Miscellanies. HOISINGTON'S ADDRESS ON INDIA. On the 1st of September, 1851, Rev. Henry R. Hoisington, of the Ceylon mission, delivered an address before the Society of Inquiry at Andover, which presents an admirable sketch of the origin and development of the existing system of religious belief in India. The entire address is published in the Bibliotheca Sacra for April, 1852. From the following extracts, however, the reader will form some idea of the view which Mr. Hoisington takes of this interesting and perplexing subject. Different Races. The Hindus were not the first inhabitants of India. Remnants of the aborigines of the country are still to be traced in various tribes inhabiting the fastnesses of the hills and forests. They are known under different names. Their several dialects, in most cases allied to each other, have no affinity to the Sanskrit. Never incorporated with their victors, they have maintained their simplicity of manners, and a rude religious creed which bears no resemblance to Hinduism. As successive conquerors poured into the country, these aborigines betook themselves to the protection of the less accessible regions, where they still exist. Though the Hindus were evidently not the first inhabitants of India, yet they are to be sought among the earliest conquerors. In process of time they embodied successive hordes of emigrants, among whom the Brahmans, as a tribe, are to be included. According to the uniform testimony of Hindû records and tradition, all came in from lands west of the Indus. There are some reasons to believe that the aboriginal inhabitants of India were of the family of Shem; and that they came into India by two routes; one at the northwest, across the Indus; the other by sea, into southwestern India. But the successive tribes of conquerors were more probably of the family of Cush, and mostly entered India by the northwest passage. They first inhabited the Panjaub; and they were long confined to the countries between the Himalaya and Vindya ranges of mountains. The Brahmans, in alliance with other tribes, fought their way into power and eminence. They were early identified, in many respects, with the Solar line of kings. The Lunar line was a branch from the Solar. In it arose the great civil war which forms the subject of one of the Hindû epics, the Mahâbhârata. This division among the earlier Hindus existed, and the Lunar line had even become powerful, before the Brâhmans had obtained any extensive footing in India. The Buddhists rallied under the banners of the Lunar line. Between these two rival powers there were frequent wars, recurring through a long period of years. The Brahmans were at length triumphant. The Buddhist power was completely broken. The priests and other determined adherents the country, took refuge in Ceylon and in of the Buddhist faith, being expelled from countries farther east. Buddhism was undoubtedly a prominent branch or school of primitive Hinduism; at least it grew out of such a school. The leaders in this school obstinately resisted the encroachments of the Brâhmans, rejecting their claims to pre-eminence and their proposed additions to the simpler and purer faith held by them. Hence the long and sulted in the ultimate expulsion of the bloody contests referred to above, which reBuddhist branch of the early Hindu family. The Brahmans, aided by their royal allies of the Solar line, having thus either subdued or expelled all the opposing tribes of northern India, naturally turned their attention to religious matters. They now set themselves to carry out their peculiar notions into a system of their own. Here commences what I call Brahmanism, or Brahmanical Hinduism. Whether the Brahmans were originally a section of the Hindu family, has been doubted. But it is certain that at this stage they professed the Hindu faith, as they explained it. But they evidently did not hold it in its pristine simplicity. They gradually engrafted upon the existing doctrines the marvelous system of Hindu idolatry, which has shaped and controlled the mind of millions for many ages. To their system belong almost the whole genealogy of incarnate deities, both male and female, with their thousands of temples and multiplied rites and ceremonies; and also the distinction of caste, which makes the Brâhmans the head, and gives to others respectively a relative pre-eminence over the more docile and dependent classes. Origin of Caste. The origin of Hindu castes can be satisfactorily explained by a reference to the history of India in these earlier times, and, I believe, in no other way. One ruling purpose or aim, on the part of the Brâhmans, is everywhere prominent in their doings, viz., to establish themselves as the hierarchy, supreme in church and state. For this they planned, for this they fought. And when their victories were complete, they disposed of their acquisitions in accordance with their ruling passion. The existence of but one caste in the age of purity, the Krêta Yuga, or Golden Age, is abundantly admitted in the Puranas. The meaning of this is, that in the first age of Hinduism the distinctions of caste were Here is sufficiently clear indication of the not