L I B I v A R Y Theolo gical Seminary, PRINCETON, N. J. Case Divls,or,D54ia Shelf Sec: .Ml Bool: No . - C-^i CONTINENTAL INDIA. VOL. II. LONDON : RICHARD CLAY, PRINTER, BREAD-STREET-IIILL. CONTINENTAL INDIA TRAVELLING SKETCHES AND HISTORICAL RECOLLECTIONS, ILLUSTRATING THE ANTIQUITY, RELIGION, AND MANNERS OP THE HINDOOS THE EXTENT OP BRITISH CONQUESTS, AND THE PROGRESS OP MISSIONARY OPERATIONS. J. w. MAS MASSIE, M.R.I.A. HINDOO FOUNTAIN FCR THE REFRE8EM FNI OF TRAVEIX£R3 IN TWO VOLUMES. VOL. II. LONDON : THOMAS WARD & CO. PATERNOSTER ROW. 1840. / CONTEN T S. VOL. II. NOTES OF A MISSION. P. 1-7S. Death of one beloved — and of an only child — Claims of British soldiers — Military stations — Modes of travelling — State and equipage of officials — The elephant — St. Thomas's Mount — Road to Poonamallee — Roman- catholic soldier — Tripassore and invalid soldiers — Success, and churches formed — Wallajahbad cantonment — Streepermatore Choul- tries — Domestic scene — Bal-Chitty’s choultrie — Sleepless resting-place — The duellist and alarm — An Irish companion in travel — Conjeve- ram — Pagoda architecture and idolatrous festivities — Mode of worship — A break-down in the valley of the Damal- — A regimental religious society at the cantonment — Chinglepet and peria baba — The impri- soned prince — Arcot, ancient capital of the Carnatic — Quaint clergy- man and devout soldiers — Vellore mutiny — Historical associations — Sautghur gardens — Arnee and Jains — Chittoor in a valley watered by the Ponee — Society, the benevolent man, and the fruits of his zeal — Pandoo covils. SECTS BEARING THE CHRISTIAN NAME. P. 79—147. The Cross— Jesuits, Nobili and Menezes — Roman-catholic population — John of the Mount — The Abbe Du Bois,"a modern Jesuit, and catholic worship — The opinion of an enlightened ; Hindoo— The Missionary— Francis Xavier’s character — The Lutheran missions — The elder VI CONTENTS OF VOL. IT. brethren — The junior — Mr. Rhenius and church controversy — Salam- cottah mission — Christians of St. Thome — Thomas the apostle — -The Syrian Christians— Nestorians, their constancy — The country of their retreat — Their sequestered and picturesque places of devotion — Their influence around — Modern efforts for their revival — Connexion with English episcopacy — Armenia — Early history — People scattered by persecution — Their ecclesiastical government — Their church at Madras, and service — Personal sketches — The lunatic — Modern efforts for their conversion — Country-born Christians — Their position. WOMAN IN INDIA. P. 148—197. Condition of woman illustrates religion — The widow — Hindoo institutes concerning woman — Their employments — Their influence — Immo- lation, the Suttee — Muchta Bliye, a princess — Woman’s infancy and ceremonies of betrothing — Marriage festival — Female biography — Domestic sketch — Husband’s death — Wife’s desolation — Preparations for the funeral pile — The process of human sacrifice — The last agonies — Carelessness of the merchant or the warrior — Missionary benevolence — Lord William Bentinck, his honours and his fame — British influence with native princes — Conduct of despotic rulers towards woman — Permanency of the forms of Indian society — Concubinage of Britisli residents — Character and influence of English females in India- — Modern improvements for education, &c. TRAVELLING REMINISCENCES. P. 198—383. A change of climate — Ascent above the Ghauts — Covenanter's manu- script — The rajah of Panganoor — Pulamanair, a retreat for civilians — Bungalows for travellers — Colar, a travelling scene — a Mohammedan mausoleum and charity house — Beauty of the road to Bangalore — The Chinese Samaritan — A few vestiges of Mysore antiquity — Bijapore and its ruins — The foundation of Seringapatam — Court Brahmins — The Gooroo, or itinerating Hindoo bishop — Kempah Gowdah, the founder of Sevagungah — The pagoda of Gureepoorum — Bangalore fort and CONTENTS OF VOL. II. VII \ warlike celebrity — A missionary station — English anil native labour — A visit to Cominonillee — The brothers — Native authorities and village justice — Persecution and restoration — Savermamukie, the golden face, a celebrated tank — Native labours and conversions — First missionaries and plans — Samuel Flavel, a