HARVARD UNIVERSITY. LIBRARY OF THE MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY 12,,005— Cyola ie L (! osu. ge 192 OCT 24 192) JOURNAL OF THE TRANSACTIONS ire VretORTA TENS Fe UTE . VOL. XXXVII. yh gine 6 aes — pa aca i a, ine SR el Se es a i att stl OS JOURNAL OF THE TRANSACTIONS Ghe Victoria Institute, Philosophical Society of Great Pritain, EDITED BY THE SECRETARY. VOLE Pee X El. LONDON : (Bublishey by the Lnstitute, 8, Avelpht Cercace, Charing Cross, WU.C.) ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 1905. LONDON: HARRISON AND SONS, PRINTERS IN ORDINARY TO HIS MAJESTY, ST. MARTIN’S LANE. CONTENTS. PAGE Tue ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING, HELD IN THE HOUSE OF THE Society or Arts, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 7TH, 1904. THE Rr. Hon. THE EARL oF Hatssury, D.C.L., F.R.S. (PRESIDENT), IN THE CHAIR seen eeee eevee ‘eee eoee eese eeoce cere THIRTY-NINTH ANNUAL REPORT .... a ste aae ae THE ANNUAL ADDRESS. ON RECONSTRUCTION AND RESTATEMENT. By Dr. Sitvanus P. THompson, F.R.S. .... aus ee See SPEECHES BY— Dr. WALTER KIDD, Lirvut.-Gen. Sir Henry GEARY, Mr. Martin L. Rowse, Rev. Joun TUCKWELL, Rev. CHANCELLOR LiAs, AND THE CHAIRMAN. THE RicHt Way 1n PsycHotocy. By Rev. F. Storrs Turner, 25 B.A. sece eeore eevee cove osee eece seve eece sere THe Discussion. REMARKS BY— Dr. SCHOFIELD. CoLONEL ALVES. Rev. Joun TuckweE.u, M.R.A.S. CoMMUNICATIONS FROM— Proressor StackKpoout E. O’DELL. Mr. D. Bippiz, M.R.C.S.E. Proressor H. L. OrcHARD. Mr. Martin L. Rovse, AvutTHor’s REPLY. Wal CONTENTS OF VOL. XXXVII. PAGE ConFUCIANISM By Rev. Artuur ELWIN es 208 oe Pe: || Tuer Discussion. REMARKS BY— THE CHAIRMAN, Rev. Joun TUCKWELL. PROFESSOR ORCHARD. Lievut.-Cout. ALVES. Mr. Martin L. Rowse. Tue Avutuor’s REPLy. CoMMUNICATION FROM Rev. F. Storrs TuRNER. THE RAJPUTS AND THE History oF RagpuTaANA. By CoLoneL T. Housein Henpzey, C.1.E. .... as = jot ee Perm {) Tuer Discussion. REMARKS BY— THe CHAIRMAN, GENERAL HALLIDAY, AND THE SECRETARY. Tue Deatu or Rev. Dr. F. A. WALKER: EXPRESSIONS OF REGRET BY THE SECRETARY AND MEMBERS .... pace eh oe ‘acd OO THE GROWTH OF THE Kinapom oF Gop. By Rev. J. B. WuirTiNe, Tue Discussion. REMARKS BY— THE CHAIRMAN, CoLONEL T. H. HENDLEY, C.LE., THE SECRETARY, Mr. Martin L. Rouse, AND PROFESSOR LANGHORNE ORCHARD. BisBLIcAL Astronomy. By Lieut.-Cout. G. MAcKINLAY .... Pee tp THE Discussion. REMARKS BY—- Mr. Harnine. CoMMANDER CaBokNeE, C.B. Dr. HEYwWARD SMITH. Mr. Martin Rovse. THE SECRETARY. CoLONEL HENDLEY. PROFESSOR ORCHARD. Rev. J. TUcKWELL. PROFESSOR SAYCE. Rev. CANON GIRDLESTONE. THE AvuTHOR’s REPLY. CONTENTS QF VOL. XXXVII. vil PAGE GEOLOGICAL ExTERMINATIONS. By Dr. CHARLES B. WARRING, M.A. THE Discussion. REMARKS BY— Rev. Dr. IRVING. Rev. JoHn TUCKWELL. Dr. WALTER KIvp. Rev. G. F. WHIDBORNE. Proressor E. Huu (Secretary). THE NEBULAR AND PLANETESIMAL THEORIES OF THE EARTH’S By Warren Upuam, M.A., F.GS.A. .... Sih L8G ORIGIN. Discussion. REMARKS BY— CoLonEL MACKINLAY, THE SECRETARY, Mr. Martin L. Rovss, Rev. J. TUCKWELL, Proressor Logan LOBLEY, AND OTHERS. COMMUNICATION FROM Rev. Dr. IRvING AND Rev. J. RATE. On Dr. NANSEN’s BATHYMETRICAL RESEARCHES IN THE ARCTIC OcEAN AS COMPARED WITH THOSE ON THE ATLANTIC COAST OF EUROPE. By Proressor E. Hut, LL.D., F.R.S. (Secretary) .... 214 THE Discussion. REMARKS BY— THE CHAIRMAN, Mr. Hup.sston, F.R.S., ProFeEssor LOBLEY, AND Mr. Davip Howarp. THE RESURRECTION OF OuR LoRD AND SAviour JESUS CHRIST. By Rev. Canon GIRDLESTONE, M.A. (ADDRESS)... eee eere 999 Discussion. REMARKS BY— CoLONEL MACKINLAY (CHAIRMAN), Mr. Rovss, PROFESSOR ORCHARD, Rev. Joun TUCKWELL, AND THE SECRETARY. THE INFLUENCE OF PuHysioLocicAL Discovery on Tuovucut. By Epwarp P. Frost, Esq., D.L. A Suort DiscussIoN FOLLOWED. V1ll CONTENTS OF VOL. XXXVII. PAGE THE MesssiIAH oF QapIAN. By Rev. H. D. Griswouip, M.A. _.... 241 Discussion. REMARKS BY— CoLONEL ALVES, Mr. Martin Rovss, THE CHAIRMAN, CoLONEL HENDLEY, AND Mr. J. O. CorRIE. THe MINERALS AND MetTAus MENTIONED IN THE OLD TESTAMENT AND THEIR INFLUENCE ON THE SOCIAL AND RELIGIouS HISTORY oF THE Nations oF Antiquity. By Cav. W. P. JERVIS, F.G.S. eece eere eeee eeece eece eeee eevee eeee eevee 959 Discussion. REMARKS BY— THE SECRETARY, Proressor HULL, ‘CotonEL MacKInuay, AND THE AUTHOR. List oF OFFICERS, MEMBERS, ASSOCIATES, ETC. ee Me 283 *,* The Institute's object being to investigate, it must not be held to endorse the various views expressed at its meetings. PREFACE. N issuing the 37th Volume of the Transactions I have only | to impress on Members and Associates the obligation they are under to endeavour to increase the influence of the Institute and to add to the number of its adherents. The Council has never adopted outside means of popularity by advertising in order to attract the public, being satisfied with dependence on the efforts of its friends, the interest and importance of its objects, and the honour of enrolment in its ranks. Nevertheless, efforts are necessary to bring the work of the Victoria Institute to the notice of those whom it is desirable to attract, and with this object a copy of the “ Objects Paper” will be issued to those receiving the new volume of Transactions, with the hope that each Member or Associate will endeavour to bring in at least one adherent during the ensuing year. The Council would esteem it a favour to receive communica- tions on subjects suitable for discussion and publication, and also to receive the names of persons considered qualified to deal with them Epwarkp Hutu, LL.D., Secretary and Editor. ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING. HELD IN THE HOUSE OF THE SOCIETY OF ARTS, WEDNESDAY, JUNE (7TH, 1905. THe Riegot Hon. THE EarL oF HALsBuRY (PRESIDENT), IN THE CHAIR. Letters of regret for inability to be present were read from Bishop Welldon, Mr. David Howard, V.P., the Dean of Canterbury, the Rev. G. W. Whidborne and others. The Right Hon. The Eart or Harssury, F.R.S. (President), opened the meeting. He regretted that a public duty would prevent him from remaining—it was not a private duty, but a public duty, and as such could not be neglected—and theretore he must vacate the chair for the present. The SECRETARY.—In the absence of the Lord Chancellor, I propose that General Halliday be requested to take the Chair. General HALLIDAY.—In the absence of the Lord Chancellor, I will now call upon the Secretary to read the Report. The Report of the Council was then read by the Secretary, Professor E. Hutu, LL.D., F.R.S., as follows :— 1. In presenting the Turrry-Nintu Aynuat Report, the Council have pleasure in stating that the past session has not been less satisfactory in its proceedings than those which preceded it. As was to be expected, there are losses in membership by death and resignation ; but in the latter cases it is seldom that a member resigns without expression of regret tnat he is obliged to do so owing to circumstances over which he has no control. Occasionally resignations are withdrawn, and members rejoin the Society. 2 ANNUAL MEETING. 2. As regards finance it will be seen by the duly audited balance sheet that while we entered the year 1904 with a credit balance of £73 9s. 8d., we entered the year 1905 with a balance of £28 2s. 10d., all bills outstanding having been paid. 3. The’ number of members and associates has slightly decreased since last year, which is probably to be attributed to the prevalent financial stress. It is much to be desired that our members should endeavour to enlist the interest and adherence of their friends. The following is a statement of the numbers of the con- stituency of the Institute at the end of May, 1905 :— Life Members ee a 2) AAS er Ammvuall gee. aa: ie Se pelOst i Life Associates the on Pb bal) is Annual Associates ... Ma Ne ere: . Hon. Corresponding Members eee DAA - Total 870 4. The following is the new list of the Officers and Council :— President. The Right Honourable The Earl of Halsbury, M.A., D.C.L., F.R.S. (Lord Chancellor). Vice- Presidents. Sir T. Fowell Buxton, Bart., K.C.M.G. Professor Lionel S. Beale, F.R.C.P., F.R.S. W. H. Hudleston, Esq., F.R.S., F.G.S. Alexander McArthur, Esq., D.L., J.P. David Howard, Esq., D.L., F.C.S. Lord Strathcona and Mount Royal, LL.D., F.G.S. Lieut.-General Sir H. L. Geary, K.C.B. Honorary Correspondents. The Right Hon. Lord Kelvin, Past P.R.S. Professor A. Agassiz, D.C.L., F.R.S. Professor A. H. Sayce, D.D., LL.D. Professor E. Naville (Geneva). Professor Fridtjof Nansen, D.Sc. Professor Maspero (Paris). Professor Warren Upham. Honorary Auditors. J. Allen, Esq. | General Mackinlay, late R.A. Honorary Creasurer. Edward Stanley M. Perowne, Ksq. Seeretarpy und Editor of the Journal. Professor Edward Hull, M.A., LL.D., F.B.S. ANNUAL MEETING. 3 Council, (In Order of Election.) Rev. Principal James H. Rigg, D.D. Theo. G. Pinches, Esq., LL.D., M.R.A.S. Maj. Kingsley 0. Foster, J.P., F.R.A.S. | Ven. Archdeacon W. M. Sinclair, M.A., D.D. D, Howards, Esq:, D:L., E:GC:S8., F.1.C.,. fc. Gerard Smith, Esq., M.R.C.S. (Trustee). Commander G. P. Heath, R.N. Rev. Dr. F. W. Tremlett, D.D., D.C.L., Ph.D. Rev. Canon Tristram, M.A., D.D., LL.D., Very Rev. Dean Wace, D.D. (Trustee). F.R.S. Rev. Chancellor J. J. Lias, M.A. Rev. G. F. Whidborne, M.A., F.G.S., F.R.G.S. Capt. E. W. Creak, C.B., R.N., F.R.S. Lieut.-Gen. Sir H. L. Geary, K.C.B., R.A. Rev. Canon R. B. Girdlestone, M.A. Walter Kidd, Esq., M.D., F.Z.S. General Halliday. Edward Stanley M. Perowne, Esq. Rev. John Tuckwell, M.R.A.S. Martin Luther Rouse, Esq., B.L Lieut.-Colonel Mackinlay, late R.A. Rey. R. Ashington Bullen, M.A., F.G.S. Colonel T. Holbein Hendley, C.1.E. 5. Deaths. The Council regret to have to record the death during the past year of the following supporters of the Institute :— Colonel W. M. C. Acton, Major-General H. Aylmer, W. A. Browne, Esq., LL.D., Rev. Henry Brass, M.A., Right Rev. J. W. Bardsley, D.D., Bishop of Carlisle, Sir Mark W. Collet, D.L., F. H. Crozier, Esq., Colonel P. D. Marett, R.A., Captain A. Seton, R.A., The Ven. Archdeacon A. Stock, B.D., Julian Sturgis, Esq., Rev. M. T. Spencer, M.A., Rev. F. A. Walker, D.D., F.L.S., for many years a valued member of the Council, Rev. H. M. Webb-Peploe, M.A., The Right Hon. Lord Wynford, William Miller, Esq., Dr. Thomas Chaplin, member of the Council. The Gunning Prize—The Council are now able to announce the terms on which the award of the prize, arising from the interest of the sum of £500 left by His Excellency the late Dr. Gunning to the Institute. This prize, of the value of £40, is open for competition to all persons who shall have become members or associates within three months from the present date and whose subscriptions are not in arrear. It is to take the form of an essay, the subject for this year being, “The bearing of recent Oriental Discoveries on Old Testament History.” A paper containing information regarding the rules and needful directions for the competition will be sent out immediately. The date for the reception of the competing essays 1s the 15th October next. The limit of the essay is fixed at about thirty pages of the type and size of the Journal. 6. MEETINGS. The subjects dealt with at the ordinary meetings during the past: session may be arranged under the following heads :— A, ANNUAL MEETING, i BiBTickn:, 1. “The Growth of the Kingdom of God.” By Rev. J. Braprorp Wuitine, M.A. 2. “The Resurrection of Christ.” Address by Rev. Canon GIRDLESTONE, M.A. 3. “ Biblical Astronomy.” By Lieut.-Colonel Grorek Mackinuay. 4, “ Minerals and Metals of the Old Testament.” By CavaLiERE W. JeERviIs, F.G.S. 2, PHILOSOPHY. 1. “The Right Way in Psychology.” By Rev. F. Storrs Turner, B.A bo . “The Influence of Physiological Discovery on Thought.” By Epwarp P. Frost, D.L. 3. PHYSICAL. 1. “Geological Exterminations.” By CHARLES B. Warrine, M.A. 2, “The Nebular and Planetesimal Theories of the Earth’s — By Warren Uruay, M.A., F.G.S. 4, HISTORICAL. 1. “The History of Rajputana.” By Colonel T. H. HeEnp.ey, C.T.E. 2. “Confucianism.” By Rev. ArrHuR ELwIn. 3. “The Messiah of Qadian.” By Rev. H. G. Griswoutp, M.A. 7. The Journal of Transactions. The thirty-sixth volume of the Journal of Transactions has been circulated in many lands. The Council may be allowed to repeat, for the information of recent members, what has already been: stated—that from time to time expressions of approval and gratitude are received from members living abroad, while many of the learned societies at home and’ abroad exchange pubheations with the Institute. We have also several public libraries who subscribe for the Volumes. Of persons’ connected with our Society, about 74 belong to the United States of America, 40 to India, 14 to Australia, 12 to Canada, and about the same number to New Zealand and South Africa, and 1 (Public Library) to Bermuda; and a few others to France, Germany, Italy and Sweden. The Secretary will be glad to receive subjects for papers suitable for reading before the meetings of the Institute, and suggested names of competent writers. or ANNUAL MEETING. 8. Conclusion. While humbly desiring the continued blessing of Almighty God, and the support of its members, the Council wishes to express its thanks to the contributors of papers which are being offered in increasing numbers, and to press upon its friends the duty of doing what in them lies to increase the membership and extend the usefulness of the Institute. 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Dr. IRvrNnG, in moving the resolution, “ That the Report be received, and the thanks of the Members and Associates be presented to the Council, Officers and Auditors for their efficient conduct of the business of the Institute during the past year,” said—I do not know that the report calls for any special remarks, except it be regretted that the number of Members and Associates has not increased this year so much as we could have wished. A year or two ago I was called upon to speak in this room on a similar subject and I expressed the hope that the falling off of clerical members was only temporary; and I would venture to express the hope still that we shall have an increase in the near future, and that the Society will have an increase of clerical members ; for my studies, which try to stride the double horse of science and theology, have led me to feel very strongly that it is mainly in the ranks of the clergy that the work of this Society is likely to bear good fruit. Only within the last two or three weeks the readers of the Guardian newspaper have probably noticed that my unworthy name has appeared. In one case I had a severe eastigation administered to me by a brilliant writer on the theological side, who has made himself to some extent acquainted with science, because of the audacity on my part in venturing to put in a postscript to a letter—an important letter bearing upon New Testament Exegesis—uttering a warning to those who had not been serious students of science against dealing too freely in scientific phraseology, because I hold that the cause of truth is not advanced in that way. The castigation I received at the first moment seemed too funny, but of course the answer was very easy, and I have answered Canon MacColl. Several years ago I took an opportunity of writing to Dr. Creighton, Bishop of London, a very strong letter on the great im- portance of the clergy being trained so as to be in sympathy with the forward movement and thought of this twentieth century, and he entirely agreed with me; but declared there was no energy to spare for great intellectual issues for a man in his position. I venture to say it would be a good thing if all influential members would try and induce more clergy into our ranks. They have the ear of the public in a privileged way, and it is painful to find preachers beginning to talk about science and dealing with scientific things when they are out of their depth. b 8 ANNUAL MEETING. I move that this report read by the Secretary be received, and the thanks of the Members and Associates be presented to the Council, the Honorary Officers and Auditors for their efficient conduct of the business of the Institute during the year. I need not add more than this, my strong appreciation of the way in which Professor Hull discharges his duties with great enthusiasm. Mr. WoopForD PILKINGTON, M.Inst.C.E.—Mr. President, ladies and gentlemen: It affords me great pleasure this afternoon in having been asked to second the adoption of this report. I have attended with very great pleasure the reading of several papers mentioned in this report, and I think that this Institute holds a most distinguished and exceptional place in the Institutes of like character, inasmuch as it takes up morals and ethics, and devotes itself also to that very necessary work that a former speaker has alluded to, the connection between science and religion, showing the absolute truth of what is revealed to us in connection with science in the Bible. I do not know of any other Institute that devotes itself in a like way to that broad subject with so much success as this does. I am certain that this Institute on that account alone has come to stay and increase its members. It is not within the province of a seconder to take up much time in seconding the proposal, and therefore this afternoon I simply conclude with what I have already stated, and second the adoption of this report and the thanks of the members which are included in the motion. The resolution having been put from the chair and carried, Colonel HENDLEY replied.—On behalf of my colleagues I thank you for the kind way in which you have received this resolution. We feel that the work devolves most upon the Secretary, but you can show your gratitude by increasing the number of members, by recommending the Society to your friends. The CHAIRMAN.—I have great pleasure in asking Professor Silvanus Thompson, D.Sc., F.R.S., to give us the address which he has prepared. | THE ANNUAL ADDRESS. RECONSTRUCTION AND RESTATEMENT. By Dr. Sirvanus P. THompson, F.R.S. OWEVER inadequate may be some of the arguments employed by advocates of the school of philosophy styling itself Monism, there is undoubtedly a bottom truth underlying the idea that life is in its widest sense one. Nature is not infinitely divorced from art; matter is not separable from form; thought is not mdefinitely remote from energy ; nor is the gulf between religion and science incapable of being bridged over. Faith and reason are not mutually incompatible, however different may seem at first sight the provinces in which each appears supreme. For neither is the human being constructed with intellectual bulkheads which prevent intercommunication between the faculties, nor is man’s nature so delimited off from the nature of other kinds of organic life as to preclude the direct interaction of forces whether physical or psychic. Man is in fact to an extent more largely understood in recent times than of yore, a product of his environment. Jeligion is a part of that environment, and has had no small share in moulding man to that which morally, socially, and intellectually he is to-day. He has been slowly learning the laws of the physical part of his environment ; he is also, but more slowly, learning those of the spiritual part. If of late he has been beginning to understand that the physical part of his environment, the world of things and forces, is not so exclusively dominant as his teachers of thirty years ago would have had him think; and if he has become more willing to admit the existence of moral and spiritual things as a complement to the physical cosmos, he has also had his eyes opened to see that in the world of moral and spiritual forces there is a call for the play of his trained reason. The widening of outlook on the physical side finds its counter- part on the moral and religious side. The development which has brought about the reconstitution of science involves in fact a restatement of religion. Man cannot remain stationary in a state of arrested development amidst the play of forces by which he is surrounded. Evolution takes its course whether he is conscious of it or not; its operations are not dependent, save to a very secondary degree, upon his will or his consciousness. The child B 2 10 Dk. SILVANUS P. THOMPSON, F.R.S., ON grows, and his growth is effected by food, clmate, air and light, independently of his consciousness or will. The development of his mind and of his moral nature for good or ill is very largely determined by his surroundings. What is true of the individual is true also of the race; and its development physical, ' intellectnal, moral and religious, is, whether acknowledged or not, unquestionably dependent upon environ- ment. It is impossible that it should be otherwise. The very condition of lite is changed. Decay and death are processes inseparable in the order of nature from the possibility of life. And this is true also of intellectual and religious hfe. No advance in thought is possible without involving some change, some abandonment of earlier, less advanced thought. Jn ethics as in morals, men advance as “on stepping stones from their dead selves.” In religious thought no progress is possible, save by the renunciation of some earher beliefs, once held sacred in the childhood of the race. Not that eternal truth changes, but man’s appreciation or perception of it does. Newer revelations supersede old ones, or furnish proof that part of that which, in the childhood of the race, had been taken for revelation was rather revelation misinterpreted by human minds; treasure in earthen vessels; wisdom but half understood, and admixed with human imagination. The problems of one age differ from those of another: the temptations of one age may differ from those of another. It may be easy to mistake, amid different surroundings, the precise import of words uttered to men of a former time; for words theinselves change their meanings and connote different ideas to men of different generations. If for no other reason than this, it 1s needful from time to time that there should be restatements of the things held to be true; for if the statement persists when the meanings of its terms have changed, the statement ceases to be entirely true even though the truth it is supposed to state remains unchanged. All this may be admitted, nay, must be admitted, by the reverent and intelligent seeker after truth. And the greater his reverence for truth, the more freely will he make the admission. The fact is that here, in the twentieth century, we do not stand precisely in the same position as our fathers stood in the nineteenth, or our forefathers in the centuries before. The steam- engine and the printing-press, the telegraph and the dynamo, the telescope and the microscope, the camera and the spectro- scope, have wrought revolutions not only in the material aspect of town and country but in the thoughts of men concerning the material world in which they live. During the last sixty years RECONSTRUCTION AND RESTATEMENT. 11 or so in particular, men’s minds have widened. The outlook in the physical, the biological, and the historical sciences subtends a vastly greater angle than heretofore; while the means of observation have multiplied, the instruments of research are far more powerful and more numerous, and the storehouse of accumulated facts awaiting co-ordination is overwhelmingly full. We have learned both how great the universe is and how small ; what a microcosm after all is the solar system, what a macro- cosm the structure of the atom. We are able to discuss the chemistry of the stars. We can with our own eyes behold the skeleton within a living man, and see his heart beating—can even watch the progress of digestion i in certain cases. We have learned how to preserve in permanency accurate automatic pictures of men and of events, and can register and even reproduce the tones of their actual speech. We have seen the air we breathe condensed into a liquid and frozen into a solid. We have been taught how to manufacture light out of electrical discharges. The synthesis by the chemist of organic substances proceeds in an ever-widening circle of triumphs. To-day we can manufacture by synthesis sugar and indigo; to-morrow 1t may be albumen or cellulose ; : protoplasm itself, “though it may be far off, is not beyond the possibilities of which the chemist dreams. The mechanical theory of the universe, due to Kepler, and Newton, and Laplace, has been extended by the discovery of the principles of energy, and the formulation of them in the laws of thermodynamics. The sciences of optics and electricity have become one, being parts of the science of the ether. The discovery of the radio-activity of certain elements and minerals, with their singular emanations, has revealed a new and sur- prising field of research. The recognition of the electron has given a new basis to chemical hypothesis; and Dalton’s atomic theory, which won its way by its general correspondence with observed facts, is being swallowed up in a chemistry still more fundamental. If the vast complexity and beauty of the universe as it was known to our fathers could excite their wonder and imagination, how much more must ours be excited by the immense and marvellous development that has been opened in our time. But it is not alone in the physical sciences that such develop- ments have come about. Biology has made advances almost equally great. The physical bases of life have been explored as never before. Diseases which formerly baffled the skill of the most experienced physician have been discovered to be due to specific micro-organisms; and we have learned how 12 DR. SILVANUS P. THOMPSON, F.R.S., ON to combat them by antiseptic and aseptic treatment. For a whole class of organic poisons known as toxins, antitoxins have been found, and the processes of manufacture of them by cultivation have been worked out. The immense part played in all organic life by ferments has been discovered and partially explored., Biology has been found amenable to statistical mathematical treatment; even the laws of heredity are becoming clear. There has also been a remarkable advance in the study of psychic phenomena, and psychology has found new generalisations from which fresh advances may be expected. The methods of science have penetrated into the work of scholars and historians. Antiquarian research has taken new lines. Scholarship is daily becoming more constructively critical and less pedantic. The study of ethnology has thrown a flood of light upon many puzzling points of ancient lore. Such a work as Frazer’s Golden Bough, antithetical as much of it seems to the religious mind, cannot fail to produce an immense and clarifying etfect upon the study of the ancient religions of the world. It is useless to denounce such sincere and profound investigations because we do not like the conclusions to which they lead. If the facts are those which have been gleaned, there are men of intelligence who can draw their own conclusions from them, and can confute the author if he is wrong; but the facts remain. One thing the author of that book has made abundantly clear, that in every primitive religion of mankind there is an admixture of folk-lore and myth interwoven almost inextricably with glimpses of the truth. No one can read it without being profoundly impressed with the weight of evidence which it adduces; and none who sincerely hold the religion of Christ can leave it without the conviction that not even the purest of religions has in the historic past escaped from the inevitable consequences of its human environment ; nor can he rise from the perusal of the treatise without the earnest prayer that the spiritual teachings of Christ may be purged from such accretions of human origin. For, the restatement of religious truth in terms adapted to the present age has indeed become a pressing necessity of our time. ‘Alike from the leaders of the various Christian churches and from those outside the borders of any church, we hear the complaint that to an increasing degree Christianity is ceasing to serve the needs of our age. The preachers and teachers complain of the empty state of churches and chapels, and denounce the indifference of the people: while the columns of the socialist newspapers (such as the Clarion) declare roundly RECONSTRUCTION AND RESTATEMENT. 13 that Christianity is played out. But the people will be in- different if those who profess to be leaders of Christian thought are blind to the changes that are going on all around them, and address the men of the twentieth century in terms of the sixteenth or of the sixth; and the socialist writers would be quite justified in declaring that Christianity was played out, if Christianity meant no more than they can see in it—a mass of external observances and ceremonials tied up with formal beliefs in a number of metaphysical propositions which to them are unintelligible. But no one who earnestly desires to see a reconciliation between science and religion, no one who really believes in the Oneness of God’s Universe, no one who sincerely regards the religion of Jesus Christ as intended—divinely intended—for the regeneration of mankind, can for a moment admit that Christianity consists (either wholly or essentially) in either the ceremonials which are observed within its churches and chapels, or in the metaphysical propositions embalmed in its orthodox creeds. Common honesty at least will compel them to acknowledge that the primitive Christian church existed for at least a century or more before any of the three Creeds was formulated; that infant baptism is never once mentioned in the Christian Bible; and that the celebration of the Eucharist, whether in Saint Peter’s or Saint Paul’s, is a totally different affair from the simple evening meal which Christ shared with His disciples, No more need be said here on this point. There are amongst sincere and devoted Christians some to whom these later developments of sacramental Christianity are entirely helpful, precious, and sacred; there are others equally sincere and devout who regard them as wholly non-essential, or even as hindrances to the spiritual life. But none of them would say that there is nothing in Christianity except ceremonies and ereeds. Behind ceremonies and creeds there hes something that if all these were wiped out would remain—the revelation of God to man in the soul, and the revelation of God to man in the face of Jesus Christ. One who after many years of thought has deliberately decided to leave aside as futile and unedifying all metaphysical disputes as to the particular way in which the divine and the human were combined in the person of Jesus Christ, and who therefore abstains con- scientiously from either Trinitarian or Unitarian views, may be permitted to place on record an acknowledgment how in that reservation of belef, that deliberate suspense of judgment, that deliverance from _ partisanship, he has found an 14. DR. SILVANUS P. THOMPSON, F.R.S., ON }) >) immense spiritual gain and an enlargement and deepening oi faith. Man is possessed of a religious faculty, of a something which manifests itself to him in his conscience, something which brings to him the elemental perceptions of mercy, justice, love ; something which not only enables him to distinguish more or less clearly between right and wrong, but which influences him towards a choice of conduct. Whether it be regarded as a single faculty or as consisting of several, we must treat the fact of its existence as beyond dispute. It brings to man a consciousness of something which, though invisible, intangible, immaterial, is greater than ‘himself ; something which he did not make and of which he cannot rid himself : ae) “spiritual environ- ment which, though in one aspect it seems to be independent off him, in another seems to be within himself. It is in the recog- nition of this elementary fact in buman consciousness that religious thought begins. The possession of this consciousness is not confined to any one race or tribe of men, nor to any one age. It is a common property of the human race, however various the systems of religion which have grown up upon it. Doubtless it is more highly developed in some individuals and. in some races than in others. But being thus shared amongst the human family it becomes an objective fact, a matter of evidence, not to be ignored or ruled out as a product of imagination. But beside being thus shared by the race, it is in a peculiar sense the property of the individual. Whatever he may learn of the workings of the religious faculty in others, his knowledge of it at first hand, as it lives within himself, is to him a much more real and vital matter. Whatever may be the evidence from without, the conviction from within is, at least in most cases, far more cogent. The instinct of religion is them innate, as natural as the instinct of hunger, or of self- preservation, or of sex. The existence of this instinct: constitutes a domain of human experience, concerning which the facts may be collected and co-ordinated, and their laws. discovered. ‘To investigate facts and co- ordinate them, and to- deduce conclusions 1s, “however, the work of another faculty,. that of reason. Hence in the discovery of religious truth both faculties are essential. But because one faculty has the function of perceiving, and the other of co-ordinating or testing that which is perceived, there is no possibility of denying to each its. work. In this connection we may recall an aphorism propounded by Victor Hugo: “Il y a aussi une philosophie qui nie Vinfini. I] y a aussi une philosophie qui nie le soleil. Cette RECONSTRUCTION AND RESTATEMENT. 1 philosophie s’appelle cécité.” Because these perceptions are arrived at, or communicated, through a faculty that is not the reason, we must, therefore, neither on the one hand deny their reality, nor on the other refuse to apply our reason so that we may understand them. None of our faculties—that of sight,. for example—would be of real use to us, did we not use our intellects to comprehend the perceptions afforded by the faculty that receives them. The intellectual testing of religious: perceptions is therefore a prime duty. But what is it to which this religious faculty impels the seeker after truth? He finds himself, in common with all Christians, Brahmins, Buddhists, Moslems and Jews, impelled toward an ideal of perfect being, of a Most High. He finds himself im the presence of a conviction that He is: he experiences an indestructible impulse to worship that which he feels to be Best. He may have gone further, as many of us have done, and may have found that in none of these religions he can discover a higher ideal of righteousness than in the Bible of the Jews, and in none a more sublime example of human devotion than in the records of the life of Jesus Christ, whom, whether human or superhuman, as His followers hold Him to be, he feels to represent the supreme development of human character, a presentation of the divine possibilities. in man, nay, even a revelation in human form of the Divine. Alike in obedience to the religious instinct within hin, and. in wondering admiration of the perfect life, how ean he, having travelled thus far in the spiritual pilgrimage, but ° attempt at Jeast to become a follower of Christ? Nay, if he be a real truth-seeker, one who has no other aim than to find. and follow truth, there is for him no alternative; follower of Christ he must strive to be; nay, by that very striving a follower of Christ, at however great a distance, he has already become. To such a one, whose religion is thus an inner conviction, not founded on any external authority, no intellectual proofs of Christianity are needed: none can replace the personal revela- tion that is his own. Arguments founded on “analogies” and “evidences” are largely wasted on him. He needs no miracle- mongering to convinee him. Nay, he will hold to his faith in Christ in spite of all the miracles that a credulous and non- scientific age heaped up around the historical narratives of His birth and life and death. Not even the wildest of them—and the orthodox Church rejected many more than it retaimed—will shake his faith. He knows that exactly the same kind of sacred: 16 DR. SILVANUS P. THOMPSON, F.R.S., ON legend has grown up amongst every primitive people around any hero of commanding personality. To such a one the pious legends woven about the Christ will appear just as natural, just as right in their place, and just as unnecessary of belief now, as any of those narrated of Moses, or Buddha, or Plato. In a primitive people the ascription of such legends was one way of expressing sincere adoration, a plous act quite irrespective of the historic facts. There isa frame of mind which regards the adoring legend, because it 1s adoring, as of vastly greater moment than the historic truth, because it is true. Those who have never inquired into this wonderfully interesting branch of human history, or who have never even attempted to comprehend that frame of mind, cannot under- stand how the reverent seeker after truth in these days can frankly admit that some of the things supposed by our forefathers to be a vital part of religion are myth, and yet not lose his reverence towards those earlier ones whose pious hearts wove, repeated, believed, and were even edified and spiritually strengthened by believing those legends. To each age its own conception of the divine stands to serve its own purpose. And the age which finds it better to hold simple unvarnished truth than to weave pious fancies, must not harshly condemn the age which thought it greater honour to God to weave these pious fancies than even to ask what the facts were. It will not do for the twentieth century to rise up in judgement against the second century, nor for the Western mind to rivet condemnation upon the Eastern, because the Eastern mind of the second century took different views of life and truth from these the Western of the twentieth century takes. To the uninstructed of all ages that which is abnormal has always presented itself as something sacred. To the oriental mind, untutored in science, the abnormal still always presents something calling forth an instinct of reverential worship. Of very recent growth, even in the better educated of westerns, is the idea of the reign of law. We forget too often that in this respect a whole chasm lies between the England of Edward VI. and the England of Edward VII. Only those who either fail to understand or else despise the reign of law and all that the phrase connotes, can continue to suppose that the truth of any doctrine can be established by the occurrence of some abnormal phenomenon. So convinced are all the clearest thinkers on this point, so scrupulous in their regard for ascertained truths, that they will rightly demand for any abnormal occurrence a testimony of evidence much more strict and RECONSTRUCTION AND RESTATEMENT. 17 precise than that which is required for an occurrence of normal kind. Only those who misunderstand the reign of law or ignore it can hold an abnormal event to be more sacred than a normal one. On the other hand: those who have attained to this scientific clearness of vision, and who can see as a simple and obvious truth that in abnormality there is nothing of itself that is sacred, that the normal is just as sacred as the abnormal, must not, because it is obvious to them, despise or condemn those who in the pre-scientifie ages did attribute some sort of sacredness to abnormality. There are still those, and possibly they are still a majority amongst professed Christians, who would think it derogatory to the person whom they worship as wholly God as well as wholly man, to be a man in the fashion of His birth as well as in the fashion of His death. Let us honour them for their sincerity of heart and for their reverential souls even when we deem their sincerity and their reverence to be founded in this respect on no adequate basis. If we find ourselves in the cause of what we consider truth unable to share all their beliefs, let it be ours to see that we neither plume ourselves on any superiority of discernment, nor fall behind them in the devotion with which inwardly and outwardly we follow the Master. Our minds are not all constituted alike; it is impossible for us all to see truth in the same aspect. But we can all follow truth as it is discoverable by us, and we can all pray for a clearer revelation of it. ‘To our own Master we stand or fall. There are idols of the temple as well as the idols of the cave, and of the tribe, and of the market-place. It has been largely the part of scientific investigation to show us how well-meaning piety has not always held a clear distinction between idol and emblem, between the symbol and the thing symbolized; and “Nehushtan” has had to be the verdict pronounced, and still will have to be pronounced, over some of the survivals before which men, thinking to worship God, have offered incense, and bowed themselves down. It is for this cause that as our convictions deepen and strengthen we must be the more ready to preserve open minds towards the convictions of others, to hold judgment in reverential suspense even toward some things which large bodies of devout men have regarded—perhaps ‘for centuries— as closed questions. Revelation has not stood still, nor will it in our time. We stand not on the limited territory 18 DR. SILVANUS P. THOMPSON, F.R.S., ON where our forefathers stood: we have a larger heritage, we look out upon a larger landscape, there are before us greater heights to be chmbed. Why should we feel anything but hope and courage in the larger vision? We are no longer children, and must look to outgrowing many of the thoughts and even of the beliefs which were accepted as final in the childhood of the race. | It is well known that one of the first-fruits of the invention ot the telescope was the discovery of the spots on the sun. History records that the discovery was denounced as impious ; and the doctrine that there are sunspots was banned as heretical. It 1s narrated, and the narrative is of significance to-day, how an ecclesiastic being invited to examine for himself and to see whether there were not spots on the sun, refused even to put his eye to the telescope for fear that he should see the spots which the astronomers asserted to be there, and so discredit should be brought on the reputation of Saint Thomas Aquinas. | That same spirit which first denounces the results of investigation, and then refuses even to look whether they exist, is by no means extinct, as the recent correspondence on Faith and Reason in the columns of the Standard has shown. To fear that which one does not understand may be natural; but to refuse to try to understand is a defect of character worse than cowardice. Those who pin their religious faith to an outward authority have had many shocks of late, and may need more for their soul’s health. The spirit of inquiry cannot be stemmed by an appeal to the fourth century or tothe sixth. If men ask us to accept as final the decisions of the Couneil of Nicea, we are bound to inquire whether that body had before it all materials needful for a final judgment, whether history has. shown its composition to be representative and unbiased, its. deliberations to be conducted in the scientific spinit of calm inquiry, its decisions to be taken without heat or partisanship. Nay, even if in all these respects it lad been perfect—and alas ! in some of them it was a miserable failure—the question would still remain why any thinking person in the twentieth century should be bound by the thoughts of the fourth. The fact 1s we are not bound by the decisions of the Council of Nicea. It has closed no question which we are not at liberty to reopen. Except to those who are in bondage to ecclesiastical systems, there are no closed questions that a reverent mind may not beneficially reconsider. We have as much right to reconsider the problems of religion in the light of our own age and of its RECONSTRUCTION AND RESTATEMENT, 19 special revelations, as the men of any former age by the light of theirs. There is an open door betore us, which no man, and no body of men, alive or dead, can shut. We cannot be denied the right to look through the telescope lest we should see spots on the sun. When, forty years ago, Bishop Colenso drew general attention to that which devout scholars had already several times observed, the “ stratification ” now so evident in the books of the Pentateuch, he was hounded out of the communion of the Orthodox. Even now there are pious souls who refuse to read his scholarly works—lest they should see spots on the sun! We are to a lesser extent witnessing a lke attitude assumed toward those who in our day are pointing to the undeniable evidences of stratification in the composition of our Gospels. It is not a question of science but one of scholarship. Scholarship is now in possession of the records of ancient Babylon and ancient Egypt, which antedate our Bibles and which were not known until recently. Already these have been sufficiently deciphered to throw much heht upon the stratifica- tion previously observed, and have vindicated the earlier perceptions of the scholars. All the more reason have we, who can from a lower plane appreciate the labours and conscientious care of a scholarship that is itself far beyond us, to keep that open mind which the study of science continually reminds us to be essential in all true progress. Depth of faith for some of us is measured not by the quantity of pious beliefs which we can accept, but by the simplicity of those which we find needful for guidance and conduct. A man’s religious life consisteth not in the abundance of the beliefs which he professes. Credulity is not faith. Even in spiritual things there is a sacred renuuciation of the self, which enables one to lay aside many hindering things that are but old garments inherited from our forefathers. When we observe the greatest source of hindrance to all united work for the spiritual betterment of mankind, to have been those endless theological controversies which have embittered and estranged the earnest and the devout, and have been ever followed by persecution and spiritual cruelty, shall we not at least declare that in the name of the Master whose we are and whom we serve, we will have nothing to do with them or with the un-Christ-like spirit that characterises them. We need to have faith enough to believe that suspense of judgment is often a more sacred duty than acceptance of any particular dogma. For our age one of the greatest blessings that could befal us would be to possess that reverential open mind which 20 DR. SILVANUS P. THOMPSON, F.R.S., ON rises above all bigotries, scientific as well as religious. For while we need knowledge and insight, just as much do we need reverence : reverence for the truth because it 1s true, wherever we find it. If in the sole pursuit of truth we find ourselves called upon as a sacred duty to renounce some things hallowed by usage and pious association, that renunciation must be itself no hasty act, no passing impulse, no wilful breaking away. It must be under the supreme conviction that it 1s required of our hands. Return to the simple faith long overlaid by tradition and sacramentalism may not be easy, but it may be none the less a duty laid upon us. The renunciation with which for most of us the restatement of religion necessarily begins, must be a renunciation not for renunciation’s sake, not born of spiritual pride, no truckling to popular pressure, no weak compromise for the sake of intellectual peace. It must be a renunciation made in obedience solely to the dictates of truth, a renunciation ad majorem Dei gloriam. DISCUSSION. Dr. WALTER Kipp.