6 



GENERAL REMARKS ON 



unknown distant period of time. Demonism, on tile other hand, 

 deals with the concerns of this life, and of this life alone. This, there- 

 fore, appeals more strongly to the passions and feelings, in as much 

 as it relates to things nearer and present. Hence, demonism never 

 lost its hold on men's minds, but, on the contrary, it still continues 

 to be the most popular of all forms of worship prevailing among 

 the Singhalese. 



The period, at which demonism seems to have been fashioned 

 into the form it still retains, is that which intervened between the 

 eleventh and the sixteenth centuries, during which, owing to the 

 numerous wars which were incessantly waged between the princes 

 of this Island and those of Southern India, thousands of Malabars 

 often became residents, as captive slaves or as freemen, among the 

 Singhalese, and imparted to the latter, many of their own peculiar 

 superstitions and notions, so that many fresh additions were made 

 to demonism, both in the number of demons, and, especially, in the 

 introduction of a large number of charms or spells recited at every 

 demon ceremony now; so much, indeed, does this appear to have 

 been the case that more than seven-eighths of the charms, belonging 

 to Singhalese Necromancy, are in the Tamil language; a circum- 

 stance which has led many to believe, that demonism is altogether 

 an importation from the continent. During the last three centuries, 

 no changes whatever seem to have been made in it, or if any, 

 only of a very trifling nature, and that too, more in the gradual al- 

 terations of the language used in the invocations, than in any thing 

 else. Knox's short account of the form of demon-worship, which 

 prevailed at the time he was a captive in this Island, that is 200 

 years ago, seems, judging even from the little he has said on the 

 subject, to be exactly the form of worship, which at this day prevails 

 among the people. 



Thus, besides Buddhism, properly so called, there are three other 

 forms of worship, which enter into the religious creed of a. Singha- 

 lese, namely Demonism, Capuism, and Grahaism. In addition to 

 these, there are also a variety of other minor superstitions, considered 

 to be quite necessary to his welfare, and which, though of minor 



