.71 <^i y L ,^^-. ■^■4- ^Q iP ^^ mMNWWRMinnwvp m^^^ |C-8 THE BRONZE IDOL OF BUDDHA, AT KAMAKURA, JAPAN. Sixty-five feet high, thirty feet across the shoulders, six hundred years old ; covered with bronze plates, its interior forming a temple. From an original photograph. FALSE GODS; OR, THE Idol Worship of the World. A COMPLETE HISTORY OF IDOLATROUS WORSHIP THROUGHOUT THE WORLD, ANCIENT AND MODERN. DESCRIBING THE STRANGE BELIEFS, PRACTICES, SUPER- STITIONS, TEMPLES, IDOLS, SHRINES, SACRIFICES, DOMESTIC PECULIARITIES, ETC., ETC., CONNECTED THEREWITH. By FRANK S. DOBBINS, Late of Yokohama, Japan. ASSISTED BV Hon. S. Wells Williams, LL.D., and Prof. Isaac Hall, LL.B., Ph.D., The /ormer Forty years resident in China, now Pr^. in Yale College, Conn,, Pres- ident of the American Bible Society, etc.: the latter an eminent Orient' alist and iate Pro/essor o/ the College at Beirut, Syria. THE WHOLE PROFUSELY ILLUSTRATED. HUBBARD BROS., Publishers, Philadelphia, Boston, Cincinnati, Chicago, Kansas City AND Atlanta : C. R. Blackall & Co., New York : F. Dewing & Bro., San Francisco, Cal. ENTERED ACCORDING TO ACT OF CONGRESS. POCSB or FRANKLIN PRINTING HOUSE, 38 HUDSON ST., PHILA. X ^TVtV PREFACE THE story of the world's worship is a story of absorbing interest. The odd and the curious, the enchanting and the revolting are each factors of heathen devotion. We well remember with what exhaustless interest we looked in childhood at strange pictures of idols and temples, and listened to the reading of tales about the heathen. When the celebrated Dr. Alexander Duff was a little boy, his father was accustomed on Sabbath afternoons to show him pictures of idols, and to explain their histories. So vividly did the pictures and their stories impress the boy, that when he became a man he left Scotland and went to labor for the heathen of India. The subject is indeed intensely interesting. Every nation has its God, or gods, and its corresponding forms of worship. Nothing lies so close to the heart of mankind as its religious faith. Religion in some form is interwoven with the entire fabric of human history. It concerns man's dearest pleasures, his fondest hopes, and his highest aspirations. Man must worship. It is part of his nature to worship. Hence, from the most civilized European to the half-civilized China- man, and even down to the degraded Hottentot; in all stages of man's existence, among all races and classes, some form of worship is found. Nothing surely can interest us more than the story of that faith in which our fellow-creatures have lived and died. It is because the author believes that the subject of False Gods and Idol Worship is so interesting, and because he hopes to furnish some much-needed information on this topic, that he has undertaken the present work. There is no one book that covers this ground. There are many volumes covering various phases of the religious systems of heathendom, but there is not one that deals comprehensively with all religions, extinct or existing, except indeed it be those suited only to students and to learned men. The aim in this volume is to present the subject in a popular style, suited to the average reader of our land. It is proposed to make a V vi PREFACE. book to be read in the family and by the fireside. The very best works of the most thorough students of the non-Christian religious systems have been consulted, and the author has freely availed him- self of the results of their labors. If due acknowledgment is not always made of the aid thus received, it is because he deemed it best not to multiply references and because he has so frequently found it neces- sary to translate scholastic and technical phrases used by these authors into language familiar to the general reader. Among those whose works the author has consulted are, Max Miiller and Hardwicke on Comparative Mythology j Wilkinson on the Ancient Egyptians; Lenormant on Assyria and Babylon; Haug on the Parsees; Monier Williams on Hinduism; Rhys-Davids, and Barthelemy St. Hilaire on Buddhism, and Edwin Arnold's paraphrase of Buddha's life in his "Light of Asia;" Humboldt on Central America; School- craft on the American Indians ; Wyatt Gill and Lord Grey on the Pacific Islands; Legge, Edkins and S. Wells Williams on the Chinese ; Grifi&s and Sir Edward Reed on Japan ; and Stanley and Livingstone on Africa. Beside these he has derived great help from "The Tour of the World with General Grant," and Dr. H. M. Field's "From' Egypt to Japan." In addition he has consulted quite a host of other authors 'in works of travel, and in the translations of various sacred books. In all parts of his work the author has sought to present definite in- formation, carefully arranged, truthfully told, and clearly and inter- estingly stated. He has aimed to show the origin, development and spread of each non-Christian religious system; and to give an ac- count of their gods and goddesses, temples, shrines, idols, sacred places, superstitious customs, legends, myths, domestic worship and the innumerable peculiarities of their daily religious life. The work is fully illustrated by accurate, and in many cases, expen- sive engravings. The book is not made merely to sell. Sensational statements and mere padding have been neither added nor borrowed. The author has not drawn upon his imagination in the least. He has told a story which, though sometimes stranger than fiction, is never- theless solid fact and not baseless fancy. Let it be remembered that this is a pioneer work. The author has had to blaze his pathway through a trackless forest. He has had no guide. He sincerely hopes that by its perusal his readers will be led to an increased ap- preciation of the infinite superiority of Christianity to all other re- ligions; and that they may find a deepened interest in the welfare of the heathen world. PREFACE. Vll It has been the purpose of ihe author and the publishers to place the subject-matter of this volume within the ready reach of all who con- sult it. An exhaustive Table of Contents has been given therefore, in which the chapter titles and all the sub-headings of the chapters will be found. A full index of the proper names and principal topics of the book is also added, by means of which it is believed any desired subject treated in the volume can readily be found. By such means as these the book has been made as complete and as useful as patient labor can make it. Thanks are specially due to Professor Isaac H. Hall, who not only gave careful consideration to the subjects specially under his care, but who in addition read all the MS., and gave the benefit of his extended learn- ing and excellent judgment at every point. To Professor S. Wells Williams also, the author desires to make public acknowledgment. Though burdened with many onerous duties, yet he gave his closest attention to the chapters on those much misunderstood nations, China and Japan, and from the rich stores of his own extensive and well- digested knowledge, he made such suggestions as proved of inesti- mable value. To the Publishers, who were ever ready to meet the author's largest desires, his thanks are especially due. Without such generous sup- port the volume must have fallen far below its present excellenc?. In- deed, all concerned in the production of the book have proved them- selves true helpers, to whom author and readers alike will be largely indebted. F. S. Dobbins. THSOL 'Tw-i-vv^in-' CONTENTS. PAGE Preface, 17 List of Illustrations, CHAPTER I. The World's First Worship. Testimony of an old record and of language — Another witness : comparative religion — The story of the master thief — The story of Rhampsinitos — The story of the poor mason — The story of the shifty lad — Exodus of the nations, . ^3 CHAPTER n. Whence came the many Gods and Idols? Sources of information — The transition — The first h)Tnns and prayers — \\Tiere did idol-worship come from, .......... 47 CHAPTER III. Sacred and Heathen Traditions. Traditions of Creation — Traditions of the Deluge — The Chaldean storj' — The Hindu tradition — The Chinese tradition — The Mexican legend — The Fiji- Islander's tradition — American Indian traditions — The Greek story — Chaldean story of the Tower of Babel — What has the Bible to say about idolatry ? . 63 CHAPTER IV. The Subject in a Nutshell. Methods of grouping religions — Dead religions and living religions — Original religions and reformed religions — Dead religions — Living worships — The pro- posed treatment — A concise view — Parseeism — African religion — Western Eu- rope— The Southern migration — Buddhism — China'sNreligions — Shintoism in Japan — Mohammedanism — Christianity's conquests, \ • • • -77 X CONTENTS. CHAPTER V. The Land of the Sphinx. PAGS Hidden history — The hieroglyphics — Some Egj'ptian gods — Animal worship — Mummies — The celebrated book of the dead — Egyptian worship, . . -93 CHAPTER VI. Religion of the Chaldeans. The great Chaldean historian — Ruined monuments — A library of brick books — Manners and customs — The religion of Assyria — The supreme god, Ilu — The Assyrian triad — The gods of the planets — The great goddess Ishtar — The Genii of Assyria — ^^Worship of the gods at Babylon, . . . . .119 CHAPTER VH. Idolatry among the Jews. The plagues and Egyptian idolatry — The golden calf — Baal-worship, » .138 CHAPTER VHI. The Gods of Greece. Origin of the world and of the gods — The generations of the gods — Gods of the Grecians — Specimen stories from Greek mythology — Hermes and Apollo — The Lotus-eaters and the Cyclops — Hercules' twelve tasks — The Phidian Jupiter — Grecian temples and worship of Paul's day — The city crowded with idols — Diana of the Ephesians, . . . . . . . . .150 CHAPTER IX. The Worship and Gods of Rome. The Etruscan religion — The Sahellian religion — The gods of the Romans — Father Jove — The Matron goddess — The goddess of schools — The goddess of the hearth — Ceres and Tiber — The gods of beginnings — Rome's lesser gods — The Roman empire, 173, CHAPTER X. Our Heathen Ancestors. Ancient Britain — The Druids— Wonderful resemblance — Worship of the Diniids — Temple of the Hanging Stones — Human sacrifices — The destruction of Druidism — Who first brought Christianity to Britain — Paganism of the Saxons — Saxon gods — Saxon sacrifices — Fairy-lore of Western Europe — An Elfin Story — The penitent Nis — Nixes — The Peasant and the W^aterman — The won- derful little pouch — Christianizing the Saxons, . . . . . .185 CONTENTS. xi CHAPTER XI. Brahmimsm, the Religion of the Hindus. PAGB Sketch of Brahminism — The gods of Hinduism — Story of the Sages' search Can the gods die? — Sects of Hinduism — Principles of Hinduism — Human beings killed in sacrifice — How Hinduism regards woman, .... 210 CHAPTER XH. Hindu Temples, Idols and Worship. Idols and temples of Juggernaut — Kali, the Goddess of Blood — Temple Decora- tions— Benares — The sacred city of the Sikhs— Cave-temples of Elephanta and Gwalior — Ganesha, God of Wisdom — Pagodas — Hindu washings for sin — Hindu holy men, devotees and fakirs, . . . . • . . . . 232 CHAPTER XIII. Hindu Sacred Books, Fairy Stories and Fireside Tales. The Vedic hymns — The law-book of Manu — Degradation of women according to Manu's laws— The burning of widows commanded by Manu — The god Vishnu made man — A Sanskit story-book — The story of the terrible bell — The story of the lion and the old hare — The story of the Brahmin and the pans — The story of the recluse and the mouse, 288 CHAPTER XIV. Shintoism, the X'ature-worship of Japan. The sacred books of Japan — Japanese story of creation — The emperors descended from the gods — The sun-goddess enticed from the cave — Shinto worship, . 305 CHAPTER XV. Popular Gods and Shrines of Shintoism. The seven household gods — The sacred mountain — Shinto temples and gate-ways — The sacred shrines of Ise, . . . . . . . . . .321 CHAPTER XVI. The Religions of Africa, the Dark Continent. African belief in a god or gods — Praying for rain — The Hottentots' god, Gounja- Gounja — The Bushmen's god — Zulu tradition of the origin of men — Good and bad spirits — The spirit in the insect — Fetich worship — A horrible fetich — Stanley and the Africans' fear of fetich — Witchcraft, . . . . -341 xii CONTENTS. CHAPTER XVII. Religions of the Aborigines of America,. PAGE The Indians of North America — The Great Spirit — Worship of ancestors — Indian legends — The "Song of Hiawatha" — Indian allegory of winter and spring — Alaskans' worship of evil spirits — Indian sun-worship — Amazon sun-worship — The Araucanians — Patagonia — The Aztecs — Ancient Aztec idol — The Incas 362 CHAPTER XVIII. Religion of Oceanica. The depraved condition of the Papuans — The pagan Polynesians — Traditionary origin of human priesthood — Polynesian notion of the sun and moon — The fire -god's song, ............ 387 CHAPTER XIX. The Karens and their Religion. The Karens not idolaters — Worship of Yuak — A singular tradition — The dog who ate the book — Funeral services — Mrs. Vinton's letter, .... 401 CHAPTER XX. The Fire-worshipers. Zoroaster, the Prophet of Ormazd — Zoroaster's worship of one God — Ormazd and Ahriman — Finding of the Zend-Avesta — The Parsee Bible — Parsee worship,. . 407 CHAPTER XXI. j The Religion of the Chinese Philosopher, Lao-Tsze. Chinese contrarieties and language — The thrse Chinese religions — The old boy — The talisman of long life — The visit of Confucius to Lao-Tsze — The voyage in search of the talisman of long life, . . . . . . . .416 CHAPTER XXII. The Taoist Sacred Books and Gods. The book of rewards and punisliments — Some selections from the book of rewards and punishments — The book of secret blessings — The gods of the Taoists — The god of letters — Charms — Kwan-te, God of War — Tsai-shin, the God of Riches — Taoist superstitions, ......... 428 CONTENTS. ,^^ijj CHAPTER XXIII. Confucius and thp: Classics. PAGE The background of the picture — The story of the sage's life — Teachings and writings of the Chinese sage — The wisdom of the sage, 445 CHAPTER XXIV. Confucian Temples and Worship. The worship of Shang-te, at Peking — Temple of Confucius — Examinations in the sacred books — Anecdotes of students — How Mencius's mother incited her son to study — How a tired student was led back to his studies — The little sage who hid fire to light his lamp — An example of a studious ancestor — The student with a round stick for a pillow, 460 CHAPTER XXV. Religion of Home-life. Ceremony of turning the bridge-ladder — Worship of ancestors at a wedding — Mother, Goddess of Children — Teaching a child to worship idols — The story of Ma-chu, Goddess of the Sailors, 478 CHAPTER XXVI. Buddha, the " Light of Asia." The story of Gautama, the founder of Buddhism — Gautama's four visions — The great renunciation — Gautama becomes an ascetic — The "Light of Asia" and the "Light of the World," 498 CHAPTER XXVII. The Buddhist Bible, the " Three Baskets," and its Teachings, The Buddhist way of salvation — ^Vhat is Nirvana ? — Buddhist morals — Some of the " footsteps of the law " — Buddhist beatitudes, . . . . • 513 CHAPTER XXVIII. The Growth of Buddhism — the Buddist Order of Mendicants. The Sangha, or Buddhist Brotherhood — The initiation ceremony — Rules of the Order — Daily life of a monk — The three great Buddhist councils — Buddha- ghosha, the famous monk and missionary — The story of King Kakavanna — Buddhist courtesies of the present day, 522 xiv CONTENTS. CHAPTER XXIX. Buddhism in India and Ceylon. PAGE The famous Topes — The great Sanchi Tope — Ceylonese Buddhism — The sacred Bo-tree of Ceylon — Reducing the Tripitaka to writing — Buddhaghosha in Cey- lon— A Buddhist temple in Ceylon — The sacred Ceylonese books, . . . 532 CHAPTER XXX. Buddhism in Bur.mah. The Shway-da-gong pagoda — The story of Shway-da-gong — Other pagodas — Worship of nats — -A nat stoiy — Superstitions of the Burmese — The funeral of a pongyee or monk, . . ... . . . . . . . 555 CHAPTER XXXI. Buddhism in S i a m . The celebrated Wat Cliang pagoda — Temple of the Emerald Idol — Worship of the white elephant — Ruins of the great temple of Nagkon Wat — Some other temples, 575 CHAPTER XXXII. L.amaism, the Buddhism of Thibet. Sketch of the history of Lamaism — Monks and monasteries — Temple at Teshu Lumbo monastery — Services at the H'Lassa cathedral — Praying-wheels — The mystic sentence of Thibet — The incarnation of Buddha in the Grand Lama — The Lamaist Bible, ........... 598 CHAPTER XXXIII. Foism, the Buddhism of China. Pagodas — Chinese Buddhist temples — The worship of Kwan-yin — The worship of Kum-Fa — Idols — The Temple of Horrors — Monasteries — A Monk's Mon- ument— Chinese Buddhist Bonzes — Buddhist devotees — Ceremony of the Water-lamps — The Do-nothing sect of Reformed Buddhists — Booldo, the Buddhism of the Corens, . . . . . . . . . .611 CONTENTS. XV CHAPTER XXXIV. Japanese Buddhism. FAGB Bodhidharma in Japan — The Sun-child and his miraculous deliverance — Further history of Japan — Buddhist sects in Japan — The Protestants of Buddhism — Kwanon's Temple at Asakusa, Tokio — Temple of Shiba, in Tokio — Temple of five hundred gods — The casting of a Temple Bell — The Colossal Idol, the Kamkura Dai Butsu — Some Japanese gods — Japanese Festivals — Mount Fuji- yama— Customs concerning birth, marriage and death — Some Japanese super- stitions— Religion of the Ainos, ......,,. 656 CHAPTER XXXV. Mohammedanism. Extent of Mohammedanism — The Arabian camel-driver who founded a great religion — The . Prophet's youth and early manhood — Gabriel's message to Mohammed — The flight of Mohammed — Converts made at the sword's point — Mohammed's successors, the Caliphs — Caliph Omar — The Crusades — The writing of the Koran — The teaching of the Koran — Some selections from the Koran — Mohammed's Paradise — The Koran on the judgment, . . .719 CHAPTER XXXVI. Mohammedan Mosques and Worship. Worship in the Mosques — The dancing and howling Dervishes — The smart and smarting answer of a Dervish — Daily worship — The Mosque of St. Sophia — The Jummah Musjid at Delhi, India — The Taj Mahal, the "jewel of India " — ■ Pilgrimages and festivals — Conclusion, ........ 74^ CHAPTER XXXVII. Winning the World to the Worship of the one God. Comparison of heathen religions and Christianity — ^^Tly shall we give Christ- ianity to the world — A flight over the battle-field — Position of the Christian army, .............. 767 Index, 779 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. PAGE Bronze Idol of Dai Butz Frontispiece Colored Map of World Full Page 32 Ancient Serpent Idol 48 Teraphim 57 Dagon, the Fish-god 58 Ancient Serpent Idol 59 Group of Altars 60 Idol from Hindustan Full Page 61 Coin Representing the Deluge 66 Comparative Chart of all Religions Full Page 91 Ruined Temples 93 Rock Temple of Ibsambul, Restored 95 Song of the Threshers 96 Egyptian Hieroglyphics 97 Pasht, the Cat-headed God 98 One of the forms of Isis 99 Crocodile God 100 Scarabaeus loi Shrouding of the Dead 103 Mummy Case 103 Forms of Mummy Cases 104 Egyptian Priestess 107 Avenue of Sphinxes leading to a Temple 112 Gate-way of the Ancient Egyptian Temple of Karnak 1 13 The Singing Memnon 114 Ruins of Thebes Full Page 1 1 5 The Sphinx and the Pyramids 117 Star Worshipers 1 20 Babylonish Coffin and Lid of Green Glazed Pottery 122 Assyrian Cuneiform Letters 124 Robed Statue 125 Statue of Cannes, the King 129 Adar Strangling the Lion 130 Sargon's Palace, Restored Full Page 133 Human-headed Eagle-winged Assyrian Bull 135 Sculptured Locust I39 Goddess Ashtoreth, Ishtar 141 Phoenician Goddess Astarte 142 The Ammonite Fire God Moloch 143 2 xvii Xviii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. PAGE Jehovah's Triumph over Baal 147 Image of Jupiter, by Phidias Full Page 165 Temple of Diana of Ephesus Full Page 1 70 Medal of Diana 171 Jupiter Tonans 177 Janus 180 Ancient Druidic Worship at Stonehenge, England 191 Gods of our Saxon Ancestors 198 Sacrificial Rites of the Ancient British Druids . 202 Ancient Hindu Idol 2H Devil Worshiped in Tennevelly 213 Indra, God of the Atmosphere 214 The Three Chief Hindu Gods 215 Bird's-eye view of the Hindu Temple at Cawnpore 219 Sculptured Idols on a Pillar 221 Dying Brahmin holding the tail of the Sacred Cow, so as to enter Heaven . . . 223 A Caste-marked Brahmin at his devotions 224 God of Hell, from a Hindu picture 225 Amadeo, God of Love 226 Teaching a child to worship Ganesha, the God of Wisdom 228 A child bringing an offering to the Idol of a Bull 229 Hindu Woman 231 The most Sacred Temple of Juggernaut at Puri 233 Worship in the Temple of Krishna, or Juggernaut 235 Hindu Devotees dragging Juggernaut's Car and immolating themselves .... 236 The Idol Juggernaut usually carried on the car 238 Disrobing and disjointing Juggernaut 239 The Goddess Kali 240 Idol of Kali Full Page 241 A Night Feast of the Bloody Goddess, Kali 244 Goddess Kali, from a Hindu Picture 245 Hindu Notion of the Universe 246 Golden Temple of the Hindus of Umritsur 247 Entablature from a Hindu Temple 248 Children Worshiping in Temple at Benares Full Page 249 Bas-relief from a Hindu Temple 251 Causeway of the Golden Temple Double Page 254-5 Great Idol of the Cave of Mandar, India 258 Scene from Cave of Elephanta Full Page 259 Cave of Elephanta Double Page 262-3 Image of Ganesha 265 Annual Boat-festival of Ganesha on the Ganges 266 Wayside Idol of Ganesha Full Page 267 Gate-way of Madura Temple ,. 270 Pagoda of Pondicherry, famed for its Sculpture • ■ 271 Disused Idols and sacred articles from Ongole, India 272 Bird's-eye view of Pagodas and Temple Grounds, Madras, India, Double Page 274-5 LIST OF ILL USTRA TIONS. XiX PACE Hindus washing in the Sacred River Ganges at Benares . 277 Temple of the Sacred Fountain 278 Fakir of the Immovable Foot 279 The Holy Man with the Iron Collar 280 Fakir of the Long Hair 281 A Fakir, who never helps himself 282 A Hindu Holy Man torturing himself by hanging from a hook 283 Fakir hanging to a limb 2S4 Devotee enduring fire 28^ Fakir of the long nails Full Page 286 Hindu Festival of the New Moon 289 Guards of the Hindu Temple Ayenar 292 Hindu women rescued from their degradation Full Page 297 The ten incarnations of Vishnu 3°° The God created from Izanagi's staff 3^° Jimmu Tenno, first emperor of Japan ^i^ The Mikado's coat-of-arms 3^7 Raiden, God of Thunder, with his string of drums 318 Futen, God of Winds, with his huge sack 319 Daikoku, the Rice-god, on his throne of rice-bags 322 Fukoruku Jin, the god who can bestow long life ......... Full Page 323 Domestic Altar of the gods of daily food and of rice 326 Hotei, the God of Happiness 3^7 The Sacred Mountain, Fujl-Yama ZZ^ Shinto Shrine, near Yokohama, Japan, with worshipers, vessel of holy water, etc. 331 A Tento, or "Heavenly Lantern" oj- Shrines of Ise, the most sacred place of Shintoism ZZZ Interior of a Shinto Temple, showing the arrangements for worship . .. . . 335 Ceremonial dance of the Shinto Priests 2,3° A. lawyer of Zululand 343 King Coffee's Protecting God 34" The Priests' trick of raising an idol out of the earth 34^ A Cazembe Fetich Man 35' Decorated Fetichist 35^ Juju House or Temple of Skulls . . . , , Full Page 353 Idols with mirrors in their bodies 35" A Witch Doctor 357 Indian Medicine Man Z^^2> Indian Burial Place 3^6 Indian Image - 3^7 Sun-worship on the Amazon Double Page 374-5 Ancient Aztec Idol 3^0 Sun-worship among the . Peruvians 3"3 Ancient Peruvian Temple of the Sun 3^5 A Papuan Fetich House 3^8 Tattooed Girl of Oceanica ,,.,.. 3^9 Polynesian Idol and its devotees 39° XX LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. PAGE A Fijian bure temple . ; 391 Idol of South Sea Islands 392 Great Idol of Oceanica, (six feet in height) 393 Hawaiian Idol, known as the Poison God 394 Idol from Polynesia 395 New Zealand Moon-god 397 Hawaiian War-god 399 Christian Karen Girls 404 A Parsee Merchant of Bombay 408 Chinese ornaments with words of cheer 417 A Chinese Book 418 Censer, from a Taoist Temple 429 Ceremonies in a Taoist Temple 433 The Three Pure Ones '. 435 God of the Kitchen 435 God of Thunder 435 Canying the Dragon 43^ Dragon Boat-races, a Chinese Festival 437 ChaiTn to ward off Evil Spirits from a Bride 438 God of Thieves 43^ Sword Charm 439 Kwan-te, God of War 440 Taoists consulting the oracles at the magicians 441 Stone pillars erected by the Chinese to keep off evil spirits 442 Tall White Devil 443 Short Black Devil 444 Traditional likeness of Confucius 44^ Monumental gate-way erected in honor of Confucius 448 Temple of Confucius, in Peking Full Page 453 Chinese School-boys 460 Chinese Joss-stick 461 Sacred Altar of Heaven, at Peking Full Page 465 Temple of Agriculture, at Peking, China 46S Bronze Temple in honor of Confucius />/// Pnge 470 Chinese sitting-room 479 Ancestral Tablet 481 Chinaman burning prayers instead of saying them 4^2 Bringing home one of the souls of a dead man in his clothes 483 Ceremony of turning around_ the bridge-ladder 4^4 Chinese man'iage procession Fit/l Page 487 Worship of ancestors at a A\-edding 4^9 Chinese baby in its cradle 49^ Teaching a child to worship 49^ Offering sacrifice to the Kitchen-god 493 God of Gambling 49^ Idol of Buddha 509 Religious meeting of the Jains Full Page 533 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. Xxi' PAGB Tope of Sanchi />/// Page 537 Capital of a pillar of gate-way of Sanchi Tope 539 Gate-way of Sanchi Tope Double Page 542-3 Roadway to a Buddhist temple in Ceylon 545 Devil-dancers' mask from Ceylon _ 549 Buddhist Temple in the Island of Ceylon 551 Worship of Buddha's Tooth Full Page 553 Shway-da-gong, the great Pagoda of Rangoon, Burmah 558 Sacred Garden attached to Temple DouLle Page 562-3 Pagoda at Maulmain, Burmah 565 Funeral procession of a Buddhist Priest 573 To^^'cr of Wat Chang Pagoda at Bangkok, Siam Full Page 577 Funeral Temple of wood, bamboo and paper 578 The King of Siam going to worship at the Temple of the Emerald Idol . . . 580 Temple of the Emerald Idol . Full Page 581 Ruined Temple of Ayudla, Altar of the, Siam Full Page 585 Siamese worshiping the White Elephant 589 Tomb of a Buddhist Saint 590 Ruins of the Great Temple of Nagkon Wat 593 Statue of the Leper King 595 A Thibetan Lad 599 Monastery of Hemis in the Himalayas 600 Tartar Woman 601 Praying Machine 605 Praying Wheel whirled in the hand 606 Stone with the mystic sentence, "Om Mani Padmi Hum" 607 Mani Padee, a Buddhist Tomb in Thibet 60S A Thibetan Woman 609 Chinese Image of Buddha 612 Bronze Lions P'^^^ Page 613 A Chinese Mandarin 615 Chinese sale of prayers conducted by the Priests 616 Porcelain Tower at Nanking, China Full Page 6\-j Beating on a Temple Dnnn to attract the God 622 Chinese Temple art San Francisco P"li Page 623 The "Three Precious Buddhas" 625 Worship in the Temple of the thousand Lamas Full Page 627 Temple of Kwan-Yin ^^"'^ J^age 630 Colossal Gilded Buddha •• ^3^ Altar of Chinese Pagoda Double Page 634-5 The Goddess Ma-chu and her assistants 638 Pagoda at Tung-Cho P"^^ P'^S^ 639 Chinese Idols 641 Chinese Buddhist's Idea of Hell 642 Goddess of Mercy delivering a soul . , • • P"Jl Page 643 Buddhist Monument at Peking P"li Page 647 Priest at a Praying Wheel 649 ^^11 LIST OF ILL USTRA TIONS. Chinese Bonze, or Priest 650 Letting go tjie Water-lamps 653 Miraculous delivery of a Bonze Full Page 659 Shrine of Kwanon 661 Interior of Kwanon's Temple Fttll Page 663 The Hiogo Buddha 666 Buddhist Shrine at Kobe 668 Japanese Pilgrim in winter dress ' 669 Dining-room of a Buddhist Monastery 670 Religious festival in Temple Grounds Full Page 671 New Year's frolic in Japan Full Page 675 Buddhist " Nio," or Temple Guard 677 Japanese Picture of Kwanon 680 Musicians of the Temple at Shiba 682 Torii, or Water Gate of the Temple of Miyajima Full Page 683 Interior of the Temple of Shiba 685 Temple of the Five Hundred Gods, Canton, Ciiina Ficll Page 689 Belfry of the Temple at Osaka, Japan 691 Street Mountebanks in a New Year's Festival in Japan .... Doitble Page 696-7 Japanese idea of the Judge of Hell 700 Festival of Foxes Full Page 703 Driving the devils out of the liouse on New Year's Eve with beans 705 A Japanese Matsuri, or Religious Festival 706 Religious Procession in Japan Full Page 707 Fujisan, from a village on the Tokaido 708 Worship at the Tomb of an Ancestor Full Page 713- The Flowing Invocation 715 Temple of the Kaaba, at Mecca, Arabia ■ 722 Mohammedan Cemetery at Mecca 727 Interior of a Turkoman tent, in Western Persia -^29 Mosque of Omar, on the site of the Jewish Temple, at Jerusalem 730 Mohammedans praying before the Mosque of Omar 731 Mohammedan Mosque on the Hooghly River, near Calcutta, India 742 Interior of Mosque in Persia Double Page 744-5 Interior of Mosque at Delhi, India 747 Interior of Mosque of St. Sophia 748 A Whirling Dervish 749 Moslem Boy studying the Koran 752 Mosque of St. Sophia, at Constantinople, Turkey 753 Mosque at Delhi, containing a hair from Mohammed's beard 755 Entrance to the Mosque at Delhi 756 Tower of the Koutub, India Full Page 757 Taj Mahal, the tomb of the Empress Mumtaj Mahal, at Agra, India 759 Inferior of the Taj, the tomb of Mahal 762 Mohammedan Feast of Mohurrim 764 Two New Zealanders: the Savage Te Wetere and the Christian Te Kotc . . . 768 A Missionary home in Burmah 774 o o •a c X 2^nE IVOKLD'S FIRST IVOKHHIJ*. 33 TK iL CHAPTER I. THE world's first WORSHIP. I have laid it down as an invariable maxim constantly to follow his- torical tradition, and to hold fast by that clew, even when many things, in the testimony and declarations of tradition, appear strange and almost inexplicable, or at least enigmatical ; for so soon in the investigation of ancient history as we let slip that Ariadne's thread we can find no outlet from the labyrinth of fanciful theories, and the chaos of clashing opinions. — F. Von Schlegel. THERE are many systems of worship in the world. Some of these are Hmited to single nations, others extend themselves over different nations, and in history we read of certain religions which no longer exist. For instance — of those systems limited to a nation, there is the worship of ancestors, as taught by Confucius, in China; the worship of the idol gods Brahma, Vishnu and Siva, and a multitude of other gods, more numerous than their worshipers, in India ; and Shintoism, the nature- worship of Japan. Of those which have extended to other lands, there is the worship of the hero-saint, Gau- tama Buddha, in all southern and eastern Asia; and Mohammedanism, the fierce opponent of idolatry, and the system of the prophet Mohammed, in India, Turkey, Egypt and in China. Of the dead religions, there are those of Egypt, Assyria, Greece and Rome. These are but a few of the many forms of worship that we find in glancing over the world's history, or in looking at Its present condition. There are wide differences between ^ . IDOL WORSHIP OF THE WORLD. these systems of worship and also many resemblances among them. Where did these systems all come from ? Where and how did they start? They differ very materially one from another. Some worship one God and have no idols, others worship millions of gods and have multi- tudes of idols. Their temples are of different styles. Their sacred books and ceremonies are extremely varied. Can they have started from one source, or did each start independently of the rest ? TESTIMONY OF AN OLD RECORD AND OF LANGUAGE. How shall we find out about this ? We have one rec- ord that will help us and upon which we can depend. This is the oldest history of mankind. There were a great many of these histories written later, but for no one of them is there a tenth part of the evidence as to its being genuine, which there is for this one old record. It has been tested in every possible way and no flaw has yet been found. Ancient monuments and their inscrip- tions, the oldest traditions of the most ancient peoples, all confirm its statem.ents. But these monuments and the written histories of nations go back but a few thou- sand years, and this one record is older than they all. So traditions only remain to be compared with it. No, there is one thing left that is related to tradition. It is lan- guage. Those who have studied the languages of the world and compared them with each other have something to say, and it is this : All languages can be grouped into families or classes of speech, and all these families are seen to have started from one common source. This, too, agrees with the story of that older record. That tells how God made first a man and then a woman, how that THE WORLD'S FIRST WORSHIP. ^r they were very good at the outset, but soon became bad. It goes on to tell how their children were very wicked, and how God punished them by sending a great flood ot waters which destroyed all but one family. Then this family increased, and they too became wicked. They finally planned to build an immense tower, so, perhaps, that they should not hi\ drowned again in a flood; at any rate, if this was not the reason, it was for some other wicked purpose that they builded. God was angry with their wickedness, and to stop their building confused their language. They had all spoken the same lan- guage before, but now some spoke one and some an- other. Just here other histories begin, and the stories in these and in the record we have referred to, go on very much alike. But the traditions, which are older than the histories, aorree with the record, as we shall see in a future chapter. This record is the Bible, especially the first part of the Book of Genesis. So here is found one answer to our question, — all religions grew out of one original system of worship. ANOTHER witness: COMPARATIVE RELIGION. There is still another way to get an answer. Place the religions side by side, study their principles, examine their legends, and see if, after all, there are not resem- blances beneath the surface. Let us strip them of those things which are the additions of a later day, and of those things which the peculiar conditions of their countries, climates and languages have added. Take for instance their legends or household stories. Some of these tra- ditions are written in the inscriptions on the ancient monuments of Egypt, or especially of Babylonia, or in the sacred books and histories of the older nations; others have been handed down by word of mouth. It was long 36 IDOL IVOR SHIP OF THE WORLD. after these legends were old, that even neighboring nations held any communications with each other. It had been just as if a great high wall was built around each nation — a wall without gates. So they could not have told these stories to each other. Then, too, some of these stories are told by nations thousands of miles apart. The truth certainly is that before the several branches of the race separated from their common home, perhaps on the table-lands of Bactria, they had many legends, nur- sery tales and peculiar stories in common. As they moved to the colder North, or to the warmer South, they carried these tales with them. In course of time these came to be somewhat altered. This change was in the dressing rather than in the tales themselves. Hence we find among the Egyptians, Hindoos, Greeks, Germans, Spaniards, Norsemen, stories which are so much alike that it is certain that they had a common origin. Take, for instance, the story of the Master Thief of the Norse- men, and compare it with the same story as told by other nations, and we are led to the conclusion that it is part of a stock of nursery tales which were told before the dispersion. Let us remember that many collections of stories were not originated by the men whose names they bear, but that these men simply gathered together legends and tales which they found already existing among the people. Thus "Grimm's Household Tales" is a collection of old German fireside stories. "The Arabian Night's Entertainment," the "Hindoo Hitopadesa," "Da- sent's Popular Tales of the Norse," and " Old Deccan Days," are collections of the same sort. It will repay us to attend at some length to the various versions of one of these stories, which will serve to illustrate many others of more momentous character. THE WORLD'S FIRST WORSHIP. THE STORY OF THE MASTER THIEF. 37 In the Norse tale, the Master Thief is a farmer's apprentice. In his country there is an order or society of thieves, and the apprentice wishes to join them. The thieves promise to admit him to their society provided he can succeed in steahno^ an ox from his master as the master is driving three oxen, one by one, to market. It must be done, the thieves say, without the master's knowledge, and without hurting him. The youth put a silver-buckled shoe in his master's way as he traveled along the road. The farmer admired the shoe but passed on without touching it, as an odd shoe would be of no service to him. The thief cunningly picked up the shoe and ran around by another path so as to come out ahead of his master, and place the shoe in the farmer's way again. This time he stopped, tied his ox to the fence, and picking up the shoe before him, went back to find its mate. The lad then stole the ox and took it away to the thieves' council. But they want to try him still further, and direct him to steal a second ox from his master, who is acrain drivinof to market. Dis^uisintr himself the lad put a rope around his body under his arms and hung himself to a tree at the roadside. The farmer passed on. barely nodcing the lad. He was so much troubled about the loss of his ox that he did not think of render- inor assistance. The lad then unded himself, and run- ning by a roundabout way came out on the road ahead of the farmer and hung himself as before. Again the farmer passed by unconcernedly. Again the thief hung himself. This dme the farmer thought himself bewitched, and returned to see if the other two lads were sdll hang- inor. His second ox was now left tied up and the lad then led it also away. The thieves then said that if he 38 IDOL WORSHIP OF THE WORLD. would Steal the third ox from the farmer, now on his euard aeainst tricks, he should be their master. Goina into a piece of woods along the road, as his master was passing by with the third ox, he imitated the bellowing of oxen. The farmer now hurried away to catch his lost catde, leaving the third one to fall into the thief's hands. The thieves thereupon took him into their council, but determined (as he shrewdly provoked them to do) to outdo the young thief, they went away to carry out their plans. The lad then returned his master's oxen, and carried off all the valuables and goods which the thieves had stored away. Soon after he married his master's daughter. This story was told in Western Europe, probably long before Herodotus heard the story of the Egyptian thief and wrote it out, or before the Hindoo tale of Karpara and Gata was made known outside of India. The tale of the Forty Thieves in the Arabian Nights also bears a close resemblance to these. The Spanish legend of the Poor Mason may have been borrowed from any one of these. Compare the main points of these stories with those of the tale of the Master Thief. THE STORY OF RHAMPSINITOS. Rhampsinitos, an architect, built for the King of Egypt a treasure-house with a secret entrance. This secret, at his death, the architect told to his two sons. They there- upon helped themselves to the king's treasures. As the king noticed how his treasures were gradually decreasing, he placed a trap in the entrance to the treasure-house. The younger brother was caught in the trap, and seeing that he could not escape, he begged his brother to cut off his head so that the king might not know that the archi- tect had told the secret, and that the brother might not THE WORLD'S FIRST WORSHIP. 39 get into trouble. So the king found the headless body, and of course could not recognize the thief But to find out who he was, he had the body exposed in a public place, and ordered the guards to arrest any person who should mourn for the dead man. The mother saw and re- cognized the body, and threatened to tell the king, unless the elder son should bring the body home. The son then filled some skin bottles with wine, and loaded them upon asses. As he rode by the guards, he slightly loosened the mouth-string of the sacks, and the wine began to run out. The guards, pretending to help him, helped themselves to the wine. After tying up the skins, the youth asks them to sit down and drink wine with him. They do so, and are soon overpowered by it, and fall asleep. He then carried away the body. Soon after he was married to the princess, for the king sought to honor this Master Thief, and he was held to be the clev- erest man of the cleverest people. THE STORY OF THE POOR MASON. In the Spanish story of the Poor Mason a priest wished him to build a secret hiding-place for his treasure. In order that the mason might not know how to get at the treasure, should he be so inclined, the priest blindfolded him from the time of leaving- his own home till he arrived at the treasure-house, and again blindfolded him on his return. So the mason knew the secret of the priest's hidden treasure, but did not know where the house was in which it was secreted. The priest finally died. The house was then said to be haunted. The landlord could not find a tenant. At last he happened on the poor mason, and offered him the house rent free. As soon as the mason entered it, he saw that it was the house where the wealth was stored, and where he had worked. He ,Q IDOL WORSHIP OF THE WORLD. kept the secret to himself, until like the Egyptian archi- tect, he told it on his death-bed to his son. In the story of Trophonius and Agamedes, which Paii- saniiis tells, the two masons built the treasury of the kino-, so that one stone in the wall could be removed from the outside. The king found his wealth growing less, and set a trap for the thief. Agamedes was caught and Trophonius cut off his head. In the Hindoo story of two brothers, Gata and Karpara, not only treasure is stolen by means of a secret entrance to the king's palace, but also the princess, the king's daughter. Karpara was finally found out, was put to death, and as it was desired to catch the other thief, his body was exposed. The guards were ordered to seize any one who might mourn the death of Karpara. The word 'Tvarpara" means a gourd or melon. Gata, Karpara's brother, in order that he might mourn as Hindoos feel bound to do and yet not be caueht, loaded some asses with melons, and as he passed the body of Karpara, contrives to have his load slip off, crying, as the gourds fell to the ground and burst, "Alas ! for my precious Karpara !" The guards supposed, of course, that he referred to his gourds, and so did not arrest him. Afterwards they perceived the trick that had been played upon them, and told it to the king. He then, by royal proclamation, offered the princess in marriage to the clever thief if he would but come and claim her. STORY OF THE SHIFTY LAD. The historian of ancient Scottish legends records a tale which resembles in many points the tales mentioned above. In the Scottish story, the Shifty Lad goes through his apprenticeship, not among a company ol thieves, but under the sole charge of the Black Rogue, of whom he at last rid himself by getting him to try the THE WORLD'S FIRST WORSHIP. 41 pleasant sensation of being- hung by the neck. The trick answers to that of the Norse thief, but the mode of effecting it differs widely. Having disposed of his mas- ter, he eno;-ages himself to a carpenter, whom he per- suades to break into the king's storehouse. The advice of the Seanagal, whom the king consults, is that a hogs- head of soft pitch be placed near the entrance. The wright, again making the venture, sinks into the pitch, and the Shifty Lad, stepping in on his shoulders, takes as much as he can carry, and then sweeping off his mas- ter's head, leaves the body in the hogshead. Again the Seanagal is consulted, and his answer is "that they should set the trunk aloft on the points of the spears of the soldiers to be carried from town to town, to see if they could find any one at all that would show sorrow for it." As they pass by the wright's house, his wife screams, but the Shifty Lad cutting himself with an adze, leads the captain of the guard to think that the cry was caused by sorrow at his own hurt. The body is then by the king's order hung on a tree, the guard being ordered to seize any one who should venture to take it down. The lad driving before him a horse loaded with two kegs of whisky, approaches the soldiers, as though he wished to pass them stealthily, and when they catch the horse's bridle, he runs off leaving tlie men to drink themselves to sleep, and then returning takes away the wright's body. This exploit is followed by others which occur in no other version ; but the final scene is a feast, at which, according to the Seanagal's prediction, the Shifty Lad asks the king's daughter to dance. The Seanagal upon this puts a black mark upon him, but the lad, like Mor- giana In the story of "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves," discovering the mark, puts another on the Seanagal and on twenty other men besides him. The king is then ad- ^2 IDOL WORSHIP OF THE WORLD. vised to say that the man who had done all these tricks, that had been so well done, must be exceedingly clever, and that if he would come forward and give himself up he should have the princess for his wife. All the marked men accordingly claim the prize; and the craft of the Shifty Lad is once more called into practice, to secure the maiden for himself. From the comparison of these popular tales with each other we can see their common origin. Nations so widely separated as the Norsemen, Hindoos, Spaniards, Egyptians and the early inhabitants of Scotland, could not have borrowed these stories from each othen Their resemblances — a thief of wonderful cunning, his suc- cesses and escapes, and final honor — all point to the fact that they are but different versions of the same story. This one story could not have been communicated by one nation to the others, and as the only way to account for the resemblances we are shut up to believe that the nations long ago all lived in one home, from which they afterward separated to go to the different lands of their final settlements. When we add to this evidence, that from the sameness in the ideas of God held by the different nations in their .descriptions of His power, and even in the very names by which they designated God, we are carried back to the early worship of the race, and we see from all these evidences that, originally, man worshiped one God. The human race did not begin life on the earth as a savage, or as a child, and was not developed from this condidon to, a higher state of intelligence; but man began life as a full-formed, mature, intelligent creature. From this high vantage ground he has descended, first, to the wor- ship of many gods, and later on, of idols. Such degeneration has often happened in the history THE WORLD'S FIRST WORSHIP. .^ of the world. The descendants of powerful nations have, in the lapse of years, become far inferior to their ancestors. For example, the ancient Egyptians have left monuments whose construction baffles us. We cannot imagine how they have raised and posed the immense stones, nor can we ascertain the purpose of many of their buildings. We talk of "lost arts" and "lost civili- zations." We know that it has often happened that edu- cated colored people from the southern United States, have sunk to the low level of the people of Africa when they have returned to the land of their fathers. From the Bible narrative, as well as from the most ancient tra- ditions of heathen nations, we learn that at the first, man held close intercourse with God and that he held this pure worship during many centuries. The traditions of ancient nations confirm the Bible account of the hieh position of man at the outset. In the Avesta, the sacred book of the Parsees, who are known also as fire-worshipers, we are told that the first king, Jemshid, and his subjects, after living for a time in the orio-inal home of the race of mankind, removed to a secluded spot not far distant. Here, there "was neither overbearing nor mean-spiritedness, neither stupidity nor violence, neither poverty nor deceit, neither puniness nor deformity, neither huge teeth nor bodies beyond the usual measure. The inhabitants suffered no defilement from the evil spirit. They dwelt among odoriferous trees and golden pillars; these were the largest, best and most beautiful on earth; they were themselves a tall and beautiful race." The Mexicans tell of the "eolden aee of Tezenco." The Peruvian tradition begins with the story of the two children of the Sun, who established a civilized country on the banks of Lake Titicaca, Hesiod records the Greek tradition thus: A A • /nOZ WORSHIP OF THE WORLD. " The immortal gods, that tread the courts of heaven, First made a golden race of men. Like gods they lived, with happy, careless souls, From toil and i)ain exempt ; nor on them crept Wretched old ;ige, but all their life was passed In feasting, antl their limbs no changes knew. Nought evil came them nigh; and when they died, 'Twas but as if they were overcome by sleep. All good things were their portion : the fat soil Bare them its fruits spontaneous, fruit ungrudged And plentiful ; they, at their own sweet will. Pursued in peace the tasks that seemed them good. Laden with blessings, rich in flocks, and dear To the great gods." The Chinese and Hindoo traditions also point back to the beginning of the history of the human race as a time of happiness and perfection. In those early ages man lived a long life, and so the early worship of the one God could be handed down from age to age with scarce a chance of change. Thus we are broucrht down to the time of the Deluge. While there was a general ten- dency to evil on the part of all the descendants of Adam, God preserved some pure characters, such as Enoch and Noah, who kept the truth from utterly perishing from off the earth. On account of the increasing wickedness of mankind, God sent the Deluge, which destroyed all the race, Noah and his family alone excepted. This we learn hot only from the Bible, but from Chinese, Hindoo, Egyptian, Greek and Mexican traditions. Soon after this deluge, the descendants of Noah multiplied greatly, and on account of their wicked attempt to build the tower of Babel, God confused their language. Thus the great dispersion of nations was brought about, through their inability to communicate with each other by means of speech. They separated inevitably from each other. THE WORLD'S FIRST WORSHIP. EXODUS OF THE NATIONS. 45 Somewhere to the north of Persia, in the land of Khiva, was probably the second cradle of the race. This land is now the central meeting place of empires ; here, Russia from the north, England, through India, from the south, and the European powers from the west are com- ing together. This was the point of departure whence the nations started for their future homes. From the three sons of Noah came the nations by whom the whole earth was overspread. Let us keep in mind that Noah's worship of God was pure, that he preserved the true faith in Jehovah, that he handed this to his sons, and that the degeneration into the worship of many gods and idols took place later in history. The religion of the world was still one. Not that all men accepted it, for many wickedly rebelled against it, but the knowledge of the true God was too fresh in their minds for them to set up other gods for themselves. Not only this, but while they were all together, each new generation received in- struction from those who did worship God in the right way. // luas only zuhen they were scattered and left solely to their recollections of these teachings, that their religions began gradually to differ from that zvhich they had known when together. Then, also, the peoples began to differ from each other; then those who went to the cold north or warmer south, to the isles of the sea or to inland hills and valleys, gradually changed their habits of life and worship according to their surroundings. From the mountains of Armenia, where Noah landed from the ark, the streams of population poured forth to all parts of the world; north-west to Europe^ west to Asia Minor, south-west to Egypt and Africa, south to Arabia, south-east to Persia and India, and east to China. 