—I have been asked to move a vote of thanks to Professor Silvanus Thompson, thanking him for his kindness in coming this afternoon and putting before us this valuable address ; we recognise the value of the source from which it comes, from one who is well known for his Christian character. You will see how valuable it is for us to have,this address presented to us from such a source. We have all been brought into a high plane of thought, into spiritual regions, and into regions of high science, and we have heard an address which is marked by extreme clearness of thought and loyalty to truth on both sides; and I could only wish that our President had been able to be present to the end of this address, that he might have expressed the value of evidence as it has been presented to us ;—it is a question of evidence, all through, and the task remaining for us is simply to interpret the evidence. We shall all be set thinking on these lines and be prepared to learn much more. We may be startled to find we have to learn so much. Years ago we thought we knew a great deal more than we do now, RECONSTRUCTION AND RESTATEMENT. 21 but we must be stall learning—religion and science are progressing and we must be prepared to learn more and more. Let us show we are of open mind and desire to recognise the truth. Lieutenant-General Sir HENRY GEARY, K.C.B.—It gives me great pleasure to be allowed to second this vote of thanks to Professor Silvanus Thompson. Iam sure we have all listened to it with the greatest possible interest, and I think it has been a great opportunity for us to have heard the subject handled this afternoon by so high an authority. It would be quite premature to attempt to make any remarks upon the paper, because when it comes to be printed it will require most of us to take it home for careful study ; but I think an additional reason for our thanking Professor Thompson for coming amongst us is the particular era at which this paper has been read. Even the most careless cannot be blind and deaf to the unsettled state of the minds of people at the present moment. It is a time when every thinking man and woman has to go to the foundation of the faith in which they have been brought up and examine it by the light of modern study, and I think in a few words we can sum up the Professor’s teaching, and that is, that perhaps the greatest crime a man can commit in the twentieth century is to close his mind to any influx of light. Mr. Martin L. Rouse, B.L.—As one deputed to ask Professor Silvanus Thompson to come to lecture before us, and who has heard him most delightfully hold forth to large audiences of the British Association an exposition of electric power, I should like to concur in the vote of thanks that is now being given; but I would say i am most firmly convinced that the evidence that we have of the truth of the holy word of God, the Bibie, as it stands, is over- whelming. I would also like to call attention to this fact, that this very age is foretold by the Bible in more than one way. One way is that when Daniel was about to close up _ his prophecy the angel said to him: ‘“‘Shut up the words and seal the book, even to the time of the end ; many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.” There, in that very book we have embodied this most distinct prophecy of the character of the age just before the winding up of God’s purposes and the setting up of Christ’s visible kingdom upon the earth. The CHAIRMAN.—The Resolution which has been moved, seconded and now spoken to, is that we present our best thanks to 22 DR. SILVANUS P. THOMPSON, I.R.S8., ON Professor Silvanus Thompson for the address now delivered, and our thanks to those who have read papers during the session. Of course, an old man of eighty-three, I stand here as one of the children having yet not got beyond childhood, and am still wrapped ap in some of the old arguments of the early, first, second and third century beliefs. But our resolution is by no means that we are prepared to accept all that Professor Thompson has put before us, but that we still owe our thanks to him for his address. Rev. JOHN TucKWELL, M.R.A.S.—Mr. Chairman, I rise to propose that our very best thanks be given to the Lord Chancellor for kindly promising to come, and remaining with us as long as he could, and to General Halliday for having so kindly and promptly taken the seat which the Lord Chancellor would otherwise have occupied. Perhaps I may be allowed to say a word or two concerning the basis of this Society, and if I refer to what has been said this afternoon I hope it may not be out of place. The Society professes to maintain an open mind, both in the direction of science and in the direction of religion ; and I hope it is the endeavour of all to do so. We, I trust, recognise that no religion can be accepted by us as true which is not strictly in accordance with reason ; in the same way as we regard no fact of science as being acceptable to the human understanding which is not in accordance with reason. But I may be permitted to say that there is a mistake somewhere. What is science but the systemisation of the facts of nature as known to man? I think: that is a correct definition. Taking that as correct there is, of course, ample ground for recognising changes and advances which science may make; but I think it ought to be recognised that the changes and advances are simply in human knowledge. Facts of science do not, and cannot, change until the Almighty Creator shall see fit to introduce some new fact. We know that electricity existed centuries ago before it was | discovered. There have been no changes in the facts; what has changed has been the knowledge of man concerning them. On the other hand, what is religion? or what is theology? but a systemisation of the facts concerning the relationship between God and man. These facts are the same to-day as they were thousands of years ago; and there has been no change in the relationship between God and man. Theology has made progress in the same way as science has made progress; and progress in theology can RECONSTRUCTION AND RESTATEMENT. a3 only be a modification of man’s knowledge concerning the facts, until the Almighty Creator shall see fit to introduce some new fact, or modify existing facts concerning the relationship between man and Himself. We can know very little concerning this relationship beyond that which He sees fit to make known to us. “Man by searching cannot find out God.” Whence are we to look for the revelation of the mind of God on these matters? There is no other source whence we can obtain any information except the Scriptures. I know of none other. I know of no truth that has ever been advanced for the acceptance of man of a general character which cannot be found in the Scriptures. If that be so, then I think it becomes us to search our Bibles, and it may be that in the search for truth there, we shall be able to correct any mistakes into which we may have fallen. May I be permitted to say concerning archeology that whilst modern criticism has spoken of the different “strata” in the Old Testament Scriptures, and has suggested that something of the same kind may be found in the New Testament, I do not know of a single fact which has been revealed to us by archeological knowledge which supports the modern theories concerning these “strata”; so far as I understand the question, it is purely hypothetical. Rev. CHANCELLOR LiAs, M.A.—lI have been asked to second the Resolution of thanks to General Halliday and those who have taken part in the present meeting, and I am sorry that I do not oftener appear here. It is nearly thirty years since I read a paper, but I have been a member of the Council almost consecutively since then ; and so as the question has been raised by Mr. Tuckwell about the basis of the society to which one belongs, perhaps one has a little right to speak for it. I most cordially concur with Professor Thompson that we are bound to keep an open mind. It is a most wicked thing to “close one’s eyes to the telescope,” but I must ask whether sometimes one is not asked to see something that is not there? About modern science there is one thing I notice, that it deals largely on assumptions. Let us make sure that we shall see the thing, and do not let us assert that it is there, and then call upon people to see it, when the very reverse is the fact. I think I caught something from Professor Thompson about holding the truth because it is the truth. Everyone I hope wishes to do that. What is the truth? Is the truth contained in the C 24, RECONSTRUCTION AND RESTATEMENT. Revelation of God which is handed down, or is it contained in what are said to be the ultimate conclusions of science in the twentieth century? I remember people talking about the nineteenth century, and in a very high-minded way a curate uttered a philippic against this so-called nineteenth century. Well, this is the twentieth, and then there will be the twenty- first, and the twenty-second, and the twenty-third century, which may negative some of the things which are held at the present time.. I should like to correct a mistake which some people fall into about the Fathers of the Council of Nica. It is supposed that the Nicene Fathers took upon themselves to say, “this is the faith which men ought to believe because we say so.” They did nothing of the kind. When Constantine brought ecclesiastical authorities from all parts of the Christian world, he said :—Here isa question to be settled. Will you kindly tell us, you who have come from France, from the East, from Egypt, can you tell us what are the doctrines of Christianity you have believed in your various localities? Then they all decided that it had been handed down that Christ was ‘‘of one substance with the Father.” The answer shows the opinion of Fathers of the Council which has been handed down from time immemorial; and therefore let us understand that the Fathers were not commissioned to dictate to us what we ought to believe. I think we ought to thrash everything out, and I hope the subject of the address may be discussed at a future meeting of the Society, when all will have an opportunity of expressing their opinions upon it. The meeting closed with a vote of thanks to the Chairman. ORDINARY MEETING.* Pror. Lionent S. BEALE, F.R.C.P., F.R.S., In THE Crate. The Minutes of the previous Meeting were read and confirmed. The following candidates were put forward by the Council for election :— Lire Memper :—Rev. Dr. Cushing, President of the Baptist College, Rangoon. Mempers :—Professor William Galloway, F.G.S. ; Alexander Finn, Esq., H.B.M. Consul, Chicago. AssociATEs :—Sir Thomas Wardle, F.G.S.; J. Heald Jenkins, Esq. ; Rev. W. H. Frazer, D.D.; Rev. Alexander Irving, D.Sc. The following paper was read by the Author :— HE hiGa “WW AVo aN, PSY CHOLOG Y..., By Rey. 3. Storrs TurRNER, B.A. 1. Definitions—What is psychology ? Different answers are civen. To Hume it meant the “science of Man,” “of human nature itself.” Some living psychologists think that the subject- matter of the science is “the phenomena of mind” (Sully) ; “the phenomena of consciousness” (Baldwin) ; “ mental process” (Stout); “ psychical events ” (Bosanquet). These definitions are equivalent, or nearly so. They suggest funda- mental questions—such as, a phenomenon of what and to whom ? is mind identical with consciousness? is there any known being called mind? Wundt considers that the whole of experience, that is, according to his notion of experience, all being of every kind, is the province of psychology—although zmmediate experience is 1ts special subject-matter. Kiilpe takes psychology to be “ the adequate description of those properties of the data of experience which are dependent upon experiencing individuals.” Herbert Spencer’s definition stands apart. His psychology studies “ the connexion between two connexions”—these being “the connexion between the internal phenomena and the connexion between the external phenomena.” In another place we find it described * Monday, December 5th, 1904. 26 REV. F. STORRS TURNER, B.A., ON as “an inquiry concerning the nature of the human mind, and an inquiry concerning the nature of human knowledge.” 2. Our definition. In this essay, psychology is to have only one meaning. Verbally, it is Hume’s—with the exception that. instead of “science” I prefer the word “study.” Practically Hume’s psychology is a study of the human mind. In this essay, not mind but man is the subject-matter: man the embodied mind, or the ensouled body—in popular speech, man as body and soul. We are to consider the whole real man, the living unity, as we know him in experience. We desire to understand owrse/ves— not only each one of us himself; but each one: himself and his fellow-men. It is essential for the subsequent discussion, that this definition shall be held fast in its integrity. d. The inqgury proposed. Although their definitions vary, I assume that psychologists all have before their minds the same or similar given facts, which they try to understand. We have not time to review the history of psychology and to describe existing psychologies. I propose to begin an independent inquiry. Can we discover by examination of the given facts, indications of the methods which psychology ought to take? If we succeed, the right way will be known: or, at least a right way. Whether there can be more than one right way, may be a subsequent inquiry. 4. The first step. The fact that there are different definitions. obliges the psychologist to begin by explaining and defending his own definition. Physical science is not troubled in this way. The astronomer, the chemist, the geologist, and the rest all take their given facts as they find them, and being unanimous, vo to work without any preamble. Why cannot we set to work as easily and confidently as they ? Because the propriety of our definition may be challenged. This compels us to justify it, before we proceed. To do this we must consider given facts generally, what they are, and how they come to us; and then, whether the given facts of psychology are found among them. 5. The meaning of “the given.” Why do we speak of some things as given facts? We mean that the given things, some- times called “immediate psychical facts,’ are present to our consciousness, before the exercise of our thinking powers upon them. It is somewhat difficult to draw the lne sharply between the before and after ; for in the first perception of any- thing, or any event, the mind has its part. Still there are cases in which this part seems to ke passive rather than active, THE RIGHT WAY IN PSYCHOLOGY. DF When the mind receives, the things are given to it. Such reception, by repetition, becomes recognition—a kind of know- ledge ; but for the most part we do not wnderstand things until after we have thought about them. Our thinking, except in eases where it leads to some physical action upon the thing: or some mental action, if the thing is a mind; does not alter the thing. Nevertheless the thing is different to ws because now we understand it; that is, we attribute to it characters of which we were not at first aware ; and in some cases, characters which never come within the range of direct perception. For example, the sun, moon, and five planets are visible in the sky: they are given facts; also their motions are visible facts. But the solar system is not a given fact: it is au inferred fact, which cannot be seen by human eyes. In this case the dis- tinction is evident. In innumerable cases it is not so. The given fact aud our subsequent understanding of it become welded in a concept; and we come to imagine that we perceive what in reality we do not perceive, but conceive. No practical harm would ensue, if our understanding were always correct. But we make mistakes. Once there was to human thinking no solar system but a geocentric system. The case stands thus: human knowledge is a product of given facts and human reason- ing. Experience has taught us that our reasoning is liable to err; whereas we have no ground for suspecting the given facts to be capable of error. Consequently, it is of fundamental importance that we should know what facts are given. 6. First view. Things ir General—We perceive innumerable things as different, and yet among them are like things. This as a practical certainty, and it seems to be also a logical certainty. For if there were no differences, if all things were exactly alike, there would be nothing to think about; and if there were no likenesses, the infinite multiplicity of unlike things would baffle all attempts to think. But I will not insist upon the logical necessity. It is enough that in our plain common sense appre- hension of things, they are given to us as many, and diverse, and some of them alike. Taken together, these things are to us the given reality, which we have to understand as best we can. This given reality is the source and the basis of all our under- standing; the standard and criterion of reality and truth. Whatsoever cannot be traced back to this is without sure guarantee, it may be mere fiction. Whatsoever is undoubtedly included within or can be certainly deduced from this, is 4ruth. 7. Second view. Ourselves and our environment.—Having got 28 REV. F. STORRS TURNER, B.A., ON a firm grip of the original datum, we proceed to examine this more closely. As it appears to us at first sight, it is a vast and indefinite multitude, in which, by degrees, classes of like things are discerned. But on attentive consideration the multitude is seen to consist of a duality, owrselves and our environment. Tnasmuch as this fact is the justification of our definition, it behoves us to consider it with the closest attention. In the first place it is obvious and self-evident that we ourselves as a class of animals are a part of things in general. We are visible and tangible things, to ourselves, and to each other. We are like one another, and we are different from other animals. We indubitably are a kind of beings, forming one small fraction of the innumerable whole. On this ground alone, our right to select ourselves as the subject-matter of a special study could not reasonably be disputed. But the case is much stronger than this. We are not given merely as a single kind on a level with countless other kinds; the whole given fact comes to us, as a whole or multiplicity consisting of ourselves and other things: a natural division is given in and along with the original datum. For the being given is only one-half of the fact, the being receved is the other half. Without the receiving there could be no giving. We are not only visible and tangible things; we are also conscious, intelligent observers of tnings; we are able to receive the data; and so far as we know, we are the only ereatures in this globe on which we live who are able thus to receive the given. Consequently, the distinction is recognized. as fundamental in philosophy, under the name of subject and object; but unfortunately there is much confusion of thought covered by this phrase; so that we had better keep to plain language ; ow7selves, on the one hand, and everything else, on the other. It is important to note that what is given is a plurality of selves; or perhaps it is still better to describe the datum as. 2 triad rather than a duality; the self, other selves, and the environment.. I may mention here that Der menschliche Welt- begriff by Avenarius is an important contribution to the study of the original datum. 9. Objections—In metaphysics the dual or trinal character of the given has been and is disputed. Solipsism, the assertion that T alone am the whole real given fact, and that besides me there: is nothing else, is not worth notice. The opinion that the environments are as distinct as the individuals 1s more specious ;, but I think the question really is this—-is our certainty that we all live in the same world immediately given or is 1¢ an inference? We must not discuss this pomt. I make no THE RIGHT WAY IN PSYCHOLOGY. 29 pretence to a complete criticism of the original datum; my purpose is accomplished if I have shown that some attention must be paid to it, in order that our psychology may start securely. But I may just point out that the philosopher, equally with the physicist and the psychologist, is powerless without some given fact or facts. He cannot reason upon nothing. And his first premiss must precede his reasoning; he cannot create it by reasoning. It he does not really believe and hold as certain truth, the threefold reality, the individual self, other selves, and the common environment, he must find some other standing ground. How can he even try to find this, without relying upon the threefold reality? It seems to me that he is stale-mated, he cannot move. Meantime, I think that we may truthfully say, that our given reality receives universal assent—the assent expressed in more than words—the assent of all human activity in every direction; not in ordinary life only, but in the more exact and systematic work of the sciences; and even in meta- physics also, for the philosopher, however he may speculate, really builds upon the three certitudes just like the rest of us. 10. Guiding rules.—We come out of our preliminary reflection with clear right to take ourselves as the given facts of our psychology. And I think we have gained something more than this. We seem now to be able to lay down two rules for our procedure—(1) Our study must keep close to the given facts; and (2) we must take the facts as they are giver ; we must not remove them from their context. These rules seem to shut us up to one method. The first forbids us to substitute anything else in the place of ourselves, as the subject-matter of psychology. The second forbids us to separate the self from its environment. In other words, we have to renounce, or to subordinate, the processes of abstraction, dissection, or analysis ; and to study the real living self in his actual life in connection with his fellows and in connection with the external world. It will not be a breach of these rules, if we attend to some part or aspect of the self at one time, and another part at another time: but it will be violation of the rules if we attend to them us having an independent existence. The parts or aspects whatever they may be—sensations, presentations, ideas, emotions, faculties—exist only in the self’; apart from it they are nothing real, nothing intelligible. 11. The concept of the Self—Bearing these rules in mind, we ask—what is the Self? 30 REV. Fs: STORES (TURNER, BAL, ON our study would be unnecessary. But we have some knowledge of the self: he is acomplex being, a wnity containing diversities : he is a developing being: not fixed, but changing. What we must seek for, is not a perfect definition, which is unattainable ; but a conception which shall be certainly true so far as it goes, and which shall express not one or another of the self’s diverse qualities ; but his unity, and his diversities as included in the unity. Moreover, in accordance with the rule that the self must not be abstracted from, but studied in, the environment, our conception must include his relation to other selves, and to what we call the external world. Consideration of this relation eives the clue we are seeking. Things and people hurt or benefit us according to our position and behaviour in reference to them. It is our interest to avoid the injury and to secure the benefit. This brings to light one of the deepest and most important characteristics of human nature—self-interest. We are to some extent able to re-act against the environment so as to make it our servant, and to thwart it when it appears to be our enemy. In relation to sentient beings and especially to other selves, we have to do with beings who also have thew interests. In such cases, our self-interest 1s not displaced, but supplemented by a larger interest, which we call duty. Duty brings with it responsibility: we call ourselves, and our fellow-men call us, to account for the neglect of duty. These three relations, self-interest, duty, and responsibility, affect all our dealings with the environment, and at the same time employ all the various capacities and powers of human nature. The sensations and all bodily functions are included in this eonception of the self as a being who has interests; and likewise all mental emot:ons and powers—especially the intelligence and the will. I think we may express the concept thus—the human self is a being who takes an intelligent interest in his own welfare, and also in his duties, and responsibilities, because he can choose his own ends, and devise means for their attainment. “This description does not pretend to be a periect definition, but I submit that it is in accordance with the given facts. Our psychology would have to verify it in detail; but it is hardly rash to assume that experience has already verified it. 12. Tcleology—This concept of the self serves as a guide to further study. When once we have clearly apprehended that we are in a measure in charge of our own being, that we help to make or mar our own happiness, that beyond this, we either help to mend or to corrupt society, and have therefore duties nd responsibilities towards others—we want to understand the THE RIGHT WAY IN PSYCHOLOGY. ol self in order that we may achieve our ends and fulfil our duties. For this purpose, what kind of knowledge is most urgently needed? Plainly, the first need is to know what are the right ends, that we may choose these; and inasmuch as ends are often conflicting, we need to know the order of their importance, and whether there is one supreme end which can curb the lower alesires, and bring each of our various purposes into its right relation to the rest. I would eall this branch of psychology, human teleology. This is usually omitted from psychologies, L suppose, because it is dealt with by ethics and rehgion. I eannot think that the omission is justifiable. It is like the tragedy of Hamlet, with Hamlet cut out. Moreover, ethics and religion would gain by being put in their rightful place. At present, many people regard these as optional subjects, inferior in value and in certainty to physical science. When human teleology is recognised as an indispensable part of the scientific study of human nature, these errors will be dispelled. 13. Hpistemology.—After the study of ends the study of means, and the first of these is knowledge. Indeed, so universally necessary and of such fundamental importance is this means, that to some epistemology has been the first task of psychology, if not its only task. Locke and Hume are instances of this. So great is human interest in knowledge that, although this interest is at first, and even at all times, chiefly for the sake of other things, knowledge becomes also an end in itself, pursued for its own sake. And from this the next step is to give the primacy to knowledge, exalting it to the highest rank in dignity and in power. It cannot then be questioned that in any serious attempt to understand ourselves we must undertake the usually neglected task of trying to ascertain the nature and value of that thinking which we call Anowing or believing. 14. Three Grades of Thinking.—After epistemology what should be the next chapter in our study? At. this point | stop— «leclining the attempt to forecast any further step. The purpose with which we set out was to discover, if possible, the right way in psychology. If we are satisfied that we have succeeded it is enough. Actually to work out the psychology would be a ereat enterprise; and only in its execution could we ascertain how far it will lead us. That we should achieve a perfect understanding of ourselves is beyond reasonable expectation. The study of the human self is evidently an immense under- taking. Already we have seen that it includes teleology and epistemology, ethics and religion; and to these, history, law, 32 REY. F. STORRS TURNER, B.A., ON language, political economy, anthropology, might be added. Human physiology too cannot be left out. Indeed, half or more than half of the whole range of human thought falls under our definition, leaving another area, inferior in interest and importance, for the group of sciences which may be called physics. Plainly some limits would have to be self-imposed in a psychology written on our plan; and what these would be it is not easy to anticipate. This view of the situation exposes us to an apparently formidable objection. “ Your scheme,’ it may be said, ‘“ breaks down under its own weight. The magnitude of its scale makes it impracticable. A way that no one can follow cannot be the right way.” Iam not insensible to the force of this objection. The argument of this paper requires to be supported by the production of a psychology on the lines it indicates, in order to produce full conviction. But I think that the objection is not so formidable as it looks. Before our psychology has been worked out very far, the objection may disappear, and if not before, the epistemology, I think, would dispelit. One consider- ation from that source may be mentioned. It has often been pointed out that our thinking and our knowledge are not all on one plane, but are on different levels, in successive stages —the common-sense or pre-scientific stage ; then “science” which raises this to a higher level; and after this, the reflective or philosophical stage. Between the second and third levels there is a great difference. “Science” takes much for granted. Philosophy refuses to pass anything uncriticised, delves down to the foundations, takes into account all the facts, and all the facts together as a whole and a unity; and, lastly, seeks and will be satisfied with nothing less than truth and certainty. Psychology seems to me to belong to the third and highest level ; and therefore, to be compelled to start from the given certainties and to seek for a fuller comprehension of what is given. Its result and reward may be, not the acquisition of new information ; but the clearer apprehension and firmer grasp of truth already ° within our reach but dimly and confusedly conceived. 15. Body and soul.—lIt our psychology were completed only so far as to the end of the first two or three sections, sub- divisions would come to light. We should have, in considering human interests, to distinguish between bodily and mental wants ; in studying knowledge, the bodily organs of sense would have to be considered. I think that we can foresee the advan- tage which our method will have in studying these topics. Its essential character will forbid the abstraction of any part or > THE RIGHT WAY IN PSYCHOLOGY. 35 aspect of the self from the whole self taken in connection with its environment. It will not fall into the error of mistaking what only exists as a part of, or a mode of a given reality, for an element or phenomenon having a real existence by itself; and the consequent error of imagining the whole as consisting of a number or succession of such parts. Body and soul, for example, belong to the original datum, but as a duality in a given unity. The self is one being, not two beings; and this one being is not a body, neither is it a soul or spirit. A body without a soul is not a human self, but a corpse. A soul without a body is not a human self—but a ghost; and ghosts are not given facts. The given fact is the human self, one being consisting of soul and body, a duality in a unity. (To avoid possible misconception, perinit me to point out that the cessation or annihilation of the self when the body dies is no¢ given fact. The self may continue to exist, and to exist as a unity, and as a duality in unity after the dissolution of the earthly body. Whether it does continue or not is also not given fact; it lies beyond the range of immediate experience.) To return to the really given fact—this is the self as a unity, containing diversi- ties called parts, powers, modes, faculties, or by other names. To study these diversities is our proper business, but it is not our business to explain how there can be such diversities in the unity. There is nothing unnatural and nothing irrational in this existence of diversities within unity. All reality, so far as we can see, is of this nature. Everywhere we find examples. The body is a unity, but in it the eyes are different from the ears; the heart and the blood are different from the brain and the nerves; there is nothing puzzling in this, nothing which detracts from the unity of the body. If we encountered eyes alone, floating in the air, not belonging to a body, but perfectly detached; nevertheless, true living eyes, able to see, that would be a puzzle. Similarly, the mind, soul, or spirit is a unity of successive times and successive experiences, of receptivity and activity, of endless diversities, in one living unity. The union of body and soul in one living self is not an exceptional fact, but in harmony with the whole universe. No ditficulty, no perplexity is felt, until we make the inistake of regarding the body as a real thing by itself, and the soul as another real thing by itself. The puzzle then is to explain how the two diverse entities ever got united; and_ how, being united, they can act and react upon each other. But it is not within our power to take ourselves to pieces ; therefore we are not required to put ourselves together 34 REY. F.. STORRS .TURNER, B:A., ON again. When our psychology comes to consider body and soul, it will not be troubled in any way. On the contrary it will find this union of body and soul in one self quite conegruous with the union of ourselves and the environments in one werld. Its work will be to notice how perfectly this unity of body and soui fits into the unity of the universe. Destitute of a body, what could a human soul do or know in this world? How could it be aware of its environment ? Without bodies, how could individual souls communicate their thoughts to each other? The given facts hold together and support each other, together constituting a system in ‘which each member is essential to the whole. 16. Free will_Again, our psychology will be untroubled by that insoluble problem—the relation of free will to determinism. The facts of volition, duty, and responsibility are solid certainties of the self—they are not imaginations or inferences, but immediate realities. It is as impossible to doubt these facts as it is impossible to doubt the facts of gravitation in mhysies. Determinism is a theory belonging to another region of thought—the attempt of the human intellect to comprehend the universe as a whole. We may feel the fascination which this theory has for the religious belief that God governs all, and for the philosophical imagination of a universe absolutely ruled by law and causation, but we need not be disquieted. No theory can undermine the certainty of given facts; while on the other hand it is easy to recognise the inability of the human mind to know everything. 17. Conelusion——Whether there are two or more right ways in psychology is a question which must be postponed. An immense amount of useful work has been done by psychologists who have begun by analysis of consciousness, and have endeavoured to explain the self as a compound of simple elements, somewhat after the manner of physical science. Unhappily, in some cases, the result has been a doubt whether there is any self. Miinsterberg i in his Psychology and Infe, and more ‘ully, an shis SGe unudziiye der Psychologie, has made an attack upon these “objective” psychologies, no reply to which, so far as I know, has appeared. I mention this to show that I am not alone in feeling that a new departure in psychology is necessary. Meantime I would fain hope that the arguments of this essay, now submitted to your judgments, will convince some of you that the method I have advocated is worth trying. It has the merit of keeping close to practical life. It does not orornise to explain what the self zs ; but it recognises that the self THE RIGHT WAY IN PSYCHOLOGY. Oy is becoming, is in process of evolution. This too is an immediate certainty. The self is becoming good or bad, wise or foolish, happy or miserable. Why do we want to understand ourselves ? Surely that we may become good, wise, happy. The kind otf knowledge most necessary for us is regulative knowledge—and., perhaps, for us, no other kind is possible. DISCUSSION, The thanks of the meeting were voted to the author of the paper, and a discussion followed. Dr. SCHOFIELD considered that the author by his suggestion puts us on a very high intellectual platform. He thought that the radical defect of the present psychology was its tendency to limit mind to consciousness. It was this narrow concept which limits: “the psychological mind” to less than half its real extent, that called forth Prof. James’ scathing description of its present condition. He says that it is a study of raw facts; a wrangle about opinions, but has not a single law; that it is in the condition of physics betore Galileo, or chemistry before Lavoisier. Colonel ALVES said: It is well-known that as regards the moral character that the exercises of the soul very speedily make a great reformation in character. That is unlike mental or physical talents.. For instance, a person without talents for music or painting would never make much progress. I do not know what the practical result of a paper like this is. What is the result? It seems to me that what we know in practical psychology is that we must first begin at both ends. There is only one thing that will reach deepest needs. It is well- known and it is a new birth. There is no doubt many people live in very good stable houses that last their time, though the founda- tion is only on the sand, but once the superstructure has been ruined nothing can be rebuilt except on the solid foundation of the new birth. There is a necessity for building on that foundation, and those who work with our Christian teachers have very speedily agreed as to how the same physical element can be developed and trained when we are on a solid foundation. It is not much use 36 REV. F. STORRS TURNER, B.A., ON endeavouring to build up a superstructure on old foundations which have given way. Rev. JOHN TUCKWELL, M.R.A.S.—If psychology is what this paper seems to indicate, it appears to me that it comprehends all philosophy, all metaphysics, all science, the whole universe, the human self and its environment. If this be so, then there is no such thing as psychology, and we have simply to drop the word and go on with our study of the other branches of science as we do now. But there is a limitation generally understood within the wider subject of metaphysics that comes under the title of psycho- logy. As I understand it, the term psychology is intended more especially to refer to the human soul or spirit in its own personal consciousness and in its experiences as known and taught by that consciousness. There are some sentences in the paper which need correction, and others which I think the writer could hardly have meant at all. The author says, “the mind, soul, or spirit is a unity of successive times.” What can a unity of successive times mean? ‘There is an entity which is conscious of successive times, but the times are not a portion of that entity. Then he adds, “and successive experiences.” But still that entity is not a series of successive experiences, but something that passes through successive experiences. Nor is it a unity “of receptivity and activity” and ‘of endless diversities.” Receptivity and activity may be contemplated by themselves in an abstract way, but psychology is supposed to deal with the conscious substance which displays these phenomena. He tells us also, that ‘no difficulty, no perplexity, is felt until we make the mistake of regarding the body as a real thing by itself, and the soul as another real thing by itself.” But surely if there is a body it is a real thing, and by and by it will be a real thing by itself, and when that soul will have left, it is a real thing and will also be a real thing by itself. What is that real thing? It is the business of psychology to tell us some- thing about it, and something about its moral relations to its fellow souls around it, and to that Divine Creator under whose laws it has been made and whose laws it must obey. a THE RIGHT WAY IN TSYCHOLOGY. Be COMMUNICATIONS. From Professor STACKPOOL KE. O’DELL :— I read with interest “The Right Way in: Psychology,” by the Rev. F. Storrs Turner, B.A. I am thankful to the author for such enlightenment as his paper gives, especially for his definition—- “Study,” as preferable to science. We know so little about the soul or spirit, except in relation to mind, that probably ‘mental philosophy ” might well take the place of “ psychology.” All our knowledge of psychology is strictly confined to mental manifestations. But this knowledge is extensive. The history of nations, science, religion and art, with all that has ever been made or manufactured, is the result of the unseen powers we call mind. From ancient pyramids or temples to modern London we see the manifestations of the spirit or mind of man. This is what psychologists should study. Mental manifestations, for the pur- pose of developing them in the formation of character, in the maintenance of mental health, in the alleviation or curing of the insane, in the education of children, in the government of nations, and the general well-being of all peoples morally, mentally and socially. If in some measure psychology does not lead to such desirable ends, it is not justified in its existence as either a science or study. At the same time I would like to state that my know- ledge of psychology or mental philosophy, leads me to the belief that it is capable of all I here mention and more, much more. Remarks by D. BIDDLE, Esq., M.R.C.S.E. :— I trust I may be allowed to supplement the discussion on Mr. Storrs Turner’s interesting paper, by expressing the pleasure I feel in finding that views, which I have held in almost the same form for forty years, have been independently arrived at by so skilled a logician as Mr. Turner. My “ Post-mortem Examination, or What is the Condition of the Disembodied Human Spirit ?” (Williams and Norgate), was published in 1867, and was followed in two years by ‘The Spirit Controversy,” an expansion of the former. In these I tried to show that memory, an essential factor of thought, belonged entirely to the body, upon which the human spirit was dependent for the reception of all impressions, internal 38 REV. F. STORRS TURNER, B.A., ON as well as external, the chief function of the spirit being Feeling (more or less complex and of various kinds) and Will; the one receptive, the other re-active. Hence the importance of the Christian doctrine of ‘the redemption of the body,” and comfort also to those who fear ghosts. Remarks by Professor H. LANGHORNE ORCHARD :— There is much in this thoughtful and ingenious paper with which IT have the satisfaction of agreeing. Especially valuable seem to me the author’s observations upon free will and the regulative character of our knowledge. I cannot, however, assent to his definition of psychology as the study of man (page 26). Psychology is the study of soul; the study of man concerns itself with anthropology. Nothing is gained by using terms in a sense different from their accepted meaning. I also wish to point out that the author speaks of “that thinking which we call knowing or believing.” Does this mean that (a) there is no third form of thinking (¢.g., doubting) ; or that (b) knowing or believing are one particular form of thinking, and both are one and the same thing? The correlation of the sciences is an important truth, which, to my mind, is obscured by calling every- thing psychology that is not physics. And does not the study of man necessarily connect itself with that study of physics from which it is proposed to separate it? The theory that the self consists of a human soul and a human body in union may appear to have some historical support in Leibnitz’s supposition that a person consists of soul and body together. But, if the theory be sound, the self of to-day is not the self of yesterday, for one of the constituent parts, viz., the body, has changed. Further, if the self is constituted by a human soul in union with a human body, it certainly follows that when this union is dissolved at death, the self is dissolved also, and ceases to exist. Remarks by Mr. Martin Rouse :— The mind is a unity in a different sense from what the body is; or what the body and mind in combination are. For, firstly, there are portions of our body that we are continually rubbing off or cutting off; but whoever heard of one’s taking off a piece from one’s mind (although figuratively we may speak of “giving a man a yiece of one’s mind”); and, secondly, the THE RIGHT WAY IN PSYCHOLOGY. 