Weekly Chillicothe crisis., 1885-06-25

were converted to the belief in one
God, from their belief in several hun
drods of gods. The dominating faith
DESTROYED the sanctuaries of Brahman-
ism and the remains Of Buddhism, and
its theological offspring, Jainism, and
built mosques and holy places in their
stead. Hence tho introduction of the
MOhammadan architecture, which has
now spread from one end of the coun-
try TO the other, and exists side by
side, and often in combination, with
the earlier Hindu style.
There is no difficulty whatever In
distinguishing the handiwOrk of Hin
dus and Mohammadans. The distinc-
ton is, broadly speaking, the same as
that between Greek and Gothic build
ing, the one loves the horizontal, the
massive, and the heavy; the other
tends to the perpendicular, the point
ed, the graceful, and the light Greek
and lIindO temples look broad; Gothic
and MOhammadan churches look high.
Whore the Hindu would place couple
Of largo pilastcrs, thickly carved with
redundant mass of idol-symbols, sup
porting Il square stone cornlcc, the
Muslin builds springing arch, twice
the height OF the llndo erection, and
tapering away to point. Where the
Indian carvcS a rich confusion Of gro.
tcsQuc figures, the Mohammadan gives
his chiScl full freedom in the creation
Of every species of traccry and So
called arabesque; for the lslamitc is as
strictly forbidden TO make himself im-
ages Of living things rs the Hebrew.
THE MOnAMMADANS IN INDIA.
As regards the influence of the Mus
Inns in India, their is much to be said,
both good and bad. That the mussul-
man faith is superior rs an cthic insti-
tuition to the BrahmaniC belief may
well be doubted. II the principles
which govern the lives of the best
Brahmans could be clearly and sue
cnctIy taught, they would be found
to contain excellent elements OF public
morality. Unfortunately, however,
Brahmansm is dressed and adorned
with multitude of symbolism and
tawdry idolatry which only cOnfuses
the simple minded, and furnishes food
for the sarcasmS OF the wise. The
danger of symbolism is everywhere the
same. The ignorant will always con-
found the symbol with the attributes
of that God in whose honor symbols
are invented.
1t is for this rcoSon that Brahman-
ism, or Hinduism, by which | mean to
signify the principal Brahnanic sccts
of worship now prevalent in India, has
| dcgcncratcd into the groSScst idOlatry
as far rs the mass OF lIindus are con
ccrncd. MohammadaniSm on the
other hand, has maintained in \ great
measure its original faith in an inyisi-
Bile and supreme God. This is due TO
the extreme simplicity of the religion
in its beginnings, excluding rs ii does
every kind of image worship by the
prime prohibition, "ThOu shalt not
make a craven image OF anything hay
lng soul" That is the way the
Prophet wOrdcd his command, and il
has been interpreted to mean every
living thing. Mohammadan rulers
have never even stamped their coins
with portraits of themselves, but only
with supcrscriptiOnS and dates.
But the Hindu mind is naturally
very imaginative, and is not easily
satisfied with any simple form of be-
lief, The c-hundredfold pantheon
offers some especial attraction to each
individual, and, rs among the Egyp-
| tians of old, every man may carry his
god in his pocket, without any partic-
ular disbelief in his ncighbOr' favOrite
deity, who may be quite as powerful,
but is not so sympathetic to his own
taste. On the whole, Il Hindu is more
likely to turn atheist than to become
a Mohammadan, aud tho conversion
of llinduS to Christianity has been en-
tircly insignificant. The only CONVEX
siOns of any historical importance were
those of st. Francis Xavicr, who made
Christians of the inhabitants of Goa,
in southern India, by military pro-
cess of persuasion now no longer en-
plOycd in matters of religion.
The Mohammadaus brought with
them to India their faith, their strong
manly characteristics. and their Won
dcrful architecture, which has entirely
pcrvadcd the land, 1t is almost al
ways possible to distinguish Moham-
madaiS from Hindus at sight. They
generally wear boards, whereas the
Hindu is shaved, save for his mustache;
they are more erect, more muscular,
and of boldcr aspccs; they wear their
clothes differently, for all Mohamma-
dams button their white linen garments
or their cloth caftaus as we dO-that
is to say, the left side is brought over
the whereas all llindus button
| the right side of their coats over the
left. But wherever there are mussul-
mans, there you will find their grace
full minarets and mosques, their DOOM
ed sepulchres and solitary tombs,
their light balconies and pointed door
WAYS, contrasting with the heavy
architecture of the Hindus.
There are to be found in private
dwellings in Ahmcdabad, mussul-
man city in the west of India. such
specimens of beautiful design and ex-
quisltc workmanship as are hardly to
be met with anywhere else.-F Ma
rion Crawford, IN HdrpCr'S Magazine
! far ,JulN