They  terminated  in  themselves  and  rested  upon  their
own  value.  There  was  no  remembered  promise  and
no  expectation  of  any  specific  fulfilment.  The  Hindu
gained  simply  what  he  bought  with  his  merit  or  his
offerings,  and  he  had  no  greater  sense  of  gratitude
to  deity  than  to  the  tradesman  of  whom  he  made  a
purchase  in  the  bazaar.  There  are,  indeed,  traces  in
some  of  the  earliest  Vedic  hymns  of  a  feeling  of  de-
pendence upon  superior  powers,  yet  the  Brahmanical
priesthood  taught  men  that  he  who  was  rich  enough
to  offer  a  sacrifice  of  a  hundred  horses  might  bank-
rupt heaven,  and  by  his  simple  right  of  purchase  even
rob  Indra  of  his  throne.*    As  stated  in  a  previous

*  The  doctrine  of  human  merit-making  was  carried  to  such  an
extreme  under  the  Brahmanical  system  that  the  gods  became


366    ORIENTAL  BELIGIONS  AND  GHRISTIANITT

lecture,  so  far  was  this  system  from  "the  faith  which
works  by  love  "  that  even  demons,  by  costly  sacrifices
might  dispute  the  supremacy  of  the  universe.
There  is  an  equally  significant  contrast  between
the  legislation  of  Moses  and  that  of  Manu.  The  life
and  experience  of  the  former  are  interwoven  with  his
statutes.  They  are  illustrated  with  references  to
actual  events  in  the  history  of  the  people.  The
blessings,  the  trials,  the  punishments,  the  victories,
the  defeats  of  Israel  enter  into  the  texture  of  the
whole  Mosaic  record  :  it  is  full  of  sympathetic  feel-
ing ;  it  takes  hold  on  the  actual  life  of  men  and  there-
fore is  able  to  reform  and  elevate  them.  It  brings
not  only  Moses,  but  Jehovah  Himself  into  personal
sympathy  with  the  people.  But  Manu  presents  stat-
utes only.  Many  of  these  are  wholesome  as  laws,
but  they  are  destitute  of  tenderness  or  compassion.