39 body can be stretched so as to touch at one moment two points that it would otherwise not extend to—for example, by spreading apart one’s two arms or two legs; but the mind cannot thus be stretched, since it is impossible by any efforts to think of two objects at the same instant—they must be thought of by turns. Also the mind can work quite independently of the body, dispensing with the bodily organs through which it usually works altogether. Children who were born blind learn to weave baskets and bird-cages, preserving the shapes round and true, which it is impossible they should do without having images of them in their minds ; while men who have become blind (like the poet Milton) can conjure up with the keenest vividness images of all the scenes and incidents that their eyes have witnessed, representing them anew upon the mirror or illumined screen of memory and even reflecting fresh forms upon the kaleidoscope of the imagination. Again, before children are able to speak, they certainly think, as can be proved by many instances ; and conversely, when men have ceased to be able to speak upon their dying beds, their signs prove that they think still, while an instance is on record of a Christian man writing a dying exhortation after speech had thus left him.* Aud lastly, whereas they who are dumb through having been born deat can actually be taught to speak with lips and tongue; some who have become stone-deaf through old age (like the late Sir Arthur Cotton) have shown themselves to possess memories as clear and intellects as vivacious as the ablest of their contemporaries, who have every organ of sense perfect. Now, if the absence of each of these faculties separately leaves the mind intact, the absence of any two or all three of them must equally leave it so ;—an inference confirmed by the recent case of a girl born both deaf, dumb and blind, and yet rising to scholarly attainments through the unwearied patience of her teachers. And it is further evident that if the absence of bodily sight, speech, and hearing does not cause the mind to lose any of its soundness or wholeness, the superadded absence of the inferior faculties of smell, taste, and touch cannot possibly make it less sound or whole. The mind is therefore a unity independent of the body. * Mr. Edward Read of Tasmania, father-in-law of Dr. Harry Guinness. D 40 THE RIGHT WAY IN PSYCHOLOGY. REPLY OF THE AUTHOR. I meant no offence to science, and do not understand how my sentence can have been so misinterpreted. Science is not meta- physical ; and glories in its abstinence from metaphysics. To question (7) I answer that doubting is a kind of thinking ; so is inquiry, etc. I cannot answer ()) in a sentence, the questions require at least a whole paper to themselves. In Knowledge, Belief and Certitude, published by Sonnenschein in 1900, the results of years of thought and research are contained; and there, too, will be found a full statement of my view of science. Limits of space forbid my discussing other criticisms. I cannot, however, refrain from expressing my dissent from Professor Orchard’s arguments against the union of soul and body. The soul also changes, and far more than the body. In some cases, it is “born again,” it becomes ‘“‘a new creature.” Change is not incompatible with identity. That the dissolution of the body involves the annihilation of the soul is an argument which rests upon the assumption that the visible and tangible body is real ; and the soul only a dependent phenomenon. We do not know the ultimate nature of matter, nor the ultimate nature of spirit. An argument which is based on ignorance is worthless. The soul is the life of the body ; it is more than that, but it is that. If the body is disintegrated why should not the life continue, and acquire anew body? St. Paul says “it is sown a natural (psychical) body ; it is raised a spiritual body.” Death is an event of which we have no experience. When we have passed through it, and look back upon it, we shall know something about it. I do not pretend that our present conjectures as to what is possible are proofs of resurrection and immortality; I am only contending that the | alleged argument from the dissolution of the body is not valid. I thank my critics for their kind compliments, and for their criticisms, which shall receive careful consideration. ORDINARY GENERAL MEETING.* Rev, JOHN TUCKWELL, M.R.A.S., IN THE CHAIR. The Minutes of the previous Meeting were read and confirmed. The following candidate was put forward for election by the Council :— ASSocIATE :—Rev. C. V. Fraser, Holy Trinity Rectory, Jamaica. The following paper was then read by the Author :— CONFUCIANISM. By the Rev. ARTHUR. ELwin, “ Long” Lecturer on the Religions of China.t+ , FYNO-DAY our subject is Confucianism, which is one of what are generally called the Three Religions of China, that is, the three religions which have been handed down from ancient times, viz.:—Confucianism, Taouism, and Chinese Buddhism. Of course, in the short time we have at our disposal, it will be impossible to go fully into this interesting subject; but we must try first of all to give a short account of Confucius and his doings, and then very briefly examine his writings and his teaching. Before we pass on, however, we cannot but notice that Confucius was born in the sixth century B.c., which was certainly one of the most remarkable centuries in the world’s history. In China, in this century lived Laou-tse, the founder of Taouism; and in India, Gautama, the founder of Buddhism. * Monday, January 2nd, 1905. + The author is indebted to the writers mentioned below for infor- mation contained in the following paper, viz.: Berry, Davis, Doolittle, Douglas, Du Bose, Dyer, Ball, Elkins, Eitel, Grant, Henry, Huc, Legge, Martin, Medhurst, Moule, Smith, Tisdall, Williams, and, last but not least, Mrs. Howard Taylor. D2 42 REV. ARTHUR ELWIN, ON CONFUCIANISM. Had we lived in the sixth century, leaving the east and travelling westward, we should have met with many illustrious persons. We might have lstened to the wise discourses of the philosophers, Thales, Anaximander, and Pythagoras; or we might have sat under the newly made laws of Solon and Pisistratus ; or we might have heard Sappho, Alcaeus, or Anacreon repeat their verses. We might have watched the building of the first great Temple to Diana of the Ephesians. We might have followed the onward march of the conquering armies of Nebuchadnezzar or Darius, or been present when the messengers arrived, announcing that the Persian armies had been victorious in Egypt. Had we lived in that sixth century B.C., we might have mourned with Jeremiah in Jerusalem, or listened to the words of Ezekiel, by the banks of the river Chebar. We might have accompanied the Jews into their captivity in far-distant Babylon, or, later on, stood with them when they read the proclamation of Cyrus permitting them to return to their own land. We might have travelled with the rejoicing multitudes when they returned to Jerusalem, and have been present at the Feast of Dedication, which was kept when the building of the Temple was completed. We might dave followed the career of Daniel, or lstened to grand prophecies from the lips of Haggai or Zachariah. Truly it may be said that the sixth century B.c., was one of the most notable in the history of the world. Confucius was born in the year 551 B.c., at a place called Loo in Shang-tung in North China. The name Confucius, I may remark, is the latinised form of Kong Fu-tse, Kong being the family name, and Fu-tse meaning teacher or master. Of his parents we know but little. His father was a military otticer, celebrated for his bravery and strength. He married the second time when he was seventy years old, and in due time the little Confucius was born. For three years only was the aged parent’s heart gladdened by the presence of his little son, when he died, leaving his family in poverty. Confucius ' was brought up by his mother, who early sent him to school, where he soon distinguished himself by his application and industry. Many years after, in a well-known passage, he speaks as follows with reference to his growth in knowledge: « At fifteen my mind was bent on learning, at thirty I stood firm, at forty I had no doubts, at fifty I knew the decrees of heaven, at sixty my ear was an obedient organ for the reception of truth, at seventy I could follow what my heart desired, without transgressng what was right.” When REV. ARTHUR ELWIN, ON CONFUCIANISM. 43 nineteen years of age he married, but his married life was not happy. A son was born, but he soon after divorced his wife. “Of all people,” he remarked, “ women and servants are the most difficult to manage. If you are familiar with them, they become forward, and if you keep them at a distance, they become discontented.” Shortly after his marriage he was appointed Keeper of the Stores of Grain, and the following year he was promoted to be the Guardian of the public fields and lands, but this employment was not congenial, and he soon resigned his office. At the age of twenty-two we find Confucius devoting his time to the instruction of young men, and in this occupation he took great delight. It may be mentioned that with idle scholars he would have nothing to do. “I do not open the truth,” he said, “to one who is not eager after knowledge, nor do I help anyone who is not anxious to explain himself. When I have presented one corner of a subject, and the listener cannot from it learn the other three, I do not repeat my lesson.” At twenty-eight years of age we find him studying music and archery, and at thirty his fame had so increased, that very many youths of distinguished families gathered round him, that they might benefit by his teaching. lt was about this time that Confucius journeyed into the neighbouring state of Lo, that he might have an interview with Laou-tse, the founder of the Taouist Sect. Laou-tse was born about 604 B.c., and was therefore fifty years older than Confucius. Historians have handed down to us the conversa- tions that took place between these celebrated men. Confucius and Laou-tse could not agree. lLaou-tse proclaimed that retirement and selt-suppression were the highest attainable objects. Confucius taught that ceremonial observances and proper respect for the ancient rites were all-important. When Confucius spoke of the worthies, who had lived in ancient times, Laou-tse is said to have answered him: “The men of whom you speak have with their bones already mouldered into dust, and only their words remain! ... Put away, sir, your proud airs, and many desires, your formal manner and extravagant ideas; these are all unprofitable to you. This is all I have to say to you.” Confucius, being unaccustomed to be addressed in this way, retired discomfited. “I know how the birds fly,” he remarked, “how fishes can swim, and how beasts run. The runner, however, can be snared, the swimmer can be hooked, and the flyer can be shot with an arrow. But there is the dragon ; I cannot tell how he mounts on the wind AA, REV. ARTHUR ELWIN, ON CONFUCIANISM. through the clouds, and rises to heaven. To-day I have seen Laou-tse and can only compare him to the dragon.” They could not agree. After this interview, Confucius is said to have remarked, “At the sound of his voice my mouth gaped wide, my tongue protruded, and my soul was plunged in trouble.” | According to Mencius, who lived about B.c. 371, China was in a sad state in the time of Confucius, and it was high time that some one should try and remedy the evils. “The world,” he says, “had fallen into decay, and right principles had disappeared. Perverse discourses and oppressive deeds were waxen rife. Ministers murdered their rulers, and sons their fathers. Confucius was startled by what he saw, and under- took the work of reformation.” It was at Lo, during this visit, that Confucius saw, in the Ancestral Temple, a metal statue of a man, with a triple clasp on his mouth. On the back of the statue were inscribed these words: “The ancients were guarded in their speech, and like them we should avoid many words. Many words invite many defeats. Avoid also engaging in many businesses, for many businesses create many difficulties.” ‘Observe this, my children,” said Confucius, pointing to the inscription, “ these words are true, and commend themselves to our reason.” Upon returning to Loo, he resumed his former occupation. His fame increased until, the records tell us, he was surrounded by no less than three thousand disciples. But troubles arose, a rebellion broke out, and Confucius was obliged to take refuge in the neighbouring state of Tse. Tt was during this j journey that he saw a woman w eeping at a tomb, and having compassion on her, he sent one of his disciples to ask the cause of her grief. “You weep as if you had experienced sorrow upon sorrow,” said the disciple. “I have,” said the woman, “my father was killed here by a tiger, and my husband also, and now my son has met the same fate.” “Why then do you not move from the place?’ asked Confucius. “Because here is no oppressive government,” replied the woman. On hearing this answer, Confucius remarked to his disciples, “ My children, remember this, oppressive government is fiercer than a tiger.’ After a time he was able to leave Tse, and return to his native state of Loo, where he was made chief magistrate of the town of Chung-too. Here he had an opportunity of putting his principles into practice, and his government was so successful, that he was gradually promoted, until he became REV. ARTHUR ELWIN, ON CONFUCIANISM. 45 Minister of Crime, a position equivalent to that of Prime Minister. Confucius was now fifty years old. Historians tell us that his theories, when applied, vindicated themselves, and order reigned throughout the land. He became such a terror to evil-doers that crime disappeared, and order prevailed every- where. “A thing,” we are told, “dropped on the ground was not picked up, there was no fraudulent carving of vessels, coffins were made of the ordained thickness, graves were unmarked by mounds raised over them, and no two prices were charged in the markets.” Although wonderfully successful, there was still room for improvement. A father, it is said, brought a charge against his son in the expectation, probably, of gaining his case with ease before a judge, who laid such stress on the virtue of filial piety. To the surprise of all, Confucius cast both father and son into prison, saying: “Am I to punish for a breach of filial piety one who has never been taught to be filially minded? Is not he who neglects to teach his son his duties equally guilty with the son who fails in them ?” It is interesting to notice how the Chinese follow this teach- ing of Confucius, even to the present day. On one occasion I was walking down a street in Hangchow, when a young man standing at the door of a house called me names—foreign devil. Generally we paid no attention to this, the calling of bad names being so common, but as this was an aggravated case, I thought Lwould see what the boy’s parents “would say about it. I walked into the courtyard in front of the house. and said te two men I found there: “ Who called me names?” The answered, “ No one called you names here, sir.” I said, “ You know there was a young man who called me names; where is he?” Just then a man appeared from the interior of the house, dragging along the boy who had been impudent. He said, “ This is the boy, sir, and I will now beat him.” I said, “Wait aminute; are you the father of the boy?” He answered. “Yes.” I then turned to the people who had followed me and said, “ This man says his son has been calling me bad names, and he is going to beat him for it. Now I ask you, if the boy has been behaving badly, who ought to be punished, the son or the father ?” Those present at once said, the father ought to be beaten. I then turned to the father and said, “ You hear what your own people say! Good morning.” I have time only for one more ‘illustration. A friend of mine was sitting in his study at Ningpo one evening, when suddenly his servant ran in to tell him that some people were 46 REV. ARTHUR ELWIN, ON CONFUCIANISM. just going to drown a man in the canal near the house. My friend at once hastened out, and found a crowd of some hundreds of people gathered near the bridge, which spanned the canal, about two hundred yards from his door. He walked to the bridge to see what was being done. The canal was about twenty feet wide, and the bridge was built high in the centre in order that the boats might pass underneath it without difficulty. On the top of the bridge he found an old woman sitting in a chair, and at her feet lay a young man bound with ropes, so that he could not move. The old woman was the mother, the young man bound with ropes was her son, who, at her order, was about to be cast into the water and drowned. When my friend appeared, men were just arriving with heavy stones, which were to be fastened to the young man to make him sink. He was a bad son, and his mother was afraid he might commit some serious crime, in which case she would be sure to suffer, because the authorities would say that she had not brought him up well. As he would not listen to: her exhortations, she decided to have him drowned, and then the danger would be removed. My friend protested against the whole proceeding, but after long consultation the only way he could save the man’s life was by becoming surety for his good behaviour, really, by adopting him as his own son. The man was unbound, and my friend was allowed to lead him away; but he turned out to be thoroughly bad, and proved that it was not without reason his relatives had determined to drown him. My friend had an anxious time with him for about three years, at the end of which time the young man died. I heard of a similar case in Hangchow, but then there was no one to intercede, and the neighbours, by the order of the mother, actually dropped the son into the water and drowned him. It was when Confucius was at the height of his prosperity at Loo, that difficulties arose. He had assured his followers that not only would his methods reform sovereign and people, but that neighbouring states would be so attracted by the spectacle, | that they too would imitate the example set them. The result was just the opposite. The order and prosperity of Loo excited only the jealousy of the neighbouring states. The Duke of Tse said: “ With Confucius at the head of its government, Loo will become supreme among the states, and Tse, which is nearest to it, will be swallowed up. Let us propitiate it by a surrender of territory.” But after consultation with his ministers another course suggested itself. Highty beautiful eirls well skilled in music and dancing, and one hundred and REV. ARTHUR ELWIN, ON CONFUCIANISM. 47 twenty of the finest horses, were sent as a present to the Duke of Loo. The present was accepted. The girls were taken into the Duke’s harem, and the horses removed to the ducal stables. The Prime Minister and the government were neglected, and Confucius mourned that Duke Ting should prefer the songs of the maidens from Tse to the wise sayings of the sages of antiquity. As things did not improve, Confucius gave up his post and left the capital. Confucius was now fifty-six years old. For fourteen years he was an exile, wandering from state to state, offering his services, but no one would employ him. “Your principles,” said one of his disciples, “are excellent, but they are unaccept- able to the Empire; would it not be well to abate thema little.’ “A good husbandman,’ replied the sage, “can sow, but he cannot secure a harvest. An artizan may excel in handicraft, but he cannot provide a market for his goods. And in the same way, a superior man can cultiv ate his principles, but he cannot make them acceptable.” On one occasion, during his wanderings, he is said to have compared himself to a dog, driven from its home. He remarked, “I have the fidelity of a dog, and I am treated hke one! But what matters the ingratitude of men? They cannot hinder me from doing all the good that has been appointed me. If my principles are disregarded, I have the consolation of knowing in my breast that I have faithfully performed my duty.” Although Confucius was not in favour with the rulers, yet he had many admiring followers, who have carefully preserved many particulars of the ev ery- -day lite of their esteemed teacher. In his dress, we are told, he was careful to wear only the correct colours, viz.—blue, pink, white, and black; he carefully avoided red, as being the colour usually affected by women and girls. At the table he was moderate in his appetite, but particular as to the nature of his food, and the manner in which it was set before him. Nothing would induce him to touch any meat that was high, or rice that was musty, nor would he eat anything that was not properly cut up, or accompanied with the proper sauce. He allowed himself only a certain quantity of meat and rice, and though no such limit was fixed to the amount of wine which he drank, we are assured that he never allowed himself to be confused by it. Whatever the food was that was set before him, he always offered a little of it in sacrifice, with a grave, respectful air. When out driving, he never turned his head quite round, and in his actions as well as his words he avoided all appearance 48 REV. ARTHUR ELWIN, ON CONFUCIANISM. of haste. We are told that he always had ginger on the table, and when eating did not converse. When in bed, he did not lie like a corpse, and he required his sleeping dress to be half as long again as his body. But during his wanderings he often suffered much. He tells us, “ With coarse rice to eat, with water to drink, and my bended arm for my pillow, I still have joy in these things. Riches and honours acquired by unrighteousness are to me as a floating cloud.” Confucius was now growing old, and being weary of wander- ing from state to state, he had an earnest desire to return to his native place once more. History tells us that he retired to Loo in Shangtung, and spent his time in editing the Book of ffistory, studying the Look of Changes, and writing the Spring and Autumn Annals. Having a strong presentiment at one time that his end was drawing near, he is said to have burst into tears, exclaiming, “The course of my doctrine is run, and Lam unknown.” “How do you mean that you are unknown ?” asked one of his disciples. “I do not complain of Providence,” he answered, “nor find fault with men that learning is neglected, and success is worshipped. Heaven knows me. . never does a superior man pass away without leaving a name behind him. But my principles make no progress, and I, how shall I be known in future ages?” One morning in the Spring of 478 B.c., he tottered about the house sighing — “The great mountain must crumble ; The strong beam must break ; The wise man withers away like a plant.” “Tf the mountain crumble,” said one of his disciples, “to what shall I look up? If the strong beam break, and the wise man wither away, on whom shall I lean? The master, I fear, is going to be ill’ The master answered, “My time is come to die.” He went into the house, took to his bed, and on the seventh day he died. During his short illness, one of his disciples asked leave to pray for him, quoting from a book of prayers to the effect that prayer might be offered to the spirits vf heaven and earth, but Confucius would not permit it, saying, “My prayers were offered long ago.” And so, at the age of seventy-three, the great man passed away; and on the banks of the river Sze, to the north of the city of Loo, his disciples buried him, and for three years they mourned at his grave. One of the most faithful, who built a hut near his grave, and lived in it for six years, mourning as for a father, said, “ I have all my life had the heaven above my REV. ARTHUR ELWIN, ON CONFUCIANISM. AQ head, but I do not know its height, and the earth under my feet, but I do not know its thickness. In serving Confucius, I am like a thirsty man, who goes with his pitcher to the river and there drinks his fill, without knowing the river’s depth.” And so the Most Holy Ancient Teacher, as his disciples loved to call him, passed away unhonoured, and almost unknown. Little did the few followers, who mourned around his grave, realize that the one of whom they were taking leave, would in after ages number his followers by millions, and that his writings and sayings would be more attended to and obeyed, than perhaps the writings ef any man who has ever lived. But we must pass on now to consider his writings and teaching. “What Confucius teaches is true; what is contrary to his teaching is false; what he does not teach is unnecessary.” This was the creed of the Confucian scholar twenty-five centuries ago, and it is the creed of the Confucian scholar to-day. We may well ask, therefore, what did Confucius teach ¢ In the Confucian system everything centred in the family. The same virtues are required in the head of the family as in the ruler of the kingdom. The same respectful reverence should be paid by the children to the father, as is due from the subjects to the sovereign. “Heaven and earth existing,” says the Book of Changes, “all things exist; all things existing, then male and female exist; male and female existing, then the relation of husband and wife exists; from the existence of husband and wife, follows the relation of father and son; father and son existing, then prince and minister exist ; prince and minister existing, then upper and lower classes; upper and lower classes existing, decorum and propriety are interchanged.” “Let the household be rightly ordered, and the people of the state may be taught.” All the teaching of Confucius tended to exalt the man, he did not think much of the women. “A woman,” he said, “is subject to man and is unable to stand alone, and therefore, when young, depends on her father and brothers, when married, on her husband, and after his death, on her sons. She must not presume to follow her own judgment.” It is difficult for anyone, who has not lived in China, to realize the difference between the reception given to a son, and that given to a daughter. No one welcomes the advent of a little girl; there are no congratulations, no presents; friends 50 REV. ARTHUR ELWIN, ON CONFUCIANISM. and neighbours freely comment on the misfortune that has come upon the family. And too often the father, by means of a pail of water, or in some other way, will suddenly bring to a close the life of the little baby daughter, who, unwelcomed, has so lately entered his household. In a large country district to the south of the city of Hangchow, the people said that the baby’s soul came with its teeth. A soulless baby, dying without teeth, was wrapped in a piece of matting, and left anywhere on the hills, generally being eaten by the dogs, but if the httle.one had cut even one tooth, the soul was supposed to be there, and a little box was therefore provided for the burial. A short poem written about 825 B.c., that is about the time of the prophet Jonah, well expresses the feeling in China to-day, as it did the feeling in the country nearly 2,800 years ago. The poem consists of two verses only, one referring to the boys, the other to the girls. “ And it shall be, whenever sous are born, These shall be laid on beds to sleep and rest ; In loose long robes they also shall be dressed, And sceptres shall be given them for their toys, And when they cry what music in the noise ! These yet shall don the scarlet aprons grand, And be the kings and princes of the land. And it shall be, when daughters shall be born, These shall be laid to sleep upon the ground ; In coarsest bands their bodies shall be bound, And tiles shall be their playthings. Twill belong To these to meddle not with right or wrong, To mind alone the household drink and food, And cause their parents no solicitude.” Following the example of Confucius we must leave the little girls alone, and indeed the boys only would take far more time than we can give to them to-day. There was nothing that Confucius thought more important than the education of the young. As we have already seen, that if, through neglected education, a young man went wrong, those, who had neglected to give the education, ought also to be punished. Even now in Central China, if a child be rude or call names, the most cutting thing that can be said is; “T fear you have no father or mother,” implying of course that the education had been neglected. At about six years of age the boy goes to school, and places his foot on the first step of that ladder which, if he mounts well, will give him a place in the highest offices in the Empire. At school the boy will have REV. ARTHUR ELWIN, ON CONFUCIANISM. 51 to master the following books:—viz., The Three Character Classic, The Catalogue of Surnames, The Thousand Character Classic, The Canons of Filial Duty, The Odes for Children, and the Juvenile Instructor. Having been thoroughly instructed in these six books, the young scholar is ready to begin the Confucian Classics, and to prepare for the competitive examina- tions. Of course many boys, who have to earn their living, never get so far: they have to leave school early and begin to Jearn a trade, but it is the highest ambition of everyone if possible to be a scholar. The following extract well expresses the national sentiment of the Chinese with reference to the various occupations that may be followed :— “ First, the scholar ; because mind is superior to wealth. It is the intellect that distinguishes man above the lower animals, and enables him to provide food, raiment, and shelter for himself and others. “Second, the farmer; because the mind cannot act without the body, and the body cannot exist without food and raiment. “Third, the mechanic; because, next to food and raiment, shelter is a necessity. “Fourth, the tradesman; because as society increases, and its wants are multiplied, men to carry on exchange and barter become a necessity. “And, last of all, the soldier; because his business is to destroy, not to build up society. He consumes what others produce, but does not himself contribute anything that can benefit mankind. Still he is, perhaps, a necessary evil.” We will now briefly consider the Four Books and the Five Classics, the nine works which contain the writings and sayings of Confucius and his disciples, and which for hundred of years have formed the sole subject of the competitive examinations throughout the land. One has well said; “There is not much, from a westerners point of view, to commend these ancient literary productions, and yet the incomparable influence they have exerted for centuries over so many millions of minds, invests them, even for us, with an interest no book beside the Bible can claim.” The “ great learning” consists of eleven chapters which treat of four important subjects, viz.: The Improvement of Oneself ; The Regulation of a Family; The Government of a State; and the Rule of an Empire. The following extract from the book forms a kind of introduction to the consideration of these important subjects : “The ancients, who wished to illustrate renovating virtue 52 REV. ARTHUR ELWIN, ON CONFUCIANISM. throughout the Empire, first ordered well their own States. Wishing to order well their States, they first regulated their families. Wishing to reeulate well their families, they first cultivated their persons. Wishing to cultivate their persons, they first rectified their hearts. Wishing to rectify their hearts, they first sought to be sincere in. their thoughts. Wishing to be sincere in their thoughts, they first extended their knowledge to the utmost. Such extension of knowledge lay in the investigation of things. Things being investigated, knowledge became complete. Knowledge being complete, their thoughts were sincere. Their thoughts being sincere, their hearts were rectified. Their hearts being rectified, their persons were cultivated. Their persons being cultivated, their families were regulated. Families being regulated, their States were rightly governed ; their States being rightly governed, the Empire was made tranquil.” And so we arrive where we were at the beginning. The second of the Four Books is the Zrue Mean, compiled by the grandson of Confucius about the year 388 B.c. or before the days of Alexander the Great. This book depicts the character of an ideal Princely or Superior Man, who in all relationships of life preserves the golden mean, and is thus a model and standard of virtue to. succeeding generations. “The Princely Man, in dealing with others, does not descend to anything low or unworthy. How unbending his courage! He stands at the centre, removed from extremes, and leans not to either side. The Princely Man enters into no state, wherein he cannot be true to himself. If he hold high office, he does not treat with contempt those beneath him. If he occupy a lowly position, he uses no mean arts to gain the favour of his superiors. He corrects himself, and Tene not others. He feels no dissatisfaction. On the one hand he murmurs not at heaven, nor on the other does he cherish resentment towards his neighbour.. Hence the superior man dwells at ease, entirely waiting on the will of heaven.” Speaking of the Princely Man, he also says, ‘‘ Vast and extensive are the effects of his virtue ; it is like the deep and living stream, which flows unceasingly ; it is substantial and extensive as heaven, and profound as the great abyss. Wherever ships sail or chariots ran; wherever the heavens overshadow, and the earth sustains, wherever sun and moon shine, or frosts and dews fall, among all who have blood and breath, there is not one who does not honour and love him.” Third: The Analects of Confucius, written by his disciples to REV. ARTHUR ELWIN, ON CONFUCIANISM. 53 chronicle the utterances of their “Most Holy Ancient Teacher.” Among the many remarkable sayings of Confucius, recorded in this book, certainly the Golden Rule he impressed upon his followers stands first. One of them had inquired: “Is there a single word which may serve as a rule of practice for the whole of one’s life?” “Is not Reciprocity such a word,” replied Confucius, “ do not to others what you would not wish done to you.’ “ What do you say,” said a disciple, “concerning the principle that injury should be recoinpensed with kindness ?” The master said, “With what then will ye recompense kindness. Recompense injury with justice, and recompense kindness with kindness.” Some other sayings are, “I have found no man who esteems virtue as much as pleasure.— The perfect man is never satisfied with himself; he that is satisfied with himself is not perfect.—Patience is the most necessary thing in the world.—The perfect man loves all men ; he is not governed by private affection and interest, but only regards right reason and the public good.—The superior man has nine things which he takes into thoughtful consideration. In regard to the use of his eyes, he is anxious to see clearly. In regard to the use of his ears, to hear distinctly. In regard to his countenance, that it should be benign. In regard to his demeanour, that it should be respectful. In regard to his speech, that it should be sincere. In regard to his doing business, that it should be with care. In regard to what he doubts about, to make enquiry. When he is angry, he thinks of the difficulties that his anger may involve him in. When he sees gain to be got, he thinks of righteousness.” The last of the series is the Book of Mencius, who lived about two hundred years after Confucius, 371 B.c., in the days of Plato and Demosthenes. Mencius has been regarded by many as one of the greatest men the Asiatic nations have ever produced. The following extracts will show what kind of man he was, and considering when they were written, they are certainly very remarkable. “I love life,’ he observes, “and I love justice, but if I cannot preserve both, I would rather give up life, and hold fast justice. Although I love life, there is that which I love more than life. Although I hate death, there is that which I hate more than death.” “Heaven, when about to confer a great trust upon any man, first exercises his mind with suffering, and his senses and bones with toil. It exposes his body to hunger, subjects him to poverty, and confounds his undertakings. By all these methods it stimulates his mind, hardens his nature and supplies his 5A REV. ARTHUR ELWIN, ON CONFUCIANISM. incompetencies. .. . When men are distressed in mind, and perplexed in their thoughts, they are aroused to vigorous reformation. ... From these things we see how life springs from sorrow and calamity, while death follows ease and pleasure.” It may be remarked in passing, that Mencius had a good mother. She is said to have moved her residence from the neighbourhood of a butcher’s shop, because she would not have her little boy witness daily that which she thought might make him cruel. — , Mencius, like Confucius, believed the nature of man to be originally good, though contaminated through contact with the evil of this worid. All men are naturally virtuous, just as water naturally flows downward. At the head of the Five Classies is placed the Book of Changes, an obscure treatise consisting of sixty-four short essays of a moral, social, and political character. It is said to have been composed in prison by King Wan, in the year 1150 B.c., that is before the birth of Samuel. It is in this ancient book that we first find mention of the Five Great Social Relations; they are those of Sovereign and subject, husband and wife, parent and child, elder brother and younger brother, and friends. If we apply the important word Reciprocity to these five social relations, we shall perhaps be able to form some idea why the Chinese nation has been able to hold together for so many centuries. The second is the Book of History. It consists of a series of dialogues designed to give a brief history of China from about B.c. 2350 to 770 Bc. “This volume compiled by Confucius contains,” one remarks, “ the seeds of all things valuable in the estimation of the Chinese. It is at once the foundation of their political system, history, and religious rites, and the basis of their tactics, music, and astronomy. The knowledge of the true God, under the appellation of Shang-ti, is not obscurely intimated in this work.” ; The third is the Book of Odes, consisting of three hundred popular songs and poems, culied from a period covering more than a thousand years—from the days of Joseph’s greatness in Egypt, to the era of the Babylonish captivity. It is most noteworthy that there is nothing in the whole collection which might not be read aloud in any company, in its full natural sense, by youth or maiden. The following one of the Odes, translated by Dr. Legge, is given as a specimen :— REY. ARTHUR ELWIN, ON CONFUCIANISM. ys) A wife’s lamentation during the absence of her husband. “ Away the startled pheasant flies, With lazy movement of his wings ; Borne was my heart’s lord from my eyes— What pain the separation brings ! “The pheasant though no more in view, His cry below, above, forth sends, Alas! my princely lord, ’tis you— Your absence that my bosom rends ! “ At sun and moon [I sit and gaze, In converse with my troubled heart. Far, far from me my husband stays ; When will he come to heal its smart ? “Ye princely men who with him mate, Say mark ye not his virtuous way ? His rule is, Covet not, none hate : How can his steps from goodness stray ?” The fourth is the Book of Rites. The original documents which form the basis of this work go back to 1112 B.c., that is, about the time of the disturbed days of the judges, when we are told, “every man did that which was right in his own eyes.” .