known. This, of course, is incompati- way in which the castes were originally ble with the legend which represents the formed. They were evidently the result of four castes as springing from parts of Brâh-conspiring circumstances, which singularly ma's body. But this legend belongs to the favored the ambitious designs of those age of caste, and has its explanation in the aspiring warrior-priests, the Brahmans. extravagant and baseless pretensions of the But it was a result gradually attained, as Brahmans, which underlie all their mar- one point after another was gained by the vels. Besides, in the same Brahmanical Brahmans, and their schemes became authorities, which present the inconsistency matured into a complete system. It is cerabove mentioned, we also find the separa- tainly a device well adapted to consolidate tion of men into castes to be ascribed to and establish in one expansive system the different individuals, at different periods, various and hitherto conflicting tribes of and for various reasons. All this goes northern India. plainly to show that the distinction was at first of a social or political character. Let us then glance at some of the facts which bear on the origin of caste as a Brahmanical institution. Prominent among the tribes, with whom the Brahmans contended for supreme domination, were the Kshatriyas. They seem to have been of Scythian origin, and to have obtained strong footing in northwestern India. The struggle for supremacy between them and the Brahmans continued for a long series of years. They were eventually subdued by Parasurama, the most distinguished defender of the Brahmanical pretensions in that eventful period. In the Mahabharata, one of the two great epics above mentioned, it is stated of this Râma, that "thrice seven times did he clear the earth of the Kshatriya race." Again the earth is represented as saying: "The fathers and grandfathers of these Kshatriyas (i. e. successive generations) have been killed by the remorseless Râma in warfare on my account." The origin of the Sûdras, the fourth and lowest caste, can be traced with an equal degree of certainty. Hindû authors speak of a tribe or nation, by the appellation of Sûdras, as inhabiting the western extremity of northern India, near the Indus. They have been supposed, with great probability, to be the Oxydrâce who formed the limit of Alexander's eastern conquest. The same people are called by Strabo Sûdrâkai, which is almost exactly the Sanskrit term. One of the Purânas states that "Sûdras (or Sûdrâkas), outcasts and barbarians, will be masters of the Indus," etc., which at once indicates the existence and position of the tribe, and also their more servile character, classing them with "outcasts and barbarians." Here then we have at once the name and the nucleus of the Sûdra or servant caste. It is not to be supposed that the tribes which bore these three distinctive appellations, were the only persons arranged in their respective castes; but that from their prominence, in one respect or another, they furnished the occasion for those particular designations. The Kshatriyas were a powerful race, or, more probably, a combina The Kshatriyas being thus humbled, many of them became Brahmans. But in the final adjustment of affairs between the contending parties, as the condition of tion of the earlier warlike tribes, allied in peaceful alliance, the mass of Kshatriyas seem to have been constituted a privileged class or caste, bearing the name of their tribe, being made second only to their victors, the sacerdotal or Brâhmanical caste. This view of the Kshatriyas, or military caste, harmonizes with what is said of them in the Brahmanical writings, with the exception of course of the mythological legend, which, in accordance with the whole tenor of Brahmanism, gives to all parts of the system a divine origin. The Vâisyas constitute the caste next below the Kshatriyas. This term is also found in the Purânas, as designating a tribe or nation who inhabited the south-eastern part of the Panjaub. They seem to have been one of the Sacae, or Scythian tribes. They were allied to the Lunar line, and consequently opposed to the Solar inter ests. This people, after a long and severe struggle, were at length subdued by Sagara, the sea-king of India. Of them it is stated in one of the Purânas, that they were "separated from affinity to the regenerate tribes [i. e. the two higher castes] and from the duties of their castes." their leading interests, and in opposition to Brâhmanical rule. Being a more civilized and a superior class of men, compared with other tribes, they would naturally have, next to their victors, the superior position in the new system. The idea of bringing other tribes into subordination and servitude, was not new to them; and they were probably not second to the Brahmans in the original arrangements which ultimately resulted in the institution of caste. Yet we must ascribe to the Brâhmans the religious moulding of that system. The Vaisyas were less aspiring, and more mild and docile; and yet they were a very respectable tribe. There are indications that they belonged to the purer classes of the earlier Hindû religionists, and