46 IDOL WORSHIP OF THE WORLD. Of course, this was not the work of a clay. It took ages for the nations to reach the more distant lands; ages for them to become settled in their new homes; ages for them to people these lands densely. Hundreds of years after the deluge, some of the peoples who reached the western shores of the Pacific Ocean, and who ventured on its waters, were carried away on the stream whose currents sweep to the north, then to the east, and thence down again to the south. It has happened in the last few centuries that Malays and Japanese sailors have thus been swept away by the Kuro Shiwo (Black Stream). Thus, in all probability, the continent of America was peopled. Thus the present Japanese nation originated from the mixing of these Malays from south-eastern Asia and the Ainos, the nation which had made its way overland to Japan. In the languages and traditions of these nations, even after they were well settled, are to be found traces of Monotheism. Not distinct and clear, it is true, for the Polytheistic worship of after ages has destroyed to a great extent these indications of the early worship of one God, and yet in almost all systems of religion a su- preme place is given to some one Deity, who is above all the others, and who is recognized as the ruler of all. WHENCE CAME THE MANY GODS AND JDOLSi' 47 CHAPTER II. WHENCE CAME THE MANY GODS AND IDOLS? The fair humanities of old religion, The power, the beauty and the majesty. They had their haunts in dales or piny mountain, Or forest by slow stream, or pebbly spring. Or chasms and watery depths. Samuel Taylor Coleridge. WE have seen that the first worship of the world was of one God. We have watched the world in its processes of changing as the nations were separated from each other. We have found that not long after the setdement of the nations in their new lands the worship of many gods appeared, and with this worship, or soon after it began, the worship of idols appeared also. The number of gods and their idols multiplied rapidly, until they numbered hundreds of mil- lions. There were gods of every name and shape ; gods of heaven, earth, and hell ; gods of occupations and em- ployments ; gods of every living creature, and of many inanimate things. Where did they come from ? Where and when did that great change occur, when man ceased to worship one God and began to multiply his gods and idols ? How did it come about ? What influences pro- duced the change? Why was the world permitted to wander so far from the truth ? All these, and a hundred kindred questions come to us at this time. Can we answer any of them ? The sources of information are 48 IDOL WOK SUIT OF THE WORLD. not very numerous. The course of ages has destroyed, or at least altered, many of the early records. It is like those old manuscripts from which some economical scribe has rubbed out all the writing originally there, to make way for his own work. Can these faded palimpsests be restored ? We must look down beneath these uppermost re- cords, beneath the traditions, legends and sa- cred writings of later ages, and we can then dis- cover, but faint- ly traceable it is true, but still worthy of trust, some dim out- lines of the in- troductions of Polytheism. In the last fifty years, wonderful treasures of information have been brought to light, and scholars skilled in Eastern learning have been raised up to aid in bringing this information more fully to the Western world. English, German and American students have given us the sacred books of Hindus, Parsees and other peoples, and the story of their work is intensely interesting. ANCIENT SERPENT IDOL. WHENCE CAME THE MANY GODS AND IDOLS/ 4g SOURCES OF INFORMATION. The Vedas, the sacred books of the Hindus, are the oldest existing- sacred writings, excepting those from which Moses compiled the earlier chapters of Genesis. In these Vedas there is little of the confused mass of mythological statements, gross superstitions and the hosts of gods of later Brahminism. Here is presented a pic- ture of the simple nature-worship of the people of India in their earliest history. Having been composed so soon after the dispersion of the nations, or rather the hymns contained in it having been handed down by word of mouth from generation to generation, it is a very valuable source of information just here. Before the beginning of this century the Vedas were almost unknown to European scholars. Since that time great attention has been devoted to the subject, especially since Max Miiller- went to England to seek the aid of Englishmen, and more particularly of the East India Company, in publishing his translation of the Vedas. At present we can read them for ourselves in tolerably accurate translations. Until within a hundred years, there was no direct way of learning of the faith, and manners, and customs of ancient Persia. It was known that there was an author- itative record of the earliest Persian religion, a Bible of the Parsees, but no European had ever read it. In 1754, a young French student of Paris, chanced to see a few lines of an ancient manuscript in an unknown language." He at once determined to go to Persia, or India, whence the manuscript had come, and to learn more about it. As he could not secure the means for the journey, in any other why, he enlisted as a private soldier to go to India. Just before sailing, however, he received the means to go, and his discharge from the army. He traveled through ro IDOL WORSHIP OF THE WORLD. India until he came to the borders o. Persia. From some Parsee priests he learned the language, and gained some slight knowledge of the Zend-Avesta, the Parsees' Bible. He pursued his investigations for four years more, and then published his translation of the Avesta. But his work was incomplete, and while he rendered a great service to the world in showing the way to a knowledge of the Avesta, it was left for later scholars more fully and accu- rately to prepare the translation of the book. The an- cient Egyptian sacred books have been almost wholly lost, it is believed. Just enough remains to give us the outlines of their early worship. Another source of information is the ancient monu- ments. It was the custom of Oriental people to pre- serve important parts of their history by engraving and carving descriptions of them on their memorial stones. When it is remembered that all knowledge of the char- acters or letters in which these inscriptions are made had faded away, we can see how difficult the task of explain- ing them must have been. By careful comparisons and patient investigations methods of interpreting them were devised. These were severally tried ; if found not to be capable of successful application they were rejected ; and thus one plan after another was tried until the right one was found. Some of the inscriptions were in the form of pictures with combinations of syllables added, or hic7'oglyphics, as they are called. From these monu: ments a great deal has been learned about the early history and worship of the nations. From these sacred books, the traditions of the nations, and from tracing back the development of religions with the aid of monumental inscriptions, we get a toler- ably clear picture of the passing from the worship of the one God into the worship of many gods and idols. This WHEXCE CAME THE MANY GODS AND IDOLS? rj change took place gradually, not abruptly. It was a result of the natural deoeneration of the race. There were certain depraved tendencies of the human heart which brought it about. It was a work of time to develop these and give them full play. We must keep in mind these facts and the condition of the human race just at this time, if we would correcdy apprehend this change and its slowly-moving but efficient causes. THE TRANSITION. The worship of one God passed into the worship of the powers and objects of nature. This grew out of a natural awe at the sight of the mighty forces evidendy at work and yet inexplicable to the nations in their uncultured state. Their habits of life were simple. While they journeyed, as they tilled their fields, or fed their flocks, their attendon was drawn to the sky, now clear, now cloudy; to the sun, now shining in beauty, now obscured in the darkness of night; to the day-dawn and the sunset, to the resurrection of vegetable life in the spring, the growth of crops through the heat of summer, the ripening harvests of autumn, and the cold of winter and the barrenness of earth. They gazed in awe upon the storms ; upon the lightning as it glared in the midst of the dark, black clouds ; upon the tall trees bending beneath the strong winds ; upon the mountains shaking in the earthquake or vomiting their contents with rumblings, and flame, and smoke. They listened in astonishment to the noise of thunder, to the whistling, and sighing, and roaring of the wind. With wonder they saw the earth into which they cast their seed return it to them in the manifold harvest ; they watched the fruits and grains mature and ripen. All about them mysterious processes were going on, which they could not comprehend. Were r , IDOL WORSHIP OF THE WORLD. these processes moved by a Strong Arm ? were they under the control of a Mighty Power ? or were they self- moved and guided by their own inner, hidden forces? Contact with nature kindles the imagination. In early days almost all of the nations were herdsmen and agriculturists. Their dwellings were simple and such as each could erect for himself; their food was such as each could provide for himself by the chase, or from his own flocks or from his own fields. A few were selected to be the rulers of the rest, or to pursue some simple mechanical pursuits. But the majority were brought into the closest contact with nature. Their poetic imagi- nations began to see life in nature's powers and objects, they began to personify these and then to people them with creatures of their own minds' making. They saw reflected their own passions and conditions in the events of nature. They credited the beings dwelling in the skies, or storms, or stars, with feelings, passions, quarrels like their own. When the sky was clear, when the winds were gentle, when the seas and lakes were unruflled in their calm repose, when the destructive powers of nature were at rest, they imagined that these beings were at peace among themselves. But when the skies were overcast, when the winds arose in fury, when earth and sea were convulsed, these beings were angry and at war with each other. Finding themselves unable to contend with these strong powers, unable to resist their over- whelming influences, they gradually recognized the beings dwelling in them as superior to themselves, and their awe and mystery led them to give these superior beings the place of gods. They could not prevent the sun from taking his departure at the close of day. They could not resist the strong force of wind or wave. They were mere driven chaff; as pygmies whom these giants WHENCE CAME THE MAXY GODS AXD IDOLS:' r -> DO' could easily overthrow ; as creatures of a day in the presence of these, seemingly, ever-enduring beings. So man passed from the worship of God to the worship of the works and forces which God had made ; from rev- erence for the Creator to reverence for the created. THE FIRST HYMNS AND PRAYERS.. Reverence for the gods was not merely a silent observ- ance and awe-stricken contemplation of the great powers at work in nature. The observers lelt that these beings held some relation to themselves, and that praises, prayers and offerings would not only be acceptable to the gods, but that they were really demanded in order to avert the anger of the gods or secure their favor. Hence the earliest literature of the race is devoted to singing the praises or invoking the aid of the gods. Priests were soon selected to represent the people at the seasons of sacrifice and to give themselves more continually to prayer than would be possible to men generally. The worship of these early days was exceedingly simple and the priests possessed no unusual powers. As Whittier has expressed it : "The morning twilight of the race Sends down these matin psahns ; And still with wondering eyes we trace The simple prayers to Luna's grace, That Vedic verse embalms." The American Indians, the Aztecs of western South America, the early Hindoos, the Chinese and the Parsees all exhibit in their sacred Avritings this nature-worship. Traces of it are still to be seen in the Parsees' worship of the sun, in the worship of heaven and earth among the Chinese, in the Indians' reverence for the Great Spirit, in 54 IDOL WORSHIP OF THE WORLD. the Peruvian sun-worship and in many other features of worship among the heathen nations of to-day. Let us look at some specimens of early religious poetry. The first is from Monier Williams' transla- tions of the Vedas. Varuna is the sfod of the "moist- ing sky," Agni is the god of fire, Surya, the sun-god, Indra the atmosphere-god. _ ** The mighty Varuna, who rules above, looks down Upon these worlds, his kingdom, as if close at hand. When men imagine they do aught by stealth, he knows it. "No one can stand, or walk, or softly glide along. Or hide in dark recess, or lurk in secret cell, But Varuna detects him, and his movements spies. Two persons may devise some plot, together sitting, And think themselves alone ; but he, the king, is there — A third — and sees it all. His messengers descend Countless from his abode, forever traversing This world, and scanning with a thousand eyes its inmates. Whate'er exists within this earth, and all within the sky, Yea, all that is beyond. King Varuna perceives. ^ The winkings of men's eyes are numbered all by him: He wields the universe as gamesters handle dice. " Indra, twin-brother of the god of fire. When thou wast born, thy mother Aditi, Gave thee, her lusty child, the thrilling draught Of mountain-growing Soma — source of life And never-dying vigor to thy frame. Thou art our guardian, advocate and friend, A brother, father, mother — all combined. ' Most fatherly of fathers, we are thine. And thou art ours. Oh ! let thy pitying soul Turn to us in compassion when we praise thee, And slay us not for one sin or for many. Deliver us to-day, to-morrow, every day. Vainly the demon dares thy might ; in vain Strives to deprive us of thy watery treasures. Earth quakes beneath the crashing of thy bolts. WHENCE CAME THE MANY GODS AND IDOLS? cr Pierced, shattered lies the foe — his cities crushed, His armies overthrown, his fortresses Shivered to fragments ; then the pent-up waters. Released from long imprisonment, descend In torrents to the earth, and swollen rivers. Foaming and rolling to their ocean-home, Proclaim the triumph of the Thunderer. " Agni, thou art a sage, a priest, a king, Protector, father of the sacrifice. Commissioned by us men, thou dost ascend A messenger, conveying to the sky Our hymns and offerings. Though thy origin Be threefold, now from air, and now from water. Now from the mystic double Arani, / Thou art thyself a mighty god, a lord, Giver of life and immortality. One in thy essence, but to mortals three ; Displaying thine eternal triple form. As fire on earth, as lightning in the air. As sun in heaven. Thou art the cherished guest In every household — father, brother, son. Friend, benefactor, guardian — all in one. Deliver, mighty lord, thy worshipers. Purge us from taint of sin, and when we die. Deal mercifully with us on the pyre, Burning our bodies with their load of guilt. But bearing our eternal part on high To luminous abodes and realms of bliss. Forever there to dwell with righteous men. " Behold the rays of Dawn, like heralds, lead on high The Sun, that men may see the great all-knowing god. The stars slink off like thieves, in company with night. Before the all-seeing eye, whose beams reveal his presence. Gleaming like brilliant flames, to nation after nation. Surya, with flaming locks, clear-sighted god of day. Thy seven ruddy mares bear on thy rushing car. With these thy self-yoked steeds, seven daughters of thy chariot. Onward thou dost advance. To thy refulgent orb, Beyond this lower gloom, and upward to the light Would we ascend, O Sun, thou god among the gods." 56 IDOL WORSHIP OF THE WORLD. The Samoyedes thus addressed Jumala, the god of the air: '^ Harness now thyself, Jumala, Ruler of the air, thy horses ! Bring theni forth, thy rapid racers. Drive the sledge with glittering colors, Passing through our bones, our ankles. Through our flesh that shakes and trembles, Through our veins which seem all broken, Knit the flesh and bones together. Fasten vein to vein more firmly, Let our joints be filled with silver, Let our veins with gold be running !" The principal Chinese deities are called Tien-Chi, or Heaven and Earth. Confucius preserved in his writings the ancient worship of these gods. The Mongolians also worshiped the Teng-Ri, or god of the sky. The Chinese have for centuries believed in "celestial spirits," as they call them, spirits of the sun, and moon, and stars ; spirits of clouds, winds, rain and thunder; spirits of mountains, fields, rivers, grains and trees. All these were reverenced as gods. So the Egyptians worshiped natu- ral objects and powers. Indeed, every one of the re- ligions which existed in antiquity, and of which anything is known, possessed nature-worship as their primary ele- ment. The ancient religions which continue unto this day, also possess this characteristic, and though covered with the debHs and overgrowth of centuries of supersti- tious teachings, still it is to be distlncdy traced. WHERE DID IDOL-WORSHIP COME FROM ? Thus far we have no trace of any other than the direct worship either of God; or of the invisible spirits, or gods, that were supposed to dwell in the objects of nature; or of those objects themselves. As yet no attempt had been WHENCE CAME THE MANY GODS AND IDOLS? 57 made to represent them by images or idols. When, where and how did the worship of idols take its rise? These are questions difficult to answer. In the Bible the first distinct traces of idolatry are found in Genesis xxxi, 19, where we read that "Rachel had stolen the images that were her father's." These images, or idols, or gods, as both Jacob and Laban term them, were the teraphim or luck-givers. They had a human head and were used in divination or fortune-telling. They were consulted as oracles. But these could hardly have been the first idols, for their idea was too well developed. There must have been a grad- ual introduction of idols and of the idea of making repre- sentations of the gods. The account in Genesis, just re- ferred to, speaks as though it were no unusual thino- to have gods; there is no expression of strangeness at the occur- rence, nor anything that would indicate that these were the first known idols. What follows is suggested as the probable line of development in the idea of idols, but so far as is now known, there is no way of definitely determining the question. Findinor it difficult to fasten their thoughts on invisible, intangible beings, men, at the beginning, probably sought to aid their worship by selecting some object to represent the being worshiped. This object was not to be wor- shiped in and for itself, but, simply, as an aid to devotion, TERAPHIM. =;8 IDOL WORSHIP OF THE WORLD. representing the being worshiped. Then, gradually, the worship was transferred to the object and withdrawn from the being represented. Or, it may be that the being worshiped was supposed in some manner to dwell in the idol, and was worshiped thus. Or, it may be that me- teoric stones were regarded as images of the gods sent down from the heavens. Or, it may have been in several of these ways, or in all combined. The aesthetic tastes of men would soon lead them to give a more shapely appear- ance to the meteoric masses of stone, and then, as these must of necessity be scarce, copies of them were sculptured. As men became more and more accustomed to these idols and less and less spiritual in their worship they would venture to give expression to their ideas of the unseen gods. Other materials were used and, as might be required by the materi- als, other shapes were of necessity given. At first, it would seem, that only representations of animals were attempted, then, as in the teraphim, the head of man was attached to various ani- mal forms, as also in Daeon, the fish-orod, which was a human fiof- DAGON, THE FISH-GOD. ,^j j-g, terminating in a fish. When this introduction of idols occurred, we cannot tell ; probabl)-, not long after the worship of nature had WHENCE CAME THE MANY GODS AND IDOLS? 59 become established, and the worship of one God had been generally forgotten. Not very much more than one hundred and fifty years elapsed between the death of Noah and the birth of Jacob, so that in all prob- ability idols had not long been in use when this in- cident of Jacob and Laban took place. Not long after this time the full human figure was used in idol representations, and in a short period a collec- tion of idols would have represent- ed almost every conceivable ob- ject, and being, and creature of the wild fancy of man. These were made of all man- ner of materials, of all shapes and sizes. The highest conceptions of art were lavished on some of these idols, and at the same time the rudest notions of the most barbarous nations were also expressed in them. The word idol originally meant simply an image, and only in after ages was an idol regarded as itself a divine thing or being, rather than merely an Image of it. 4 ANCIENT SERPENT IDOL. 6o IDOL WORSHIP OF THE WORLD. Thus we have traced the worship of the world down through the ages of antiquity. We have had to rely upon other than merely historic sources of information. We have seen the gradual introduction of Polytheism (many gods' worship), and of idolatry (the worship of visible forms). For the rest of our way the light shines more and more clearly. Historic times are now reached, and we shall find much less difficulty in tracing the stories of religions ; and we shall also find data from which we may reason back, and so find confirmation of what has thus far been of necessity somewhat shadowy. GROUP OF ALTARS. ROMAN. ASSYRIAN. EGYPTIAN. EGYPTIAN. ASSYRIAN. BABYLONIAN. GRECIAN. GRECIAN. PERSI.\N. Before passing to these, however, we shall turn aside for a little to consider the testimony which ancient heathen records and traditions furnish on the genuine- ness of the Bible history, and also to notice the singular system of Hebrew worship, standing alone like a green oasis in the weary wastes of heathenism. IDOL FROM HlNDUbirvi SACRED AND HLAlHEN TRADITIONS. CHAPTER III. SACRED AND HEATHEN TRADITIONS. What appears to be of most importance is, the fact, attested by the hieroglyphic paintings of the Mexican, as well as by the tales now - current in all quarters from the Arctic Ocean to Cape Horn, that on6 of these great periods, called "the Age of Waters," closed with a convulsion, the account of which, in all its broader outlines, is re- markably akin to the Mosaic record of the Deluge. — Archdeacon Charles Hardwick. FROM time to time during the past half century travelers have unearthed traditions from among heathen nations concerning the early history of the world. They have deciphered inscriptions, found the key to the hieroglyphics, or writings whose letters were yet pictures in jform, and, by questioning, learned from the heathen peoples themselves of traditions and legends which bear upon the prominent events of early history. These narradves are from a variety of sources and from peoples differing widely in locality, language and civiliza- tion. They are matters of curious interest, and they serve to confirm the Biblical stories of the creation, deluge, dispersion of the races and other events. They agree to a great extent among themselves, just as far as is really possible considering the changing circumstances of the peoples who hold them. But they serve another and more important purpose to us just here. They throw much light on the early history of the religions of which they form a part. They confirm the idea of the original 64 IDOL WORSHIP OF THE WORLD. unity of the race and of the early existence of one reli- ction for the world. The oldest civilizations of the world are, respectively, ..l.;::?^' those of Egypt, Babylon, Phenicia, the Hindu and the^ Greek. Among each of these the traditions of the early events referred to above are found. Almost, though not quite, all the nations of the world try to give some account of the origin of the world and of nations. Many of the uncivilized peoples, as the Indians of America, the Mex- icans and the Pacific Islanders, have some popular stories of the deluge. We propose to place side by side some of these, that they may be compared with each other. The traditions of the creation are often mixed up with those of the delude or the re-creation, and we o"ive of them the versions accepted by the best scholars. TRADITIONS OF CREATION. Among many peoples is found the teaching that man was made of the dust of the earth. The Greeks repre- sent Prometheus as moulding from clay the first human beings, and giving them life by means of fire which he stole from heaven. The Peruvians called the first man Alpa Camasca, or "animated earth." The Mandans, a tribe of Indians of North America, believed that the Great Spirit formed two figures of clay, which he dried and animated by the breath of his mouth. To the one was given the name of the "first man," to the other, "companion." The Otaheitans said that God made man of red earth, and the Dyacks of Borneo, that he had been made of common dust. The Zoroastrians (or Parsees) in the Bundehesh, a book containing none but ancient traditions, have many traditions regarding the creation and fall of man. The garden of Eden was undoubtedly in southern Persia, or near by, hence these are traditions which have lingered SACRED AND HEATHEN TRADITIONS 5- around the spot where the events happened. According to the Parsees, there was a garden where the first human beino-s hved, and in it two trees, the one bearincr " Haoma," supposed to give immortahty to those who drank its juice. (Haoma and the Hindu word "Soma" are probably different forms of one word. The Hindu Soma was possessed of the same properties as the Parsee Haoma). Then follows a story of the first temptation of man, bearing the closest resemblance to the Bible story, even in the incident of the tempter having taken the form of a serpent. The inhabitants of the Caroline Islands, a group in Micronesia, said: 'Tn the beginning there was no death, but a certain Erigiregers, who was one of the evil spirits, and who was sorry to see the happiness of the human race, contrived to get for them a sort of death from which they should never wake." The Hottentots said that "their first parents had committed so great a fault, and so grievously offended the Supreme God, that he had cursed both them and their children." Berosus, the Chaldean, read from the inscriptions on the Assyrian monuments, the tradition that there had been ten kingrs before the deluo^e. Ten antediluvian heroes are mentioned in Genesis. The legends of the Parsees say the same thing. In India the traditions tell of nine Brahmadikas, who, with Brahma, the first of all, make ten, whom they called the Ten Fathers. The Chinese count ten emperors, who reigned before his- torical times began. There is a multitude of correspond- ences similar to these. These are selected simply as specimens. There is another tradition, well-nigh uni- versal, and agreeing in all important particulars as told by different nations. This is that concerning the flood. In addition to traditions there are coins, medals and 66 IDOL WORSHIP OF THE WORLD. monumental inscriptions which perpetuate the story, as is illustrated in the specimen coin given below. TRADITIONS OF THE DELUGE, Let us keep in mind the differences between the nations holding the tradition. It was impossible for them to have conferred with one another, or to have copied from each other. The confusion of lanofuag-es, their wide separation in point of space and time, prevented this. The oldest historic nation, Egypt, having lost most of its sacred books before they were made known to other nations or even to the later venerations amono- them- selves, possess few traces of the tradition. One passage in the writings of Manetho, the historian, distinctly refers to the deluge. "The Book of the Dead" constantly refers to the sun-god, Ra, as voyaging in a boat on the celestial ocean, and Ra is said to have been so disgusted with the insolence of men that he determined to exterminate the race. Clear and complete is the account which Berosus has preserved. He was a learned Chaldean priest, liv- ing in the time of Alexander the Great, about 325 B. C. This narrative is a translation made from the inscriptions of the Assyrian monuments, and compared with tradi- tions of his own time. COIN REPRESENTING THE DELUGE. THE CHALDEAN STORY, After the death of Ardates, his son, Xisuthrus, reigned eighteen sori (an uncertain period). In his time happened a great deluge, the history of which is thus described : The deity Kronos appeared to him in a vision and SACRED AND HEATHEN TRADITIONS. 67 warned him that on the 15 th day of the month Dsesius there would be a flood by which mankind would be de- stroyed. He therefore enjoined him to write a history of the beo-innino", course and end of all things; and to bury it in the City of the Sun, at Sippara.* He was also to build a vessel, and to take with him into it his friends and relatives; he was to put on board of it food and drink, with different reptiles, birds and quadrupeds. As soon as he had made all arrangements he was to commit himself to the deep. Having asked the Deity whither he was to sail, he was answered: ''To the gods, after having offered a prayer for the good of mankind." Whereupon, not being disobedient to this heavenly vision, he built a vessel five stadia in length and two in breadth. Into this he put everything which he had pre- pared, and embarked in it with his wife, his children and his personal friends. After the flood had been upon the earth and had in due time abated, Xisuthrus sent out some birds from the vessel, which not finding any food, nor any place where they could rest, returned to the ves- sel. After an interval of some days, Xisuthrus sent out the birds a second time, and now they returned to the ship with mud on their feet. A third time he repeated the experiment and then they returned no more. Xisu- thrus hence judged that the earth was visible above the waters, and accordingly he made an opening in the ves- sel, and seeing that it was stranded upon the summit of a certain mountain, he quitted it with his wife and daugh- ter and the pilot. Having then paid his adoration to the earth, and having built an altar and offered sacrifice to the eods, he, toeether with those who had left the vessel * In later ages the scribes of Babylonia wrote important matters on both burnt and unburnt bricks. One would be left unharmed by water, while the other was made permanent by fire. gg IDOL WORSHIP OF THE WORLD. with him, disappeared. Those who had remained in the vessel, when they found that Xisuthrus and his compan- ions did not return, in their turn left the vessel and began to look for him, calling him by his name. Him they saw no more, but a voice came to them from heaven, bidding them lead pious lives, and so join him who was gone to live with the gods, and further informing them that his wife, his daughter and the pilot had shared the same honor. It told them, moreover, that they should return to Babylon, and how it was ordained that they should take up the writings that had been buried in Sippara,and impart them to mankind, and that the country where they then were was the land of Armenia. Having heard these words this company offered sacrifices to the gods, and taking a circuit journeyed to Babylon. The vessel having been thus stranded in Armenia, and parts of it still remaining in the mountains of the Corcyrseans (or Cordyaeans, i. e., the Kurds of Kurdistan), in Armenia, the people scrape off the bitumen from the vessel and make use of it by way of charms. Now, when those who were so commanded returned to Babylon, they dug up the writings which had been buried at Sippara; they also founded many cities and built temples, and thus the country of Babylon became inhabited again. The Hindoo narrative has been colored by the char- acter of that people, but yet it is preserved with great accuracy, and possesses many points of likeness to the Biblical story. THE HINDOO TRADITION. The traditions of India appear in many forms. The one which most remarkably agrees with the Biblical ac- count is that contained in the Mahabharata. We are there told that Brahma, having taken the form of a fish. SACJiED A\D HEATHEN TRADITIONS. 69 appeared to the pious Manu (Satya, /. e., the righteous, as Noah also is called) on the banks of the river Wirini. Thence, at his request, Manu transferred him to the Ganges when he had grown bigger, and finally, when he was too large for even the Ganges, to the ocean. Brahma now announces to Manu the approach of the Deluge, and bids him build a ship, and put in it all kinds of seeds, together with the seven Rishic, or holy beings. The flood begins and covers the whole earth. Brahma himself appears in the form of a horned fish and the ves- sel being made fast to him, he draws it for many years, and finally lands on the highest summit of Mount Hima- rat (/. c'., the Himalaya). Afterwards, by the command of God, the ship is made fast, and in memory of the event, the mountain is called Naubandhana (/. e., ship bind- ing). By the favor of Brahma. Manu, after the Flood, creates the new race of mankind, which is thenceforth termed Manudsha, or born of Manu. The Chinese story is sometimes called in question as possibly not referring to the general deluge, but to some local flood. The truth is, we know as yet comparatively little about the story, which is as follows- THE CHINESE TRADITION. Fuh-he is the reputed founder of the Chinese civilization and the author of the Yhi-king, the oldest of the sacred' books. According to the legend, he is represented as escaping from the waters of a deluge, and re-appearing as the first man at the production of a renovated world. He is attended by seven companions, his wife, three sons and three daughters. Dr. Gutzlaff, long a resident in China, says that he saw in one of the Buddhist temples a representation of the deluge in plaster work. Let it be kept in mind, that yO IDOL WORSHIP OF THE WORLD. Buddhism incorporated in every land to which it went all the traditions, myths and legends which it found current among the people. "In beautiful stucco," Dr, Gutzlafi says, "was depicted the scene where Kwan-Yin, the Goddess of Mercy, looks down from heaven upon the lonely Fuh-he (or Noah) in his ark, amidst the raging waves of a deluge, with the dove with an olive branch in its beak, flying toward the vessel." Passing to the other side of the Pacific Ocean, we find among the Mexicans and the Americans traditions of the same character as the above. These agree so precisely that they cannot be a myth, a mere invention, but must of necessity, be the recollection of a real, terrible event, indelibly impressed on the memories of their ancestors, and faithfully handed down. That it has never been for- gotten, nor its important points altered, even though the dress of the story has been changed, is an evidence of the awful impression which this judgment of God left upon the nations descending from the survivors. The Mexican traditions were first taken down as they were told to the Dominican missionaries. Travelers have compared their accounts with the hieroglyphics on ancient ' Mexican monuments and found them to agree. THE MEXICAN LEGEND. "Of the different nations that inhabit Mexico," says A. von Humboldt, "the following had paintings resemb- ling the deluge of Coxcox, namely, the Aztecs, the Mixtecs, the Zapotecs, the Tlascaltecs and the Mechoacans. The Noah, Xisuthras, or Manu of these nations, is termed " Coxcox, Teo Cipactli, or Tezpi. He saved himself with his wife, Xochiquetzad, In a bark, or, according to other tra- ditions, on a raft. The painting represents Coxcox in the midst of the water waitino- for a bark. The moun- "SACRED AXD HEATHEX TRADITIONS. 71 tain, the summit of which arises above the waters, is the peak of Colhuacan, the Ararat of the Mexicans. At the foot of the= mountain are the heads of Coxcox and his wife. The latter is known by two tresses in the form of horns, denoting the female sex. The men born after the deluge were dumb: the dove from the top of a tree dis- tributed among them tongues, represented under the form of small commas." Of the Mechoacan tradition he writes, "that Coxcox, whom they called Tezpi, em- barked in a spacious acalli with his wife, his children, several animals and some grain. When the Great Spirit ordered the waters to withdraw, Tezpi sent out from his bark a vulture, the zopilote, or zmltitr aura. This bird did not return on account of the carcasses with which the earth was strewn. Tezpi sent out other birds, one of which, the humming-bird, alone returned, holding in its beak a branch clad with leaves. Tezpi, seeing that fresh verdure covered the soil, quitted his bark near the mountain of Colhuacan," The Peruvians also have legends of the deluge as have many of the Polynesian islanders. THE FIJI islanders' TRADITION. The Fiji Islanders say that "after the islands had been peopled by the first man and woman, a great rain took place, by which they were finally submerged ; but before the highest places were covered by the waters, two large double canoes made their appearance. In one of these was Rokora, the god of carpenters, in the other Rokola, his head workman, who picked up some of the people and kept them on board until the waters had subsided; after which they were again landed on the island. It is reported, that in former times, canoes were always kept in readiness against another inundation. The persons 72 IDOL WORSHIP OF THE WORLD. thus saved, eight in number, were landed at Mbenga, where the hio;hest of their crods is said to have made his first appearance. By virtue of this tradition, the chiefs of Mbenga take rank before all others, and have always acted a conspicuous part among the Fijis. They style themselves N galidura-kl-langi — subject to heaven alone." AMERICAN INDIAN TRADITIONS, Many of the tribes of North America related in their rude legends that the human race had been destroyed by a deluge, and that their god, to re-people the earth, had changed animals into men. The traveler, Henry, repeats a tradition which he had heard from the Indians of the Lakes. Formerly the Father of the Indian tribes lived toward the rising sun. Having been warned by a dream that a deluge was coming to destroy the earth, he con- structed a raft, on which he saved himself with his family and all animals. He floated thus many months on the water. The animals, which then had the power of speech, complained aloud and murmured against him. At last a new earth appeared, and he stepped down on it with all these creatures, who thenceforward lost the power of speech as a punishment for their murmurs against their preserver. THE GREEK STORY. Hellas has two versions of a flood, one associated with Ogyges, and the other, in a far more elaborate form, with Deucalion. Both, however, are of late origin. They were unknown to Homer and Hesiod. Herodotus, though he mentions Deucalion as one of the first kings of the Hellenes, says not a word about this flood. Pindar is the first writer who mentions it. In Apollodorus and Ovid the story appears in a much more definite shape, though. SACRED AXD HEATHEN TRADITIOXS. 7Z of course, this is but a re-writing of the early tradition. Finally, Lucian gives a narrative not very difterent from that of Ovid, except that he makes provision for the safety of the animals, which Ovid does not. He attri- butes the necessity for the Deluge to the exceeding wicked- ness of the existing race of men, and declares that the earth opened and sent forth waters to swallow them up, as well as that heavy rain fell upon them. Deucalion, as the one righteous man, escaped with his wife and chil- dren and the animals he had put into the chest and landed on the top of Parnassus, after nine clays and nine nights, during which the chief part of Hellas was under water, and all men perished except a few who reached the tops of the highest mountains. Plutarch mentions the dove which Deucalion made use of to as- certain whether the flood was abated, though he may have borrowed this from the Septuagint version of the Old Testament, access to which he had probably enjoyed, and with which he was most likely familiar. The many points of agreement will be readily noted. The fact of a deluge of waters sent by the Supreme Being, as a punishment for man's wickedness; the saving of a chosen few by means of a boat; the re-peopling of the earth by these, all present points of likeness to the Biblical account. This is inexplicable unless the record is true and all the nations of the earth were made of one blood. But these are not all of the remarkable agreements. Of the same character as the above stories, are the traditions of the history of the race after the flood, of the building of the tower of Babel, and the confusion of tongues. We can call attention to but one of these, the Chaldean account concerning the tower of Babel, which may be regarded as a fair specimen of the many. 74 IDOL WORSHIP OF THE WORLD. CHALDEAN STORY OF THE TOWER OF BABEL. The story of the "Tower of the Tongues" was among the most ancient recollections of the Chaldeans, and was one of the national traditions of the Armenians, who had received it from the civilized nations inhabiting the Tigro-Euphrates basin, Berosus records this event in complete agreement with the Bible, as follows : "They say that the first inhabitants of the earth, glory- ing in their own strength and size and despising the gods, undertook to raise a tower whose top should reach the sky, in the place in which Babylon now stands; but when it approached the heaven, the wind assisted the gods and overthrew the work upon its contrivers, and its ruins are said to be still at Babylon; and the gods introduced a diversity of tongues among men, who till that time had all spoken the same language; and a war arose be- tween Chronus and Titan. The place in which they built the tower is now called Babylon, on account of the confusion of tongues, for confusion is by the Hebrews called Babel." WHAT HAS THE BIBLE TO SAY ABOUT IDOLATRY? There is another aspect of the relation of the Bible to the heathen religions, to which we should call attention. In what terms does the Bible speak of the worship of false eods and idols? The Israelites were brouorht into contact with idolatry very early in their history. The patriarchs were familiar with it, both as they journeyed abroad and amono- their neighbors at home. Abraham's parents were at least partially idolatrous. Jacob, while livinof with Laban, was accustomed to the sicrht of the teraphim and other gods. Joseph had for his wife the daughter of a heathen Egyptian priest. Jacob and his SACJiED AND HE A 7 HEN TRADITIONS. 75 children, during their hie in Egypt, were surrounded by temples, idol groves, sacred beasts and all the parapher- nalia of heathen worship. Moses was brought up in all the learning of the Egyptians. Undoubtedly, as was customary in Egypt, he had for his teachers Egyptian priests. When Israel made its exodus from Egypt, the miraculous power which God gave to Moses was brought into contact with the power of the sorcerers and magi- cians of Pharaoh's court. After they had left Egypt they remembered the idol-worship they had been accus- tomed to see. The first idol ever made and worshiped by the Hebrews, was the golden calf. Side by side with this incident, is the first plain command against idolatry: "Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in the heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the waters under the earth: thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them." While God was giving this stern, strong, plain command to Moses, for him to repeat to the chosen people of Israel, they were engaged in their idolatrous worship. In the com- mand to Israel, we see how God regards the worship of idols. For awhile Israel regarded God's command. On their way to Canaan they yielded to the charms of the daughters of Moab, and with most terribly wicked wor- ship they bowed to the heathen god Baal-Peor. For this they were severely punished. During the life of Joshua they did not again yield to the temptations ot idolatry. Gideon's father, Joash, worshiped Baal. After Gideon's death, idolatry became the national sin of Israel. From Samuel's time until the reign of Solomon, the people were loyal to Jehovah's worship. Solomon's foreign wives brought with them the gods which they were accustomed to worship, and soon all Israel was 5 y5 IDOL WORSHIP OF THE WORLD. turned to worship them. From this time until after the captivity at Babylon, idolatry was the constant sin of Israel. Often God sent his messengers, the prophets, to warn them of the danger of their sin. Often His judg- ments were shown in the terrible calamities which came upon Israel. But it took the most awful of all calamities, the temporary ruin of the nation, to work a complete cure. God chose Israel as the people to preserve for the world the pure worship of Himself, the one and the only God. How they failed to fulfill their high calling we have seen. God was preparing in Israel the true religion which was designed to be universal. In Abraham's seed all the families of the earth were to be blessed. The jews were made the keepers of the treasure of the promises of the Saviour. God selected them from all the nations for this express purpose ; He gave them a territory shut off from that of other nations ; in their language, habits, ways of thinking and religion, they were distinct from all others. They were to be kept separate until the time when God should give the true religion to the whole world. THE SUBJECT IN A NUTSHELL. 