“ Even at that time, China was under the control of a methodical and effective system of national polity. Villages had their schools, and districts their academies.” This book regulates the rites and ceremonies of the nation, and has done so for many’centuries. One of the six governing Boards at Pekin is specially charged with the duty of seeing its precepts carried out throughout the Empire. Both the Emperor and his people regulate their lives by the Book of ftites, and no one would dare to depart from the rules there laid down, even in the smallest matter. At marriages, funerals, and feasts, there is always a master of ceremonies, whose duty it 1s to see that all is done in accordance with the proper etiquette.” The following extracts from the Domestic Rules contained in this ancient book, though antiquated and trivial in detail, are interesting, as showing the respect paid to parents, even to the present day :— “ Men, in serving their parents, at the first cock-crowing must all wash their hands, rinse their mouths, comb their hair, bind it together with a net, fasten it with a bodkin, forming it into a tuft, brush out the dust, put on the hat, tying the strings ornamented with tassels, also the waistcoat, frock, and girdle, with the note kooks placed in it, and the leggings attached on E 56 REV. ARTHUR ELWIN, ON CONFUCIANISM: the right and left, bind on the greaves, and put on the shoes, tying up the strings. “Wives must serve their hushand’s father and mother as their own. At the first cock-crowing they must wash their hands, rinse their mouth, comb their hair, and bind it together with a net, fasten it with a bodkin, forming it into a tuft, put on their frocks and girdles, fasten on their bags of perfumery, put on and tie up their shoes. Then they must go to the ~ chamber of their father and mother, and having entered, in a low and placid tone they must enquire whether their dress is too warm or too cool. If the parents have pain or itching, they must respectfully press or rub the part affected. If the parents enter or leave the room, either going before or following they must respectfully support them. In bringing the apparatus for washing, the younger must present the howl, the elder the water, begging them to pour it and wash, and after they have washed, hand them the towel. In asking and respectfully presenting what they wish to eat, they must cheer them by their mild manner, and must wait until their father and mother have eaten, and then retire.” The following “on reproving parents” is remarkable. ‘When his parents are in error, the son, with a humble spirit, pleasing countenance, and gentle tone, must point it out to them. If they do not receive his reproof, he must strive more and more to be dutiful and respectful towards them, till they are pleased, and then he must again point out their error. But if he does not succeed in pleasing them, it is better that he should continue to reiterate reproof, than permit them to continue to do injury to the whole department, district, village, or neighbourhood. And if the parents, irritated and displeased, chastise their son until the blood flows from him, even then he must not dare to harbour the least resentment; but, on the contrary, should treat them with increased respect and dutifulness.” Also this. “Although your father and mother be dead, if you propose to yourself any good work, only reflect how it will make their names illustrious, and your purpose will be fixed. So if you propose to do what is not good, only consider how it will disgrace the names of your father and mother, and you will desist from your purpose.” But we must pass on to the last of the five classics; the Spring and Autumn Annals; which stands alone as the personal work of Confucius. It gives some account of his own times, covering a period of over two hundred years, from B.C. 722, that REV. ARTHUR ELWIN, ON CONFUCIANISM. OF is, shortly after the foundation of Rome. In one noteworthy sentence in this book, Confucius speaks of the Divine Being ' as “ God all-wise, equitable, and one.” But we must bring to a close this brief sketch of the Four. Books and Five Classics, remembering that there is not an educated man in China who could not repeat the whole nine books from memory. From the time that competitive examinations were introduced in the year 631 A.p., they have constituted the sole subjects for examination. Thus. for’ upwards of twelve hundred years, the nine Confucian Classics: have been the main study of every generation of Chinamen from childhood to old age. One has well said: “The effect of: this complete absorption of the Confucian system into the. national character has been to maintain the influence of the sage as powerfully, or even more powerfully, than ever.: Buddhism and Taouism have found their adherents almost entirely among the uneducated classes, and even these reject all doctrines which are inconsistent with the teachings of Confucius. No educated man would admit for a moment that he was a follower of either of the above-mentioned religions ; to him Confucius is guide, philosopher, and friend, and though. fully recognised by him as a man, is worshipped as a god.” In the eighteen provinces there are one thousand five hundred’ and sixty temples dedicated to the worship of Confucius, and in these temples, sixty-six thousand animals are offered every year to his spirit. The feeling of the Chinese people is: undoubtedly expressed in the following lnes, which form part of the sacrificial ritual : ¢ “Confucius! Confucius! How great is Confucius ! Before Confucius, there never was a Confucius ! Since Confucius, there never has been a Confucius ! Confucius! Confucius! How great is Confucius.” That Confucius was a remarkable man there can be no doubt, and his humility was one of his most striking characteristics. He always disclaimed originality, and declared that all his teaching was derived from the ancients, for whom he entertained the profoundest veneration. : “ A transmitter and not a maker, believing in and loving the ancients.” “I was not born a man of knowledge; I am naturally only quick to search out the truth from a love for the wisdom of the ancients.” | “Tam not virtuous enough to be free from anxieties ; nor wise’ enough to be free from perplexities ; and not bold enough to be free from fear.” E 2 58 REV. ARTHUR ELWIN, ON CONFUCIANISM. “In the way of the superior man there are four things, to not one of which have I as yet attained. To serve my father as I would require my son to serve me; To serve my prince as I would require my minister to serve me; To serve my elder brother as I would require my younger brother to serve me; To behave to my friend as I would require him to behave to me: “Shall I teach you what knowledge is? When you know a thing, to hold that you know it; and when you do not know a thing, to allow that you do not know it; this is knowledge.” According to Confucius, the first of all virtues, whether in a son or ina subject, is filial piety. It is this which distinguishes man from brutes; it 1s this which recognises the true relation between childand parent. “ Filial piety consists in serving one’s parents when alive, according to propriety; in burying them when dead, according to propriety; and sacrificing to them, according to propriety.” “Of all things,” said Confucius, “which derive their natures from heaven and earth, man is the most noble; and of all the duties that are incumbent on him, there is none greater than filial obedience; nor in performing this is there anything so essential as to reverence one’s father; and, as a mark of reverence, there is nothing more important than to place him on an equality with heaven. Thus did the Lord of Chow; he sacrificed on the round altar to the spirits of his remote ancestors, as equal with heaven ; and in the open hall he sacrificed to King Wan (his father), as equal with Shang-ti.” This is one of the innumerable passages, which enjoin the duty of ancestral worship,* which may now well be called the religion of the Chinese, for Confucianist, Taouist, and Buddhist, alike all rear the shrine for the ancestral tablets, and worship at the graves of the departed. This extract shows that, according to Confucius, a man ought to place his father on an equality with God, and the following incident will show that there are Chinese in our own day who strive to carry this principle into practice. Only a few years ago a man in Canton committed a murder, and a warrant was issued for his arrest; but before he could be found, his son, a young man about twenty years of age, went to the magistrate and said, “I committed the murder.” The son was arrested, tried, and, on his own confession, condemned to death. Soon all the people in Canton knew what had been done, and it was the one topic of conversation in the city. * Journal Vict. Jnst., “ Ancestral Worship,” vol. xxxvi, p. 67. REV, ARTHUR ELWIN, ON CONFUCIANISM. 59 When the day came for him to be beheaded, thousands of people accompanied the procession to the execution ground to see the young man die, to see the son die to save his father’s life. Every one knew the young man was innocent, the magistrate knew it, the people knew it, but not a voice was raised in his behalf. No one would deprive him of the honour of carrying out, to the fullest extent, the teaching of his ereat master. He died and his father was free. Nowhere but in China could such a scene be witnessed. One result would undoubtedly follow, the magistrate would be promoted, because it could only be owing to his virtue that there was such an excellent young man in the district. On the subject of spirits, as on all matters relating to heavenly things, Confucius seems rather inconsistent. His. mind was wrapped up in the things of this earth, and he looked upon all such subjects as obscure and unprofitable. ‘Spirits are to be respected,” he said, “ but to be kept at a distance.” Yet we are told “he sacrificed to the dead, as. though they were present, and to the spirits as though they were before him.” But we must draw this short sketch of Confucius and his. teaching to a close. Every student of Confucius must hold his personal character in high estimation, The narrative of few men’s lives would be so tree from vice, and so full of that Which must be commended as right and good. But while we are forced to confess that there is very much to be admired in the Confucian system, especially compared with other idolatrous religions, we must not forget that there are many serious defects. One writer has summed them up as follows :— “No relation to a living God is recognised. It knows no mediator between God and man. It is devoid of any deep insight into sin or moral evil. Truthfulness is not urged, but rather the reverse. Polygamy is presupposed and_ tolerated. Polytheism is sanctioned. Fortune telling, choosing of days, ete., are believed in. Filial piety is exaggerated into the deification of parents. All rewards are expected in this life. No comfort is offered to ordinary mortals either in this life or the next.” Certainly we can only say of the Confucianists of to-day as St. Paul said of some in old time, “ Having no hope and without God in the world,” 60 REV. ARTHUR ELWIN, ON CONFUCIANISM. DISCUSSION. The CHAIRMAN.—We are very deeply indebted to the lecturer for this very instructive and delightful paper. In the present day there has been started what has been regarded as another subject of study, entitled that of comparative religion. I do not think that we who hold,to the Christian faith need in the slightest degree be concerned with such a study as that. The paper has given to us some little insight into Confucianism, which will enable us to see its manifold defects ; defects which are supplied by that system of faith which it is our privilege and blessing to hold. One cannot help being struck, however, with the excellent philosophical principles which appear in the teaching of Confucius here and there. Philosophy, of course, is an extremely valuable subject. for the training and cultivation of the mind of man in every age and under all kinds of circumstances; but it is evident, from the experiences of the Chinese nation, that it is not such a study as enables the human understanding to progress to the extent which it needs progress. The stagnation of the Chinese nation, I think, can be understood better now that we have such a paper before us, telling us what their study has been, and how their minds have been contracted into the narrow channels of the thoughts of Confucius. As the paper has so very well remarked, it leaves man in a condition of serious want and makes no provision for the supply of that want. The man who is a bad man appears to have little or no hope held out to him by the Confucian system of philosophy or religion, in whichever way we may think it should ‘be regarded. That which is so serious a defect in the Chinese philosophy and religion is only supplied adequately by the Christian faith. I was very glad to hear from the reader of the paper of the position which Christianity is now occupying in that great and important nation. We shall doubtless hear more of the Chinese nation in years to come than we have in the past. The ‘Yellow Peril is one that we need not concern ourselves greatly about, but if there is one way by which the Yellow Peril may be avoided more than another, it is by the circulation of that truth which their present system of thought and life so earnestly claims REV. ARTHUR ELWIN, ON CONFUCIANISM. 61 from sus, and which is so wanting in their present faith and education. The subject is now open for discussion. Professor ORCHARD.—-I am sure we owe our gratitude to the able and learned author of this paper for putting before us in so interesting a manner the character and teaching of one of the most remarkable ethical reformers and philosophers who ever trod the earth. Confucianism does not make good its claim to be a religion. A religion, as its derivation implies, is the re-binding of the human spirit to the great I AM. It is the restored relationship of man to God. The original fellowship has been lost by sin. If a man is to be restored to fellowship with God, that sin must be done away with. The great problem of any true religion is this, how to do away with sin. ‘True religion is religion ‘‘before God and the Father,’ but Confucianism makes no remedy for sin. It enjoins some virtues, but it never rises higher than filial piety. If you do not rise higher than filial piety you do not raise man above his natural level. You do not restore the lost communion and fellow- ship with God. Confucianism then does not deserve to be called a religion. It is not areligion. It is a system of philosophy undoubtedly, and we may concede this, I think fairly, to Confucius that he was a great ethical reformer and philosopher. At the bottom of page 57 and the beginning of page 58, Confucius himself admits the failure of his system. He admits that his system does not (even in his own case) soar far above the ordinary man of his days. He admits. that his system does not free from anxieties, nor free from per- plexities, nor free from fear. He admits further there are four things which he ought to do, but which his system does not enable him to do, namely, ‘‘ To serve my father as I would require my son to serve me ; To serve my prince as I would require my minister to serve me; To serve my elder brother as I would require my younger brother to serve me; To behave to my friend as I would require him to behave to me.” He admits then that with regard to the relationships of father, subject, brother and friend, his system is a failure,—a failure in his own case, yet he was head and shoulders above most of his contemporaries. There are one or two questions that I would like to ask the author of this paper. One is on page 47. It appears that, before 62 REV. ARTHUR ELWIN, ON CONFUCIANISM. Confucius had any food he offered a little of it up in sacrifice. Was this in sacrifice to the ancestors, or to the spirits, or to God ? Another question is on page 50, where it appears that if a little baby had even one tooth it was supposed to have a soul. I should be very glad to have some explanation of the supposed connection of tooth and soul, if the lecturer will kindly favour us with the supposed connection. And the third question I wish to ask is how he accounts for it that Confucianism has attained such a wonderful influence in China. Lieut.-Colonel ALVES.—I should like to say just a word. A good many people are talking now-a-days of the numberless good religions in the world, as they call them, of which Christianity may be a little better than some others, but that they are all very mucly alike. JI think there is a marvellous amount of sound Old Testa- ment moral precepts of the Mosaic law in Confucianism. Mr. Elwin’s friend must have sorely repented himself of that boy who was going to be drowned. According to the Mosaie ordinances, if a woman have a rebellious son, who will not obey the voice of his father, or that of his mother, they were to bring him before the elders for sentence of death. I think it would be a very good thing if that law were in existence at the present time. There are many other points which seem to be very sound. We remember how five and forty years ago, when Speke and Grant went to discover the source of the Nile, they struck across equatorial Africa, on to the lakes, and went down the Nile; and if we also go to the head and work down we find in the Bible in very early days what may be called Mosaic-Levitical ordinances long before the time of Abraham. We find clean beasts in the ark, and not long after Abraham’s time we see that people, when they went to meet with God, had to be clean and wash their clothes. If Levitical ordinances, which after all were only very secondary, should have been thus revealed, it was surely more important that. the moral ordinances of the law should have been given as the common property of the whole world. It is not unreasonable to suppose that China should have possessed many of these ; and that Confucius, who admits not to have been original, but only a compiler of what was good, should have. got hold of some of these ordinances. But even Israel was in a state of legality, keeping the law being a condition of life. It was a question of moral REV. ARTHUR ELWIN, ON CONFUCIANISM. 63 ordinances, and that a man might not turn away from his righteous- ness that he had done and die in his sin. That is not the hope of the Christian and the teaching of the Apostle Paul. We remember that his remark concerning the heathen is that God deals with those who were desirous of doing right differently from those who have means of knowing the truth. Pre-Mosaic Revelation will account for all the wonderful truth that Confucius put into his system. We see in the Old Testament the marvellous authority that a parent had over his children, something that we do not dream of now-a-days. When Jephthah had made his rash vow, note his daughter’s words. They were the words of a woman who was loyal to the truth and who made light of her own sacrifice, because her father had made his vow to Heaven. ‘The Rechabites also in the days of Jeremiah were bound by an old vow of Jehonadab, son of Rechab, that they were not to drink wine or to live in houses. They obeyed the command of their father, although the prophet of the Lord put wine before them to drink; and they were commended for it. Filial respect and obedience are strongly enjoined in the Old Testament; and there must have beer a good deal of moral doctrine floating about, some of which no doubt had got into China, which was a country not so sealed up in those days as it is now, 2,500 years later. It has had 2,500 years of training to make it more conservative than in those earlier days. We are indebted to the reader of this paper, for he has given us a great insight into the general teaching of Confucius. Mr. Rouse.—Is not the ascription to Almighty God, which is quoted by Mr. Elwin, the only one to be found in all the works of Confucius, except that in his Book of History, he alludes to Him at times as Shang-Ti, the Supreme Ruler. Believing this to be the fact, I should judge that Confucius knew little of God as a Father, or of a way in which guilty sinners could be reconciled to Hin: here below and find in Him thereafter a comforter and guide. Confucius instilled principles of justice, patience, and temperance, and a spirit of wise reflection into his disciples, and both privately and publicly during his brief sway as a ruler he illustrated that spirit, and those principles in his own person ; but his philanthropy stopped short at the negative maxim, “ Do not do to others what you would not have them do to you”: he rose not to the sublime principles of the Sermon on the Mount, which was also, as the 64, REV. ARTHUR ELWIN, ON CONFUCIANISM. Divine Saviour tells us, the underlying one of “the law and the prophets.” All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them. But such knowledge of God as the Chinese sage possessed there is no proof that he thought out for himself without the help of any current belief or tradition; while there is strong reason, on the other hand, to infer that at one time the Chinese at large wor- shipped the Creator, and Him alone. The further we go back into the history of heathen nations, the more prevalent do we find the acknowledgment of, and reverence for one great Supreme Maker of all things. Thus in Babylonia we find in the time of King Khammurabi, contemporary of Abraham (as Hommel has shown), that although the state religion was a pagan idolatry, a very large number of personal names ended with the word lu, God, and contained ascriptions to God of power, wisdom or kind- ness ; while very few are to be met with at that time in which the name of a heathen god is imbedded: but, as the centuries advanced, personal names, formed from those of heathen divinities, wholly displaced the names that set forth the nobler tradition. In like manner (as Hommel further points out) in Arabia the earliest inscriptions of the Minaean kings, and the inscriptions that succeed them through several centuries, show an abundance of personal names ending with 7d, God, and ascribing mighty or gracious conduct to Him ; but gradually the names of pagan deities worked their way into the personal names of Arabia—Minaean and Sabaean—until at length they ousted the truly Godfearing names of old.* So, too, as to Persia, a step nearer to China, if Zoroaster, the reputed founder of the Parsee monotheistic faith, really lived at so remote a period, as Clodd for instance assigns to him—namely, betore the twelfth century B.c.—there is no special reason for supposing that he evolved that faith after he and all his countrymen had been used to a primeval worship of nature gods. Rather, in the absence of evidence, and with the analogy of contiguous * Tt seems as if in their progressive rebellion against the true God, the last thing that men dared to do was to withdraw their children from His protection and put them under the protection of their fancied deities.— M. L. R. REV.. ARTHUR ELWIN, ON CONFUCIANISM. 65 Babylonia and Arabia before us, should we infer that Zoroaster preserved and restored the faith which had been transmitted from the time of the Deluge and of the great Dispersion which followed it, but which had already been abandoned by many of his country- men for a worship of “the creature instead of the Creator,” for the mighty forces that He directs, instead of the Spirit that made and controls them all. Returning now to China, on the one hand, we find a strong link of communication between Babylonia and China at u remote epoch ; on the other hand, we find a rare but periodical worship of the God of Heaven, celebrated from time immemorial by the Chinese emperors themselves. The link is known from the discovery made about twenty years ago, that a striking resemblance exists between some of the earliest Chinese characters and certain of the Babylonian ones—a discovery that I for one had the pleasure of seeing set forth by Professor Lacouperie to the Philological Society in about the year 1890, when he laid fifty cuneiform letters beside fifty of the phonetic letters in use in the chief province of China before the Chinese writing was made ideographic, showing the groups to be practically identical letter for letter. The worship is that which is paid once in the year by the emperor alone in the great Temple of Heaven, which is a vast inclosure at Pekin with a large altar in the midst, but no roof save the blue sky. It is on record that seventy years ago, when a drought and famine had long been continued, the reigning emperor uttered before that altar a remarkable prayer, in which he confessed to the Supreme Ruler his sins and those of his nation, and asked forgive- ness and a return of favour; -and the very next day a most abundant rain fell upon the parched region and revived its fertility. “Them that honour me I will honour, saith the Lorp.” Rev. Mr. ELWIn in reply said:—Some interesting points have been raised. With regard to the offering of a little food in sacrifice with grave, respectful air, that is specially mentioned in the dnnals of Confucius, but it does not say to whom the offermg was made. We may almost take it that it was to the spirits of the ancestors. And then, with regard to the teeth, that was a very interesting question, because if the soul comes with the teeth, we may almost suppose that the soul goes with the teeth, too! I have asked the Chinese about this, and all they can say is that that tradition has 66 REV. ARTHUR ELWIN, ON CONFUCIANISM. been handed down from old time. The idea has, I believe, originated in order to make infanticide all the easier. If they can persuade themselves that the baby has no soul, then there is no difficulty in putting it into a pail of water like a kitten or a puppy. Of course, if it had a soul there would be greater difficulty, and perhaps the Chinaman would feel his conscience prick him a little. The question with regard to the influence of Confucianism is also very interesting. JI think myself, it is owing to his books. The books are very old and the competitive examinations are dated back from about the year 631. The nation is so saturated with this Confucian idea, the books have to be learnt absolutely perfectly without a mistake; and any scholar in China who goes in for examination would be able to repeat the nine books right through, and of course that in itself would tend to give the whole Confucian system a standing in the country which nothing else would. Dr. Legge held that Shang-ti was the Supreme God, ‘that is to say, the God that we worship ; the God that has been handed down, but of course there are others who will not allow that. I have spoken to Chinese scholars in China—English Chinese scholars— who would not allow that Shang-ti was the Supreme God ; but it is avery wide question and certainly a very difficult question. Dr. Legge, when he visited the Temple of Shang-ti, where the sacrifice is offered only once a year by the emperor to God,—he worships in the middle of the night, and offers a whole bullock; it is in the open air; there is no temple. There is simply a mound and at the top of the mound an altar, and on this altar the sacrifice ; and the only worshipper is the emperor. Dr. Legge, when he visited that place, was so convinced that in that particular spot worship to the true God had been handed down from century to century, that he stooped down and took off his boots, and he walked without his boots, because he said, “‘ This is holy ground.” The Meeting adjourned. REV. ARTHUR ELWIN, ON CONFUCIANISM. 67 COMMUNICATIONS. Rev. F. Storrs TURNER, B.A., writes :— Mr. Elwin has crowded within his brief sketch of Confucius as much accurate and valuable information as could be got within the limit ; but I would point out that if he had been able to prepare for it by a description of the historical background the biography would have been more vivid, and our impression of the man much increased. It is difficult for an Englishman rightly to appreciate Confucius. His reverence for antiquity is offensive to our belief in progress; his rigid scrupulosity in matters of court etiquette, social usage, and religious ritual, seems to us pharisaical ; and his remarkable reticence in respect to the great realities of religion has caused him to be suspected of agnosticism. But to understand Confucius one must study the history of his world. The first thing we shall learn is that his world was not our world. For him and for his people during two thousand years before, our world did not exist. Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Persia, Greece, Rome, were utterly unknown. Three or four thousand miles of mountainous countries like Tibet, of water- less deserts like Gobi, and of vast uncultivated steppes, over which roamed nomad tribes of savage warriors, Huns, Scythians, Tartars, Mongols, divided Eastern Asia from Western Asia, as effectually as the Atlantic hid America from Europe. Confucius did not know the name ‘‘ China,” the place he knew was “all under heaven,” z2., the world. This being so, those ancient books which he possessed were the only Bible he had; and it was impossible for him to conceive of any other literature, any other civilisation, any other religion, than those of the “ black-haired race.” Moreover, the history he knew began with the tradition of an age of righteousness and peace, when saintly kings ruled; whereas he lived in an age of general misrule, war, oppression and misery. The annals which we can read are full of battles and sieges. In the courts, assassina- tions, conspiracies, revolutions, were the rule rather than the exception. Fathers killed their sons and sons their fathers. Lust and incest polluted the palaces. It seemed as if morals and religion were dying. In such a time was Confucius sent into the world, as 68 REV. ARTHUR ELWIN, ON CONFUCIANISM. he believed, to stem the flood of wickedness, and to restore the good old days of peace. Seen against the darkness of this Geccarouna: the life of Confucius is bright with. noble heroism, stedfast purpose, clear- sighted wisdom, and, it seems to me, a profound religious faith. He did not teach theology, for he had none to teach; but he openly professed that his message was from heaven; and his loyal fulfil- ment of his mission, in self-sacrifice, poverty and reproach, is the evidence of the sincerity of his belief. And what was his message ? In essence it was just this: ‘Be good. Heaven has made you capable of being good. Be good sons and good fathers, good husbands and good wives, good kings and good servants of your kings ; brothers be good, friends be good.” It was the simplest message, but mighty in its appeal to conscience as the divinely- viven nature. For the sake of this we may well tolerate what seems to us an excessive devotion to forms and ceremonies. Confucius did not think it excessive. In the Book of Rites, it is said— (1) Of all the methods for the good ordering of men, there is none more urgent than the use of ceremonies. Ceremonies are of five kinds, and there is none of them more important than sacrifice. Sacrifices not a thing coming to a man from without, it issues from within him, and has its birth in his heart. When the heart is deeply moved expression is given to it by ceremonies. ) (2) The sacrifices of such men have their own blesses: not indeed what the world calls blessing. Blessing here means per- fection ; it is the name given to the complete and natural discharge of all duties. The quotation from the “ Filial Piety Classic” is apparently decisive against me; but this document is not one of the Four Books, and its authority therefore is not quite the highest. Again, the translation is open to question. In his version, Dr. Legge does not use the word “equal,” but instead says ‘“‘correlate.”* Kang-hi’s great dictionary supports Legge ; it does not explain the character as meaning equal, but as “pair,” “couple,” “opposite.” The members of a pair or couplet may be equal or unequal. For instance, the dictionary gives “husband and wife” as an illustration, * Religions, p. 79. REV. ARTHUR ELWIN, ON CONFUCIANISM. 69 and to the Chinese mind husband ‘and wife are by no means equal. I should have thought Legge’s translation beyond question the correct one, had I not happened upon a Chinese commentator who clearly approves the other explanation. It is possible that the original meaning was that Duke Chan “associated” the worship of his father and King Wan with God, by worshipping them at the same time and with the same or similar sacrifices, and that after- wards this practice introduced the notion of equality of the beings worshipped. At any rate it seems to me that too much stress must not be laid upon one text. In one of the Psalms it is said, ‘I said ye are gods,” and the meaning is not easily explained ; but I think no one would assert that all the Israelites, or all their nobles and judges, were said to be “gods” in the sense of equality with Jehovah. For the interpretation of Confucius I rely upon the general tenour of his teaching. But during more than two thousand years, and among many millions of scholars, no doubt there have been many different interpretations of that teaching among the Chinese; and it is not surprising that foreign students differ in opinion. ORDINARY GENERAL MEETING. WAS HELD IN THE ROOMS OF THE INSTITUTE ON MONDAY, JANUARY 16TH, 1905. GENERAL HALLIDAY IN THE CHAIR. The Minutes of the last Meeting were read and confirmed, and the following candidates were elected :— Lire AssociaTE:—Rev. Oswald J. Hogarth, M.A., Rondebosch, S. Africa. AssociATES :—Rev. Joseph Lampe, D. D., Professor, Presbyterian Theological College, Omaha, U.S.A. Eb Neville Harris, Esq., India Civil Service (retired) ; Rev. D. Ar nstrom, Aneby, Sweden. The following paper was then read by the author :— THE RAJP-UTS AND THE HISTORY OF RAILULTAGE By Colonel T. HoLpein HENDLEY, C.1.E., Indian Medical Service (retired). HE Rajputs have attracted so much interest in India, that no fewer than 177 separate works upon them and their country are included in the Bibliography which is attached to the Medical Gazetteer of Rajputana alone, yet even in some of our principal encyclopedias only portions of a column of print are directly devoted to the subject. The Rajputs, or sons of kings, and the land of Rajputana, or Rajasthan, as it is more classically termed, the chief seat of their power, cannot, there- fore, be adequately studied in a single address, so that I propose, after giving some account of the people and of their country, to consider, as being more properly fitted for discussion by this Society, the causes which led to the establishment of a most interesting race, for more than a thousand years in the same region, during which period they flourished with little real disturbance by the paramount powers of India, which changed no fewer than at least seven times in the same millennium. Valuable lessons may be learned from the study of the history, customs, and peculiarities of such a noble, manly, and interesting RAJPUTS AND THE HISTORY OF RAJPUTANA. 71 race, lessons which may serve to guide us into the true way of preserving empire, a way that can only be based on upright, just, and honourable, and hence, truly scientific, principles. It was the failure to recognize these principles which in time led to the downfall of the great Moghul empire, and also prevented the Mahrattas from establishing themselves upon its ruins. It is unnecessary to dwell long on the remote origin of the Rajputs, who have been said either to be the direct descendants. of the Kshatriya, or warrior caste of the earlest Indian writers, or to represent them as a mixed race, which took a name to which they had little title, or to refer to their alleged invasion of India at a much later period from Central Asia. It is sufficient to note that powerful rulers of this great tribe were established for a long period in early times in North India, who were gradually driven out from the plain country into the more inaccessible and less fruitful districts which are now known under the names of Rajputana, Malwa, and even Gujarat, in the first of which they have made their special home, and in which they have maintained themselves to this day. Rajputana is in the north-west of India, and lies between the Punjab on the north, Sindh on the west, the united provinces of Agra and Oudh on the east, and Malwa and Gujarat on the south. Its area is nearly 153,000 square miles, or about 11,500 more than that of the British Isles. The Aravalli mountains stretch diagonally across it from near Delhi down to the south-west border towards Gujarat, dividing it into two regions, of which that to the north-west, containing: about three-fifths of the area, is generally sandy, ill-watered and. unproductive, approaching even to desert as the west is reached), while that to the south-east, or two-fifths of the whole, has a. fertile soil with forest tracts, and in the south is more or less. covered with hills which are well-clothed with woods, both the latter tracts being well watered. Such is in brief the description of the country which is given by Colonel Abbott im his census report for 1891. The states of Marwar, Bikanir, and Jaisalmer, all Rajput, le in the larger region ; those of Meywar, with its offshoots, Dungarpur, Partabgarh, Banswara, and Sirohi are in the south, leaving the rest of the province for Jaipur, Alwar, Karauli, Kishengarh, and the Haraoti states of Bundi, Kotah, and Jhalawar, if we regard only the Rajputs to whom the country belonged for so many centuries; but we must: add to complete the whole the two Jhat principalities of Bharatpur and Dholpur, part of the Mohammedan state of Tonk, and last, but not least, the British district of Ajmere, which lies i 72 COL. T. HOLBEIN HENDLEY, C.1.E., ON THE in the centre of the country, and was one of the principal residences and capitals of the Moghul Emperors. As the physical conditions of a country, including the geology and meteorology, undoubtedly exercise a very important influence upon the inhabitants, whether it be on their history or their character, an influence which I believe to have been especially marked in the present case,a somewhat careful study of these points must be made. Geologists inform us that the Aravalli mountains differ from the other great ranges of India in being entirely composed of disturbed rocks, with the axes of disturbance corresponding with the direction of the chain, the formations in them belonging to the Archean rocks, and being of great antiquity and quite unfossiliferous. North-west of the mountains alluvial formations, also unfossiliferous, extend across part of Marwar; Vindhyan rocks, a similar series, being found on the south-east border of the province. Valuable points related to the geology are the kinds of building materials associated with the strata; the nature of the soils; and the influence of these factors on the climate, the communications, the animal and vegetable products, and the development, health and happiness of the people, as well as the effect they have had upon their relations with the outside world. In the eastern and central parts of Rajputana the soil is light, assimilating to that of the United Provinces, and it yields good crops of cereals. The rich loams of Haraoti and parts of Meywar supply large quantities of wheat, sugar-cane, cotton and opium ; this district, under Zalim Singh, the famous regent of Kotah, having been a hundred years ago the granary of the centre of India. On the sand of the north and north-west one annual harvest, instead of two as elsewhere, is reaped and is chiefly made up of millets. There is, therefore, a great difference of foods depending upon the nature of the soil to a large extent ; thus, for example, where the staple is millet the food is coarse, and this fact, added to the scarcity of good fodder, which is due to the irregular rainfall, makes life very hard in the desert: tracts for both man and beast. Yet this very difficulty has its compensations, because it compels the inhabitants who are strong and hardy to seek their fortunes abroad, thus following the law of movement so forcibly enunciated by Buckle. These remarks are not only true of the Rajput warrior, but of the mercantile classes, who under the names of Marwaris, Baniyas, Seths, or bankers, reside for a time in the rich towns and villages of the whole of North India, and even far beyond, RAJPUTS AND THE HISTORY OF RAJPUTANA. 73 in these days of safety, in such places as Hongkong or Zanzibar ; and also of Brahmans, who go to distant parts to act as priests to the scattered members of the desert clans ; and unfortunately also of highway robbers, or dakaits who used to make raids far and wide in India, returning to their homes with their spoil. All alike however hope to die in the Rajput land, and to bring up their families in it so that the strength and independ- ence of the race may be kept up. In most parts of the country stone is available for building substantial houses, but in others, where the soil is clayey and wood is cheap, tiles and bricks are in general use, aud in the hills wattle and mud walls with grass roofs are common. The Rajput was therefore always comfortably housed, but the abundant quantity of marble and _ beautiful sandstones of different colours in some districts rendered it possible for the chiefs to construct most charming palaces, handsome temples, and, what was much more useful to them, strong forts and town walls. Few minerals except salt have been worked, but even this and the ornamental building stone, although they added to the wealth of the people, have not been regarded as unmixed blessings, because they attracted the covetous eyes of the Moghuls. The geographical and geological features of Rajputana are most important factors in determining its meteorology. A large portion of the north-west is occupied by the great Indian desert, which is covered with sand hills shaped in long straight ridges, and is ill-watered. The south-east of* the Aravallis is more elevated and fertile. It is very diversified, and contains extensive hill ranges, valleys, plateaux, and wcodlands. It is traversed by several large rivers, and there are numerous isolated rocky eminences. Sir John Eliot, who kindly wrote a description of the meteorology for my fajputana Medical Gazettcer, observes that the meteorological features of the two divisions of Rajputana differ greatly, depending partly upon its physical configuration and on its proximity to the Arabian Sea to the west, and to the great river plains of Northern India to the east. There are two seasons, viz., the south-west or wet, and the north-east or dry. The former lasts from about June to September, and gives on an average about 13:47 inches of rain to North-west Rajputana, and 25°32 inches to the south-east. Much of the rain comes from the Bombay current in moderate showers, but in some years a good deal is received during the passage of cyclonic storms from the west. October and November are usually fine and dry, though there F 2 74 COL. I. HOLBEIN HENDLEY, C.1.E., ON THE are occasional cyclonic storms, and here I may mention, in passing, that this is the time at which the warlike races began their military expeditions. The north-east monsoon Sir J. Eliot divides into a cold weather season from December to February, and a hot season from March to May or June, when the rains begin. The diurnal range of temperature in the former is very large, and there are usually storms which pass from the north-east towards the Gangetic plain, and are followed by a remarkably bright and clear state of the atmosphere. .They are sometimes accompanied by hail. In the hot season, hot winds blow over the greater part of Rajputana, and the relative humidity is very low, being sometimes as little as 2 or 3 per cent. Excessive dryness of the air, high temperature, with large diurnal ranges, and hot, dry, westerly winds are the chief normal features of this period. The total yearly rainfall for the north-west is 15°26 inches, and for the south-east 27°19 inches. The daily range of temperature is sometimes between 25° to 32°, and very high temperatures are noted, in the end of May for example being as much as 123° F. On the other hand, the thermometer falls in the cold weather as low as 30°. The climate is a very prominent factor in the making of the Rajput, and in preserving his health. The cold months are usually very delightful, and the bracing air is most invigorating; the hot season, on account of the dryness of the atmosphere and ,the frequent winds, can generally be well borne, and the monsoon period affords a welcome relief to both man and beast. On the whole the public health is good. Dust and glare account for a great prevalence of eye affections, and there is much malarial fever, strangely to say in the dry city of Bikanir being more prevalent than in the more moist districts of the east of the province, and so much so is this the case in certain years that in the west it has been sometimes difficult to gather in the autumnal harvest, and military operations would under such circumstances be long delayed. On the other hand, although smallpox and cholera are common enough, they do not spread so widely as in other parts of the empire, on account of the free movement of air, its dryness, and the fine open country round the hills. The climate, especially of the north-western tracts, is indeed very favourable to the growth of a hardy, manly population, and the comparatively long cold season recuperates the forces of all but the most feeble, thus, notwithstanding many untoward conditions, the Rajputs, and even the peasantry of other tribes, RAJPUTS AND THE HISTORY OF RAJPUTANA. a have through many centuries been noted for their bodily strength and for those qualities of mind which = should accompany such a state of health. Where they have failed it has been due to want of union and good leaders and to incapacity to adapt themselves to modern conditions, which thei: more quick-witted adversaries, under foreign influences, have not been slow to understand and follow. The fact that Rajputana is one of our best recruiting grounds proves that mthe aterial is still one of the best, and, if properly led, second to none in India. Most unfortunately the Rajput despises the pen, though he feels and recognises its power, which has often been exercised to his detriment; but, where physical force, bravery, and loyalty alone are required, he is always to be depended upon, though he cannot easily realise that personal courage, with faithful devotion to his liege lord, are not sufficient to ensure Imperial rule in these days, in which strategy and well considered plans must accompany diccipline, and when force alone cannot rule the world. Many of my Rajput friends, who despise the learning of the scholar and the schools, which they associate to some extent with trickery and with the possession of additional fangs to enable a man to prey upon others, have bitterly regretted to me their powerlessness to prove their loyalty by using their swords on behalf of the paramount sovereign. It may “be that. this noble, if somewhat medieval, spirit may yet some day be used for the good of the empire. The Pax Britannica has, however, already converted the Meenas and the Jhats, the strongest of the peasantry, as well as many Rajputs, into ordinary citizens, who seem to have forgotten the arts of war, though as yet, I fear, they have not sutticiently so learned the arts of peace as to be able to defeat the pleader, or astute petty lawyer, to whom all of them are ready to fall a prey, or the baniya or small trader, from whom they recklessly borrow, so that In many cases they ‘lose to the one or to the other their lands and fortunes. I think that I have shown that to some extent the progress, ancient success, and present position of the Rajputs and their sovereignties, have been due to the geographical, physical, and climatic conditions of theircountry. I shall now therefore deal with other important considerations. I repeat that the fact that the same race has remained dominant, in what would appear at first sight an unsatisfactory and unpropitious country and environment, from the date of its first appearance there fifteen hundred years ago, points to conditions which are indeed worthy of the most careful study. Assuming that the ancestors 76 COL. T. HOLBEIN HENDLEY, C.1.E., ON THE of the Rajputs came, as