Throne, beholding the last of the Mogul Emperors, a captive, on trial for his life, in that magnificent Audience Hall of his forefathers, where millions have bowed down before them in such abject homage! that I should be there to see him, the last of their line, descending from that throne and $900,000 per annum to a felon's doom and the deck of a convict ship, to breathe out the remnant of his miserable life upon a foreign shore; and then after his departure to behold, as I did, that costly Khass given over to the spoiler's hand, rifled by the English soldiers of its last ornaments, and ruined forever!"-pp. 11, 12. Having spent fifteen years in India, Dr. Butler has been able to give an interesting account of its scenery, cities and inhabitants; of Brahmanism, the general character and influence of Hindoo Literature, the Vedas, etc. "The Vedas," he writes, "are undoubtedly the oldest writings in the world, with the exception of the Pentateuch. Colebrook supposes that they were compiled in the fourteenth century before Christ. Sir William Jones assigns them to the sixteenth century. They are certainly not less than three thousand years old. Veda is from the Sanscrit root vid, to know, the Veda being considered the fountain of all knowledge, human and divine. A Veda, in its strict sense, is simply a Sanhita, or collection of hymns. There are three Vedas, the Rig-Veda, the Yajur Veda, and the Sama-Veda. The fourth, the Atharva Veda, is of more modern date and doubtful authority. The Hindoos hold that the Vedas are coeval with creation. As to their several contents, the Rig-Veda consists of prayers and hymns to various deities; the Yajur Veda, of ordinances about sacrifices and other religious rites; the Sama-Veda is made up of various lyrical pieces, and the Atharva Veda chiefly of incantations against enemies."— p. 84. Dr. Butler gives various translations from the RigVeda Sanhita (the translations being quoted from Wilson's four volumes, published in 1850–1866) and then adds: “After a careful examination, from beginning to end, of this venerable and lauded work (the doors of which have so lately opened for the admission of mankind), with the remembrance in my mind of the long years when men have listened to the reiterations of its holiness, as the very source of all Hindoo faith the oracle from which Vedantic philosophy has drawn its inspiration, the temple at whose mere portal so many millions have bowed in such awe and reverence, with its interior too holy for common sight, containing, as it was asserted, all that was worth knowing, the primitive original truth that could regenerate India, and make even Christianity unnecessary well, with no feeling save those of deep interest and a measure of respect, we have entered and walked from end to end, to find ourselves shocked at every step with the revelations of this mystery of iniquity and sensuality, where saints and gods, male and female, hold high orgies amid the fumes of intoxicating liquor, with their singing and screaming,' and the challenging by which they urge one another' on to deeper debasement, until at length decency retires and leaves them 'glorying in their shame.'”. p. 93. Dr. Butler's description of the Yogees is highly instructive. The practices of these devotees to God are thus described by Prof. Wilson: They "consist chiefly of long-continued suppression of respiration; of inhaling and exhaling the breath in a particular manner; of sitting in eighty-four different attitudes; of fixing their eyes on the tips of their noses, and endeavoring by the force of mental abstraction to effect a union between the portion of vital spirit residing in the body and that which pervades all nature, and is identical with Shiva, considered as the supreme being, and source and essence of all creation. When this mystic union is effected, the Yogee is liberated in his living body from the clog of material encumbrance, and acquires an entire command over all worldly substance. He can make himself lighter than the lightest substances, heavier than the heaviest; can become as vast or as minute as he pleases; can traverse all space; can animate any dead body by transferring his spirit into it from his own frame; can render himself invisible; can attain all objects; become equally acquainted with the past, present, and future; and is finally united with Shiva, and consequently exempted from being born again upon earth. The superhuman faculties are acquired in various degrees, according to the greater or less perfection with which the initiatory processes have been performed."