not be received merely by the statement of them. They demand a somewhat more full exposition. Let us, therefore, see what an unchartered priesthood tends to. Hence, possibly, we may learn the necessity of a charter such as the Bible has just been described to be.

THE HINDU.

Nowhere do we find a priesthood more fully pronounced in all its arts, or more successful in all its objects, than in the country of Noah in the remotest antiquity to which we can ascend. Not that this fact is to be learned from the sacred history, for between the days of Noah and the call of Abraham, the Pentateuch contains only a very few notices of our race. And not that we pretend access to any other history reaching back to so remote a period. We derive evidence from another source. In the midst of that variety which distinguish all His works, the Creator has imparted to a certain region of the earth, but a little removed from that where Noah's own family appears to have resided, such a genial temperament, that it altogether contents its inhabitants, indisposes them towards change, and having speedily developed society to a certain degree, fixes it there and perpetuates it seemingly for ever. And from such a state of things (aided perhaps by the restriction of the people to a vegetable diet only, a politic law on the part of the priesthood, since such a diet tends to prevent energy in a people, and so to make them easily governed), it has come to pass that the state of things framed and set a-going in that quarter, probably not many centuries after the flood, continues even to this day, more fully developed no doubt, but developed rather than changed. I allude to India and the Hindoos.

Now in that region we find a priesthood (whether itself

of Hindoo origin or not makes no difference) which has existed from the earliest ages, and from a most remote antiquity in India itself, and which has still been engaged in developing and perfecting its own organization, so that at the present day it may be taken as the type and beau ideal of a successful and self-constituted priesthood, and may be viewed as the limit which that order of society naturally tends to, and finds it possible to attain. And as there is no class of men so opposed to the views advocated in this work as such a priesthood (a class unhappily reigning, even in the present day, over a third part of the United Kingdom), I shall here solicit the reader's attention for a little to the consideration of the Brahminical system, that he may be the better able to ascertain, with respect to the Romish system, what part of it is probably human, what part probably divine, and what the regard or disregard to be paid to Romish priests as ministers of true or of false religion, and what the value or valuelessness of that uniformity in religion of which they boast as alone to be found with them.

It will not be denied that Brahminism is an invention of man merely. And though it be granted that in the absence or impossibility of something better it may have served valuable purposes in India, it will not be maintained that the Church of Christ and modern Europe should be governed by Brahminism. On the contrary, we are

system that prevails in the

accustomed to look upon the east as bad in every feature. There are several points, however, in which the Brahminical priesthood, viewed simply as an institution, and keeping out of view the greater errors in religion with which it is associated, is more to be admired than that of Rome. But, before making such critical remarks, let us see what Brahminism

is.

THE BRAHMIN.

What then is a Brahmin-the beau-ideal of a thoroughly educated, unrestrained, and successful priest? This cannot be better learned that from consulting the institutes of Menu, a volume of the priesthood which instructs the people in all that the sacerdotal caste wish them to believe, and which is regarded by all Hindoos as divine. The following extracts will convey a sufficiently definite idea of what the Brahminical priesthood wish the people to believe respecting them, and in what position they desire to be held. Much more of the same kind, and which is equally instructive, will be found in the volume from which the following extracts are made, and which, as it forms one of the volumes of the works of Sir W. Jones, is easily accessible to every one.

1. The Priesthood have the most divine pedigree, and of all classes of society the greatest dignity.

"That the human race may be multiplied, he (Menu) caused the Brahmin, the Cshatriya, the Vaisya, and the Sudra (so named from scripture, Protection, Wealth, and Labour, and the names of the four castes, the religious, the military, the commercial, and the labouring) to proceed from his mouth, his arm, his thigh, and his foot."

"Since the Brahmin sprang from the most excellent part, since he was the first born, and since he possesses the Veda (the scriptures) he is by right the chief of the whole creation." "The very birth of a Brahmin is a constant incarnation of Dherma, God of Justice, for the Brahmin is born to promote justice, and to procure ultimate happiness."

2. The Priesthood have a right to all property.

"Whatever exists in the universe is all in effect, though

not in form, the wealth of the Brahmin, since the Brahmin is entitled to it all by his primogeniture and eminence in birth." "The Brahmin eats but his own

...

food, wears but his own apparel, and bestows but his own alms. Through the benevolence of the Brahmin, indeed, other mortals enjoy life." . . . "Let every man according to his ability give wealth to Brahmins detached from the world and learned in scripture. Such as give shall attain heaven after this life."

3. The Civil Power must consult the Priesthood, and go by its advice.

"A king desirous of inspecting judicial proceedings, must enter his court of justice composed and sedate in his manner, together with Brahmins and councillors, who know how to give him advice." .. "Let the king decide cases justly, observing primæval law (of which the Brahmins are the true depositories). But when he cannot inspect such affairs in person, let him appoint for the inspection of them a Brahmin of eminent learning."

4. The slightest offences against the Priesthood to be most severely punished.

"If he (an once born man) mention (the twice born men or Brahmins) name and classes with contumely, as if he say Oh Devadatta, Thou refuse of Brahmins, an iron stile, ten fingers long, shall be thrust red-hot into his mouth. Should he, through pride, give instructions to the priests concerning their duty, let the king order some hot oil to be dropped into his mouth and ears." It is remarkable, however, that when the offender is one of their own order, the punishments they annex are wholly of a spiritual nature, thus, "A twice born man who barely assaults a Brahmin with intention to hurt him, will be whirled about for a century in the hell

named Tamisra."

"But having smitten him in anger and by design, even with a blade of grass, he shall be born in one and twenty transmigrations from the wombs of impure quadrupeds."

5. The crimes of the priesthood must be gently dealt with, and capital punishments must never be thought of.

"No greater crime is known on earth than slaying a Brahmin, and the king, therefore, must not even form in his mind an idea of killing a priest. . . Never shall the king slay a Brahmin, though convicted of all possible crimes. Let him banish the offender from his realm, but with all his property secure and his body unhurt. . Ignominious torture is ordained instead of capital punishment for an adulterer of the priestly class, where the punishment of the other classes may amount to the loss of life."

6. The priesthood only dare perform the rites of religion, and they form the sole depositaries and expounders of the sacred books.

"To Brahmins he (Menu) assigned the duties of reading the Veda, of teaching it, of sacrificing and assisting others to sacrifice, of giving alms if they be rich, and, if indigent, of receiving gifts." "To declare the sacerdotal duties, and those of the other classes in due order, the sage Menu sprung from the self-existent, promulgated this code of law, a code which must be studied with extreme care by every learned Brahmin, and fully explained to his disciples, but must be taught to no man of an inferior class." "He who shall acquire

knowledge of the Veda without the assent of his preceptor, incurs the guilt of stealing the scripture, and shall sink to the regions of torment. Surely he who

N