The Newberry herald and news. (Newberry, S.C.) 1884-1903, 1893-07-05
INFANT MArR1MoNY IN INDIA.
are Curse and Drawback to that
Country.
New York Herald, |

| New Eork Herald.
DR.. Chumoolell, a pundit from Csl-
cutta, who is visiting this country for
the purpose of attending the Worlds
Fair is at the Fifth Avenue Hotel, and
on Monday gave some very interesting
information about the state of his ma
tive country and his countrymen.
"The people are quite content and
satisfied under the British rule" said
he, "Of course, the sentimental attach
ment to the old regime has by no means
died away. There remains feeling Of
regret for the times of past greatness as
an independent race.
"Still, the domination of foreign
nation has been so long an established
fact that pretty generally the existing
order Of things is accepted and recog-
nized by the natives, who quietly try
to derive as much benefit as possible
from the grating Of q new civilization
upon the Oldest the world has ever
known.
INFANTS GIVEN IN MARRIAGE.
"The great curse of India and the
greatest drawback to the. development
of my countrymen is, in my opinion,
the terrible child marriages that even
yet obtain in very great measure. The
drain upon the vital energy and the
deterioration of the character Of the
people caused by this fearful custom is
enormous.
"When you think that the females
are ordinarily married at ages ranging
from infancy to nine years, that the age
of the husband varies in the same pro-
portion, and that the average age ofthe
mother giving birth to the first child
is about ten years, you may picture a
few of the consequences of this custom.
81 often think I can trace its evil
effects in the languor of my country
men, in their lack energy, of interest,
of ambition, and ia their passive accep-
tance OF whatever is as the best. Ger
tainly these marriages, being made
without regard to the feelings of the
married couple, are very frequently the
source Of lifelong unhappiness and un-
doubtedly lead indirectly to much prof
ligacy and to misery of many kinds"
DR.. Chumoololl, who possesses very
decided views upon the subject, stated
as his opinion that Christianity had
not made the Satisfactory progress its
believers and teachers imagined.
"Many causes contributed to this"
said he. "For ages long gone the va
rious Hindoo religions were great
power. Still the natives were SO habit
uated to them that in the course of
time belief in them would have become
q thing of the past through mere lack
of interest.
FAMED TIE DYING EMBERs OF RELI-
GIoN. -
European interest in, the subject,
however, and the Unsuitable curiosity
manifested by Western races in the
ancient philosophy of the Hindoos has
perhaps served to fan the dying embers
of these religions and to keep them
alive indefinitely.
SIN any case belief dies so slowly,
my countrymen are 80 conservative,
they change only after the lapse Of s
great space of time, that I am inclined
to the opinion that European civiliza-
tion will not become the civilization
of the Hindoo until there remains only
a fragment of the historic race of think
ers to whom the West owes everything;
for, pardon me for reminding you, there
is very little that is original in your
philosophy.
'Theosephy has also, retarded the
progress of the people toward the ac-
ceptance of Christian doctrines. The
subtle influence of belief in manifesto
tions and interference from the spirit
ual world is very potent in causing
believers to take little interest in the
ordinary affairs of everyday life.
EUROPEAN INFLUENCES.
"But the influence of European asso-
citation wherever it has been allowed to
have full play has been of the utmost
benefit. The natural genius of the
Hindoo has been stimulated under the
influence Of keen competition, epgen-
dered by the establishment in their
midst of European trading and manu-
featuring firms This has resulted in
the production and remarkable devel-
opment of native industries. The
schools established by various Europe
an societies have also been remarkably
successful, but I doubt if any practical
results in the way of conversion 70,
Christianity have been attained.
''The Hindoo has very real horror
Of losing caste, and so will hold no COM
munication with Christians; the ma
tives without caste are in great meas
ure too Indifferent to trouble themselves
about a new religion, particularly
religion introduced by people whom
they blame for many hardships; for the
advent of Europeans in India has not
been without its drawbacks"
LITTLE FAITH IN Adopts.
DR.. Chumoololl was asked if he had
ever seen any of the Jogas or adopts,