were chiefly devoted to agriculture. They are represented as "diligent in their occupations and submissive." All, therefore, of similar occupation and like condition, of whatever tribe, might in the ultimate adjustment of the system well be arranged in the very respectable caste of Vâisyas. With the Sûdras, who were originally a ruder race of men, and who are represented as having been more completely`subdued and humbled, all the less pretending in the several tribes, the more humble classes of laborers, etc., would naturally be associated, forming the Sûdra or servile caste. The combination of such heterogeneous and hostile tribes, into one politico-religious organization, might well be expected to be attended with mutual interference and contentions. That such was the case is but too manifest from the Brahmanical writings. In the Vâyu Purâna, Brâhma is represented as assigning to "these castes their several occupations, to prevent their interference with one another, which had occurred as long as they recognized no duties peculiar to castes." This implies, what is elsewhere clearly taught in the Purânas, that the distinctions of caste, or rather the division into four great classes, existed before any distinctive duties and privileges for the several castes had been laid down. The Vishnu Purâna, in full accordance with other authorities, states that "the beings who were created by Brahma, of these four castes, were at first endowed with righteousness and perfect faith;" that "they abode wherever they pleased, unchecked by any impediment" that "their hearts were free from guile;" that "they were pure, made free from soil, by observance of sacred institutes. In their sanctified minds Hari dwelt; and they were filled with perfect wisdom, by which they contemplated the glory of Vishnu." Observe, all this is stated respecting the four castes. How different from what they now are, or are even allowed to be! Sacred Writings. It worship inculcated in them was the earliest Another ritual has taken the place of that more ancient form of worship, a ritual found in those more modern works, the Purânas, which has so antiquated that ancient creed, that one who should follow the precepts of the Vêdas, would be regarded as an infidel. And yet the Hindu glories. in his attachment to the Vêdas, the forgotten oracles of his fathers. The earliest seat of the Hindus, within the borders of Hindustan, was the Panjaub. There the two great epics were doubtless composed, as also the Institutes of Manu, and probably some of the Purânas. The Epics and the Institutes furnish the principal materials for the mythological form of Hinduism in all ages. These works were doubtless composed, in most particulars, of legends of an earlier date, which were imported into India, and now for the first time collected and written. The two epics were probably written about three centuries P. C. They are the chief sources from which the Brâhmans of later ages have drawn their materials, especially the authors of the eighteen great Purânas. Hence in these comparatively modern works we find materials which belong to a high antiquity, intermixed with modern ingredients. In these works the imposing mind of antiquity is distorted into unison with puerile modern inventions, and in such a way as evinces a long period of successive innovations upon the ancient system of faith. In these Brahmanical writings we find unequivocal evidence of the previous existence of a system of philosophical religion. This was different from the religion of the Vêdas, being more metaphysical and argumentative. Yet both seem to have been embraced by all the leading schools of primitive Hinduism. The early Brahmans, The original form of Hinduism was probably that of the Vêdas. These works are the oldest of the Sanskrit writings; with them the Sanskrit seems to have been first introduced into India. Whether the Vêdas were written in India, or whether they were written in some earlier seat of the Hindus, west of the Indus, is a problem yet to be solved. I am, however, inclined to think that they had their origin where the Hindûs first arose, and where the Sans-like others of their time, ostensibly held the krit was a spoken language, as it continued to be for some time after its introduction into India, and that they were brought into India by some of those conquering hordes which constituted the early Hindû race. The Sanskrit of the Vedas is so unlike the more modern and the more polished language of the Râmâyana and the Mahâbhârata, the two great Hindû epics, that those who can read the more modern, cannot understand the more ancient style of that language which is found in the Vêdas. It is the more modern form of the Sanskrit that bears the strongest affinity to the existing languages of northern India, a fact which evinces that the Sanskrit may not have been the earliest language of the country. Whatever may have been the origin of the Vêdas, it seems quite certain that the Vêdas as their sacred scriptures; yet they practically denied them; and, taking their stand on their mystic philosophy, they made it the basis of a marvelous system of incarnations, etc. This was the point of divergence between them and the priests of the Lunar dynasty. of the unwritten Vêdas, or of that original | castes. Both these seem to belong to BrâhVêda from which, according to the general manism, or the next period. The chronosentiment of the Hindûs, all the four writ-logical lines of this period cannot be so ten Vêdas were formed. The distinctive features of this period are to be sought in the Bible, in the history of the great Iranian empire, and in the Vêdas. 