tradition asserts they did, from beyond the Himalayas, and then spread out on the easily conquerable plains of the north of India, from which they were themselves in turn evacuated by more disciplined conquerors, and that the best of them then retired to lands which were better suited to their martial instincts and modes of life, where finaily they fully established themselves, we may go on to ask why Rajputana fulfilled the conditions which were necessary. The Rajputs were brave, hardy, and above all extremely desirous of possessing land which they could hold without being under the strict direct rule of a supreme court. They were fond of the chase, in which they could maintain their strength and learn the arts of stratagem in peace, which, in early ages, were much the same as in war; while at the same time they did not lessen their devotion to their tribal chiefs, whom they regarded as the patriarchal heads of their families, whose interests were similar to their own, whom they were always willine to acknowledge and die tor as the first amongst equals, the preservation of whose rights was the same thing as preserving their own, but whom under ordinary conditions 1t was wiser to keep at a distance. A country studded with mountain ranges and isolated hills, at the feet of which were many fertile valleys and plains, admirably met all these and many other wants of such a people, not only because it became easy to construct forts from which the plains could be dominated, but on account of the alter- nations of wood and cultivation, and the mountain streams which furnished excellent cover and food for game. Moreover, the extended cold season renewed the vigour of the men and kept up their full powers, which enabled them, in days when standing armies, and particularly infantry, were of little value, but when personal courage counted for so much, not only to hold their own, but to extend their possessions, or at least to provide for their sons. It was not the aim, as it was not the genius of the Rajput, to promote commerce, though there are instances of great wealth having been obtained under their protection in the more settled districts, as is evidenced by the riches of the banker and merchants, especially of the Jain sect, which enabled them to build such famous shrines as those of Abu and Sadri, and to erect splendid mansions in such out-of-the-way places as Bikanir, Jodhpore and Shekhawati, or huge temples at Mathura and elsewhere. The usual position and history of a Rajput capital, or of the home of any Rajput Thakur or noble, points to the truth of my conclusions. Let us take for example the capitals RAJPUTS AND THE HISTORY OF RAJPUTANA. Gh of any of the modern states. The chiefs of Meywar, when they were driven from the plains of Gujarat, settled in the innermost recesses of the Aravalli mountains; they then conquered the Mori chief of Cheetore, and for a thousand years his fortress remained their capital, from which, when they were opposed to the disciplined hosts of the Moghul Empire, they had, after a very hard struggle, extending over many years, to withdraw again into the rugged district in which they founded the new and present capital of Udaipur, the City of the Rising Sun. So also at Jeypore the earliest capitals were Kho and Kuntalgarh, in almost inaccessible hills, then at Amber, still in the hills, and finally at Jeypore in the plains, but even now under the shadow of the mountain range, which is crowned with forts for the protection of the city. Again, the capital of Marwar, when it first became an important state, was at Mundore in the hills, and it was then removed, more space being required, to the plains beyond, though it was there also dominated by a noble fort high up on a grand scarped rock. Without exception the Rajput chiets, even if their present capital does not stand in the hills, have some inaccessible fastness to which they can retire, as well as some game preserve in the hills close by. The homes of the nobles are similarly situated, and if there are no moun- tains there are wide extents of sand which serve a similar purpose, or, as at Kotah, a broad river which admits of easy defence of the place. Of course in process of time it became no longer so easy to provide for those who separated from the parent stem, so that they had to be satisfied with less typical sites, but the traveller will be surprised to find in Rajputana how few are the villages of the nobles which have not close by some stronghold, which is built on a rock or near some low hills, or some woodland out of which to make a game preserve. Villages in the open owned for their lord him who had the longest arm, and when the inhabitants were in danger or were oppressed they withdrew to his fort for shelter. Tod refers to seeing near Reah in Marwar the cenotaph of the Thakur of that place, who fell in 1749 in defending the town walls against the Mhairs, having first put to death his wife in order to save his honour, and he adds that “there was scarcely a family on either side of the Aravallis whose estates lay near them which had not cenotaphs bearing similar inscriptions, recording the desperate raids of the mountaineers; and it may be asserted that one of the greatest benefits we conferred on Rajputana was the conversion of the numerous banditti . . . into peaceful tax-paying subjects. We have now, moreover, 78 COL. T. HOLBEIN HENDLEY, C.1.E., ON THE metamorphosised several corps of them, from breakers, into keepers of the peace.” The work of building strong forts and town walls was much facilitated by the abundance of excellent building materials. In North India, below the Himalayas, Rajputana alone fulfilled the important conditions which I have named. These are found, however, in other parts of the Peninsula, and in such situations the Rajputs, or the people who resembled them, also established themselves ; thus, for example, in the neighbourhood of Rotasgarh, on the Soane river in Bengal, and in the adjoining hill states of Chota Nagpur, there are many petty chiefs, who assert their descent from the genuine Rajput stock, though it is no doubt very much diluted by admixture with inferior aboriginal blood. The great Mahratta Chief, Sivaji, and the Rulers of Nepal also claim Rajput origin, and that from the noblest stock, none other than the royal house of Udaipur. The rule is almost universal, though it is true that in early times, when they became para- mount, the great chiefs of India, from whom the present rulers believe they are descended ; even the deified king Rama himself ; and the lords of Balabhi and Kanauj, respectively the reputed ancestors of the chiefs of Jaipur, Udaipur and Marwar, lived in the plains, but they did not thoroughly establish themselves there. Thanks to their possession of Chitor, the famous rock fortress, and of the hill countries near it, the chiefs of Meywar after Rana Hamir were paramount for more than two hundred years in Rajputana, notwithstanding that they had against them the power of the great sovereigns of Delhi. I will now quote at length from one of the appendices to the famous Rajasthan, or “History of the Rajputs,” a remonstrance which was addressed to Colonel James Tod, its author, when he was Political Agent in Meywar, by the Sub- vassals of Deogarh, because it 1s most typical of the ideas of the Rajputs as regards their duties to their liege lord, and still more so of his obligations to them, and then I propose to give some illustrations of the peculiar qualities of the race, qualities both good and bad, to which, in my opinion, they owe not only their successes, but their failures. Remonstrance of the Sub-vassals of Deogarh against their chief, Rawat Gokal Singh. (Appendix, Tod’s Rajasthan.) 1. He respects not the privileges or customs established of old. 2. To each Rajput’s house a Charsa or hide of land was attached ; this he has resumed. 3. Whoever bribes him is a true man, who does not is a thief. ——————— ee Lal RAJPUTS AND THE HISTORY OF RAJPUTANA. 19 4. Ten or twelve villages established by his vassals he has resumed and left their families to starve. 5. From time immemorial sanctuary has been esteemed sacred ; this he has abolished. 6. On emergencies he would pledge his oath to his subjects, and afterwards plunder them. 7. In old times, it was customary when the presence of his ‘chiefs and kindred was required, to invite them by letter; a fine is now the warrant of summons, thus lessening their dignity. 8. Such messengers in former times had a takka (a copper coin) for their ration, now he imposes two rupees (64 times as much). 9. Formerly when robberies occurred in the mountains within the limits of Deogarh, the loss was made good ; now all complaint is useless, for his fawjdar (military commander) receives a fourth -of all such plunder. The Mers range at liberty ; but before they never committed murder, they slay as well as rob our kin, nor is there any redress, and such plunder is even sold within the town of Deogarh. 10. Without crime, he resumes the land of his vassals for the sake of imposition of fines, and after such are paid, he cuts down the green crops, with which he feeds his horses. 11. The cultivators on the lands of the vassals he seizes by force, extorts fines, or sells their cattle to pay them. Thus cultivation is ruined, and the inhabitants leave the country. 12. From oppression the town magistrates of Deogarh have fled to Raipur. He lays in watch to seize and extort money from them. 13. When be summons his vassals for purposes of extortion and they escape his clutches, he seizes on their wives and families. Females, from a sense of honour, have on such occasions thrown themselves into wells. 14. He interferes to recover old debts, distraining the debtor of all he has in the world; half he receives. 15. If any man have a good horse, by fair means or foul he -contrives to get it. 16. When Deogarh was established, at the same time were our allotments; as 1s his patrimony, so is our patrimony. Thou- sands of rupees have been expended in establishing them and improving them, yet our rank, privileges, and rights he equally disregards. 17. From these villages, founded by our forefathers, he at times will take four or five skins of land, and bestow them on 80 COL. T. HOLBEIN HENDLEY, C.1.E., ON THE foreigners ; and thus the ancient proprietors are reduced to: poverty and ruin. 18. From of old all his Rajput kin had daily rations of grain; for four years these rights have been abolished. 19. From ancient times the vassals formed his council: now he consults only foreigners. What has been the consequence ? The whole annual revenue derived from the mountains is lost. 20. From the ancient allotment of the brotherhood the mountaineers carry off the cattle, and instead of redeeming them, this fawjdar (of lies) sets the plunderers up to the trick of demanding blackmail. 21. Money is justice and there is none other: whoever has money may be heard. The bankers and merchants have gone abroad for protection, but he asks not where they are. 22. Refers to their being fined when they attempt to do. themselves justice, and recover their cattle when they have been driven to the hills, thereby leading to loss of dignity; to failure to investigate feuds, whereby the Rajput is obliged to abandon his patrimony, there being neither protection nor support. They add that the chief is so supime and so regardless of honour, that he tells us to take money to the hills and redeem our property; foreigners are all in all, and the home-bred is set aside. Dekhanis (Southerners) and plunderers enjoy the lands of his brethren. Justice there is none. Our rights and privileges in his family are the same as his in the family of the Presence (the Maharana). What crimes have we committed, that at this day we should lose our lands! We are in great trouble. The recital of the wrongs of those poor people seems lke reproducing a page out of ancient Semitic history. The courage of the Rajputs, whether it is considered under its personal or its tribal and collective aspects, during the period of their greatness, was undoubted. Where every page of their history seems full of instances of both kinds of courage it is difficult to quote special cases. The most powerful incentives to bravery amongst them are perhaps pride of race and devotion to the immediate tribal lord rather than love of country. The ordinary Rajput thinks it quite sufficient to introduce himself by saying, “I am a Rajput,” the son of a king, and the proudest boast of his wife is to be the mother of a Rajput. Many a man of this race has been encouraged by his women to return again and again to fight the enemy and to perform the most heroic deeds. Even their taunts were not wanting though these were > rarely needed. The Emperor Akbar caused effigies to be put ’RAJPUTS AND THE HISTORY OF RAJPOTANA. 8] up of Patta Singh and Jai Mal, one of them a mere lad of sixteen, who both fell tighting on the slopes of Chitor, before his own palace, figures w hich are in existence to this day, as a testimony to his admiration for their valour. We are told that the mother and bride of Patta Singh accompanied him, and that both fell fighting near the spot. I have myself seen the monument erected to his memory, and from the tower of Victory of Kumbhu Rana which crowns that noble hill of Chitor, have heard the representative of his name and honours speak with pride of his forefather’s bravery and patrio- tism, both of which it was easy to see he would willingly emulate. Where every local history teems with instances of personal courage of both sexes, and it is almost impossible to find a coward, it would be invidious to quote more examples, I shall, therefore, go on to the collective bravery of the race, which has been the subject of comment of all historians. When the Rajput finds his case hopeless, he assumes saffron coloured robes, and putting to death the females of all ages, rushes headlong into the ranks of the enemy, and committing terrible havoc, there finds the death which he seeks. No fewer than three times was this awful sacrifice made in the history of Meywar, when, headed by the highest of the queens, the wives and ‘dauchters of all the nobles and the remaining females of the clan went down into the caverns on the side of the mountain, and there were suffocated or burned ; for if this had not been done, they would have become the lawful prey of the captors, as was the case with the Jews of old and the nations with whom they fought. In a beautiful valley cleft in the hill I was shown the sacred spot where is the entrance to the cavern in which the last and, perhaps, all of these fearful sacrifices took place. In front of it is a sacred fountain, and around it are grouped some smal! temples in which the manes of the dead are propitiated, and where the Rajputs pray for courage to imitate the example set by their illustrious ancestors, to which indeed they need but little incentive, the flames being abundantly fed by their bards and historians from their earliest days. Nor indeed are the women less backward than the men in all that is chivalrous. Taught from their infancy that pious wives should accompany their husbands to the realms of the dead, they arm their sons for battle, and follow their lords, in many cases, as the annals testify, most gladly, to the funeral pyre. Nor is this sur prising, because the lot of a widow is by no means a pleasant one, as custom prescribes many hardships that she must go through if 82 COL. T. HOLBEIN HENDLEY, C.I.E., ON THE she wishes to preserve her reputation for honour amongst her fellows. The sacrifice of the Johar was not confined to great national occasions, but was an accompaniment of even small intertribal conflicts. The whole story turns upon the Rajput’s jealousy of his honour, a feeling of which the following extract from the memoirs of James Skinner affords a good illustration. Fraser, who writes his memoirs, says, “If we seek for a picture of chivalrous gallantry, unswerving fidelity, and fearless self- devotion, we have only to turn to the cavalry of the Rajput states ; particularly to that of the Rahtores. We shall find there acts of resolute heroism that have not been surpassed by the troops of any age or country. In the history of their own wars we find repeated instances of bodies of their horsemen dashing against lines of spears and bayonets in the field, and against batteries bristhng with cannon, regardless of the havoc in their own ranks made by grape and steel, while in defence of their fortresses we find them dying to the last man, rather than accept quarter from their assailants on any terms but such as they deem consistent with military honour, for it is the zzat, the Abru, of the Rajput which is dearer to him than life, which instigates him to imperil that in its defence; while his devotion to his chief and clan, like that of the Highlanders of yore, makes all sacrifices easy when these are in peril.” Skinner gives an instance of a small garhi or petty fort in the Doab which was threatened by a detachment of the British army. The thirteen Rajputs who held it agreed to surrender to Skinner if permitted to go free and carry off their arms; but when the younger officers told them to give them up (as Skinner had promised), they said it was against their custom. Unfortunately, in spite of Skinner’s remonstrances, they were refused, and then turned back. They opposed the twenty men sent against them and killed or wounded as many in number as themselves, and finally all died in the little post, surrounded by three or four times the number of their assailants dying or dead around them. The famous La Borene, or Count de Boigne, who was such a prominent and good specimen of the military adventurer, who was the means, thanks to his training of the infantry of the Mahrattas, of domg more harm to the Rajput cause than perhaps any one else, bears testimony to the gallantry of the Rahtore horse. At the renowned battle of Mairta they charged and recharged up to the very muzzles of the guns. Again and again they charged, each time with ebbing effort and weaker effect; again and again they flung themselves against that hedge of bayonets with merciless RAJPUTS AND THE HISTORY OF RAJPOTANA. 83 madness. There is a limit to human endurance, but to-day that lmit was death. So the ghastly sacrifice was consummated, until only fifteen remained alive, and_ these, steadfast to the end, returned for the last time to the shambles ef self-immolation, and found the death they sought. Baber, who was the conqueror at Biana, owed that victory, which gave him India, to his artillery and to the treachery ot some of the supporters of his valiant antagonist, Sanga Rana of Meywar, and perhaps to the want of general discipline of the foe, and not to any decay in their courage, for which he had the greatest admiration. All writers up to the end of the eighteenth century speak in similar terms, but when the new century dawned the incursions of the Mahrattas, aided as they were by internal dissensions of the Rajput princes, and strengthened by the infantry and artillery under the European adventurers, who had trained them, completely demoralised the race, so that Skinner, who saw “ the brave Surajbanses, or the children of the Sun,’ in their prime in 1798, in 1832 says, “How much are they now fallen. Chiefs, no longer brave leaders, but either boys or men sunk in vice or debauchery, guided by women or Kamdars or agents—Udaipur the only exception.” Very shortly afterwards Dr. Irvine of Ajmere wrote of the courage of the Rajput as having been very much overrated, and as having been at all times due in a great measure to the use of opium and other stimulants, but their bravery was a matter of common knowledge long before opium was in use according to Tod, and was exercised under circumstances which were quite independent of such adventitious support. The Rajput takes a dose of opium before an engagement as an almost sacramental right and in part, as a valiant man of the race told me, for medical reasons. Be that as it may, I think no one who knows the people would not be glad to lead such men in a charge, being certain that he would be followed to the death. The Rajput is impulsive, easily deceived by a wily foe, as the emperors knew well, having on several important occasions detached chiefs from the cause of their own enemies by the stratagem of allowing misleading, or forged, letters to fall into their hands. He is too prone to take offence and will fight with his brethren for land as well as for every insult, whether it is true or false, so unreflecting is he, but he is generous to the foe, often giving away advantages in a reckless fashion. He has no idea of discipline, but he will die for the most quixotic and trivial reasons in defence of his honour and of that of his immediate 84. COL. T. HOLBEIN HENDLEY, C.1.E., ON THE lord, or for any cause which the latter takes up, though he does not so readily fight for country as we regard the word. Tod tells us how the Rajput regards the honour of the clan, or of his own family, as the most pressing of all duties. Two illustrations will suffice to enforce the above remarks. The Maharana of Udaipur had the son of the great Moghul, Aurungzeb (Orme says it was the emperor himself) in his power in the mountains, as well as a favourite queen. Although their detention would have been of the utmost value to him, he let both go without making any terms. Two great nobles claimed the right of leading the van in war. The chief, not wishing to offend either of them, said that he who was first inside of a town which was then being besieged should lead in the future. One advanced to the wall, the other tried to enter by the gate, but the latter finding his elephant would not attempt to burst it in on account of the long spikes of iron with which it was studded, and stimulated into frenzy by the distant sound of the war cry of his rival, threw himself upon the sharp points and commanded his mahout, or elephant driver, to press forward through his body, but in the moment of death he had still the mortification of hearing that his antagonist was already within the walls. It isa noble sight to see the Rajputs in full martial array on the open plain. Some faint idea of their splendour I witnessed thirty years ago when, after his father’s death, the late Maharaja Jaswant Singh of Marwar, accompanied by the whole of his court and his nineteen brothers, went out of Jodhpur to escort the then Chief of Jaipur, Maharaja Ram Singh, into his capital. The young nobles were mounted on camels or horses decked with the gayest trappings, and with the tails of the wild ox fastened in front of their saddles. Elephants carried the royal standard and insignia of Marwar, and before the chiefs and those who accompanied them ran crowds of horse and foot, while from all sides were heard the plaudits of the people, accompanied by the discharge of muskets and similar weapons and the booming of cannon from the fort walls. Such is the ceremony of the Peshwai or Istakbal. Something of the ancient glories was seen at the famous Imperial Assemblage of Delhi, and a faint, though modernized, version of them in the same capital at the Coronation Darbar of 1903, when an unfortunate chief, who wore the national dress, the garb of the Moghul Court, as he ascended the Vice-regal dais, excited the mirth of the unthinking crowd. Most terrible is the picture drawn for us of the condition O_o —_ RAJPUTS AND THE HISTORY OF RAJPUTANA. 85 of Rajputana when the British first became intimately connected with it. Broughton, in his letters from a Mahratta camp, describes how the army of Sindeah passed systematically over the lands of all the villages which did not buy him off. His troops deliberately traversed the fields of wheat and barley where the ear was just ripening, with no more remorse than if it had been a desert, the Mahrattas tearing up the corn and loading themselves and their cattle with it. Risalas (troops of cavalry) oceasionally halted in the midst of a particularly flourishing spot to allow their horses to get a good feed. Even the beams and thatch of the houses were carried away. They tore and destroyed that which they did not want, so that it was no wonder that the peasantry were raised against them and cut off all they could. These miscreants, if they had a grudge against a village, would march over and trample down the growing crops. He laments the degeneracy of the Rajputs, who were formerly so eminently distinguished for their chivalrous courage and high sense of honour, which now seemed to have quite deserted them, and, as an instance of the spirit which formerly animated them, he mentions that when the Chief of Bhurtpore marched in defiance through the Jeypore country, the nobles rose up and with their followers drove him off with fearful loss. This writer, and many others at the time, refer to the manner in which the English abandoned the Rajputs under the most unfortunate and disastrous policy of the East India Company that was carried out by Sir George Barlow, at which time, for our own convenience, we abandoned this brave race, not only to the Mahrattas, but even to those still worse foes, the awful Pindaris, who are described as despotic marauders and savage barbarians, who were prowling about the country in immense hordes, being composed of the worst men of the Mahrattas and Musalman armies, and of all other scoundrels of the lowest class whom the civil wars and troubles of the period had driven to obtain a livelihood by preying upon their fellow creatures. These Pindaris, another writer says, ranged over the countries of Malwa and Rajputana as if they were their common prey. Miserable indeed was the condition of the land, not only from the ravages of these savages, but from the excesses of the no less ferocious chiefs and princes who disputed for power upon their soil, so that the greater portion of them was utterly ruined and. depopulated; and the natives have given to that period (1800-1818) the expressive name of gardi-ka-wakt, that is, the time of trouble. “The poor Bhils, 86 COL. T. HOLBEIN HENDLEY, C.1.E., ON THE whom the Mahrattas could not keep in order, were treated by’ them as outlaws, and they permitted their lowest officers to take- their lives without trial. Torture was freely used. Exposed: to the sun with his nose slit and his ears shaved from his head: the Bhil was burned to death, chained to a red-hot iron slab. Hundreds were thrown over a cliff at Antur, and large bodies, assembled under a promise of pardon, were beheaded and blown from guns. Their women were mutilated, or smothered by smoke and their children dashed to pieces against the stones.” At this time they too came under the protection of the British. The country never suffered in this way from the Rajputs, who- if they did fight with each other, or with the common foe, protected the peasant, and were on good terms with the wild Bhil. It is not wonderful that the Mahrattas and the Mohammedans. lost empire. As to the latter, when the intolerant Aurangzeb. imposed the polltax on all who were not Musalmans, he lost at the same time the support of the Rajputs, and the Moghul Empire soon fell to pieces, but even, at their best, the Moghuls. after Akbar did not know how to treat a brave people. The emperor Jehangir, for example, writes of his efforts to put down what he calls the robbers of these countries, and mentions as a proof of the difficulties of the task, that in his own lifetime half- a-million of them had to be put to death, but without much result.. It was some time before Malwa and Rajputana recovered from this terrible strain, and even now the recollection of the past must go far to reconcile the inhabitants to the rule of a humane: paramount power, even although it is not of their own faith or race. The immense improvement in the masters of these regions is. shown by the opinions of those who saw something of the horrors of the past; thus, for example, Sir John Malcolm, the great Political Officer and historian of Central India, says, “the unbounded liberality of the East India Company is quite un- known in England, and indeed in the more remote parts of Hindustan. Their munificence is proverbial amongst the whole: of the native powers with whom they have been concerned ; their extreme liberality and good faith in all treaties, which has. never been tarnished, establish them on a rock which no power can shake.” It can easily be imagined with what relief the mild rule and non-interference of such a power must have been. received after so much oppression and misrule, and after the unfortunate Barlow period there has been nothing to shake this. confidence as far as the treatment of the natives of those pro- RAJPUTS AND THE HISTORY OF RAJPUTANA. 87 vinces is concerned. With not very great exceptions the Rajputs stood the test of the mutiny and were loyal. Most of the states have recovered, and, though a bad ruler is not unknown, the people generally are happy, and even the Rajput nobles, who cannot now obtain new land at the expense of their neighbours and friends, are at least secure in the possession of that which they already hold, which can only be alienated by their own fault. Here, however, family pride, which demands, as they think, very heavy outlay for marriage and funeral expenses, and general improvidence, often lead to serious loss and even ruin. In the good old days the moneylender was kept somewhat under control, because he was not allowed to go too far, or to collect his debts by too legal measures, nor to spend too much on himself, as he was restrained by sumptuary laws. Some states have taken special precaution to protect the noble against his own folly in both respects. The Walterkrit Sabha, a social organisation which was founded on the recommendation of the late Colonel Walter and of other officers, with the support of the chiefs and sympathy of the Government of India, has helped the nobles and better classes of Rajputs to reduce the enormous marriage expenses, particularly by making it punishable to spend too much on such occasions. The chief bards and others who pro- fited most have loyally co-operated in this very useful reform. Personal pride, family honour, and jealousy of each other, which were inflamed by the bards, and all of those who were interested in shearing the unfortunate noble, made it very difficult to escape from lavish outlay, so that the friendly intervention and support of a third powerful party, on whose bread shoulders all the odium and blame could be thrown, was of infinite value at this time, nor indeed should a paramount power shrink from performing such an important if temporarily unpleasant duty, and happily our Government does not shirk its responsibility, and has not the desire nor is it under the necessity of adopting the Macchiavelhan policy of the Moghuls, which led the emperors to believe that it was all-important to divide if they wished to rule. It was unhappily far too easy to sow dissension amongst the Rajputs, whose hunger for land, jealousy of each other, and impulsiveness, as I have already shown, were always so apparent! History is full of instances of the advantages the old paramount powers sought and obtained from these sad divisions, though, on the other hand, it is not wanting in examples of combination which lasted long enough to prevent their enemies from com- pletely destroying them. Such ill-judged action as that of Aurangzeb, when he fined G 88 COL. T. HOLBEIN HENDLEY, C.1.E., ON THE and punished all Hindus on account of their religion, or the in- vasions of their country by the numerous Mohammedan invaders of India, from a sense of common danger, led to general resist- ance of the foe, but so loosely knit were the discordant elements of these combinations that failure often occurred on the eve of victory, or the ultimate advantages of victory were lost to the race. As an instance of the former, the defeat of Sanga Maha- rana at Biana by Baber from the defection of one of the } principal Rajputs may again be mentioned. The love: of land is an overwhelming passion with the Rajput, and has often tempted him to despoil his neighbour, and to take advantage of his difficulties. It has thus come about that although the tribe has remained firmly established in Rajputana, the same clans do not always hold the same possessions, nor have they the same boundaries as formerly. It was the custom at each succession, for example, for a new Maharana of Udaipur to make a raid into a neighbouring State, and so begin a struggle for extended dominions. Each of the more celebrated septs has thus in turn come to the front. The brave Chohans once held very extensive sway, so did the equally renowned Tuars, both having at one time been rulers at Delhi, but the one is now represented by a noble in the Alwar State, and the other, as a Jaipur chief, holds his httle court at Patan in North Jaipur, where in a small house, within sight of a great fort above on the hills, I was received on several occasions by him as if he had still in his possession the lordship of the Imperial city, which was given up 700 or 800 years before, showing how much men such as he live on the glories and traditions of the past. The history of the abandonment of the upper fort is characteristic. A former lord had killed his own father, being eager to enter into possession, but was soon overcome by remorse as his fears led him to beleve that the place was haunted by the defunct, and so persistent was the vision, that he went to live in a hut on the plain, and from that day none of his descendants have ventured to take up the old home. Both Jaipur and Jodhpur have been stained by crimes of this nature, and these have been due to the love of possession, which was driven into erime of the worst kind by the evil suggestions of the Delhi power. In these, and similar cases, the deed has been execrated by the Rajputs themselves, and the superstitious fears of the murderer have made his life a burden to him. Superstition and religion are very much allied in the Rajput. Every state has its tutelary divinity, who at some critical RAJPUTS AND THE HISTORY OF RAJPUTANA. 89 time has appeared, it is believed, for the preservation of the ruler or of his race. All firmly believe in the truth of these stories, and act upon them. While the Rajput is professedly a follower of Shiva, the destroying form of the divinity of the Hindus, he is actuated more, perhaps, by the milder tenets of the votaries of Krishna, whose cult is much favoured by the women ; and the Jains, who as bankers have always flourished in Rajputana, have also been influential in leading the chiefs to treat their people with humanity. The fact that, if oppressed, the cultivator will at last abandon a village, and the knowledge that the large extent of waste land needs men to work it, and that dissatisfied persons will soon find others ready to welcome them, also tends to induce the nobles to make themselves good landlords. The custom of modified domestic slavery, which prevails in Rajputana to this day, is another proof of the mildness of Rajput rule. The present Chief of Jaipur, in speaking to me on this question, said that, even in the days of his poverty, and he at one time lived in exile with very scanty means, his chelas or his servants born in his own house, to use the Seriptural or more correct phrase, were never hungry though he often was. A Rajput, he said, would rather die than see such persons suffer, and the fact is true that no inan or woman need now remain in such servitude in these days of railway communication. It is the custom when a young Rajput, or his sister, the young fajputni, is married, for a number of chela boys and girls to accompany the young people into the new home, and to be married at the same time, the marriage expenses of the servant being paid by the lord, and so well is this understood that the boys and girls are kept unmarried for such an occasion. Some of these chelas rise to high position in India. These people. as indeed do all his clansmen, join in all the pleasures as well as in the sorrows of the lords. In some states, every Rajput retainer receives a portion of grain from the state granary _every day. This is of course convenient in a country in which most of the revenue is paid in kind, but it goes deeper than that, being an illustration of the custom of looking to the lord for everything. i have often been told, when I hinted at the propriety of rich men giving subscriptions to hospitals, that they were not needed, because it was the duty of the chief to provide all such things for his people, and it would therefore be insulting to distrust him. In turn the chief expects assistance to be given to him, and that when required, up, of course to a certain Gu2 90 COL. T. HOLBEIN HENDLEY, C.I.E., ON THE limit, he should be able to have the first call upon anyone for his skill, thus, for example, the goldsmith or the armourer must execute work for the Maharaja in preference to the subject, whatever the necessities of the latter may be. These customs are but the extension of “mutual aid,” the earliest form of human society, as Kropotkin has pointed out, but, side by side with this practice, we have the village system of India, and the Trade Guilds, all working together with a not unsuccessful harmony. Interference with the individual is on well-known lines, and is, therefore, easily borne. Cooperation in danger, even though imperfect, and inde- pendence in the home go hand in hand, and although they may sometimes press somewhat heavily in special cases, it 1s very doubtful if a different system would be more successful. So secure have the people of Rajputana been in the belief that, on the whole, the conditions of life around them are the best for them, that they have been tolerant of others, and thus in that country there has been little difference between the prospects of the Hindu and the Musalman, and, if it were not for the misrepresentations of foreign members of the Brahmanical faith from Bengal and elsewhere, it is probable that Christians of Indian races would meet with the same toleration, though in their case the Paramount Power does not, under us, exert any influence in their favour, although they have, if I remember correctly, ence been described by an Anglo-Indian judge as the first of all castes. Although I have given many reasons why I think the Rajputs settled in Rajputana, I have only incidentally referred to the conditions under which they maintained themselves so long in the province. They could not have done this unless their rule over the people, especially over those who were not of their own clan, had not been mild, and if their conduct towards them had not been generally just and benevolent. As regards the powers which sought to conquer them from the outside, although the Rajput did not always win he always made himself felt, and his ~ prowess was so respected as to make his enemies not only fear him, but afraid to attack him without the most serious preparation. In respect to their relations with their retainers and the people generally, many things conduced to good feeling, loyalty, and success. The retainers are men of the same clan, whose ancestors followed their tribal chief to war and victory, and amongst them he divided the lands which they had conquered together,and which were, therefore, the reward of their mutual toil RAJPUTS AND THE HISTORY OF RAJPUTANA. 91 and prowess. The noble held, as he still holds, his petty court of ceremony and justice just as his sovereign did; he settled disputes in a truly patriarchal way; he punished crime; he protected the poor, and even fed his clansmen, as, indeed, everyone else in times of famine and scarcity ; he helped on such occasions as marriages and deaths with money to meet the additional expenditure of such occasions ; and in return the lord expected and received similar support at the time of domestic events in his own family, and, more than all, faithful help when he had to serve the common sovereign, whether at his court or in time of war. If these bonds were broken on either side there were dis- content, rupture, and transfer of allegiance to another noble, who, as I have already observed, had a strong interest in getting more men to till his waste lands, but an even stronger one in securing the services of additional horsemen to follow him into the field of battle, or to aid him in any struggle with his own superior should he find it necessary, in turn, to change his allegiance. There were therefore many reasons why a noble should be just and conciliatory. The remonstrance of the sub-vassals of Deogarh which I have given, shows some of the various grievances which may arise, and proves how an unjust noble may soon lose his power, his influence, and even his estate. A Hindu will not, however, lightly leave his holding, his Bhum, or the land of his fathers. Outside many a village is the shrine of a Bhumia, that is of a man who has died in defence of his rights in the land, and who in consequence 1s thought to haunt the scene of his former life, and who, if he is not propitiated, may greatly trouble his descendants or the village people. A light is, therefore, kept burning inside the little shrine, or garlands are placed near the painted stone within, which represents the departed, whose soul is still anappeased. The Bhumia sometimes, it is believed, lives near the spot in the form of a huge cobra, which, if offended, will ill someone in the place. There are many families that have remained for untold generations in or near the same hamlet, and nothing struek me more, in recording the names and history of persons who were detained in cholera or plague camps, than the narration of such pedigrees as this. When passing through the large town of Sojat in Marwar two or three years after the great famine of 1868-9, I saw whole streets of houses and shops which were locked up, but were untenanted by newcomers because it was believed that the owners, or someone representing them, would surely return from Malwa into which o2 COL. T. HOLBEIN HENDLEY, C.1.E., ON THE they had fled under stress of hunger. Such facts as this show how the native of India clings to his land and home, and what a great amount of wrong is required to drive him away for good, yet it also pots on the whole to a just and paternal treatment. What tended most to preserve such a rule was a common religion, which, while it allowed much elasticity in some ways, such as variety of sect and local practice, did not usually persecute for such divergencies, and its very humane nature which permitted a man to do so many personal things without hindrance that, in perhaps better regulated and more straitlaced. communities, are prohibited. Thus, for example, a man will shut up a street if he wishes to give a caste feast on some family occasion ; he will get the loan of horses, elephants, camels, furniture, and even of a few soldiers when he has a marriage in hand, and desires to shine a little before his neighbours; and he will have the right to a seat, or at least a standing place, in the little court of the noble, even if he is only a smali shop- keeper: and he may as the head of his guild or fraternity, sit in judgment on his caste men in petty “disputes, and lastly, his body may be carried sitting up instead of in a recumbent position to the cremation ground, his chiet being present. Then again, if he is one of the nobles or officials, he will have some- thing to say when his sovereign dies as to the succession. The rules of succession to position and property in Rajputana have had very much to do with the permanency of Rajput ruie. Unlike the Mohammedan Emperors, whose rules for themselves | and their nobles as well as officials were most irregular, the Rajput had fixed principles which were followed at every succession both of a chief and of his nobles. All were therefore equally interested in keeping these reculations and in preserving the system which admitted them. Mohammedan successions were far from regular. The strongest, or most unscrupulous, won in the almost inevitable struggle which followed upon the death of the last sovereign, and his death was not always waited for, as for example in the case of even the great Akbar himself, whose grandson Khusru strove to obtain the empire to the prejudice of his father Jehangir. ‘This scheme some authorities say even the emperor attempted to stay by giving the rebel’s own supposed supporter Raja Maun Singh of Jaipur, poisoned pan or betel with his own hand, which, however, he took by mistake himself, thus causing his own death. So also Aurangzeb, by cunning and fighting, won the empire from his brothers and actually deposed his father Shan Jehan, the deed RAJPUTS AND THE HISIYORY OF RAJPUTANA. 93 of blood being amply revenged upon his descendants, of whom 21 out of 27 died violent deaths. The evil existed in all ranks, because upon the demise of a noble or high official his possessions passed to the crown, his natural heirs only receiving enough to live upon. Can it be wondered then that the Rajputs and the people generally preferred a system which had some elements of permanency in it, and that not even the Mohammedans were wholly in favour of regulations which destroyed all the natural incentives of working for a man’s own family and of founding a home and keeping in memory a name. Ordinarily then the succession in Rajputana was hereditary, but when there were no sons the Hindu laws, which admitted of adoption of some lad of the royal line, were followed. This practice adruitted of the choice of the most promising scion of the family who was at the moment capable of adoption. 