New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1893-10-22
INFANT WIVES AND WIDOWS.
\ FAMOUS IINDOO SOCIAL SYST EN- THAT
Is NOW PASSING AWAY.
(To be continued)

* NOW PASSING AWAY.
"Thc unchanging East will soon be mis-
homer. II Is indeed already such. The East Is
now changing AMI Will presently be wholly
transformed. India no longer lies sumbcring In
| the lcthargy that comes from ages OF supersti-
ton and worn-out civilization. Its politics, in
dustrics society religion. all show the workings
II a vigorous Europcan leaven. English educa-
ton. English methods ~ thought and action,
English inventions and English ideas In general
are steadily and not slowly extending their sway
throughout the whole empire. and cffccting what
IIindoos themselves declare 10 be IA renaissance
Of Indian civilization. II renewal Of that earlier
and better social order that prevailed In the
golden era Of their history. before the Mahom-
otan conquest crushed out their vital forces
and made them the inert and impuissant people
they have since been
Perhaps the most significant Characteristic of
Indian civilization since the Mahom. tan con-
quest has been the d .grdlation OF women. es-
pccially in the form Of child marriages and en-
forced wdowhooI. These conditions did not
prevail In the former ages. In the centuries Of
Sanskrit light and leading the women cf India
were free They were educated equally with the
men. and participated as openly in social do
ines. But after the conquest all this was
changed. In order To protect them from the in
vadcrs. the IIndoos began shutting their women
up closely In their homes. This of de-
privcd the women OF all facilities for education
Next. the custom arose of marrying the girls In
early childhood even in infancy; and finally 1t
was decrecd that woman or girl, becoming a
widow. should not be allowed to remarry, but
must for the rest Of her life be practically the
slave of her husbands or her own family.
1t Is against this child-marriage and compul-
sorry widowhood system that the strongest eff
forts for reform have been directed. both by
English missionaries and by native Tni,os
who have caught the spirit of European civili-
zaton. The work of the Pundita Ramabai who
recently visited the United States Is still fresh
In mind AS this campaign has been directed
against the very centre and citadel Of IIlndoo
consc rvatism. and especially against the great
Brahmn caste itself, its success has until lately
been much doubted Now however It is seen
that decided progress is being made, and that
this peculiar institution" IS doomed and is
rapidly passing away The difficulty of convert
Ing Brahmin to Christianity. or even to Euro
pean social ideas, Is still enormous "Our faith
crs worshipped and believed thus" they say;
'and IT IL impossible that they were wrong
Had they been wrong. they must have found 1t
out II we believe you. must disbclieve them.
How We do 500" Moreover the doctrine of
caste is so ingrained into them that they unhcsi-
tatingly prefer To be wrong with their own peo-
pie than to be right with others. If their an
ccstors are In hell. they wish TO 20 there too
rather than suffer the contamination OF min
Cling in Hcav-n with people OF other castles.
How many Brahmins have you baptized9' n
veteran missionary was asked. Ten" was his
reply. And how long have you been at work
among them Thirty years.
While however, the Brahmins ard. In a
slightly less degree, the Rajput and Kayastha
castes, hold out like vertabe Bourbons against
reform, in the other castles and tribes sweeping
changes are taking place. II was indeed high
time. unless the liindoos were to become ex
tinct For their numbers were steadily decreas-
ing, while the Mahometans were increasing at
a startling rate. AS an example: In Bengal it.
self, IN 1872, the Hindoos ounumbercd the Mo-
hometans by half million; while to-day. ac
cording To the census just taken the Mahom-
etans outnumber the Hndoos by a million and
Il half There Is no question but that this is due
chiefly to the Hindoo system of enforced widow
hood. The Hindoos themselves realize IT,. ana
accordingly are now. for the most practical of
reasons. abandoning that system And So far
has the ieIorm advanced that now, the Govern
mcnt reports. except I'm the Brahmin, RaJput
and Kayasiha castles throughout the whole en-
p,re and in the highest mercantile artisan and
agricultural classes In Bengal the Hndoo widow
remarries as freely as any In the world. The
effect OF this upon the population Is ssrious. }