ciety. In short, while Brahmanism was the fruit which developed from the Vedic blossom, it not only had a worm at the heart but was also affected by those elements of decay which have resulted in modern Hinduism.

The present condition of Hinduism1 and the past history of Brahmanism make it likely that sects existed even before Vedic times.2 They certainly appeared very early, and it may have been in some such way that the sun came to be worshiped under so many different names. The recognition of the identity of the sun-gods, as well as the belief that the sun was a form of Agni, may have helped to

3

"Diversity is its very essence, and its proper manifestation is 'sect,' sect in constant mobility, and reduced to such a state of division that nothing similar to it was ever seen in any other religious system." B., pp. 153-154.

2 It is conceivable that there was a time when each clan had its own special daimon or spirit, to which it attributed great power. The common interest of the clans, however, against the hostile races opposing their advance, must have early welded them together into tribes with a corresponding community of gods; but, as each deity would naturally continue to have his partisans with the result that sects would gradually take the place of the original clans, old views and forms of expression concerning each must have still persisted in spite of the resulting contradictions. Whatever the exact cause may have been, a set of stock phrases was ultimately developed and applied indiscriminately to the more important gods (cf. EH., pp. 43 and 138-139); but it did not stop there. Even the most extravagant of the expressions came at length to be used of anything which was of especial importance in the eyes of the singer; and, in the Atharvan, they were actually applied to the leavings of the sacrifice. See SBE., xlii., pp. 588 and 629-630. This is probably all that there is in the so-called Henotheism (MM., Lect. v., p. 166) of the Vedas; for accurate classification and exact definition are modern virtues, as well as consistency. Cf. W. D. Whitney, in PAOS., Oct., 1881, pp. x.-xii.; and EH., pp. 139–140. Hyperbole too had its share in the making of the hymns, which represent a vast flowing together of the waters, not a single stream (cf. EH., pp. 22-23); and they probably became sacred also before men began to seriously question. Criticism thus became impossible; but the very mystery involved in their contradictory statements was one of the sources of their peculiar sanctity, and was a means of exaltation to the Brahmans, who pretended to understand it; while the people were doubtless as densely ignorant in all these matters as they are to-day.

Cf. K., note 208.

pave the way for the identification of other gods, and finally for the speculations concerning the identity of all the gods' and the source of the universe.

To this very imperfect and hasty survey of an enormous field, but a few words can be added in conclusion. Many of the questions which are involved may never be permanently settled; but an increasing probability may be looked for in some cases; for, in large measure, the work

1 Found first in R-V., i. 164, 46, a late hymn. See K., note 374. While these identifications appear to show a strong drift toward monotheism, they result, not in monotheism but in pantheism with a monotheistic core. It is not monotheism. What effect the 'pair' deities had on the process is doubtful. In the Rik, the dvandva compounds are "chiefly represented by dual combinations of the names of divinities and other personages, and of personified natural objects." W., § 1255. This implies that the pair' compounds began with the names of the gods, and there can be little question but that the starting-point is to be found in Dyāvāpṛthivi, 'Sky-and-Earth.' These two are coördinate: the other 'pair' deities are not. AM., pp. 126-127. One either overshadows the other, more or less, or else entirely eclipses him, as in the case of Mitravaruņā. This, in itself, is suggestive. In the Rik, especially in the late hymns, there is a tendency to differentiate the functions of a god by the use of appellations, which in turn tend to develop into separate gods. If a similar tendency prevailed in the early days, and the attempt was made, in some cases, to use, for this purpose, "descriptive compounds" (see W., SS 1279-1280), in which the first member was an adjective qualifying the second; a ready soil would be provided for the extension of the 'pair' deities on the analogy of 'Sky-and-Earth,' who seem to have been regarded by all nations as an inseparable pair. With the gods of the more intellectual classes, such as Mitrāvaruņā, the analogy would tend to be fully carried out; while, with such popular deities as Indrāgni and Indravayu, the original adjective form might be expected to persist and to ultimately set the fashion for the later form of such compounds, with which they agree. The few 'pair' deities besides 'Sky-and-Earth,' in which the first member cannot be an adjective, appear to be, without exception, comparatively late. Of the whole number, Indra- begins more than half, and it also retains the singular form in a combination with a title of the Açvins, which occurs in an old hymn.

2Cf. pp. 574-583 of the Bibliography in EH.