77 CHAPTER IV. THE SUBJECT IN A NUTSHELL. Not in vain the nation-strivings, nor by chance the currents flow ; Error-mazed, yet truth-directed, to their certain goal they go. Ebn-el-Farid. Oh, yet we trust that somehow good Will be the final goal of ill, To pangs of nature, sins of will. Defects of doubt, and taints of blood; That nothing walks with aimless feet; That not one life shall be destroyed, Or cast as rubbish to the void, When God hath made the pile complete. Alfred Tennyson. IN this chapter it is proposed to survey rapidly the progress of the whole heathen world in idolatrous worship from its first introduction. We have already seen how the world began with the worship of one God, but passed into the worship of the objects, powers and forces of nature ; and how to these were given tangible forms in the shape of idols. Further we have noticed the gradual introduction of the worship of animals, and men, and their idols. METHODS OF GROUPING RELIGIONS. The various religions might be classified by dividing them into two groups ; first, those having sacred books, and secondly, those having no sacred books. According to this method, for example, the Hindu, Parsee, Egyp- 78 IDOL WORSHIP OF THE WORLD. tian, Chinese, Buddhist and Mohammedan rehgions would be placed in one group, and the religions of the Japanese Shintoists, of the Indians of America, of the Pacific Islanders, of the African Fetichists and of our heathen ancestors, in another group. This is rather an arbitrary division. Another mode of arranging them is as missionary or proselyte-making religions and non-missionary re- ligions. Thus, Brahminism, as it never went beyond In- dia, and Confucianism, as it never sent its teachers out of China, would be in one class, while Buddhism which was spread all over Eastern Asia by its missionary priests, and Mohammedanism whose priests went over Western Asia and Northern Africa making proselytes, would be in another class. We must have some system of classifying and arrang- ino- the different religions, and the following has seemed to be the most simple and natural classificadon. To look at them first, as original religions and as reformed re- licrions, and secondly, as dead and as living religions. It happens that most of the dead religions were original religions, and so we take these up first. Then we notice the living original religions, and afterv^^ard the reformed religions, which are nearly all living. The religions which will be described in the following pages, from Chapters V. to X., are dead original religions ; those in Chapters XI. to XIX. are living original religions ; and those in Chapters XX. to XXXVI., are living reformed religions. It is proper that these terms, as they are in- tended to be used here should be quite clearly defined. DEAD RELIGIONS AND LIVING RELIGIONS. Many religions still exist but some are extinct. We speak of languages as dead or living ; the ancient Greek THE SUBJECT IN A NUTSHELL. jg and the Latin, which are no longer spoken, are called dead. The French, German or English, which are in common use to-day, are called living. Though these dead languages are no longer spoken, words and phrases which are derived from them still survive in the living languages. Indeed some of the living languages are built up out of these dead languages. Just so in religions, there are worships which have no followers to-day; there are ruins of their temples and idols, and portions of their sacred books remaining to us. The accounts which ancient historians have preserved for us of their worships, the ruins of their temples, their majestic monuments and inscriptions, and their sacred books which have of late years been translated into our language, enable us to learn very minutely of many of these worships. Of the living religions, we have but to study the narratives of travelers and of those scholars who have taken special pains to study and explain the sacred books, rites, le- gends and customs of the people following these faiths. ORIGINAL RELIGIONS AND REFORMED RELIGIONS. By original religions we mean to denote those which are, or were, the religions of the earliest inhabitants of the various countries, and which are but little changed in the course of time. By reformed religions we mean such as at some later day have branched off from the earlier religions. These reforms are always begun by some great man, who, seeing or imagining error in the old system, undertakes to correct it, and before he is hardly aware of it, establishes a new faith. Thus Zoroaster re- belled against the impure worship of the corrupt religion of his country and founded Parseeism ; thus Confucius gathered together some of the traditions and sayings of the ancient Chinese writers added to them a great many go IDOL WORSHIP OF THE WORLD. teachings of his own and founded Confucianism ; thus Gautama, the Buddha, convinced of the inabihty of the ancient Hindu faith to help the world's sorrow or to heal its wounds, founded Buddhism ; and thus Mohammed felt himself called of God to wage a war against idolatry, and so he founded the Moslem faith. Further, we shall take up these religions in each class as far as possible, in the order of time, taking the oldest first and the youngest last. DEAD RELIGIONS. The gods of the Egyptians, Assyrians, Jews, Greeks, Ro- mans and Britons (including all other peoples of Western Europe), are no longer worshiped. They sank into ne- glect from various causes. Some fell by a natural decay; there was not enouo;h in them to enable them to retain their hold upon their worshipers as foreign religions were introduced. Some of the peoples holding these faiths lost their distinctively national existence and their faith faded out along with their national life. Stronger races of strange peoples swept over their lands, driving them out or subduing them. The conqueror's customs and religious worship then took the place of those of the con- quered people. Another cause of the death of certain religions, and a more frequent cause, has been the coming in of a better system. In this way the Egyptian religion gave place to the Christian, and that in turn (in Egypt) to the Moham- medan, The false gods of the Greeks, Romans, Britons and other nations v/ere forgotten in the coming of the religion of Jesus Christ. Mrs. Browning's beautiful poem, "The Dead Pan," is based on a tradition mentioned by Plutarch, according to which, at the hour of the Saviour's agony a cry of "Great Pan is dead!" swept THE SUBJECT IN A NUTSHELL. g j across the waves in the hearing of some sailors, and im- mediately the oracles ceased. She writes: ' ' Gods of Hellas, Gods of Hellas, Can ye listen in your silence? Can your mystic voices tell us Where ye hide ? In floating islands, With a wind that evermore Keeps you out of sight of shore ? Pan, Pan is dead. "And that dismal cry rose slowly And sank slowly through the air, Full of spirit's melancholy And eternity's despair ! And they heard the words it said — Pan is dead — Great Pan is dead — Pan, Pan is dead. "'Twas the hour when One in Sion Hung for love's sake on a cross ; When His brow was chill with dying, And His soul was faint with loss ; When His priestly blood dropped downward, And His kingly eyes looked throneward — • Then, Pan was dead. "By the love He stood alone in, His sole Godhead rose complete, And the false gods fell down moaning. Each from off his golden seat ; All the false gods with a cry Rendered up their deity — Pan, Pan was dead." The Greek and Roman faith and the worships of West- ern Europe have all yielded to the advancing Christian army. The process of tearing down and building up is still C^oins;- on. Parseeism and the American Indians' relii^ion are dying, because the people who belong to these nations are dying out. Mohammedanism is making great inroads g2 IDOL WORSHIP OF THE WORLD. on the Fetich-worship of Africa. Buddhism is lessening the respect for Confucius and Lao-Tsze in China, and is gaining ground on Shintoism in Japan. Christianity is, in ahnost every land, lessening the hold of heathen religions upon their followers and is slowly leavening the whole world, as the facts and figures prove. Before the bright light of the Sun of Righteousness the dark night of error and superstition is fleeing away, LIVING WORSHIPS. The first group, that of original faiths, will include the religions of Hinduism, Shintoism, of Africa, America, Oceanica, and of the Karens of Burmah. The next group, that of the living reformed religions, will include Parseeism, Taoism, Confucianism, Buddhism and Mo- hammedanism. This last is not, strictly speaking, a sys- tem of idolatry, and therefore we do not give it an ex- tended notice ; yet, as it exists as a fierce opponent of idolatry, and properly has a part in the history of idola- try, we cannot pass it by altogether, but shall give it such attention as is consistent. The sicrns of these times, as well as the sio^ns of the gone-by ages, shows that the world is moving back to its first worship of one God. As an opponent of idolatry and as a great missionary system, Christianity is likely to do this great work of bringing the world back to its first faith. So we propose, briefiy, after showing the contrasts between the Christian religion and the idolatrous wor- ships, to refer to the present attitude of the Christian system in its work among existing heathen nations. This will involve a view of the great battle-field of the world, and of the forces fighting for and against the true worship of the one God. To this true worship the world is slowly but surely tending. THE SUBJECT IN A NUTSHELL. g^ THE PROPOSED TREATMENT. Heathen religions have often been described as they are found in their sacred books or in the teachings of their founders. This is not as it should be. They should be studied from these sources, but not from these only. These show the religions, not as they are, but as they were intended to be. The test of time which has been applied to them, their after-growth and their effect upon their followers should be carefully studied. It not seldom happens that the religion as its founder taught it, and the religion of later days which was built up on his teach- ings are very different. Take Buddhism for an example. How widely different is the Buddhism of Burmah from that established by Gautama ! What vast changes has the system undergone during the centuries that have passed since Gautama's death ! Or take Mohammedan- ism, which was, as Mohammed taught, a crusade against the idolatrous reverence for relics, images, sacred places and sacred things generally. To-day, in one of the most famous of Mohammedan mosques — that at Delhi, India — a hair from Mohammed' s beard, a part of his garments and his sandals, are exhibited to the devout worshipers in the mosque. The Brahminism of the Vedas, the sacred Hindu books, differs greatly from the Hindu worship of to-day with its myriads of idols and its great system of caste. The same religion often differs in different lands. The Buddhism of Ceylon and the Buddhism of Burmah and Siam are different, and they together (often called by way of distinction. Southern Buddhism), differ very greatly from the Buddhism of China and Japan (called Northern Buddhism). The same religion has a still dif- ferent form in Thibet. it is a part of our plan to look into these religions 84 IDOL WORSHIP OF THE WORLD. as they existed in their beginnings and in their growths, and so to present a complete picture. The hfe of a reiio-ion is not to be found in its sacred books only, but in the life, worship and habits of thought of its followers. From the idols, temples, worship, festivals and religious customs of the every-day life of the house- hold or business circles, we can gain a yet more per- fect picture. The traditions, legends and superstitious practices of the people generally contain those facts which are most widely accepted. The folk-lore, fireside stories, children's tales, the myths and songs of any people contain the principal ideas of their religion. Thus we propose to try to present as perfect a picture as possible of the various heathen religions of the past and present, and we trust the effort may succeed. A CONCISE VIEW. Let us take a glimpse of the roads over which we shall now travel. Heretofore we have followed but one wide road. From this other roads begin to branch off, and by-roads in turn occasionally. It will not be difficult to follow these paths, however, if at the outset we place ourselves where we can take a bird's-eye view of the whole and pursue our way steadily to the end. PARSEEISM. For some time after the confusion of tongues the na- tions remained in the vicinity of the tower of Babel. Then they began to disperse, all but one nation. This one journeyed only a short distance to the south and founded the empires of Assyria and Babylon, the Persia of later days. Here we find traces of that idolatrous worship which soon passed into Parseeism. Zoroaster was the man who was instrumental in reforming the ancient THE SUBJECT IJ\' A iWTSHELL. gi- Assyrian religion. Zoroaster retained the worship of the sun and of fire, and taught that there were two gods, a good god and an evil god, Ormuzd and Ahriman. There are only a few Parsees left to-day and the old Assyrian religion is entirely extinguished. AFRICAN RELIGION. The nations who passed south-west across Northern Arabia and Sinai, finally came to Africa. In Egypt we find relics of a very high civilization, and they seem to indicate that one of the greatest of the nations of the earth settled there. Their worship was of the sun, moon and stars and of animals. The River Nile, upon which their very life" depended, was soon received as an object of worship. Some part of those who came to Egypt wandered up the Nile and passed south and west to Central Africa. Here they were brought in contact with nature in its wildest forms. There was little need of tilling the soil for crops, as nature produced of herself so abundantly in this tropical climate. The heated at- mosphere did away with the necessity either of substan- tial dwellings or of more than a little clothing. Hence the nations had little to do, and as the old proverb says, " Satan finds mischief for idle hands to do," he soon, evidently, set these nations to occupy their time in quar- reling among themselves. Thus the most brutal habits were brouorht about and the traces of their original nobility and civilization were rapidly destroyed. Theirs was a quick degeneration. Together with their civiliza- tion their religion decayed, until they were left with a re- ligion hardly worth the name, and were little above the apes and gorillas inhabiting the wild woods about them. But they could never become wholly animalized, they always retain s{~>me traces of their religious faith. 86 IDOL IVOR SHIP OF THE WORLD. WESTERN EUROPE. The nations who passed north-west entered Germany and soon scattered over Norway and Sweden and F" ranee, and finally across the channel to the British Isles. Among- these peoples, the Teutons, Celts, Scandinavians and Gauls, the early nature-worship was long preserved. Indeed traces of it are found even at the time of the birth of Christ. The coldness of their climate, the severity of the storms gradually developed them into a hardy race and finally led them to introduce changes into their religious faith corresponding to their surroundings. Their myths, legends and songs, as well as their more directly religious worship, partook largely of the heroic element. Christianity early overspread these lands and the early religions died out as Christianity grew. THE SOUTHERN MIGRATION. One of the strongest of existing religions is found in the Brahminism of India. This is the religion of the people who moved south-east till they came to the Indus River. They settled along its banks until they were well- established in their habits of life and relioious faith, and then some of them wandered away to the East, till they came to the River Ganges, and settled in its valley. Others wandered south, and soon the whole of India was occu- pied. These people kept up communications with one another and preserved one language, though this was modified in different parts of the country. Their religion retained most of its features in common amonof them all. Early in their history other Vedas. or sacred books, were written in addition to the Rig- Veda or book of hymns to the gods. Other sacred books were added to these, called Brahmanas and the laws of Manu. Their gods THE SUBJECT IX A NUTSHELL. gy were multiplied, temples and shrines were built. The larger rivers were believed to be holy, and were, together with the crocodiles dwelling in them, worshiped. From India people wandered overland or across the Indian Ocean to Burmah and Siam, and thence to the Malay Archipelago, and from there to the Pacific Isles and America. These migrations (or wanderings) oc- curred before the Hindu religion was developed. The peoples who thus strayed away, carried with them the early worship of nature. We find this still among many of the savage tribes of North and South America and of the Pacific Isles. These tribes gradually became savage in the same way as the African tribes. They possess tradi- tions of an early civilization. BUDDHISM. In India in the fifth century before Christ, the Hindu religion had become a very poor religion indeed. It was at that time a mere system of priestcraft. The nation groaned under the burdens which the priests placed upon them. Then a man was raised up to reform this religion. Sakya-Muni was born in the middle of the century ; after attempting to find in the Hindu religion that help which the people needed, he cast it all aside and struck out for himselfa new line of reasoning. He called himself the Bud- dha, that is, the " Enlightened One." Soon his teachings were accepted in all India, going as far as Ceylon even. But in India the priests soon triumphed over the new faith and Buddhism was expelled and Brahminism te- established. Excepting the Jains, a Buddhist sect in Western India, there are now no Buddhists in India proper. In Ceylon it still remains. Buddha taught his disciples to preach his teachings everywhere. So they went to Burmah (from Ceylon) not long after Buddha's gg IDOL WORSHIP OF THE WORLD. death. From there it spread East to Siam, and North- east up the Irrawady River along the route that the Chinese traders were accustomed to pass over. From China it entered Japan. The Tripitakas, or "Three Baskets," as they are designated, are the sacred books of the Buddhists. china's religions. The Chinese legends say that Noah was their first em- peror. Whether this be true or not, we know that China, like Egypt, was early settled and possessed a high civilization. The nations moved from Persia in the West until they came to the great Hoang Ho River; along its banks, and to the north and south of it, they settled. Of their early religion we know but little. The great sage Confucius (or Kong the teacher), was born somewhere about 551 before Christ. He was a states- man reformer. le was not a priest, nor even noted for piety. But he gathered together the sayings of the an- cients, and weaving in with them his own wisdom, he produced the system now known as Confucianism. The books containinor his teachinos, and those of his immedi- ate disciples, are called the King. A little iDefore Confucius, lived Lao-Tsze, a philosopher and astrolocjer, who did somethino- toward re-establish- ing the old religion, and who also added new teachings. His weird system is called Taoism, and its sacred books are the Tao-Te-King. Buddhism in China has taken in with Buddha's teachings the doctrines and gods of Con- fucius and Lao-Tsze. SHINTOISM IN JAPAN. The early inhabitants of Japan are supposed to be the Ainos a race now almost extinguished. The few that THE SUBJECT IN A NUTSHELL. gg are left live in Yezo, the northernmost island of Japan. Many* sailors from the islands of the Malayan Archipel- acro were washed upon the shores of Japan and soon mixed in with the Ainos. They gradually became stronger and stronger and, finally, the children of the mixed races conquered the entire land. The Japanese retained their early nature-worship, which is called Shinto, or Kami-no-michi, the "way of the gods,*' until Bud- dhism came in to disturb its hold upon the people's hearts. Buddhism entered Japan in 552 after Christ. MOHAMMEDANISM. About five hundred years after Christianity was estab- lished, it had degenerated in most parts of Arabia and Syria into a system for the worship of saints and relics. The people of Arabia were given from the earliest times to idolatry. Mohammed was born 570 A. D. He built upon the ruins of Judaism, Christianity and the Arabian idolatrous worship, the system called Mohammedanism. His motto was (and it contains the sum and substance of his teachings) "There is no God but God, and Mo- hammed is his prophet." He began a vigorous crusade against idols and relic-worship. At first he sought to extend his system by teaching only, afterwards he used the sword. From Arabia his religion spread to Turkey, to India, to Egypt and Africa, and even to China. Christianity's conquests. Christianity is the religion for the world. It is in- finitely superior to all religions of either past or present. It was intended to be the world-religion. Its founder, Jesus Christ, designed that it should be spread over the whole world, and gave His disciples their marching- orders before He left them at His ascension. They were QQ IDOL WORSHIP OF THE WORLD. bidden to go into all the world and preach His gospel to every creature. They were assured of His assistance and of final success. Without any of the power of pomp or wealth, or wisdom, or numbers, the little band undertook to obey their orders. They have spread from land to land, until their camp-fires have been kindled almost all around the globe. Their triumphs have been gained by the powers of persuasion. Their past history is grand, their present outlook glorious, and their future prospects full of assurance. Now let us take up more in detail these various sys- tems. Retracing the roads we have hurried over let us start afresh and proceed more leisurely to study the re- ligious life of mankind, and especially as it is associated with False Gods and Idols, BUDHmSTS. 500,000,000. CMISTIMS. 327,000,000. Of which Roman Catholics have 152,000,000; Greek Church, 75,000,000; Other Christians, 100,000,000. Including the Chinese, who are also Confucianists and Taoists, as well as Buddhists. Found all over the world. TTTIDOOS. 1 60,000,000. Found in India, Ceylon, Burmah, Siam, Thibet, Chi- na, and Japan. Found only in India. JE'WS, 7,000,000. lOHlllJiIDAM 155,000,000. Found in Arabia, Tur- key, Egypt, India, China, and Persia. Shintoists, Parsees, etc., 3,000,000. Feticliisls, or Devil WorsMpers. 100,000,000. These include the Amer- ican Indians, African races, and Pacific Islanders. Comparative Exhibit of the Number of Followers of the Leading Systems of Religious Faith. THE LAXD OF THE SPHINX. 93 CHAPTER V. THE LAND OF THE SPHINX. I have come to Egypt to learn something of the wisdom of the Egyptians. Tell me, then, ye tombs, and temples, and pyramids, about God ; tell me about the life to come ! But the pyramids speak not; and the Sphinx still looks toward the East, to watch for the rising sun, but is voiceless and mute. This valley of the Nile speaks of nothing but death. From end to end its rock-ribbed hills are filled with tombs. Yet what do they all teach the anxious and troubled heart of man? Nothing! All these hills are silent. — H. M. Field. HERODOTUS, the Greek historian, who visited Egypt about 450 B. C, was struck with the ex- treme attention which the Egyptians paid to reHgion. He says that they were the most rehgious of all mankind. The passing stranger was impress- ed with the pompous ceremonies, the magni- ficent festivals, the im- posing processions and the many gorgeous- ly-robed priests. He found large temples, where the walls were covered with s c u 1 p- tures, paintings and hieroglyphic writings. All Egypt was stamp- ^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^ ed with the impress of religion. Every art and science, and all Hterature were 6 g. IDOL WOK SHIP OF THE WORLD. distinctly connected with religion, and were used in the service of their deities. They surpassed all nations in the reverence they paid to the gods. Their religion was by no means an open one. Like most of the false religions of antiquity, there was a great deal of mystery about it. Even to-day we find among the monuments traces of the great attention which the ancient Egyptians paid to the service and adoration of their gods. HIDDEN HISTORY. Formerly the world was accustomed to speak of Egypt as the "land of ruins;" a better title is now given, the "land of monuments." The reason of the change in the title is that it has been found that its ruins contain the account of the past history of Egypt. Hundreds of years ago travelers came across these great ruins covered over with sculptures and paintings, they found traces of the existence of gigantic structures, they found, in almost perfect preservation, great structures like the pyramids and the sphinx. Here evidently was a treasure-house of information, but where was the key to unlock it? It was like a great pawnbroker's shop, full of rubbish, but also with many articles of value locked up within its walls, but with no key to unlock its doors. It was a land of enigmas, of puzzling problems, of riddles. The traveler turned from object to object with the tone of interroga- tion. Why was this, and this? What was its purpose? How came it here ? What does it all mean ? Evidently these oreat buildinofs were not erected, these mvsterious sculptures carved, these puzzling paintings drawn, merely to amuse a passing fancy. There must be some meaning in them. Scholar after scholar pored over it, beat their brains about it, and gave it up. Century after century passed away and still the mystery remained. There was THE LAND OF THE SPHINX. 95 ROCK TEMPLE OF IBSAMBUL, RESTORED. one key which was found, but to use this key another key was needed. The writing; of the Egyptians yet remained. 96 IDOL WORSHIP OF THE WORLD. Undoubtedly, in their sacred books, and in the inscrip- tions on the monuments or walls of the temples were descriptions of the purpose of the great buildings, full accounts of the past and their lost history of Egypt, and perhaps accounts of arts and science now- lost to the world. A rich reward this, to the scholar who should succeed in unraveling the mystery. THE HIEROGLYPHICS. But what was the character of this writing that it should be so difficult to interpret? The writing was a picture- writing, with characters or syllables added, more puzzling ^ Ml than the most puzzling rebus ® ^ ^T K^\ that ever appeared. The III I I I LV A Greeks, who often visited Egypt, gave the name Hie- 7'oglyphics to this Egyptian writing. The word means 0 /vws/vv %._^ x^ K \^ t-|-jg Greek language // fTT TTTO- a "sacred sculpture." Neither the Greeks nor the Romans, even while they ruled Egypt, ever undertook to learn to ]■-•. read this writino-. It seemed • I ' " to them an unknowable SONG OF THK THRESHERS. ^^^^^^^ ^^^^^ gradually the ancient Egyptian language perished. So the knowledge of the reading of the hieroglyphics passed away entirely. For many centuries every attempt to read It failed, and it remained a hopeless mystery. Finally, about fifty years ago, a Frenchman succeeded in lifting the veil. Jean Francois Champollion (born 1790, died 1832), made this discovery, one of the greatest of the nineteenth century. He showed how the writinc: was to be read. Now the /VVWVW III I I I THE LAND OF THE SPHINX. 97 whole can be read perhaps ahiiost as easily as Greek or Latin, or the Chinese or Burmese languages. Thus was the hidden history brought to light. As specimens of the hieroglyphics, Wilkinson gives the opposite Song of the Threshers to the Oxen. His translation of the lines respectively is as follows: i. "Thresh for yourselves" (twice repeated). 2. "O oxen." 3. "Thresh for yourselves" (twice). 4. "Measures for yourselves." 5. "Measures for your masters." Another specimen of hieroglyphics is added below. HIEROGLYPHICS. 98 IDOL WORSHIP OF THE WORLD. SOME EGYPTIAN GODS. The Egyptian gods are numbered by the hundreds. It is possible for us to refer to but a few here. The ideas of the gods which prevailed here were grafted on the simple nature- worship which the people brought to Egypt from their earlier home. In every part of Egypt two ofreat eods, Isis and Osiris, were worshiped. Isis is the \vite ot Osiris. Ra the sun-god was the greatest of the gods, he was sup- posed to be the representative of the Supreme Being. And yet Osiris was the most popu- lar god. Ra was generally represented as a hawk-headed man, and usu- ally with a solar disk upon his head. Ra was generally wor- shiped in asso- ciation with some other god, as Amen- Ra, Num-Ra, ect. In many sculptures he is represented pasht, the cat-headed god. THE LAND OF THE SPHINX. 99 as carrying- on a constant conflict with the evil. Evil is represented in these conflicts as the great serpent Apap. AtHeliopolis were kept two animals sacred to Ra, the black bull and the phoenix. The phoenix was a bird which the Egyptians regarded as the emblem of immortality ; a bird which never died, but when it was burned, sprang up again, full-grown, from its ashes, ready to renew its activities. Osiris was generally rep- resented as a mummy, wear- ing a royal cap, containing os- trich feathers. Osiris was re- garded as a ofoodbeingrand was in perpetu- al warfare with Set, the evil being. They stand to each other, said the Egyptians, as light and dark- ness, as day and night, as the Nile and the deserts, as Egypt and foreign lands. Osiris is represented in the myths as being vanquished by Set. He is cut in pieces ONE OF THK FORMS OF ISIS. jQQ IDOL WORSHIP OF THE WORLD. and thrown into the water. By and by he revives but does not utterly destroy Set, though he defeats him. This story probably is a picture of the daily life of the sun, contending with the darkness, yet at last yielding to it, and then again after an interval reappearing at the dawn in renewed splendor. Osiris was also a type of strug- gling humanity, suffering now, defeated for a time it may be, yet finally triumphant. This was the reason of his worship being so popular. Osiris was the protector of the dead, and he determined their final condition. It was to Osiris that prayers and offerings for the dead were made, and writings on the tombs were addressed to him. Beside these gods, there were Set the evil god, who was represented with the head of a fabulous animal, having a pointed nose and high square ears. Isis, the wife of Osiris, was represented as a woman, bearing on her head her emblem the throne, or the solar disk and cow's horns. Amon (or Amen) the "hidden," was worshiped at Thebes. Sebek was the croco- dile-headed god. His sacred animal was the crocodile of the Nile River. Thoth was the chief moon-god. He was the god of CROCODILE GOD. letters and learning. Anubis, the jackel-headed was the god worshiped by the mummy- makers. Thus gods were multiplied. ANIMAL WORSHIP. "If you enter a temple," says Clement of Alexandria, "a priest advances with a solemn air, singing a hymn in the Egyptian language ; he raises the veil a litde to let you see the god ; and what then do you see ? A cat, a crocodile, a snake, or some other noxious animal. The THE LAXD OF THE SPHIXX. IqI god of the Egyptian appears. It is but a wild beast, wallowing on a purple carpet !" This language describes the worship of ancient Egypt as we learn from the sculptures on the monuments, as well as it characterizes the worship at the beginning of the Christian era. To exhibit in some symbol their ideas of their gods was the very essence of Egyptian religion. This brought about the grossest of superstitious worship. To set forth in symbol the attributes, qualities and nature of their gods, the priests chose to use animals. The bull, cow, ram, cat, ape, crocodile, hippo- potamus, hawk, ibis, scarabseus, were all *=f emblems of the gods. Often the head scarab^us. of one of these animals was joined to the body of a man in the sculpture. But let it be remembered, that the Egyp- tians never worshiped images or idols. They worsJiiped living representations of the gods and not lifeless images of stone or metal. Their sculptures were never made for worship. They chose animals which corresponded as nearly as possible to their ideas of the gods. Each of these sacred creatures was carefully tended, fed, washed, dressed, nursed wdien sick, and petted during its whole life. After death its body was embalmed. Certain cities were set apart for certain animals, and apartments of the temples were consecrated to their use. Priests were appointed to attend them. Not every animal of every kind was worshiped, only a few of each sacred kind were considered as sacred. A few of the whole number were supported at the expense of the state, and were attended by great personages. Certain animals were worshiped in parts of Egypt and detested in other parts. Thus the hippopotamus was worshiped in Papsemis alone ; while the Thebans worshiped the crocodile ; in other places thev were hunted to death. I02 IDOL WORSHIP OF THE WORLD. Popularly these animals were regarded as gods, and were really worshiped. By the priests they were re- garded simply as the representatives of the gods. If a man killed certain of the sacred animals, by the laws of Egypt he must die ; if, however, in regard to some of them, the killing was accidental, then he might escape by paying a heavy fine. A Roman soldier once killed a sacred cat, accidentally. In spite of the fear of Rome and the interference of the King of Egypt, the enraged mob instantly killed the soldier. The story is told, that King Cambyses, when he invaded Egypt, caught a number of sacred animals, and placed them before his army. The Egy^ptians offered them no resistance, but fled away, afraid to fight lest they should injure the sacred animals. Three animals were regarded as not representations merely, but incarnations of gods ; these were the bull Mnevis, the goat of Mendes and the bull Apis. Apis was said to be born of a cow, yet also born of heaven. He was to be black, with a white triangle on his forehead, a mark like a half-moon on his back, and a mark like a scarabaeus under his tongue. When Apis died, all Egypt mourned. As soon as a new Apis was found, the Egyp- tians donned their best clothing and made great rejoicings. The dead Apis was embalmed and received further wor- ship. Apis was wrongly supposed to be the god whom the Israelites imitated in their worship of the golden calf. MUMjSIIES. The Egyptians held it as a central feature of their faith, that "man was not made to die," that we were to live a future life, that death does not end all. Many heathen nations believed that the body, the flesh, was an evil thing, the seat of all base passions ; not so the THE LAND OF THE SPHINX. lo- SHROUDING OF THE DEAD. Egyptians, The greatest event in a man's life happened after Ms death (to speak in apparent paradoxes). His funeral, and the arrangements for it, surpassed all other occasions of his lite in their elaborateness. The period of mourning lasted seventy-two days. Perhaps during all this time, the process of embalming was going on by the use of peculiar pre- parations which were forced through his veins as the blood was withdrawn, and by wrapping the body in linen bands containing sub- stances which prevented the flesh from decaying. The outermost bandage was covered with a kind of paste- board, which represented the de- ceased as a w^orkman in the Happy Fields, carrying the tools of husbandry. This is commonly called the mummy. Before the wrapping in the linen bandages began, the body had been steeped in a liquid called natron (carbonate of soda). Herodotus presents a very full description of the process of embalming. There is no doubt but that all this was done as a preparation for the return of the soul to the body in a future world. The mummy was inclosed i.i a coffin of wood, and this again, if the person's friends were rich, in a stone sarcophagus or coffin. The coffin was placed on a sledge drawn by oxen or men, taken to the MUMMY CASE. 104 IDOL WORSHIP OF HIE WORLD. river or lake-side and ferried over to the burial-place on the sacred boats. The coffin was deposited in the tomb, and prayers were said, and offerings given in the chapel above the tomb. Offerings to Osiris were made during an entire year by the family. THE CELEBRATED BOOK OF THE DEAD. Among many books which the Egyptians once pos- sessed, one still remains in its entirety. It is somewhat confusing in its style, and yet it is in the main to be understood. A copy of this Funeral Liturgy or Book of the Dead was 6 placed in every mummy's coffin. We give a very full abstract of it, because of its unusual importance in the religious history of the world. The Funeral Ritual is opened with a dialogue taking place at the very moment of death, when the soul separates from the body. The deceased, addressing the deity of Hades, enumerates all his titles to his favor, and asks for admittance into his do- minions. The chorus of glorified souls interposes, as in the Greek tragedy, and supports the prayer of the deceased. The priest on earth in his turn speaks, and implores also the divine clemency. Finally Osiris, the eod of the lower reo^ions, answers the deceased, "Fear FORMS OF MUMMY CASES. I, 2, 3, 4. Of wood. 5, 6, 7, 8. Of stone, p. Of wood and of early time — before the iSth dynasty, lo. Of burnt earthenware. THE LAXD CF THE SPHINX. 105 nothing in making thy prayer to me for the immortahty of thy soul, and that I may give permission for thee to pass the threshold." Reassured by the divine word, the soul of the deceased enters Kar-Neter, the land of the dead, and recommences his invocations. After this grand commencement, which we have epito- mized, come many short chapters, much less important, relative also to the dead and to the preliminary ceremo- nies of his funeral. When at last the soul of the deceased has passed the gates of Kar-Neter, he penetrates into that subterranean region, and at his entry is dazzled by the glory of the sun, which he now for the first time sees in. this lower hemisphere. He sings a hymn to the sun under the form of mixed litanies and invocations. After this hymn, a great vignette, representing the adoration and glorification of the sun in the heavens, on earth and in Hades, marks the end of the first part of the Ritual, serving as a sort of introduction. The second part traces the journeys and migrations of the soul in the lower region. Next come a series of prayers to be pronounced during the process of embalming, while the body is being rolled in its wrappers'. These invocations are addressed to Thoth, the Egyptian Hermes, who, as among the Greeks, played the part of Psychopompe, or conductor of souls. They are of the highest interest, for in each allusion is made to the grand myth of Osiris and his contest with Typhon, of which Plutarch and Synesius have given us the most recent versions. The deceased, addressing the god, asks him to render to him. again the service he once rendered on that solemn occasion to Osiris and his son Horus, "avenger of his father." The body once wrapped in its coverings, and the soul well provided with a store of necessary knowledge, the deceased commences his journey. But he is still unable ^ IDOL WORSHIP OF THE WORLD. to move, he has not yet the use of his hmbs ; it is neces- sary to address the gods, who successively restore all the faculties he had during his life, so that he can stand up- right, walk, speak, eat and fight. Thus prepared, he starts ; he holds his scarabaeus over his heart as a pass- port, and thus passes the portal of Hades. From the first step, terrible obstacles present them- selves in his way. Frightful monsters, servants of Typhon, crocodiles on land and in the water, serpents of all kinds, tortoises and other reptiles, assail the deceased and attempt to devour him. Then commences a series of combats. The deceased and the animals against which he contends mutually address insuldng speeches to each other, after the fashion of Homer's heroes. Finally, the "Osiris" (the name applied to all the de- ceased) has conquered all his enemies ; he has subdued the Typhonic monsters, and forced a passage, and, elated by his victory, sings on the spot a song of triumph, likening him- self to all the orods, whose members are made those of his own body. " My hair is like that of Nu (the firmament) ; my face is like that of Ra (the sun) ; my eyes like those of Athor (the Egyptian Venus) ;" and so on for every part of his body. He has even the strength of Set, that is, of Typhon, for the strife between the good and evil prin- ciple is but in appearance ; in reality they are one and the same, and equally receive the adorations of the initiated. After such labors the deceased needs rest ; he stays for a time to recruit his strength and to satisfy his hun- ger. He has escaped great dangers, and has not gone astray in the desert where he would have died of hunger and thirst. From the tree of life the goddess Nu gives him refreshing- waters, which invicforate him and enable him to recommence his journey in order to reach the first gate of heaven. THE LAXD OF THE SPHINX. 107 Then commences a dialog-ue between the deceased and the personification of the divine Light, who instructs him. This dialogue pre- sents some most remarkable resem- blances to the dialogue prefixed to the books given by the Alexandrian Greeks as transla- tions of the ancient WTitines of Egypt, between Thoth and the Light, in which the latter explains to Thoth the most sublime mysteries of nature. This portion is certainly one of the best and grandest of the Ritual, and may almost be classed with the invoca- tions to the sun at the close of the first part. The deceased, having passed the gate, continues to advance,guided by Egyptian priestess. this new Light, to whom he addresses his invocations. He then enters upon a series of transformations, more jQg IDOL WORSHIP OF THE WORLD. and more elevated, assuming the form of and identifying himself with the noblest divine symbols. He is changed successively into a hawk, an angel or divine messenger ; into a lotus ; into the god Ptah ; into a heron ; into a crane; into a human-headed bird, the usual emblem of a soul; into a swallow; into a serpent, and into a crocodile. Up to this time the soul of the deceased has been making its journeys alone ; it has been merely a sort of image ; a mere shade, with the appearance of that body now stretched on the bier. After these transformations the soul becomes reunited to its body, which is needed for the rest of the journey. It was on this account that careful embalming was so important ; it was necessary that the soul should find the body perfect and well-pre- served. "Oh," cries the body, "that in the dwelling of the master of life I may be reunited to my glorified soul, do not order the guardians of heaven to destroy me, so as to send away my soul from my corpse, and hinder the eye of Horus, who is with thee, from preparing my way." The deceased traverses the dwelling of Thoth, who gives him a book containing instructions for the rest of his way, and fresh lessons of the knowledge he is soon to require. He arrives on the banks of the subterranean river separating him from the Elysian Fields, but there a new danger awaits him. A false boatman, the envoy of the Typhonic powers, lays wait for him on his way, and endeavors by deceitful words to get him into his boat, so as to mislead him and take him to the east instead of to the west, his true destination, and where he ought to land, and rejoin the sun of the lower world. The deceased again escapes this new danger; he unmasks the perfidy of the false boatman, and drives him away, overwhelming him with reproaches. He at last meets the right boat to- THE LAND OF THE SPHLXX. jqq conduct him to his destination. But before crettine into it, it is necessary to ascertain if he is really capable of making the voyage, if he possesses a sufficient amount of the knowledge necessary to his safety. The divine boatman therefore makes him undergo an examination, a preliminary initiation, seemingly corresponding to the lesser Eleusinian mysteries. The deceased passes the examination ; each part of the boat then seems succes- sively to become animated, and to demand of him its name, and the mystical meaning of the name. The stake for anchoring the boat. Tell me my name ! "The Lord of the earth in thy case," is thy name. The rudder. Tell me my name ! " The enemy of Apis," is thy name. The rope. Tell me my name! "The hair with which Anubis binds up the folds of the wrappers," is thy name ; and so on for twenty-three questions and answers. After having thus victoriously passed through this trial, the deceased embarks, traverses the subterranean river, and lands on the other bank, when he soon arrives at the Elysian Fields in the valley of Avura, or Balot, the posi- tion of which the ritual gives in these terms, "The valley of Balot (abundance), at the east of heaven, is 370 cubits long, and 140 cubits broad. There is a crocodile lord of Balot in the east of that valley in his divine dwelling above the inclosure. There is a serpent at the head of that valley, thirty cubits long, his body six cubits round. In the south is the lake of sacred principles (Sharu) ; the north is formed by the lake of Primordial Matter (Rubu)." A large picture here shows us this valley, a real subter- ranean Egypt, intersected by canals, where we see the "Osiris" occupied in all the operations of agriculture ; preparing the ground, sowing and reaping in the divine fields an ample provision of that bread of knowledge he is now to find more necessary than ever. He has, in fact, J jQ IDOL WORSHIP OF THE WO RID. arrived at the end of his journey; he has before him only the last, but also the most terrible of all his trials. Conducted by Anubis he traverses the labyrinth, and by the aid of the clew, guiding them through its windings, at last penetrates to the judgment-hall, where Osiris awaits him, seated on his throne, and assisted by forty-two ter- rible assessors. There the decisive sentence is to be pronounced, either admitting the deceased to happiness or excluding him forever. Then commences a new inter- rogatory, much more solemn than the former. The deceased is obliged to give proof of his knowledge ; he must show that it is great enough to give him the right to be admitted to share the lot of glorified spirits. Each of the forty-two judges, bearing a mystical name, ques- tions him in turn ; he is obliged to tell each one his name, and what it means. Nor is this all ; he is obliged to give an account of his whole life. 'T have not blasphemed," says the deceased; "I have not stolen; I have not smitten men privily; I have not treated any person with cruelty; I have not stirred up trouble; I have not been idle; I have not been intoxi- cated; I have not made unjust commandments; I have shown no improper curiosity; I have not allowed my mouth to tell secrets; I have not wounded anyone; I have not let envy gnaw my heart; I have spoken evil neither of the king, nor my father; I have not falsely ac- cused any one ; I have not withheld milk from the mouths of sucklings; I have not practiced any shameful crime; I have not calumniated a slave to his master." The deceased does not confine himself to denying any ill conduct; he speaks of the good he has done in his lifetime. 'T have made to ^ the gods the offerings that were their due. I have given food to the hungry, drink to the thirsty, and clothes to the naked." We may well THE LAXD OF THE SPHIXX. j j j on reading these passages be astounded at this high morality, superior to that of aU other ancient people, that the Egyptians had been able to build up on such a foun- dation as their religion. Without doubt it was this clear insight into truth, this tenderness of conscience, which obtained for the Egyptians the reputation for wisdom, echoed even by Holy Scripture. Besides these general precepts, the apology acquaints us with some police regulations for public order, raised by common interest in Egypt to the rank of conscientious duties. Thus the deceased denies ever having intercepted the irrigating canals, or -having prevented the distribution of the waters of the river over the country; he declares that he has never damaged the stones for mooring vessels on the river. Crimes against religion are also mentioned; some seem very strange to us, especially when we find them classed with really moral faults. The deceased has never altered the prayers or interpolated them. He has never touched any of the sacred property, such as flocks and herds, or fished for the sacred fish in the lakes of the temples ; he has not stolen offerings from the altar, nor defiled the sacred waters of the Nile. The Osiris is now fully satisfied; his heart has been weighed in the balance with truth, and not been found wanting; the forty-two assessors have pronounced that he possesses the necessary knowledge. The great Osiris pronounces his sentence, and Thoth, as recorder to the tribunal, having inscribed it in his book, the deceased at last enters into bliss. Here commences the third part of the Ritual, more mystical and obscure than the others. We see the Osiris, henceforth identified with the sun, traversing with him, and as him, the various houses of heaven, and the lake of fire, the source of all licrht. Afterwards the Ritual 1 12 IDOL WORSHIP OF THE WORLD. rises to a higher poetical flight, even contemplating the identification of the deceased with a symbolical figure comprising all the attributes of the deities of the Egyp- tian Pantheon. This representation ends the work. EGYPTIAN WORSHIP. The gods of Egypt were worshiped in temples and tombs. Every town had at least one temple. The ser- vices were conducted by the priests, and on special occa- sions the king and scribes joined. The common people had but litde to do with the worship. The most important AVENUE OF SPHINXES LEADING TO A TEMPLE. worship took place in the innermost chambers, where only the priests were at all permitted to go. The sacrifices were of animals and vegetables with the pouring out of wine and the burning of incense. The temples were gigantic structures grouped together. They were generally approached by avenues of sphinxes. The great temples are almost all found in Upper Egypt, Avhile the pyramids are in Lower Egypt. The inhabitants of Egypt were once the greatest nation of earth, and they built temples corresponding to their greatness. HIE LAND 01- THE SPHINX. I I GATEWAY OF THE ANCIENT EGYPTIAN TEMPLE OF KARNAK. Thebes, in Upper Egypt, was once a greater city than Babylon, or Rome, or London. It was built on both sides of the River Nile. To it all the surroundine na- 114 IDOL WORSHIP OF THE WORLD. tions flocked. The temples of Thebes have, in magniti- cent o-randeur and majestic beauty, probably never been surpassed in any later age. Of these temples, Luxor and Karnak were the greatest. Between these two stretched an avenue of 140 gigantic columns, each twelve feet in diameter, their massive sides covered with sculptures. The columns were so great ^ that we cannot understand ^ how they could be cut out of the quarries and brought the 140 miles that they must pass over to get to Thebes. Karnak was the work of generations. It was 2,500 years in building. t^^ Abraham must have seen ^•^ Karnak when he journeyed lk\^ tT- to Egypt. Moses must I have been familiar with its _ courts. The messengers of Israel, who in after ages V souo^ht alliance with power- - ^^ '%. ^^- f'^1 Egypt, must have looked upon its columns and walls. „- Karnak was a cluster of temples. The central one was 1 , 1 08 feet long and 300 feet broad. The circuit of its walls, says a Roman historian who saw it in all its glory, was a mile and a half. Near Thebes are the statues of Memnon, which were said to sing when the rays of the rising sun touched their lips. Possibly the breeze of the early morning struck upon some concealed musical contrivance in the statue and produced the sound. THE SINGING MEMNON. I LAND OF THE SPHINX. 117 The most imposing monuments of Egypt are the pyramids of El Gizeh. The largest of these Is the pyr- ii8 IDOL WORSHIP OF THE IVOKLD. amid of Cheops. This is 4S0 feet high, and contains more than ten milhons of cubic yards of stone. The pyramid Is so placed that its four sides exactly face the four points of the compass. The pyramids were probably great tombs. At the foot of the pyramids is the great Sphinx. This is a monument of a man-headed lion, nearly ninety feet long and seventy-four feet high. Its face is twenty-six feet long. It is carved out of solid rock. This great Sphinx is said to be the image of the god Har-ma-chu, the setting sun. Between the two front paws of the Sphinx was placed a small chapel, consecrated to the god. As. Ampere says: "This huge, mutilated ficrure has an astonishing effect; it seems like an eternal spectre. The stone phantom seems attentive ; one would say that it hears and sees. Its great ear appears to collect the sounds of the past; its eye, directed to the east, gazes as it were into the future; its aspect has a depth, a truth of expression, irresistibly fascinating to the spectator. In this figure, half statue, half mountain, we see a wonderful majesty, a grand serenity, and even a sort of sweetness of expression." There was much of majestic beauty about the Egyptian religion and worship, but there was mixed with It a mass of debasing superstition. When King Cambyses of Persia conquered Egypt, and the supremacy of the world passed out of Egypt's hands, the downfall of its religion com- menced. The religion of the conquerors was mingled with their own. After some hundreds of years, Chris- tianity was spread over all north Africa and up the Nile. Then in the year 639, after Christ, Mohammedanism con- quered Egypt. This religion continues to predominate in Egypt. RELIGION OF THE CHALDEANS. 119 CHAPTER VI. RELIGION OF THE CHALDEANS.