Yet we are told by the same author, that Hindoo
nobility cannot be forfeited, or even tarnished by the basest and
greatest of crimes; nor can one of mean birth become great or noble by
the most illustrious actions.
nobility cannot be forfeited, or even tarnished by the basest and
greatest of crimes; nor can one of mean birth become great or noble by
the most illustrious actions.
Camoes - Lusiades
ix.
20.
"And Noah began to
be an husbandman, and he planted a vineyard, and he drank of the wine,"
etc.
[490]
_His faith forbade with other tribe to join
The sacred meal, esteem'd a rite divine. --_
The opinion of the sacredness of the table is very ancient in the East.
It is plainly to be discovered in the history of Abraham. When
Melchizedek, a king and priest, blessed Abraham, it is said, "And he
brought forth bread and wine and he blessed him. "--Gen. xiv. 18. The
patriarchs only drank wine, according to Dr. Stukely, on their more
solemn festivals, when they were said _to rejoice before the Lord_.
Other customs of the Hindoos are mentioned by Camoens in this book. If a
noble should touch a person of another tribe--
_A thousand rites, and washings o'er and o'er,
Can scarce his tainted purity restore. _
Nothing, says Osorius, but the death of the unhappy commoner can wipe
off the pollution.
Yet we are told by the same author, that Hindoo
nobility cannot be forfeited, or even tarnished by the basest and
greatest of crimes; nor can one of mean birth become great or noble by
the most illustrious actions. The noblemen, says the same writer, adopt
the children of their sisters, esteeming there can be no other certainty
of the relationship of their heirs.
[491] _The warlike song. _--Though Camoens began his Lusiad in Portugal,
almost the whole of it was written while on the ocean, while in Africa,
and in India. --See his Life.
[492] _As Canace. _--Daughter of Eolus. Her father, having thrown her
incestuous child to the dogs, sent her a sword, with which she slew
herself. In Ovid she writes an epistle to her husband-brother, where she
thus describes herself:--
_Dextra tenet calamum, strictum tenet altera ferrum. _
[493]
_Soon I beheld that wealth beneath the wave
For ever lost. --_
See the Life of Camoens.
[494] _My life, like Judah's Heaven-doom'd king of
yore. _--Hezekiah. --See Isaiah xxxviii.
[495] _And left me mourning in a dreary jail. _--This, and the whole
paragraph from--
_Degraded now, by poverty abhorr'd,_
alludes to his fortunes in India.
be an husbandman, and he planted a vineyard, and he drank of the wine,"
etc.
[490]
_His faith forbade with other tribe to join
The sacred meal, esteem'd a rite divine. --_
The opinion of the sacredness of the table is very ancient in the East.
It is plainly to be discovered in the history of Abraham. When
Melchizedek, a king and priest, blessed Abraham, it is said, "And he
brought forth bread and wine and he blessed him. "--Gen. xiv. 18. The
patriarchs only drank wine, according to Dr. Stukely, on their more
solemn festivals, when they were said _to rejoice before the Lord_.
Other customs of the Hindoos are mentioned by Camoens in this book. If a
noble should touch a person of another tribe--
_A thousand rites, and washings o'er and o'er,
Can scarce his tainted purity restore. _
Nothing, says Osorius, but the death of the unhappy commoner can wipe
off the pollution.
Yet we are told by the same author, that Hindoo
nobility cannot be forfeited, or even tarnished by the basest and
greatest of crimes; nor can one of mean birth become great or noble by
the most illustrious actions. The noblemen, says the same writer, adopt
the children of their sisters, esteeming there can be no other certainty
of the relationship of their heirs.
[491] _The warlike song. _--Though Camoens began his Lusiad in Portugal,
almost the whole of it was written while on the ocean, while in Africa,
and in India. --See his Life.
[492] _As Canace. _--Daughter of Eolus. Her father, having thrown her
incestuous child to the dogs, sent her a sword, with which she slew
herself. In Ovid she writes an epistle to her husband-brother, where she
thus describes herself:--
_Dextra tenet calamum, strictum tenet altera ferrum. _
[493]
_Soon I beheld that wealth beneath the wave
For ever lost. --_
See the Life of Camoens.
[494] _My life, like Judah's Heaven-doom'd king of
yore. _--Hezekiah. --See Isaiah xxxviii.
[495] _And left me mourning in a dreary jail. _--This, and the whole
paragraph from--
_Degraded now, by poverty abhorr'd,_
alludes to his fortunes in India.