The significance of the flood legend, for example, which appears in the Catapatha-Brāhmaṇa and elsewhere. See M., i., pp. 182-212; and MM., Lect. iv., pp. 154-159. So the development of the Hindu triad. The earliest form which appears is,-Agni, Indra or Vāyu, Sūrya. M.,

case.

is hardly begun. The only really satisfactory picture of the early Hindu religion is to be found in the Vedic writings themselves; but the language is very difficult, and an English version gives but a poor idea of the original.1 That the hymns were believed to possess a certain power in themselves seems clear from the intimate connection of prayer and spell,2 which sometimes so shade into each other that it is not easy to tell which is the true sense in a given This is particularly true of the hymns used in the cure of disease,3 and for the obtaining of wishes. The belief in the power of a form of words also appears in the great force attached to curses,5 and in the fear lest the v., p. 8. MM., Lect. v., pp. 167–168. Agni, Trita, Sūrya, has been suggested (AM., pp. 69 and 93) as an earlier form. According to the view already given (printed before AM. was received) in the Jan. number, 104-106, a still earlier form would be,-Agni, Apāri Napāt, Trita. This is paralleled in the Zend,—Ãtar, Apăm Napāt, Thraċtaona Ãthwya. The confusion of the first two-Agni is called a 'son of the waters' (see above l. c.), as is the Avestan Åtar and the Vedic Savitṛ (R-V., i. 22, 6; cf. x. 149, 2)—would then give a place for the addition of Sūrya.

pp.

1 A translation which gives a faithful picture of the hymns is very difficult to make. A "good" translation is quite sure to overtranslate the Sanskrit, and a literal one is not English. As the language possesses five declensions, eight cases, three numbers, and ten classes of verbs, not to mention various aorist and future systems,—the word Sanskrit means 'Put-together, Perfected,'-it has a vast number of forms. Its syntax is simple; but it is nevertheless awkward, although the Vedic language is less open to criticism in this respect than the classical Sanskrit, which was capable of producing-in the Hitopadeça, Salutary instruction'— such a compound as bhandapurnakumbhakāramandapikäikadeça, 'dishfull-jar-maker-little-shop-one-place,' i.e., a corner of a small crockeryshop filled with dishes.

2 See AH., §§ 86-94, pp. 167–186; and M., v., pp. 440-449. The belief of the masses in spells must have been deep seated and general. See above, liv., Oct., 1897, pp. 618 and 626-627; and lv., Jan., 1898, pp. 93, 99-100, and 109 (footnote). Cf. the sacred Gayatri. EH., p. 46.

8 Any slip or error in the service of the gods was supposed to result either in direct punishment from them or in the liability to be subjected to a sort of demoniacal possession. See above, liv., Oct., 1897, pp. 609 and 617, and lv., Jan., 1898, pp. 108, footnote 2, and 109.

knowledge of a person's true name might enable an enemy to destroy him.' These ideas are, however, widespread.

The notion that a man's name is an integral part of him and that a second one must be given for common use is in perfect keeping with the other ideas of this strange people, who looked upon the solution of riddles as the highest wisdom, and who even composed hymns in an enigmatical form.2 Among the hymns of the Rik there may be those which were composed with an intentional imitation of an antique style in order that they might possess greater force;3 and it is even possible that, to some extent, the Rik, like the later poetry, "aims less at convincing the mind than at overpowering it, by affecting it with a sort of vertigo."4

There is much in the character of the gods which calls for deeper study. Their early shadowy nature can still be traced in the deities of the epic;5 but there is something beyond yet unsolved. It has been supposed that the IndoEuropeans had a supreme sky-god and that Varuna and Dyaus represent the two names by which he was known.6 While this view can no longer be accepted, in this form at least, the last word on the subject has by no means been said. Looked at from some sides, the question presents problems which neither science nor history can answer; and it may yet appear that somewhere in the dim past a true though crude idea of God was lost by the early Aryans, leaving as a survival the worship of certain manifestations of His power, out of which developed the later gods of the separated peoples.

1AH., § 15, p. 46. 2 See K., pp. 86-87; and MM3., pp. 260-264.

This possibility further complicates the question of the age and importance of many of the hymns. See liv., Oct., 1897, p. 630, footnote 1. 4 B., p. 193. Cf. liv., Oct., 1897, pp. 608-609.

6J. Darmesteter, in CR., xxxvi., Oct, 1879, pp. 274-289. 7 Cf. lv., Jan., 1898, pp. 94 and 101-102.

* Cf. C., p. 201, C2., pp. 93 and 148-156, and EH., p. 13.

ARTICLE VI.

THE PROBLEM OF THE CURRENCY.

BY PROFESSOR C. S. WALKER, PH.D.

THE Secretary of the Treasury reports the circulation of representative money, October 1, 1897, as follows:

It is evident that all of this is representative money, kept in circulation at par, because the United States has pledged itself to redeem directly or indirectly every dollar on demand in standard gold coin. As to gold certificates the law is explicit. Subsidiary silver and minor coins may be redeemed in sums of twenty dollars in lawful money. Currency certificates are receipts for so much lawful money and are payable on demand. All United States notes, both of the issue of 1890 and of former years, are payable in coin; and the government has decided that coin obligations are redeemable in gold, if it be demanded. National bank notes are payable in lawful money of the United States by the treasurer. Silver certificates are redeemable in standard silver dollars.

It is true that standard silver dollars are not redeemable nominally in gold, but really they are. They are receiva