* At that time the heaven above was unnamed, In the earth beneath a name was unrecorded; Chaos, too, was unopened around them. By name the mother Tihamtu, [the Deep] was the begetter of them all. Their waters in one place were not embosomed, and The fruitful herb was uncollected, the marsh-plant ungrown. At that time the gods [stars] were not made to go; none of them by name were recorded; order was not among them. Then were made the great gods; and these Lakhmu and Lakhamu caused to go; until they were grown they nurtured them. The gods Assur and Kissar were made by their hands, A length of days, a long time passed, and the gods Anu, Bel and Hea were created ; the gods Assur and Kissar begat them. From the Chaldean (Cuneiform) Creation Tablets. IN the Tigro-Euphrates Valley, or basin, as it is called, the commencement of the history of man is placed. "And it came to pass that as they journeyed from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar: and they dwelt there." Here was great Babel built, and here occurred the confusion of tongues, and from here the nations were scattered over all the world. After this scattering to east, west and south, there was left a large body of people of different nations, in Chaldea. The great monuments and inscriptions, which are the only remaining books of early history, tell us of two great * Lenormant, the eminent French scholar of Assyrian antiquities, is our authority for the main part of fhis chapter, and we "have quoted liberally from his writings. J 20 IDOL WORSHIP OF THE WORLD. nations called the Sumir and Accad. Of the descent of these peoples, it can be said with certainty only that there were Hamites among them. The Shemites are the founders of the Assyrian king- ^ dom, the Hamites of the Baby- n Ionian. These and some other ^ scattered tribes of other nations, were worshipers of the heavenly bodies, the sun, moon and stars. Hence came the extraordinary de- STAR WORSHIPERS. vclopment of astronomy in these lands. Their strange and imperfect civilization had an immense influence over a great part of Asia, for over 1 500 years. The peoples of Chaldea did not at first intermingle with each other, but maintained a separate existence as tribes. Here was, however, the first organized government of the world. " Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth. He was a mighty hunter be- fore the Lord: wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod, the mighty hunter before the Lord. And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Cal- neh, in the land of Shinar. Out of that land went forth Asshur, and builded Nineveh, and the streets of the city, and Calah and Resen, between Nineveh and Calah: the same is a great city." Asshur was of the Semitic race, while Nimrod was a Cushite. These two people lived long together, and this explains how they came to have the same language and civilization In spite of their being of different origin. The four great cities mentioned above gave to their king, the title "king of the four regions," The founding of this great empire occurred only a little later than the beginning of the great Egyp- tian kingdom. We know almost nothing of the history RELIGIOX OF THE CHALDEAXS. I2i of the Chaldean kings who succeeded Nimrod, except that which a few traditions tell us. THE GREAT CHALDEAN HISTORIAN. Berosus was a Chaldean priest who lived in the days of Alexander the Great. He was a very learned man. He translated the history of Babylonia into the Greek lano-uage. His history commences with the creation and is carried down to his own time. He drew from the ancient records of Babylonia, from traditions of the people, and from inscriptions on the monuments. We have already referred to the traditions of the creation and deluge which he preserved. About 2400 B. C, accord- ing to Berosus, the Medes conquered Babylonia. Here for the first time we meet with the name of Zoroaster, the founder of Parseeism. The record of Berosus is very much valued because of the ground which it covers. It is wonderfully in agreement with the Bible record. At first his statements were questioned and disputed, but the researches of modern scholars in many respects con- firmed their complete accuracy. RUINED MONUMENTS. The ruins of Chaldea have been as yet but imperfectly explored. The great buildings and monuments have been buried beneath the ground for hundreds of years, and the work of digging them out is a slow one. When we remember that these cities and their buildings were amone the first ever erected, and that Nebuchadnezzar (or Nabukudur-ussur, as Berosus calls him,) and his suc- cessors only repaired and added to these, we can see the value of exhuming them. Stone is very rare in Chaldea, and could be brought only at great expense from a distance. Hence all the buildings of earlier ages 122 IDOL WORSHIP OF THE WORLD. were built of bricks. So we read of the Tower of Babel, that "they had bricks for stone." On each one of these bricks was generally stamped the name of the king who erected the building. The greater part of the early Chaldean inscriptions are found on these bricks. Hero- dotus tells us that the Babylo- nians built with these sun-dried bricks, and with here and there a layer of reed-mattinor ce- BABYLONISH COFFIN AND LID OF GREEN GLAZED POTTERY. mented with bitumen. The outsides of the buildings were covered with burnt or kiln-dried bricks to keep out the rain. More elaborate specimens of their pottery appear in articles for domestic uses, and especially in their coffins. The sacred buildings appear to have been often built in the form of a pyramid, with steps or stages, forming a series of terraces, each smaller than the one beneath it. This is the traditional style of buildings of the Tower of Babel. The same tendency to build high sacred buildings is seen in the pagodas of India, Burmah and China, in the Mohammedan towers, like the Koutub Minar, and the spires of Christian churches. The object at the first seems to have been the orettino- nearer to the heavenly bodies, the object of their worship. On the upper terrace, or platform, appears to have been built in most cases, a small chapel, or square room, richly orna- mented, containing an image of the god of the temple. RELIGION OF THE CHALDEANS. t -> -> Of ancient Babylonian sculptures but few are known to remain. Ot these, one is a small bronze figure of a goddess named Keodormabug, and a broken statu- ette in alabaster of the god Nebo. But a number of small cylinders of stone that were used as seals, and which are covered with enofravino-s or inscriotions, crive us much information of early Chaldean history. The Chal- deans were far advanced in astronomy and in arithmetic, which is indispensable to a knowledge of astronomy. A LIBRARY OF BRICK BOOKS. The Chaldeans had eight sacred books, said to have been written by the god Cannes. No copies of these original books remain. But some of their sayings were copied into the books of later kings. All that remains of the books of ancient Chaldea is that which had been transported to Assyria, where it was found by Layard and later by Smith, in making their excavations at Nine- veh. He found in the ruins of the palace built by King Asshurbanipal, in one of the halls, a library. " This curi- ous library consists entirely of flat, square tablets of baked clay, having on each side a page of very small and closely written cuneiform cursive letters, impressed on the clay while it was still moist. Each tablet was numbered and formed a page of a book composed of a number of such tablets, probably piled one on another in the library." The greater part of these tablets are now in England. This collection was intended for a public library as we see from the following transladon of some of the tablets : "Palace of Asshurbanipal, king of the world, king of Assyria, to whom the god Nebo and the goddess Tash- mit (goddess of wisdom), have given ears to hear and eyes to see what is the foundation of government. They J 24 IDOL WORSHIP OF THE WORLD. have revealed to the kings, my predecessors, this cunei- form writing, the manifestatation of the god Nebo, the god of supreme inteUigence. I have written it upon tablets, I have signed it, I have placed it in my palace for the instruction of my subjects." The cuneiform characters, as they are called, are made up of marks shaped like arrow-heads or wedges. There were enormous difficulties in the way of their interpreta- tion. In Egypt the similar task of making known the meaning of the hieroglyphics was performed in great jryyyy ^ y < i:^ ^1^ (« gf- « t^fT >i- « 1 « ^^ -..-) n T tirt t the connection between Neboand Ao. Nebo also is dis- tinguislied as the " supreme intehigence ;" he is the p-od of prophetic inspiration and of eloquence, and also the special guardian of royal prerogative, the protector of kings and the prototype whom they reproduce on earth. Like Bel, he has on the monuments an entirely human form with the tiara, and the dress of a king; three pairs of horns, ranged one above the other, decorate his tiara, and tour large wings are often attached to his shoulders ; the sceptre also is one of his common attributes. THE GREAT GODDESS ISHTAR. Ishtar reproduces among die planetary gods Anat and Bilit, the great goddess of nature, the mother of all the gods and of all beings ; she is their active and martial form, for she is called "the Goddess of Battles, the Queen of Victories, she who leads armies to the fight and is the judge of warlike exploits ;" but she has a double form uniting two characters, one fierce and sanguinary, the other voluptuous, for under the names of Zarpanit and Nana she presides over the reproduction of beings, and over sensual pleasures ; she is in this last character always represented naked, always full face and with the two hands on the chest. Moreover two Ishtars were always distinguished, that of Arbela (called also Arbail), and that of Nineveh, who presided over the two fortnights of the month. The plural name of this double Ishtar, Ishtaroth, was the origin of the Phoenician Ashtaroth. Nergal, whose image is very uncommon, stands on the legs of a cock, and carries a sword in his hand. The application of the name of Mars to his star was quite natural, for his titles in the inscriptions are "the great hero, the king of fight, the master of battles, champion of the gods," and also "god of the chase." J .-, IDOL U'OKSIIir OF THE WORLD. THE GENII OF ASSYRIA. Such were the great gods of Nineveh and Babylon. Below them popular superstition believed in an immense number of personifications of inferior order, of lesser i:"ods, or rather Q-enii, whom it would be waste of time to enumerate. We must, however, mention some person- ages who are found on the monuments occupying an important position in the Chalda^o-Assyrian pantheon, and who were evidently other forms of the gods already named, but whose position has not as yet been precisely determined. Such is Nisroch, called also Shalman. who *' presides over the course of human destiny," and who is also the protector of marriages ; this is the god with an eaofle's head and larofe wines, whose imao-e is so common on the sculptures of the Assyrian palaces. It was in the temple of this god at Nineveh, that Sennacherib was as- sassinated by his sons. Possibly we ought to consider this god as another form of Oannes. The oreat eods are often all invoked one after the other at the beginning of the solemn inscriptions of the kings of Assyria. Sargon has given the names of eight of them on the gates of the city he founded. "Shamash has conferred on me all I possess," says he in an inscrip- tion. " Bin gave me good fortune ; I have named the great eastern gates after Shamash and Bin. Bel Dagon laid the foundation of my city, Bilit Taauth grinds like paint the elements of the world ; I have named the o-reat southern gates after Bel Dagon and Bilit Taauth. Oannes prospers the work of my hand, Ishtar leads armies to battle; I have called the great western gates after Oannes and Ishtar, Nisroch Shalman presides over marriages, the mistress of the gods presides over births ; I have dedicated the trreat northern oates to Nisroch RELIGION OF THE CHALDEANS. 135 THE GREAT HUMAN-HEADED EAGLE-WINGED ASSYRIAN BULL. and Bilit." Inscriptions of such and like general purport were sculptured on the palace walls of many of the kings and also upon the bodies oi the winged bulls. WORSHIP OF THE GODS AT BABYLON. The deity who was the principal object of worship at Babylon and at Borsippa was Bel Merodach, with his wife, Bilit or Myletta, the great nature-goddess, who assumed the two opposite forms of Taauth and Zarpanit, the one austere, the other voluptuous, like the two forms of the Venus of classical mythology. Bilit had a mag- nificent temple in the centre of Babylon, where most infamous customs were practiced. At Ur, the god of the city, from the remote times of Ur-Hammu, was Sin, the 1.^6 IDOL WORSHIP OF THE WORLD. moon-god; at Sippara and Larsam, Shamash, the sun; atErech and Nipur, Bilit-Taauth, "Goddess of the Fir- mament." The most shameful rites were connected with the worship of Nana or Zarpanit, at Cutha. The materiaUstic and profoundly immoral worship at Babylon, naturally excited extreme horror in the wor- shipers of Jehovah, and provoked their vehement invec- tives against the idols of Chaldaea. We quote the elo- quent words of Baruch, that portray so vividly an always materialistic, and often obscene worship that was, in fact, no more than a constant employment of popular super- stition for the profit of the priests. '' Now ye shall see in Babylon gods of silver, and of gold, and of wood, borne upon shoulders, which cause the nations to fear. . . . And taking gold, as it were, for a virgin that loveth to go gay, they make crowns for the heads of their gods. Sometimes also the priests convey from their gods gold and silver, and bestow it upon themselves. Yea, they will give thereof to the common harlots, and deck them as men with garments, being gods of silver, and gods of gold and wood. . . . And he that cannot put to death one that offendeth him holdeth a sceptre (Nebo), as though he were a judge of the country. He (Bel Merodach) hath also in his right hand a dagger and an axe, but cannot deliver himself from war and thieves. . . . They light them candles, yea, more than for themselves, whereof they cannot see one. They are as one of the beams of the temple, yet they say their hearts are gnawed upon b)' things creep- ing out of the earth ; and when they eat them and their clothes they feel it not. ... As for the things that are sacrificed unto them, their priests sell and abuse; in like manner their wives lay up part thereof in salt ; but unto the poor and impotent they give nothing of it. RELIGION OF THE CHALDEANS. -^n . . . The priests also take off their garments and clothe their wives and children. . . . The women also with cords about them sitting in the way burn bran for perfume." The most remarkable building in Babylon was the temple of Bel. It was pyramidal in shape, having eight stages. The lowest stage was 200 yards square. On the summit a golden statue of Bel, 40 feet high, stood in a shrine. There were also two other golden statues and a o-olden table in this shrine. At the bottom of the pyramid-temple stood a chapel with a table and two imaees of orold within it. Two altars stood outside of this chapel. A similar temple was at Borsippa near Babylon. It had seven stages, each decorated in one of the seven primary colors. Like all Chaldean temples, and like the Great Pyramid of Egypt, the four corners of this exactly corresponded with the four cardinal points of the compass. 138 IDOL WORSHIP OF THE WORLD. CHAPTER VII. IDOLATRY AMONG THE JEWS. For those the race of Israel oft forsook Their living strength, and unfrequented left His righteous altar, bowing lowly down To bestial gods ; for which their heads as low Bowed down in battle, sunk before the spear Of despicable foes, with these in troop Came Astoreth, whom the Phoenicians call'd Astrate, queen of Heav'n, with crescent horns; To whose bright image nightly by the moon Sidonian virgins paid their vows and songs ; In Sion also not unsung. — Milton. THE Bible utterly condemns all Idol-worship. The people of Israel from their neighbors were con- stantly learning of Idols and were frequently led away from the worship of Jehovah to that of false gods. It will be profitable for us just here to turn aside and con- sider these gods. The people of Israel were descended from an Idolatrous race. Joshua wrote (Chap, xxlv., 2), "Your fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood" (that Is, the River Euphrates,) "and they served other gods." Rachel, when she left her father's home with Jacob, stole her father's " teraphim." These were Images connected with magical rites and they were consulted as oracles In later days. Laban says : " I have augured, or foretold by observing signs." The teraphim were used In Israel even in Ezeklel's time. Laban calls his teraphim his gods. They were generally Images with a man's head IDOLATRY AMONG THE JEWS. , -,^ and with bodies of various shapes, diough diey were quite small, being often only about two or three inches high. THE PLAGUES AND EGYPTIAN IDOLATRY. The people of Israel strangely sought to blend the worship of the true God and of idols, they " feared Jehovah and served strange gods." They worshiped in turn very nearly all the gods of the Canaanites, Syri- ans, Assyrians and many of those of the Egyptians. They were accustomed to wear amulets and charms, which were supposed to place them under the protection of the idol gods. (See Genesis xxxv., 4.) In Egypt the people of Israel were more thoroughly tainted with false gods, and it was a long while before they were cleansed of the taint. To the gods of Egypt Moses flung down the gauntlet of defiance. He dared their wrath and defied their anger. In the punishments which God sent upon Pharaoh and his people for their refusal to let the children of Israel go, the plagues of Egypt, as w'e call them, smote their most sacred symbols. At the com- mand of Moses, Aaron waved his rod over the Nile and its waters were turned to blood and its fishes died. The Nile was an object of worship to the Egyptians, as w^ere the crocodiles and some of the fish living in its waters. The frogs, in the next plague, were among the sacred animals. It was a part of the Egyp- tian religion that the people and sculptured locust. especially the priests, should keep themselves scrupu- lously clean, and the plague of the lice was a terrible punishment. The great Eg^-ptian beetle, the scara- baeus, was sculptured on all their monuments and was an object of worship. The plague of flies or beetles was another attack upon their religion. Selected animals I .Q IDOL WORSHIP OF THE WORLD. among the cattle were worshiped. The murrain of beasts fell upon them, their being gods as the Egyptians be- lieved them to be, could not avert the plague. The plague of boils and blains was another assault upon the purity oi their persons required by their religion. The other plagues showed most effectually the utter inability of the Egyptian gods to help their worshipers, and that Jehovah, the God of Israel, was the one Supreme Being. THE GOLDEN CALF. With the remembrance of God's victory over the idol- worship of Egypt still fresh in their minds, the Israelites soon fell into idolatrous ways. Their leader, Moses, was absent in the mountain with God, He had crone thither to receive the commands of God, the first of which was an unqualified condemnation of all idolatry. As if to show the necessity of this vommand, even while Moses was so engaged, the people were demanding of Aaron that he should make them an idol. The commandments were given to warn Israel against sin. They were as a fence to keep them from falling into the mouth of hell. The Israelites recalled the visible objects of worship to which they had been accustomed in Egypt, and besought Aaron to make them gods. Weakly yielding to their urgent request, Aaron asks for their golden ear-rings, hoping, it may be, that they would not be willing to make this sacrifice. With the gold thus furnished he cast a "molten calf," the image of the Babylonish winged bull Cherub. This he placed before the Israelites as the image of the God who had led them out of Egypt. He then built an altar before the idol. In the name of Jehovah, he proclaimed a festival. God is for this cause exceedingly angry, but in answer to Moses' prayer He finally spares the people. IDOLATRY AMONG THE JEWS. 141 As Moses comes nearer to the camp of Israel, he hears the sound of their revelry, and when his eyes behold the disgraceful scenes attending the worship of the golden calf, in his anger he throws the stone tablets containing the commandments to the ground. He then causes the image to be ground into powder and strewn upon the water which the people must needs drink. Then came the awful slaucrhter of those who were not loyal to Jehovah. Just how far Israel had looked upon the gol- den calf as a mere symbol of Jehovah, it is impossible to say, but God condemns even the use of a sym- bol, though it may be truly said that the symbol is not itself worshiped. During the rest of their wandering in the desert, the people did not agaiil commit the sin of idolatry. The terrible punishments which had fallen upon goddess ashtoreth.ishtar. them were quite sufficient to deter them from it. Into the fearfully wicked worship of Baal-Peor, the Israelites were led by the daughters of Moab. God sent upon them an awful punishment for this sin also. During the lives of Joshua and the elders they remained true to their allegiance to Jehovah, but the following generation 9 142 IDOL WORSHIP OF THE WORLD. remembered not the awful penalties God visited on idolatr}', and they were caught in the snare again. BAAL-WORSHIP. Baal was the supreme male divinity of the Phoenician and Canaanitish nations. Ashtoreth was their female divinity. The name Baal means lord. He was the sun- eod. The name is oren- erally used in connection with other names, as Baal- Gad, that is Baal the For- tune-bringer; Baal-Berith or Covenant-making- Baal; Baal-Zebub, the Fly-god. The people of Israel wor- shiped Baal up to the time of Samuel, at whose re- buke they forsook this iniquity for nearly a hun- dred years. The practice was introduced again in the time of Solomon, and it continued to the days of the captivity. During the life of all the judges, Israel w-orshiped Baal. As soon as Gideon PHfENiciAN GODDESS ASTARTE. ^^^^ ^^^^^ ^}^g Israelites, who had during his lifetime been less devout in this direction, returned to it again with energ-y. As if in mockery of the covenant made with Jehovah, they chose to \vorship Baal-Berith^ " Baal of the Covenant." We are told that this Baal's temple was a fortress, and that his treasury w^as filled with the silver brought in great IDOLATRY AMONG THE JEWS. 14: abundance by his worshipers. Before the story of Sam- son is told the striking words are used, " the children oi Israel did evil again in the eyes of Jehohah, and Jehovah gave them again into the hands of the Philistines," Idolatry was their national sin. From Judges xvii. and xviii., we see that often the Israelites tried to carry on both the worship of Jehovah and of idols, like the Saxon king who is said to have had both an altar to Christ and an altar to the devils in his chapel-cave. Strange to say, Mo- ses' own son, Jona- than, was the priest in the idol-temple of the gods of the tribe of Dan. These idols were destroyed by the Philistines. It was the custom of heathen nations to carry their idols be- fore them into bat- tle. Idolatry was not due to popularity alone, it was not followed merely as a fashion, for it was often carried on secredy. (Isaiah Ivii., 8, and Hoseaix.,i, 2.) Under Samuel idolatry was formally renounced by the Israelites. But Solomon's foreign wives brought with them the gods of their own nations. So the gods of Ammon, Moab and Sidon were openly worshiped ; three of the summits of Olivet were covered with the altars of Ashtoreth, Chemosh and Moloch, the fire-god. The of- fering of human sacrifice was a part of the worship of Moloch. The ceremony is supposed to have been as THE AMMONITE FIRE-GOD MOLOCH. J . , IDOL WORSHIP OF THE WORLD. follows : The priest stood on a platform in front of the idol, and while the people bowed down and murmured their prayers, he placed in the hands of the idol the sacri- fice, frequently a little babe. By some cruel machinery the idol's hands came together crushing the child, while the musicians beat their drums to drown its cries. Rehoboam and Jeroboam both led Israel more deeply into idolatry. Jeroboam erected golden calves, the statues of the Egyptian god Apis, at Bethel and at Dan. To their use temples were devoted and services, copied prob- ably from the Mosaic ritual, were held. Incense and sacrifice was offered before them. Asa, and Jehosophat after him, removed all the relics of idolatry. With Ahab's coming to the throne, Baal's worship was re-established. This was done at the request of Jezebel, the Sidonian princess. Ahab did "more to provoke Jehovah, God of Israel, to anger than all the kings of Israel before him." From this time Baal-worship is inter- woven with all the life of Israel. The idolatrous priests became more and more numerous and important, being patronized by the court and fed at the royal table. Finally came the grand trial scene. As in Egypt long before, God was once more about to vindicate His supremacy. On Mount Carmel the trial took place. ** By scores, by hundreds, chanting to their god, Clad in white stoles with frontlets of red gold, Baal's prophets marched. The crowd through all its myriad ranks was still, With wide, expectant eyes the king in front. Forth stepped Elijah; melancholy fire Burned in his swarthy-glowing eye; he looked In angry love, impatient, scornful grief. Wonder and pity, on the multitude. 'How long,' he cried, with voice like autumn blast, 'How long, O Israel, halt ye between two? IDOLATRY AMONG THE JEWS 145 If Jah be God, then serve ye Him: if Baal, Then Baal.' The great crowd stretched f-Q him, and rocked In mighty agitation to and fro. The gray crags caught his words, and echoed them To Carmel's crest; it threw them to the peak. Snow-crowned, of Lebanon, which tossed them far Along the surges of the boundless sea. He spake again : ' The God that answereth By fire, let Him be God. ' As when a wave, That rears itself, a wall of polished glass. For leagues along the shore, and hangs in air. Falls with one deafening crash, so rose the shout Of answering acclamation from the crowd. White-faced, with restless lips and anxious eyes, Baal's prophets heard, their hundreds cowed and mute Before one man. They dared not, in mere shame. Decline the challenge. While the dusky gray Of earliest dawn was fluttering into blue They built their altar; and. when first the sun Showed his clear forehead on the mountain-tops Their chanted prayer to the appearing Baal Rose loud and shrill, that he would stretch his hand With burning torch to light the sacrifice And prove himself a god The sun rose calm, Springing as if in joy from earth's low hills, Upon the vaulted radiance of the sky, All unregarding these his worshipers. The hymns' last echoes died away; the sun Burned with fierce heat, swift striding up the blue. Standing on that scorched hill, we felt his rays Prick like sharp spear-points. Then I heard again Elijah's voice. I had been watching close Baal's prophets, but I now looked straight at him. A fearful gleam was in his eye, a mirth Too stern, methought, for man of woman born; His glance was vexing those robed prophets more Than the sun's fire; and then he gave it words. 'Might he not spare one little spark, but one, Your fine god riding there,' he cried, 'to light Your sacrifice? He surely has enough; He's burning you, if not your offering. 146 IDOL WORSHIP OF THE WORLD. Poor souls, I pity you!' They screamed for rage. 'A little louder,' smiled he, 'for perhaps In his warm chariot he has fallen asleep.' They leaped, they danced, they cut themselves with knives. Till the blood soaked their robes and poured in streams From their lanced foreheads. Then he laughed aloud Great shouts of laughter, till the echoes rang From crag to crag on Carmel. 'Keep it up, Another dance!' he shrieked; 'another song! Leap rather higher ; never grudge some drops Of your dear blood, so precious in his sight. Ye know he is a god, my reverend friends; How often have ye told the people so? Your pretty speeches and the miracles Which ye have shown them, these were not, of course, Mere lies accursed. He is a god, you know. Louder, I say; he's old, perhaps, and deaf; Out with your beards — that 's hopeful — crack your throats In yelling chorus. Good, good — ha, ha, ha!' He rubbed his hands, waved wildly in the air His sheep-skin mantle, laughed until the tears Streamed down his face, and all his body shook With paroxysms of mirth and scorn. Ah me! That laughter sounded fearfully, and seemed Not human in its fiery ruthlessness. But as he stood on Carmel, charred and gray, A dead land lay below, his native land ; And the white corpse-eyes made appeal to him Against its murderers, murderers of the truth, Baal's lying prophets. Furthermore, I think That this Elijah is not to be judged Like common men. The little rippling lake. Safe hid among the hills, can never know The ocean's tempests. — So they writhed and tore, In ecstasies of grief and rage. At last They hung their heads in mute despair, and looked Upon the ground. Elijah stood erect, Terrible earnestness and majesty Now sitting on his brow. Tweh-e stones he took — Mark, twelve ; this challenge in the full name IDOLATRY AM OXG THE JEIVS. 147 Of Israel as it stooped to David's hand, And with one mighty throb the multitude Approved Elijah's pur- pose ; — twelve smooth stones From Carmel's side, and with them he repaired Jehovah's altar. Then, at his command, We filled the trench with water, till it ran Around the altar like a surging stream. And washed the stones, and soaked the wood beneath The sacrifice. He knelt upon the ridge, Against the golden, placid sky of eve ; Brief, simple, clear, his words arose to heaven ; ' That God would testify unto Himself And to His prophet, and would turn the hearts Of His own people back to Him again.' Scarce had he spoken, when a broad white glare. Scattering earth's light like darkness in its path, Keener than lightning, calmer than the dawn. The sword of God that proveth Him by fire, That proveth Him by fire in every age. JEHOVAH'S TRIUMPH OVER BAAL. Stooped from above and touched the sacrifice. Q IDOL WORSHIP OF THE WORLD. In the white blaze the sun grew wan, and hung Like a pale moon upon the glimmering sky. The fierce flame licked the water up, the wood Crackled aloft, the very altar stones Glowed fiery red. The pillared smoke arose Through the hushed air in towering flawlessness, Then spread out calm and broad, like God's own face Breathing acceptance. But Baal's prophets shook In utter fear, and smote upon their breasts, And groveled, moaning, down into the dust. Clear broke the shout from that great multitude, ' Jah is the God ! Jehovah He is God ! ' Take them,' Elijah said ; ' let none escape.' We closed around Baal's prophets, thrust them down To where the thirsty Kishon slowly crawled. There made Elijah bare his arm, and score By score he slew them. From the heap of dead Oozed a broad rill of blood, that swelled the wave Of slumbrous Kishon." This was a severe blow to this form of idolatry in Israel for the time being. But in Judah, Baal continued to be worshiped. Baal and other gods were worshiped at their own shrines. Ahaz built altars to them at every corner of Jerusalem, and high-places in every city of Judah, replacing the brazen altar of burnt-offering by one made after the idol altar at Damascus. The time for the final act in the drama of abominations is at hand. The last scene opens with the captivity at Babylon. One would expect that this terrible punish- ment would immediately cause Israel to turn to the true God, but it did not. In the land of their captivity they took to them foreign wives and with them their idols. But there were, through all the history of the Jews, a faithful few who adhered to the pure worship of one God. Even at the time when Baal-worship was most prevalent there were 7,000 in Israel who had not bowed the knee IDOLATRY AMONG THE JEWS. jj^q to Baal (ist Kings, xxix., i8). Excepting these few, the chosen people were almost as much given to idolatry as any nation around them. "Israel for many days had no true God, and no teaching priest, and no law" (2d Chron- icles, XV., 3). Foreign wives, foreign allies, and the unnatural ten- dency to desire visible objects of worship caused this prevalence of idolatry in the very nation to which God made especial revelations of His character and purposes. In spite of God's promises and threats, commands and entreaties, punishments and pardon, Israel still sinned. The false gods mentioned in the New Testament and some of those referred to in the Old Testament, will be spoken of further on in describing the religions to which they severally belonged. i5o IDOL WORSHIF OF THE WORLD. CHAPTER VIII. THE GODS OF GREECE. There, where now, as we're by sages told, Whirls on high a soulless fiery ball, Helios guided then his car of gold, In his silent majesty o'er all. Oreads then these heights around us filled. Then a dryad dwelt in yonder tree. From the urn of loving naiads rilled Silver streamlets foamingly. Friedrich von Schiller. THE religious system of the Greeks is the em- bodiment of beauty. No other worsliip that has ever existed so encouraged the taste for art as this. Its hterature, its mythological stories, its idols and its temples still control and,^to a great extent, shape the art ideas of the world. Its devotees have above all other people possessed a perception of beauty of form and a fondness for representing it. The people of Greece appear to have originally come from the north-western part of Asia Minor. They were called the Hellenes. The \vorship which they brought from Asia was the worship of the "Heaven-Father," the unseenpone who dwells in ether, whose temple is the sky, and whose altar is properly placed upon the mountain- top. The Hindus called the same being Dyaus-pitar; the Romans, Diovis-pater or Jupiter; the Greeks, Zeus- pater. One can readily see the resemblance between these names, and the evidence they bear to the fact that THE GODS OF GREECE. j - , these nations all came originally from one common stock. As the primal Greek race separated into various parts of Greece different forms began to arise. As sailors from other lands arrived on their shores, they brcui;ht their own gods with them, and thus many new gods \\ ere introduced into Greece. The lively imagination of the Greeks and the out-door life of their primitive state produced a number of tales and legends about the gods. Some of these were based on the tales with w-hich their forefathers were familiar in their early home in Asia. The people lived in separate villages. Wandering minstrels and merchants carried these tales of gods and heroes from village to village. Poets then caught them up and adorned them with the touches of a livelier fancy. Thus soon a rich and luxuri- ant system of legendary lore was in possession of the whole people. Just as is the case with other nations, the beings called gods by the Greeks are but the personifications of the powers and objects of nature, and the legends but repre- sent the courses of nature and its operations. To these primitive notions imagination afterwards added, and po- etry clothed the whole w^ith a warm glow. Thus was formed the popular Greek faith. ORIGIN OF THE W^ORLD AND OF THE GODS. AccordincT to the ideas of the Homeric and Hesiodic acres, it would seem that the world was a hollow globe, divided into two equal portions by the flat disk of the earth. The external shell of this globe is called by the poets brazen and iron, probably only to express its solid- itv. The superior hemisphere was named Heaven, the inferior one Tartarus. The length of the diameter of the hollow sphere is eiven thus bv Hesiod. It would take, he jr2 IDOL IVOR SHIP OF THE IVOR ID. says, nine days for an anvil to fall from heaven to earth ; and an equal space of time would be occupied by its fall from earth to Tartarus. The luminaries which gave lioht to eods and men shed their radiance throuorh all the interior of the upper hemisphere; while that of the in- ferior one was filled with eternal gloom and darkness, and its still air was unmoved by any wind. The earth filled the centre ol the universe in the form of a round flat disk, or rather "cylinder, around which the river (the ocean) flowed. Hellas was probably regarded as the centre of the earth ; but the poets are silent on this point. They are equally so as to the exact central point, but probably viewed as such Olympus, the abode of the gods. In after times Delphi became practically the jiaz'cl of the earth. The sea divided the terrestial disk into two portions, which we may suppose were regarded as equal. These divisions do not seem to have had any disdnctive names in the time of Homer. The northern one was afterwards named Europe; the southern, at first called Asia, alone, was in process of time divided into Asia and Libya, the former comprising all the country between the Phasis and the Nile, the latter all between this river and the western ocean. In the sea, the Greeks appear to have known, to the west of their own country, southern Italy, Sicily and Spain, though their ideas respecting these countries were probably vague and uncertain. The imaginadon of the poets, or the tales ol voyagers, had placed in the more remote parts of it several islands, such as the Ogygian, the isle of Calypso ; the yEasan, that of Kirke ; the y^olion, that of ^-Eolos ; Scheria, the abode of the Phaea- kians — islands in all probability as ideal and as fabulous as the isles of Panchaia, Lilliput, or Brobdignag, though both ancients and moderns have endeavored to assicrn THE GODS OF GREECE. 153 their exact positions. Along its southern coast lay, it would appear, the countries of the Lotos-eaters, the Cyclops, the Giants and the Laestrigonians. These isles and coasts oPthe western part of the sea were the scenes of most of the wonders of early Grecian fable. There, and on the isles of the ocean, the passage to which was supposed to be closed to the island of Kirke, dwelt the Sirens, the Hesperides, the Graecae, the Gorgons and the other beings of fable, whose varied deeds make up the ever interesting narratives of the ancient mythology. The Greeks of the early ages knew little of any people except those to the east and south of their own country, or near the coast of the Mediterranean. Their imagina- tion, meantime, had peopled the western portion of this sea with giants, monsters and enchantresses ; while they placed around the edge of the disk of the earth, which they probably regarded as of no great width, nations en- joying the peculiar favor of the gods, and blessed with happiness and longevity — a notion which continued to prevail even in the historic times. The entrance to the city or palace of the gods on Olympus was closed by a gate of clouds kept by the goddesses named the " Seasons ;" but the cloudy valves opened spontaneously to permit the greater gods to pass to and fro on their visits to the earth, thus linking: with earth's phases the approaches or departures of the gods. Tartarus was unvisited by the light of day. It was regarded as the prison of the gods, and not as the place of torment for wicked men, being to the gods what Ere- bus was to men — the abode of those who were driven from the supernal world. The Titans, when conquered, were shut up in it; and in the IHas, Zeus menaces the subordinate and refractory gods with banishment to its murky regions. J CA IDOL WORSHIP OF THE WORLD. THE GENERATIONS OF THE GODS. Chaos (void space) was first: then came into being " broad-breasted " Earth, the gloomy Tartarus and Love. Chaos produced Erebus and Night, and this last bore to Erebus Day and Ether. Earth now produced Uranos (Heaven), of equal ex- tent with herself, to envelop her, and the mountains and Pontos (Sea). She then bore to Uranus a mighty pro- ofenv — the Titans ; six males and six females. She also bore the three Cyclops and the three-hundred handed ones, Hottos, Briareus and Gyges. These children w'ere hated by their father, who, as soon as they were born, thrust them out of sight in a cavern of mother Earth, who, grieved at his conduct, produced the substance of hoary steel, and, forming from it a sickle, roused her children, the Titans, to rebellion against him ; but fear seized on them all except Kronos, who, lying in wait with the sickle with which his mother had armed him, mutilated his un- suspecting sire. The drops which fell to the earth from the wounds gave birth to the Erinnyes, the Giants and the Mehan nymphs ; and from wdiat fell into the sea sprang Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty. Earth finally, after the overthrow of the Titans, bore by Tartaros her last offspring, the hundred-headed Ty- phoeus, the father of storms and whirlwinds, whom Zeus precipitated into Tartarus. Rhea was united to Kronos. Kronos, having learned from his parents. Heaven and Earth, that he was fated to be deprived by one of his sons of the kingdom which he had taken from his father, devoured his children as fast as they w^ere born. Rhea, w^hen about to be deliv- ered of Zeus, besought her parents to teach her how she might save him. Instructed by Earth, she concealed him THE GODS OF GREECE. j -- In a cavern of Crete, and gave a stone in his stead to Kronos. This stone he afterward threw up, and with it the children whom he had devoured. When Zeus was o-rown up, he and the other children of Kronos made war on their father and the Titans. The scene of the conflict was Thessaly ; the former fought from Olympus, the lat- ter from Othrys. During ten entire years the conflict was undecided ; at length, by the counsel of Earth, the Kronids released the Hundred-handed and called them to their aid. The war was then resumed with renewed vigor, and the Titans were finally vanquished and im- prisoned in Tartarus, under the guard of the Hundred- handed. The Kronids then, by the advice of Earth, gave the supreme power to Zeus, who, in return, distributed honors and dominion among the associates of his victory. GODS OF THE GRECIANS. The Greeks of the early ages regarded the lofty Thes- salian mountain named Olympus as the dwelling of their gods. In the Odyssey, where the deities are of a char- acter far more dignified and elevated than in the Ilias, the place of their abode shares in their exaltation ; and it may almost be doubted if the poet who drew the follow- ing picture of Olympus could have conceived it to be no more than the summit of a terrestrial mountain : " Olympus, where they say the ever firm Seat of the gods is, by the winds unshaken, Nor ever wet with rain, nor ever showered With snow, but cloudless ether o'er it spreads, And glittering light encircles it around, On which the happy gods aye dwell in bliss." Man loves to bestow his own form upon his gods, as being the noblest that he can conceive. Those of Homer 156 IDOL WORSHIP OF THE WORLD. are all of the humaPx form, but of far larger dimensions than men ; great size being an object of admiration both in men and women in those early and martial ages. Thus, when the goddess Athena ascends as driver the chariot of Diomedes, Loud groaned the beechen axle with the weight, For a great god and valiant chief it bore ; when in the battle of the gods Ares is struck to the earth by this goddess, he is described as covering seven ple- thra of ground ; the helmet of the goddess herself would, we are told, cover the footmen of a hundred towns ; when Hera is about to make an oath she lays one hand on the earth, the other on the sea ; the voice of Poseidon and Ares are as loud as the shout of nine or ten thousand men. The gods can, however, increase or diminish their size, assume the form of particular men, or of any animals, and make themselves visible and invisible at their pleas- ure. Their bodies are also of a finer nature than those of men. It is not blood, but a blood-like fluid named ichor, which flows in their veins. They are susceptible of injury by mortal weapons ; the arrows of Herakles vio- late the divine bodies of Hera and Hades, Diomedes wounds both Aphrodite and Ares. They require nour- ishment as men do ; their food is called Ambrosia, their drink Nectar. Their mode of life exactly resembles that of the princes and nobles of the heroic ages. In the pal- ace of Zeus, on Olympus, they feast at the approach of evening-, and converse of the affairs of heaven and earth; the nectar Is handed round by Hebe {youth) ; Apollo delights them with the tones of his lyre ; and the Muses, in responsive strains, pour forth their melodious voices in sonor. When the sun descends each trod retires to re- 1 THE GODS OF GREECE. j cy his own dwelling. They frequently partake of the hospitality of men, travel with them, and share in their wars and battles. With the form of men the Homeric gods also partake of their passions. They are capricious, jealous, revenge- ful will support their favorites through right and wrong, and are implacable toward their enemies or even those who have slighted them. Their power was held to ex- tend very far; men regarded them the authors of both good and evil ; all human ability and success was as- cribed to them. They were believed to have power over the thoughts of men, and could imperceptibly suggest such as they pleased. They required of men to honor them with prayer, and the sacrifice of oxen, goats, sheep, lambs and kids, and oblations of wine and corn, and fragrant herbs. When offended, they usually remitted their wrath when thus appeased. The Homeric gods have all different ranks and offices; Olympus being, in fact, regulated on the model of a Grecian city of the heroic ages. Zeus was king of the region of the air and clouds, which had fallen to him by lot on the dethronement of his father Kronos; the sea was the realm of his brother Poseidon ; the under-world fell to Hades in the division of their conquests ; earth and Olympus were common property. Zeus, however, as eldest brother, exercised a supremacy, and his powder was the greatest. The other inhabitants of Olympus were Hera, sister and spouse of Zeus; Apollo, the god of music and archery; his sister Artemis, the goddess of the chase, and their mother Leto; Aphrodite, goddess of love, and her mother Dione; Ares, god of war; Pallas- Athene, goddess of prudence and skill ; Themis, god- dess of justice; Hermoias, god of grain; Hebe, the attendant of the Olympian king and queen, and Isis, 1^8 IDOL WORSHIP OF THE WORLD. their messenger; Hephaestos, the celestial artist, and Paeeon, the physician; and the Muses, the Graces and the Seasons. Poseidon was frequently there ; but Dem- eter, the goddess of agriculture, and Dionysius, the god of wine, do not appear among the residents of Olympus. The Nymphs and the River-gods occasionally visited or were summoned to it. Eos, Helios and Selene, rose every day out of the ocean-stream, and drove in their chariots through the air, shedding their cheering beams abroad. All the dwellings of the gods upon Olympus were of brass or copper, the metal which was in the greatest abundance in Greece. Hephaestos was architect and smith; he formed all the arms, household furniture, chariots and other articles in use among the Celestials; but their dress, especially that of the goddesses, appears to have been the workmanship of Pallas-Athene or of the Graces. The gold which proceeded from the work-shop of Hephaestos was filled with automatic power; his stat- ues were endowed with intelligence; his tripods could move of themselves; he made the golden shoes, or rather soles, with which the orods trod the air and the waters, or strode with the speed of winds, or even of thought, from mountain to mountain upon the earth which trembled beneath their weight. The chariots of the gods and their appurtenances were formed of various metals. That of Hera, for example, is thus described: " Then Hebe quickly to the chariot put The round wheels, eight-spoked, brazen, strong Axle of iron. Gold their fellies were, And undecaying, but thereon of brass The tires, well-fitting, wondrous to behold. Of silver was the rounded nave of each ; The body was hung by gold and silver cords, And two curved sides encompassed it about. THE GODS OF GREECE. j -^ The pole was silver, and upon its end She tied the beauteous golden yoke, and bound On it the golden braces fair ; the steeds, Swift-looted then beneath the yoke were led By Hera, eager for the war and strife." These chariots were drawn by horses of celestial breed, which could whirl them to and fro between heaven and earth, through the yielding air, or skim with them along the surface of the sea, without wetting the axle. They were only used on occasions of taking a long journey, as when Hera professes that she is going to the end of the earth to make up the quarrel between Okeanos and Tethys; or on occasions in which the gods wished to ap- pear with state and magnificence. On ordinary occa- sions the gods moved by the aid of their golden shoes ; when at home in their houses, they, like the men of those ages, went bare-foot. The Greeks tell almost innumerable stories of their gods, and their adventures, love-escapades and wars. Some are wonderfully beautiful, others humble or gro- tesque. Their heroes come in for a share of the honors paid the gods. We can compare these stories with the legends of other nations, and see the wondrous resem- blance between them. SPECIMEN STORIES FROM GREEK MYTHOLOGY. It will be possible to introduce but a few of the very many Greek legends and myths. We choose to give a few fully, rather than to give many imperfectly. HERMES AND APOLLO. Hermes was born of the mountain-nymph, Maia, in a cavern of Mount Kyllene. in Arcadia. He had scarcely been laid in his cradle, when he got up and set off tor jgQ IDOL WORSHIP OF THE WORLD. Pieria, to steal cows from Apollo. As he was going out he met a tortoise, which he caught up and carried back to the cave; when, quick as thought, he killed the animal, took out the flesh, adapted reeds and strings to the shell, and formed from it the Phormin or Lyre, on which he immediately played with perfect skill. He then laid it up in his cradle, and resumed his journey. He arrived by sunset in Pieria, where the oxen of the gods fed under the care of Apollo, He forthwith sepa- rated fifty cows from the herd and drove them away, contriving to make them go backwards ; and throwing away his sandals, bound branches of myrtle and tamarisk under his feet, that the herdsman-god might have no clew by which to trace his cattle. As he passed by Onchestos in Bseotia, he saw an old man engaged in planting his vine- yard, whom he strictly charged not to tell what he had seen. He then pursued his way by shady hills, resounding vales and flowery plains, and as the moon was rising arrived with his booty on the banks of the Alpheios in the Pelo- ponnese. He there fed and stalled his kine, made a fire, killed, cut up, and dressed two of them, and even made black puddings of their blood, and then thriftily spread their skins to dry on a rock. He burned the heads and feet, and put out the fire, effacing all signs of it, and flung his twig-sandals into the river. With daybreak he slank home and stole into his cradle, not unobserv^ed by his mother, who reproached him with his deeds; but he re- plied that he was resolved by his actions to procure ad- mission for her and himself to the assembly of the gods. In the morning Apollo missed his kine ; he set out in search of them, and met the old maji, who informed him of his having seen a child driving cows along. He comes to Pylos, where he sees the traces of his cattle, but is amazed at the strange foot-prints of their driver. He V THE GODS OF GREECE. jgj proceeds to the fragrant cave of the nymphs, and Hermes on seeino- him feathers himseU' up under the clothes, afraid of the god. Apollo takes the key, opens and searches the three closets where the nymph kept her clothes, ornaments and food, but to no purpose. He then threatens the child that he will fling him into Tar- tarus unless he tells him where the cows are ; but Hermes stoutly denies all knowledge of them, and even very in- nocently asks what cows are. Apollo pulls him out of the cradle and they agree to go and argue the matter before Zeus. Arrived in Olympus, Apollo relates the theft, and tells what reasons he had for suspecting the baby of being the thief. All this is, to the great amuse- ment of the Celestials, stoutly denied and its absurdity shown by the little fellow, who still has his cradle clothes about him. Zeus, however, gives judgment against Her- mes, and the two brothers are sent in search of the miss- ing kine. They come to Pylos, and Hermes drives the cattle out of the cave. Apollo misses two of them; to his amazement he sees their skins on a rock, and is still more surprised, when, on going to drive the others on, he finds the art of Hermes had rooted their feet to the ground. Hermes then begins to pfay on his lyre, the tones of which so ravish Apollo that he offers him the cows for it. The young god gives him the lyre, and receives the cattle. The divine herdsman also gives him his whip, and instructs him in the* management of the herds. THE LOTUS-EATERS AND THE CYCLOPS. Odysseus when on his return from Troy, encountered a violent north-east wind, which drove him for nine days, until he reached the country of the Lotus-eaters. He sent three of his men to see who the inhabitants were. These men on coming among the Lotus-eaters were I 52 IDOL WORSHIP OF THE WORLD. kindly entertained by them, and given some of their own food, the Lotus plant, to eat. The effect of this plant was such, that those who tasted it lost all thoughts of home and w^ished to remain in that country. It was by main force that Odysseus dragged these men away, and he was even obliged to tie them under the benches of his ship. Then he sailed to the westward and came to the land of the Cyclops. These were a rude, lawless people, who neither planted nor sowed, but whose land was so fertile as spontaneously to produce for them wheat, barley and grapes. They dwelt in caves, and each without regard to others oroverned his wife and children. In front of one of their harbors lay a beautiful island, well-stocked with goats. Leaving his fleet at this island, Odysseus went with one ship to the mainland. Here he entered the cave of a Cyclops, Polyphemus by name. When Polyphemus returned in the evening with his flocks and found strangers there, he asked who they w'ere. Odysseus said that they had been shipwrecked, and ap- pealed to his mercy and reverence for the gods. Poly- phemus cared for neither and he seized and killed and devoured two young Greeks. The door of the cave was closed with an immense rock, so that, if they killed Poly- phemus, they could not have escaped, for they could not move the rock. The next night, though, when Polyphe- mus was in a drunken sleep, they took his staff, which was as large as a mast, heated it in the fire, and put out his one eye. When the giant roared out with pain, the other Cyclops came to see what was the matter. Odys- seus had told him that his name w^as Nobody. So when he called out that Nobody was killing him, they thought him dreaming. Next morning when Polyphemus turned out his sheep and goats, which were of great size, the THE GODS OF GREECE. jg-> Greeks fastened themselves beneath their belHes and so escaped. Alter they had put out to sea a little way, Odysseus called out his true name, and the angry Cyclops hurled great stones at him, and nearly destroyed his ship. Hercules' twelve tasks. In obedience to the god Zeus, Hercules was made to serve Eurystheus, who gave him twelve tasks to perform. The first task was to bring the skin of an unconquerable lion, the Nemean. Hercules choked the Hon. The second task was to destroy the nine-headed hydra, or water-snake. He cut off the heads, but two sprang up where one was cut off. Then his companion with a torch burned the necks where the heads were cut off by Hercules the second time. The third task was to bring the eolden-horned hind alive. He wounded and then cauofht her. The fourth task was to brinor an immense wild boar alive. The fifth task was to cleanse the immense stables of King Augeas in one day. This he did by mining the rivers Penios and Alpheios. The sixth task was to drive away the stymphalid water- fowl. A god- dess gave him brazen clappers, the beating of which made the birds rise from their hiding-places, when Her- cules destroyed -them with his arrows. The seventh task was to fetch the wild and furious Cretan bull. The eighth task was to bring the Centaurs of Thrace. The Cen- taurs were horses with the heads and upper half of the human body. The ninth was to bring the girdle of the mighty queen of the Amazons. The tenth was to bring the purple-headed oxen of the Ruddy-isle. The eleventh was to bring the apples of the Hesperides, After meeting with various adventures he reached the place where they were, and while he upheld the heavens Atlas plucked the apples, which Hercules, by a cute device, secured from him. 1 64 WOL WORSHIP OF THE WORLD. The twelfth task was to brinof Cerberus from the under- world. All his tasks were accomplished. The whole story of the hero Hercules is intensely interesting. THE PHIDIAX JUPITER. Zeus — the Jupiter of the Romans — the chief, was the earliest of the national gods. The great place of his worship was at Olympia. Here was the magnificent statue of Jupiter, made by the famous Phidias. This statue was sixty-five feet high. The frame-work, of cedar and olive wood, was covered with ivory and gold. His throne was of cedar wood, inlaid with ivory and precious stones. In his right hand he held a statue of victory, and in his left a sceptre surmounted by the eagle. The footstool was supported by sphinxes, and the throne was of cedar wood, inlaid with ivory, the ebony pedestal was covered with sculptured scenes of his life and adventures. Probably no idol of ancient or modern times exceeds this in its majestic, massive beauty. Neither ivory nor gold were plentiful in Greece, yet so devoted were the people that they provided the immense quantity for this idol readily. The gold plates were one-eighth of an inch thick, and were worth then over ^600,000, equal to an immense sum in our days. At Olympia, as at the Isthmus of Corinth, games were held at the yearly re- ligious festivals. From these games the apostle Paul derived many of the metaphors so frequent in his writings. GRECIAN TEMPLES AND WORSHIP OF PAUL's DAY. Paul, the Christian Missionary, came into contact with the heathenism of both Greece and Rome. In Athens, Corinth and Ephesus especially he was brought face to face with idols and temples. The story of his visit to these places as told by Luke (Acts xvii., xviii. and xix.), IMAGE OF JUPITER. MADE BY THE CELEBRATED SCULPTOR, PHIDIAS. THE GODS OF GREECE. 