7 Of course there was not unfrequently much scope for intrigue, but on the whole if the main stem had proved unworthy, there was a change for the better, and the ancient lineage was always preserved. Such a case occurred while I was at Jaipur. The Maharaja was the last of the direct line, and on his deathbed it became necessary to inquire whom he wished to succeed him, he replied, “The next of kin according to the Shastras,” or Hindu Scriptures. This would have led to some dispute, because tribal and local customs and state views might have given rise to differences of opinion, so that a few minutes later he was induced to speak more definitely, and then named a young man, who was of the family, and who, being the second son, was not required to perform his own natural father’s. funeral rites, and was therefore capable of being adopted by another. This youth succeeded, aud is now the capable, though conservative and popular chief of the state who came over to England for the coronation of our King. There were several important considerations however that arose in this ease that are illustrative of the subject, as, for example, the facts that the widows of the chief had also a voice in the matter as well as. the nobles and the members of the state council, all of whom agreed. In case of a death without nomination of an heir the same principles will be followed, but the widow would nominate by the advice of the other parties. The Paramount Power has always, certainly since Moghul times, held, and exercised as far as it could, the right of final ap- proval. The Moghuls, it will readily be surmised, would interfere the more often in order to back up their own system of succession, and to enable them to keep down their most truculent opponents 94, COL. T. HOLBEIN HENDLEY, C.I.E., ON THE by threatening thei in their dearest aims. One of the measures which has tended, perhaps, more than any other to ensure the lasting loyalty of the Rajput has been the grant of the right of adoption to the chiefs of that race, and the anxiety of the ereat families was extreme when the failure of direct heirs at Karauli before the great Mutiny led to this matter being thoroughly threshed out, and an ultimate decision being given in their favour. Had it not been so, even in my own time, many of the great Rajput chiefships would have been at the disposal of the paramount sovereignty. Even the loyal and wise chief of Jeypore, Maharaja Ram Singh, felt it necessary on his deathbed to say to me, when nominating his successor, that he looked to the Government, in recognition of his uniform loyalty, to see that his wishes were carried out, and that the independence of his country was maintained, and his lne preserved. Nor indeed is this fixity of tenure confined to the ruling race, which numbers only about five per cent. of the whole population, but it is the rule throughout all classes. There are, for example, bankers in the northern parts of Jaipur, in Bikanir, and in Marwar, whose ancestors have been settled in or near the same places for many centuries. The facts which I have mentioned point to community of interest, to fixity of tenure, and especially to preservation of land in the regular line of succession, but there are other privileges which are of equal value to the ordinary human being which the Rajputana system ensured. Provided a man did not interfere in high polities, he could do many things which fostered his love of independence in his own home and affairs which a less elastic and, perhaps, over-legislated rule would not admit of. He could till his own lands without much interference, especially if he bribed a tax-collector, and, with the exception of caste control to which all were accustomed, he could do pretty much as he liked, and then too, there was the chance, under personal rule, of rising even to the position of a prime minister by natural acuteness, rather than by the arts of the seribe, which all.in their hearts abhor. Crowning all was the mutual aid which every one was prepared to render if the interests of the clan, or of the immediate lord, were attacked. On the side of the Rajput noble there were many things which tended to keep him up to the mark. The bard recited deeds of honour, but on the other hand he could describe in scathing verse any acts which were contrary to the accepted standard of uprightness. I remember how the name of a noble was execrated because in a time of dire distress from famine he RAJPUTS AND THE HISTORY OF RAJPUTANA. 95 vowed he would not part with his huge stores of grain until the price in the market rose to a certain very high rate, and how every one scoffed when, on the arrival of the longed-for hour, and his grain pits were opened, it was found that the contents were rotten, and the sanitary authority condemned them as being unfit for human consumption. So also a noble who lends money at usury, like a Baniya, is despised by his brethren, while the liberality of another, not always wise though it may be, is lauded to the skies. Some of the most beautiful illustrations of the care of the Rajput princes for their people are to be found in Rajputana. I refer to the wonderful artificial lakes which have been formed by throwing across streams, as they emerge from the hills through the passes, huge dams, some of which are constructed of marble and are crowned with magnificent halls and temples which have been usually dedicated to Vishnu the preserving deity. The coffers of the chief and of his nobles have been freely opened for such public works, and most beautiful and useful are the results of such munificence. The great dams at Deybar and Kankrauli in Meywar, with the broad expanses of water behind them, are things to dwell for ever in the memory, as also are many of the lesser works in the capitals of many other states. It must not be forgotten, moreover, that the magnificent and striking palaces of the chiefs have led to the outlay of much money, thus supporting many trades and occupations, and that a Rajput palace is not a possession which is intended or used for the benefit of one man or for a single caste. The palace includes the courts and public offices to which all have access, and the Darbar Halls are frequented by men of every class when the numerous darbars or receptions are held, of which there are at least a dozen at most courts to commemorate some royal or religious anniversary as the year rolls round. The great Bishop Heber, in one of his letters writes as follows, “There are two palaces, Amber and Jaipur, surpassing all which I have seen of the Kremlin, or heard of the Alhambra ; a third, Jodhpur, is said to be equal to either ; and the Jain temples of Abu, on the verge of the western desert, are said to rank above them all.” In another place, he remarks that “For varied and picturesque effect, for richness of carving, for wild beauty of situation, for the number and romantic singularity of the apartments, and the strangeness of finding such a building in such a place and country, | am able to compare nothing with Amber.” Fraser, the Editor of Skinner’s Memoirs, says, “India cannot produce 96 COL. T. HOLBEIN HENDLEY, C.I.E., ON THE a more splendid view than that of the wide plain of Jaipur, as seen upon the road from Amber, with its noble city in the distance, and the foreground studded with palaces, shrines, temples, tanks, and multitudes of villages thick with groves and gardens. ‘There are few places in Upper India better worth seeing than these two cities and their environs.” Tod describes the glories of Jodhpur, “within whose noble fort, situated high up on a mole projecting from a low range of hills so as to be almost isolated, surrounded by strong walls with numerous lofty towers, are many splendid edifices and the Raja’s residence, composed of many palaces which were constructed by his ancestors.” Of Bundi he says, “ The cowp-d’wil of the eastellated palace of Bundi, from whichever side you approach it, is perhaps the most striking in India; . . . throughout Rajwarra, which boasts many fine palaces, the Bundica Mahl is allowed to possess the first rank ; for which it is indebted to situation not less than to the splendid additions which it has continually recelveds* The valley of Udaipur he thought the “ most diversified and most romantic spot on the continent of India,” and who is there who has seen its marvellous palaces, both on the waters of the Peshola Lake and on its beautiful shores, its temples and its Mahasati, or abodes of the dead, its wood-clad embracing hills, its wayside shrines, and its interesting inhabitants, who shall differ from him ? The Jain Temple of Vrishabdeva at Mount Abu, is, according to him, “ Beyond controversy the most superb of all the temples of India, and there is not an edifice besides the Taj Mahl which can approach it. The pen is incompetent to describe the exuberant beauties of this proud monument of the Jains, raised by one of the richest of their votaries (by whose name, and not that of the pontiff enshrined within, it is still designated), and which continues to attract pilgrims from every region of India.” Time would indeed fail us if we were to tell of all the glories of this romantic land, but I would mention that it 1s not only the princes who have such beautiful homes, but in Bikanir, Jaisulmer, and Ajmere, and many another spot there are similar palatial residences of bankers, priests, and other rich men, most of these towns being adorned with buildings which are carved from top to bottom of their walls with most intricate lace work in red sandstone and marble. Moreover every picturesque rock in some parts of the country seems to be the SSeS RAJPUTS AND THE HISTORY OF RAJPUTANA. Q7 site of some charming little shrine, and every hill is crowned with some romantic castle, all such buildings giving the lie to the idea that the Hindu does not love beauty, ‘and, in choosing the situations of his buildings, that he is only moved by considerations of comfort or perhaps of coolness or security. Some of the views which are shown to-day will, in a faint measure, help those who look at them to realize the beauties of a few of these places. Few countries can produce such a long roll of eminent men as Rajputana. To begin with Meywar, there have been few greater warriors than Sanga Rana, who at the time of his death was only the fragment of a man, havi ing lost an eye and an arm, besides having received no fewer than eighty wounds in the cause of his country. No less great was Kambhu, of whom the Mohammedan historian, after relating his victory over the King of Malwa, dilates on his greatness of soul in setting his enemy at liberty, not only without ransom but with gifts. ‘The life-long struggle with the Moghul empire of Partap will never be for- sotten by his race, and the beautiful letter of Rana Raj Singh to Aurangzeb, remonstrating on behalf of his nation against the intolerant persecution of that bigot, has often been quoted with admiration. Marwar produced so long a line of valiant princes that an exception is almost unknown. Especially famous were Sur Singh, Gaj Singh, Jaswant Singh, and Ajit Singh. Some of these were viceroys of the emperors in distant lands and patrons of art and literature, but in the latter capacity none equalled the famous founder of Jaipur. Siwai Jai Singh, who reformed the calendar, wrote histories, built observatories the remains of which exist to this day, and was, in addition, one of the most skilful generals and greatest politicians of his age. Raja Man Singh of the same royal house was, in succession, viceroy for the Moghuls of Kabul, Bengal and Orissa. In two battles twelve of the royal blood of Bundi and Kotah died, with the heads of every Hara clan, to maintain their promised fealty to the Delhi house. It is unnecessary to pursue this theme, but one can only wonder that 1t was followed by so much decay. That this was due, in a very large measure, to the shrewd action of the Mahrattas in employing European adventurers to organise their forces on modern principles cannot be doubted, but the folly of the Rajputs led, in the first instance, to the interference of the Mahrattas themselves in Rajputana affairs, and the beginning was due to the jealousy of the rulers of Jaipur and Marwar, who were both candidates for the hand of Krishan Kumari, the beautiful daughter of the Maharana of Udaipur. 98 COL. T. HOLBEIN HENDLEY, C.I.E., ON THE This struggle led to the invitation of the foe to interfere, and mot only to the ruin of the country, but to the death of the innocent princess, who was compelled to take poison, though she was not unavenged. A patriotic noble of Mewar cursed the instigator of the deed, and foretold that no chief of Udaipur should ever again have a son who would directly succeed him. The late Sir Edward Arnold recited a beautiful ballad deserib- ing this sad history, in my own house, which was formerly the residence of the minister of Jaipur, one of the states concerned in the events which he eloquently narrated, and I would strongly recommend all who are interested in the Rajputs to read his charming verses, as none can do so unmoved. Had time permitted 1 would have written of the wonderful resemblances of many of the Rajput customs, practices, and ceremonies to those of the ancient Semitic races and particularly of the Jews, but failing this opportunity would point to the suggestiveness of many of the portraits of Rajput princes which I have brought for your inspection, which may perhaps be considered of double interest in view of the little that is known of the remote history and the date of the first appearance of the tribe in India. I think, moreover, that some account of a living people which seems so allied in customs, history, and in many other ways to the ancient Biblical nations of Asia cannot fail to be of special interest, from many points of view, to the members of this Society. In conclusion I will briefly recapitulate as the causes of the long possession of power in the same regions of the Rajput race:—A climate and physical conditions which were best suited to the growth and maintenance in strength of both mind and body of a manly people, which could not have been kept up, as the history of other inhabitants of India has shown, in the hot plains of the peninsula. The presence in Rajputana of excellent situations and materials for building forts and places of refuge, and above all numerous inaccessible hills or deserts into which a secure retreat could:be made in ~ case of severe pressure. The patriarchal and tribal system which permitted of much personal freedom, while adequate provision was made for cooperation and united action if threatened by a foreign power. A common religion. Just and well understood laws of succession. Benevolent treatment of the commonality and competition for tenantry which the wide extent of land ensured. A patriarchal system of justice. A fairly wide-spread toleration of the religion and customs of the RAJPUTS AND THE HISTORY OF RAJPUTANA. 99 people of other faiths than their own. And lastly occupation, in peace as well as in war, of a manly race as afforded by the amount of game and the numerous preserves, without any great pressure from unrighteous forest laws, which could not press in any case very seriously when most of the people did not require game for use as food. The very failures in ensuring absolute success prove, I think, that, on the whole, these conclusions are correct, but, if there were not justice and manly strength, none of the causes which I have enumerated would have been of any avail, and so L would end my paper with the motto of the famous prince Siwat Jai Singh of Jaipur, “YATO DHARM STATO JAI”—Where there is virtue (or all the great virtues—whether religious or virile— for such is the comprehensive meaning of the word dharm) “THERE IS THE VICTORY.” DISCUSSION. The CHAIRMAN remarked on the extreme interest of the paper ; and thanked the author for the trouble he had taken in the preparation both of the coloured pictures and the excellent lantern slides of the beautiful buildings and rich surroundings of the cities: of Rajputana, and called for observations from those present. The SECRETARY wished to associate himself with the views of the Chairman regarding the great interest of the paper and the beauty of the illustrations. No one was better qualified than Colonel Hendley for giving a true description of this splendid dependency of the British Empire, owing to his long residence in Jeypore, his intimate relations with the late and present Maharajah, who showed his loyalty to the Crown by his presence at the Coronation of King Edward VII. It should also be recollected that Colonel Hendley was instrumental in bringing together into one Museum at Jeypore a large collection of Indian works of art, and of setting up a meteorological observatory ; in all of which undertakings he had the support of the Maharajah and of the british resident. He, the Secretary, thought these were points which ones to be mentioned on the present occasion. The CHAIRMAN, on behalf of the meeting, cordially thanked the author for his most interesting paper, and the proceedings terminated. ORDINARY GENERAL MEETING.* CoLONEL. T. H. HENDLEY, C.I.E.,. IN THE CHAIR. The Minutes of the previous Meeting were confirmed. The SECRETARY read a telegram from the Rev. J. B. Whiting expressing his regret that he was unable to be present, his medical advisers having forbidden it. DEATH OF BEY. DRY. A. WALKER: The SECRETARY also alluded to the death of the Rev. Dr. F. A. Walker, F.L.S., which took place on January 31st, and which was a great loss to the Institute. Dr. Walker had travelled in Iceland and studied the insects of that country and had written several papers. He (the Secretary) had, on behalf of the Institute, attended the funeral on Saturday last, and he was sure it was the wish of the Society that he should express their regret and sympathy with the widow and family. , Mr. Rouse said he wished informally to express for himself his regret to hear of the death of Dr. Walker. He spoke of his genial manner and Christian character, and expressed the hope that some one would be raised up to fill the gap which his death had caused in the ranks. Professor ORCHARD also expressed his regret and remarked on the almost encyclopedic knowledge which Dr. Walker possessed on many subjects. ; Mr. Whiting’s paper, entitled “The Growth of the Kingdom of God,” was read by the Secretary, and discussion followed. * Monday, February 6th, 1905. THE GROWTH OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD. By Rev. J. B. Wairine, M.A. [* a very interesting paper, read before this Institute three years ago, Professor Lobley traced the vast succession of animal and vegetable creatures, as a preparation of the earth forman.* This preparation, which ultimately covered the earth, was orderly, gradual and final. It bore evidence of having been planned by a mind of wisdom, and carried out by an arm of power. The work was long, there was no hurry. It was the work of God. We instinctively look for a similar process in what we signify as the Kingdom of God. We believe in God. The idea of God leads to the conviction that there has been purpose, plan and preparation. We look for successful development; but that development may not be obvious for a long time. It is, I think, only recently, that we are struck by the fact that an enormous growth has taken place, “The Kingdom of God is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took and cast into his garden; and it grew and waxed a great tree.” “This Kingdom” is likened to a field, which contains both tares and wheat. It is of the growth of this Kingdom of God that we assert that it is the subject of an eternal purpose; a divine plan, an intelligent preparation, wherein God hath abounded in all wisdom and prudence, and for which He has “ appointed” times and seasons. Before we proceed further let me adduce evidence of the growth of this Kingdom of God; bearing in mind that it consists of all who call themselves Christians. The evidence shall be (1) in regard to the population of the world, (2) in regard to the shifting of political power from non-Christian to Christian Governments. Both these lines of inquiry lead us to perceive that this Kingdom of God has become “a great Tree.” When the Saviour became Incarnate, enormous tracts of the earth’s surface were without inhabitants. We may take an illustration of this fact. Africa contains 12,000,000 square miles, exactly one-fourth of the habitable surface of the earth, * Trans. Vict. Inst., vol. xxxiv. 102 THE GROWTH OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD. and is nine times as large as India; whilst the number of its various races put together is only two-thirds of the population of Hindustan. Again, when Christ was born in Bethlehem, the area of the whole of the Roman Empire was not larger than the area of India and Burmah, and the population was about 125,000,000. From a very interesting book, A Century of Christian Progress, by the Rev. James Johnston,* we Jearn that, according to an official census of China, taken A.p. 2, the population of China was 59,000,000. We shall, therefore, not be far wrong if we estimate the whole population of the world ut more than 300,000,000. Comparing this with the statements of Gibbon and of Bishop Lightfoot (paper, $.P.G.), we are enabled to draw up the following charts :— GROWTH OF POPULATION. Year. Christians. Non-Christians. RD BO0s irae) wae gee 6,000,000 360,000,000 AD, 1900° acon yee teh OOOO O00 1,250,000,000 That is, while in the year 300 A.D. Christians were as one to sixty non-Christians, in 1900 they were as one in three and a half; and while non-Christians have multiphed four-fold, Christians have multiplied seventy-fold. Distinguishing now among Christians, we find :— Individuals. A.D. 1800 A.D. 1900 Romanist 505 500 eee 107,000,000 222,000,000 Greek, Copt, Armenian, etc.... 66,000,000 128,000,000 Protestant... ies Sho 37,000,000 140,000,000 210,000,000 490,000,000 Tt will be seen that there is no ground whatever for the statement made in booklets, which have had a very large circu- lation, that “the heathen world is increasing faster than the Christian world.” The authors take no account of family in-- crease. Had they consulted members of the Statistical Society of London, they would have learned that whilst the non-Christian population of the world increased by 200,000,000 in the nine- teenth century, the Christian population increased 250,000,000 ; the number of living converts from non-Christian faiths in * pn. 167, 1st edition, Nisbet. THE GROWTH OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD. 103 A.D. 1900 being 4,000,000, a number in the century four times greater than the whole number of Christians in a.p. 100. Let us now turn to the question of ruling power. The habitable area of the earth is nearly 50,000,000 square miles. At the birth of our Lord, and for 300 years after, the whole world was under non-Christian government. When Constan- tine professed himself to have become a Christian, 2,000,000 square miles passed under Christian government. Speaking roughly, this remained so for twelve centuries. Then Christian rule suddenly expanded. The comparative relation of Christian and non-Christian political power will be seen at a glance, the figures representing square miles :-— Rulers. A.D. 1600 A.D. 1900 Christian. "/.- a- aH 3,000,000 42,000,000 Non-Christian as ie 47,000,000 8,000,000 50,000,000 50,000,000 The number of subject people under the non-Christian and _ Christian rule respectively is as follows for the years 1800 and 1900 :— ; 1800 1900 Non-Christian oe ... 850,000,000 550,000,000 Christian... .... 2. 350,000,000 —_1,100,000,000 1,200,000,000 —1,650,000,000 Whether, therefore, we consider population or ruling power, we see the marvellous growth of the “ Kingdom of God.” These statistics are very surprising from two points of view :— 1. We are apt to imagine that Christianity has always prevailed throughout Europe, whereas, as a matter of fact, the early Church was confined in Europe to the countries bordering the Mediterranean. North of the Danube and east of the Rhine was the home of barbarians and savages, and the greatest part of Europe was in heathen darkness for many centuries. Illustrious missionaries, animated by a zeal as devoted and as heroic as is exhibited by any of the messengers of the Gospe} in recent years, plunged into vast forests and preached to hidden tribes. Many of these missionaries went forth from the British Isles, and not a few met a martyr’s death. It is not generally known that at the opening of the thirteenth A 104 REV. J. B. WHITING, M.A., ON century the people of Prussia still worshipped snakes and lizards. Maclear (Christian Missions im the Middle Ages, p. 339) states that “three gods in particular were held in veneration, the god of thunder, the god of corn and fruits, and the god of infernal regions”; ‘every town or village had a temple.” Infanticide, polygamy, and the burning of widows on the death of their husbands, and human sacrifices, gave rise to “ Kuropean crusades,’ and Christianity was forced on unwilling peoples. Till the year 1336 not a ray of lght had penetrated the darkness of Lithuania. Nevertheless, great missionary efforts had been attempted in every century. (See Archbp. Trench, Mediaval Church History, and Neander.) 2. The statistics given above are very wonderful from another point of view. They show that the previous pre- paratory history of the world led to a marvellous result, marking out the nineteenth century as an “appointed time.” We note that there has occurred a sudden and extraordinary increase in the population. Whilst non-Christians increased on an average 5 per cent. in a hundred years for eighteen centuries ; in the nineteenth, owing to the security of life and property under British government, the population of India far more than doubled, so that taking the whole world, the increase was 25 per cent. instead of 5 per cent. Christians, again, who had previously increased on an average fifty per cent. in a hundred years, in the nineteenth century increased 150 per cent. In passing J notice that in consequence of the systematized missionary work, newly commenced by the Protestant Societies at the beginning of the nineteenth century, the number of their converts now lving is over 4,000,000. To effect this languages have been learned, grammars made, bibles and other books translated, schools provided, new industries introduced, new roads, and even railways constructed, commerce established and character elevated. The Romanist results in the century, omitting the number of the descendants of previous Indian and Chinese Christians, was at least 2,000,000. I learn from the Rev. James J ohnston, that the population of Europe from a.p. 1 to A.D. 1800, was almost stationary, viz.:—about 170 millions.* That population suddenly began to multiply, owing to the shifting of political power, within the * Mr. Rouse doubts the correctness of this statement on the ground of the vast tracts of forest, especially in Germany, which were cleared for habitation in the latter part of that period.—ED. THE GROWTH OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD. 105 continent, the vast progress of science and machinery, the immense increase of progress and other causes; by the end of the nineteenth century the population of Europe had become about 360 millions, thus supplying a very large proportion of the numbers of the present Kingdom of God. On the other hand, when speaking of this marvellous growth of the kingdom, we must not omit to bear in mind the virulent and extraordinary opposition of the powers of evil, such as the heresies of Christians, the fearful sacrifice of Christian life in the terrible persecutions under Roman emperors and Roman popes. Nor must we fail to bear in mind the inexplicable outburst of Mahommedan fury in the seventh and thirteenth centuries, the extermination of Christianity in North Africa, and its almost entire suppression in Spain and Asia Minor. At about the same time torrents of armed ruffians from the East overwhelmed the churches founded by the Nestorians in Central Asia. Cruel slaughter of Christians in Persia added vast numbers of men, women, and children to the noble army of martyrs. Further, whenever conversions in large numbers took place, there invariably followed a reaction and a revival of Paganism ; compulsory imposition of the Christian religion gave occasion to the mingling of heathen ideas and practices with the teaching of the new faith: heresies sprang up from the fallen soil of the human heart. The time and prayerful energy of the Church was rightly and necessarily occupied in defining Christian doctrine, and drawing up “articles” of true religion and creeds and “ confessions” of faith. Notwithstanding all this, the onward roll of the Kingdom has never been really staid. Defeated in one scene of its triumphs, it has planted the Cross in other lands, and has proved ultimately to be the conquering religion. With these facts before our minds, let us ask, What explana- tion does the Bible afford us? In Ephesians iii, 11, and i, 8, we read of the “eternal purpose” carried out “in all wisdom and prudence.’ The first of these expressions indi¢ates that the overthrow of every opposing power, the destruction of “the works of the wicked one,’ and the establishment of a universal empire of truth and righteousness, is the Eternal Purpose of “the living God.” The second expression used by the inspired Apostle discloses to us that the growth of the Kingdom of God is in His hands, and managed from first to last “ with wisdom and prudence.” St. Paul learned this from the Old Testament. The passages are too numerous to quote. H 2 106 REV. J. B. WHITING, M.A., ON For example, let us turn to the prophet Isaiah. As we read the wonderful words, we feel that they rest on the four points of our proposition. In lin, “the pleasure of the Lord,” 7¢., the Eternal Purpose, is carried out by “the servant of the Lord”; of whom we read in ch. xlix, that He concurred in the Purpose and the Plan. ' In ch. xl, we have notes of Preparation. Nor is this less evident in the earlier chapters of the Book. Turn to ch. iv, 2: “In that day ”—a fixed day—‘“ shall the sprout of Jehovah be for ornament and glory, and the fruit of the earth for majesty and beauty.” He who was to be the “sprout of Jehovah,” was also to be the “ fruit of the earth.” On this Dr. Kay quotes Delitzsch: “He was the grain of wheat, which redeeming love sowed in the earth on Good Friday; which began to break through the earth and grow towards heaven on Easter Sunday, whose golden blade ascended heavenward on Ascension Day, whose myriad-fold ear bent down to the earth on the day of Pentecost, and a out the grains, from which the Holv Chureh was not only born, but still continues to-be born.” Here are Pur pose, Plan and fixed Times. We have not the space to refer to the numerous instances given by Isaiah in which Purpose, Plan, Preparation, and fixed Epochs are evident, controlling what by some is called secular history. But it is important to notice that Isaiah speaks of this great truth, not as revealed first to him, or in his times, but as long known in all previous ages. For God sends a message to Sennacherib— a heathen in a heathen land—“ Hast thou not heard long ago that I have done it? hast thou not heard from ancient times that I have formed it? Now have I brought it to pass.” Turning to the New Testament, our Lord’s ereat prayer of intercession (St. John xvii) establishes the fact that Purpose, Plan, Preparation, and fixed Epochs characterise the growth ot the Kingdom of God. ‘‘ Before the foundation of the world ” a “glory” was “given” to the Son, to which the “glory” of which he -was a partaker with the Father was antecedent. This given glory involved “power over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as the Father had given Him.” This glory He now gives to the Apostles, and He prays that “they may be one, as we are one.” This is not the oneness of which He spoke when He said, “I and My Father are one.” That was an essential oneness in which His disciples could have no share. This is the oneness of purpose, aim, intention, in which they could share. He received this glorious com- mission. He was God’s “ elect,” “to do all His pleasure.” He now entrusts that glorious commission to chosen Apostles, in THE GROWTH OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD. 107 preparing whom for their office he had spent three years. And He intimates that this commission should be carried on to the end of the age. Does not this point unmistakably to Purpose, Plan, Preparation ? Can we fail to perceive that for the various events connected with this great Redemption, the hours are fixed? At Cana He had said, “Mine hour is not yet come.” Now He lifts His eyes unto heaven and says, “Father, the hour is come.” The hour, the very hour fixed in the Eternal Council for the accomplishment of “the eternal purpose which God purposed from eternity.” And so when in the course of human history “the fulness of time was come,” “God sent forth His Son” (Gal. iv, 4). The events of the Old Testament all point to pre-arrange- ment of “times and seasons,” 7c. periods of prolonged action, and dates of particular events: the call of Abraham, the “ 420 years,’ reaching to “the self-same day,” when Israel departed out of Egypt, the birth of Moses, the !ineage and training and summons of David, the captivity in Babylon for a fixed “seventy years,” the rise of the Greek Kingdoms, the founding of the Roman Empire, “at the time appointed” (Dan. xi, 29). “Know therefore and understand, from the going forth of the command to restore and to build Jerusalem unto Messiah the Prince shall be three-score and two weeks” (Dan. ix, 25, 26). See also the fixed numbers in the “ Book of the Revelation.” As we turn to the records in the Bible we note many decisive events and epochs, involving an immense number of details, such for instance as, at the timing of the decree of Cesar Augustus so as to secure that the Holy Nativity should take place, not in Nazareth, but in Bethlehem; and the birth of Saul of Tarsus, “the chosen vessel,” in the very decade of our Lord’s Incarnation, with the rights of a Roman citizen and a deep interest in Asia Minor. Or look back to Moses, mark how God secured that he should become learned in all the learning of the Eeyptians, and to be trained to be a leader and commander of the people. While yet in the vigour of early life he has to fly from Eeypt. He finds refuge in the tents of Jethro. Now Jethro was a Hittite, a member of that nation who were learned men of that age. It is said that there was a college of Hittite scribes in the heart of Egypt. With Jethro Moses was content to spend forty years. Here the learned Hebrew was surrounded by inscriptions engraved on tiles, temples, statues, and rocks, such as have recently been so largely found again and deciphered. Moses, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, 108 REV. J. B. WHITING, M.A., ON compiled the chapters of Genesis, chapters essential as the foundation records of our holy religion. When this great work was accomplished he is led back into Egypt, for the persecuting Pharaoh had died, another Pharaoh sat on the throne, and the 420 years were drawing to an end. Do we. sufficiently bear in mind this cardinal principle that “times and seasons” God hath kept in His own power ? No doubt there is a reality in human agency; no doubt the Christian is a free agent, responsible for utilizing or neglecting opportunities; no doubt in the Scriptures God speaks to us, or by His Spirit incites, inspires, commands, praises, or blames His people, as free agents. The Holy Spirit carries out the Eternal Purpose through the free agency of man. But the opportunities are God-given, God-appointed, and timed by God. We must be very careful lest we use language which overlooks the absolute, unerring wisdom of God. If, for example, we say, “If the Church had exerted her energy the world would have been evangelized centuries ago, and the Second Advent would have already taken place; the prepara- tion would have been completed for the glorious appearing of the Great God, even our Saviour Jesus Christ, the Kingdom would have come,” such unguarded language is unscriptural. For we read that it was in the fulness of time that the First Advent took place, neither too soon nor too late. In the appointed hour and not sooner, will take place the Second Advent. “Though it tarry, wait for it; for it will surely come, it will not tarry ” (Hab. i, 3). This is not inconsistent with the longing expressed by St. Peter, “Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of Gcd” (11 Pet. in, 12); nor with the declarations regarding the restoration of the Jew: “T the Lord will hasten it in His time” (Isa. lx, 22); “I the Lord will hasten my Word to perform it” (Jer. 1, 12); or with the proclamation regarding the Second Advent, “surely I come quickly,” or with the prayer of the Bride, ‘“‘ Even so, come, Lord Jesus” (Rev. xxii, 20). This involves the active, direct working of the Living God. If we search outside the pages of the Bible, we arrive at the same conviction. The position of the affairs of the world fills us with astonishment. England, in the extreme north- west of Europe, is in the centre of an Empire which girdles the globe; her influence controls the tendency of human thought and energy ; she includes under her sway nearly one- third of the human race; her ships enter every port; her language is spoken or understood by 150,000,000 ; her flag is THE GROWTH OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD. 109 the flag of universal liberty ; and she holds “the open door ” of commerce. Her greatness depends on the open Word of God; and her conduct is professedly governed by the simple faith and moral teaching of the Gospel of Christ. Thousands of Christian men and women have gone from her shores to evangelize the rest of the world ; her opportunity for glorifying God and preaching Christ are not only magnificent, but tremendous, and very solemn. Great Britain and Ireland stand before us as a splendid and fitted instrument for bringing about the realization of the Eternal Purpose. It seems plain that our history was in the Divine Plan. Even if Eneland is hereafter to be superseded by the rise of some new “rod of God’s power,” she is certainly a prepared avent for carrying forward the growth of the Kingdom of God to a height which we are as yet unable to foresee. If this be se, the hour has come when men of intellectual power, industrious research, and historical knowledge can note the course of events, and make a chart of the plan of the Divine procedure “in all wisdom and prudence.” Looking at each event in its own magnitude, we do not at the moment perceive its connection with what went before, and what happened after it. But when we lay the events all out before our minds, we discover that they have been so steadily working together that we are forced to admit design in history. We see them fit into a plan, lke pieces of a dissected map. But with this difference, that each event flowed out and gave birth to what followed in the direct path towards the final establishment of the Kingdom of God. Make a list of the names of great men from the day of the Apostles, such as Saul of Tarsus, Justin, Origen, Eusebius, Jerome, Athanasius, Augustine, Gregory the Great, Theodore, Archbishop of Canterbury, King Alfred, Wickliffe, Huss, Luther, Erasmus, Cranmer, Jewell, Hooper, the Wesleys, Whitfield, Wilberforce, Simeon, the Venns, Buxton, Livingstone, Hannington, Crowther, and hundreds of other workers in God’s inner vineyard, whom we cannot pause to name; look, again, at another line of workers, such as Alexander the Great, Julius Cesar, Marcus Aurelius, Constantine, Justinian, Charlemagne, Henry the Eighth, Queen Elizabeth, Cromwell, Napoleon, Wellington, Prince Albert, Queen Victoria; or again, call up the succession of scientific giants—it is evident that each arose at the very period when he was wanted ; they not only served their own day and generation, but were clearly necessary to carry forward the Kingdom of God. 110 REV. J. B. WHITING, M.A., ON Why did the monastic institutions provide men of leisure to copy manuscripts of the Word of God? Why did the invention of printing occur just when the revival of Greek learning took place in Western Europe, and the thought of making translations of the Scriptures into the language of the people took possession of capable scholars? . Why did the seventeenth century prepare for the eighteenth; and the eighteenth, with all its infidel philosophy on the one side, and its evangelistic triumphs among our home population on the other, prepare for the nineteenth, unless it was in the Plan ? On what other principle can we account for the fact that a hundred years ago the minds of obscure servants of God were moved to inaugurate the missionary agencies which have since been so great? The missionary impuise cannot be traced to the political movements of the hour. It cannot be traced to the intellectual tendencies of those particular years. It was wholly distinct from the ideas which led to the marvellous scientific discoveries, which at the same period laid the foundations of magnificent inventions. Yet where would have been our missionary successes but for the decisive battle of Waterloo, the abolition of slavery, or the overspreading of India by the British power? The practical application of steam and electricity have made the missionary enterprise, and the printing and circulation of many millions of the Holy Scriptures, possible. How could the relation between the Church Missionary House in Salisbury Square, or between the Committees of the other ereat Missionary Societies, and of the Christian Knowledge Society, the Religious Tract Society, and the British and Foreign Bible Society, and the thousands of missionaries in many hundreds of stations ail over the globe, have subsisted without the steam-engine, the electric telegraph, and the post, or without the cutting of the Suez Canal, and the gigantic power of England and the United States ?* It is not altogether reasonable to accuse the Church in past ages as neglectful of the duty of evangelising the world. There have always been great missionaries. But the Church had other work to do—work preparatory for the appointed * While these pages were passing through the press an important step has been made in extending the Kingdom of God by the joint action of Lord Cromer and the Sirdar of the Soudan, in inviting the Church Missionary Society to send missionaries to the Pagan nations of the Upper Nile, now under British influence.