2. The Philosophical Period. This was the period during which the principles and facts of the patriarchal age were still further removed from their primitive purity and simplicity; and when, in connection with other materials, they were moulded into a more recondite and philosophical form, and were ultimately wrought into a vast system of metaphysical religion. The mystic number "five," the five divine operations, the division of the universe into classes of fives, etc., all which are essential principles in modern Hinduism, were also among the fundamentals of that earlier system. Then, too, was conceived the idea of man as a miniature universe, in whom these mysterious "fives," with all their powers, divisions, relations, operations, etc., are fully developed. The mystic number " three," as in the triad, etc., seems to have had a later origin, as also the device of the four easily drawn. It must lie back of the epoch B. c. 300, when the next period began to dawn. That there was then existent such a system of philosophical religion, is abundantly manifest from the earlier Brâhmanical works above mentioned. I had often looked into Manu's Institutes and the Bhagavat Gêeta; but I never understood them satisfactorily until I had become acquainted with some of the standard metaphysical works of the Hindus; which are in fact the best commentaries we have on those ancient works, as well as on the whole system of Brahmanical Hinduism. 3. The third Period is the Purânic, or Mythological. This is the period of Bråhmanical domination; when the existing notions were developed in a more imposing and popular form, a form monstrously hieroglyphical and fabulous. It is here that we find the whole genealogy of Hindu gods and goddesses, with all their mystic dress and accompaniments. To this period belong all the popular forms of temple-worship. Proceedings of other Societies. Foreign. GOSSNER'S MISSIONARY SOCIETY. GERMANY has one organization for the conversion of the heathen which is unlike all others. It is generally called Gossner's Missionary Society. This warm-hearted but eccentric servant of Christ, extensively known as Prediger Gossner, formerly belonged to the committee of the Berlin Missionary Society. But as he could not assent to all the principles of his associates in regard to the training of missionaries, he resigned his office in 1836. Soon afterwards he took charge of a number of young men, mostly mechanics, who were anxions to engage in the missionary work as Christian artisans, catechists and teachers. They were to earn their livelihood by manual Jabor; and such instruction as they needed, was to be given to them gratuitously by pious students. Gossner had scarcely entered upon this new enterprise, when Dr. Lange, of the Scotch Presbyterian church in Australia, invited these humble but zealous candidates for missionary employment to make known the gospel to the natives of Australia, near Moreton Bay; and acco di gly, on the 10th of July, 1837, eleven men, one of them having been ordained, and seven married, proceeded to Scotland, whence they sailed at a subsequent date for their destination. A few months later the Rev. Mr. Start, of the Church of England, anxious to establish a mission in Bengal, went to Berlin, and selected twelve persons for this purpose, who proceeded to England, July 1, 1838. One of them was a candidate," and three were married. In 1840 a reinforcement of five was sent to this mission. During the same year also six laborers set out for Middle India, upon the invitation of several Englishmen. In the following year another company left Germany for the Chatham Islands. In 1843 an attempt was made to establish a mission in New Caledonia; but those who were destined to this field, on arriving at Sidney, concluded to join their brethren at Moreton Bay. A similar fate attended an effort to commence operations at Mergui, in 1844, the company sent forth for this purpose having concluded to establish themselves in Chuta Nagpoor, some three hundred miles west of Calcutta. In 1846 a man and his wife went to Madras to take charge of an orphan school; of them nothing particular is known. During the same year Gossner was persuaded to send "a dismissed Basle missionary" and three others to West Africa, near Cape Coast. Quite recently three brethren have been sent to Java; and a like number have gone to the Tubuai Islands. It has been seen that Gossner prepared his young friends for their future labors with little or of which has been already described, it is not no expense to himself. He also endeavored to easy to give it. Gossner publishes no annual make the missions undertaken by them as light a reports; and his Biene auf dem Missionsfelde is