660 



BRAMANTE BHAMINS. 



facility of operating with this machine, and its great 

 power, it is applied to many purposes. When tlie 

 page which is now before the reader was taken wet 

 off the types, it was all deeply indented in conse- 

 quence of the pressure of the printing press; but 

 after being dried, it was subjected to the action of 

 Bramah's press, by which process, as will be seen, 

 these indentations have been nearly obliterated. In 

 the press by which this has been accomplished, the 

 pump has a bore of three-fourths of an inch in dia- 

 meter, and the cylinder one of eight inches, their 

 areas are therefore to one another, as 9-16ths to 64 

 (the squares of the diameters), that is, as 1 is to 136 ; 

 hence if the pressure upon the pump-cylinder be 56 

 Ibs., (which can be easily effected by boys,) the pres- 

 sure upon the piston of the large cylinder will be 

 56 x 136, that is, 7,616 Ibs. This astonishing power 

 lias also been employed in the construction ot cranes. 

 BRAMANTE OF URBI.VO, Francesco Lazzari, shares 

 with Brunelleschi the credit of being the restorer of 

 architecture. He was born at Castel Duranti, in the 

 duchy of Urbino, in 1 444. He applied himself first 

 to painting ; but his passion for architecture soon 

 gained the ascendency. At length he went to Milan, 

 and there his whole time was spent at the cathedral. 

 Pope Alexander VI. named him his architect, and 

 .Tulius II. made him superintendent of his buildings. 

 At the command of the latter, he united the Belvi- 

 dere with the palace of the Vatican. He persuaded 

 the pope to order the church of St Peter to be torn 

 down, and another to be erected in its place, which 

 should not have its equal in the world. In 1513, 

 the foundation of this edi6ce was laid, according to 

 the plan of B. It yet remains the greatest production 

 of modern architecture. B. died in 1514, without 

 living to see this work completed. He had begun 

 the edifice with incredible despatch ; but his succes- 

 sors, Raphael, Julius of San Gallo, Peruzzi, and Mi- 

 chael Angelo ; altered the original plan, and left . 

 nothing of B.'s workmanship standing, except the I 



arches which support the tower of the dome. His 

 writings, part prose, part verse, first discovered in 

 1756, were printed the same year at Milan. 



BRAMINS ; the first of the four casts of the Hindoos. 

 They proceeded from the mouth of Brama, which is 

 the seat of wisdom. They form the sacred or sacer- 

 dotal cast, and its members have maintained a more 

 absolute and extensive authority tlmn the priests of 

 any other nation. Their great prerogative is that of 

 being the sole depositaries and interpreters of the 

 Vedas, or sacred books. There are seven subdivisions 

 of the lirainins, which derive their origin from seven 

 penitents, personages of high antiquity and remarka- 

 ble purity, who are said to have rebuked the gods 

 themselves for their debaucheries. The great body 

 of the Bramins pay equal veneration to the three 

 parts of the mysterious trinity, but some attach them- 

 selves more particularly to one person of the triple 

 godhead. Thus the Vishnuvites are distinguished 

 by an orange-coloured dress, and the mark called 

 nama on their foreheads. The devotees of Siva wear 

 the Hngam, and are distinguished from the former by 

 their great abstemiousness. A Bramin should pass 

 through four states. The first begins at about seven, 

 when the duty of the young novice, or Srac/tmacart, 

 consists in learning to read and write, studying the 

 Vedas, and becoming familiar with the privileges of 

 his cast, and all points of corporeal purity. Thus he 

 is taught his right to ask alms, to be exempted from 

 taxes, from capital and even corporeal punishment. 

 Earthen vessels, belonging to Bramins, when used by 

 profane persons, or for certain purposes, must be 

 broken. Leather and skins of animals, and most 

 animals themselves, are impure, and must not be. 

 touched by them. Flesh and eggs they are not al- 

 lowed to eat. The Bramin is also taught to entertain 

 a horror of the defilement of the soul by sin ; and 

 rules for purification by ablution, penances, and vari- 

 ous ceremonies, are prescribed. The second state 

 begins at his marriage, when he is called Grihasllia. 

 Marriage is necessary to his respectability. His 

 daily duties become more numerous, and must be 

 more strictly performed. Regular ablutions, fasting, 

 and many minute observances, become requisite. 

 The Bramins, however, engage in secular employ- 

 ments, political, commercial, &c. The third state is 

 that of the Vana-Prasthas, or inhabitants of the 

 desert, which is now, however, seldom reached. 

 They were honoured by kings, and respected even 

 by the gods. Retiring to the forest, green herbs, 

 roots, and fruit, were their food : reading the Vedas, 

 bathing morning, noon, and evening, and the practice 

 of the most rigorous penances, were prescribed. K Let 

 the Vana-Prastha," says Menou in the Institutes, 

 " slide backwards and forwards on the ground, or 

 stand the whole day on tip-toe, or continue rising and 

 sitting down alternately; in the hot season, let him 

 sit exposed to five fires ; in the rain, let him stand 

 uncovered; in the cold season, Jet him wear wet 

 garments; then, having stored up his holy fires in 

 his mind, let him live without external fire, without 

 a shelter, wholly silent, and feeding on roots and 

 fruit. When he shall have thus become void of fear 

 and sorrow, and shaken off his body, he rises to the 

 divine essence." The fourth state is that of a San- 

 nyasi, in which new and severer penances are to be 

 performed. Suppressing the breath, standing on the 

 head, and other such ceremonies, are performed, till 

 the devout patient rises to a participation of the di- 

 vine nature. The sanctity and inviolability of a 

 Bramin are maintained, in the eyes of his country- 

 men, by the most severe penalties. The murder of 

 one of the order, robbing him, &c., are inexpiaole 

 sins : the killing of his cow can only be expiated by 

 a painful penance. To some travellers it appears 