167 and by Paul (in his letters to the Corinthians and Ephe- siansj presents a vivid picture of the condition of the Greek religion in its latest development. Soon the whole system was to lie in ruins, its temples were to be for- saken, its idols destroyed, its worship forgotten. This mighty change was to be produced by the power of God workinir through one weak man, beloneine to what was everywhere regarded as a narrow-minded race, and with- out any backing of pomp, or power, or wealth. THE CITY CROWDED WITH IDOLS. As Paul entered the gate-way of the Pireeus at Athens, he was met immediately with the proofs of the intense devotion of the Athenians to their worship. Before him stood Minerva's temple and the image of Neptune, her rival, seated on horseback, holdinor his trident. Passing on he came, after a little, to the temple of Ceres with the images sculptured by the far-famed Praxiteles. A litde further on his eyes must have fell upon Bacchus's temple and the images of Zeus, Minerva, Apollo, Mercury and the Muses. All around him are temples, statues, altars and shrines, and the news-seekine Athenians crather about him. Every public place and building was ac- counted sacred. The market-place (the Agora) and the Acropolis were crowded with temples and altars to the gods, and even to deified virtues. There were altars to Fame, to Modesty, to Persuasion and to Pity. And, lest they should by any chance leave out any god or being who might help or injure them, they built an altar to An Unknown God. With all their worship they had not found the true God. The magnificent Parthenon — the Virgin's House — was the glorious temple erected to Minerva's honor. Within it was the colossal statue of ivory and gold, made by the ^58 IDOL WORSHIP OF THE WORLD. famous Phidias, rivaled only by the same artist's statue of Jupiter. In the midst of all this idolatry, what thought was in the mind of Paul? "His spirit was stirred within him when he saw the city crowded with idols." It was said in those days that it was easier to find an idol in Athens than a man. The Athenians led Paul away to the Areopagus. Here the judges sat in the open air, upon seats hewn out of the rock. A temple of Mars crowned the height. Be- fore Paul's view the whole city with Its maze of temples, shrines and statues, was spread out. The intensely earn- est Christian Apostle stood before the frivolous heathen crowd. He is alone, yet not alone. His Master is with him. He quails not, he minces no matters, he speaks boldly, fearlessly. He recognizes their intense religious- ness (if we may so call it). He declares the truth that the Deity does not dwell in temples made with hands, even with the hundreds of temples before him. With the recollection of Phidias's famous statues fresh in mind and the countless idols before his view he declares that the Deity is not to be likened to forms in gold, silver or stone, graven by art and man's device. The city is, ap- parently, scarcely moved, but the leaven has been put in. and soon the whole lump will be leavened. A few years pass by and the worship of Athens is only a remembrance. Close by Athens was one city which Paul visited and where he founded one of the strongest Christian churches. This city was held in bad repute in all the world on ac- count of its licentiousness. It was not only the seat of wealth and splendor, but also a den of vice. "To Cor- inthianize" meant to play the wanton. The worship in the temple of Venus was of the most shameful character. To the north-east of Corinth was the temple of Neptune, where the celebrated Isthmian games were celebrated. 131 THE GODS OF GREECE. 171 DIANA OF THE EPHESIANS. Ephesus was the central city of Asia Minor. One ol its buildings ranked in importance above all others — the Temple of Diana. This was reckoned as one ot the wonders of the world, and the Ephesians were wont to speak of Diana as the goddess whom all the world wor- shiped. The temple had been once destroyed, and then rebuilt with great magnificence. The ladies of Ephesus, at its rebuilding, had given their jewelry. Alexander offered immense riches to the Ephesians, if they would but permit him to have his name inscribed on its walls ; but they would not consent. This was the rallying-point of heathenism in Paul's day. The temple was 425 feet long, 220 broad, and its columns were 60 feet high. There were 127 columns, each the gift of a king. Only a part of It was roofed over, and this was with cedar. The re- maining parts were rich with statuary and columns. "It is probable that there was no building in the world in which was concentrated a greater amount of admira- tion, enthusiasm and super- stition." The first statue of Diana of Ephesus was a shapeless black stone — an aerolite — which had fallen from the sky. Afterwards her images were made of wood. She is covered with breasts and with the heads of animals. She is supposed to represent the natural fertility of the earth. Diana was not worshiped in the temple only. Number- MEDAL OF DIANA. I 72 IDOL WORSHIP OF THE WORLD. less little shrines, containing models of Diana in silver or gold, or even wood, were made to be carried about one's person, to be set up on household altars or carried in processions. There was carried on at Ephesus an ex- tensive trade in these. The worship of Diana, in all its parts and in all places, was conducted with great mag- nificence. The Greek language and literature and their temples and statues, have been for centuries the models of the world ; but their conceptions of the gods and their myths are no more thoucrht of, and no lonorer reo-arded as oi authority in religious affairs. They are emphatically dead as powers over the morals of men. THE WORSHIP AND GODS OF ROME. i -^ CHAPTER IX. THE WORSHIP AND GODS OF ROME. " Within this grove, upon this wooded hill," He said, " some deity his dwelling made ; But who or what, none knows. The Arcadians Think they have seen great Jove himself, when oft With his right hand he shook his darkening shield, And called his clouds around him." Virgil. When fierce gales bowed the high pines, when blazed The lightning, and the savage in the storm Some unknown godhead heard, and, awe-struck, gazed On Jove's imagined form. SOTHEBY. LONG before Rome was founded Italy was peopled with an industrious class of farmers. But we have scarce any records of those early times. Some of their gigantic buildings, lakes and canals re- main, but these are almost all that is left. The religious ideas of these early settlers entered into and, to a great extent, moulded the religion of the Romans. The people of Italy did not have the same vivid imaginations and lively fancies as the people of Greece. Their early worship seems to have been of a more serious character than that of the Greeks. Their gods were freer from moral taint, and virtue rather than vice was required in followers of the Roman religions. The poetic art was little cultivated among them, or for that matter, in Rome 174 IDOL WORSHIP OF THE WORLD. of a later day. But Rome soon began to borrow from Greece, and to appropriate her gods, heroes and myths. There are no ItaHan myths corresponding to those of Greece. In Virgil and Ovid a few adventures of the Italian gods are related, but these are plainly imitations or slight modifications of the Greek stories. THE ETRUSCAN RELIGION. Before they became acquainted with Greece, the Ro- mans looked to the Etruscans as their instructors in re- ligious things. The disposition of the Etruscans was melancholy and serious; their form of government a rigid aristocracy, administered by an hereditary race or caste of priestly nobility. Their system was founded on some peculiar views of the world and its periods, and on the art of learning the will of the supernal powers by the thunder, the lightning, and other aerial phenomena. The rules and principles of this science were contained in books ascribed to a subterranean daemon named Tages, who, the Tuscan legend said, had risen up, a babe in form, an aged man in wisdom, from under the soil before the plow of a peasant of Tarquinii as he was at his work, and who instructed the people in divination. According to the doctrine of the Etruscans there were two orders of gods, the one superior, veiled and nameless, with whom the supreme god took counsel when about to announce by lightning any change in the present order 'of things. The other consisted of twelve gods, six male and as many females, his ordinary council. These were called by the common name of Consentcs or Complices (the Latin of the Etruscan word), according to Varro, because they are born and die together. The general Etruscan word for a god was yEsar. The supreme god of the Tuscans, answering to the THE WORSHIP AXD GODS OF ROME. 175 Zeus of the Greeks, the Jupiter of the Romans, was named Tina. A goddess named Kupra was called by the Romans Juno ; and another, named Menerfa or Menrfa, was the original of the Minerva of Rome, These three deities had always contiguous temples on the citadel of every Etruscan city. Hence the united temples of Jupi- ter, Juno and Minerva, which crowned the capitol at Rome. A ofoddess named Nortia, answerino- to the Roman Fortuna, was worshiped at the Tuscan cities of Sutri and Volsinii. V^ertumnus also was one of the principal deities of Etruria. The Tuscan god of the under-world, or rather the ruler of the dead, it is said, was named Mantus, and there was a goddess called Mama of a similar nature. The Lares, or household gods, which form so conspicuous ?. feature of the Roman religion, it is probable, belonged originally to the Etruscan system of worship. THE SABELLIAN RELIGION. The rigid virtues of a portion of the Sabellian race, par- ticularly the Sabines, were always the theme of praise at Rome. Grazing and agriculture were the chief em- ployments of these hardy tribes, and their religion was intimately connected with these arts ; and consequently, we may suppose, bore much resemblance to that of the Latins. It has always been asserted that a great portion of the Roman religion was of Sabine origin. The Sabines adored Sancus and Sabus or Sabinus, as the founders of their nation. Mamers or Mars was also one of their deities ; an erect lance was the symbol before which he was worshiped. The Marsian portion of this race were as celebrated for their skill in detecting the will of the gods by the flight and voice of the birds, as the Etruscans for discerning It in the electric phenomena of the sky. 176 IDOL WORSHIP OF THE WORLD. THE GODS OF THE ROMANS. There are very many gods in the Roman mythology, of these some twenty have been called the select gods. These are Janus, the two-faced sun-god; Jupiter (Diovis- pater or Father-Jove) ; Saturnus, the god of agriculture; Genius, or the god of production; Mercurius, the god who presided over the business of the market and over trade in general, Apollo was a god introduced from the Greek mythology. Mars was the god of war. Wilcan was the god of fire. Neptune was the god of the sea. Sol and Luna were the sun and moon god and goddess. Orcas was the god of death, like the Hades of the Greeks, or Yama of the Hindus. Father Liber was the god of the harvest. Tellus was the god of the earth. Ceres was the goddess of grain. Juno was the wife of Jupiter. Diana was the moon-goddess. Minerva was the goddess of arts. Vesta was the goddess of the household. Venus was the o-oddess of birth. o FATHER JOVE. The word Jove appears to have meant, originally, God. It corresponds to Zeus of the Greeks and Dyaus of the Hindus. Jove or Jupiter was the especial protector of tlie city of Rome. The chief Jupiter was called the Capitoline Jupiter. In his temple adorning the Capitol in Rome were also statues of Juno and Minerva. Jupiter Elicius was so named, we are told, from the following circumstance. In the time of Numa there occurred great thunder storms and rains. The people and their king were terrified, and the latter had recourse to the counsel of the nymph Egeria. She informed him that Faunus and Picus could instruct him in the mode of appeasing Jupiter, but that he must employ both art and violence to THE WORSHIP AND GODS OF ROME. 177 extract the knowledge from them. Accordhigly by her advice he placed bowls of wine at a fountain on Mount Aventine, whither they were wont to come to drink, and concealed himself in a neighboring cavern. The rural gods came to the fount, and finding the wine drank copiously of it, thus illustrating in a striking manner the sensuous character always supposed to dwell in these deities. They immediately fell asleep, and Numa, quitdng his retreat, came and bound them. On awaking, they struggled, but in vain, to get free ; and the pious prince, apologiz- ing for what necessity had obliofed him to do, entreated that they would inform him how Jupiter was to be ap- peased. They yielded to his prayer, and on loosing them drew down the thundering Jupiter by their charms. He descended on the Aven- tine hill, which trembled beneath the w^eight of the deity. Numa was terrified, but recovering he implored the god to give a remedy aorainst the liofhtninor. The ruler of the thunder assented, and in ambiguous terms conveyed the relief: "Cut a head," — " of an onion from my garden " subjoined the king, — "of a man," — "the topmost hairs" quickly re- plied Numa. — " I demand a life." — " of a fish." The deity smiled, and said that his weapons might thus be averted, and promised a sign at sun-rise the following morninpf. ^ - — - 1 1 -J ' - r ) -Ji JUPITER TONANS. I 78 IDOL WORSHIP OF THE WORLD. At dawn the people assembled before the doors of the king. Numa came forth, and, seated on his maple throne, looked for the rising of the sun. The orb of day was just wholly emerged above the horizon, when a loud crash was heard in the sky ; thrice the god thundered without a cloud ; thrice he sent forth his lightnings. The heav- ens opened, and a light buckler came gently wafted on the air, and fell to the orround. Numa, havino- first slain a heifer, took it up and named it Ancile. He regarded it as the pledge of empire ; and having had eleven others made exactly like it by the artist Mamurius, to deceive those who might attempt to steal it, committed them to the care of the priests named Salii. Jupiter was named Feretrius or Bearer, as the spoils of the enemy's general, if slain by a Roman commander, were borne to him. He was also called Victor and Stator, as the giver of victory and stayer of flight. We also meet with Jupiter Pistor, whose altar was on the capitol, and Jupiter Tonans, the author of thunder. In the usual Roman manner, an historical origin was given to all these names. Jupiter was called Lucetlus, as the author of light {lucis), and Diespiter, i. e., Dies Pater, or Father of Day or of Light. THE MATRON GODDESS. Juno w^as the feminine of Jove — from Jovino we have the word Juno. Juno was one of the great deities of Rome and had a share in the worship of the magnificent temple on the capitol. One Juno was called Juno Mon- eta, and her temple was finally made the mint, or coining place for money. Female slaves swore by the Juno of their mistress. As the patroness of married women, Juno was named Matrona. She presided over marriage. Whenever a child was born a piece of money was de- THE WORSHIP AND GODS OF ROME. 179 posited in her temple's treasury. In July of each year Juno was honored by a sacrifice. Juno Sospita, the Protectress, was represented with a goat-skin about her, a spear in her hand, and a small shield on her arm, Juno was generally represented armed, and the Romans usu- ally divided the hair of a virgin-bride with a small spear- point, thus invoking the protection of this goddess. THE GODDESS OF SCHOOLS. All mental work was done under the direction of Minerva. Her statues were placed in the schools, and in March of each year the school-boys had five days as holidays in her honor. At the end of this vacation and festival the boys gave their school-master a present called a Minerval. Minerva's chapel was under the same roof as Jupiter's and Juno's on the Capitoline hill at Rome. THE GODDESS OF THE HEARTH. Vesta presided over the public and private hearth. In Vesta's temple at Rome a sacred fire was kept burning by six virgin-priestesses called Vestals. The Romans believed that if they let this fire go out, the city's safety would be destroyed. When, through the neglect of the Vestals, it did go out, they were severely punished and the fire was relighted by the rays of the sun. In Vesta's temple there was no statue of the goddess. At her festival in June, plates of meat were sent to the Vestals to be offered up, the mill-stones were decked with flowers and the animals working the mills went about crowned with violets and with cakes strung about their necks. CERES AND LIBER. Ceres presided over seeds and harvests. She was the goddess of the farmers. The country-folks before be- i8o IDOL WORSHIP OF THE WORLD. ginning harvest kept feasts to Ceres, when they brought offerings of honey-combs covered with wine and milk, and an animal to be slain in sacrifice. The offerings were taken three times around the corn-field, the country people followino- crowned with oak leaves and dancing and sine- ing. These festivals were of the most joyous character. Liber means Deliverer. The god who had this name was united with Ceres in worship at Rome. The Ro- mans worshiped their gods and goddesses generally in groups of three; thus, Jupiter, Juno and Minerva in the Capitoline temple; and Ceres, Liber and (the female) Libera in the temple at the foot of the Aventine. In the Capitoline temple the patricians or higher classes wor- shiped. In the Aventine temple the plebians or common people worshipped. There was much gross vileness connected with all the festivals of Liber. THE GOD OF BEGINNINGS. Janus gives his name to January, the first month of the year. He was the sun-god, and was usually wor- shiped at the beginning of any action. He was regarded as the " opener of the day." Gates and doors were placed un- der the care of Janus, and their keeper is even to-day called a janitor. Janus was represented with a key and a staff, and was named the Opener and the Shutter. Janus has two faces. An ancient statue j of Janus stood in the Forum at Rome of which the fingers were so formed that one hand represented three hundred in Latin characters (CCC), and those of the other, fifty-five (LV.), making together the number of days in the ancient lunar year. I THE WORSHIP AND GODS OF ROME. jgj Under the Capitol, near to the Forum, in Rome, stood a short arch-way with a gate at each end. In times ot peace these gates were kept shut, in times of war they were left open. In this arch-way a statue of Janus stood. There was a traciition at Rome that once, when the ene • mies of Rome had attempted to enter the city by this gate, the god Janus had caused a stream of boiling water to gush forth from the earth, and so drove them away. Rome's lesser gods. Besides the eods above referred to, there were orods and goddesses of councils of war, of funerals, of thieves of the dawn, of fortune, of fields and cattle, of fruits and flowers, and of a host of other things. But of all minor gods, the Penates and Lares received most honor. These were the domestic orods. The Penates were so named from the place in which they were worshiped, the house- hold pantry. They were supposed to look after the w^el- fare of the familv. There were four classes of beino^s from which men selected their Penates, those of heaven, the sea, the under-world, and lastly, from the deified souls of deceased ancestors. The deified spirits of de- parted ancestors were called the Lares, and they were supposed to watch over the fortunes of their descend- ants. The Chinese also, from the earliest times, have in a similar manner worshiped their departed ancestors. THE ROMAN EMPIRE. As Rome conquered the world the gods of the con- quered nations were gradually incorporated with their own. Thus an immense and involved system was brought together. Soon, however, the gigantic structure was to topple over before the coming of Christianity, as Dagon had fallen before the coming of the ark of Jeho- l82 IDOL WORSHIP OF THE WORLD. vah in ancient times. Just at this time, the Roman Em pire was in the most favorable condition for the introduc- tion of Christianity. Within its Hmits there was a general peace, great military roads were built, piracy was sup- pressed, commerce and traffic generally increased, and travel was made safe and easy. Both the Latin and Greek languages were spread over east and west. But one other point of preparation was of greater importance. The deep and wide-spread corruption, brought about by the heathen religions, seemed to be beyond human remedy. Corruption, cruelty, sensuality and the most unnatural wickedness prevailed. The description Paul gives in his letter to the Romans of the general life of the people has been confirmed again and again. He says : "Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful ; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was dark- ened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image, made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things. Where- fore God also gave them up to uncleanness, through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonor their own bodies between themselves: who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshiped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections : for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature : and likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another: men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was meet.- And even as they did not like to THE WORSHIP AND GODS OF ROME. 183 retain God in their knovvledofe, God crave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things wliich are not con- venient; being filled with all unrighteousness, fornica- tion, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness ; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity ; whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, in- ventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, without understanding, covenant-breakers, without natural affec- tion, implacable, unmerciful : who, knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them." The investigations of the ruins of Pompeii and Hercu- laneum, the long buried cities, and the common accounts of historians of Paul's day, all show that this picture was not at all overdrawn. There was a most terrible need of Christianity just then to save the empire from falling to pieces by reason of its rottenness. Milman most graph- ically pictures the change that Christianity gradually wrought in the religious condition of Rome. He says : " Christianity was gradually withdrawing some of all orders, even slaves, out of the vices, the ignorance, the misery of that corrupted social system. It was even in- stilling feelings of humanity, yet unknown or coldly com- mended by ^n Impotent philosophy, among men and women whose infant ears had been habituated to the shrieks of dying gladiators ; it was giving dignity to minds prostrated by years, almost centuries, of degrading des- potism ; it was nurturing purity and modesty of manner in an unspeakable state of depravation; it was enshrining the marriage-bed in a sanctity long almost entirely lost, and rekindling to a steady warmth the domestic affections ; it was substituting a simple, calm and rational faith for the worn-out superstitions of heathenism ; gently establishing i84 IDQL WORSHIP OF THE WORLD. in the soul of man the sense of immortality, till it became a natural and inextinguishable part of his moral being." With this striking description of the historian, compare the poetic lines of Matthew Arnold: "On that hard pagan world disgust And sated loathing fell ; Deep weariness and sated lust Make human life a hell. In his cool hall with haggard eyes The Roman noble lay, He drove abroad in furious guise Along the Appian way. He made a feast, drank fierce and fast, And crowned his hair with flowers ; No easier, nor no quicker passed The impracticable hours." OUR HEATHEX AXCESTORS. 185 CHAPTER X. OUR HEATHEN ANCESTORS. To the Aryan of the West not merely the heavenly bodies, the sun, moon and stars, or the earth with its trees and springs, its foun- tains, or the sea with its storms and calms, but all things visible, as organs and instruments of Deity, were deserving of reverent adora- tion. Nothing was too trifling. The quivering leaf, the crackling flame, the falling thunderbolt, the flight or song of birds, the neigh- ing of horses, man's dreams and visions, even the movements of his pulse, all claimed attention, all might give some sign from the other world. All nature had a voice for the imaginative Teuton. The skies, the woods, the springs, the well, the lake, the hill, were his books, his oracles, his divinities. — G. F. Maclear. IT sounds strange to us, who have been so long a Christian people, to speak of a pagan ancestry. We can hardly realize that the condition in which we find the Japanese, or Chinaman, or Hindu of to-day, is the condition in which our forefathers were to be found not many centuries ago. Yet all traces of their heathenish belief and practices are not yet extinct. In our language, especially in many of our names, do we preserve the relics of the heathenish life of our fore- fathers. It is not easy to learn of the earliest religion of Britain, as the records are still greatly beclouded. But recent investigations of the mounds and relics of old England and of the origin of English names, together with the brincrinof to liofht of some valuable old records, have i86 IDOL WORSHIP OF THE WORLD. helped greatly to clear up the subject. Before passing to consider more particularly the ancient religious life of Great Britain, let us fasten in our minds a few prominent facts in the early history of that land. ANCIENT BRITAIN. Let us note several prominent parts in the early his- tory of Britain. First, the earliest inhabitants and their religion, known as Druidism. Secondly, the invasion of Britain by the Romans and the introduction of the in- vaders' religion. Thirdly, the introduction of Christianity. Fourthly, the coming of the Saxons and the extinguish- ing of Christianity by the Saxon religion. Fifthly, the coming again and final victory of Christianity. By fixing these points in mind, we can without difficulty trace the religious history of our ancestors. In early times we find that the Greeks had intercourse with Britain. The time when this trade was carried on is fixed by different authors at periods varying from 500 B. C. to 200 B. C. Before even the first of these times, by some hundreds of years, the Phoenicians of Tyre visited Britain to purchase tin. These allusions to visits of Greeks and Phoenicians are found in ancient Welsh tra- ditions handed down by the Druids. Indeed, some of these traditions go back to a period shordy after the dis- persion of the nations, even beyond Abraham's day. Other traditions are found which relate even to the deluge itself, as follows: "There were three awful events in the Isle of Britain. The first was the bursting of the Lake of Floods, and the rushing of an inundation over all the lands, until all persons were destroyed, except Dwyvan and Dwyvack, who escaped in an open vessel and from them the Isle of Britain was re-peopled. I OUR HEATHEX AXiESlORS. 187 "The three prhnary and extraordinary works of the Isle of Britain: The ship of Nwydd nav Neivion, which broucrht in it a male and female of all livinor thino-s, when the Lake of Floods burst forth; the large horned oxen of Au the Mighty, that drew the crocodile from the lake of the land, so that the lake did not burst forth any more; and the stone of Gwyddon Ganhedon, upon which all the arts and sciences of the world are engraven." All this bears such striking similarity to the traditions preserved among the most ancient nations in the east- ern part of the world, that we cannot conceive the pos- sibility of its having been invented in any period of the dark ages; it therefore strengthens our confidence in the general teaching of the Triads. In early Britain there were only two classes of British citizens, "the nobles and the villains," (/. e., villagers). All below these were slaves. The people possessed a considerable knowledge of astronomy, of geometry and of mechanics. They were an eloquent people ; an ancient historian says that their orators " sometimes step between two hostile armies, who are standing with swords drawn, and spears extended, ready to fight; and, by their eloquence, as by an irresisti- ble enchantment, they prevent a shedding of blood." The Britons were also acquainted witli the useful arts. The houses in which they dwelt, their chariots of war, as well as a great variety of other works, prove this beyond the possibility of doubt. We notice the chariots : " Their cars were admired by the Romans, adopted by individuals for their journeys, and introduced by the public into their races. And we have a picture of one of them, sketched by a British hand, and engraven on a coin. There we see the charioteer mounted on his carriage before us, a quiver of arrows peeping over his left shoulder, and a spear protended from his left hand, his feet resting upon i88 IDOL WORSHIP OF THE WORLD. the pole or foot-board annexed to it, and his body leaning over the horses, in the act of accelerating their motion. And we have the descripdon of another in Ossian, very similar in one or two particulars, and more circumstan- tial. It is the car of a British monarch, bending behind, drawn by a pair of horses, and embossed with sparkling stones. Its beam is of polished yew, its seat of the smoothest bone, and the sides of it are replenished with spears. Persons who could construct such vehicles, build houses and make furniture, as well as all the various offensive and defensive weapons of war, must have had no inconsiderable mechanical knowledge and skill." THE DRUIDS. WONDERFUL RESEMBLANCE. We have reason to believe that the Britons inhabited England not long after the days of Noah. We might therefore expect to find resemblances between their re- ligion and the religions of other ancient peoples ; and we are not disappointed. There is a striking correspondence between the system of the ancient Britons and those of the Hebrew patriarchs, the Brahmins of India, the Magi of Persia and the Greek priests. It was one system that was finally conveyed to these different parts of the globe. Take, as a single instance of the many points of compari- son, their idea of God. Among their names for the su- preme God which they had in use before the introduction of Christianity were terms which have been literally trans- lated, " God," " Distributor," " Governor," " the Mysteri- ous One," "the Eternal," " He that pervadeth all things," "the Author of Existence," "the Ancient of Days." These expressive appellations sufficiendy indicate their views of the moral character and attributes of God. The opinion of the Druids as to the nature of God is compre- hensively explained by the following bold and remarkable Ci'R HEATHEN ANCESTORS. 189 aphorism : " Nid Dim Ond Duw, Nid Duw Ond Dim." It defies translation so as to convey its force and beauty; but William Owen has furnished a version sufficiently plain to convey the idea: "God cannot be matter; what is not matter must be God," These were the attributes of the God of the early Druids. They believed that the Deity was the source of life, and the giver of good. They defined His duration as eternal, and ascribed to Him omnipotence as the measure of His power. And as they found nothing in the animal creation or in man which had any proportion or resemblance to God, they had neither statues nor pictures to represent Him ; from which we infer that they regarded God as a pure spirit, as disen- gaged from matter as He was exalted above all created things and above all resemblance to them. WORSHIP OF THE DRUIDS. The Druids offered sacrifices and observed particular days for religious worship. Their sacrifices were care- fully selected, and they appear to have had clear views of their propitiatory character. PMny, describing the gath- ering of the mistletoe, observes : "After they have well and duly prepared their festival cheer under the tree, they bring thither two young bullocks, milk-white, such as never drew in yoke at plow or wain, and whose heads were then and not before bound by the horns ; which done, the priest, arrayed in a white vesture, climbeth up into the tree, and, with a golden hook or bill, cutteth it off. and they beneath receive it in a white cas- sock or coat of arms. Then they fall to and kill the beasts aforesaid for sacrifice, praying devoutly that it would please God to bless this gift of His to the good and benefit of all those to whom He had vouchsafed to give it." These sacrifices were offered with very solemn jOQ IDOL WORSHIP OF THE WORLD. rites, the common people remaining- at a distance, wliile the priests approached with trembhng- awe the bloody victims, which were carried around the omen-fire. There is no branch of this subject which presents itself in a more interesting- aspect than that w^hich relates to the sacred places of this people, and the peculiar man- ner of their worship. They worshiped in the open air; it being a maxim with them, that it was unlawful to build temples to the gods, or to worship them within walls and under roofs. Their favorite place was a grove of oaks, or the shelter of a majestic tree of this kind. Here they would erect stone pillars in one or two circular rows; and in some of their principal temples, as particularly that of Stonehenge, they laid stones of prodigious weight on the tops of these perpendicular pillars, which formed a kind of circle aloft in the air. Near to these temples they constructed their sacred mounts, their cromlechs or stone tables for their sacrifices, and every other necessary pro- vision for their worship. These sacred places were generally situated in the centre of some thick grove or wood, watered by a consecrated river or fountain, and surrounded by a ditch or mound, to prevent intrusion. TEMPLE OF THE HANGING STONES. One of the most extraordinary monuments of ancient England, is that called Stonehenge. This is an Anglo- Saxon term, meaning the hanging stones. This monu- ment is situated on a small hill in the midst of a barren plain. All around it funeral mounds are grouped. These mounds are called "barrows," and within three miles of Stonehenge there are over three hundred and fifty of these that have been recently discovered. The stones that constituted this Druid temple are many of them 'ying prostrate on the ground, a few only remaining up- OCR IIEATHEX ANCESTORS. 191 right with the gigantic stone slabs across their tops. Yet enouofh remains to indicate the g-eneral desion of the structure as it orio-inallv stood. It consisted of an outer circle, about tliree hundred feet in diameter, of thirty JQ2 IDOL WORSHIP OF THE WORLD. upright stones sustaining- as many others laid horizontally on their tops. Within this was another circle of upright ones, smaller than those in the outer circle, and without any stones on their tops. These stones are so large that it cannot be imagined how they were raised to their lofty position. It is very evident that Stonehenge was a place of worship, and from the number of grave-mounds, each containing the remains of a number of bodies, it is evi- dent that it was a place of great sanctity. It has been supposed that serpent-worship found a place here. HUMAN SACRIFICES. Caesar gives a very careful account of the Druids. In the century just preceding the coming of Christ, Caesar conquered the Britons. His account of their condition is the more reliable because this conquest put him in possession of the means of knowing the people who were in the future to form a part of his empire. His testimony can best be ofiven in a translation of his own words. He says : " All the Gallic nations are much given to superstition ; for which reason, when they are seriously ill, or are in danger from their wars or other causes, they either offer up men as victims to the gods, or make a vow to sacrifice themselves. The ministers in these offerings are the Druids, and they hold that the wrath of the immortal gods can only be appeased, and man's life be redeemed, by offering up human sacrifice, and it is a part of their national institutions to hold fixed solemnities for this purpose. Some of them make immense images of wicker- work, which they fill with men, who are thus burned alive in offering to their deities. These victims are generally selected from those who have been convicted of theft, robbery, or other crimes, in whose punishment they think M OUR HEATHEX AXCESTORS. 193 the immortal gods take the greatest pleasure ; but if there be any scarcity of such victims they do not hesitate to sacrifice innocent men in their place. If there be a super- abundance of cattle taken in war the surplus is offered up in sacrifice ; the rest of the spoil is collected into one mass. In many of their tribes large heaps of these things may be seen in their consecrated places, and it is a rare occur- rence for any individual sacreligiously to conceal part of the booty, or to turn it to his own use ; the severest pun- ishment, together with bodily torture, is inflicted on those who are guilty of such an offense," He further speaks of the Druids in another place: "The Druids act in all sacred matters; they attend to the sacrifices, which are either offered by the tribe in general or by individuals, and answer all questions con- cerning their religion. They always have a large number of young men as pupils, who treat them with the greatest respect ; for it is they who decide in all controversies, whether public or private, and they judge all causes, whether of murder, of a disputed inheritance, or of the boundaries of estates. They assign both rewards and punishments; and whoever refuses to abide by their sen- tence, whether he be in a public or private station, is forbidden to be present at the sacrifices of the gods. This is, in fact, the most severe mode of punishment, and those who have been thus excommunicated are held as impious and profane ; all avoid them ; no one will either meet them or speak to them, lest they should be injured by their contagion ; every species of honor is withheld from them, and if they are plaintiffs in a lawsuit justice is denied. All the Druids are subject to one chief, who enjoys the greatest authority among them. Upon the death of the chief Druid, the next in dignity is appointed to succeed him ; and if there are two whose merits are jgj^ IDOL WORSHIP OF THE WORLD. equal, the election is made by the votes of the whole body, though sometimes they dispute for pre-eminence by the sword. "The Druidic system is thought to have had its origin in Britain, from whence it was introduced into Gaul. . . . Among the most important doctrines of the Druids is that of the immortality of the soul, W'hich they believe passes after death into other bodies ; they hold this to be a great inducement to the practice of virtue, as the mind thus becomes relieved from the fear of death. Their other doctrines concern the motions of the heavenly bodies, the magnitude of the earth and the universe, the nature of things, and the power and attributes of the immortal gods." Certainly Csesar's testimony is clear, and he writes as one who had actually gazed upon the strange and strikino- scenes which he describes. o THE DESTRUCTION OF DRLTDISM. The religion of the Druids was handed down by tra- dition from father to son, and consisted in the proper performance of certain rites and ceremonies. It has been stated that the Druids worshiped Bel or Baal, though this is sometimes questioned. On the eve of May-day fires were lighted on their altars in honor of their Supreme God. They had a set of doctrines which were publicly taught, and another set which were made known only to the initiated. The Druids were not gross idolaters, though they regarded the oak, the symbol of God, with superstitious awe. But the time for the death of Druidism had come. Fifty-five years before Christ, the great conqueror, Julius Caisar, landed in Britain. The skillful and couratjeous Britons cjave him a crreat deal of trouble, and prevented his penetrating far from the shore. Emperor after emperor sought to subjugate the Island OUR HEATHEN ANCESTORS. 195 during- the years that followed, but it was not until 130 years had passed away that Briton was really conquered by the Romans. Agricola was sent in A. D. 78 to be govenor of Britain. By his wise policy the whole life of the Britons was changed wherever it came under Roman iniiuence. . The dwellings of the Britons were very rude and simple in the early ages, being mostly constructed of hurdle or wicker-work, and afterward of large stones without mortar. Their houses were generally round, having the roof thatched, with a hole left in the centre for the escape of smoke. The Romans, on the contrary, had long been accustomed to commodious and elegant dwellings, well built of masonry, and adorned in the richest manner with statues, pictures, elegant drapery and handsome furniture. It was not while the Romans were engaged in con- quering Britain that their religion gained a foothold there, but after they had come to power and peace. The Druid priests were destroyed, and the people, left thus withouf religious teachers, gradually accepted to some extent -the then-existino- forms of Roman faith. o WHO FIRST BROUGHT CHRISTIANITY TO BRITAIN? While the Romans were busily seeking to conquer Britain, an event of unparalleled importance took place. It was the birth of Jesus, the Christ. Very nearly every one of the early preachers who by any possibility could have gone to Britain with the Gospel message, has been declared to be the founder of Christianity there. The Apostle Peter is declared, so says an old chronicle, "to have stayed some time in Britain ; where having preached the word, established churches, ordained bishops, priests and deacons, in the twelfth year of Nero he returned to 196 IDOL WORSHIP OF THE WORLD. Rome." But this, for many reasons, is not to be believed. Joseph of Arimathea is also said to have first taken the Gospel to Britain. But the whole narrative of his mis- sion is fabulous. A King Lucius is said to have sent about 164 A. D. to Rome for missionaries, but this too is questionable. One more question remains to be con- sidered. Did the Apostle Paul plant -Christianity in Britain? Tertullian, about the year 200 A. D., wrote that the Gospel had spread "also to the boundaries of the Spaniards, to all the different nations of Gaul, and to those parts of Britain inaccessible even to the Romans." But more ancient than this is the testimony of Clement, Bishop of Rome, 102 A. D. "St. Paul preached right- eousness- through the whole world; and, in doino^ this, went to the utmost bounds of the West." A learned writer thus sums up all the evidence of Paul's being the first to give the Gospel to Britain : "That St. Paul did go to Britain we may collect from the testimony of Clemens Romanus, Theodoret and Jerome, who relate that, after his imprisonment, he preached the Gospel in the western parts ; that he brought salvation to the islands that lie in the ocean, and that, in preaching the Gospel, he went to the utmost bounds of the West What was meant by the West and the islands that lie in the ocean, we may judge from Plutarch, Eusebius and Nicephorus, who call the British Ocean the western; and again from Nicephorus, who says that one of the apostles 'went to the extreme countries of the ocean and the British Isles ;' but especially from the words of Catullus, who calls Britain the utmost island of the West; and from Theodoret, who describes the Britons as inhabiting the utmost parts of the West. W^hen Clement, therefore, says that Paul went to the utmost bounds of the West, we do not conjecture, but are sure, that he meant Britain, OCR HEATHEX ANCESTORS. 