Hindoo brother — His instrumentality and success — The mission seminary — Journey to Mysore — Towns on the route — Crossing a river — Elephants, horses, and camels — Hospi- tality of the resident at Muddoor — Seringapatam in its vicissitudes — Palaces — Harems, mosques, gardens, tombs — Unhealthiness — Mysore the modern capital — The residency gardens — The Dussarah festival — The Durbar-presentation to the rajah — Amusement of Mysorean royalty — The elephant and tiger — The elephant carriage — Irish music and hospitality by the Hon. A. C. — The Abbe du Bois’ local character and influence — The rajah’s character — Native preachers, dangers and deliverance — The route from Mysore through the Wynaad — An exiled and mischievous elephant — Villages among the trees — Alarm from elephants — Manan toddy, an outpost in the jungles — A rare specimen of natural history — Grandeur of scenery — Sir T. Monro’s description of Canara — Cananore, its native princess, and strange customs of the women — The Nairs, Teens, and Maupillies — Tellicherry and its inhabitants — Make a French settlement — The pleasures and Sunday pursuits of English residents — Calicut, the first Hindoo harbour visited by Europeans — Company’s ketch, embarkation — Mangalore, beauty of its scenery, dangers ofits river — Adventure in amassulah boat — Roman- catholic Christians persecuted by Hyder Ali — The company’s cavalry remount — Station Coongul — Malabar coast — Onore — Goa — Churches, cathedrals, and monasteries — The inquisition — Filth and sleeplessness — Negro slaves from Mosambique — Towns and forts in the southern Concan Severndroog — Bankoti-Scottish missionaries — Bombay harbour — The Hon. Mr. Elphinstone — Society at the presidency — Persian envoy and khan — American missionaries — Parsees, Mohammedans, and other inhabitants of Bombay — The Bedouin traveller — Domestic society at Bombay — Government-houses — Dock-yards — Visit to Ele- phanta — Monumental antiquity — The sail to Taunah in Salsette — The capture of the fort — Caves of Kenneri — Gorabunda and the retinue of a native prince — Hospitable entertainment by Bombay civilians — The capture of a princely defaulter — Bassien, its history and desolations — The civilian’s death — Arrival at Damaun — Portuguese inhospitality — Scotch exile — The region round Surat — Fire worshippers at their devotion — Occupation of Surat — Present state of this ancient city — London missionary station — Baroach, the ancient Barygaza — The Ner- budda — Baroda and the Guicowar — Cambray and its ancient cities — The island of Diu — Sultaun Mahmood of Ghizni — Recent Conquests — Duties of the conquerors — St. Helena, the grave of Napoleon. Vlll CONTENTS OF VOL. II. EDUCATION AND THE ENGLISH. P. 384—478. Distinction between the knowledge of letters and the knowledge of things — Provision for education among natives — Laws for the scholar and teacher — A native school scene — What is taught in Hindoo schools — Desire for knowledge — Government measures — Madressa and Sanscrit Colleges — Popular education— Missionary efforts — First grants by governments — New colleges — Committee of public instruction — Hindoo college — Missionary Colleges, Malacca, Serampore, Bishop’s College — American mission seminary — Jaffna, Cottym college, Tra- vancore — Plan of a college, Bangalore — Madras School-book Society — Bombay Native Education Society — Government cooperation— Edu- cation and the English question — Dr. Duff and the general assembly — The Calcutta advocates for English literature — Lord William Bentinck its patron — Government letter — Alarm of orientalists — T. B. Macauley — Sir Charles Metcalf — Lord Auckland’s English school — Government Seminaries in Bengal presidency — Female education, Mrs. Wilson — A visit to the native ladies — A scene — Periodical literature — Native printing establishments — Duty of the friends of literature and religion. *,* The Map of Continental India, prefixed to this work, is the most complete and comprehensive which I have seen of its dimensions, and will be found generally correct. 