Vermont telegraph. [volume] (Brandon [Vt.]) 1828-1843, 1836-09-28

: destitute. l know that the accounts which
have reached us from the vicinity of the
great temple of Juggernaut, from the
banks of the Ganges, &c are startling,
and call loudly for the benevolent act 4
of the philanthropist and Christian, bdt
do they present the principal OF real evils
of idolatry2 They tell onl y Of bodily suf
tfering, while the blighting and fatal influ-
ence of heathenism upon the mental and
moral powers is unnoticed. Perhaps my
feelings on this subject, result entirely
from my circumstances. Boodhism is
one Of the mildest forms of idolatry. |
have not therefore, witnessed any peculiar
Wretchedness as constituting a part of the
worship of this people on this account, l
have been led to investigate the influence
of their religion upon those noble faculties
which distinguish man. till | begin'to look
almost with indifference, upon the other,
and less important effects of paganism.
But, leaving myself, let me say something
about the heather.
Among all the women of Burmah and
the adjoining provinces, | presume there
is not one in a thousand who can read
Their knowledge is confined to cultivat-
ing the earth, taking fish, preaching vice.
selling few cents worth of articles in the
market &C. Ask them if they can read,
and probably loud laugh at the absurdi-
ty Of the question will be your only an
swer. Most of them are strenuous sup
porters of idolatry, why they know not,
except that their fathers were so. Mrs
c.. sometimes asks them where their God
is, or some similar question, and they not
unfrequenlIy reply with Iaug h or vacant
stare, " am a aoOman, what do know
about such things?' There is, l am told,
nothing in the law Of Gaudama forbidding
woman to read, but the priests, who have
the principal charge of education, are OK
pressly prohibited teaching them. This
provision is considered necessary on &C
count of thecelibacy of the priests, & the
result s,that the women arc almost univer-
sally untaught AS they cannot read,
they are considered by the men as know
ing nothing, and in this opinion they
heartily acquiesce. They, therefore, be-
lieve whatever they are told to, and seem
to think that they have no right to inves-
tigate any thing for themselves, or TO be-
lieve differently from the men. In short,
h they are in state Of perfect mental bom-
dogc, through the direct influence of their
religion. Boys commence learning to
read when they are ten or twelve years
old Previous to this, they are to be
found playing in the street or loqdging
about the market They are moi, howev-
er, allowed to express an opinion on any
subject, the result Of their own thought,
till they aNsabeut twenty years Old l
have sometimes been panied, after long
conversation ith-young men, in which
their judgments seemed convinced of the
truth of the Christian religion, by the
final answer, I" | am young and cannot
come to any definite conclusion, till the
old men have expressed their opinion -
This results from the instructions which
are given in the sacred brooks in reference
to the respect which the young are to en-
terrain for the opinions, &c. of the aged {;
and these instructions are enforced by
threatened punishment on the one hand,
promised blessings on the other.
OF the men, perhaps majority can
read, but all their books are of such
character that it is a matter of serious
doubt whether they derive any real bene-
fit from their reading. l am not fully &C.
quainted with their system of astronomy,
but, l know nothing in it which is true.
! They believe that the earth is flat, that
the sun and moon move round it, &c. &C.
They say that when the sun is ecipsed,
it is caught by great Nat IA being supe-
rior to man, who lives on an undiscover-
ed planet and occasionally in sport swal-
lows the sun or moon.
The system of geography as false
and fabulous as that of astronomy. They
tell of a great central mount, surrounded
by four great islands, &c. They live on
the island, which is more than $4,000
miles in width To this, their geograph-
ical knowledge is principally confined.
In locating countries, &C, they begin
with the great banyan. tree, under which
Gaudama became a god, and calculate
distances in all directions from it, by days
journeys. They say that it is impossible
for the inhabitants Of one great island to
pass to another on account of the immense
distance between them. Should child
start for Abyssinia mount, he would be
an old man before he reached it. 1t is i'm
possible to go and return in one lifetime
On. this account, together with the fact
that my face is not SIC feet long, las they
say the faces of those who live on the
western continent are,) the nations refuse
to believe that came from America.
Some days since, asked an old priest
VIVA: was underline earth, he said air, un-
der the air fire.. under the fire water, un-
der the water great stone, and what was
underline great stone no one could tell.
You can Judge from the above facts, of
scientific knowledgeof this people Their