ving,
which was not regulated by priestly formulas. Every prayer was
prescribed, every sacrifice determined. Every god had his share, and
the claims of each deity on the adoration of the faithful were set
down with such punctiliousness, the danger of offending their pride
was represented in such vivid colors, that no one would venture to
approach their presence without the assistance of a well-paid staff of
masters of divine ceremonies. It was impossible to avoid sin without
the help of the Brahmans. They alone knew the food that might properly
be eaten, the air which might properly be breathed, the dress which
might properly be worn. They alone could tell what god should be
invoked, what sacrifice be offered; and the slightest mistake of
pronunciation, the slightest neglect about clarified butter, or the
length of the ladle in which it was to be offered, might bring
destruction upon the head of the unassisted worshipper. No nation was
ever so completely priest-ridden as the Hindus under the sway of the
Brahmanic law. Yet, on the other side, the same people were allowed to
indulge in the most unrestrained freedom of thought, and in the
schools of their philosophy the very names of their gods were never
mentioned. Their existence was neither denied nor asserted; they were
of no greater importance in the system of the world of thought than
trees or mountains, men or animals; and to offer sacrifices to them
with a hope of rewards, so far from being meritorious, was considered
as dangerous to that emancipation to which a clear perception of
philosophical truth was to lead the patient student. There was one
system which taught that there existed but one Being, without a
second; that everything else which seemed to exist was but a dream and
illusion, and that this illusion might be removed by a true knowledge
of the one Being. There was another system which admitted two
principles,--one a subjective and self-existent mind, the other
matter, endowed with qualities. Here the world, with its joys and
sorrows, was explained as the result of the subjective Self,
reflecting itself in the mirror of matter; and final emancipation was
obtained by turning away the eyes from the play of nature, and being
absorbed in the knowledge of the time and absolute Self. A third
system started with the admission of atoms, and explained every
effect, including the elements and the mind, animals, men, and gods,
from the concurrence of these atoms. I