Castaños, Don

FRANCISCO XAVIER DE, (DUKE OF BAYLEN,) a distinguished Spanish general, в. 1756. He did brilliant service in the Peninsular war, defeating a French force under Dupont at Baylen in 1807, (whence his title,) and causing the retirement of Joseph Bonaparte from Madrid. He participated, under Wellington, in the victories of Albuera, Salamanca, and Vittoria, and com the population of Hindostan is divided, according to the religious law of Brahma. The origin of these cla es is detailed in the sacred book which contains the ordinances of Menu. According to this authority, the Brahman, the Kshatriya, the Vaisya, and the Sudra sprang respectively from the mouth, the arm, the thigh, and the foot of Brahma. 1. The cla of Brahmans , or priests, are far exalted above the rest in honor and privilege, and should be devoted entirely to prayer and meditation, or at least to the more exalted concerns of life. Many Brahmans, however, do in fact engage in secular pursuits, not only as ministers of sovereign princes, (an office for which, according to the ordinances above cited. they are indeed peculiarly fitted,) but also, in Guzerat and other parts of Western India, as merchants, or in the lower employment of me engers and porters; while many enter the British service as private soldiers. These, however, are Brahmans of the first and second cla es ( Brachmachari and Grihastha ), youths or married men who as yet live in the world; from which the two higher cla es, Vanaprastha and Sunny a i , are wholly divorced. From the latter spring the various orders of fanatics with which India swarms. 2. To the Kshatriya , or soldier C., belong not only the high military cla es, but in some parts of Hindostan whole tribes, as the Sikhs, . 3. The Vaisya , or commercial cla (wealth). 4. The Sudra , or C. of tillers of the soil (labor). These are deeply degraded below not only the Brahmans, but the other two C.; and even the reading of the Vedas or sacred books is forbidden them. Besides tem of C., which confines employments to hereditary cla es, are to be found in the institutions of many countries, and in the history of many more. That the Egyptian nation was thus divided is well known; and it is supposed that similar institutions prevailed in the ancient A yrian empires. If. Plato can be relied on as an authority, the A then i ans in the first ages of their commonwealth were divided into 5 cla es of the same description - priests, handicraftsmen, shepherds and hunters, ploughmen, soldiers. The Cretans, it is said, were divided, according to the laws of Minos, in the same manner as the Egyptians. Casteggio, a town of N. Italy, prov. of Voghera, 6 m. from Voghera City: pop . 4,000. Near it were fought (1800, 1859) two battles known under the name of MONTEBELLO, q. v. Castel. It. and O. Fr. castle .] The name, with various affixes, of a number of Italian and French towns and villages, for the most part unimportant. Caste lam are', a seaport town of Sicily, prov. Trapani, on a gulf of its own name, 6 m. N.W. of Alcamo; Lat. 38° 1' 51" N.; Lon. 12° 52′ 43" E. Exp . Wine, fruits, grain, opium. Pop . 13,154. Castel-Arquato, a town of N. Italy, prov. Parma, on the Larda, 19 m. S.E. of Piacenza; pop . 4,832. Castella mare', or Cas, a city and seaport of S. Italy, prov., and on the Gulf of Naples, 15 m. W. of Salerno. Manf. Linen, silk, cotton, and leather. In summer, C. is a favorite resort of the Neapolitans. Рор . 26,385. Castella mon'te, a town of N. Italy, in Piedmont, 10 m. S.W. of Jorca; pop. 5,550.