Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1893-11-11
WEDDED IN INFANCY.
Child Marriages Are Still the
 Curse of India.
| Calcutta Official Reports That They still Continue to Enervate the Race, and Christian Missionaries Are Eav-
 ing But Little Effect.

Dr. Chumoolon, pundit from Cal cutta, who is visiting this country for the purpose of attending the world $ fair, lately gave some very interesting information about the state of his na- tive country and his coantrymen, says the New York Herald
 sThe people are quite content and satisfied under British rule" said he .Of course, the sentimental attach Ill ent 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 a foreign nation has been so long an established fact that pretty generally the exist ing order of things is accepted and recognized by the natives, who quietly try to derive as much benefit as pos sible from the grating of a new civ ilization upon the oldest the world has ever known.
 ''The greatest curse of India and the greatest drawback to the development of nay country is, in my opinion, the terrible child marriages that even vet obtain in a very great measure. The drain upon the vital energy and the deterioration of the character of the people caused by this fearful custom are enormous.
 II often think l can trace it's evil effects in the languor of my country men, in their lack of energy, of inter- est, of ambition, and in their passive acceptance of whatever is; as the best. Certainly these marriages, being made without regard to the feelings of the married couple, are. very frequently the source of lifelong unhappiness. and undoubtedly lead indirectly to much profigacy and to misery of many kinds"
 Dr. Chumoololl, who possesses very decided views upon the subject, stated as his opinion that Chri stianity had not made the satisfactory progress it's believers and teachers imagined.
 Many causes contributed to this" said he. For ages long gone the va rious Hindoo religions were a great power. Still the natives were so ha- bituated to them that in the course of time belief in them would have become thing of the past through mere lack of interest.
 European interest in the subject, however, and the unsuitable curiosity manifested by western races in the an cient philosophy of the Hindoos has perhaps served to fan the dying enbers of these religions and to keep them alive indefinitely.
 ''In any case belief dies so slowly, my countrymen are so conservative, they change only after the lapse of great space of time, that am inclined to the opinion that European civiliza- ton will become the civilization of the Hindoo until there remains only a fragment of the historic race of think CTS to whom the west owes everything; for, pardon me for reminding you. there is very little that is original in your philosophy.
 'eTheosophy has also retarded the progress of the people toward the ac- ceptance of Christian doctrines. The subtle influence of belief in manifest ations and interference from the.spirit- ual world is very potent in causing be- lievers to take little intercst in the or dinary affairs of everyday life.
 But the influence of European as- sociation, wherever it has been al- lowed to have full play, has been of the utmost benefit. The natural genius of the Hindoo has been stimulated un-