The Sun.
London, England, 1851-02-13 00:00:00

JUGGERNAUT.

" The East India Company has, it is said, determined
entirely to disconnect itself from the idol worship of Jug-
gernaut, if it can do so without positive breach of faith.
It hiss rent out instructions for the local Government to
sec' rtain if it is bound by any engagement to continue
its annual grant to the custodians of the temple; and if
not, as it is believed is the case, the allowance will be dis.
continued. The Raja of Kurdah, in charge of the
tempk, has sent his mookiee.r to Calcutta to protest
Hgainst the measure."—hu'•karu.

Now, the very question which according to this state-
ment is at the present moment puzzling the Court of
Directors has been already discussed in the valuable
work now lying under our consideration, and we
cannot but coincide with its author in thinking
that in it he has satisfactorily proved that the Go
vernrnent may renounce alt connexion with the Temple
of Jagtiturivh, end wiqi the idolatrous worship of the
Hindoos zcithout any breach of faith whatever, but, on
the contrary, with the utmost pmsible consistency.
In testimony of this we would refer to the opening
pages of the inquiry, and to the work itself'
passim. Mr. W. F. B. Laurie has not adventured
upon the task fulfilled in " Orissa," without having
previously rendered himself master of its difficulties.
Having twice personally visited the temple ofJagane
nlch, and strengthened himself with a multitude of
literary researches, besides benefiting himself by
the advice of nisi inguished civilians in the district—he
has entered upon the labour of writing " tirissa,
the G.Arden of Superstition." Those who may desire
an inkling of the theme treated of in this volume
prior to obtaining it for serious examination will be
interested, douhttess, in glatning through the fourth

instalment of the " Appendix," here transcribed into
our columns from the sth chapter of Coleman's "My-
thology of the Hindus." It is dr.‘scrip!ive of the origin
of the worship of Jlgunlith

"Sint^ the, gfick (-tt)s the historian), as will as men,
must, it would appt,ur,cie some: time or other, the love- u-

,piring Krishna was one do shot vi.itti an arrow from the
how of a hunter, who most uncert rnotriousiv left tlie
lovely form f the del y, whom the Gopiss (milkmaids
of Mount Geoudun) had so frantically atiotee:, to rut
under the tree where it
.tell. After sours time, his
like those of the beautiful Rosalia in Steil), were col-
lected by scme pious perSOtie, and made the pious means
of enriching the priests or the Hindus, as the more
tender ones of the virgin
.saint have clone the reverend
fathers of Palermo. Having been collected, they were
placed in a box, where they remained till Vishnu, on
heir g applied to by a religious monarch, Indra Dhootna.
commanded him to make an image of Jagannith, tend
place the bones in it. The king would willingly have
done as he was desired, but unfortuuately possessed not
the skill for such an undertaking; so he made hold to
wit Vishnu who airau/d make it? Vishnu told him to
apply to Viswakartna, the architect of the gods. He
aid so, and as promptly as our great architect, Mr. Nash,
would undertake the building of a palace, his brother of
the Hindu pantheon set about forming the image of
Jaganeath; but declared, if any person disturbed him in
his labours, he would leave his work unfinished. All
would have gone on welt, had not the king shown a re-
prehensible impatience to those divine injunctions which
he had solemnly pledged himself to observe. Af‘er
fifteen days he went to see what progress the holy ar-
chitect bad made; which so enraged him that he de-
sisted from his labours, and left the intended god with-
out either arms or legs. In spite, however, or this per-
plexing event., the work of Viswakarma has became ce-
lebrated throughout Hindustsn; and pilgrims from the
remotest corners of India flock, at the time of the fes-
tivals of Jagannith, to pay their adorations at his mon-
strous and unhAlowed shrine."

Such is the source of the fantastic abomination (from
the countenancing of the homage for which the Go-
vernment is at length desirous to withdraw for ever),
such is the weird and marvellous myth which has ex-
cited the inquiries, and by doing so has tended to de-
monstrate the abilities of Mr. W. P. B. Laurie, who
in the volume before us has added another to our al-
ready numerous treasures of oriental literature.

MERKLAND: a Story of Scottish Life. By the
Author of Margaret Maitland. a Vols. Colburn.
Right welcome to us are the reminiscences of
gentle Mrs. Margaret Maitland. A genuine " touch
of nature" is manifest throughout her writings, and
accordingly her pathos is more affecting, her simpli-
city of manner is more charming, and her genial
kindness more delightful than any of those artificial
attractions with which the practised penman adorns
some worn-out, common-place tale. There is also a
quaint originality in the manner of these
stories of " Scottish Life," considerably aug-
mented, perhaps, by the northern dialect em-
ployed by many of the speakers, • which
renders them delightfully refreshing to the weary
readers of ordinary novels. " Merklarid" possesses
the same charming characteristics es its predecessor ;
it is as much pervaded with genuine kindness and
simple tenderness and unaffected pathos, as was the
story of the Lady of Sunnyside herself; while its in-
terest as a tale is much greater; the plot is snore
complicated, end the characters introduced are more
numerous. The theme of the tale is, moreover, one of
an exciting and terrible nature. A murder has been
committed sonic years previous to the opening'
of the first volume. The suspected mur-
derer is consuming his life in voluntary banish-
merit,
the real author of the deed is
piping away un-
suspected by men, but a prey to a cruel remorse,
soothed by the ministering sympathy of a devoted
sister. The fugitive also L.:3 a sister,
Anne Ross,
one of the heroines of the tele, who, though ignorant
of the truth, refuses to believe her brother's guilt,
and perseveringly endeavoure, alone and unsupported,