The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1909-10-21
Hmong the
Hindus
An Entertaining Description of Life
Among the'Asiatics by One
Who Has Lived There.

Paper Read Before the Cha,tauQua Circle.
For so long has India been prey to
the rapacity of political and military
adventures that we are apt to forget
that it's present laxity is not tie degra-
dation of an uncivilized people, but the
achievement of anunscrupulous an priest
craft, whose pernicious doctrine de-
stroyed character and ambition, and
feudalism that left them at the mercy
of invaders, so that in the words of a
certain historian, "India presents the
unique spectacle of ascountry coveted
by others for its wealth, whilst its ma
tives boasting a civilization that reach
ses beyond the known history of the
world are paupers, erecting their hoy
els side by side with edi6ces whose
architectural excellence, evidence of
their former grandeur is unsurpassed"
Feudalism is today marked charac-
teristic of the Indian Empire, and in
stead of a country combined for the
furtherance of a common cause, it is
divided into numerous principalities or
Kingdoms, each fearful and suspicious
of the encroachments of the other, sat
isfying party Jealousies at the expense
of national dignity at time when
combination of forces might have pre-
served them from the calamity of for
eign dominion. The term Hindu which
is Invariably applied to the native con-
veys an impression of homogeneity
that is far from correct, but as any at
tempt to classify the various races that
comprise the population would exceed
the limits of this paper, 1t must suffice
to say that it mbodies a represent ative
of every branch whose origin is de-
rived from the Aryan, Scythian, Arab
and Tartar races.
In politics experience has taught us
the value of criticism and opposition,
but we fail to recognize their value
when applied to theology, yet no in
stftution is so greatly in need of these
counteracting forces as ecclesiast!cism,
firmly established, which is at all times
prone to mistake its function, and de-
velop into theocracy. This to great
extent is precisely what has occurred
in India. Priests vested with power
are seldom in sympathy with any pro-
gressive movement that makes for ele-
walton of the common people for the
simple reason that most movements of
such character are opposed to their de.
sres. The prevailing Caste System in
India, than which no more ingenious
method was ever devised foI the re.
preston of human beings, is creation
of the priests who naturally control it.
Caste, briefly, is system by which so.
ciety is divided into various grades OF
factions, each grade monopolizing some
particular branch of industry from
which departure is forbidden. BY this
means children are confined to the so
cial degrees of their parents. 10 rise
above ones caste is impossible ig
more its principles equivalent to socia
ostracism. The highest Caste of all il
the Brahmin or Priest. which sprang
so tits said, from the brains of Brahms
and whose duty, according to the de
cree of the lawgiver of Hinduism, ii
the receiving of gifts, a duty which b!
the way they never fail to fulfil
There is one spot in India where ma
tive life in all its varying phases ma.
be studied to advantage, Benares, tn
oldest city in the world, whose histor,
-antedates Romulus by hundreds o
years. It is the Mecca of Hinduism
to which point millions of devotees an
nually flock for the purifying dip il
the water of the sacred Ganges. Th
river at this particular point is interest
ing principally for the wonderful vari
~ety and abundance Of its filth. De
cayed flowers form the numerous shrine
that line its banks, the scourings o
temples and stables are some of the Of
.ferings that are flung into the Hol