197 not only because Britain was so designated, but because Paul could not have orone to the utmost bounds of the West without going to Britain. It is almost unnecessary, therefore, to appeal to the express testimony of \'enan- tius. Fortunatus and Sophronius, for the apostle's journey to Britain." PAGANISM OF THE SAXONS. The religion of our Saxon ancestors was the same as that of the whole German family. Christianit)', which had by this time brought about the conversion of the Roman Empire, had not penetrated as yet among the forests of the North. The common god of the English people, as of the whole German race, was Woden, the war-god, the guardian of ways and boundaries, to whom his worshipers attributed the invention of letters, and whom every tribe held to be the first ancestor ot its kines. Our own names for the davs of the week still recall to us the gods whom our English fathers wor- shiped in their Sleswick homeland. Wednesday is W'o- den's day, as Thursday is the day of Thunder, or, as the Northmen called him, Thor, the god of air, and storm, and rain. Friday is Freya's day, the goddess of jDeace, and joy, and fruitfulness, whose emblems, borne aloft by dancine maidens, brouirht increase to every field and stall they visited. Saturday commemorates an obscure god, Soetere; Tuesday, the Dark god, Tiw, to meet whom was death; Eostre, the goddess of the dawn, or the spring, lends her name to the Christian festival of the Resurrection. Behind these floated the dim shapes of an older mythology — "Wyrd," the death- goddess, whose memory lingered long in the "weird" of northern super- stition, or the Shield Maidens, the 'mighty women." who, an old rhyme tells us, "wrought on the batde-field their 198 IDOL WORSHIP OF THE WORLD. toil, and hurled the thrilling javelins," Nearer to the popular fancy lay the deities of wood and fell, or the hero- gods of legend and song, "Nicor," the water-sprite, who gave us our water nixies, and "Old Nick," "Weland," the forger of mighty shields and sharp-biting swords, at a later time, in his Berkshire, " Weyland's Smithy, " or ^gil, the hero archer, whose legend is that of Cloudesly or Tell. A nature-worship of this sort lent itself ill to OUR HEATHEN AXCESTORS. ■ j^- the purposes of a priesthood, and, though a priestly class existed, it seems at no time to have had much weight in the English society. As every freeman was his own judge and his own legislator, so he was his own house priest; and the common English worship lay in the sac- rifice which he offered to the god of his hearth. The religion of Woden and Thor supplanted, for the time beine, the religion of Christ. The new EnHand was once more a heathen land under the gods of its conquerors. SAXON GODS. The first of all the gods was Woden or Odin. He is the All-father, like Dyans of the early Hindus, Zeus of the Greeks and Jove of the Romans. In the Volsung Saga, Woden is revealed as follows : King Volsung had made preparation for an entertainment. Blazing fires burned along the hall, and in the middle of the hall stood a laree tree, whose crreen and fair foliage covered the roof. It was called Woden's tree. Now, as the guests sat around the fire in the evening, a man entered the hall whose countenance they did not know. He wore a variegated cloak, was barefooted, his breeches were of linen, and a wide-brimmed hat hung down over his face. He was very tall, looked old, and was one-eyed. He held in his hand a sword. He went to the tree, stuck his sword into it with such a powerful blow that it sunk into it even up to the hilt. No one dared greet him. It was Woden. Woden's dwellinor was called Walhal. The Edda, the poem of the gods, thus describes Walhalla : "Easily to be known is, By those who to Odin come, The mansion by its aspect. Its roof with spears is held, Its hall with shields is decked, With corselets are its benches strewed. 200 ^^OL WORSHIP OF THE WORLD. "Five hundred doors And forty more Methinks are in Walhal, Eight hundred heroes through each door Shall issue forth ! Against the wolf to combat." The heroes are invited after death to Woden's hall. That the brave were to be taken to Walhalla after death was one of the fundamental points, if not the very heart of the religion of the Northmen. They felt in their hearts that it was absolutely necessary to be brave. Woden would not care for them, but would despise and thrust them away from him, if they were not brave. This made the Northmen think it a shame and misery not to die in battle. Old kings, about to die, had their bodies placed in a ship ; the ship was sent forth with sails set, and a slow fire burning in it, so that once out at sea it might blaze up in flame, and in such a way worthily bury the hero both in the sky and in the ocean. He lay in the prow of his ship, silent, with closed lips, defying the wild ocean. As Boyesen has sung : "In the prow with head uplifted Stood the chief like wrathful Thor ; Through his locks, the snow-flakes drifted, Bleached their hue from gold to hoar, 'Mid the crash of mast and rafter Norsemen leaped through death with laughter Up through Walhal's wide-flung door." Thor comes next to Woden. His name means thunder. He is the spring-god, subduing the frost-giants. Long- fellow has described the Norseman's idea of Thor, thus: " I am the god Thor, I am the war-god. I am the Thunderer! here in my Northland, My fastness and fortress, reign I forever ! 0 UR HE A THEN ANCES TORS. 20 1 "Here amid icebergs rule I the nations; This is my hammer, Mjohier, the mighty, Giants and sorcerers cannot withstand it ! "These are the gauntlets wherewith I wield it, And hurl it afar off; this is my girdle, Whenever I brace it strength is redoubled ! "The light thou beholdest stream through the heavens, In flashes of crimson, is but my red beard. Blown by the night-wind, affrighting the nations. "Jove is my brother; mine eyes are the lightning; The wheels of my chariot roll in the thunder, The blows of my hammer ring in the earthquake ! "Force rules the world still, has ruled it, shall rule it; Meekness is weakness, strength is triumphant; Over the whole earth still is Thor's-day!" SAXON SACRIFICES. The sacrifices which were presented to the gods in the early ages were very simple, and such as a people in the first stages of civilization would offer — the first fruits of their crops, and the choicest products of the earth. They also sacrificed animals. They offered to Thor, during the feast of Jaul, fat oxen and horses; to Frigga, the largest hog which they could procure; to Odin, horses, dogs and falcons, sometimes cocks, and a fat bull. They even proceeded at times to shed human blood. The victims were usually chosen from captives in time of war, and slaves during peace. After being selected, they were treated with excessive kindness, until the time of their execution, when they were congratu- lated on their happy destiny in a future life. On great emergencies, however, nobles and kings were immolated on the altars of the gods. On all these occasions the priests took care, in consecrating the victim, to pronounce 202 IDOL WORSHIP OF THE IVOR ID. SACRIFICIAL RITES OF THE ANCIENT BRITISH DKUIDS. certain words; such as, "I devote thee to Odin;" "I send thee to Odin;" or, "I devote thee for a good harvest, for Or/^ HEATHEN AXCESTORS. 20 the return of a fruitful season." The ceremony con- chided with feasting, during which they drank immoder- ately. First, the kings and chief lords drank healths in honor of the gods; afterward, every one drank, making song or prayer to the gods who had been named. After the victim was slain, the body was burnt, or suspended in a sacred grove near the temple; part of the blood was sprinkled upon the people, part upon the sacred grove. With the same they also bedewed the images of the gods, the altars, the benches and walls of the temple, both within and without, thus completing their work. FAIRY-LORE OF WESTERN EUROPE. The Saxons and their kindred, the Teutons and the Celts, have a great mass of fairy tales, legends, hobgoblin stories and the like. These tales enter more into the life of the people than we are accustomed to believe. While the stronger men, the soldiers of the race, told their old Viking tales or recited their Eddas' poems, the common people told over and over again the tales of the little beings who haunted hill and meadow, field and forest, lake and river. The tales and superstitions of the early Britons were intimately related to their religious ideas, and exerted as powerful an influence on their lives as their belief in the gods. So it is in keeping with our subject that we pro- ceed to present some of these fairy tales and legends. Shakespeare has preserved ancient and quaint traditions of the Fairies and Puck, and of Mab, Queen of the Fairies, from which we quote. '■'■Fairy. — Either I mistake 3'our shape and making quite, Or else you are that shrewd and knavish sprite Call'd Robin Good-fellow. Are you not he That frights the maidens of the villagery, 204 IDOL WORSHIP OF IHE WORLD. Skims milk, and sometimes labors in the quern, And bootless makes the breathless housewife churn ; And sometimes makes the drink to bear no harm ; Misleads night-wanderers, laughing at their harm? Those that Hobgoblin call you, and sweet Puck, You do their work, and they shall have good luck, Are not you he ? Puck. — Thou speakest aright, I am that merry wanderer of the night. I jest to Oberon, and make him smile, When I a fat and bean-fed horse beguile, Neighing in likeness of a filly-foal ; And sometimes lurk I in a gossip's bowl, In very likeness of a roasted crab, And when she drinks, against her lips I bob. And on her withered durlap pour the ale. The wisest aunt, telling the saddest tale, Sometimes for three-foot stool mistaketh me ; Then slip I from her bum — down topples she, And tailor cries, and falls into a cough ; And then the whole quire hold their hips and lafife. And waxen in their mirth, and neeze and swear, A merrier hour was never wasted there. O then, I see Queen Mab hath been with you. She is the fairies' midwife ; and she comes, In shape no bigger than an agate stone On the forefinger of an alderman, Drawn with a team of little atomies, Over men's noses as they lie asleep : Her wagon-spokes, made of long spinner's legs; The cover, of the wings of grasshoppers ; The traces, of the smallest spider's web ; The collars of the moonshines' watery beams; Her whip of cricket's bone ; the lash of film; Her wagoner, a small gray-coated gnat, Not half so big as a round little worm Pricked from the lazy finger of a maid : Her chariot is an empty hazel nut, Made by the joiner squirrel or old grub, Time out of mind the fairies' coachmakers. OUR HEATHEN ANCESTORS. 205 This is that very Mab That plats the manes of horses in the night ; And bakes the elflocks in foul sluttish hairs, Which once untangled much misfortune bode. Thisiis the hag, when maids lie on their backs, That presses them." A few of the very many fairy tales once current in Old England and in Western Europe generally, may well be oiven here in illustration of their greneral character. AN ELFIN STORY. There was one time, it is said, a servant girl, who was, for her cleanly, tidy habits, greatly beloved by the Elves, particularly as she was careful to carry away all dirt and foul water to a distance from the house, and they once invited her to a wedding. Everything was conducted in the greatest order, and they made her a present of some chips, which she took good-humoredly, and put into her pocket. But when the bride- pair were coming, there was a straw unluckily lying in the way ; the bridegroom got cleverly over it, but the poor bride fell on her face. At the sight of this, the girl could not restrain herself, but burst out a-laughing, and that instant the whole vanished from her sight. Next day, to her utter amazement, she found that what she had taken to be nothing but chips were so many pieces of pure gold. THE PENITENT NIS. It is related of a Nis, who had established himself in a house in Jutland, that he used every evening, after the maid was gone to bed, to go into the kitchen to take his groute, which they used to leave there for him in a large wooden bowl. One evening, he sat down as usual to eat his supper ,yr.^ IDOL WORSHIP OF THE WORLD. with a good appetite, drew over the bowl to him, and was just beginning, as he thought, to make a comfortable meal, when he found that the maid had forgotten to put any butter in it for him. At this, he fell into a furious rage, got up in the height of his passion, and went out into the cow-house and twisted the neck of the best cow that was in it; but as he felt himself still very hungry, he stole back again to the kitchen to take some of the groute, such as it was, and when he had eaten a little of it he perceived that there was butter in it, but that it had sunk to the bottom under the groute. He was now so vexed at his injustice toward the maid that, to make good the damacre he had done, he went back to the cow-house and set a chest full of money by the side of the dead cow, where the family found it next morning, and by means of it cfot into flourishinof circumstances. NIXES. The Nixes, or Water-people, inhabit lakes and rivers. The man is like any other man, only he has green teeth. He also wears a green hat. The female Nixes appear like beautiful maidens. On fine sunny days they may be seen sitting on the banks, or on the branches of the trees, combing their long golden locks. When any person is shortly to be drowned the Nixes may be pre- viously seen dancing on the surface of the water. They inhabit a beautiful region below the water, whither they sometimes convey mortals. A girl from a village near Leipsic, as the story goes, was at one time at service in the house of a Nix. She reported that everything there was very good ; all she had to complain of was that she was obliged to eat her food without salt. The female Nixes frequently go to the market to buy meat ; they are always dressed with extreme neatness, only a corner of OUR HEATHEN ANCESTORS. 20'' the apron or some other part of their clothes Is wet. The man also occasionally goes to market. They are fond of carrying off women, ot whom they make wives. From the many tales of the Nixes we select the following, which are fair specimens of the whole. THE PEASANT AND THE WATERMAN. A Waterman, or Nix, once lived on o-ood terms w^ith a peasant who dwelt near his lake. He often visited him, and at last begged that the peasant would make a visit to his house under the water. The peasant consented, and went down with him. There was everything down under the water as in a stately palace on the land — halls, cham bers and cabinets, with costly furniture of every descrip- tion. The Waterman led his guest over the whole, and showed him everything that was in it. They came at length to a little chamber, where were standing several new pots turned upside down. The peasant asked what was in them. " They contain," was the reply, '* the souls of drowned people, which I put under the pots and keep them close, so that they cannot get away." The peasant made no remark, and he came up again on the land. But for a lonof time the affair of the souls continued to eive him great trouble, and he watched to find when the Waterman should be from home. When this occurred, as he had marked the right way down, he descended into the water-house, and, having made out the little chamber, he turned up all the pots one after another, and immedi- ately the souls of the drowned people ascended out of the water and recovered their liberty. THE WONDERFUL LITTLE POUCH. At noon, one day, a young peasant sat by the side of a wood, and, sighing, prayed the gods to give him a mor- 20b IDOL WORSHIP OF THE WORLD. sel of food. A dwarf suddenly emerged from the wood, and told him that his prayer should be fulfilled. He then gave him the pouch that he had on his side, with the as- surance that he would always find in it wherewithal to satisfy his thirst and hunger, charging him, at the same time, not to consume it all, and to share with any one who asked him for food. The dwarf vanished, and the peas- ant put his hand into the pouch to make a trial of it, and there he found a cake of new bread, a cheese, and a bottle of wine, on which he made a hearty meal. He then saw that the pouch swelled up as before, and, look- ing- in, he found that it was acrain full of bread, cheese and wine. He now felt sure of his food, and he lived on in an idle, luxurious way, without doing any work. One day, as he was gorging himself, there came up to him a feeble old man, who prayed him to give him a morsel to eat. He refused in a brutal, churlish tone, when instantly the bread and cheese broke, and scattered out of his hands, and pouch and all vanished. CHRISTIANIZING THE SAXONS. According to widely-accepted tradition, when but a young deacon, Gregory the Great had noted the white bodies, the fair faces and the golden hair of some youths who stood bound in the market-place at Rome. " From what country do these slaves come?" he asked the traders who held them. " They are English, Angles !" the slave- dealers answered. The deacon's pity veiled itself in poetic humor. " Not Angles, but angels," he said, " with faces so angel-like! From what country come they?" "They come," said the merchants, "from Deira." " De ira !" was the untranslatable reply; "aye, plucked from God's ire. and called to Christ's mercy ! And what is the name of their king ?" "^-Ella," they told him ; and Gre- O UR HE A THEN ANCESTORS. 2 OQ g-ory seized on the words as a good omen. "Alleluia shall be sung there," he cried, and passed on, musing how the angel-faces should be brought to sing it. Years went by, and the deacon become Bishop of Rome, when the Christian princess, Berctas' marriage to the King of England gave him the opening he sought. He at once sent a Roman Abbot, Augustine, at the head of a band of monks, to preach the Gospel to the English people. The missionaries landed A. D. 597, on the very spot where Hengest had landed more than a century before, in the Isle of Thanet ; and the king received them sitting in the open air, on the chalk-down above Minster, where the eye nowadays catches, miles away over the marshes, the dim tower of Canterbury. He listened to the long sermon as the interpreters whom Augustine had brought with him from Gaul translated it. "Your words are fair," /Ethe]berdt replied at last, with English good sense, " but they are new and of doubtful meaning." For himself, he said, he refused to forsake the gods of his fathers, but lie promised shelter and protection to the strangers. The band of monks entered Canterbury bearing before them a silver cross with a picture of Christ, and singing in concert the strains of the litany of their church. "Turn from this city, O Lord," they sang, "Thine anger and wrath, and turn it from Thy holy house ; for we have sinned." And then, in strange con- trast, came the jubilant cry of the older Hebrew worship, the cry which Gregory had wrested in prophetic earnest- ness from the name of the Yorkshire king in the Roman market-place — "Alleluia !" Thus was begun the overturning of the heathen faith of our ancestors, and the establishment of Christianity among them. 2 JO IDOL WORSHIP OF THE WORLD. CHAPTER XI. BRAHMINISM, THE RELIGION OF THE HINDUS. The Hindu mind still superstition sways Still to his Triune God the Brahmin prays; The laws of "caste" each generous hope restrain, And bind all mental powers with palsying chain. Still lives that old belief the Samian taught, Insects and brutes with human souls are fraught, Souls doomed to wander for uncounted years. Till, pure from earthly dross, they seek the spheres. Nicholas Mich ell. INDIA is almost a continent like Europe. It Is shaped like a great triangle. Its population amounts to 240,000,000. There are different races in India. First came to the fertile valleys of the Indus and Ganges the sturdy immigrants from Central Asia, from Tartary and Thibet. These were Scythians, some of them Mongo- lians. Then came the Hindu people, the great family of the Aryans, who separated themselves from their Persian brethren sometime near 2,000 B, C, and gradually over- spread all India. About 500 B. C, Darius Hystaspes conquered the Indian Empire. Alexander the Great in- vaded it as far as the Indus in 327 B. C. The Mohammed- ans drove the Parsees from their Persian home about i.ioo years ago, and a small body of them settled in India. Then came the Mohammedans (Arabs, Turks, Afghans and Moguls) and conquered India for a time. There are now 41,000,000 of Mohammedans in that land. Still later came Europeans, led thither by the prospects of great BRAHMINISM, THE RELIGION OF THE HINDUS. 2 I I commercial gains, the Portuguese, the Danes, the Dutch, the French and, finally, came the English. Over one hundred dialects are spoken in India, but there is only one sacred language and one sacred litera- ture. This is the Sanscrit. All the Hindu sacred books, all the sacred knowledgfe of Hindu theology, phil- osophy or law, all the Hindu creeds, opinions, customs, etc., are recorded in this lano-LiaCTe. This Ian- ofuaoe of their literature does not change with the course of time, it remains the same now as ever. SKETCH OF BRAHMIXISM. Brahminism grew out of what is called the Vedic re- liction. Before Abraham's day the people living in Central Asia, being a sim- ple race, addressed their! prayers to the powers of nature, as, for example, to the storms, the clouds and the sun, seeing the Deity in each of these. Hymns were written to these gods ancient hindu idol. and this forms the earliest of all sacred books, only ex- cepting those from which Moses wrote his account of the early history of the world in Genesis. This people moved south into India. The priesthood arose and the other Vedic books of ceremonies, sacrifices and liturgical forms 212 11^ OL WORSHIP OF THE WORLD. were prepared. Great commentaries were written on these books, and all were declared to be inspired. The priests quarreled with the civil chiefs, but their sacred character was increased by the conflict, and caste is the result. The priests are the highest caste (or class), next come the warriors, then the merchant, the farmer, etc., last of all the tanners, buriers of the dead, etc. These classes never intermarry or intermingle in any way; it is contaminating to sit together even. About this time idols appear, and gods multiply until they reach the number of 330,000,000. Men groaned under this stupendous system of oppressive idolatry. Buddha tried in the seventh century before Christ, to reform it, but he failed, though he succeeded in establishing a new faith which has numbered its converts by the hundreds of mil- lions. But Brahminism continues to be the religion of India, even until to-day. The task of Christianity to supplant it is gigantic, and rendered doubly difficult by the failure of Buddhism. In later days a new reformer appeared, Rammohun Roy. He started the Brahmo- somaj, or reformed Brahminism, but under his successor, Keshub Chunder Sen, it is drifting toward Christianity. Starting from the Veda, Hinduism has ended in em- bracing something from all religions, and in presenting phases suited to all minds. It is all-tolerant, all-com- pliant, all-comprehensive, all-absorbing. It has its spiritual and its material aspect, its esoteric and exoteric, its sub- jective and objective, its rational and irrational, its pure and its impure. It has one side for the practical, anodier for the severely moral another for the devotional and imaginative, another for the sensuous and sensual, and another for the philosophical and speculative. Those who rest in ceremonial observances find it all-sufficient; those who deny the efficacy of works and make faith the BRAHMINISM, THE RELIGION OF THE HINDUS. 213 one requisite, need not wander from its pale ; those who are addicted to sensuality may have their tastes fully crratified ; those whose deliofht is in meditatino- upon the nature of God and of man, or the rela- tions of matter and of spirit, the mystery of sep- arate existence, or upon the origin of evil, may here indulge their love of speculation. And this capacity for almost limit- less expansion causes al- most numberless sectar- ian divisions even amonor the followers of any given particularline of doctrine. Yet there remains much of the old nature-wor- ship, or more correctly speaking,of the old devil- worship among the Hin- dus even at this late day. As in Tinnevelly the people worship a stone devil, who holds a trident in one hand, and a child which he was about to devour in the other. The idol generally has a garland of red and white oleander flowers on its head and shoulders. DEVIL WORSHIPED IN TINNEVELLY. THE GOD.S OF HINDUISM. The three idols sculptured on the walls of Elephanta Cave are found all over India, and constitute the chief gods which are worshiped by the Hindus. 214 IDOL WORSHIP OF THE WORLD. All the human race is said to have come from the highlands of Central Asia, and the worship of these, our Aryan forefathers, was at first exceedingly simple. Their manner of life brought them into close contact with na- ture, and we learn from the hymns then written, many of INDRA, GOD OF THE ATMOSPHERE. which are still preserved in the Vedas (the sacred book of the Hindus), that they regarded the powers of nature as manifestations of gods. In the storms, they supposed these rival gods were quarreling. In the Vedic hymns, frequent mention is made of the chief god, called Dyaus, the " Heavenly Father." Also Aditi, the "Infinite Ex- BRAHMIXISM, THE RELIGIOX OF THE HINDUS. 2 I 21 5 IDOL WORSHIP OF THE WORLD. panse," is called the mother of all gods. Next comes Varuna, the " Sky in its Brightness," then Indra, the god of the "Atmosphere;" so running through the whole list. After a time, the names of the gods are somewhat al- tered, and a sort "of trinity is formed. Agni, god of fire, becomes Brahma ; Surya, the sun-god, becomes Vishnu, and Indra, the atmosphere-god, becomes Siva. These constitute what is called the Tri-murti, and are generally said to represent one god as Creator, Preserver or De- stroyer. Hindus often write in their honor verses like the following : " In those three persons the one God was shown — Each first in place, each last — not one alone ; Of Siva, Vishiiu, Brahma, each may be First, second, third, among the Blessed Three." As to which of the three orods is to be called the Su- preme Being, opinions differ. The following story is told in one of the sacred books touching upon this point : STORY OF THE SAGES' SEARCH. A dispute arose among the sages as to which of the three gods was greatest ; so they applied to the great Bhrigu, one of the ten Maharshis, or primeval patriarchs created by the first Manu, to determine the point. He undertook to put all three gods to a severe test, and went first to Brahma; on approaching whom he pur- posely omitted an obeisance. Upon this the god's anger blazed terribly forth; but, restraining it, he was at length pacified. Next he repaired to the abode of Siva, in Kailasa, and omitted to return the ofod's salutation. The vindictive deity was enraged, his eyes flashed fire, and he raised his trident to destroy the sage ; but the god's wife, Parvati, fell at his feet and by her intercession ap- peased him. Lastly, he repaired to V^aikuntha, the heaven b BRAIIMIXISM, THE RELIGIOX OF THE HIXDUS. 2 I 7 of Vishnu, whom he found asleep with his head on his consort Lakshml's lap. To make a trial of his forbear- ance, he boldly gave the god a kick on his breast, which awoke him. Instead of showing anger, however, Vishnu arose, and on seeing Bhrigu, asked his pardon for not havinor oreeted him on his first arrival. Next, he ex- pressed himself highly honored by the sage's blow (which he declared had imprinted an indelible mark of good fortune on his breast), and then inquired tenderly whether his foot was hurt, and proceeded to rub it gently. " This," said Bhrigu, " is the mightiest god ; he over- powers by the most potent of all weapons — gentleness and generosity." This idea was not far removed from the genius of Christianity, which conspicuously encour- ages the overcomino- of evil with eood. CAN THE GODS DIE ? One of the most remarkable ideas to be found in the Brahmanas is that the gods were merely mortals till they extorted immortality from the Supreme Being by sacri- fices and austerities. A natural or inherent immortality in these deities was never dreamed ot, it is said : "The gods lived constantly in dread of Death — The mighty Ender — so with toilsome rites They. worshiped and repeated sacrifices Till they became immortal. Then the Ender Said to the gods, ' As ye have made yourselves Imperishable ; so will men endeavor To free themselves from me ; what portion then Shall I possess in man ?' The gods replied, * Hen,ceforth no being shall become immortal In his own body ; this his mortal frame Shalt thou still seize ; this shall remain thy own, He who through knowledge or religious acts Henceforth attains to immortality Shall first present his body, Death, to thee.' " 2i8 IDOL WORSHIP OF THE WORLD. SECTS OF HINDUISM. It must not be supposed that the heathen rehgions pre- sent one unbroken front ao-ainst the oncomino- ranks of Christianity, Christianity is divided into sects, it is true ; but these sects are but as the different recfiments and divisions of an army. The banner of the Cross is at the head of the whole ot this grand army, and it floats proudly over each regiment; the regimental banner is always placed beneath, and not above, the banner of the Cross. Hence the various denominations of Christians are not so many distinct bodies, fighting each other as well as fighting the common foe; but they are so many bands of soldiers, fighting, perhaps, each in its own way, yet all aiming to destroy the one common enemy, Satan and his works. But the divisions of heathen religious systems differ greatly from this. Many of them are so different from each other that there is hardly a trace of resem- blance remaining. Each heathen religious system wages war against every other one. Buddhism is, perhaps, an exception to this, at least in its mode of warfare, for it seeks to swallow up every other system, to incorporate all other religions in its own and to destroy them by the change. In each of these systems, as well as in Hindu- ism, which we have now before us for consideration, there are many different sects. These vary very much more than the denominations of Christendom, and are constantly turning their guns upon each other. Thus God is making Satan to defeat himself, and will bring orood to the world even out of the wicked one's work. The sects of Hinduism overlap each other. Many Hindus are attached at the same time to several sects, and some of the gods are worshiped by all the sects in common. Following the national tendency of all heathen BRAHMIXISM, THE RELIGION OF THE HIXD'CS. 2IQ religious systems, Hinduism developed downwards. Sect after sect arose, each calling attention to some one 220 IDOL WORSHIP OF THE WORLD. prominent point in their faith, and setting all the other points far in the background. During all the period from 800 to 500 before Christ, the need of making peace offerings to the gods was in- sisted upon by certain sects. According to the creed of one popular sect, for example, if one should slay a hun- dred horses in sacrifice, he would be worthy of being ex- alted to the rank of a powerful god. Thousands of animals, principally horses, cows, pigs, and the like, were slain every day at this time. The whole land was filled with blood. Then came the reaction, a new sect arose, who, diso"usted and wearied of sacrifices and sacrificine priests, declared all sacrifices as unnecessary and dis- pleasing to the gods. The followers of Kali, the god- dess of blood, and especially the Thugs, who came into prominence later on and who are described in connection with the worship of Kali, of course opposed this idea. Yet they were unsuccessful, their rival sect rapidly gained the popular favor, and, except at Kali's altars, sacrifices almost disappeared. The great reformer, Bud- dha, the "Light of Asia," gave great assistance to this doctrine. He taught, about the seventh century before Christ, that it was the duty of man to preserve life, and not to destroy it. The teaching that the souls of men after death passed into the bodies of animals also aided in this. Buddha's teachings gained almost universal ac- ceptance in India for a time ; it looked as though it would root out Hinduism. But gradually the Hindu priests brought Buddhism back unto itself again. The priests declared that Gautama, the Buddha, was an incarnation of the god Vishnu, and by this concession won their way to the hearts of the people. Each of the gods had their own followers, and, as may be imagined, the sect that worshiped Vishnu received many new adherents. BRJI/MIX/SM, THE RELIC 10 X OE THE HLXDUS. 221 et back to the hicrh £r round of a After this, Hinduism rapidly descended to its darkest, deepest degradation. Priestcraft was extended, rites were multipHed, and superstitious customs increased. For long- years the people groaned under their heavy burdens, then sought — as, alas ! how often they sought, but only to fail — to purer religion. Reformers appeared, and the people gladly and quickly gather- ed around these reformers, thus forming new sects. To set forth the whole his- tory of these sects would require volume after vol- ume. In a general way, we may say that there are five larsfe sects : the fol- lowers of Siva, of Vishnu, of Sakta, the sun worship- ers, and the adherents of Ganesha. We might well add to these, and to the multitude of minor sects Into which they are di- vided, the greatest of mod- ern sects, which is called the Brahmo-Somaj. In the vear 1 7 74 was born a man of marked ability, -^^LPruRED idols on a pillar. named Rammohun Roy. He sought to suppress the Suttee, the burning of Hindu widows with the bodies of their dead husbands. He encouraged native education and the general enlightenment of the whole people. He went back beyond the teachings of priests and of the 14 2 22 IDOL WOK snip OF THE WORLD. modern sacred Hindu books, back to the Vedas, and sought to prove that they taught that idolatry was wrong, and that one god shoukl be worshiped. To this Supreme Being he gave the name of Brahma, and hence his sect of reformed Hinduism was called the Brahma or Brahmo- Somaj, or Society of God. After his death, several other leaders arose, the last of whom, the third from Ram- mohun Roy, named Keshub Chunder Sen, M'as, perhaps, most in accord with the founder's spirit. He visited England lately. Under his leading the society is offering an uncompromising opposition to caste, idolatry and superstition, and is accomplishing the best results. PRINCIPLES OF HINDUISM. Hinduism as a system has nothing to say about mak- ing men better, it only tells of means to make peace with angry gods. It speaks only threatening and fear. But worse than this — and it would corrupt our pages to do more than mention it — much of its worship is vile; vulgar images are common objects of worship in India. Its teachings as to the next world and the way to reach it are remarkable. There is supposed to be a v.ide stream between this world and the next, and the only way to cross is by holding on to the tail of the sacred cow when dying. One terrible feature of Hinduism is Caste. Every Hindu child is born within a certain caste, and above or below that it can never go. It is a most rigid system requiring the members of one caste to have as little as possible to do with the members of another. The four principal castes are — the Priest or Brahmin caste; the Warrior caste; the Merchant caste; the Sudras, or Ser- vile caste; besides these are the Pariahs, who are below all caste. Some of the castes distinguish themselves by BRAHMIXISM, THE RELIGION OF THE HINDUS. 223 the cut and color of their dress, some by the way in whicli their garments are put on, some by a pecuHar mark on DYING BRAHMIN HOLDING THE TAIL OF THE SACRED COW, SO AS TO ENTER HEAVEN. the forehead, some by the jewels or ornaments they wear. The bounds of these castes are fixed and immovable. No one, however, rich, or learned, or skillful, can rise 224 IDOL WORSHIP Of THE WORLD. above his caste, no one, however poor, or degraded, or vicious, sinks below his caste. Each caste looks up to those above it. and concedes its superiority. A CASTF.-MARKF.n BRAHMIN AT HTS DEVOTIONS. A Brahmin who had become a Christian, once told a celebrated traveler, that the people of lower castes than his own had often asked him to stop and wash his feet in the water of the street, so that they might drink it! The whole system, this traveler goes on to say, is a cold and cruel thino-, which hardens the heart aoainst natural com- passion. Against its oppression there is no power of BRAI/MIXISM, THE RELIGIOX OF THE HIXDUS 225 resistance; it extinguishes every element of human brotherhood. Hinduism is, take it ah and all, one of the vilest, most despotic, most degrading systems of religion. In almost every other iaith there is some redeeming feature; in Hinduism we seek in vain to find any element of truth. There \ r is nothing in it ^ "ft / worthy of being placed in compar- ison with Chris- tianity. Yet the task of persuading the Hindu people of this is a very difficult one. The missionary seems as but a youthful David with his sling and stones in the presence of this very Goliath of Heathenism, But he has God standing with him, and by His aid the work will finally be successful. GOD OF HELL, FROM A HINDU PICTURE. HUMAN BEINGS KILLED IN SACKiFICE. Very early in the history of the Hindu religion, human beino-s were sacrificed to the gods. l)Oth children and adults were slain before Kali's altars, especially. Sacrifice of human beings is referred to in the sacred books ; for instance, it appears in the following Brahmana : 226 IDOL WOK SHIP OF THE WORLD. King Hariscandra had no son ; he dien prayed to Var- una, promising, diat if a son were born to him, he would sacrifice the child to the o-od. Then a son was born to him called Rohita. When Rohita was grown up, his father one day told him of the vow he had made to Varuna and bade him prepare to be sacri- ficed. The son declined to be killed, and ran away from his father's house. For six years he wandered in the forest and at last met a starving Brahmin. Him he persuaded to sell one of his sons named Sunahsepha, for a hun- dred cows. This boy was bought by Rohita and taken to Hariscandra and was about to be sacrificed to Varuna as a substitute for Rohita. At this moment, on praying to the gods with verses from the Veda, the boy was released. Some of the Hindu gods are, in accord with this idea, horrible imaginations, as the god of Hell. In contrast with such, is Amadeo. god of Love, the cupid god of the Hindus. But the Hindus were averse to human sacrifice, and so they found a way to get around it. They introduced this passage into their sacred books: The gods killed a man for their victim. But from him thus killed, the part which was fit for a sacrifice went out AMADEO, GOD OF LOVE. BRAHMIXISM, THE RELIGION OF THE HINDUS. 227 and entered a horse. Thence the horse became an ani- mal fit for being- sacrificed. The gods then killed the horse, but the part of it fit for being sacrified went out of it and entered an ox. The gods then killed the ox, but the part of it fit for being sacrificed went out of it and entered a sheep. Thence it entered a goat The sacri- ficial part remained for the longest time in the goat ; thence, it became pre-eminently fit for being sacrificed ! HOW HINDUISM REGARDS WOMAN. Every one of the heathen religions more or less de- grades woman. Often she is made the slave of man, or, worse still, the creature to minister to his appetites. Only Christianity seeks to lift woman to the level of man. Women in Christian lands rarely ever appreciate the low condition of their Oriental sisters. In India, wo- man's condition is worse than in China, and in China worse than in japan. In the early religious writings of the Hindus, woman is spoken of with respect ; but in later days those teachings have been all but forgotten. Indeed, the degradation of woman in India — not merely sanctioned, but commanded, by the Hindu religion — is without a parallel in any age and among any other race. According to the Code of Manu, the law-book of the Hindu religion, woman is forbidden to read the sacred books or to offer up prayers or sacrifices in her own name and person. She may pray and worship, but only as her father or husband directs. Woman is regarded as having no soul, differing from the beasts only in being more intelligent than they. Moreover, she is commanded to revere her husband as a god. If a Brahmin, or priest, happens to be reading the Vedas (the sacred Hindu books), and a woman happens to come near, he must suspend his reading until she pass by. 228 IDOL WORSHIP OF THE WORLD. Her ear is not pure enough to hear the sacred word, they say. They were kept secluded from sight in ill-furnished apartments ; really, they were kept prisoners in the zenanas, as their apartments were called. Only recently has the condition of the women of India been exposed. TEACHING A CHILD TO WORSHIP GANESHA, THE GOD OF WISDOM. Missionary ladies, by taking the occasion of teaching wo- men how to knit and embroider, managed to secure an entrance to the zenanas. Tale after tale was told of the pitiful condition of the Hindu women. These were doubted, questioned and examined; but investigation BRAHMINISM, THE RELIGION OF THE HIXDL'S. 229 confirmed their truth. What is the picture that is drawn by these faithful pens of the Hindu woman's hfe from the cradle to the grave ? Girls are never welcomed in India. Formerly a large number were destroyed at birth, but now the British government prevents that. But they are as badly off, in many cases worse, than if dead. Their very existence is almost unnoticed by their father. Ask A CHILD BRIXGING AN OFFERING TO THE IDOL OF A BULL. a Hindu how many children he has — supposing that he have three sons and four daughters — he will reply, " I have three children," not thinking it worth while to count his daughters. Formerly at least seventy-five out of every hundred female infants were destroyed. These infants were generally cast to the crocodiles in the Gan- ges, and, strange to say, the mother thought she was 2^o IDOL nORSIIIP OF THE WORLD. serving Heaven in doing this unnatural deed. The great Hnguist, Dr. John Leyden, has written : " To glut the shark and crocodile A mother brouglit her infant here; She saw its tender, playful smile, She shed not one maternal tear. She threw it on a watery bier ; With grjnding teeth sea-monsters tore The smiling infant that she bore. She shrunk not once its cries to hear !" From childhood they are taught to worship the idols, especially Ganesha, the god of wisdom, and so the stone bulls. After a little girl has reached her fifth birthday, her parents begin to look for a husband for her. She can be married when seven years old. but may wait until she is ten. The idea of marrying for love is never dreamed of. The little one never makes her own choice of a hus- band. Her married life bears not the slightest resem- blance to the life of a wife in a Chrisdan land. The Shasters declare that a wife, "When in the presence of her husband, must keep her eyes upon her master, and be ready to receive his commands. When he speaks, she must be quiet, and listen to nothing else besides ; when he calls, she must leave everything else, and attend upon him alone. A woman has no other god on earth but her husband. The most excellent of all good works that she can perform is to gratify him with the strictest obedience. This should be her only devotion. Though he be aged, infirm, dissipated, a drunkard or a debauchee, she must still regard him as her god. She must serve him with all her might, obeying him in all things, spying no defects in his character, and giving him no cause for disquiet. If he laughs, she must laugh ; if he weeps, she B/^AJJMIXISM, THE RELIGIGX OF THE lUXDUS. 2U must weep ; if "he sings, she must be in an ecstasy." The wife may never walk with her husband. No other man than he or her father or brothers must ever look on her face. A Hindu woman would rather die than to be thus defiled, as they are taught to regard it. Woman in India is in the power of her husband com- pletely; she is his slave, and must wait on his every mo- tion. Worse than this, she is not the only wife, for Hin- duism permits a man to have many wives. When her hus- band dies, the wife is more unhappy than ever. All her ornaments and beauti- ful clothing are taken from her. and only a poor, coarse, brown robe is left; her black hair is shorn off, and the tali — answering to our mar- riage-ring— is taken from her. Henceforth, if she live, she must practice the sever- est penance. Often, before the British government put a stop to it, the widow was burned alive with the dead hindu woman. body of her husband. For all this degradation and misery and shameless treatment of women Hinduism is responsible. 23: IDOL WORSHIP OF THE WORLD. CHAPTER XII. HINDU TEMPLES, IDOLS AND WORSHIP. A thousand pilgrims strain Arm, shoulder, breast and thigh, with might and main, To drag that sacred wain. And scarce can draw the enormous load. Prone fall the frantic votaries in its road. And calling on the god, Their self-devoted bodies there they lay To pave his chariot-way. On Jaga-Naut they call. The ponderous car rolls on, and crushes all. Robert Southey. EVERY city of India has its temples by the hun- dreds, in some cases by the thousands. On all the hills, in all the valleys, scattered over all the fields, in the densest jungles or open plains are temples, shrines and idols. The rivers are sacred, trees are wor- shiped and very many animals receive religious reverence. The temple-courts are filled with chattering monkeys, and here and there we see the sacred bulls, garlanded with flowers and fed by the devotees. There is no end, seemingly, to their temples and idols. Probably no country in the world has more of these than India. It is one of the marks of heathenism to multiply the objects and places of worship. Of course, we cannot here make mention of all these, we can but describe a few of the more important, which may serve as specimens of the rest. HINDU TEMPLES, IDOLS A AD WORSHIP. ^2>Z IDOLS AND TEMPLES OF JUGGERNAUT. Juggernaut is a celebrated god. He is called the " Lord of the world." His images are as ugly as can be con- ^^y. IDOL WORSHIP OF THE WORLD. ceived. Generally they are made of wood; in some temples placed three together, one of blue, one of white and one of yellow. Juggernaut has many temples; the one at Puri, on the western shore of the Bay of Bengal, being the largest, and esteemed the most holy. This pagoda stands at the end of the principal street of the city, which is very wide, and lined with dwellings for the priests, small shrines and other sacred buildings. The wall which surrounds the temple is 21 feet high, and forms an inclosure 650 feet on each side. The principal edifice rises to the height of 184 feet. The main gate- way is crowded with Fakirs, On each side of the en- trance is a mammoth lion. Just before the visitor, as he enters, is an image of the monkey-god, Hanuman. The temple is dedicated to Krishna, or Juggernaut, (sometimes written Jagan-nath,) and his companions — Siva and Sathadra. The idols of each are rude, hideous- looking sculptured blocks of wood, each about six feet high. The representations of the human face in these idols are hideous. Krishna is pajnted dark blue, Siva white and Sathadra yellow. Before the altar an image of the hawk-god, Garounda, is placed. Every day, we are told, the idols are feasted. Their food consists of 410 pounds of rice, 225 pounds of flour, 350 pounds of butter, 167 pounds of treacle, 65 pounds of vege- tables, 186 pounds of milk, 24 pounds of spices, 34 pounds of salt and 41 pounds of oil. While the food is being placed before the gods, all but a favored few are excluded from the temple, and the doors are shut. There are over 20,000 holy men connected with this temple, and we can easily guess that they help the idols to get rid of this great mass of food, at any rate it all speedily disappears. The idols, strange as it may seem, are washed and dressed daily with great seriousness. HIXDU TEMPLES, IDOLS AXD WORSHIP. 235 On the 1 8th of June Jiig-gernaut's great festival occurs. Formerly great multitudes assembled at this time from o 2 every part of the land. Men, women and children in crowds thronged to the city days in advance, and waited with imp.itience for the festival day to come. The Car- 236 IDOL WORSHIP OF THE WORLD. Festival celebrated at Purl is usually attended by more than qoo,ooo pilgrims, nearly half of whom are females. There is o-reat sufferino; among- these pilgrims, and H2XDU TEMPLES, IDOLS AND WORSHIP. 237 many of them die in consequence of excessive fatigue, exposure to the annual rains, and the want of suita- ble and sufficient food. The plains, in many places, are literally whitened with their bones, while dogs and vultures are continually devouring the bodies of the dead. At the appointed time each idol was washed, dressed in silk and gold, and placed upon his triumphal car. The car of Juggernaut consists of an elevated platform, thirty-four feet square, supported by sixteen wheels, each six and a half feet in diameter. It. is covered with cloth of gold and costly stuffs, and a Jug- gernaut is placed under a canopy. Six ropes, or cables,, 300 feet in length, are attached to the car, by means of which the people draw it from place to place. The whole car is covered with sculptures in the Hindu style. Thousands seize these ropes, as many as could get hold. In their fanatical frenzy they crowded and should- ered and shoved one another, counting themselves happy if they could only lay a hand on the ropes. The Car- Festival was the great event of the religious year of the worshipers of Juggernaut. Its object was to convey Juggernaut from the temple to his country house, a mile distant. When the image was placed in the car the mul- titude fell on their knees and bowed their foreheads in the dust. As the car began to advance the drums beat and cym- bals clashed, while from its platform the priests shouted,, harangued and sang songs, which were received with applause by the multitude. And so the dense mass, tug- ging, sweating, singing, praying, dragged the car slowly along. Some were knocked down and trampled upon, and some ware accidentally crushed by the ponderous wheels, while a few, mostly those who were sick or in much trouble, sought death by throwing themselves in 15 238 IDOL WORSHIP OF THE WORLD. the way of the wheels, this latter being encouraged by some of the priests. The priests and priestesses chanted sono-s in praise of the gods, the multitudes flung flowers and other gifts about the car. Such was the Great Car-Festival of Juggernaut in an- cient days. Of late years it has lost much of its popu- larity, and though thousands still attend annually, it is now looked upon more as an annual fair than a religious festival. The devotees are not half so zealous as form- erly, and the priests find almost no one to drag the car. No longer do any self-made victims fall beneath its wheels, unless it be some poor, weak wretch, tired of life and desiring thus to commit suicide. The British gov- ernment has caused much of this change, but more has been done by the influence which Christian missionaries have exerted upon the people. The "Lord of the World," as they call this idol, shall yet bow be- fore the Lord of Lords. From this acount of Juggernaut and his wor- ship one cannot fail to see the terrible dearada- tion which Hinduism im- poses on its devotees. That God should be deemed to be fitly repre- sented by such ugly con- ceptions as are seen in these idols is evidence of a most degraded sys- tem of religion. Still more so is the teaching of the priests, that God actually lives in some substance in the THK IDOL JUGGF.RNAUT USUALLY CARRIED ON THE CAR. HINDU TEMPLES, IDOLS AND WORSHIP. 