burden upon his treasury as possible. Indeed, deficient in statistics. The effort in West Africa the support of some of these missions was as- proved a failure, mainly through the misconduct sumed by others. For the large company sent of the "dismissed Basle missionary." The misto Australia in 1837, he provided merely an out- sions to Australia and Chatham Islands, it is befit and the cost of the journey to Scotland. The lieved, have accomplished nothing for the heaexpense of the passage to Australia was paid by then. The former has done something for the the Irish Presbyterian Church; and Dr. Lange colonists; but the latter has probably been abanagreed that the wants of the mission, after its doned; at any rate Gossner expected this result arrival, should be supplied by the Scotch Presby-in 1850. terian church of Australia, it being understood The Missionswesen assigns three stations to the that the missionaries should connect themselves Bengal mission, namely, Chupra, Muzufferpoor with that body. The two who went to Madras and Darjeeling, the last being at the foot of the in 1846, were supported by others. How far the Bengal Himalayas. There are several schools Bengal mission, commenced at the instance of at Chupra; and a number of persons have reRev. Mr. Start, was to be a charge upon Goss-ceived baptism. The schools at Muzufferpoor ner, does not appear; and the same is true of the Middle India mission; though it is presumed that both were expected to receive important assistance, if not all which they should require, from other sources. The Java mission is to be supported, in part at least, by the Dutch. The remaining missions looked originally to Berlin for all the aid which they should need ; but it was a part of Gossner's plan that, as far as possible, they should be cheap and self-supporting. This was one argument, indeed, for sending forth such a number of mechanics, though their qualifications in some respects must have been of a very ordinary character. contain two hundred and eighty-five pupils; and prior to January, 1850, baptism was administered to ten families and eighteen orphan girls. Thus far there appears to have been but little success at Darjeeling. The labors of the mission in Chuta Nagpoor are directed mainly to the races which preceded the Hindoos, though other classes receive some attention. There are three stations in this field, namely, Bethesda, Lahardugga, and Covinpore. Earnest and persevering efforts have been made to interest the people in education; but the result at first was not satisfactory. The latest accounts from this field, however, are of a very encouraging character. The Coles, it is said, manifest great readiness to receive the gospel. The number of laborers connected with these missions at the present time does not appear. In reply to one of the Secretaries of the Board in October, 1850, Gossner gave the statistics of his missions as follows: Missions. Missionaries. Laymen. Females. 16 16 8 7 10 5 5 3 Chuta Nagpoor, It is to be regretted that we have no full and accurate history of Gossner's experiments; for the facts elicited thereby would doubtless throw much light upon the expediency of attempting to conduct missions upon plans different from those which are generally adopted. Certain points, however, appear to have been pretty well settled. 1. It is not always safe to rely upon the promises of individuals for a support. This has been proved, according to the author of Das Missionswesen der Evangelischen Kirche, by the history of the missions to Australia, Bengal and Middle India; inasmuch as they were soon left unprovided for, Prior to 1842 Gossner had the sole manageand were obliged to rely upon their own labor, ment of his various operations. In that year it or look to Gossner for help; and they had, for was deemed expedient that a society should be this reason, but a sickly existence, even if they organized; and on the 19th of September the escaped annihilation. The last of the three, in- " Evangelical Union for the Spread of Christiandeed, lived only a short time. 2. The attempt to ity among the Natives of Heathen Lands" obcarry out the self-supporting plan, as far as pos-tained a legal existence. There has been but sible, has occasioned the loss of many lives, par- little change, however, in the mode of conducting ticularly in India. 3. A number have abandoned the business. Gossner may be regarded as the the missions with which they were at first con- embodiment of the society. In a humble dwellnected, and gone into the service of other socie-ing outside of the walls of Berlin, far back in a ties. 4. And it is even claimed by the author of the Missionswesen, that the greater economy of Gossner's missions, as compared with other German missions, is rather apparent than real. If definite information is asked in regard to the present state of the missions, the commencement garden, where no one would think of looking for him without a special direction, he receives those who are candidates for the missionary work; and there he transacts the business of his society. Though quite aged, he is exceedingly active, full of vivacity, simple, benevolent, a Lutheran, yet |