New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1872-10-29

| worship. As che free Vedio religion WAC Ohanseu
| into prescribed ceremonial. such famiheS wouiu
! grow into o class possessing monopoly OF CON-
munication with the gods. The accumulated pos
session of hereditary learning, ana freedom rom
pouular connections would rapidly increase their
| influence and power. Among people of such TO
loions tendencies as the Hindoos they might readily
attain IN the highest rank in the State. The name
| which they received marks them as those who had
| the charge of worship. The neuter noun brdhmG"'
from which has sprung whole family of derlVauons'
is of frequent occurrence in the Vedas Its
rally signifies TO exert OF strain, and IL denoteS
| ply "worship" as the offering which the elevator
and intense spirit of the devout brings 10 tne' Ho'
BY not unusual formative process the gender Deins
changed and the accent thrown forward Is ueIl'eu
from it the masculine term brdhmaH' the presenter
| of such an offering OF worshlper. Ihese are tne
only two senses in which the terms used in the
earlier parts of the Veda Their application to the
mpersona divine principle is of far later date and
the work not much OF the religion as Vi Ine leh
gious philosophy of the Hindoos.
| The doctrine of the Vedic religion in regard to
the Immortality of the soul was the simple belief
that the life in this world Is not the last of man,
and that after death he goes to an abode OF happ-
| ness beyond. 1t had no connection with the idea
| of transmigration which prevailed at later pc
Rod. The earliest inhabitants OF India were nap
PLY free from the spirit of intrOversion which mas
| been cherished by their descendants. They would
| have had no sympathy with the more recent
| contempt for all earthly affairs, the melancholy
opinion of the vanity and misery of existence
and the metaphysical subtletes respecting the uni
| verse and its Creator. They looked at all those
things with the NAIVE childlike faith that belongs
to primitive people. They had cordial love OF
earthly life, and sincere relish for its pleasures
| offs
the burden of their prayers. They also
besought the gods for success IN war;
and in strife for consideration and power
Length of DAYS in the land or death from no other
cause than old age was not less frequently impored
They clung to the existence of which they apprecl-
ated the delights. Still for them death was
| without terrors. They regarded 1t only as an
entrance upon a and happy life among the
spirits of the departed. The children OF men were
assembled somewhere beyond the grave under the
scepter of him who was the first progenitOr of the
race. No idea of retributiOn was attached to the
existence after death. 1t was a continuance of the
previous life under changed conditions. The par
takers of it were not shut out from intercourse with
those whom they had left behind, nor were they
even exempt from the material wants OF their
earthly life
The historical notices which scattered through
out the volume of the introduction of Oriental
studies into modern literature are of singular interest
and value. Professor Whitney does ample justice 10
his forerunners in this branch of research, although
his critical faculty is by means fettered by any
blind spirit of reverence. He weighs their merits
and defects with a firm but delicate hand, assigning
to each explorer the need of praise or word OF cen
sure which is called forth by an impartial estimate
of his works His comments in this kind form an
admirable contribution to the critical history OF
literature.
The first person who ventured to plunge into the
labyrinth of Oriental studies the celebrated
| Frenchman Anquetil-Duperron. In 1854, while
| still very young man, few lines traced from one
of the Oxford manuscripts CHANGED to meet his eye,
and he at resolved TO TO India or Persia, and
| bring back TO his native country those ancient
works with the knowledge necessary to their inter
| probation His energy of action was equal to his
ardor of conception. Failing Of the means of travel
to the East, he enlisted private soldier III the
| service of the Indian Company and actually
marched ont of Paris with his regiment, on
a black autumnal day, to the lugubTious sound"
as he says, of an ill-mOunted drum" Upon his ar
rival ten days later at LOrient he found that his
enthusiasm and devotedness had at length found due
appreciation. He received his discharge from mill
| tarv service pension of five hundred francs, and
! a free passage in one of the COmpany's ships. with
the promise of support in the execution Of his pur
poses. He arrived at Pondicherry, Aug. 10, l755.
| Many obstacles served to delay his sue
! cess. 1t was almost three years before
! he fairly commenced his labOrs The interval
was not entirely lost He acquired sufficient knowl-
edge of the Eastern languages to enable him to
pursue his further studies TO advantage. Taking up
bis abode in SuTat less than three years he COM
peted his study of the Zend-Avesa, and was prepar
ing to commence Sanskrit, when the capture of Pom
| Il 4 l.. ,1s,.s.v Il -
plan. and to ret In to France. He reached Paris in
| the Spring of 1862, after absence of more than
seven years. He deposited in the Royal library
complete set Of the texts which had been the main OBJ
iects of his expedition and at commenced prepaT
ing the history Of his abors and the translation Of the
| whole body of the Persian sacred writings. The
work was published in III. 1t met with a recep-
| ton of a very varied character. His labors were
hailed by some with enthusiasm, and by others were
secuted and despised. Professor Whitney accOrds to
! him the merit of pure and lofty motives, and of
rare energy. He brought valuable supply of ma
| terials within reach of other scholars, and gave
powerful impulse TO Oriental studies. But he was
| arrogant and conceited superficial scholar,
| and critic without clear insight cool
Judgment He provoked the opposition of English
scholars by his contempt of their laboEs. They took
revenge both upon his book and himself. A violent
controversy arose. in which it alleged that the
pretended Scriptures of Zoroaster were forgery, or,
even if genuine of trivial and absurd character.
But the time had not then come for fair apprecia
ton of his researches 1t only after the lapse of
fifty years that the study Of the texts success
fully resumed and by the aid Of the Sanskrt, which
had become the property Of science, the intelligent
| investigation of the Zoroastrian writings became
| possible. The new movement began to excite the
attention Of the learned world in the years 1860 In
1ooe thn Danish nhilnnpnst Rask nnhlished