2o9 idol's heart. Contrast this with the teachings of the Bible concernine Him whom the heaven of heavens cannot contain ! Juggernaut s worshipers regard him as a thing whom they are to keep from getting angry by petting him and caring for and feeding as for a little child; that He is a being who needs such things as clothing to protect and food to sustain Him, and wh.o needs to be washed, and to retire to a summer resort to escape the summer's heat. A striking illustration of the inferiority of idols is given in the incident pictured below. Several converts from Hinduism concluded to undress and disjoint their idol, DISROBING AMD DISJOINTING HJGGERNAUT. and finally they chopped up the several parts and used them for firewood, thus more than fulfilling the words of Isaiah (chap, xliv., 9-20), who tells of idolaters making an idol of parts of their wood and burning the residue to warm themselves and to roast their meat. 240 IDOL WORSHIP OF THE WORLD. KALI, THE GODDESS OF BLOOD. Kali is a very popular goddess, and yet her images are the pictures of terror. She wears a head-dress of snakes, and a necklace con- sisting of a chain of skulls. In her hand she holds a murder- ous-looking knife. Kali is the wife of Siva, the destroyer. In September a fes- tival is held in her honor, called the Doorga-pooja. In all of Kali's temples her idols are gayly adorned with flow- ers, and prayers are offered to her dur- ing days of dancing and singing. There used to be a sect of murderous stranglers, known as Thugs, who were THE GODDESS KALI. especially devoted to the worship of Kali, and who performed their murder- ous work as a religious service to that goddess. The story of this people opens up a chapter of the greatest cruelty, going far beyond all the ordinary records of crime. Yet it was all done from a relicrious motive, as well as for love of plunder. Strange that it could be so ! The legend that accounts for their origin is as follows : A long while ago IDOL OF THE BLOODY GODDESS KALL AT CALCUTTA, INDIA. HIXDU TEMPLES, IDOLS AXD WORSLIiP. ^ , ^, a giant demon infested this world destroying mankind. The goddess KaH, to save mankind from utter destruc- tion, attacked this demon and cut him down ; but from the drops of blood that fell to the ground immediately there sprang up other demons — a host of them. Then Kali created two men, to whom she gave handkerchiefs, and whom she taught to strangle the demons without shed- ding blood. This was done, lest if their blood be shed more demons should spring up. Kali intended in this way to destroy the whole brood. When these men had strangled all the demons, she bade them strangle men in the same way, to repay her for her service to man- kind. From these two men the Thugs came. The Thugs were born such ; at each one's hearthstone his children were trained to the work of becoming mur- derers. The handkerchief with which the victim was strangled, and the pick-axe with which his grave was dug, were obtained from the priest, and were regarded as very sacred. Their method of procedure was like this: They waited about the inns or loitered along the roads waiting for travelers to overtake them. The Thug and his in- tended victim would journey together, and, little by litde, he would worm out of him all his plans and intended movements. Thus the Thug could decide on the most suitable place and time. When they came to this, he would throw his strip of cloth about the unsuspecdng stranger's neck and draw it tighter and tighter until he was suffocated. If the Thu^s traveled together with a party of merchants, each selected his victim, and all were' strangled together. After death a hole, about three feet deep, was dug, and the corpse was buried face down- wards. The greatest care was taken to shed no blood, and the whole was generally done under cover of the darkness of night. The whole sect was so banded to- 244 IDOL WORSHIP OF THE WORLD. gether, having their scouts and spies, and systems of signahng one another, when they performed their work, that they were rarely detected. 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NIGHT FEAST OF THE BLOOUV GODDESS, KALI. thousands of persons lost their lives at the hands oi the Thuo-s. In the year 1826 the British cfovernment first discovered their existence. During the period of some HIXDU TEMPLES, IDOLS AND ]VORSHIP. 245 nine years over fifteen hundred ot die Thugs were arrested and executed. The sect is very nearly destroyed now. How astonishing that such a sect should not merely exist, but that they should perform their dastardly deeds as a religious service. The cannibalism of the barbarous vSouth Sea Islanders is regarded with the great- est abhorrence ; but their ignorance and degraded condi- tion lessens our condemnation of their abominable deeds. For the Thugs, an intelligent people, living in a semi- civilized land, with opportunities of getting knowledge far in advance of the Islanders of the Pacific, we can see almost no reason for hesitating to condemn most strongly their awful pracdces. What a contrast is here furnished between the religion of Jesus Christ, with its teachings of mercy and love, and the religion that not only tolerated,but even taught, that to murder was to render a service to the Qrods. Kali's feasts were generally held at night. Great crowds of religious fanatics gathered around her niDst fearful images. These were gener- ally placed in a grove for this occasion. In two of her four hands the idol held skulls ; formerly these were human skulls, now goddess kali, from a hindu picture. they are made of wood. The devotees walk round and 246 IDOL WORSHIP OF THE WORLD. round the idol, bearing torches, beating drums, and danc- ing in odd ways. Kali is one of the most celebrated goddesses of all the Hindu worship, and is the especial favorite divinity of the people of Calcutta. Her images are very different, but she has always one characterascribed toher; she is cruel and re- vengeful. We meet her temples everywhere — by the road- side, in palm groves, under the wide-spreading banyan tree. This ooddess of destruction beino- more feared than all others, is worshiped more than all. She is represented sometimes as standing on a lion or a prostrate man, always with four hands. These hold knives or skulls, or, perhaps, human heads, as already noticed Often she wears a necklace of skulls. The Hindus bring to her idols the first fruits of the garden, vineyard or orchard. Some of Kali's temples, like that at Calcutta, are beau- tifully sculptured, and her idols decorated with precious stones. TEMPLE DECORATIONS. There is one thing which characterizes almost all of the better Hindu temples, this is the exquisite richness ot the sculptures which decorate their walls. They seem to trust more to the impres- sion which appeals to the sight make upon the minds of the people than to any oral teaching or readings from books. The Hindus are ac- customed to depict in these decorations the whole of their mythology, the HINDU. NOTION OF THE UNIVERSE. HIXDU TEMPLES, IDOLS AND WORSHIP. 247 legends of the gods, the stories of the lives of their deities, their ideas of the future life, of the present 248 IDOL WORSHIP OF THE WORLD. world and die like. The precedinn^ picture gives a sculp- ture representing the Hindu notion of the universe, and of the relative position of the world. To the un- tutored Hindu mind it answers fully the question, How is the world upheld? Of course those Hindus who have received the light of a truly scientific education laugh at such notions as are here indicated. They know far better, as do we. In the accompanying engraving the transmigration of the soul is illustrated. This is drawn from a photograph ^nfril of the entablature of a temple near the foot of the lofty Himalayas The sculpture which follows tells of the romantic adventures nar- rated in the Ra- mayama. These sculptures are the common people's teachers ; indeed, the world over, the language of pic- tures is far more ENTABLATURE FROM A HINDL TEMPLE. loved and better understood than any other. Pictures and sculptures constitute the one language intelligible to people speaking widely different dialects. Herein, too, is one of the great powers of heathenism over the children. Before they can read for themselves or remember the doctrines taught them, they see the pictures and enjoy the stories they communicate. These become part of the children's mental store. They are CHILDREN AT WORSHIP IN A TEMPLE IN BENARES. HINDU TEMPLES, IDOLS AXD IVORSHIP. 251 realities to them. They are never forgotten. They never lose their power. This is abundantly de- monstrated in the experience of every teacher. When verbal de- scription has fail- ed a picture has made all clear. BENARES. True Hindus consider the city of Benares to be situated in the very centre of the earth, and to be the most sacred city in the world. There are not less than 80,000 Brahmins, or "holy caste" Hindus, residing- here, and the city also is stocked with the so-call- ed " sacred bulls and sacred mon- ba?-relief from \ hixdu temple. keys." There are more than 1,000 temples and over 2^2 IDOL WORSHIP OF THE WORLD. 500,000 enshrined deities. More dian 100,000 pilg-rims visit Benares annually, 20,000 of whom may be seen rushing at one time into the River Ganees, at a eiven signal, that they may bathe at the proper moment. The river is reached by flights of broad steps, and on these the Hindus pass the busiest hours of the day, bathing, dressing, saying their prayers, lounging and gossiping. Benares is believed by some to be 80,000 steps nearer to heaven than any other part of the world. Ten miles around Benares is said to be such holy ground, that who- ever dies within this area is sure of croing- to heaven, however great a sinner he may have been. THE SACRED CITY OF THE SIKHS. Umritsur, in North-western India, is the holy city of the Sikhs. This is a sect of reformed Hindus, who at first rejected idolatry, but who afterwards found its fasci- nation too strong for them. In the centre of a large tank — called the Lake of Immortality, because whoever bathes in it is shielded from everlasting death — is a temple of pure white marble, with a roof made of plates of copper, richly gilded ; this is called the Golden Temple. Before crossing the bridge or causeway to the temple, one must put off the shoes from his feet, so holy is the place. The Sikhs are very fanatical, and they do not receive visitors with any expressions of friendliness. The city of Umritsur has no celebrity apart from this temple. The sect of the Sikhs originated about the middle of the fif- teenth century, and now numbers about 5,000,000. CAVE-TEMPLES OF ELEPHANTA AND GWALIOR. In the harbor of Bombay is an island containing a cele- brated cave-temple. Hundreds of years ago the Hindus excavated this temple from the solid rock ; pillars, idols APPROACH TO THE Ji PLE OF UMRITSUR. HIXDU TEMPLES, IDOLS AXD WORSHIP. ^^^ and chapels are all cut from the one great mass of stone. For three hundred years past there has been little wor- ship here. The temple was devoted to the worship of Siva. After ascending a flight of several hundred steps we stand before the great square gate-ways. Immense columns ranging away in the darkness support the roof of solid rock. On the walls are sculptured the fantastic forms of Brahma, Vishnu and Siva. The metamor- phoses of these are also shown in sculpture. The cave is shaped like a cross. At the end of the main passage- way, opposite the principal gate-way, is an altar support- ing a gigantic, three-headed idol. The central face is calm and benevolent, the forehead is covered with a lofty diadem, like a mitre, covered with delicate carvings repre- senting necklaces. The face on the right expresses ter- rible rage; its mitre is covered with sculptured skulls and serpents, and its outstretched hand holds a cobra. The other face is smiling and the hand holds a flower. The triple idol represents Siva as the passive god, the destroy- ing god and the saving god. The sculptures are much worn away, but enough remains to indicate the wondrous majesty and beauty of the Elephanta Cave. At Gwalior are a number of Hindu temple-caves. The precipitous sides of the great mountain are cut and carved into hundreds of statues, from one foot to forty feet high, and deep recesses in which they seem hidden away. One of these caves was probably made about 300 years after Christ. After passing through several archways we stand before three idols, each twenty feet high. The worship of these has long since ceased, and they only remain to show us what the people of India worshiped hundreds of years ago. More than a thousand years before this cave was excavated, and over twenty-five hundred years ago, another great cave lO 258 IDOL WORSHIP OF THE WORLD. was prepared at Gwalior, that of Ourwhai. This is an old Jain temple. For about 800 feet, the hard THE WONDERFULLY EXCAVATED TEMPI AVE OF ELEPHANTA, BOMBAY, INDIA. HIXDC TEMPLES, IDOLS AND WORSHIP. 265 surface of the rock has been dressed so as to form a smooth wall, and the lower part of this wall has been ex- cavated, and there the statues were sculptured. First there are nine oigantic statues, each thirty feet high, placed in niches. Behind these is a small chamber containing another great statue in a lying position. From this chamber a door leads into a tank. Following the paved foot-path which surrounds this tank, you come to another and larger chamber, which is specially dedicated to the statue of Adinath, thirty-five feet high. Around the idol are rich sculptures, and on the cushion on which it sits is a long inscription. This mountain contains twelve rooms, in each of which are from one to nine statues; most of these are from twenty to thirty feet high. For nearly ten miles around this mountain are bas-reliefs, statues and excavations. There is a natural tendency among the superstitious people to seek places of dark- ness for the observances of their religious rites. Oftentimes the priests are enabled to impose on the credulity of the people much more easily when they add some ele- ment of weirdness or mystery to their strange religious performances. GANESHA, GOD OF WISDOM. Another exceedingly popular idol of the Hin- dus is that of Ganesha, the God of Wisdom. It image of gane-ha. 266 IDOL WORSHIP OF THE WORLD. IS pcirth in tht shape of a man and i)aitl\ in the shape ot an elephant. The children in the schools are taught to worship it, and it is adored by all who wish to become A WAYSIDE IDOL OF GANESHA, GOD OF WISDOM. HINDU TEMPLES, IDOLS A.\D IVORSIIIP. 269 acquainted with Hindu learning and so-called wisdom. The images of this god are not only found in the temples and schools, and at the corners of the streets in the cities, but also under the trees on country roadsides. The sagacity of the elephant is well known, and it is presumed that the elephant-idol is worshiped for this reason, just as the serpent is worshiped as the symbol of cunning, or the sun as the symbol of power. As of al- most all the other gods, Ganesha has his festivals, when the people come together in great crowds to do him honor. At one of these annual festivals they bring forth the god Ganesha, place him in a boat, and accompanied with other boats containing priests and musicians, they row up and down the Ganges. The great crowds of people lining the shore fill the air with their shouts and songs, and the occasion is one of exuberant joy. PAGODAS. Scattered about the large temple inclosures are great pagodas or owers. These contained the rooms of the priests and servants of the temple. Sometimes they served simply as gate-ways, at other times they were used as houses for the idols. Rising high above the sur- rounding country, everywhere they could be seen by the people, and thus their devotion to their idolatrous wor- ship was increased. The priests sought by the use of every possible means to fix the people's faith in their idols; like Demetrius, whose business of making shrines in Ephesus was spoiled by Paul's preaching, these priests do not wish to lose their hold upon the people, because thus their means of support would be destroyed. But, notwithstanding all their efforts, they cannot hold the people in their bondage, and each year witnesses more and more refusing to listen to them. None of these 2 70 IDOL WORSHIP OF THE WORLD. great pagodas are new. For very many years they have towered above the dwelhngs of the people in their . majestic grandeur; when they fall into decay they are ^^^ not replaced. Many of these pagodas are S several hundreds of feet high, and are cov- ered with sculptures representing scenes in the lives of the gods of the temple, or of eminent saints. Another famous pa- goda is at Pondicherry^ in Southern India. The gate-way to this tem- ple is most intricately carved. The heathen aim to set forth in a durable way, as by these sculptures, the parts of their worship. They depend largely upon the sight for in- GATF.-AVAV OF MADURA TEMPLE. structiug the peoplc iu their faith, rather than upon their hearing, preaching, or readingf sacred books. The interiors as well as the exteriors of these temples are covered with sculptures. The service is in nowise like that in Christian churches. The people come and go as the)' please. They beat the drums to call the at- tention of the gods to the prayers they are about to offer, rub their hands together as they mumble over some prayers, leave their offerings before the idol of stone or HIXDU TEMPLES, IDOLS AND WORSHIP. 271 PAGODA OF PONDICHEKRV, FAMED FOR MS SCULPTURE. wood, and go away believing that dangers will be averted, or that f^ood fortune will come to them. 272 IDOL IVORSIIIP OF THE WORLD. In Ongole, near the great pagodas, the people used to be very idolatrous, having many idols in their houses as well as in their temples. But even here they are rapidly losing their faith in their idols. Recently, in a single year, 20,000 people in this district became Christians, and in DISUSED U30LS AND SACRED ARTICLES FROM OXGOLE, INDIA. one week they brought to the missionaries a thousand idols which they had ceased to worship. HINDU WASHINGS FOR SIN. A. writer for young people thus describes the custom of the Hindus resorting to the Ganges, and the reasons for it : " The heathen know well that sin needs to be washed away, but as to how this can be done they have very strange ideas. Some will walk tli rough fire, as if that would burn away all impurities; somj will cover their BIRD'S EVE VIEW UK PAGODAS AND TEMPLE GROUNI ROM EAGLE HILL, MADRAS PRESIDENCY, INDIA. HINDU TEMPLES, IDOLS AiXD WORSHIP. 277 bodies with filth, as if that would cleanse the soul ; others still tancy that the water of certain streams has power to remove all taint of sin. The Hindus believe that there is w'onderful cleansing power in the water of the Gange;^-. HINDUS WASHING IN THE SACUED RIVER GANGES AT BENARES so that wdioever can bathe in that river is freed from guilt. From all parts of India pilgrims go to the Ganges, and they believe that whoever dies in that stream is sure of future bliss. But India is a vast country, and com- paratively few of the poor people who live in the south- ern portion can travel the thousand miles or more to reach the Ganges. Hence they have their own sacred streams and fountains, which, though not regarded as so sacred as the Ganges, are yet supposed to have power to cleanse from sin. "Several years ago, in a village near Madura, a Brah- min named Sokappen read in one of the sacred Hindu 278 IDOL WORSHIP OF THE V/ORLD. books, that near the temple of his village there M'as a spring- far under ground, and that if one would only dig deep enough wa- ziizIZl^i^^^^ ter would flow at 11--":^^ that spring from the Ganges, while ^ the river itself was = more than eleven hundred miles away. The Brah- min thought that would be a s^lori- ous work to do, and so worked ior years, spending all his own m o n e y and beo-trino; from others, until he had finished a great tank and walled it wiili hewn stone, with stone steps leading down to the sacred water. He finally heard irMiii (,i nil ^\( 1 II) loiM \i\ Qf Christ, and of the forgiveness he offered, and since then he has often preached that only the blood of Christ can take away sin. "Though many people of bidia have now heard the Gospel, there are yet millions who have faith in their sacred bathing places. Those who live too far from the Ganges find some river, if they can, as at Mowli, where two rivers, the Yenna and the Krishna, meet, and where multitudes bathe. The dead, also, are taken there, HIXDU TEMPLES, IDOLS AXD WORSHIP. 2/9 some to be buried, as was the 'saint' whom I\Ir. Bruce describes, and others to be burned, that their ashes may be minded with the sacred waters. In the district of Tinnevelly, South India, is a famous artificial tank. It is sometimes called the ' Sea of Sacred Milk.' Granite steps lead down to the water's edge, and in the early morning hundreds of men and women gather to bathe and to worship the sun. The water is stagnant and dirty, though it is esteemed as specially holy. Here the people wash not only themselves, but also their clothes. The cost of building these bathing places is immense, yet the people build them in many parts of India because they think that, at any cost, provision should be made for the removal of sin. They know of no better way than by bathing in these filthy places." HINDU HOLY MEN, DEVOTEES AND FAKIRS. One singular feature of the Brahmin worship is the ways the worship- ers devised to show their zeal. They built great temples, carved immense idols, and brought o-reat riches into the temple treasuries. They would per- form the strangest penances, the like of which was never ,|| seen elsewhere in '^■' ^'' all the world. The superior priests ^,^^ never show them- the fakir of the immovable foot. 28o IDOL WORSHIP OF THE WORLD. selves but with great pomp. With guards of cavalry preceding them they will ride on richly capari- soned elephants through the tri- umphal arches prepared for them, while the people bow as they pass. The lower priests re- nounced every display, indeed they sought its opposite; with them the vilest uncleanness was most allied to godliness. There was, and is, one order of priests known as Fakirs, who excelled in self-tortures. They often givci; up all clothing, sometimes sit- ting in a bed of ashes. Often they forge great iron collars about their necks, or heavy iron bands upon arms and ankles. Some let their hair orrow lom^ and never comb it. Their THE HOLY MAN WITH THE IRON COLLAR. HINDU TEMPLES, IDOLS AND WORSHIP. 281 THE FAKIR OF THE LONG HAIR. bodies are covered with vermin ; sometimes they will hold an arm or leg in a fixed position, never moving it. Until recently they would often fasten hooks in their flesh on 17 282 IDOL WORSHIP OF I HE WORLD. their backs, then be elevated into the air, and be dragged through the streets by the people. By many such horrible acts they hoped to earn an entrance into a happier life. The people regarded these men as unusually holy; they souofht them for cures, and for relief from sorrows. At the great idol festivals these Fakirs were present in crowds. A FAKIR WHO NEVER HELPS HIMSELF. In India, China and Japan, there are a great many men called "devotees," who give themselves up to miserable lives ; many of them hoping by this means to obtain the favor of the gods in whom they believe and great hap- HIXDU TEMPLES, IDOLS AND WORSHIP. 283 piness after death. Some of them, however, are moved more by a desire to obtain money and honor from their fellow-men, and they think it a respectable and honor- able way of getting a living. Most of the people fear rather than respect these devotees, thinking some evil will follow if they displease them, or fail to give them what they want. Many of these devotees, in all three ot the countries named, spend their time wandering from place to place, and making long pilgrimages to famous tem- ples. Others torture themselves in all im- aginable ways.' Some repeat the name of their favorite idol dur- ing all their hours of wakefulness. Some bathe very frequently, while others do not wash themselves at all, but permit their hair, beard and nails to orow to crreat lenqth; they wear little if any clothing, their ^^g^ bodies are covered with ashes, and their a hindu holy man torturing himself BY HANGING FRUM A HOOK. whole appearance is dirty and disagreeable. Some of these devotees are really sincere in denying themselves for their religion; they feel the burden and weight of their sins, and, know- ing not the true way of obtaining pardon and peace, they take these false ways. Some of these Fakirs are but little better than wdld beasts, their habits all tend to make them so. They 284 IDOL WORSHIP Of THE WORLD. crenerally live in holes or caves or under banyan trees, and they think that they, by their penances, make atone- ment for their own sins and for those of the people who care for them. Besides the penances already mentioned, we may add that some drag heavy chains or cannon-balls; some crawl on their hands and knees for years ; some roll their naked bodies over and over from the banks of the Indus to the banks of the Ganges; some stand for lite before a slow fire ; some impose upon themselves a silence of years, and others hang for hours head down- wards. All this is done to merit salvation. In no other country in the world, proba- bly, have so many different ways been devised by which men hoped salvation would be earned. Here again is seen the contrast between the offered salvationof Jesus Christ and the sought sal- vation by penances taught by this heathen faith, most strikino". The British orov- ernment has now forbidden altogether many of these cruel performances, and has limited others. But earnest missionary work has done more than anything else to destroy the people's faith in the sanctity and wisdom of these so-called holy men. Mr. Bruce, an American missionary at Satara, records an event which in its day caused great excitement. This is his storv: FAKIR HANGING TO A LIMI HINDU TEMPLES, IDOLS AND WORSHIP. 28: Three or four years ago when we went into Satara, we used to see, sittinor in the veranda of his house, an old man covered with rags and surrounded with fikh. Sometimes we would see him on the street, with rags innumerable upon his person. In America we should have called him a crazy man, but ideas differ in different lands. Here he was a ''saint'' in whom one of the gods dwelt. When his saintship came to be known by the populace, he was honored and worshiped everywhere. Men who ought to have known better would, on see- ing him approach, leave their work, and run and prostrate themselves at his feet. His rags were re- moved, and he was clothed with a rich robe of purple. No expense was spared to supply all his wants, and he was attended to by two servants, furnished by the Prince of Ouah. At last this rag- man, crazy-man, saint, died. He had said previously, "Wherever I die, there let my tomb be built." He died in the city, and there the people wished to bury him and erect a tomb which should ever after be an object of worship. But the municipal officers inter- fered and ordered the body to be removed from the city. Then they buried him in the temple grounds, and another god was added to the millions of Hindu deities. This story will serve to illustrate the delusion under DEVOTEE ENDURING FIRE. 286 IDOL IVOR SHIP OF THE WORLD. FAKIR OF THE LONG NAILS. The growth of the nails shows how long the hand has been held in this one position. HIXDU TEMPLES, IDOLS AND WORSHIP. 287 which the Hindus are resting, and the readiness with which they yield their faith to any pretender that comes along. The climate of India awakens a dull, lethargic condition. The activity of Western nations is unknown. The people are accustomed to move slowly and to avail themselves, as far as possible, of all the helps obtainable to lessen the toils of daily life. This also leads them to fall in readily with the declarations of any foolish fanatic who may arise, rather than to go to the trouble of sifting them and rejecting them as they deserve. The whole system of Hinduism lends its aid to this. It is, itself, a gigantic system of fraud. The Hindu priests laugh in their sleeves at the folly of the multitudes in listening so readily to their instructions. But few of them have any faith in the millions of gods, whose representatives they are. This is their profession, by their priesthood they obtain their living, and, consequently, they do all they can to make their religion predominant in all the affairs of their neighborhoods. Hence it comes about, that instead of at once exposing the pretensions of Fakirs, holy men and devotees, they lend their aid to gain accept- ance for them with the multitude. So India groans beneath this oppressive load of priestcraft ; each day the priests add link after link to the chains that bind her; some day, though, she will arise in her might and cast of^ her burdens, walking in freedom. Christian mission work will speed the coming of that day. 2S8 IDOL IVORSHIP OF THE WORLD. CHAPTER XIII. HINDU SACRED BOOKS, FAIRY STORIES AND FIRESIDE TALES. Not only in the writings of tlie later Stoicism, when already through the despairing twilight a luminous haze had been diffused, not only in the open plagiarisms of the Koran, spoiled so often in the plagiarizing, but, even centuries before Christ, in the Dialogues of Socrates, in the Republic of Plato, in the Analects of Confucius, in the Laws of Manou, in the Sutras of the Buddhists, in the Vedas of the Brah- mins, in the Zend Avesta of the Parsees, in the Pirke Avoth of the Rabbis, there are unquestionably precepts which might be combined into a very pure and noble code. — Frederick W. Farrar. THE sacred books of the Hindus are written in the Sanskrit language. They all fall under two grand divisions, S'ruti and S'mriti. S'ruti means "that which is heard or revealed," and S'mriti means "that which is remembered and handed down by tradi- tion." In the first division are included the Vedas, in the second the later Sanskrit literature. There are four Vedas (pronounced by the Hindus, \'ads). The Rig- Veda, containing 1,017 hymns of praise of the per- sonified powers of nature. The Atharva-Veda is com- posed of verses used as magical spells or incantations for calling down or turninof off evils. It had its oriein in a superstitious belief in the power of evil spirits. The Yajur (or Yazur) Veda contains hymns and texts ar- ranged for sacrificial ceremonies. The Sama-Veda re- produces many of the hymns of the Rig- Veda re-arranged for worship. Each of these Vedas consists of three parts, the Man- tras or original hymns ; then the Brahmanas or pure HINDU SACRED BOOKS, FAIRY STORIES, ETC. 289 commentaries on these hymns, and to these, philosophical treatises called Upanishads were attached. All these are believed to have been given by the gods, HINDU FESTIVAL OF THE NEW MOOX. having no human author. As we should say they are believed to be ciivinely inspired. Of the second sort of sacred books, the S'mriti, there 2gQ IDOL WORSHIP OF THE WORLD. are four ciasses. The six Veclangas, first, the rules for sac- rifices; second, the book of the science of pronunciation ; third, of metre; fourth, of exposition of the Vedas; fifth, of grammar, sixth, of astronomy. Next come the S'marta-sutras or books relatino- to domestic rites and ' to conventional usaQ^es. Then follow the Dharma-shas- tras or "Law-books," the code of Manu and other in- spired law-givers. Lastly, we have the Itihasas or legendary poems, the Mahabarata, or cyclopaedia of Hindu traditions, legends, morals and philosophy, and the Ramayana. This last contains the story of the wan- derines of Rama, told in 24,000 stanzas. THE VEDIC HYMNS. The word Veda means "knowledge." The hymns of the Rig-Veda were written between 1.500 and i.ooo years before Christ, about the time of Moses. They contain many tedious repetitions, but yet are highly inter- estino- as showine what the ancient Hindus, and more especially what the forefathers of this part of the race, believed. Many of these hymns were sung by our Aryan forefathers before they scattered to settle in India or in the wilds of Western Europe. \\"e have before given a specimen of these early hymns. We give here another that seems to show that in the beginning the ancient Hindus worshiped but one God. "What god shall we adore with sacrifice? Him let us praise, the golden child that rose In the beginning, who was born the lord — The one sole lord of all that is — who made The earth, and formed the sky, who giveth life, Who giveth- strength, whose bidding gods revere, Whose hiding-place is immortality. Whose shadow, death ; who by his mignl is king Of all the breathing, sleeinng, waking world. HIXD U SA CRED B O CA'S, FA IRY S TORIES, ETC. 2 Q I Where'er let loose in space, the mighty waters Have gone, depositing a fruitful seed. And generating fire, there he arose Who is the breath and life of all the gods, Whose mighty glance looks round the vast expanse Of watery vapor — source of energy, Cause of the sacrifice — the only God, Above the gods." The next selection shows how the worship of one God passed into the worship of many gods, and explains the origin of caste. The previous selection was written long" before this one : & " The embodied spirit has a thousand heads, A thousand eyes, a thousand feet, around On every side enveloping the earth. Yet filling space no larger than a span. He is himself this very universe; He is whatever is, has been, and shall be; He is the lord of immortality. All creatures are one-fourth of him, three-fourths Are that which is immortal in the sky. From him, called Purusha, was born Viraj, And from Viraj was Purusha produced, Whom gods and holy men made their oblation. With Purusha as victim, they performed A sacrifice. Why did they divide him? How did they cut him up ? What was his mouth ? What were his arms ? and what his thighs and feet ? The Brahmin was his mouth, the kingly soldier Was made his arms, the husbandman his thighs, The servile Sudra issued from his feet." The common creed of the Hindus, as gathered from the Brahmanas and Upanishads, is as follows : I. The immortality of the soul. Meaning by this, however, not only that it will always live in the future, but that it has always lived in the past, hence we may say, the eternity of the soul. 292 OL WORSHIP OF THE WORLD. 2. Nothing can come from nothln^-, and hence, all of the substance of the universe is eternal. IDOLS GUARDING THE HINDU TEMPLE AVENAR. 3. The soul cannot exercise thought, or any activity apart from the body. HIXDU SACRED BOOKS, FAIRY STORIES, ETC. 29; 4. Yet the union of body and soul is a source of misery to human beings. 5. Hence we have the behef in the Irafismigration of the soul. That the soul passes from body to body through innumerable changes. These bodies include the widest range and are those of animals or of men, THE LAW-BOOK OF MANU. This was written about the fifth century before Christ. Its rules consist of " immemorial or approved practices," "practices of law and government," "penitential exer- cises," and " consequences of acts." The whole is di- vided into twelve books, of which we give an epitome : After an account of the creation of the world, in the first book, the four stages of a Brahmin's life are the only subjects treated of In regular order in the second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth books, four books being devoted to the duties of the religious student and married house- holder, and the sixth book treating of the two last stages of anchorite and religious m.endicant. The seventh and eighth books propound the rules of government, principally, of course, for the guidance of the second great class of Kshatriyas, from which the king was chosen. The ninth book contains precepts on the subject of women, husband and wife ; their offspring and the law of inheritance and division of property, with ad- ditional rules for kings, and a few precepts relative to the two remaining castes. It also describes the employ- ments to which the several castes are restricted, and states the occupations permitted to Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vais'yas and S'udras, in times of exigency and distress. The eleventh book gives rules of expiation, both for the sins of the present life — especially sins against caste — and for the effects of offenses committed in previous 2Q*_ IDOL IVORSHIP OF THE WORLD. bodies, as shown in congenital diseases, etc. The twelfth continues the subject of the recompenses or consequences of acts, good or bad, as leading to reward in Heaven or punishment in various hells, and to triple degrees of transmiijration. It closes with directions as to the best means of obtaining final beatitude and absorption into the universal essence. A few specimens of Manu's moral precepts are here subjoined : "Daily perform thine own appointed work Unweariedly; and to obtain a friend — A sure companion to the future world — Collect a store of virtue like the ants, Who garner up their treasures into heaps ; For neither father, mother, wife, nor son, Nor kinsman, will remain beside thee then, When thou art passing to that other home — Thy virtue will thy only comrade be. *' Single is every living creature born, Single he passes to another world, Single he eats the fruits of evil deeds. Single the fruit of good ; and when he leaves His body like a log or heap of clay Upon the ground, his kinsmen walk away: A^irtue alone stays by him at the tomb, And bears him through the dreary, trackless gloom. "Depend not on another, rather lean Upon thyself; trust to thine own exertions Subjection to another's will gives pain ; True happiness consists in self-reliance. "Strive to complete the task thou hast commenced ; Wearied, renew thy efforts once again ; Again fatigued, once more the work begin ; So shalt thou earn success and fortune win." There are, in addition to the Code of Manu, at least nineteen other codes of various degrees ot authority. HINDU SACRED BOOK'S, FAIRY STORIES, ETC. 295 DEGRADATION OF WOMEN ACCORDING TO MANU S LAWS. A certain Shaster commands : " If a man goes on a journey, his wife shall not divert herself by play, nor shall see any public show, nor shall laugh, nor shall dress her- self in jewels or fine clothes, nor hear music, nor shall sit at the window, nor shall behold anything choice and rare, but shall fasten well the house door and remain private, and shall not eat any dainty food, and shall not blacken her eyes with powder, and shall not view her face in a mirror She shall never amuse herself in any such agreeable employment during the absence of her hus- band." The following incidents will show how the laws of Manu, in the case of women, are carried out. Miss Brittan. for many years a missionary in India, says: "When I teach in one house, I sit up-stairs in a little veranda, which is walled all around. Into the ve- randa a strongly-barred window opens, behind which sit the women who are being taught, passing their books and work through the bars. I always think of our Saviour's words when visiting them — ' I was in prison, and ye came unto me.' A woman, whose eyes filled with tears when she saw a fiower which was brought her to copy in wool, said : 'Ah, this reminds me of the time when I was a child, for there were others like this in my father's gar- den, and I have not seen it for so long.' Then, pointing a few yards before her to a high wall covered with dirt and moss, she added : ' That is the only prospect I have had for years.' ... Yesterday, I entered a house which was exactly like those I had read of before I came to India. The Baboo, or gentleman of the house, had a suite of rooms furnished elegantly — rich carpets, sofas, chairs, beautiful oaintings and statuary, with a centre- 296 IDOL WORSHIP OF THE WORLD. table covered with vases and curiosities. It really was refreshing to see such beauty and elegance. But, alas ! I was shown to the women's apartments, and the tears would come to my eyes, notwithstanding my efforts to restrain them. Ah, how sad ! The Baboo spoke Eng- lish to me, and was a gentleman. His wife sat on a dirty mat, which was thrown on a damp stone floor, her hair uncombed, her one article of clothing — a sarree — wretchedly dirty, and the appearance of everything in the bare, miserable little room she lived in was that of lowest heathenism. As I saw no chair, I sat down on the mat beside the woman until a servant brought me one, which he said the Baboo had sent me." A well-known missionary relates the following illustra- tive incident : " One day, when I was walking in a retired village, my attention was arrested by seeing two objects, at some distance before me, rolling in the mud. As I approached the spot, I found two females almost exhausted by fatigue. I learned that they had vowed to their goddess to roll in this manner from one temple to another. They had spent nearly a week, and had not accomplished one- half their journey. But no arguments, no remonstrances on my part could induce them to relinquish their under- taking. On leaving them, I indignantly expostulated with a learned Brahmin, who stood near by, and pointed to the miserable objects I had just left. ' Oh,' said he, ' this is worship exactly suited to the capacity of females. Let them alone ; they are sincere. Of course, their wor- ship will be accepted.' " THE BURNING OF WIDOWS COMMANDED BY MANU. Until a comparatively recent date, the fearful rite of Suttee has been practiced openly in India by all high- HIXDL' SACRED BOOKS, I-AIRY STORIES, ETC. 297 HINDU WOMEN RESCUED FROM THEIR DEGRADATION. 298 IDOL WORSHIP OF THE ]VORLD. caste people. The ancient Vedas and the Institutes of Manu, which are second in authority, do not enjoin tliis rite ; but the Shasters and Puranas, which hold about the same relation to the Vedas that the Jewish Talmud does to the Old Testament Scriptures, recommend the flames of the funeral pile as the widow's sure road to eternal joy and peace. The following passages, selected from many similar ones, translated by our missionaries from the Pu- ranas and Shasters, will be sufficient for our purpose : "If a woman who had despised her lord, or done what was contrary to his mind, should (even) from mercenary motives or fear, or from a suspension of the reasoning power, die with her husband, she shall be purged from all crimes. "As the snake-catcher draws the serpent from its hole, so she (no matter how great his sins), by burning, rescues her husband from hell, and rejoices with him. "The woman who expires on the funeral pile with her husband purifies the family of her father, her mother and her husband. If the husband be a Brahmincide, the greatest of all criminals, an ungrateful person, or a mur- derer of his friends, the wife, by burning with him, purges away his sins. "There is no virtue ereater than a virtuous woman burning herself with her husband. "As long as a woman, in her successive transmigrations, should decline burninor herself like a faithful wife on the same fire with her deceased lord, so long shall she not be exempted from springing to life again in the body of some female animal. " Though he, her husband, have sunk to the region of torment, be restrained in dreadful bonds, have reached the place of anguish, be seized by the imp of Luma (the Hindu Pluto, the god of the infern-al regions), be exhausted HINDU SACRED BOOKS, FAIRY STORIES, ETC. 299 of Strength, and afflicted and tortured for his crimes, still, as a serpent-catcher unerringly drags a serpent from his hole, so does she draw her husband from hell, and as- cends with him to Heaven by the power of devotion. " If the wife be within one day's journey of the place where her husband died, and she signify her wish to be burned with him, the burning of the corpse shall be de- layed till her arrival. " If the husband be out of the country when he dies, let the virtuous wife take his slippers, or anything which belongs to his dress, and binding them, or it, on her breast, after purification, enter a separate fire. A Brun- hunu cannot burn herself on a separate pile ; but this is an eminent virtue in another woman. " There are thirty-five million hairs on the human body. The woman who ascends the pile will remain so many years with her husband in Heaven. " Dying with her husband, she purifies three genera- tions— her father and mother's side and her husband's side. Such a wife, adoring her husband, enters into celestial felicity with him^greatest and most admired ; lauded by the choirs of Heaven, with him she shall enjoy the deli^rhts of Heaven while fourteen Indras reio^n." THE GOD VISHNU MADE MAN, According to the great poems, the Mahabarata and the Ramayana, Vishnu passed through ten incarnations. These are frequently represented in sculptures (see illustration). They are I. Mataya, the fish. According to the story, Vishnu became a fish to save Manu (the Noah of the Hindus) from the universal deluge. II, Kurma, the tortoise. Here Vishnu became a tortoise at the bottom of the sea of milK. that his back might serve as a pivot for the mountain Mandara, around which the 300 IDOL WORSHIP OF THE WORLD. gods and demons twisted the great serpent Vasuki, They then stood opposite to each other, and using the snake as a rope, churned the ocean of milk for the pro- HIXD U SA CRED B 0 OA'S, FAIR \ ' STORIES, ETC. 30 f diiction of fourteen precious things. III. \'arah, the boar. Vishnu in this form dehvered the world, alter a strucTo-le of a thousand )'ears, from the demon who had seized the earth and carried it to the lowest depths of the sea. IV. Nara-sinha, the lion. He thus destroyed another demon. V. Vamana, the dwarf. He deprived the demon Bali of the dominion of three worlds. He received from Bali the promise of as much land as he could step over in three paces, and then stepped over heaven and earth. V\. Parasu-rama or Rama with the axe. VII. Rama, the hero, destroying the demon Ravana. VIII. Krishna, the dark destroyer. IX. Buddha, the enlightened one. This form was devised to wnn back the Hindu Buddhists to Vishnu's worship. X. Kalki who is yet to appear. He will be revealed in the sky, seated upon a white-winged horse, with a drawn sword like a blazing comet. He is to finally destroy the wicked and to permanently establish righteousness and truth upon the earth. A SANSKRIT STORY-BOOK. Almost all the Hindus' books are story-books, for they are filled with accounts of the adventures of the gods and legends and myths. But there is one book called the Hitopadesa, which has been called the " Father of all Fables." Its stories have been translated into Persian, Arabic, Hebrew, Greek and later into German, French and English. This book is very old and is exceedingly popular in India. We have selected four of its stories, and the reader will probably wonder that such narratives should ever gain a national popularity. THE STORY OF THE TERRIBLE BELL. "A thief had stolen a bell from the city of Brahmapoora, and was making off with that plunder, and more, into the -502 IDOL WORSHIP OP THE WORLD. Sei-parrata hills, when he was killed by a tiger. The bell lay in the jungle until some monkeys picked it up, and amused themselves by constantly ringing it. The towns- people found the bones of the man, and heard the noise of the bell all about the hills; so they gave out that there was a terrible devil there, whose ears rang like bells as he swung them about, and whose delight was to devour men. Every one, accordingly, was leaving the town, when a peasant woman named Karala, who, liked belief the better for a little proof, came to the Rajah. "'Highness!' she observed, 'for a consideration I could settle this Swing-ear.' '"You could!' exclaimed the Rajah. '"I think so!' repeated the woman. '"Give her a consideration forthwith,' said the Rajah. "Karala, who had her own ideas about the matter, took the present and set out. Being come to the hills, she made a circle, and did homage to Ganesha, without whom nothing prospers. Then, taking some fruit she had brought, such as monkeys love extremely, she scattered it up and down in the wood, and withdrew to watch. Very soon the monkeys finding the fruit, put down the bell, to do justice to it, and the woman picking it up, bore it back to the town, where she became an object of uncommon veneration." THE STORY OF THE LION AND THE OLD HARE. "On the Mandara Mountain there lived a Lion named Fierce-of-heart, and he was perpetually making massacre of all the wild animals. The thing grew so bad that the beasts held a public meeting, and drew up a respectful remonstrance to the Lion in these words: 'Wherefore should your Majesty make carnage of us all? If it may please you, we ourselves will daily furnish a beast for HINDU SACRED BOOK'S, FAIRY STORIES, ETC. 303 your Majesty's meal' The Lion responded, 'If that ar- rangement is more agreeable to you, be it so;' and from that time a beast was allotted to him daily, and daily devoured. One day it came to the turn of an old hare to supply the royal table, who reflected to himself as he walked along, 'I can but die, and I will go to my death leisurely.' "Now Fierce-of-heart, the lion, was pinched with hun- ger, and seeing the Hare so approaching he roared out, 'How darest thou thus delay in coming?' "'Sire,' replied the Hare, 'I am not to blame. I was detained on the road by another lion, who exacted an oath from me to return when I should have informed your Majesty.' "'Go,' exclaimed King Fierce-of-heart in a rage; 'show me, instantly, where this insolent villain of a lion lives.' "The Hare led the way accordingly till he came to a deep well, whereat he stopped, and said : ' Let my lord, the King, come hither, and behold him.' The Lion ap- proached, and beheld his own reflection in the water of the well; upon which, in his passion, he directly flung himself, and so perished." THE STORY OF THE BRAH^^N AND THE PANS. "There was a Brahmin in the city of Vana, whose name was Deva Sarman. At the equinoctial feast of the Dussera, he obtained for his duxina-gift a dish of flour, which he took into a potter's shed, and there lay down in the shade among the pots, staff in hand. As he thus reclined he began to meditate. 