The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1894-12-21
.HEATHEN CUSTOMS.
DR.. Talmage Tells How the Hin
docs Dispose of Their Dead.
Benares, the Vile Metropolitan Stronghold
of the Idolators. Will Yet Capltulate
to Christ-Heroic Work of
Missionaries.

world series given to the press by Kew.
T. Dewitt Talmage was upon the sub
ject of Burning the Dead the text
being from Psalms, cxv. 7-s: "They
have 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"
Following is the sermon:
The life of the missionary is a luxu-
rious and indolent life. Hindooism is
religion that ought not 10 be inter
fered with. Christianity is guilty of
an impertinence when it 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 between
idolatrous and Christian countries.
preach this sermon in my ''round-the
world series.
In this discourse l take you to the
very headquarters of heathendom, to
the very capital of IIindooism; 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, name
ly. the burning of the dead in clean.
orderly and refined creamatory, the
hot furnace soon reducing the human
form to powder to be carefully pre-
served in an urn; but cremation as the
Hindoos practice it. We got into a
boat and were rowed down the river
Ganges until we came opposite to
where five dead bodies lay, four of
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
deceased can afford to pay for it. In
many cases only few sticks can be af-
forded, 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 abun-
dance of wood in pieces or 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 the 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 n
quantity of grease sufficient to make
everything inflammable is put on the
wood. and into the mouth of the dead.
Then one of the richest men in
Benares, his fortune made in this way.
furnishes the fire. and. after the priest |
has mumbled a 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 relatives throw into the
Ganges.
We saw floating past us on the Ganges |
the body of a child which had been on
ly partly burned, because the parents |
could not afford enough wood. While |
watching the floating form of the child |
a crow alighted upon it. In the mean
time hundreds of Hindoos were bath
ing in the river, dipping their heads, |
filling their mouths. supplying their |
brass cups. mutterinG words of so-called |
prayer Such mingling of supersti- |
ton and loathsOmeness, and inhuman- |
itv l had never before seen. The |
is to the Hindoo the best river |
of all the earth, but to me it is the |
vilest stream that ever rolled its stencil |
the banks for the mOurners for the |
dead saw in two of the cities nine |
but in no case sad look |
or a tear ] said to friends: "How is |
this? Have the living no grief for the |
dead? | found that the women did not |
come forth on such occasion, 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 marriage. |
They take them upon recommendation. |
Marriages thus formed, of course. have |
not much affection in them. Women |
are married at and 10 years of age, |
and are grandmothers at 30. Such un-
wisely formed family associations do |
not imply much ardor of love. The |
family is so poorly put together who |
wonders that it is easily taken apart?
And so l account for the absence of all |
signs of grief at the cremation of the
Hindoos-
Benares is the capital of Hindooism
and Buddhism. but Hindooism has
trampled out Buddhism, the hoof of
the one monster on the grizzly neck of
the other monster. 1t is also the
capital of filth. and the capital of NAL
odores. and the capital of indeceney.
The Hindoos say they have 500, ,OOO, 900
gods. Benares being the headquarters
of these deities you will not be sur
prised to find that the making of gods
is a profitable business. Here there
are carpenters making wooden gods,
and brass workers making brass gods.
and sculptors making stone gods, and
potters making clay gods Icannot think
of the denominations practiced here
without a recoil of stomach and need
of cologne. Although much is said
about the carving on the temples of
this city, everything is so vile that
there is not much room left for the
aesthetic. The devotees enter the
temples nineteen-twentieths unclothed,
and depart begging. All that Hin
dooism can do for man or woman it
does here. notwithstanding all that