s not unreasonable
to presume that a carpenter whose forefathers have followed the same
trade for centuries will be a better carpenter than one who is new
to the trade--all other advantages being equal."

{233}

In the phrase, "his ordained place as a member of society," we have
the keynote of the philosophy upon which the whole caste system rests.
It suits the Maharaja of Darbhanga to have the people believe that his
sons were "ordained" of Heaven to be rulers, even if "not fit to stop
a gully with," and the Sudra's sons "ordained" to be servants, no
matter what their qualities of mind and soul. But the caste system is
rotting down in other places and some time or other this "ordained"
theory will also give way and the whole vast fabric will totter to the
ruin it has long and richly merited.

The introduction of railways has proved one of the great enemies of
caste. Men of different rank who formerly would not have rubbed elbows
under any considerations sit side by side in the railway cars--and
they prefer to do it rather than travel a week by bullock-cart to
reach a place which is but a few hours by train. Consequently the
priests have had to wink at "breaking caste" in this way, just as they
had to get around the use of waterworks in Calcutta. According to the
strict letter of the law a Hindu may not drink water which has been
handled by a man of lower caste (in Muttra I have seen Brahmins hired
to give water to passersby), but the priests decided that the payment
of water-rates might be regarded as atonement for the possible
defilement, and consequently Hindus now have the advantages of the
city water supply.

Foreign travel has also jarred the caste system rather severely. The
Hindu statutes strictly forbid a man from leaving the boundaries of
India, but the folk have progressed from technical evasion of the law
to open violation of its provisions. In Jeypore I saw the half-acre of
trunks and chests which the Maharaja of that province used for
transporting his goods and chattels when he went to attend the
coronation of the King of England. The Maharaja is a Hindu of the
Hindus, claims descent from one of the high and mighty gods, and when
he was named to go to London, straightway declared that the {234}
caste law against leaving India stood hopelessly in the way. Finally,
however, he was convinced that by taking all his household with him,
his servants, his priests, material for setting up a Hindu temple