'I can sell this meal for ten cowry-shells, and with them I can purchase some of these pots, and sell them at an advance. With all that money I shall invest in betel-nuts and body-cloths, and make a new profit by their sale ; and so go on traffick- -Q^ IDOL WORSHIP OF THE WORLD. ing till I get a lakh of rupees. What's to prevent me ? Then I shall marry four wives, and one at least will be beautiful and young, and she shall be my favorite. Of course, the others will be jealous ; but if they quarrel, and talk, and trouble me, I will belabor them like this — and this — ' and therewith he flourished his staff, to such a purpose as to smash his meal-dish and break several of the potter's jars. The potter, rushing out, took him by the throat, turned him off, and ended his speculations." THE STORY OF THE RECLUSE AND THE MOUSE. " In the forest of the Sa^re Gautama there dwelt a re- cluse named Mighty-at-Prayer. Once, as he sat at his frugal meal, a young mouse dropped beside him from the beak of a crow, and he took it tip and fed it tenderly with rice orains. Some time after the Saint observed a cat pursuing his dependant to devour it, w^hereupon he changed the mouse into a stout cat. The cat was a great deal harassed by dogs, upon which the Saint again trans- formed it into a dog. The dog was always in danger of the tigers, and his protector at last gave him the form of a tiger ; considering him all this while, and treating him withal, like nothing but a mouse. The country-folks passing by would say, ' That a tiger ! not he : it is a mouse the Saint has transformed.' And the mouse being vexed at this, reflected, ' So lonor as the Master lives this shameful story of my origin will survive.' With this thought he was about to take the Saint's life, when he, who knew his purpose, turned the ungrateful beast by a word to his original shape." SHINTOISM, THE NA TURE- WORSHIP OF JAPAN. ^05 CHAPTER XIV. . SHINTOISM, THE NATURE-WORSHIP OF JAPAN. As regards the beliefs of the ancient religion, Shintoism, it taught primarily the existence of gods, and in the division which it made of them into good and bad, recognized that fundamental and eternal distinction between right and wrong, the deep rooting of which in the human soul has been man's safeguard against what is bad in reli- gions and in everything else. — Sir Edward J. Reed. JAPAN is one of the most interesting of countries to- the American people. It is our nearest neighbor on the west ; and America was mainly instrumental in introducing Japan into the ranks of the nations of mod- ern times. The present line of Mikados among the Jap- anese is the longest continued among existing nations. China has changed its dynasties many times, and has been twice subdued by foreigners, the Mongols and the Manchis; but the line of Japanese monarchs is an un- broken series from B. C. 660 to the present day. The Mongols sought to conquer the Island Empire in 1281 A. D. ; but they were utterly defeated and driven away. The present emperor, Mutsuhito, is the one hundred and twenty-third Mikado of Japan. The religions of this people are two, Shintoism and Buddhism. The tenets of Confucius have been introduced together with Buddhism, and Buddhist preachers of to-day take their texts from the classic Chinese books. Shinto- ism has been much mixed up with Buddhism. Many features of its worship have been changed in imitation of oo6 IDOL WORSHIP OF THE WORLD. o Buddhism, and some of its essential doctrines have been greatly modified. There has been some discussion as to whether Shintoism is really a religion or only a system of state-craft ; but it is very generally believed to be a religion which has degenerated into a mere system of political machinery. Certainly it has gods and god- desses, and sacred symbols, legends, myths and religious notions which existed in Japan long before Buddhism came there. There are also sacred books which have no connection with the Buddhist writings. The temples and priests are an innovation of later days. Shintoism is and was the State religion ; it is supported by the State ; its head is the emperor, the Mikado ; its sacred books are but the chronicles of its history, and the whole system is interwoven with the national life of Japan. THE SACRED BOOKS OF JAPAN. The Kojiki and the Nihonki are the two most sacred Shinto books. The one was written 71 1 A. D., the other 720 A. D. They were composed long before this. It always has been an Oriental practice to commit books to memory. Thus the Hindu and Parsee sacred books were preserved, and thus, too, the ancient Japanese books have been kept. Without being written out, these books were handed down from mouth to mouth. Soon after the in- vention of the Japanese written characters, these records were reduced to writing. The story of this is thus told : "As to the historical records of Japan, it is first mentioned that, under the twentieth emperor, in 415 A. D., officials were sent into the country to verify and describe the names of all the families. Later, a transcription of these records (originally written, in all probability, in the old Japanese letters, 'the gods' letters,') in Chinese characters took place, and in 644 A. D. an historical account of the SHIXTOISM, THE NATURE-WORSHIP OF JAPAN. -q- emperors, the country, the officials and the people is said to have existed, which was destroyed when Iruka was murdered, and his father's palace, in which these records were kept, was burned. Only the history of the country was saved. From this work, as well as from what the old men of the whole empire remembered, a new com- pilation was made under the Emperor Temmu (672-686 A. D.), and in order that it might not be lost again, it was read to a peasant girl, named Are, who was said never to forget anything she had once heard. From this record, and from what Are still remembered, the first historical record of Japan known to us, the Kojiki, was compiled about thirty years later." These works, though histories, strictly speaking, are full of stories of mythology, describing the origin of gods and men. The mythology of Japan is superior to that of Greece. It contains but few or none of the horrible stories of the gods, or the voluptuous amours of gods and goddesses which so abound in Grecian mythology. Some of their myths are really beautiful, others are very extravagant. The origin of gods, of men, of the earth, are here all described. It begins with the time when "Far in the deep infinitudes of space, Upon a throne of silence, Sat Ame-no-mi-naka-nushi-ro-kami. " This stranee name siQ;nifies The Lord of the Centre of Heaven, The heavens and earth were then joined together. There was nothing but chaos. Pairs of beings were then created, male and female. Last of all Izanagi and Izanami were created. JAPANESE STORY OF THE CREATION. It is said that the other pairs of beings before Izanagi and Izanami were only their imperfect forms or the pro- 3o8 IDOL WORSHIP OF THE WORLD. cesses through which they passed before arriving at per- fection. These two beings hved in the heavens. The world was not yet well formed, and the soil floated about like a fish in the water, but near the surface, and was called "The Floating Region." The sun, earth and moon were still attached to each other like a head to the neck, or arms to the body. They were little by little separating, the parts joining them growing thinner and thinner. This part, like an isthmus, was called " Heaven's Floating Brido-e." It was on this brido-e that Izanaofi and Izanami were standing when they saw a pair of wagtails cooing and billing sweetly together. The heavenly couple were so delighted with the sight that they began to imitate the birds. Thus began the art of love, which mortals have practiced to this day. While talking together on this Bridge of Heaven, they began to wonder if there was a world beneath them. They looked far down upon the green seas, but could see nothing! Then Izanagi took his long jeweled spear and plunged it into the turbid mass, turning it round and round. As he lifted it up, the drops which trickled from it hardened into earth of their own accord, and thus dry land was formed. As Izanagi was cleansing his spear the lumps of muck and mud which had adhered to it flew off into space, and were changed into stars and comets. It is also said that by turning his spear round and round, Izanagi set the earth revolving in its daily revolutions. To the land thus formed, they gave the name "The Island of the Congealed Drop." because they intended to create a large archipelago and wished to distinguish this as the first island. They descended from Heaven on the floating bridge and landed on the island. Izanagi struck his tall spear in the ground making it the axis of the world. He then proceeded to build a palace around the SHINTO ISM, THE NATURE-WORSHIP OF JAPAN. -^OQ spear which formed the central pillar. The spot was formerly at the North Pole, but is now at Eshima, off the central eastern coast of Japan. They next resolved to walk around the island and examine it. This done, they met together. Izanami cried out, " What a lovely man !" But Izanagi rebuked her for speaking first, and said they must try it again. Then they walked around the island once more. When they met, Izanami held her tongue while Izanagi said, " What a lovely woman !" Being now both in good humor, they began the work of creating Japan. The first island brought up out of the water was' Anaji ; and then the main island. After that, eight large islands were created, whence comes one of the names of Japan, " The Empire of the Eight Great Islands." Six smaller islands were also produced. The several thousand islets which make up the archipelago of "Everlasting Great Japan" were formed by the spontane- ous consolidation of the foam of the sea. After the country was thus formed the divine pair cre- ated eight millions of earthly gods or Kami, and the ten thousand different thinofs on the earth. Vegetation sprung up over all the land, which was, however, still covered with mist. So Izanagi created with his breath the two gods, male and female, of the wind. All these islands are the children of Izanagi and Izanami, and when first born were small and feeble, but gradually grew larger and larger, attaining their present size like human beines, which are at first tinv infants. As the gradual separation of the land and sea went on, foreign countries were formed by the congealing of the foam of the sea. The god of fire was then born of Izanami, his mother. This god often became very angry at any one who used unclean fire. Izanami then created by herself the gods of metals, of clay, and of fresh water. 3IO IDOL WORSHIP OF THE WORLD. This latter god was commanded always to keep the god oi tire quiet, and put him out when he began to do mis- chief. Izanagi and Izanami though married but a short time, beo-an to quarrel. Izanami being very angry went down to the lower world of darkness and disappeared. In the dark world under the earth Izanami stayed a long time, and after wearisome waiting, Izanagi went after her. In the darkness of the under-world he was horrified at what he saw, and leaving his consort below he tried to save himself and make his escape to the earth again. THE GOD CREATED FROM IZANAGI'S STAFF In his struggles several gods were created, one of them coming out of his staff When he got up to daylight, he secured a large rock to close up the hole in the earth. Turning this rock into a god, he commanded him to watch the place. He then rushed into the sea, and con- SHINTOISM, THE NA TURE- WORSHIP OF yAPA.V. ^ i j tinued washing for a long time to purify himself. In blowing out from his lungs the polluted air inhaled in the under-world, the two evil gods sprang forth from his breath. As these would commit great harm and wickedness, Iza- naei created two other 2;ods to correct their evil. But when he had washed his eyes and could see clearly again, there sprang out two precious and lovely beings ; one from his left eye being a rare and glistening maiden, whom he afterward named Amaterasu, or "The Heaven Illumi- nating Spirit." From his right eye appeared Susa-no O, the "Ruler of the Moon." Being now pure again, and having these lovely children, Izanagi rejoiced and said, "I have begotten child upon child, and at the end of my be- getting, I have begotten me two jewel-children." Now the brightness of the person of the maiden Amaterasu was beautiful, and shone through Heaven and earth. Izanagi, well pleased, said: "Though my children are many, none of them is like this wonder-child. She must not be kept in this region." So taking off the necklace of precious stones from his neck and rattling it, he gave it to her, saying, "Rule thou over the High Plain of Heaven." At that time the distance between Heaven and earth was not very great, and he sent her up to the blue sky by the Heaven-uniting pillar, on which the heavens rested as on a prop. She easily mounted it, and lived in the sun, illuminating the whole heavens and earth. The sun now gradually separated from the earth, and both moved farther and farther apart, until they rested where they now are. Izanagi next spoke to Susa-no O, the Ruler of the Moon, and said, " Rule thou over the new-born earth and the blue waste of the sea wnth its multitudinous salt waters." Thus the heavens, and the earth, and moon were created and inhabited. And as Japan lay directly opposite the sun when it separated from the 312 IDOL WORSHIP OF THE WORLD. earth, it is plain that Japan Hes on the summit of the globe. It is easily seen that all other countries were formed by the spontaneous consolidation of the ocean foam and the collection of mud in the various seas. The stars were made to oruide warriors from foreign coun- tries to the court of the Mikado, who is the one and only true son of heaven, before whom all should bow. THE EMPERORS DESCENDED FROM THE GODS. Amaterasu, on account of her bright beauty, was by her father made queen of the sun, and shared with the two creator-o-ods the eovernment of the world. In send- ing her to her dominion, Izanagi gave her the necklace of precious stones from his neck, and told her to go up by way of the floating bridge. As the sun was then near, she ascended without difficulty. Desiring after- ward to give the government of the earth to her grand- son, Ninigi-no-mikoto, after considerable difficulty in get- ting the god in possession to make way for him, she was able to carry out her purpose and dispatch him to his post. She proclaimed him sovereign of Japan for ever and ever, and appointed his descendants to rule it as lone as the heavens and the earth endure. Before start- ing he received from his grandmother, the sun-goddess, the Three Divine Insignia of the Imperial Power of Japan, namely, the Sacred Mirror, which is still worshiped at the Naiku Shrine in Ise as representative of the god- dess ; the Sacred Sword, which is still enshrined at the temple of Atsuta, near Nagoya, at the head of the bay of Owari ; and the Sacred Stone, or " Magatama," which is always in possession of the Emperor of Japan. Possessed of these divine symbols, and accompanied by a number of inferior gods, Ninigi-no-mikoto descended upon the Floating Bridge of Heaven, or the "Ama-no- SHIXTOISM, THE NA TURE- WORSHIP OF JAPAN. 313 uki-hashi," Grains of rice were thrown broadcast in the air to dispel the darkness of the sky. Ninigi no-mikoto was the god who was sent down from the Sun-troddess, whose grandchikl he was, to take possession of the land, and it was his offspring, and the offspring of his suite, who peopled Japan. Ninigi-no- mikoto lived to the age of 3 1 0.000 years ; his son Hohodemi lived to the still riper age of 637,892 years, and a grandchild of his, Ugaya, died at the remarkable age of 836,042 years. He was the father of Jimmu Tenno, first Emperor of Japan, who is, at the pres- ent time, very widely worshiped as a god. jimmu tenno, first emperor of japan. THE SUN-GODDESS ENTICED FRO^I THE CAVE. The young brother of the Sun-goddess so seriously offended his bright and beaudful sister that she went away and concealed herself in the cave of Ameno Tuaya, closing the entrance with a large piece of rock. 19 SH IDOL WORSHIP OF THE WORLD. From this time the entire country was dark, and was given up to the noise and disturbance of all sorts of inferior ofods. This state of thinofs was so distressinof that all the gods assembled at the cave's mouth, on the bank of the Yasukawa River, and deliberated upon the means to be adopted for inducing the petulant goddess to reappear, for be it understood that after the birth of the Sun-ofod- dess no light could be obtained except from her bright- ness, as she had been appointed to illuminate the space between earth and Heaven, and it was the brightness of her body that shone through the sun. At the council of the gods it was decided to entice the goddess forth by means of an ima«-e of herself, and one of the o-ods and a blacksmith made mirrors, in the shape of the sun, with iron brought from Heaven. Japanese mirrors are ahvays made of fine metal, not of glass coated with quicksilver. Those in common use are generally five or six inches in diameter, having the surface polished with great care and some figures or flowers stamped upon the back. The mirror is a Shinto symbol. In the centre of the Shinto shrine of Ise, in the " Holy of Holies" of that temple 'are found four boxes of unpainted wood, resting on low stands. These are the only objects to be found here. In each box, wrapped in a brocade bag, is a mirror. On festival days, these boxes — but not the mirrors — are exposed to view. The first two mirrors produced by the blacksmith, as stated above, were unsatisfactory, but the third was larore and beautiful, and is now the deitv of the inner shrine of Ise. The gods also planted hemp and paper mulberry, and with their fibre and bark wove clothing for the goddess. They also cut down trees and built a palace. Magatama jewels (carved and polished pieces of stone, such as were worn in those days as ornaments) SinXTOISM, THE NATURE-WORSHIP OF JAPAX. 315 were also produced, and wands were made from sakaki branches and bamboo. One of the gods then pulled up a sakaki-tree by the roots, and on its upper branches hung the necklace of jewels; at the middle he hung the sacred mirror, and to the lower branches he attached both coarse and fine cloth. This formed a large gohei, which was held by Ama-no-futo-dama-no-mikoto, while he pro- nounced an address in honor of the goddess. And goheis like this, with jewels, mirrors and strips of cloth cut zigzag, we still see in the hands of the young priest- esses at the shrine of the goddess herself, and the simpler gohei or wands, with strips of cloth or paper attached, are now to be seen, as they have for ages been, all over Japan, at every Shinto temple or shrine and in thousands of other places. A number of young cocks were next collected, and set to crow in concert; a strong god was concealed by the door of the cavern, to wrest it open at the favorable moment; and a very renowned goddess, Uzume, was set to dance, blowing music out of a bamboo tube pierced with holes, while the gods kept time to her performance by striking two pieces of wood together. A sort of harp was made, by placing six bows together, with the strings upward. This was played by the drawing of grass and rushes across it. Uzume, who appears to have entered upon her task with great spirit, bound her sleeves close up to the arm-pits, and grasped in her hand a bundle of twigs and a spear wound round with grass and having small bells attached to it. Bon-fires were lighted and a circular box or drum was placed for her to dance upon. Then this young goddess commenced to tread with measure upon the hollow box and cause it to resound. She sang a six-syllable song or charm of numbers, and, gradually quickening her dance wrought herself up to 21 6 IDOL WORSHIP OF THE WORLD. such a pitch of excitement, or rather "such a spirit de- scended on the goddess," that she loosened her dress, reveahng- more and more of her lovehness, and at last, to the intense amazement and delight of the gods, ap- pears to have discarded her dress altogether. With the laughter of the gods the heavens shook. The address in her honor, the stirring sounds of the music and dan- cing, and the loud and joyous laughter of the gods was. too much for Amaterasu, and slightly opening the door, she softly said from inside, "I fancied that because of my retirement both Heaven and Japan were in darkness! Why has Uzume danced and why do the gods laugh?" Uzume replied, "I dance and they laugh, because there is an honorable deity here" (pointing to the mirror) "who surpasses you in glory;" and as she said this, the mirror was pushed forward and shown to the Sun-goddess, reflecting her own radiant loveliness, of course, and her as- tonishment was even greater than before. As she peeped out of the cave to look around, the strong god pulled the rock-door open and drew the bright goddess forth. Then a rice-straw rope was passed behind her, and one of the gods said, "Go not back behind this." As they were putting the mirror into the cave it was struck against the door, and received a flaw which remains to this day. They then removed the goddess to her new palace, and, as an expression of their kindly interest, they put a straw rope round it to keep off evil gods. SHINTO WORSHIP. Buddhism was introduced into Japan in 532 A. D. Up to this time Shintoism had continued to be the sole reli- gion of Japan, during some twelve hundred years at least. It is called by the Japanese themselves, Kami-no- michi, or "The Way of the Gods." The religion con- SHIXTOISM, THE AA TURE- WORSHIP OF JAPAN. 317 sists essentially, so they say, in an iviplicit obedience to the JMikado. He is the descendant of the gods, and his common designation is Ten-Shi, or " Son of Heaven." The Mikado has two crests, one, representing the chrys- anthemum, is used for government purposes. The other, representing the leaf and blossoms of the Paulow- THE MIKADO'S COAT-OF-ARMS. nia Imperialis {Kiri in Japanese), is used in the business personal to the Mikado and his family. There were no creeds, nor elaborate systems of doc- trines in their relicrion. The eood o-ods were to be wor- shiped so that there might be an increase of good gifts ; and the evil gods, so that they might be appeased. The 3i8 IDOL WORSHIP OF THE WORLD. people prayed for a sufficiency of food, clothing and shelter, and twice each year held festivals of General Purification, when the whole nation was purified of its sins and pollu- tions. The following prayer was to be used by the Mikado: "O God, that dwellest in the high plain of RAIDEN, GOD OF THUNDER, WrfH HIS STRING OF DRUMS. Heaven, who art divine in substance and in intellect, and able to give protection from guilt and its penalties, to banish impurity, and to cleanse us from uncleanness — Hosts of Gods hear us and listen to these petitions!" The emperor w^as the god dwelling in the flesh, and SHIXTOISM, THE XATL'RE-IVORSHIP OF JAPAN. 319 his ancestors were, of course, to be worshiped. The first emperor, Jimmu Tenno, receives especial worship and honor. Besides these gods — the deified emperors and heroes — there were hosts of gods who were the deified powers of nature. We have already spoken of the sun- . FUTEX, GOD OF WINDS, WITH HIS HUGE SACK. ofoddess and moon-Qfoddess. Besides these there were gods of storms, winds, rain, thunder, fertility, of moun- tains, fields, seas and rivers, Raiden, the god of thunder, is supposed to have a string of drums, which he beats when it thunders. The Japanese say that when he is 320 IDOL WORSHIP OF THE WORLD. angry, he throws from the clouds a terrible creature like a cat, with iron claws and a hairy body. Futen, the god of winds, carries a huge sack slung over his shoulders, the mouth of which is closed by his hand. It blows a typhoon, a gale, or a breeze, as he clinches his fingers little or much. Besides these g^ods are a number of eods of occupations, of the household, of the work-shop, the field and the store. The sun is one of the most common objects of wor- ship among the Shintoists. The country of Japan is often called "The Land of the Risine Sun." Their national flag is of white with a large red sun in the centre. On the top of Fujiyama, the famous sacred mountain, and on the sea-shore, pilgrims and priests often gather to offer their worship to the rising sun. FOPULAR GODS AXD SHRINES OF SHIXTOISM. CHAPTER XV. PC^PULAR GODS AND SHRINES OF SHINTOISM. The characteristics of " Pure Shinto" are an absence of an ethical and doctrinal code, of idol-worship, of priestcraft, and of any teach-, ings concerning a future state, and the deification of heroes, em- perors and great men, together with the worship of certain forces and objects in nature. It is said that the Kami, or gods, number 14,000, of whom 3,700 are known to have shrines; but, practically, the num- ber is infinite. Each hamlet has its special god, as well as its Mirja, or shrine ; and each child is taken to the shrine of the district in which it is born, a month after birth, and the god of that shrine be- comes his patron. Each god has its annual festival, while many have particular days in each month on which people visit their shrines. — Miss Isabella Bird. THE SEVEN HOUSEHOLD GODS. MR. GRIFFIS says : Every Japanese child knows the Shichifuku Jin, or the seven Patrons of Happiness. They have charge of long life, riches, daily food, contentment, talents, glory and love. Their images, carved in ivory, wood, stone, or cast in bronze, are found in every house, sold in the stores, painted on shop-signs, and found in picture-books. They are a jolly company, and make a happy family. On New Year's Eve, a picture of the Treasure-ship (Yakarebune). laden with Shippi (the seven jewels) and with all the good things of life which men most desire, is hung up in houses. The ship is coming into port, and the passen- gers are the seven happy fairies who will make gifts to 322 IDOL WORSHIP OF THE WORLD. the people. These seven jewels are the same as those which Momotaro brought back from the Onis island. First there is Fukoruku Jin, the patron of long life or length of days. He has an enormously high forehead, rounded at the top, which makes his head look like a sugar loaf. It is bald and shiny. A few stray white hairs sometimes sprout up, and the barber, to reach them, has to prop a ladder against his head to climb up and apply his razor. This big head comes from thinking so much. His eyebrows are white like cotton, and a long, snowy beard falls down over his breast. When in a specially good humor, he ties a handkerchief over his high, slippery crown, and allows little boys to climb up on top — that is,if they are good boys, and can write well. WHien he wants to show how strong and livel}' he is, even though so old, he lets Daikoku, the fat fellow, ride on top of his head while he smokes his pipe and wades across a river. Dai- koku has to hold on tighdy. or he will slip down and get a ducking. Usually, the old shiny-head is a very solemn gentleman, and walks slowly along with his staff in one DAIKOKU, THE RICE-GOD, ON HIS THRONE OF RICE-BAGS. FUKORUKU JIX, THE GOD WHO CAN BESTOW LONG LIFE. From a Japanese Picture showing their conception of the way in which the gods can superi'ise affairs iu various pL.ces POPULAR GODS AXD SHRIXES OF SHIXTOISM. '>2^ hand, while with the other he strokes his long eyebrows. The tortoise and the crane are alwa^'s with him, for these are his pets. Sometimes a stag, with hair white with age, walks behind him. Everybody likes Fukoruku Jin, be- cause every one wants to get his favor and live until, like a lobster, his back is bent with age. At a wedding, you will always see a picture of white-bearded and shiny- pated Fukoruku Jin. Daikoku is a short chubby fellow, with eyes half sunk in fat, but twinkling with fun. He has a flat cap set on his head, a loose sack over his shoulders, and big boots on his feet. His throne is two straw bac^s of rice, and his badcre of office is a mallet or hammer, which makes people rich when he shakes it. The hammer is the symbol of labor, showing that people may expect to get rich only by hard work. One end of it is carved to rep- resent the jewel of the ebbine and the flowine tides, be- cause merchants get rich by commerce on the sea, and must watch the tides. He is often seen holding the counting-board, on which you can reckon, do sums, sub- tract, multiply or divide, by sliding balls up and down a row of sticks set in a frame, instead of writing the fioures. Beside him is a ledger and day-book. His favorite ani- mal is the rat, which, like some rich men's pets, eats or runs away with his wealth. The great silver-white radish called daikon, two feet long and as big as a man's calf, is always seen near him, because it signifies flourishing prosperity. He keeps his bag tightly shut, for money easily runs away when the purse is once opened. He never lets go his hammer, for it is only by constant care that any one can keep money after he gets it. Even when he frolics with Fukoruku Jin, and rides on his head, he keeps his ham- mer swinging at his belt He has huge lop ears. Once 326 IDOL WORSHIP OF THE WORLD. in a while, when he wishes to take exercise, and Fuko- ruku Jin wants to show how frisky he can be, even if he is old, they have a wrestling-match together. Daikoku nearly always beats, because Fukoruku Jin is so tall that he has to bend down to grip Daikoku, who is fat and short, and thus he becomes top-heavy. Then Daikoku gets his rival's long head under his left arm, seizes him over his back by the belt, and throws him over his shoulder flat on the ground. But if Fukoruku Jin can only get hold of Daikoku's lop ears, both fall together. Then they laugh heartily and try it again. DOMESTIC ALTAR OF THE GODS OF DAILY FOOD AND OF RICE. Ebisu is the patron of daily food, which is usually rice and fish, and in old times was chiefly the latter. He is nearly as fat as Daikoku. He wears a court noble's high cap. He is always fishing or enjoying his game. POPULAR GODS AND SHRINES OF SHIN TO ISM \2J When very happy, he sits on a rock by the sea, with his right leg bent under him, and a big red fish, called the tai, a fish like a perch, under his left arm. He carries a straw wallet on his back to hold his fish and keep it fresh. Often he is seen standing knee deep in the water, pole in hand, watching for a nibble. Some say that Ebisu is the same scamp that goes by the other name of Sosanoo. Hotel is the patron of contentment, and, of course, is the father of happiness. He does not wear much cloth- ing, for the truth is that all his property consists of an old, ragged wrapper, ^ — >^ a fan and a wallet, \ i -^ He is as round as a pudding, and as fat as if rolled out of dough. His body is like a lump of rice pastry, and his limbs like dango dump- lings. He has lop ears that hang down over his shoulders, a tremendous double chin, and a round ^>; belly. Though he will not let his beard grow long, the slov- ^'^^^^ ™^ ^"^ ''^ happiness. enly old fellow never has it shaven when he ought to. He is a jolly vagabond and never fit for company ; but he is a great friend of the children, who romp over his knees and shoulders, pull his ears and climb up over his shaven head. He always keeps something good for them in his wallet. Sometimes he opens it wide and -,^g IDOL WORSHIP OF THE WORLD. then makes them guess what is inside. They try to peep in, but they are not tall enough to look over the edge. He makes tops, paints pictures or kites for the boys, and is the children's greatest friend. When the seven patrons meet together, Hotel is apt to drink more wine than is good for him. Toshi-toku is almost the only one of the seven who never lays aside his dignity. He has a very grave countenance. He is the patron of talents. His pet animal is a spotted fawn. He travels about a good deal to find and reward good boys who are diligent in their studies, and men who are fitted to rule. In one hand he carries a crooked staff of bamboo, at the top of which is hung a book or roll of manuscript. His dress is like that of a learned doctor, with square cap, stole and high- toed slippers. Bishamon is the patron of glory and fame. He is a mighty soldier. He wears a golden helmet, breast-plate and complete armor. He is the protector of priests and warriors. He gives them skill in fencing, horsemanship and archery. He holds a pagoda in one hand and a dragon sword in the other. His pet animal is the tiger. Six out of the jolly worthies are men. Benten is the only lady. She is the patron of the family and of the sea. She plays the flute and the guitar for the others, and amuses them at their feasts, sometimes even dancing for them. Her real home is in Rin Gu, and she is the queen of the world under the sea. She often dwells in the caves of the sea or ocean. Her favorite animal is the snake and her servants are the dragons. Once a year the jolly seven meet together to talk over old times, relate their adventures, and have a luxuriant supper. Then they proceed to business, which is to arrange all the marriages for the coming year. They have a great many skeins of red and white silk, which POPULAR GODS AND SHRINES OF SHINTOISM. -.^c\ are the threads of fate of those to be married. The white threads are the men, the red are the women. At first they select the threads very carefully, and tie a great many pairs or couples neatly and strongly together, so that the matches are perfect. All such marriages of threads make happy marriages among human beings. But by and by they get tired and lazy, and instead of tying the knots carefully, they hurry up the work and then jumble them carelessly, and finally toss and tangle up all the rest. This is the reason why so many mar- riages are unhappy. This work done they begin to frolic like big boys. Benten plays the guitar, and Bishamon lies down on the floor resting upon his elbows to hear it. Hotei drinks wine out of a shallow red cup which is as wide as a dinner plate. Daikoku and Fukoruku Jin begin to wrestle, and when Daikoku gets his man down he pounds his big head with an empty gourd, while Toshi-toku and Ebisu begin to eat tai fish. When this fun is over, Ben- ten and Fukoruku Jin play a game of checkers, while the others look on and bet ; except Hotei, the fat fellow, who is asleep. Finally they get ashamed of themselves for gambling, and after a few days, the party breaks up and each one o-oes to his reofular business aofain. o o o THE SACRED MOUNTAIN. Almost the first object which meets the gaze of the traveler after crossing the Pacific Ocean and as he nears the land, is the matchless mountain, Fuji-yama. Its snow- covered heights rise some 13,000 feet above the sea. To the people of Japan this is the sacred mountain. It is depicted on all their lacquer-ware, their china-ware and their drawings. It is described in all their poems and sacred books. It has a strong hold on the people. It is a sleeping volcano. Nearly 2,000 feet of its sides are 330 IDOL WORSHIP OF THE WORLD. cultivated. Then comes a wide belt of forest. The ascent of the mountain is a sacred pilgrimage, and there are accordingly a number of roads to the top, with nine huts on each road. The pilgrims are dressed in white robes, and pray to the rising sun while climbing the mountain sides. Sometimes one may see several hun- dreds of Shinto pilgrims in their white robes turning out «»^tA THE SACREU MOUNTAIN, FUJI-VA.MA. from their shelters, and joining their chants to the rising sun. The view of the long sweeping sides of this moun- tain, rising from an almost level plain and climbing away to the clouds, through which it thrusts its snow-crowned top, is one of the grandest in the world. POPULAR GODS AXD SIIRIXES OF SHINTOISM. JJ ^^I SHINTO TEMPLES AND GATE-WAYS. The temples are usually of very simple style, being constructed of wood and thatched. They contain no All idols and ; but in the courtyards or approaches figures of real imaginary animals are not at all uncommon, espe- IDOL WORSHIP OF THE WORLD. cially in the case of large temples. The approach is spanned by one or more torii. The torii, it is now gen- erally admitted, was originally a perch for the fowls of- fered to the gods, not as food, but to give warning of day-break. Its present use is not for this purpose, but is simply as a decoration. At the outer shrine of Ise, which is called the gekfi, there is an immense number of votive ioi'ii standing- close to each other in lono- rows. But the more common form of votive offering is a large lantern, several feet in height, and formed either of wrought stone or of bronze. These are sometimes of very large size, even ten or twelve feet high, and are often crowded thickly near the ap- proaches alike of Shinto and Buddhist temples. The wor- shiper does not enter the temple to worship at a Shinto shrine. He stands in front of it, striking his hands together, and offers, bowed, and usually in silence, the short and simple prayer A TENTO, OR •' HEA\ E\LV i • i i • • • i- LANTERN." wliich liis own necessities dictate. THE SACRED SHRINES OF ISE. First for sacredness among the Japanese Shinto temples are the Shrines of Ise. These are to Japan what Mecca is to Mohammedan lands and what Jerusalem was to the Holy Land. Thousands of pilgrims visit these shrines every year. Sir E. J. Reed, thus describes his visit: "At the entrance we were met by two Shinto priests, who had been deputed to show us the sacred place. POPULAR GODS AND SHRIXES OF SIIIXTOISM. -, -, ^ Passine under the torii, we were at once amid trees of an age and magnitude not often equaled. Within the temple-Hmits we came first to a small edifice, in which was the white horse of the deity of the place, which hap- SHRINES OF ISE, THE MOST SACRED PLACE OF SHINTOISM. pened to be an artificial horse, the real one having re- cently died, and another not being forthcoming at present, for reasons which I did not learn. Soon afterward we came to two living black horses, consecrated to the ser- vice of the temple, and more particularly for the god of the place — 'the god of food, clothes and house living,' according to one authority; or, 'the god of the earth's produce,' as another has it, to ride upon in the proces- sions of the great temple ceremonials. " There are secondary deities worshiped there, the chief of whom is the adopted grandson of the sun-god- dess and the great-grandfather of the first Mikado, Jimmu Tenno, who commenced his reign in the Japanese year r. Accordinof to the legend, the Qroddess wished to send her adopted son, Oshi-ho-mimi-no-mikoto, down upon earth to subdue it, but he put forth his own son instead as leader of the expedition. The goddess then presented 334 IDOL WORSHIP OF THE WORLD. Ninigi-no-mikoto with various treasures, the most im- portant among which — and here we touch upon the cen- tral sacredness alike of the race of Mikados and of the symbols of the Shinto faith — were the mirror, sword and stone, or ball (afterwards the regalia of the Japanese sovereigns). She also attached to his person the other two inferior gods of Geku. With reference to the mir- ror, she said, ' Look upon this mirror as my spirit ; keep it in the same house and on the same floor with yourself, and worship it as if you were worshiping my actual presence.' " Passing under another torii of plain, unpainted tim- ber, like all the torii of the Ise shrines, we came to the outer gate of the temple proper, to which alone of three successive gates we and the other pilgrims were allowed to approach. With certain extremely rare exceptions, extending only to the Mikado and commissioners of his, none but priests are allowed to pass this first gate. It was an open gate, however, with a simple white curtain or cloth thrown across it, blowing about as the wind listed. Through this open gate, or past the sides of it, if you preferred to stand there, you could see the next gate, and beyond that again was a third, and then came the temple proper, which could not be seen. This was all ! The buildings, as far as seen, were all of the plain- est possible kind, not unlike substantial, well-thatched farm-buildings at home. The mirror at this outer temple was not the original mirror, and the priest did not for a moment lead us to suppose that it was. There was, in fact, no pretence of any kind about the place. The ancient buildings and the plain white curtain were left to produce that which is perhaps the deepest and most lasting of all impressions made by religious externals, namely, that of combined, simplicity and antiquity. Of this outer temple POPULAR GODS AND SHRINES OF SHINTOISM. JOD I need only add, that it is in every respect a sequel and appendage to the inner and more ancient temple, having been built bv the desire of the Q-oddess of the older Ise temple, who wished to have the deity Toyouke near her. This, the outer and later temple, dates from the reign of the twenty-second Mikado of the present reigning dy- nasty, Yuriaku, in the year 479 A. D. INTERIOR OF A SHINTO TEMPLE, SHOWING THE ARRANGEMENTS FOR WORSHIP. "Soon afterwards we started for the inner temple, Naiku. Here is kept the original sacred mirror, which is the most precious emblem of the Shinto faith, and which, with the sacred sword and ball, is also the authenticating memorial 336 IDOL WORSHIP OF THE WORLD. of the imperial dynasty. So all Japan has regarded it for 2,500 years, even down to 1868, and so most of the people regard it still. This temple came to be built in the following manner : The sacred emblems of the national religion had, up to the time of the great Mikado Sujin, been kept in the imperial palace or temple; but he, as some say to increase their safety, and as others allege because he viewed a rebellion which broke out as a mark of divine disapprobation of their remaining in his custody, gave them into the charge of his daughter, in a temple dedicated to them. They were subsequently re- moved and carried from place to place, but at length, in the twenty-sixth year of the reign of Suinin Tenno, and therefore in the year 3 B. C, it was resolved to fix the mirror at the village of Uji on the River Suzugawa, and there and then the present temple was built. The old building does not exist. On the contrary, a new temple is erected every twenty years, but eacli new temple is an exact repetition of the original, and therefore the present one is a perfect representation of the architecture of Japan at the time of Christ. The principal deity here worshiped is Amaterasu, the sun-goddess herself "The gate-way was open, and hung, like that of the other temple, with a long white curtain, and beyond were seen another /^r/? and other gate-ways, but nothing could be seen of the temple itself, and as little, of course, of the heaven-wrought mirror within. As we stood, however, the pilgrims continued to come, of both sexes and all ages, and casting upon the ground a few coins, some wrapped in paper, stooping, clapping their hands, and uttering a few words of prayer, thus attained and completed the object for which their journeyings had been undertaken. I asked if this was all they saw and did, and was told that it was. I inquired if they attended POPULAR GODS AND SHRINES OF SHINTOISM. -^i^ ail no religious service, saw no dances, heard no music, re- ceived no advice ; and found that as a rule they did noL Was no blessing pronounced, no simple memorial of some kind presented to them ? Nothing ; but they all bought little mementos of the place at the stall in the grounds or at the shops in the village. What was it they said during the minute or two that they stooped before the shrine ? They no doubt asked for whatever they wanted in particular, and generally for long life, and the means of life and happiness in the years to come. " Our companions, the priests, suggested that we ought to see one of the ceremonial dances of the temple, and to this we gladly assented on learning that it would not be a repetition of what we had seen at Osaka and Nara, but that it was one of the most ancient description, handed down from generation to generation at these Ise shrines. The room had an altar at the end opposite the entrance, over which was a large mirror. Round the altar and walks were an abundance of gokeis, and of bands and tassels. At the altar-end of the room a priest sat on one side, and along each of the side walls were the musicians and dancers, all sitting on their heels. The musicians, who were also singers, were all men ; the dancers were quite young girls attired in white and red, with frontlets of brass, from each end of which depended a cord and tassel. On the tops of their heads were large bunches of flowers; their back hair was in a queue, with tassels attached, surniounted with gilt bows and ribbons. There were two equally young girls in red and blue with plainer head-dresses, who in a certain way attended on the others. The dance began by a subordinate priest com- ing in by a side entrance with a wet branch of the sacred sakaki tree in his hand. After bowinor to the shrine, he Ov5 3S IDOL WORSHir OF THE WORLD. turned to the visitors, and waved it a few times swiftly before them, and then disappeared. Returning again to POPULAR GODS. AND SHRINES OF SHINTOISM. ^,r» the same entrance, he handed In to the two blue-and-red attendants, trays of herbs, rice and fruits in succession. These were borne ceremoniously elevated to the six priestesses, who conveyed them in a similar manner to the altar, placing the contents of the first two trays upon an inner altar, and those of the remaining four upon an outer altar, then returning the trays to their two attend- ants, who passed them out of the building. "While this was proceeding, the band sent forth what sounded to me as wailing, imploring, importunate sounds, with an occasional rap upon the drum for emphasis. The priest, who wore the ancient head-dress like that of the Mikado, now rose, and after a few obeisances before the mirror sat down upon his heels, facing the altar, and intoned a prayer, or novito, from a large sheet of paper held outspread before him, the musicians, and dancers, and attendants all sitting with bowed heads to its end. Small branches of sakaki were now brought to the priest- esses, and the dance took place to an accompaniment of livelier music. The dance comprised no very active movements, but consisted mainly of short, slow and grave promenading, with occasional stately bowings and much slow waving of the branches. This over, a boy entered, dressed in the military undress robes of a kuge (court noble) of the olden time, and holding in his hands a branch of sakaki, with a pendant hoop, doubdess In lieu of a mirror. He danced, as it is called, to much louder music, but the dancing was little more than further prom- enading and making certain sweeping movements with the branch of sakaki, with an occasional high step. Of course, It Is a great pity for the significance of all this to be lost; but nothing explanatory could be elicited from aay of the Japanese present, and from the answers of the priests I infer that if the various movements of these ^ .Q IDOL WORSHIP OF THE WORLD. dances ever had any great and special significance, die remembrance of it is pretty nearly or quite lost. The priest next came forward again, and, after elevating the written prayer a few times before the shrine, left the building by the side door. The process of placing the fruits and other offerings upon the altar was now re- versed, and everything was removed from the altars and taken away, the music meanwhile playing loud and joy- ous strains. With this ended the most ancient of the dances in the most sacred national shrine of Japan." Very great changes have occurred in Japan since the year 1868, when the Mikado became the temporal as well as the spiritual head of the Empire. The interests of Shintoism have suffered in the change. Prof. Max Miiller estimates that there are now only 200,000 Shin- toists in all Japan. THE RELIGIONS OF AFRICA. ^^j CHAPTER XVI. THE RELIGIONS OF AFRICA, THE DARK CONTINENT. Yes, the great Buffalo* sleeps; his mightiest victory was his last. His warriors howl in vain, his necromancers gaze aghast. Fetich, nor magic wand, nor amulet of darnel. Can charm back life to the clay-cold heart and limb. Ferdinand Freiligrath. IT is only of late years that much has been known of the people of the heart of Africa. Explorers have passed through its borders ; along its coasts travelers have wandered, but few have, until recently, pushed on ' into the interior. Even to-day there are vast regions unexplored. Of the millions of peoples inhabiting these parts we know only that which the Arab slave- dealers, and some native African traders have told us. The ex- treme points. North, South, East and West Africa have ♦ been known for many years. The interior, stretching back from Upper Egypt, and extending clear across to the River Niger, has been but little traveled by foreigners. / From Zanzibar on the south-east, radiating like a fan, explorers have passed to the great lakes to the north- west, the Victoria Nyanza and Albert Nyanza, to the west to Tanganyika Lake, and to the south-west, the Nyassa and Bangweolo Lakes. To the west of these lakes, saving only the countries lying along the banks of the Lualaba, Livingstone, or Congo River, along which Stanley traveled, the land is almost unknown. * King of Congo. - ^2 IDOL WORSHIP OF THE WORLD. Even of the African peoples among whom Europeans have lived, it is difficult to learn much of their religions. First, because they have no sacred books, no records, in fact no writing at all. Their traditions and teachings have all been handed down by word of mouth. Again, the Africans are unwilling to tell foreigners about their religious beliefs, customs and worships. It is difficult to gain their confidence. AVhen one asks them about it^ they give evasive answers, or pretend to know nothing about the matter. This fact has led to the supposition that some of these peoples had no religious nature what- ever, but that they formed an exception to the general evidence in favor of man's religious nature. Yet travelers have by patient investigation, obser- vation and inquiry learned considerable. They have compared their conclusions, and have so been able to give us some idea of the gods and religions of Africa. The Africans have no buildings of brick or stone, and have no knowledge, seemingly, of writing. These two facts have been brought to show that the Africans must have left the rest of the family of mankind very soon after the Deluge. The Africans are, with the exception of some of the South Sea Islanders, and the Aborigines of Aus- tralia, the most degraded people on the face of the earth. But here and there among them are small nations who are intelligent, and shrewd, and possessed of capabilities which place them above their fellow-Africans. The African peoples are of all shades of color, from blackest black to purest white, and just so do they vary very gready in point of intelligence. Yet the best are very degraded, and the worst are but litde above the beasts 'of field or forest. If the Gospel of Jesus Christ is needed anywhere, it is among the peoples of the Dark Continent. THE RELIGIONS OF AFRICA. 343 1/ <: \.^ A LAWYER OF ZULULAND. AFRICAN BELIEF IN A G(3D OR GODS. There are to be found even yet traces of the high position from which the Africans have fallen in their deofradation. One of these traces is the universal belief in a God or gods. This, of course, is no such exalted 21 ^^y, IDOL WORSHIP OF THE WORLD. idea of a Supreme Being as is to be found among Christian nations or even among the better nations of heathens, but still it is a Great One in whom they believe. This belief is not the result of reasoninof, of observation of the powers of nature or of study of their own human nature, but is an inborn conception. Apart from revela- tion, apart from argument, from cause and effect, from design, from government or from anything else, men must believe in a God or gods. Hence we are not as- tonished at finding that among all the Africans there is this belief. Many of their ideas of God are horrible, shocking and revolting, others again attach no evil ideas to their gods, but exalt them in a very high degree. PRAYING FOR RAIN. In South-eastern Africa, alono- the Zambesi River, the people pray to a god, with whom they connect no impure traditions or degraded worship. When in danger of war or famine, they appeal to this god. They call him Mpambi. The worship is of this kind: When famine is threat- ened because rain is withheld, the people of a village re- sort to a cleared space of ground, inclosed by a fence. Here a prayer-hut is erected. Women and men worship together. Generally a princess having in one hand a basket containing Indian corn-meal, and in the other a pot of native beer, or Pombi, goes into the hut, where she can be seen and heard. She puts the basket and jar on either side of her and sprinkling a handful of meal on the floor, cries, "Imva Mpambi, Adza moula!" (Hear, O God, and send rain !) The people respond by gently clapping their hands and chanting, Hear, O God ! This is repeated until all the meal is used up. Then the jar of Pombi is emptied on the floor. The woman then comes out of the hut, closinq- the door. Throwing- them- THE RELIGIONS OF AFRICA. „ . - 345 selves upon their backs, she and the people unite in pray- in