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The three classes of society that existed among the Saxons were so strongly divided by the laws of caste that no marriage could take place between persons in the different ranks. J The severest penalties pro- hibited intrusion into another rank. The establishment of caste could not be the work of a moment. For a length of time after the principle began to be manifested, its power would be comparatively trifling and • GtTote*s History of Greece. t '* In the ancient world citizenship, unless speciallj conferred as a f ayour bj some definite law or charter, was deriyable only from race.- The descen- dants of a foreigner remained foreigners to the end of time ; the circumstance of their being bom and bred in the country, was held to make no change in their condition ; community of place could no more convert aliens into citizens than it could oonyert domestic animals into men. . • . Citisen- ship was deriyed from race ; but distinctions of race were not of that odious and fantastic character which they have borne in modem times ; they implied real difiPerenceSj often of the most important kind, religious and moral. Parti- cular races worshipped particular gods, and in a particular manner. But different gods had different attributes, and the moral aspect thus presented to the contemplation and yeneration of the people, could not but produce some effect on the national character. . . . Again, particular races had particular customs which affected the relations of domestic life and of public." — Arnold's Thucydides. X Smith's Religion of Ancient Britain. 1 III. PRIMITIVE INHABITANTS OF THE EARTH. 73 its restrictions few. It would be regarded rather as tending to mutual advantage in the social economy, than as necessary or essential But in India there must have been peculiar circumstances that favoured its development ; and when the wearing of the chain had become familiar, the Brahmans rivetted its links most firmly by declaring that its origin was divine, its existence coeval with man, and its character im- mutable. In other countries there arose institutions that acted as an antagonist to this principle ; so that its influence was never paramount, and in time it ceased to exist. The Brahmans and the Budhists agree as to their estimate of the number of the castes.* In the antediluvian age we have nothing that answers to this fourfold division ; but it is possible that the distinction may have arisen from a perverted account of the solemn prophecy delivered by Noah relative to the destinies of his children. In this light Noah, who in the earlier ages must have been regarded by all mankind with profound reverence, would be represented as adum- brating the Kshatriyas, or the race of the kings; Shem, whose " God was blessed," would be made to represent the Brahmans, or the race of the priests ; Japhet, " dwelling in the tents of Shem," would be made to represent the Vaisyas, or the race of the merchants, wandering from place to place, as was their primitive custom, and taking up their abode in other lands for the purposes of traffic ; and Ham, the father of Canaan, " cursed," and " the servant of servants unto his brethren," would be prominently exhibited as the exemplar of the Sudras, the servile race. When we name the Brahmans as the sacerdotal tribe, we must not regard them as directing their attention to religious duties alone. In the first ages we have no instance of such a restriction. The first priest of whom we read, Melchisedec, was a king regnant. Of the second, Potipherah, we know only his name, title, and place of residence ; and though he * In Persia there was a Bimilar diTision of the human race. ** The whole Bjstem. of Zoroaster reposed on a f oui*fold dirision of castes : that of the priests, the warriors, the agriculturists, and the artificers of whatever denomi- nation." — Zendavesta, i. 141. 74 A MANUAL OF BUDHISM. is called a priest, the Chaldee translator renders the word bj ^2"^, prince. On his appointment as first minister of the king, Joseph was probably admitted into the sacerdotal tribe. Among the Jews, previous to the time of David, the high-priests were generally considered as the rulers of the people, under God as the supreme monarch of Israel ; and the Levites appear to have exercised an inferior authority in the provincial towns. There are also instances in after times wherein the king's ministers, those who were " at his hand," are called priests. 2 Sam. viii. 18 ; xx. 23 ; 1 Kings iv. 2 ; 1 Chron. xviii. 17. The priestly office .was hereditary after the time of Aaron. Even in countries where other offices were not hereditary, there appears to have been something like caste among those who occupied this position in the state ; and in all countries where caste existed, it was the most notable among the sages and priests. The high priests of Hephaestos professed to have registers that proved their dignity to have been transmitted through 341 generations, and they had colossal statues of this number of individuals.* The priests among the Ghaldaeans, the great masters of astro- nomical science, received their privileges by birthright In many families of seers among the Greeks, a knowledge of the future was considered to be hereditary. And even in our own times, especially among less cultivated tribes, such gifts as second sight are supposed to be transmitted from father to child. In the ancient legends of the Budhists, in which Brahmans are frequently introduced, they are represented as being prime ministers, privy councillors, philosophers, sooth- sayers, conjurors, astrologers, fortune-tellers, physicians, and ascetics.t It was acknowledged by G6tama that in some ages the Brahmans are superior to the Eshatriyas ; and if a supreme Budha then appears, he is born of the brahmanical caste. It is said in the Janawansa, '' The Brahmans applied themselves to study, and became priests ; or they assumed • Herod, ii. 82. t The priests of Egypt resembled, in mtinj respects, the character given of the ancient Brahmans, inasmuch as thej were judges, physicians, and astrologers. III. PRIMITIVE INHABITANTS OF THE EABTH. 75 the office of preceptors ; and some of them maintained them- selves by the offering of sacrifices and oblation^, by the practice of medicine, or the consulting of the planets. They were thus the professors of the various branches of science said to have been revealed by the chief Brahma, from whom all the sciences are supposed to be derived, such as astrology, magic, astronomy, &c." In the Dasa-brahma-jdtaka, 66tama is represented as relating the history of a certain noble, Wid- hiira, who in a former age informed Korawya, king of the city of Indupat, in Kuru, that there were ten kinds of Brahmans. ''1. There are Brahmans," said he, ''who tie up a quantity of medicines in a bundle, and put them in a bag, and go from place to place, proclaiming, " This medicine is good for such a disease, and this for another. They also cany about with them different kinds of oils, and proclaim. If this be poured into the nose it is good for such a disease, and this for another. They also profess to drive out devils by mantras. 2. There are others who leave the regular ordi- nances of Brahminism; and because they have no other mode of obtaining a livelihood, they go to the palaces of kings and the mansions of the nobility, where they play upon cymbals and sing songs for the amusement of the great. At times they only employ others to perform the same ser- vices. 3. There are others who take some kind of vessel, with which they approach the courts of kings ; they then say, I must have such or such a gift, or I will not depart hence ; they thus force from the kings whatever they desire. 4. There are others who go about from door to door to beg, appearing like a tree that has been burnt in the field cleared for cultivation ; with long hair, dirty teeth, immense nails, heads covered with dust, and filthy bodies. 5. There are others who go about as merchants, to sell different kinds of fruits, honey, &c. 6. There are others who practise agricul- ture, rear cattle, poultry, and slaves ; who give much wealth as the portion of their daughters, and receive much when their sons are married. 7. There are others who tell the nekatas, or lucky hours ; kill animals, and sell their flesh ; and follow 76 A MANUAL OF BUDHISM. other practices of a similar kind. 8.