— Ep1rTor. THE GROWTH OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD. tit nineteenth century. Before the Church could proceed safely with the work of evangelisation, the great doctrines of the Christian Faith had to be defined. Heresies sprang up in earlier days and forced Christians to study the Word of God and learn its true teaching. Articles of religion and creeds had to be drawn up, if the prophets of Christianity were to speak nothing but what is true in the Name of the Lord. During all this time, and from the very beginning, the forces of evil, the Serpent and his seed, were with oreat skill striving to hinder the growing Kingdom of God. ‘ Whence had it tares? An enemy hath done this.” Of human history before the cali of Abraham we have as yet scarcely any knowledge. But the known world was then 2,000 years old, and men had souls to be saved. That surging human life was under the control and the guidance of God, Who overruled the boundaries of nations, and set events in order, so as to make the necessary preparation for the fulfil- ment of His great Eternal Purpose to save the world. A careful study has led many scientific and learned men to the conclusion that there has never been an evolution of religious ideas. There is evidence of a devolution from the original Revelation of God, from the original revealed truth and morality, and a perversion of God’s plan of saving fallen men. To arrest this downward grade, when it had reached a terrible depth of wickedness, and at the same time to prove that human philosophy and merely human schemes for the amendment of men could never reach his spiritual need, great thinkers were raised up in various countries. It is startling to find that Confucius, the philosopher of China, Buddha the Indian, Zoroaster the Persian, Pythagoras, born of Italian parents in Sidon (who travelled through Egypt, Arabia, parts of India and Persia), and Socrates of Greece were all born between 700 B.c. and 500 B.c. In a learned essay on Buddhism in relation to Christianity (Transactions of the Vietoria Institute, vol. xxv il), the Rev. R. Collins speaks of “the evidence of a primeval revelation.” Further on he says, “ Parallel with these recollections of a Divine worship must have been the recollection of a divinely taught morality.” Again he says, “I find in ‘The Brahmana ot a Hundred Paths, and in the Hymns of the Rig Vedas, evidences of a religious thought, not constructive, but destructive, nor nearing the lieht, “but receding from it though still catching its last rays.” Ne evertheless, these are all human systems for regenerating society. It was a necessary part of 112 REV. J. B. WHITING, M.A., ON the Preparation for Christianity that these experiments should be made. Their failure, even when illuminated by Aristotle and Plato, served to prove the necessity for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The lessons of Plato could not avert the decay of the ancient Greeks, but the Gospel of Jesus Christ, introduced by Marsden into New Zealand, regenerated the cannibal Maoris. But I turn from all this to draw attention to another point. It was not only necessary that a definite centre in the midst of a prepared people should be ready for the birth of the Church; it was indispensable that there should be a suitable cradle for its first development. Judea and the Jews supplied the first, Asia Minor and its races supplied the second. In both cases the statement of the Prophet is illustrated, ‘This people have I formed for Myself: they shall show forth My praise.” The recent researches of Professor Ramsay in Asia Minor help us to realise the long preparation of a cradle for infant Christianity. Original wanderers from the family home penetrate into Asia Minor, work the silver-mines which Ged had placed there, and found the Hittite Empire. That empire must be removed out of the way, just as the Assyrian and Egyptian powers faded away when their purpose had been served. Asia Minor must eventually include within its borders the necessary elements to give scope to the labours of the first great, Apostle of the Gentiles. The evowth of the Hittite Empire was finally checked by the arms of Assyria and Egypt; but its existence was broken up by unknown marauders from the west and the north. From the south-east of Europe the Phryges enter it B.c. 900. Overrunning a large portion of it, they amalgamate with its original barbarians, and form the Phrygian people. They are driven southward by the Kimmerians, a Teutonic tribe, who crossed the. Black Sea from the Crimea about 600 B.c, Meanwhile Greece and Rome had been founded just before Isaiah began to prophesy. In Greece was developed art and culture and the language which was to be the vehicle for stereotyping the story of the coming Christ. The situation of Greece exactly fitted it for its particular office. But the conditions necessary for this unfitted it for empire. The riches of Asia Minor and the trend of political affairs in the Kast attracted the attention of the Persians. Their armies reached the Hellespont, and awakened the energies of Alexander the Great. Into Alexander’s mind, God, Who ruleth in heaven THE GROWTH OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD. His above and on earth beneath, inspired a great thought. It became his ruling policy to enable Greek ideas, language and culture to penetrate to the farthest East. He led his armies to India, and returning, died at the age of thirty-three. Had he survived, he would have turned to the West, invaded Italy and prevented the Roman Empire, which became so helpful for the first planting of Christianity in Asia Minor. Mean- while (270 B.c.) Celtic tribes, repulsed from Italy, and finding no rest or place in the northern regions of Europe, crossed the Bosphorus and gave birth to the Galatian people, to whose peculiarities we owe the Epistle to the Galatians. About the same time, Seleucus, Alexander’s greatest general, whose kingdom stretched from the Euphrates almost to the west coast of Asia Minor, transplanted 2,000 families of Jews into all the cities of his kingdom. Their synagogues became centres from which rays of revealed truth began to lighten the Gentiles. Devout men and women multiplied. Their monotheism broke the spell of idolatry ; their morals awoke in many heathen minds a yearning for purer life. It was preparing the way of the Lord. In this same Asia Minor grew up Saul of Tarsus, near enough to Jerusalem and Antioch in Syria to feel the influence of those great centres in which the Church was born, and won its first triumphs, and he naturally turns to the land of his birth, and preaches Jesus and the Resurrection. As he traverses the great Roman roads, he finds representa- tives of Celts and Germans, and Phrygians and Greeks, and Romans and Jews. To this it is that we owe the marvellous completeness of his Epistles, and the Epistle to the Hebrews. Among these various peoples sprang up those various spiritual needs which led the inspired Apostle to write his wonderful letters. He had studied the Roman character till he could write the Epistie to the Romans. His versatile mind could grasp the great variety of the statements needful to meet every spiritual difficulty, and to expound the Truth of Jesus Christ in its application to the widely different circumstances of those to whom he wrote, with the result that his Epistles are a complete statement of Christian doctrine and Christian ethics. Time would fail to speak of the marvellous preparation of the European peoples and especially of the Saxon race for carrying on the great work. Perhaps this may be the subject of a future paper. 114 REV. J. B. WHITING. M.A., ON RULING POWERS. PROTESTANT. British Empire torates, etc. . United States Colonies, ete. Germany and Colonies ... Netherlands and Colonies Sweden, - Norway, Switzerland Liberia RomANIsStT. Huropean. French Belgian, including Congo Italian Spanish Portuguese ‘ Bee Austria, Hungary, etc. ... Luxemburg ; Monaco 5. Bosnia and Herzegovi ina. American. Argentine... Brazil Bolivia Columbia ... Chili Peru Venezuela.. Keuador Paraguay, and Ur ugua uy Mexico Honduras and 7 ail See Total Romanist Power and _ Protec- Denmark, AREA. POPULATION. 12,686,084 410,289,843 3,941,697 86,999,638 1,336,658 70,654,178 995,648 41,225,398 414,875 14,188,314 35,000 400,000 19,409,962 623,756,371 AREA. POPULATION. 5,279,054 110,107,285 911,873 36,695,894 299,146 33,275,253 447,633 18,742,097 836,098 14,696,094 241,398 45,414,744 998 236,543 8 16,186 23,262 1,568,092 8,139,470 250,742,282 1,158,840 4,794,149 218,130 14,333,915 983,982 1,852,657 504,773 4,000,000 279,901 2,712,148 695,733 5,000,000 593,843 2.323,527 343,210 \ 2,994,600 767,005 13,445,162 363,214 5,991,364 5,747,031 57,547,222 13,886,501 308,290, L04 THE GROWTH OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD. GREEK CHRISTIANS, ETC. Russia and Protectorates Bulgaria Servia Roumania... Montenegro Greece Crete , Abyssinia ... Non-CuHRISTIAN. Chinese Japanese ... Corean Siamese Nepal we Afghanistan Persian Oran Morocco Turkey British Empire. Europe... abe Scie eee Asia: British India, Ceylon, ete. Africa a a - America Australasia otal) 2 India: Native States Protectorates : Asia, including Cyprus ... Africa es ate ~ Pacific Egypt and Soudan Grand Total... AREA, 8,774,715 37,080 18,630 50,720 3,630 25,314 3,326 150,000 9,063,417 POPULATION. 131,054,514 3,744,283 2,493,770 5,912,520 228,000 2,433,806 303,543 3,500,000 .. 149,670,436 4,277,170 426,047,325 161,158 46,526,319 82,000 16,000,000 236,000 5,000,000 54,000 4,000,000 230,000 4,000,000 628,000 9,500,000 82,000 1,500,000 219,000 5,000,000 1,279,982 80,619,912 7,249,310 598,193,546 121,098 42,168,111 1,114,758 236,415,181 1,532,226 7,001,073 3,342,064 7,531,474 3,175,345 5,091,410 8,285,491 298,277,249 679,392 62,461,549 120,400 1,200,000 1,250,000 35,000,000 800 30,000 11,336,084 396,968,798 1,350,000 13,321,045 12,686,084 410,289,843 115 Nort.—The figures have been used with the kind permission of Messrs. Macmillan, but I alone am responsible for the grouping of them.—J. B. W. 116 REV. J. B. WHITING, M.A., ON DISCUSSION. The CHAIRMAN.—I do not think that I need detain you very long, as this paper is sure to provoke discussion ; but I will express my appreciation of the remarks of the writer of the paper as regards the progress of Christianity in India—the country with which I am most acquainted. The progress has been much larger than was expected. At the last Census, in comparison with the one before and with the population, it was much greater than it had ever been in the past. It is not only to be measured by the direct progress— the conversion of the people to the knowledge of the truth of the Christian religion—but also in the indirect gain to the country through the prevalence of Christian truths. In India especially we see it everywhere, but we must not measure the progress of Christianity by the number of nominal Christians. The way is being prepared by the humanizing influences which accompany the true Christian religion, for example, by increased attention to the health of the people and to their comfort, as also the higher position given to women, and the kindness shown to animals. Much as we hear of the kindness of other races such as Brahmans and Hindus, there is a great deal of cruelty due to want of know- ledge and to ignorance. I consider therefore thata very great reason why our rule in India is on the whole so successful, is the humanizing influence of the Christian religion. The people them- selves also are ready for the spread of Christianity. Some 36 years ago I halted near a temple in the hills in Mewar; I spoke to one of the Sepoys and asked him why it was the temples about this place seemed to be so very much neglected. ‘ Well,” he said, “‘ what is the use of going to temples? The English God is so strong, that the poor weak gods of this country are helpless.” That is one instance of the general opinion of the poor, and such ideas are prevailing amongst many, especially amongst the aboriginal tribes. Progress is somewhat hindered now, because when there is a very strong Protestant mission it becomes, said a Roman Catholic friend, the duty of our Church to stop it. It is not the duty of the Roman Catholic church to go in for extensive propagandism, but whenever the Protestants have made a successful mission it is the Roman Catholic’s mission to put their converts right. But there are THE GROWTH OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD. Lie many other reasons why our progress is not so great as it ought to be, amongst others being the want of good example which 1s so often set by Christians, and therefore it behoves us to see that our own example in non-Christian lands is such as is calculated to raise esteem for Christianity. It also seems to me that one of the evidences of the truth of Christianity is the fact that in spite of the shortcomings of nominal Christians, and in spite of the difficulties, Christianity is so steadily progressing. I will now call upon some of the members to discuss the paper. The SECRETARY.—Mr. Chairman, I referred to a letter that has been written by Lord Cromer. When I was reading the paper I thought it of such extreme interest that I cut it out and brought it with me. It is within the memory of most of us that the Soudan was added to the British Empire by the victory of Lord Kitchener at Omdurman, and it has been under the authority of a new Sirdar, Sir Reginald Wingate, whom I once had the pleasure of meeting and travelling with from Port Said to Alexandria. He is the right man for the position which he holds with credit to himself and with great advantage to the Empire. He and Lord Cromer have united in requesting the Church Missionary Society to send missionaries not to the Mahommedans, the fanatical Mahommedans of the Soudan, but to the regions beyond, to a very high race of heathen idolaters. The letter from Lord Cromer is as follows :— ‘* CATRO, “© 23rd December, 1904. “The Secretary, ‘Church Missionary Society, “London. DIE, “T understand from Mr. MacInnes, Secretary of your Mission in Egypt, that you are desirous of obtaining an expression of my opinion as to the prospect of missionary work in the Soudan. In my Annual Report for 1902 (p. 60) I said that both Sir Reginald Wingate and myself were of opinion that the time is still distant when missionary work may with safety and advantage be promoted amongst the Moslem population. There was no objection to the establishment of Christian schools in Khartoum, provided that 118 REV. J. B. WHITING, M.A., ON parents were warned that instruction in the Christian religion was intended. This opinion remains unchanged. The case of the more southern provinces of the Soudan, which are inhabited by pagan population, is different. There is no reason for imposing any restraint upon Christianity there, and the Mission will be welcome. ‘This is more especially the case as regards education. I venture to express the hope that in any work undertaken by your Society special attention will be paid to some simple forms of industrial and agricultural instruction. “An American and Austrian mission have been established in the Soudan ; one on the Sobat river and the other on the White Nile. The Austrian mission has established two mission stations in the district lying west of the Nile. I enclose for your information a map showing that a large and populous district is still neglected. “From Twithe boundary line proceeds to the Abyssinian frontier, and then follows the frontier to the Uganda border on 5° N. latitude. On the south it is bounded by the northern border of the Congo Free State and the Uganda province ; on the west by a line drawn from Mashrael Rek to a point where the frontiers of the Congo Free State and the French State and the Bahr-el-Ghazal meet. No permission as to establishing missionary centres will be given until a sufficient period has been allowed to elapse for your Society to consider whether it wishes to occupy the extensive field now thrown open to it. I should be glad to receive intormation on the subject. No information from private Societies has been received to establish schools at their own expense, but in order to avoid confusion it ought to be mentioned that should such requests be received they will be considered. + + * * + + “Sir R. Wingate has seen this letter and fully agrees with all that I have said.” Considering that this region borders on Uganda to the south and is connected with Egypt—by the Copts and Christians of the Nile— we should have, if this mission is established, a complete line of Christian missionary effort from the Cape to Cairo. This is a most wonderful opening and one of great interest to us. Mr. Rouse.—While not being able otherwise than to rejoice in the growth and spread of Christianity, even though it be largely in THE GROWTH OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD. 119 name, in the world, I cannot but disagree with the author in his statement that it might not have been spread long ago and that thus the purpose of God would long since have been achieved. He would have us believe that a definite time having been fixed by the Aimighty for the advancement of human good, Christ could not have come again before the end of that time, and therefore it was not to be expected that the Gospel would have spread over the world till the end of that time. But we do find in the Scriptures that God modifies His plans. He would have had the Israelites enter Canaan in two years; and they came to the borders of Canaan within the second year: but, because they had not faith to enter the land, He compelled them to wander thirty-eight years more, until all that generation was wasted away, with the sole exception of the two believing spies and Eleazar the priest. Again, when the Lord Jesus was on the earth, he spoke of John the Baptist as being Elias, and yet he said that Elias was to come and restore all things (Matt. xvii, 10-13, et pll. cp. Mal. iv, 5, 6). How are we to reconcile the two expressions? except that if the Jews had accepted John the Baptist as the man sent to prepare the way for the coming of the Lord, they then would have received Jesus as the King, and the Kingdom then would have been set up in the world (cp. Luke i, 17). So, too, just after His ascension, the apostles thus appealed to the Jews: “Repent . . . that the times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord: and He shall send Jesus . . . whom the heavens must receive until the restoration of all things.” (Acts iii, 19, 20, R.V.) Therefore, if they had then repented, ‘The restoration of all things,” that is to say, the visible establishment of God’s righteous kingdom over the whole earth, would then have taken place. Nor can we suppose that God meant Christian men to stop their missionary efforts. The author makes a slip in saying that missionary efforts have never ceased. That is a mistake. McLear, who, I judge, is a good authority on this subject, distinctly states in his book,* that from the time of the commencement of the Crusades down to the Reformation there was but one missionary ; that was Raymond Lull, a man who received very little support * The Apostles of the Middle Ages. 120 REV. J. B. WHITING, M.A., ON from the Church, but who bravely went thrice to preach to the Mahommedans, in Africa, and was finally martyred amongst them. There was one other whom McLear does not mention who went all the way to China. But these were the only Roman Catholic missionaries through four centuries and a half. I cannot agree that it was part of God’s plan that the monks should remain in their cloisters, a few of them writing out the Scriptures in Greek and Latin and none doing anything towards spreading a knowledge of them. It required Wycliffe to come into the world and send out his bodies of good men, two by two, over the land, with copies of the Scriptures in their native language, before the word of God could be spread. And what did a leader of the Roman Catholic Church then say—that Wycliffe was casting his pearls before swine ; and yet, as Milton remarks, if the Lollards had not been crushed, we should have been the foremost nation in the world in establishing the Reformation in Europe. 7 Yet, while the Western Church was apathetic, and while the monks in their cloisters were leading lives of little use, there was a body of Christians who were preaching to the heathen world, had ventured right into China, and in India and Burmah had become a great power, with a multitude of converts, but who were regarded by the Roman Catholics as heretics. These were the Nestorians, who have left a monument in Northern China dating from the sixth century. The mistake of the Nestorians, however, was that they did not translate the Bible into the language of the people. Had they done so, their work would have been permanent everywhere. In China there is not a vestige of it left. Colonel Hendley has told us how Christian supremacy in India is destroying evil customs. We might allude to the customs that formerly prevailed and which the English government has suppressed —the burning of widows on the funeral pyres of their husbands, the drowning of children in the Ganges, the self-destruction of men beneath Juggernaut’s car. It has also hindered the very early marriages of Hindus by raising the minimum of age by two years; and of course it has put down lawless crime and violence in all directions. Let us hope that it will succeed in doing a vast deal more. We may further allude to the fact that the English Government has eucouraged and established leper hospitals and many institutions for the benefit both of mind and body in India; and undoubtedly THE GROWTH OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD. 121 the Hindus in seeing these things cannot but conclude that Christianity is a true religion. The pagans had no public hospitals or poor-houses or asylums for the advantage of the dumb, the blind, the lame and the insane such as we see spread over Christian countries; still less any society such as Christian England set the example of founding for protecting poor animals. Professor LANGHORNE ORCHARD.—Since “nature” and God’s spiritual kingdom are both under the same King, we shall agree with the author of this interesting paper that both may be expected to evidence a similar process of government and working. Un- doubtedly, history brings before us “ Purpose, Plan, Preparation, and fixed Times,” evident in the growth of the Kingdom of God. The instances adduced from prophecy and from general history abundantly illustrate this pre-arranged timing of events. In connection with the preparation of a “suitable cradle” for Christianity, it is very noticeable that Alexander the Great died just at a time so specially critical, and that Seleucus transplanted two thousand Jewish families into all the cities of his kingdom. Things like these, which cannot be accounted for by any theory of coincidence, constitute a strong, and indeed decisive, argument in favour of the author’s thesis. Iam glad that the author clearly affirms his belief in human free-will. Without free will there cannot even be morality. God never over-rides free will. But, though He does not over-ride, He uses and over-rules it, to carry out His own purposes. If a statesman, gifted with the wisdom and insight of a Bismarck, could so correctly guess as to what men would do, as often to make their actions subserve his plans, can we find any difficulty in believing that the certain fore-knowledge and unerring wisdom of God employs and over-rules all results of human free-will ? The great philosophies referred to by the author, reinforced, by the conclusions of the intellect, the conclusions of the heart. Their failure helped to prepare the way of the Lord. After some observations by Colonel Alves, a cordial vote of thanks to the author was passed and the meeting separated. 1 2 ORDINARY GENERAL MEETING.* PROFESSOR , LIONEL S. BEALE, V.P., F.R.S., IN THE CHarr. The Minutes of the last Meeting were read and confirmed. A paper on “ Biblical Astronomy” was read by Lieut.-Colonel G. Mackinlay, late R.A. BIBLICAL ASTRONOMY. By Lieutenant-Colonel G. Mackrnuay (late R.A.). HE present seems a good time to consider the subject of Biblical Astronomy, on account of the recent advances in (1) Biblical Scholarship. (2) Discoveries and decipherment of ancient inscrip- tions, etc. (5) Astronomy. Scholarship.—It must be remembered that the languages of the Bible are comparable to a tool used by the divine Author ; those languages are foreign ones to us, and a mere literal translation cannot in every case give the full meaning. During a residence in Spain, I found that even a certain mastery of the Spanish language was not in itself sufficient to bring me into real contact with the people. I had also to study the Spanish character and the Spanish attitude of mind. The difficulty of rendering the exact meaning intended by the writers of the Bible, with their ancient Eastern methods of expression, 18 certainly oreater than that which exists at the present moment in translating a modern European book into English. * Monday, 20th February, 1905. LT.-COL. G. MACKINLAY ON BIBLICAL ASTRONOMY. Vs: As Max Miiller puts it, “ when first we begin to learn a new language it seems easy . . . but the more we learn it, the more difficult do we find it to discover words which will really square with our own words.” As the divine scriptures are written for all nations and for all times, the main essential truths are plainly put forward ; but when we come to seek for the full force of some of its sentences we thankfully accept the help afforded by careful scholarship. Ancient Inscriptions, etc.—The fast accumulating translations of ancient inscriptions afford ample confirmation of the numerous Biblical allusions to the worship of the host of heaven. Great assistance is given to ancient chronology; the account of a total eclipse recorded as seen at Nineveh 763 B.c. has been verified by calculation as having occurred at the date stated, when the band of totality passed about 100 miles North of the city. The eccentricities of the Egyptian Calendar, which moved its months through the seasons in a long cycle ‘of some 1 065 years, have been helpful; as when it is ” stated that the Nile rose on a certain day of any one month, the date is necessarily fixed within a very few years. Sir Norman Lockyer and others have shown that the dates of the construction of various Egyptian and Greek temples oriented to the risings of stars can be known within compara- tively a few years, as the precession of the equinoxes (see Appendix) gradually rendered their central avenues of pillars quite unfitted for their astronomical purpose of allowing the rays of the rising star to enter and illumine the images in the central interior shrines, after a period which varied according to circumstances, but which may have averaged 300 years. Even the statements of astrology giving the position of planets at the ‘birth of a child afford chronological data ; Professor Flinders Petrie thinks that the position of the planets indicated on certain ancient Eevptian diagrams show that the ee of birth of Rameses II. and Rameses VL were respectively ¢. 1518 and 1198. We may, however, doubt the accuracy of the Sane in some cases, as a desire to please royalty may have tempted the artists to depict more favourable astrological arrangements of the planets than the true ones. Contrast of Standpoints.—The appearance of the celestial orbs has little interest to most of us moderns, unless we are astronomers, surveyors, or sailors; we have no temptation to worship them, ner do we expect any control of our future by 124 LT.-COL. G. MACKINLAY ON BIBLICAL ASTRONOMY. their movements. Our climate prevents us from seeing them, especially when they are near the horizon, except at uncertain intervals; a large number of us live in towns lighted by gas and electricity, and thus the brilliancy of the stars is eclipsed. If we travel at night, we enter a well lighted railway carriage and we look outside it but lttle; we have good almanacks and clocks, and consequently most of us have no need to consult the celestial time-keepers, which regulate the earthly ones, and as our civil calendar has nothing to do with the moon, the variation in its appearance is not a matter of importance. The modern astronomer is accustomed to refer his observa- tions for accuracy to the vertical meridian. He believes most of the theories of the ancients were wrong, and consequently he generally bestows little thought on the efforts of man long ago to wrestle with the problems of the heavens, notwithstand- ing the fact that the length of the year, the correct arrange- ment of the calendar, and the direction of true north, were accurately known from the results of laborious observations some thousands of years ago. But in Bible times how different was the standpoint. The heathen nations surrounding the Hebrews paid great attention to astronomy, and this is proved by the frequent, perhaps invariable, orientation of their temples to the rising or setting of the sun at a solstice, or at an equinox, or to the rising of some star. The study of astronomy was intimately connected with heathen worship. Professor Sayce tells us that the first known observa- tories in the world were those attached to Babylonian temples, which were generally dedicated to one of the heavenly host, or to some god connected with one of them by ancient myth. The priests were the observers, and under the authority of the king they regulated the calendar; they dabbled in astrology, doubtless for gain, and in order to keep up their power over the people. The Hebrew authors of the Scriptures, on the other hand, drew attention to the heavens in order to declare the glory of God, or to make some grand parallel to His grace and mercy. In Bible lands there is a bright clear atmosphere and a genial climate: there was little artificial light at night, and that only dim, and there was little hiding of the heavens during travel. The lunar month was employed by the Hebrews for their calendar, and consequently the position and appear- ance of the moon indicated the progress of the month. Almanacks and time-measuring instruments were few and rude, and hence the ancients generally must have frequently consulted the heavenly bodies for various purposes. Astro- LT.-COL. G. MACKINLAY ON BIBLICAL ASTRONOMY. 125 nomical observations were generally made on the visible horizon of risings and settings, although some, as at the Great Pyramid, were doubtless made on the vertical meridian. The contrast between our modern western and the ancient eastern use of astronomy for practical purposes was brought to my notice in a very matter-of-fact sort of way some 30 years ago, when travelling with my wife by ordinary marches in the lower valleys towards Cashmere. We were in the habit of rising about an hour before daybreak, so as to be dressed and ready to start with the earliest streak of dawn, and thus avoid as much as possible the heat of the coming day. The native servants used to look at the positions of the stars during the night from time to time, until they judged that it was about an hour before daybreak, and as they did this from night to night they became very fairly accurate. They then called me, and I looked at my watch, and we got up at once or delayed a little according as their estimate had been fast or slow. One day a very long march down a hot valley was before us, and I was specially anxious to start in good time. Unfortunately my watch had stopped the day before, and it was the only timekeeper in all our little party. Before turning in at night I had a good look at the stars, and roughly estimated what their position should be at the time for our rising next morning. I got up during the night to look for myself, and then I found the heavens indicating, as I thought, about an hour before dawn; but not a move did I perceive among the servants and coolies, and when I woke them up they assured me that it was not yet time. However I insisted upon it that daybreak must soon come, so we rose, struck tents, packed up and drank the early coffee, but still no signs of morning! It was no use to wait, so off we started in the dark with a lantern; presently the path led into a dark wood, and then it skirted the edge of a hill with a pre- cipitous fall on the left hand, which made it somewhat dangerous without daylight. Our progress was slow, and I began to realise that I had made a mistake, and that the Easterns who had been accustomed to judge of the time night after night from the position of the stars, were more to be trusted for practical purposes than the Western who attempted to do so for the first time aiter a single rough estimate the night before. It is no uncommon thing for a servant in India to glance at the position of the sun in the heavens, and then make a very, fair estimate of the time of day. Of course an Englishman could also do this if he practised this habit of observation, but our universal possession of watches and clocks hinders us from 126 LT.-COL. G. MACKINLAY ON BIBLICAL ASTRONOMY. seeking to attain this facility of telling the time direct from the heavens. I was wondering the other day whether the intelligent modern would recur to the ancient methods of making direct use of the movements of the stars, when deprived of the ordinary clocks, ete., of present day civilisation. I therefore enquired of those who had been engaged in our late war in South Africa, and soon heard the following from an army nursing sister, Miss Watson Tulloh, R.R.C. A young officer suffering from measles was a patient under her care at Norval’s Pont in an isolation tent, and during convalescence he watched for her daily visits. As he had no clock or watch, he made use of the heavens, and he soon noticed that the nurse’s last round, which was about a couple of hours after the winter sunset, was paid just when a bright star rose over a neighbouring kopje, and on the following evenings the same star again gave him due notice, though the length of warning increased a little each time. The incident would probably have been forgotten except for the facts which occurred afterwards: a false report of the officer’s death, accompanied by a portrait, was published in the newspapers ; a little later he was wounded in an engagement and brought back to the same hospital and to the same nurse. She recognised his features at once, but thought he must be some near relative of her former patient, and was only assured of his identity by his reminding her of the bright star rising behind the kopje! We may conveniently divide our subject into the following sections :— Jehovah, Creator and Ruler. Worship of the heavenly bodies forbidden. The Hebrew calendar. - Direction and orientation. The heavens. Grand astronomical statements. Figurative allusions. c TIS SUR oto (1) JEHOVAH, CREATOR AND RULER. In Gen. i, 1, we are told that God created the heaven, and afterwards in the sixteenth verse that He made or ordained the sun, moon and stars for their purposes. I do not stop to discuss how the current theories about the origin of the universe fit in LT.-COL. G. MACKINLAY ON BIBLICAL ASTRONOMY. 127 with the brief majestic statements in Scripture, but I would note that as we pass on through the Bible we find a very large number of similar statements of God’s creative and ruling power made by various writers, with unerring consistency, right up to and through the times of the New Testament. A few only are now quoted. “Thou hast prepared the light and the sun” (Ps. lxxiv, 16 ; see also Ps. viii, 3, and Ixxxix, 11); “ Him that by under- standing made the heavens” (Ps. exxxvi, 5, 7; see also Prov. iii, 19); “ Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who created these things” (Is. xl, 26; see also xlv, 18); “All things were made by Him” (John i, 3; see also Col. i, 16; and Heb. il, 4). Certain miraculous astronomical events are emphatically narrated in Scripture. The sun standing still (Josh. x, 12-14; Is. xxviii, 21; Hab. iii, 11). The shadow moving backward on fhesdial(o Kanes xx, 10-11: Is. xxxvii, 8; m Chr, xxxu; 31). The star at Bethlehem (Matthew ii, 9). The failing of the hght of the sun at the Crucifixion (Matt. xxvii, 45; Mark xv, 33; Luke xxiii, 44). These have been ditticulties to many; but no one can deny that they are not in strictest accord with the repeated statements that God is ruler of the heavens. The Bible records astronomical facts as they appear to an ordinary observer; no scientific astronomer can object to this, as he himself (using popular language) speaks of a “new moon,”* of the rising and setting of the heavenly bodies; and even in his own technical arrangements, a star is said to “cross the wires” in the field of view of the transit instrument. Whatever explanation we give of the extraordinary events narrated in the Bible, the fact remains that they are recorded as miraculous exhibitions of divine power. The majestic titles of Maker and Lord of Heaven are often used in Scripture, specially by believers in Jehovah when they addressed the heathen ; the hearers could understand something of the glory indicated by those names, though they were ignorant of His spiritual attributes of righteousness and mercy. Thus we find both Melchizedec and Abraham, in the presence of the king of Sodom, speaking of God as “the Possessor ” or * A lady friend beginning to take an interest in astronomy was once talking to me about the zew moon, and said she often wondered what became of the old ones! If the conventional language of prosaic English needs some care in order to understand it, can we wonder if Eastern expressions are not always to be taken quite literally ? 128 LT.-COL. G. MACKINLAY ON BIBLICAL ASTRONOMY. “ Maker of heaven and earth ” (Gen. xiv, 19, 22). The heathen governor under Darius reported to him that the Jewish elders stated that they were “servants of the God of heaven and earth” (Ezra v, 11), and Darius uses the same title of Jehovah in his letter of reply (Hz. vi, 9). Artaxerxes also addresses Ezra as “the Scribe of the Law of the God of heaven” (Liz. vil, 12 and 23). Jer. x, 1], is in Aramaic, probably that it might serve aS a special message to the Chaldeans: “Thus shall ye say unto them, the gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, these shall perish” ; and then in Hebrew the prophet states to the Jews that the Lord “stretched out the heavens.” Daniel uses the titles “God of Heaven” before Nebuchadnezzar (Dan. u1, 44), and “ Lord of Heaven” before Belshazzar (Dan. v, 23). Jonah names Him “ God of Heaven ” (Jonah 1, 9) before the heathen sailors; and in the New Testament, Paul and Barnabas at Lystra speak of the “ living God who made the heaven and the earth” (Acts xiv, 15), and again at Athens, Paul spoke of Him before the Greeks as “the Lord of heaven and earth” (Acts xvu, 24, R.V.). The majestic Psalms of the day (xix) and of the night (vil) each begin by demonstrating the glory given to Jehov ah by His vast works in the universe; the former announces that “ the heavens declare the glory of God,” while the latter addresses Him, who has set His “ glory above the heavens.” In some places God’s great work of creation is linked with His great work of atonement and redemption, as in Ps. xix, 1 and “14, “The heavens declare the glory of God . . O Lord my rock, and my redeemer”; and Col. i, 16 and 20, ae ia Him were all things created in the heavens . . . through Him to reconcile all things unto Himself, having made peace through the blood of His Cross”; see also Prov. viii, 23, 27, and ix, 1, 2, “I was set up from everlasting . . . when He established the heavens I was there . . . wisdom hath killed her beasts: she hath mingled her wine ; she hath also furnished her table.” Modern science can teach us nothing of the second of these great works, but the advances of astronomy have enlarged our knowledge of the vastness and grandeur of the universe, and consequently have taught us a fuller sense of the olory of the Maker and Ruler. (2) WorsHIP OF THE HEAVENLY BopiEs FORBIDDEN. Every careful reader of the Old Testament must be struck by the fact that worship of the heavenly host was very preva- LT.-COL. G. MACKINLAY ON BIBLICAL ASTRONOMY. 129 lent among the nations surrounding the Israelites in Old Testa- ment times. The attention of readers of the Revised Version is more markedly drawn to this fact by the use of the correct term “Sun images” in the text instead of “images” only for the Hebrew word “Chammanim” in the text of the Authorised Version (Lev. xxvi, 30, Is. xvii, 8, etc.). A little further search into the meanings of some proper names (e.g., Beth-shemesh, Potiphera, Tammuz, Ashteroth-Karnaim, Sennacherib, etc., of which the first three refer to the sun and the last two to the moon in different languages) show us that this form of false worship was very widespread indeed. Modern discoveries tell us the same thing, and numbers of temples have been found dedicated to one or other of the orbs of heaven; not only in EKeypt, Assyria, Asia Minor and Greece, but as far west as our own country, in which we have Stonehenge, and as far east as China, where there are remains of ancient Sun temples. Emblems of the divinity in the form of solar discs with wings have been found in large numbers. (See fig. 1.) We thus find a close agreement between Scripture and the old monuments. We find stern denunciations in the Bible of all false worship, particularly of that of the host of heaven, “Take heed : lest.) 22). “when! thow séest the’stn . . . ‘thou be drawn away and worship” (Deut. iv, 19). “ Worshipped : the sun . . . which I have not commanded,” (Deut. xv, 3) “Manasseh .-.°.. . built altars for’ all the host of heaven . . . wrought much evil in the sight of the Lord” (11 Kings xxi, 5, 6). “If I beheld the sun when it shined, or the moon walking in brightness, and my heart hath been secretly enticed” (Job xxxi, 26, 27), and in the second commandment (Ex. xx, 4), the first forbidden image is that of anything in the heaven above. In Ezek. viii, 16, we read of men who committed abomina- tion “their faces towards the East and they worshipped the sun towards the East.” Sun worship still has many votaries among the Puarsis; the Hindus also still worship the orb of day to a very large extent; and many remains of moon worship survive in the East both among Hindus and Mahommedans. Max Miiller tells us that the temples of Babylonia and Egypt were well provided with towers, for the double purpose ot offering up sacrifices and for observation of the heavens. The temple at Jerusalem had no such towers; but we find at times when the Jews disobeyed the Lord they followed heathen 130 LT.-COL. G. MACKINLAY ON BIBLICAL ASTRONOMY. examples, worshipping the host of heaven on the tops of their own houses (1 Kings xxiii, 12; Jer. xix, 13; Zep. i, 5). Not only was the worship of the heavenly host interdicted, but a superstitious dread of any unusual appearance in the heavens was forbidden: “be not dismayed at the signs of heaven : for the nations are dismayed at them ” (Jer. x, 2, R.V.). The close connection between the false religions of the powerful nations on either side of the Holy Land and astronomy may have given a bad repute to the study of the heavens among the Hebrews themselves (Is. xlvu, 13); and we do not find it recorded that any of them excelled in this study, unless we except Moses, who was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians (Acts vii, 22), Solomon, whose wisdom “ exceeded the wisdom of all the children of the East, and all the wisdom of Egypt” (@ Kings iv, 30); and Daniel and his three companions, to whom God gave “knowledge and _ skill in all learning and wisdom” (Dan. i, 17). The mention of the wisdom of the Egyptians and of the children of the East in the first two of these instances, and the fact that Daniel and his companions gained: this knowledge and skill in a foreign land, all point to the conclusion that science in general (including astronomy) was more studied in the great countries of Egypt and Chaldea than among the Israelites. THE HEBREW CALENDAR. The Bible account of the origin of the Hebrew nation tells us that the founder Abraham came from Ur of the Chaldees, and that he was careful that his descendants should marry among his own relatives; his grandson Jacob also spent many years of his life in Mesopotamia, and he eventually migrated with all his descendants to Egypt, where they lived for some 215 years. We are further pointedly told that, although the children of Israel lived in Egypt so long, they were only there as “ strangers (Gen. xv, 13; Kx: xxi, 0) Denti 190 mae: and they left it by divine command to seek out their own long promised land. Bearing these statements in mind, we should expect to find that the Hebrews more nearly followed the Babylonian than the Egyptian calendar (if we can trace what each was), notwithstanding their long sojourn in the land of the Pharaohs. The ancient records fully confirm this expectation; we find from them that the Babylonians, who belonged to the Semitic race as well as the Hebrews, had a calendar in which the year was composed of twelve lunar months of 29 and 30 days, LT.-COL. G. MACKINLAY ON BIBLICAL ASTRONOMY. 13] with an additional month inserted about every third year to prevent them from moving through the seasons; this was also the arrangement of the Israelites, who, however, possessed their own peculiarities of calendar; for instance, at the beginning of their national life they simply indicated a month by its number, while the Babylonians assigned special names to each. They also had special feast times and sabbaths. The Egyptians (a race quite foreign to the Israelites), on the other hand, had equal civil years of 365 days each, regulated by the sun alone, and divided into twelve non-lunar months of thirty days each, with a separate and added period of five days; while the Egyptian sacred year was corrected on much the same principle as that which we now adopt in our leap year arrangement. In Babylonia much attention was given to the moon, witness the remains at the present moment of a temple to the moon god at Abraham’s own town of Ur. Temples to the sun geod are very numerous in Egypt, but those to the moon are rarer. When the Hebrews lived in Egypt they must doubtless have used the Egyptian calendar, at any rate in their dealings with the inhabitants of the land, and possibly they used the Babylonian luni-solar calendar, or a similar one, among themselves as the Jews do now; but this is not very hkely, as at first they were few in number, and they then had no ereat feasts of their own to observe. But from the time of the first passover they gave up the Egyptian calendar altogether, and the Lord’s words to Moses, “This month” (evidently a strictly lunar one) “shall be unto you the beginning of months, it shall be the first month of the year unto you” (Ex. xu, 2), emphasizes the break with the land of the oppressors. This abandonment of the Egyptian calendar must have needed great skill and wisdom on the part of Moses to carry out,* and it was of a piece with the general policy to prevent any return to the land of Egypt, which was naturally in the * The tenacity with which an old calendar may be clung to is shown by the fact that in two Mahommedan countries with strictly lunar years, Morocco and Persia, there are still remains of another calendar. In the former country, the time for sowing is regulated by almanacks in which the actual names of the Roman non-lunar months still survive (letter from G. Michell, Esq., H.B.M. Vice-Consul Casa Blanca, Morocco). And in Persia governors assume their offices on the first day of the year, which is computed according to the old Persian solar reckoning. (Letter, Rev. H. St. Clair Tisdall missionary in Persia.) tae LT.