— p. 203. The principle on which the self-torturing Fakirs submit to their agonies is well illustrated on pp. 196, 197: "One of these self-glorifying Fakirs, after graduating to saintship by long years of austerities and extensive pilgrimages, took it into his head that he could still further exalt his fame by riding about in a sort of Sedan chair with the seat stuck full of nails. Four men carried him from town to town, shaking him as little as possible. Great was the admiration of his endurance which awaited him everywhere. At length (no doubt when his condition had become such that he was for the time disposed to listen to some friendly advice) a rich native gentleman, somewhat sceptical as to the value and need of this discipline, met him and tried very earnestly to persuade him to quit his uncomfortable seat, and have mercy upon himself." The arguments of this gentlemar are given in a short poem; the result of them is thus described: "This reasoning unhinged each fanatical notion, No endearments of pleasure and ease could prevail, He the saintship resumed, and new-larded his tail." - p. 197 Some of the most thrilling parts of this volume relate to the Sepoy rebellion. Dr. Butler gives the following apology for an expedient which has brought much opprobrium on the British rule in India: "The practice of 'blowing men from guns' in India during the Rebellion also needs a few words of explanation. The act has been much misunderstood, especially in this country. I have met with strange assertions upon this matter, some of which assumed that the Sepoys were actually rammed into the guns, and then fired out! and too often has it been said or supposed that the act was perpetrated as a refinement of cruelty. Both of these opinions are mistaken. The mode of death in this case was, usually, to sink a stake in the ground, and tie the man to it; the gun was behind him, from six to eight feet distant, loaded with blank cartridge, and, when discharged, it dissipated the man's remains. It was a quick and painless mode of death, for the man was annihilated, as it were, ere he knew that he was struck. But what the Sepoys objected to in it was, the dishonor done to the body, its integrity being destroyed, so that the Shraad could not be performed for them. [The Shraad is a funeral ceremony, which all caste Hindoos invest with the highest significance, as essential to their having a happy transmigration; the dissipation of the mortal remains of a man thus executed would necessarily render its importance impossible, and so expose the disembodied ghost, in their opinion, to a wandering, indefinite condition in the other world, which they regard as dreadful; and, to avoid this liability, when condemned to die they would plead, as a mercy, to be hung, or shot with the musket any mode,— but not to be blown away.] "Knowing that this was the only procedure of which their wretched consciences were afraid, two of the English officers one of them being General Corbett, at Lahore threatened this mode of punishment upon Sepoy troops whom they could not otherwise restrain from rebelling. Corbett did, at last, execute it upon twelve of the ringleaders of a Sepoy regiment, which, during the height of his anxiety for the safety of the Punjab, rose one morning and shot their officers, and marched for Delhi. He took two Sikh regiments and pursued and scattered them, bringing back these leaders for trial and execution. The court resolved death should be inflicted in this mode, as a last resort to strike terror into the other two Sepoy regiments, so as to restrain them from rising. And it certainly had that effect. From the hour of that execution till Delhi fell, not a single Sepoy hand was raised against an officer's life or the Government. They saw that the man at their head would not shrink from violating their prejudices, even as to their Shraad, if they committed mutiny and murder, and they would not face that danger. So the Punjab was kept quiet, and we at Nynee Tal, and they at Simla and Delhi (including hundreds of ladies), were saved, more probably by that act of stern discipline than by any other event during those seven months.” pp. 314, 315. The narrative which Dr. Butler gives of the Maharajah Duleep Singh is interesting, but less copious than many will wish that it had been. This remarkable prince is the son and heir of Maharajah Runjeet Singh, who was called "the Lion of the Punjab," and who died in 1839. The son Duleep Singh was only four years old when he was placed on the throne of his father, his uncles ruling in his name. When the Punjab was annexed to the British Empire, the young Maharajah (great king) was of course dethroned; but he was liberally pensioned, and was well educated at the expense of the British Government. "Dr. (now Sir John) Logan of the Medical Service, and a member of the Presbyterian church, was appointed his guardian, and Mr. Guise, of the civil service, was selected as his tutor. To Mr. Guise's other qualifications