, however parsimonious at other times, will be content to incur the heaviest expenses. Their feasts, marriages, and other shows, are all regulated by this principle. A great name' is the first object of their desire, and reproach the greatest object of their dread. Such a person has married his daughter to such a kooleenu, or, he is a family uncontaminated by mixture with shoodrus, or by eating prohibited food; or, he has expended so many thousand roopees on the funeral rites for his father; or he is very liberal, especially to bramhuns; or, he is very eloquent, or very learned-are common forms of commendation among this people, and to obtain which they consider no sacrifices too great. Literature.-The Hindoos attribute their ancient writings to the gods; and, for the origin of the vedus, or sacred writings, they go still higher, and declare them to have been from everlasting. Though it would be unjust to withhold the palm of distinguished merit from many of their learned men, especially when we consider the early period in which they lived, yet, when compared with the writers of modern times, we are ready to pity the weakness of unassisted reason, even in individuals in whom it shone with the highest splendour. Hindoostan has produced a vast number of writers, particularly on the subjects of religion and philosophy; and it is a most curious fact that on both these subjects, the opinions of the Hindoo, and those of the Greek philosophers, agree exactly in many of the material points. The subjects which engaged the chief attention of the Hindoo philosophers, were the divine nature, the evidences of truth, the origin of things, the nature of the different forms of matter, and the methods of obtaining reunion to the soul of the world, and it will not escape the recollection of the classical reader, that these were the very subjects as constantly discussed in the Grecian schools. We cannot here enter fully into this subject, but must content ourselves with stating some of the doctrines of the Hindoo philosophers, and occasionally comparing their notions with those of the Grecians. Kopilu, the sage, and grandson to Munoo, teacher of some of the sacred writings, taught that nature was the origin, or root of the universe, because every thing proceeded from it, or was to be traced to it, and that beyond it nothing was discoverable. Nature he said was indescribable, because none of the senses could comprehend it, and yet, that it was one, under several forms; as time, space, &c. are one, though they have many divisions; that there was in nature a property which is called Greatness, from which arose pride, or consciousness of separate existence, or appropriation; from the latter quality, spring water, fire, air, and space, or primary atoms; and he described these elements combined, as forming a pattern, or archetype, from which the visible universe was formed. Pythagoras said that "intelligible members are those which subsisted in the divine mind before all things, from which every thing has received its form, and which always remain immutably the same. It is the model or archetype, after which the world, in all its parts, is framed." Kopilu made no distinction between the soul and the animal spirit, but declared, that when the soul became united to matter, it was absorbed in animal cares and pleasures. Plato taught, that the soul of man was derived from God, through the intervention of the soul of the world; that the soul of the world had some admixture with matter, and that consequently the soul of man must participate in the admixture. This material portion of the soul of man, Plato considered as the root or seed of moral evil. Putunjulee taught, that the divine spirit and the soul of man were distinct, that the former was free from passion, but not the latter; that God was possessed of form, or was to be seen by the Yogee, or those who desire absorption into the divine essence; that he is placable, glorious, the creator, preserver, and the regenerator of all things; that the universe first arose from his will, or command, and that he infused into the system a power of perpetual progression. He says that there are five kinds of men, viz. those who are governed by their passions, the wrathful, the benevolent, the pious, and those who are free from worldly attachments; and that emancipation, or deliverance from passion, is to be obtained by yogu, that is, by perfect abstraction of mind. Pythagoras had the same idea. He says, "in the pursuit of wisdom, the utmost care must be taken to raise the mind above the dominion of the passions, that it may be inured to converse with itself, and to contemplate things spiritual and divine. Contemplative wisdom cannot be completely attained, without a total abstraction from the ordinary affairs of life. Vedu-Vyasu, one of the most learned among the Hindoos, taught, that the best idea we can form of God is, that he is light, or glory. At the same time he maintained, that God was a spirit, without passion, separated from matter; that he is pure wisdom and happiness; one without a second, everlasting, incomprehensible, unchangeable; and that after describing all modes of existence, he is that which is none of these. He also believed, that to obtain deliverance from matter, or return to God, the devotee must read the vedus; must suiler no desire of advantage to mix with his devotions; renounce every thing forbidden in the shastrus; render himself pure by daily du ties; must acquaint himself with the unprofitableness of that which is fleeting, and the value of that which is unchangeable; renounce all hope of present or future rewards, and meditate on God in the form by which he is made known. By the power of these meditations, the soul will leave the body, and ascend to heaven, and will finally be absorbed into the divine nature. Bhrigoo. This sage is said to have been tall, of a light brown complexion, with silver locks, wearing the beard of a goat, a shred of cloth only round his loins, and holding in his hand, a pilgrim's staff, and a heygan's dish. Diogenes wore a coarse cloak, carried a wallet and a staff; made the porches and other public places his habitation; and depended upon casual contributions for his daily bread. The above comparisons will suffice to show the philosophical, and religious opinions of the Hindoo sages, and their strict agreement with the doctrines taught by the Greek philosophers. Present state of learning among the Hindoos.-In former ages, the Hindoo philosophers were unquestionably men of deep learning and erudition, and having spent many years in acts of rigid austerity, were honoured as persons of so great sanctity of character, that they attracted universal homage and applause: Some of them had more than a thousand disciples or scholars. These philosophers were almost invariably ascetics, or mendicants, wandering through all parts of the country, and instructing the people, in what was considered the most useful learning. One, named Shunkuru, determining to raise his sect, made the tour of India for the purpose of disputing with the learned, and gaining proselytes. In this pilgrimage, he was every where so successful, that he was styled the conqueror of the world. As his terms of dispute were, that if he was unable to obtain the victory he would embrace a secular life, while, if he defeated his antagonist, this antagonist should become a dundee,* * multitudes were constrained to enter into this order of ascetics. The effects of this journey and these labours, are visible to this day it is said that not less than 4000 dundees now reside at Benares, and there are still remaining four small elevations, on which it is said this philosopher used to sit to deliver his discourses. This age of learning among the Hindoos has * Dundee, means a staff, a name applied to this sect of philosophers, because they performed pilgrimages. |