-COL. G. MACKINLAY ON BIBLICAL ASTRONOMY. minds of some (Ex. xvi, 3; Numbers xiv, 4; Acts vii, 39). The beginning of an Israelitish month at the appearing of the new moon was announced by the blowing of trumpets* (Numbers x, 10). Our present calendar is the outcome of the old Egyptian one, through Roman channels, several times altered, and not even now uniformly adhered to in Europe, as Russia has not yet adopted the last correction. The Hebrew calendar has lived on unchanged, and it also forms the basis for regulating our Easter and Whitsuntide. The Sabbath—Some say that as the four quarters of the moon (new, full, and the waxing and waning halves) are periods of definite change, that the week of seven days has its origin in being roughly the quarter of 294 days, which is approximately the period of a lunation. But we must put aside this vague guess, in view of the positive scriptural statement that the Sabbath was instituted because “ God rested the seventh day, wherefore the Lord blessed the seventh day, and hallowed it” (Ex. xx, 11), and we must conclude, in agreement with the author of the article on “Astronomy” in the Hncyclopedia Britannica, that the origin of the Sabbath is divine. It has been said that the Sabbath was borrowed from the Babylonians, since they always began the month with the new moon,—a day which was considered unlucky for some purposes, and every succeeding seventh day in the month was likewise so distinguished ; the fifteenth day being called “Sobat,’ a word which Dr. Pinches believes to be of ancient Accadian origin and meaning “rest of the heart” or “middle” (of the month). it is quite possible that the Babylonians may have retained some trace of the divinely appointed Sabbath, and the actual Hebrew word “Shabbath” may have been derived from the same ancient language. The Hebrew arrangement of strictly weekly Sabbaths was not the same as the Babylonian one of unlucky days, as new moon and sabbath did not always fall on the same day (11 Kings iv, 23), and consequently, the 15th of the month, the Babylonian “Sobat,” could only sometimes be a Hebrew Sabbath. * The Hindus blow trumpets on new moons. (Letter, Rev. A. Margéschis, Tinnevelly, S. India.) + Hindus do not sow their fields or reap on new moon days and, in general, important work is not undertaken on those days. (Rev. A. Margéschis. ) LT.-COL. G. MACKINLAY ON BIBLICAL ASTRONOMY. 133 Other traces of septiform arrangement are found among the ancient nations near the Israelites. Several of the constellations were considered to be composed of seven bright stars.* The Egyptians are not known to have had any plan of ordinary weeks of seven days; yet they celebrated a feast every thirty years, when the first day of the civil year (which was always 365 days) showed an increased difference of seven days from the sacred year, which was a corrected one; and we are told in Gen. 1, 5, that the Egyptians mourned for Jacob seventy days. But it is among the Hebrews that the prominence of the number seven (spiritually signifying rest or completeness) is most conspicuous. The calendar of the three great annual feasts and also other periods is arranged on this plan, for instance— The seventh day is the Sabbath (Ex. xx, 8, 9, 10). The seventh week from the morrow of the Sabbath after the passover was the feast of weeks (Lev. xxiii. 16). The seventh month from the passover was the feast of tabernacles (in-gathering) (Lev. xxii, 34). The seventh year was the year of release (Ex. xxiii, 11). After seven times seven years was the year of Jubilee (Lev. xxv, 8, 9). Seventy years was the period of the captivity (Jer. xxv, 11), and of the age of man (Ps. xc, 10). Seventy weeks or seventy periods of seven years each was the period prophesied by Daniel (Dan. ix, 24), And there may be other longer septiform periods. Feasts— With regard to the three great annual feasts of Jehovah mentioned above, viz, Passover, Weeks, and Tabernacles, it is interesting to notice the time of the year and of the month in which they were placed. The first and the last were in the middle of the month at the full moons near the equinoxes, and the intermediate feast was at about the beginning of May, when the moon was at or near the beginning of its second quarter. Thus on the first days of two of the feasts there would be the light of full moon all night, and at the other one, a fair amount of moonlight for the first part of the shortened night of early summer. Thus a maximum amount of nocturnal illumination was obtained in the first days of the feasts, consistent with the * See p. 106, vol. ii, Prim. Constellations, by A. Brown. 134 LT.-COL. G. MACKINLAY ON BIBLICAL ASTRONOMY. carrying out of the septiform arrangement: this must have added to the splendours of the feasts, and it must have had a practical advantage in the avoidance of confusion,* as we remember that all the males were ordered to appear before the Lord on these three occasions (Ex. xxii, 17). It is observable that there was no feast at Midsummer, when the great heathen orgies of Tammuz, and sun worship generally, were celebrated by the neighbouring heathen. The feast of the Passover was the foundation day of Hebrew Deliverance (Ex. xii, 27), and Christ our Passover (1 Cor. v, 7) also died on the same day (Mark xv, 42). The feast of Weeks or first fruits was the day of the giving of the lawf (Ex. xix, 1, 10, 11), and also of the descent of the Holy Spirit (Acts un, 1, 2). The great feature of the feast of Tabernacles was rejoicing (Lev. xxii, 40; Deut. xvi, 15 R.V. “altogether joyful”) at ingathering. When the Hebrew nation had reached the summit of its glory, Solomon’s temple was dedicated on that day (1 Kings viii, 2), and the people were sent away “ joyful and glad of heart” (I Kings vil, 66). There is also to be a future elorious keeping of this same feast at Jerusalem (Zech. xiv, 16), and it is also typical of the future day of great joy in store for the Christian (1 Pet. iv, 13). Under some circumstances the Passover was allowed to be kept on the corresponding days of the second month, instead of the first (Num: ix, 10, 11; m Chr. xxx, 2); but Jeroboam was severely blamed for setting up a rival feast on the eighth month instead of the seventh, a ‘date which “he had devised of his own heart” (1 Kings xii, 32, 33). In Ezekiel xlv, 21, 25, the feasts of Passover and Tabernacles are alluded to, but not that of Weeks; and generally there is more frequent mention of the first and last feasts than of the intermediate one. The prominence of two of the feasts over the other is expressed astronomically by their occurrence at the definite periods of the equinoctial full moons, while the cther feast was at a time of no special astronomical importance. As the fronts of the tabernacle and of the temple faced to the * A volunteer friend tells me that another volunteer, who was in the habit of attending Easter manceuvres, and whose power of observation exceeded his information, once said to him, ‘‘ How remarkable it is I always find a full moon for this outing ! the moonlight at night is very convenient in camp life.” + See p. 48, The Portable Commentary, Rev. R. Jamieson, D.D. LT.-COL. G. MACKINLAY ON BIBLICAL ASTRONOMY. 135 East, the rising sun would be almost directly in front at two of the feasts, but not at the other. The daily sacrifices were at sunrise (II Kings 11, 20, 22) and sunset. Noon was also a stated time of prayer for some CPas lv 1% An Ancient Calendar.—A year containing twelve months of thirty days each is aliuded to in Gen. vu, 11, 24; viu, 3, 4, 13, as it was 150 days from the seventeenth day of the second month to the seventeenth day of the seventh month. There must have been twelve of these months, because a period of at least 40+ 7+7=54 days elapsed between the first day of the tenth month of the first year, and the first day of the first month of the following one (see Gen. vill, 5, 6, 10, 11, 12). It is believed that there were not any additional intercalary days. If the word “time” is taken to represent a year, and “times” two years; the periods “time, times and a half” (Dan ai) torby and. ‘two months)” (Rev. xi, 2), and “1260 days” (Rev. xi, 3, xu, 6) are identical, each representing three and a half of such years. The so-called Egyptian “vague year” of 360 days was of the same construction ; 1t 1s believed to have been in use till about 2,000 B.c., when the tive epact days were added to each year. A similar year was probably known to the ancient Babylonians. When the sun and moon are both used, as in’ the Hebrew Calendar, it becomes necessary to have some means of fore- telling the vernal lunation which is to contain the passover, or what comes to the same thing, to determine beforehand which years shall contain an extra lunation: this led to a search for astronomical cycles, 7¢., periods when different celestial revolutions are performed in almost the same time. Meton, about Bc. 432, found, from the result of careful observations, that 235 lunations only exceed 19 years by about 2 hours 10 minutes; in other words, after a cycle of 19 years the new and full moons recurred on the same days of the year, and this happens again and again. This is a convenient cycle, the Jewish reckoning for the passover and our golden numbers in the Book of Common Prayer for finding Easter being founded upon it. It must be noted, however, that after eleven such cycles (209 years) have elapsed, that the 24 hour differences add together, and amount to 24 hours; consequently aiter every 209 years a correction of one day must be mace. K 136 LT.-COL. G. MACKINLAY ON BIBLICAL ASTRONOMY. De Cheseaux, a Swiss astronomer, who lived in the middle of. the eighteenth century, was searching for other such cycles, and found that the number 1260 (Rev. xi, 3, and xii, 6), and also 2300 (Dan. viii, 14) gave excellent cycles when taken as years, each having a small error in the same direction. He therefore expected and found that their difference 1040-would be more | correct still. In recent years Dr. Grattan Guinness has taken advantage of this cycle to construct tables giving the times directly of all new moons for a period of over 5,000 years; this has been certified, by competent astronomical authorities, to be in very close accord with the results of long and careful computations: for the practical purpose of chronology the two methods may be said to give identical results. This cycle was apparently not understood by the writer Dan. viii, 15: it was only discovered by a comparison of Bible numbers. The assumption that the 1260 and 2300 days in the text in the Bible, may be regarded as years, is based upon the two passages, Numb. xiv, 34, “searched out the land . . . each day for a year,” and Ezek. iv, 6, “I have appointed each day for a year.” (4) DIRECTION AND ORIENTATION. The points of the Compass——We have already noted that in Old Testament times observations were generally made of the risings of the sun and stars on the visible horizon ; we can therefore readily understand why the East was regarded as the front; the West was consequently behind; the North was on the left; and the South on the right.* It may be assumed that when the words front or before, hinder, left, right, are used with respect to a fixed object such as a building, town or country, that East, West, North, South respectively are intended. Our versions do not always carry this out, as will be seen from the appended table, which refers to our own authorised and revised versions, and also to French and Spanish \ * The same arrangement is observable in Sanscrit and in some at least of the Indian languages (e.g., Bengali and Marathi) derived from it. In modern Arabic the same rule also obtains, though in some places one or more of the terms have become obsolete and other expressions are now used instead. Yemen in Arabia and the Deccan in India both owe their names to this arrangement, and both mean “the south country,” literally “the right hand,” in Arabic and in Sanscrit respectively. | Vo face page 137. SOME BIBLICAL WORDS FOR THE FOUR QUARTERS OF HEAVEN. (Jer. xlix, 36.) References. (es Ordinary Translated in |, AY. RV. gt aes Hebrew word. meaning. texts A.V. Hose ai s | 5 a Heal eee eed |e A pM Oi x2 | ss | | 3 oy lates | gzal 4 \ a 4 3 a ies Hla] a | & =| 2 ( Qadmoni...| What is before...) east —... aol BHA 2s) U5 sal Wg sdlyaoy, ENN Fs x | former ... ...| Joel ii, 20... ae a % Zech. xiv, 8 ... ee Ba (oe Uae ca es wy a1 . forward... ...| Job xxiii, & ... ee Bol nel ens }. Sho ms Be Qedem _...| Ditto before ... noel Jip e, 12° aan Bes peel liaise II, % 1. * Uttermost Deut. xi, 24; xxxiv, 2 weal Mae }, a ue I. ( Acharon ...| behind, last | utmost ... \ | hinder Joel ii, 20; Zech. xiv,8 ..,| 1. | ... Gs ie * * 43 n irs i Backward Job xxiii, 8 ... ana re eee ll eon Il, a * * = = -.-| backward, ete. | rd... { Teo. ss ee eSeminar al ace | Yam . sea (in 305 texts) | West... ...| In 69 texts . (Negeb ...! District S. part|South in 111|/Gen.xii,1.. .. «jf */../ * | .. | * x of Judea. texts. | | TE SEyao, Sea, WS) oc oe Neve lial * ue l. I Sam. xxiii, 24 us ae ae 1. 11 Sam. Xxiv, 5 nee ; i Yamin ...) R. hand or R.| R. hand or R. } | 1 Kings vii, 39, 49 . 1 ie 1 \ side. side, South m1 Kings xxiii, ‘eye Se tet : ‘ 1 Chr. iii, 175 iv, 6, 7, 8 | Job xxiii, 9 . ; poe tates lace 4 2 * [ Ps, Ixxsix, 12 Th ieee erie eo! * * | (| 1 Kings vi, 8; vii, 21,39 } | | | 1 Kings xi, 11 ae | | Yemani ...! Ditto... ...| Ditto < |i Chr. iii, 17; iv, ae 1 Ba eee B08 IL IL = i || xxiii, 10 : | RD | (| Ez. xlvin, 1, 2 J * Text R.V. ms Ta a) 7 Cheder Seen (in 17 1) South Be ...| Job xxxvii, 9 Soe noel thei pore c * South.” Midbar ...| Wilderness etc.| South ... orl) 12e5 1683375 (3 ane ee weet ae ue 1. l. L, (in 253 texts). Yam _...| Sea ies ... South (see West) | Ps. evii,3 ... vie eres eee | ee ue 1. cs 1. Mesémbria! Mid-day and so| South ... ...| Acts vili, 26... aclu cH ] us wy L (Greek). | south. | Semali ...) Left hand or L.| Left hand or t Kings vil, 21, 39°... 1 ] % 1 | side, L, side. u Kings xi, 11 1 Chr. iii, 17; xxiii, “10 ; | (| Gen. xiv, 15... ] * ] $2 : | | | Josh, xix, 27... as 8\Semol ...) Ditto ... ...! Ditto 4 1 Kings vii, 39, 49 ... 1. | 1, Z | TChi, ai, iv 6,7 4 | (| Job xxiii, 9 ... a ser eal Goal eres if a50 ue | Mezarim... Scattering wind | North... ...| Job xxxvil, 9 Peele us 2 The star * means a cardinal point ; the letter 1. means literal rendering. Li'.-COL. G. MACKINLAY ON BIBLICAL ASTRONOMY. 137 ones. If the literal rendering were always given, and if a short explanation were made at the beginnings of all Bibles of the ancient way of regarding the East as the front, every reader would be able to judge for himself from the context when front, left, ete., meant East, North, etc., and several marginal readings might be avoided. It would then be clear that Solomon’s oe ac was oriented like the Tabernacle in the wilderness (Fx. xxvi, 22; 1 Kings vi, 16, R.V.). At the present time we in England employ a somewhat similar plan in topography ; we e speak of the right or left bank of a river, and we give a clear impression of our meaning to anyone familiar with the conventional plan, that the right bank is that on the right hand of anyone looking down stream. It is somewhat remarkable that we now look down the course of the stream, but the ancient Hebrews looked towards the course of the Sun, and many modern Easterns do the same. In this connection Job xxiii, 8, 9, R.V., calls for attention: ‘“‘ Behold, I go forward, but He is not there ; And backward, but I cannot perceive Him ; On the left hand, where he doth work, but I cannot behold Him, He hideth Himself on the right hand that I cannot see Him,” The cardinal points are almost certainly intended in this passage, and they are so rendered in both French and Spanish, but not in either our A.V. or Revised Versions. The mention of hiding Himself on the right hand probably reters to the hiding of His works, we., the stars, in the south, a fact also alluded to in the expression, “Chambers of the South,” in Job 1x, 9, when again the full meaning appears to have been missed by our translators in both versions, but recognised by both the French and Spanish, as they correctly give “ chambres. cachées ” and “lugares secretos” as the meaning of the word which we render simply ‘“‘chambers.”* The hiding of the stars. below the horizon in the south must have been noticed by travellers in Bible times, specially by voyagers on the Nile,. which stretches north and south through many degrees of latitude. A description of the south as a place where stars * In Sanscrit the Rev. A. Margéschis states that avaci, meaning “ lower region,” is a word used to express the South. The Rev. A. Elwi in, late missionary in China, states that in Chinese, South, is “‘ below.” The "Rev. W.C. Whiteside, Western India, says that South is sometimes described in Sanscrit as “the door.” South is also called yamaya in Sanscrit from yama, the God of death. The connection between the hidden chamber and the dead seems to be obvious from Gen. xxiii, 4 and_ 8, “Bury my dead out of my sight.” ; K 2 138 LT.-COL. G MACKINLAY ON BIBLICAL ASTRONOMY. are hidden from one stationed in northern latitudes is a very natural one; I myself well remember being struck with a full view of the brillant star Canopus high in the heavens, when in more southern latitudes. This star is of course never visible to us in England, being hidden from view below the horizon inthe south. The“ working ” on the left or north in Job xxiii, 9, may refer to the revolving of the stars round the pole. That the passage most probably indicates the points of the compass seems evident from the context: Job is desirous to discover ‘Jehovah, “Oh that I knew where I might find Him,” he says just- before in verse 3, and then in the text under consideration he says in effect, “though I go to the sun rising, He is not there, to the sunset but I cannot perceive Him ; to the mysterious north stretched over empty space (Job xxvi, 7), round which the constellations revolve, but I cannot behold Him; he hideth Himself if I journey southward and gaze on the stars hidden from us here, even there I cannot see Himself.” Then by way of sharp contrast he adds in verse 10, “but He knoweth the way that J take.” In Job ix, 7-11, the same thought of Jehovah’s power over the sun and stars and of Job’s inability to see the maker Himself “ which doeth great things past finding out, yea, marvellous things without number,” is expressed in somewhat similar language: “So He goeth by me and I see Him not: He passeth on also, but I perceive Him not.” Modern Science notes some of the marvellous things, but utterly fails to find the Maker Himself. In Job xxvi, 7, R.V., the description of the north as stretched over empty space, seems to accord with the idea in the mcdern Arabic word for north, which means “void” (Rev. W.G. Pope), and with the Tibetan chang “clean,” or “ puritied ” (Colonel Waddell); perbaps our own word north may mean no (sun) or void (of the sun). The east sometimes in the Bible means a country in that direction ;-as the west is spoken of as behind or hinder; and as the Mediterranean Sea (which was essentially the sea) was on that side of Palestine, the word for sea often signifies west,* and it is consequently translated “west” no fewer than 69 times; as this was so often done, it would appear that in Ps. exxxix, 9, “If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost part of the sea,” that the word “west” in * Myr. G. Michell of Casa Blanca on the Atlantic coast of Morocco states that the Arabic word for sea, signifies “west” there at the present time, LT.-COL. G. MACKINLAY ON BIBLICAIL ASTRONOMY. 139 English would probably convey the meaning intended much better than the word “sea.” The contrast between the brightness of the morning in the east, and the figure of extreme darkness in uttermost west seems intelligible, more particularly as the passage goes on to say that darkness cannot hide from God. The employment of the word “sea” in English destroys this sequence of ideas. All the four versions, however, use the word “sea,” and none of them even gives a marginal note that the “west” might be intended. It is somewhat remarkable that the word “ Yam,” the sea, so often translated “west,” is once rendered by the word “ south” in the text of both A.V. and R.V. (Ps. evil, 3). The Negeb, the dry hilly southern part of Judaea, is always translated the south or south country ; in one case in the R.V. (Gen. xiii, 1) it would appear better to have used the name of the country instead of the expression “the south,” as Abraham did not go in a southward direction, when he went from Egypt to the Negeb. There is apparently no trace in the New Testament that the east was regarded as the front, and that the other cardinal points were grouped in relation to it; on the contrary, it seems that the modern European idea of the vertical plane of the meridian being considered the fundamental one had arisen and prevailed, for the word mesémbria, which originally meant mid-day, also signifies south, and it is so translated in the text or Acts) vi, 26;-of both our A: V.-and R.V. As the same double meaning is attached to the French and Spanish words “midi” and “ mediodia,” and as both their versions give only “south” in the passage under consideration, the marginal reading “or at noon ” in our R.V. may be unnecessary. It is interesting to note that the Latin meridies, from which the French and Spanish words are both derived, has entirely lost its meaning of “noon” on entering the English language, since our word “meridian ” only signifies direction. Orventation.— In the earlier books of the Bible, the points of the compass are very often alluded to, as for instance in the description of the orientation of the Tabernacle, and ot the position of the tribes around it in the wilderness, and in agreement with this modern research tells us that ancient temples were generally carefully placed in directions indicated astronomically. Tabernacle compared with Heathen Temples.—Comparing an ordinary heathen, Hgyptian, or Greek temple with the tabernacle in the wilderness, we find a general agreement in the 140 LT.-COL. G. MACKINLAY ON BIBLICAL ASTRONOMY. following points; they were each oriented, rectangular in plan, symmetrical on either side of a central line, and provided with an inner sanctuary and with rows of pillars. But when we come to the arrangement of the pillars we find a vital difference. We have seen that in heathen temples dedicated to astronomical deities, a clear course is allowed down the centre from the entrance to allow the light of the rising sun or star to shine into the inmost holy recesses. This necessitates an even number of pillars on the front, as may be seen at St. Paul’s in London, St. Peter’s in Rome, etc., which are copied from the antique. It may perhaps be said that beauty of appearance also demands a central entrance. It is conse- quently remarkable that the number of pillars in front of the tabernacle was odd; while the number placed between the holy place and the most holy was even* (Ex. xxvi, 32, 37; xxxv1, 36, 38; see fig. 2). The glory of the Lord was within the most holy place of the Tabernacle and of the Temple (Ex. xl, 35 ; m Chron. vii, 2; see also Rev. xxi, 23, xxii, 5), consequently there was no need to make arrangements for light to come in from outside. Even had the veil been lifted and the strict orders against entrance into the most holy place been relaxed, the odd central pillar would have prevented the light of the rising sun from entering effectively ; may we not therefore lock upon this central pillar as a protest against the worship of the heavenly host ? Solomon’s temple was the direct successor to the Tabernacle, and we find several of the diinensions of the one simply doubled in the other (Ex. xxvi, 16, 18, 22; 1 Kings vi, 2, 20) thus :— | ; Height of Length. Breadth. | Most Holy Place. ee ——— | = ——— Tabernacle ye 30 cubits. | 10 cubits. 10 eubits. Temple ... is COmms 2) OMe | OO ae \ * Tt has been said by some, that the central pillar was necessary, in order to carry one end of a ridge pole (which, however, is not mentioned in the Bible). But even if this were so, the light of the rising sun would have still been obstructed ; it would not have been difficult to have carried the ridge pole (if it existed) on a short cross piece supported on two pillars, if an unobstructed central space had been desired. LT.-COL. G. MACKINLAY ON RBIBLICAL ASTRONOMY. 141 The four pillars between the holy and most holy places in the Tabernacle gave five openings: these were replaced in the Temple by one opening (central by symmetry), one-fifth of the whole, furnished with doors or doorways ; two-fifths of the front on each side were presumably boarded up (1 Kings vi, 31-34). The five pillars on the front giving entrance to the holy place in the Tabernacle from the outside gave six openings ; these were replaced in the temple by two openings, each furnished with doors, which symmetry demanded should be on each side of a central pillar; each of these doorways oceupied one-eighth of the front. Had these doors followed exactly the same rule as the other doors leading into the most holy place they would each have been one-sixth of the front ; but the increase of actual frontage over that of the Tabernacle permitted the proportionate width of the doorways to be reduced; thus though some change was made, the central pillar arrangement which blocked the entrance of the sun’s rays apparently remained unaltered. This seems evident from the marginal reading of the A.V., but the R.V. does not make this meaning quite so clear. The description of the Temple in Ezek. xh, 2, 3, is rather obscure ; but it would appear probable that the entrance to the holy place was in two parts, “five cubits on the one side, and five cubits on the other side,” ¢.e., two doorways with a central post between them. The entrance to the most holy place was apparently only one opening, as there is no mention of “in the one side” and “on the other side.” Direction —The Hebrews were not a maritime nation, and we find little allusion to the use of the heavenly bodies for the purposes of navigation: we may, however, notice two passages (Job xxxvili, 32, R.V.), “Canst thou guide the Bear with her train.” (The Arcturus of this passage and of Job ix, 9, in the A.Y. is evidently a mistranslation.) The constellation of the Bear was in those days much nearer to the pole than now, and it consequently must have served to point out the then pole star quite as effectively as 1t now does the present one; the thought seems to be “are you able to guide that which guides the mariner”? In Acts xxvii, 20, R.V., “when neither sun nor stars shone upon us for many days,” the thought seems to be that the danger was great because the means of guidance was not available; had it been intended to say that their hiding indicated cloudy bad weather, we should expect to find the moon mentioned also; but mention of the moon is probably 142 LT.-COL. G. MACKINLAY ON BIBLICAL ASTRONOMY. omitted because it could hardly have been of use for purposes of navigation. (5) THE HEAVENS. From a remote period it has been found convenient to divide the heavens into three regions, viz., those containing :— 1. Circumpolar, non-setting stars. 2. All other visible stars, v.e., those rising and setting. 3. All remaining stars hidden under the horizon in the south. Job ix, 9, R.V., mentions “the Bear, Orion and the Pleiades and the chambers of the South,” and thus enumerates all these regions ; (1) The very conspicuous constellation of the Bear was then non- -setting in those latitudes, and consequently represented the rest “of the non- -setting stars; (2) Orion and the Pleiades, the rising and setting stars; and (3) the (hidden) chambers of the South contained the remainder. (1) Non-setting stars—Some of the non-setting stars had a practical value in giving direction, as we have already noted: if proper allowance is made for the time of year, the con- stellation of the Great Bear, or the Great Clock of the North, as it has been called, gives the time at night with consider- able accuracy, especially if a dial face, anciently called a “nocturnal,” 1s placed over it aud the pole star. The non-setting stars collectively typified the evil powers of darkness, which were only vanquished by the rising of the sun. The old story was that Merodach had a fearful conflict with the dragon. This was poetically pictured in the heavens by the constellation - Draco, one of whose stars, towards the tail, was the pole star of some 4,500 years ago; the body of Draco was consequently apparently transfixed by an invisible spear (the axis of the earth preduced), and the two parts of the creature revolved around it, giving the idea of twistings about in agony. The rising of ‘the sun caused its entire disappearance, and so apparently completed its destruction. Our figure of St. George and the Dragon on the British sovereign possibly owes its origin to the first part of this ancient story. “His hand hath pierced the swift serpent” (Job xxvi, 13), probably has an astronomical reference and indicates that Jehovah causes the constellation Draco to revolve, and consequently all the other stars as well; it may perhaps also refer in poetic language to His supreme power in overcoming all evil. The seeming destruction of the stars caused by the rising LT.-COL. G. MACKINLAY ON BIBLICAL ASTRONOMY. 143 sun was an ancient figure of speech, and it is probably used in i Thess. ii, 8, R.V., “That wicked . . . whom the Lord shall bring to nought (katargései) with the manifesta- tion of His coming.” In Nahum iii, 16, 17, “the stars. . when the sun ariseth they flee away,” bears out the same idea —if it is allowable for the verb to refer to the stars as well as to the locusts—and both refer to the great men of Nineveh. “He must increase but I must decrease” (John 111, 30), may be derived from a similar idea, as the morning star, herald of the dawn, modestly decreases very much, but (at its brightest) does not disappear altogether, on the rising of the orb of day. John the Baptist may perhaps here be likened to the morning star,* as “he was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light” (John i, 8; see also Mal. iii and iv, 2). At the beginning of the Lord’s ministry, which was probably in the autumn, John twice repeats the sentence almost in the same words (John i, 15 and 30, R.V.), “ After me cometh a man that is become before me, fer he was before me,” a phrase quite in accord with the figure of the morning star and the sun. In John v, 35, R.V., the Lord speaks of the Baptist as “ the lamp that burneth and shineth: and ye were willing to rejoice for a season in his light.” The name for Venus of “ Light” or “Lamp” is no uncommon one. With regard to the phrase “rejoicing in his light,” an Egyptian, Atallah Athanasius (associated with Dr. Harper of Cairo), states that “ travellers by night when they see the morning star rejoice exceedingly, and sing special songs in its honour, calling it ‘ the release,’ because it announces that the troubles of night and its darkness are coming to an end.” If, as is probable, John made his comparison (John 1, 15, 30) and the Lord made His comparison (John v, 35) to the morning star at times when it was distinctly visible towards the end of each night, we have a probable indication of the exact date of the Crucifixion, which is generally believed to have occurred within the dates 29 and 33 A.D. Mr. Wickham, Senior Assistant, Radcliffe Observatory, Oxford, has caleulated for me that the planet Venus was at its brightest as the morning star about 10th July, 28 a.D., and again about 14th February, 30 A.D. new style, or 27th June, 28 A.D., and 1st February, 29 a.p., old style (for the old style year began on the 25th March); this involves its shining as the morning star for about three weeks before and two or three * See iimpriss’ Gospel Treasury, section xiii, part ii, p. 132. 144, LT.-COL. G. MACKINLAY ON BIBLICAL ASTRONOMY. months after those dates, z.¢.,in the autumn of 28 A.D. and in the spring of 30 A.D. The former of these periods may well have contained the commencement of the Lord’s ministry, and the latter the second passover, which is generally thought to be indicated in John v, 1. As the Crucifixion was at the fourth passover, its date would thus be 32 a.p. or 29 ap. It must be confessed that this is not strong evidence but only a possible inference. The planet Venus as morning star is much better known by Eastern peoples at the present time than by us. Some farmers in India and others in the East notice its appearance in broad daylight. We may think a figure derived trom the planet as far-fetched, but it was doubtless very familiar to the ancient Jews. (2) Lhe rising and setting stars—The second region contains the rising and setting stars; practical use was made of them because when some ot them rose with or just before the sun, the seasons of the year for various agricultural operations were indicated. According to Dr. Takakusu, Professor of Sanscrit, Tokio, the farmers ot parts of China and Japan, where almanacs are not so plentiful as with us, still make use of them for these purposes. Some 600 B.c. Hesiod wrote of the Pleiades, “begin harvesting at their heliacal risings, but plowing when they set.’* The practical value of the Pleiades to the farmer due to its position in the heavens probably explains the references to the eluster. in Job 1x, 9, xxxviu, 31, and Amos v, 8, BR. V2 (Oren the most brilliant of the constellations, is also mentioned in the same three passages, probably as representing all the rest. In Is. xu, 10, the same Hebrew word is used, but it is there translated “constellations” instead of Orions in both our A.V. and RR: This second region of the heavens contains the band of stars called the Signs of the Zodiac, which is described as the tabernacle of the sun (Ps. xix, 4). The signs of the zodiac are surely referred to in 11 Kings xxiii, 5, and in Job xxxvin, 32, as is indicated in the marginal readings of both AyV. and R.V. The texts of both the versions, however, are not helpful, the Hebrew word Mazzaroth or Mazzaloth only occurs in these two places, but is translated “planets” in one case, and simply Mazzaroth is given us in the other. No doubt, apparently, * Agricultural operations in Egypt and Persia are still regulated by the heliacal risings. LT.-COL. G. MACKINLAY ON BIBLICAL ASTRONOMY. 145 entered the minds of either the French or Spanish translators, as both have given the meaning as the signs of zodiac in both places; this seems quite consistent with the context of Job xxxviii, 32, R.V.: “Canst thou lead forth the Mazzaroth in their season?” as the leading forth of the signs of the zodiac with respect to the sun influences the seasons. (3) Midden Southern Stars—The third region of hidden southern stars calls for no further note: when discovered by one journeying south, they naturally linked themselves to the other rising and setting stars. Job xxxvill, 31, 32, R.V.: “ Canst thou bind the cluster of the Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion? Canst thou lead forth the Mazzaroth in their season? or canst thou guide the Bear with her train?” enumerates what may be called the useful visible constellations ; Pleiades and Orion indicated the time for agricultural operations; the signs of the zodiac the sequence the seasons; and the Bear was the guide to the mariner. (6) GRAND ASTRONOMICAL STATEMENTS. In ordinary ancient astronomy there were various theories about the shape of the earth and the method of its support ; in the Scriptures we have the simple statements, “the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s, and He hath set the world upon them” (1 Sam. 11, 8, see also Job xxxviii, 4, Ps. Ixxv, 3, Prov. vill, 29), and “ He hangeth the earth upon nothing” (Job xxvi, 7). The globular form of the earth is thought by many to have been unknown to the ancients: but it appears that (Is. xl, 22) He “sitteth upon the circle of the earth” of both our Authorized and Revised Versions would be more accurately translated, He “ sitteth upon the globe of the earth.” Both the French and Spanish agree in translating the Hebrew word “ khug” as “ globe.” The globular form of the earth is also inferred from the Lord’s statement that at His sudden coming (Luke xvu, 24), some will be in bed, presumably at might (Luke xvii, 34), while others will be working at their ordinary occupations (Luke Xvu, 35, Matt. xxiv, 40, 43), presumably in the day-time. Day and night at the same instant at different parts of the earth are quite consistent with its spherical shape. According to the observations of modern astronomers, there are less than 6,000 stars in all the heavens visible to the unaided human eye. In the Scripture, however, they are repeatedly spoken of as very numerous indeed, and in some 146 LT.-COL. G. MACKINLAY ON BIBLICAL ASTRONOMY. cases their numbers are mentioned in conjunction with the sand upon the sea shore innumerable; now 6,000 grains of sand do not fill a very large space, and the linking together of these two examples of large numbers might not have appeared very apt to, the first hearers. (Gen. xv, 0; xxvi, 4; Deut. i, 10, %, 22, kxvill, 62; der, xxx, 22> Naham ai 16 7 Heb) arabe But when telescopes were invented, the numbers which could be seen rapidly grew to hundreds of thousands, and of late years to millions; and when photography came to the aid of astronomy, pictures appeared of other stars (never even yet seen by human eye in the most powerful telescope), and the totals now reach hundreds of millions. Of late years the spectroscope has confirmed what was previously only a suspicion, that many bright stars have other dark ones revolving with them. Sir Robert Ball tells us that “the brilliant objects that we see, though they are overwhelmingly numerous, yet they must be absolutely as nothing in comparison with the myriads of dark objects which are totally invisible to us, except when certain very remarkable circumstances occur.” Thus our modern Science huimbles us by showing that it is more difficult than it appeared at the time to comply with the demand, “ tell the stars, if thou be able to tell them ” (Gen. xv, 5). And it enables us to see a tuller meaning in the grand and simple statement, “ He telleth the number of the stars” (Ps. exlvu, 4). The lately recognised dark stars of the modern astronomer may perhaps be referred to in Jude 13. Except that a few of them were used for the practical purposes of finding the time and the latitude, the bulk of the stars were not of much interest to scientific astronomers a few years ago ; though of course different magnitudes were assigned to them, and differences of colour were observed, some were noted as double and others as variable in their light. But now- a-days, with the aid of the spectroscope, it is found that all are moving with great and diverse rapidity ; some are one thousand times as brilliant as our sun, while others are less so. Instead of the old apparent monotony among the stars, Professor S. Newcomb now writes: “Most remarkable is the diversity of their actual luminosities or the amount of heat and light which they individually emit. The whole tendency of recent research is to accentuate this diversity.” Thus now-a-days, thanks to recent science, we can see more force than formerly in the words of Scripture, “ one star differeth from another star in glory” (1 Cor. xv, 41), and our present knowledge of the LT.-COL. G. MACKINLAY ON BIBLICAL ASTRONOMY. 147 immensity of stellar distances greatly adds point to the words of Eliphaz, “ Behold the height of the stars, how high they are” (Job xxii, 12). (7) FIGURATIVE ALLUSIONS. When the human race was a few thousand years younger than it is at present, sunrise was pre-eminently the type of increasing power; but we modern Enelish in our northern latitudes have a very early daybreak in the summer time when the weather is fine and clear, and our present habits of late rising prevent most of us from being astir at that time of day; in our winter the skies are frequently cloudy and dull, and the glories of sunrise are veiled; the consequence is that we have little practical experience of the beauties of daybreak, and so the Bible accounts of it do not come with so much force to us as to those who lived in more southern countries, and frequently witnessed it. There are still, however, two powerful eastern nations, Persia and Japan, which employ the symbol of the rising sun as their national emblem. In the Scriptures abundant use is made of sunrise as a figure of strength and joy: the sun is said “to rejoice as a strong man torun a race” (Ps. xix, 5). Other joyful references to it are, “The day spring from on high hath visited us” (Luke i, 78). “The path of the righteous is as the light of dawn, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day ” (Prov. iv, 18, R.V. marg.). “Then shall thy light break forth as the morning ” (Is. lvii, 8). On the other hand, the withdrawal of the light of the sun, and also of that of the moon and stars,is an emblem of sorrow: “The sun and the moon are darkened and the stars withdraw » their shining” (Joel i, 15). Intensity of sorrow is shown by an unexpected quenching of the grateful light of day. “Her sun is gone down while it is yet day” (Jer. xv, 9). In the same strain a period of lasting joy after sorrow is spoken of as a time when “Thy sun shall no more go down. . . the days of thy mourning shall be ended ” (Is. Ix, 20). : In this connection it is interesting to note the text, “Until the day dawn, and the shadows flee away” (Song of Solomon, ii, 17, and iv, 6, A.V.), which certainly gives the idea of dawn, and it has consequently been taken as a type of resurrection. The words “ be cool” in R.V., however, make it appear that evening is the time intended: according to Professor Margoliouth, the word used for “fleeing away” refers to odours diffusing themselves, and one would think might as well refer to the 148 LT.-COL. G. MACKINLAY ON BIBLICAL ASTRONOMY. shadows disseminating themselves over the earth at night as to their disappearance altogether in the morning; the word translated “break” in A.V. and “be cool” in R.V. is difficult. On the whole the probability seems that the evening is intended, the context 1s certainly not opposed to that view, and the movement of shadows in other parts of Scripture seems generally to refer to evening (Job vii, 2; Ps. cii, 11, cix, 23). It must have been no uncommon sight to see a few flat clouds or mist low on the horizon at dawn, in the Eastern sky in Bible lands in Bible times, and when the sun rose, they must have caught some of its radiance, almost appearing to be a part of the luminary itself; a very natural poetic idea would call them mines to assist its upward flight. In Mal. iv, 2, we are told, “Unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in His wings.” And in Ps. cxxxix, 9, the wings are also associated with the rising sun, for the expression 1s “wings of the morning.” This thought seems to be carried out in the numerous carved images of the solar disc with long lateral wings (emblems of divinity, see Fig. 1) so often to be seen in ancient temples, ete. (probably the tails of some of them represented the downward rays of the sun sometimes to be seen when it is near the horizon); the differences in design in Egyptian and in Assyrian winged suns may be due not only to differences in the national art of the two countries, but also to the differences in the morning cloudscapes of rainless Egypt and of the more clouded sky of the country near the hills to the north of Assyria. Compare A and Bwith E and F, Fig.1. The winged solar discs, emblems of divinity, are not improbably the sun images forbidden to the Hebrews (Lev. vi, 30, etc.). Let us not be alarmed at this coincidence; Scripture allows and uses the language of imagery in worship ; but it forbids the construction of the actual images themselves for the purposes of worship. Another symbole meaning of wings was to signify care or protection (Ps. xvu, 8, lvu, 1; Mal. iv, 2; Matt. xxi, 37); this thought may possibly explain Ps. lxxxiv, 11, “The Lord God is a Sun and Shield.” The sun symbolises His active power and the wings His shielding care of His people. It is doubtful whether the moon, which reflects the sun’s light to the dark world, is “the faithful witness ” of Ps. lxxxix, 37, or whether the rainbow is intended. The infinitudes of space grandly picture the infinite majesty LT.-COL. G. MACKINLAY ON BIBLICAL ASTRONOMY. 149 and grace of Jehovah, “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isa. lv, 9).