for his duties was added a beautiful Christian character. . . . . . "The prince expressed a desire to have some one of good birth and talents for a companion, and a young Brahman, by name Bhajan Lal, who had been educated in the mission-school, and had there, though unconverted, contracted a love for the Christian scriptures, was chosen for the position. He soon enjoyed the entire confidence of the young Maharajah. Bhajan was in the habit of studying the Bible in his leisure moments, and the prince two or three times having come upon him thus engaged, was led to inquire what book it was that so interested him. He was told, and at his request Bhajan promised to read and explain the word of God to him, but on condition that it should not be known. The priests of his own religion that had accompanied him from the Punjab, and were training him in the tenets of their faith, were soon seen by him in a new light as he continued to read the scriptures. When he began to compare them, in all their mummery, immorality, and covetousness, with the purity and spirituality of the Christians around him, whose lives and examples he had carefully noted, a feeling of disgust with heathenism, and a preference and love for the religion of the Bible, sprang up in his heart, to which he soon gave expression. Thus the reading of God's holy word, taught and explained even by a heathen youth and Brahman, led the Maharajah to give up idolatry, and to express a desire to break his caste and be baptized. "The priests were amazed and confounded, and offered what resistance they could. But the guardianship of the prince effectually shielded him from all persecution. Yet, as he was so young, and the step contemplated so important, his guardian, though rejoiced at his purpose, and ready to aid it in every proper way, suggested delay till he could more fully study the religion of Jesus and act with fuller deliberation. He accepted the advice, drew nearer to the missionaries, attended the services, and enjoyed the association of the Christians. He was led to embrace Christ as his Saviour, and on the 8th of March, 1853, was baptized and received into the Christian church. The Rev. W. J. Jay, the chaplain of the station, administered the holy ordinance in the presence of all the missionaries, the native Christians and Europeans at the station, and the servants of the Maharajah...... Immediately after his baptism he established relief societies at Futtyghur and Lahore, placing them under the control of the American missions at both places. Besides assisting in the support of the missions, he established, and still sustains, a number of village schools for the education of the people, and has been a liberal contributor to every good object brought to his notice. When the writer was at Futtyghur he had the opportunity of witnessing the results which were being accomplished by the Christian liberality of the Maharajah in and around that station. He was then aiding the cause of Christ and the poor to the extent, probably, of fully one tenth of his whole income annually, and I presume his liberality is no less now. "Some time after his baptism, with a desire to improve his mind by foreign travel, he visited England. He took with him a devoted Christian, who had formerly been a Hindoo Pundit, named Nil Knath, by whose instructions he was more fully established in the doctrines of the gospel, and with whom he enjoyed daily prayer and other religious privileges. On his arrival in London the Government placed a suitable residence in Wimbledon at his disposal, and the Queen and Prince Albert showed him much attention and kindness."- pp. 51-53. The subsequent, and in some aspects romantic history of this ex-king is well known to our readers. The tabular statements and the pictorial illustrations given in this volume enhance its value. The typography of it is excellent. THE LIFE THAT NOW IS: Sermons by Robert Collyer, author of "Nature There is a marked difference between the Unitarian style of preaching at the present day and the style which prevailed under the influence of Channing, Thatcher,, Buckminster, Greenwood. Perhaps the younger Henry Ware might be considered as standing at one extreme, and Mr. Robert Collyer at another. We do not deny that Mr. Collyer's sermons have many pleasant features; they derive a rare interest from his remarkable history; they are fresh, buoyant, and cheering; they indicate that their author has a large heart and a whole-souled philanthropy; that he is neither a mystic nor a dyspeptic, but has robust health, and is able now to work at the anvil. They are often poetical and truly eloquent. They have the merits belonging peculiarly to the writings of self-made men, and those merits are not small. His style is far from being choice. |