The Grenada sentinel., 1894-12-22
BURNING THE DEAD.
Rev. Dr.. Talmage, Discourses on
the Hindoo Custom.
Kefatasisa of slanders Upon the Mission-
aries 10 India, and = Contrast Be
tween Christianity and Idol
fi%l stOry Drawn. ttMstft|

aries 10 India, and Contrast Be
tween Christianity and Idol
t+} story Drawn. a tin&fi|
The following discourse by Rev. T.
Dewitt Talmage, being the third OF his
round-the-world press series, Is on the
subjectof Burning the Dead" and is
based ON the text:
They hive hands but they handle not. feet
have they but they walk not. neither speak
they through their throat. They that make
them are like unto them.-Psalm, CIV, 7-s.
The life of q missionary Is luxu.
rious and indolent life. Hindooism is
religion that ought not to be inter.
fered with. Christianity is guilty Of
an impertincnce when 1t invades
heathendom; You must put in the same
line of reverence Brahma, Buddha,
Mohammed and Christ. To refute
these ISLANDERS and blasphemies now so
prevalent, and to spread out before
the Christian world the contrast be-
tween idolatrous and Christian coun-
tries, preach this sermon in my
''round-the-world" series.
In this discourse I take you to the
very headquarters Of heathendom, to
the very capital Of Hindooism; for what
Mecca is to the Mohammedan, and
what Jerusalem is to the Christian,
Benares, India, is to the Hindoo. We
arrived there in the evening, and the
next morning we started out early,
among other things to see the burning
Of the dead. We saw it, cremation,
not as many good people in America
and England are now advocating it,
namely the burning of the dead in
clean, and orderly, and refined
crematory, the hot furnace soon
reducing the human form to
powder to be carefully preserved
in an urn; but cremation as the Hin.
docs practice it. We got into q boat
and were rowed down the River Ganges
until we came opposite to where five
dead bodies lay, four of them women
wrapped in red garments, and man
wrapped in white. Our boat fastened,
we waited and watched. High piles Of
wood were on the bank, and this wood
is carefully weighed on large scales,
according as the friends of the de-
ceased can afford to pay for it.
In many cases only few sticks
can be afforded, and the dead
body is burned only little, and then
thrown into the Ganges. But where
the relatives of the deceased are well.
to-do, an abundance of wood in pieces
four to five feet long is purchased.
Two or three layers of sticks are then
put on the ground to receive the dead
form. Small pieces Of sandal-wood are
inserted to produce fragrance. The
deceased is lifted from the resting
place and put upon this wood. Then
the cover is removed from the face of
the corpse and it is bathed with water
Of the Ganges. Then several more
layers Of wood are put upon the body,
and other sticks are placed on both
sides Of it, but the head and feet are
left exposed. Then a quantity of
grease sufficient to make everything
infammable is put on the wood, and
into the mouth Of the dead. Then one
Of the richest men in Benares. his fort
une made in this way, furnishes the
fire, and, after the priest has mumbled
q few words, the eldest son walks
three times around the sacred pile, and
then applies the torch, and the fire
blazes up, and in short time the body
has become the ashes which the rela-
tives throw into The Ganges.
We saw floating past lis on the
Ganges the body of a child which had
been only partly burned, because the
parents could not afford enough wood.
While we watched the floating form of
the child crow alighted upon it. In
the meantime hundreds of Hindoos
were bathing in the river, dipping
their heads, filling their mouths, sup
plying their brass cups, muttering
words Of so-callcd prayer. Such a
mingling of superstition and loath-
someness, and inhumanity had
never before seen. The Ganges is
to the Hindoo the best river of all the
earth, but to me it is the vilest stream
that ever rolled its stencil in horror to
the SEQ. looked along the banks for
the mourners for the dead. saw in
two Of the cities nine cremations, but
in no case sad look or q tear. l
said to friends: ''How is this? Have
the living no grief for the dead?" I
found that the women did not come
forth on such occasions, but that does
not account for the absence OF all
signs Of grief. There is another
reason more potent. Men do not see
the faces OF their wives until after mar
riage. They take them on recon-
mendation. Marriages thus formed,
of course, have not much affection in
them. Women are married at seven
and ten years Of age, and are grand
mothers at thirty. Such uawisely-
formed family associations do not inn.
ply much ardor Of love. The family
20 poorly put together-who wonders
that II Is easily taken apart? And SO
/ account for the absence Of all signs
Of grief at the cremation Of the Hin
docs. m.
Benares is imposing in the distance
~ you look at It from the other side Of
the GangeA The forty.seven CHATS, or
fights Of stone steps reaching from the
waters cd9c to the building hirh up on |