1 have been indebted to Messrs. A. and C. Black, of Edinburgh, Booksellers to Her Majesty , for permission to copy it from their British Atlas. CONTINENTAL INDIA. A NATIVE tows NOTES OF A MISSION. Before three months, my residence in India had produced changes in my plans and relations which totally revolutionized all anterior arrangements. The sure and fatal arrow had smitten one of fairest mould and warmest heart, in whose life VOL. II, B 2 CONTINENTAL INDIA. and happiness I had hoped for much of enjoyment and all needful cooperation. The event was un- looked for, and came with a crash upon the energies and resources of my constitution, to sus- tain which, in a strange land and among foreigners or strangers, more of philosophy or resignation than I possessed, was required. Painful, and perhaps unwise brooding upon the dark and mys- terious separation, had ultimately, such influence upon the mental frame, and the capabilities of my body, that changing scenes and various occupations were deemed expedient. A lovely, a fragile, and delicate flower remained — it had been the sweetest rose-bud from a parent stem prematurely cut down. To nurture and water it, and, if possible, rear it, as a tender and fragrant plant, continued for a year of months the object of parental and widowed solicitude. It may be a weakness in a father to confess how the heart clung to this dear child, and allusions to it here may seem misplaced : it may appear as if the oak depended on, rather than supported, the parasitical tendril. But he was the image and only living memorial, of one whose sympathies, affections, and associations had been dear as life itself. He had been left, five hours old, to my only care, by “ my late espoused saint;” by her who, 1 believed, was now “vested all in white, pure as her mind.” My earliest dreams, my midnight watchings, and often sleepless nights, had been consecrated as vigils beside his pillow. Many fond hours were devoted to minister to. NOTES or A MISSION. 3 almost to adore, this fair and truly beauteous child ; while his cherubic infancy inspired the delusive hopes that my son would become a substitute for his mother, so far at least as a companion, to oc- cupy the affections, and preserve them from the entire void, which bereavement had produced. A few more weeks, however, and the flower was cut down and withered. Ere the fragrance of the sweet plant had passed away, his remains were deposited beside the beloved and now mouldering mother. They are my richest inheritance in the dust of India; and, were my years multiplied a hundred fold, the spot where they rest would con- tinue sacred ; nor do I fear but all that was mortal of them shall become immortal, and their connip- tion shall become incorruptible and glorious — the grave is only a temporary veil to the love, sweet- ness, goodness which shone in their person ! These two bereavements had more than a casual influence on my future course. I lingered round the scene, rather than wrought in it, as I had hoped to do : the place was endeared as a mauso- leum ; and often the desolate and heart-stricken went “ to the grave to weep there.” Familiarized with the person of death, rather than only a so- journer in the valley of his shadow, I was not reluctant to take my place in his bed, beneath the clods of the valley; and yet this was not right: there are “ twelve hours in the day,” and it is then that men ought to work. It was my duty to think more of the dying than of the dead ; and, to rouse b 2 4 CONTINENTAL INDIA. myself from this stupor, plans of activity in the region round about were devised and adopted. The claims of my countrymen in neighbouring stations, as well as of such Hindoos as I could hold intercourse with, were considered ; and itinerancies to contiguous and more remote villages and can- tonments were undertaken. Circumstances led me to cherish a desire to do good among the mili- tary ranks, and to seek their religious improvement. Opportunities most favourable to the indulgence of this disposition occurred, and I embraced them. In this path of duty, which became also a path of pleasure, the highest of all rewards was enjoyed in the attached gratitude of those who shared my affection, and in the instances of success which attended renewed efforts. Besides the barracks in Fort St. George, military and invalid stations were situated contiguous to the Presidency. The Mount, Poonamallee, Tripassore, Wallajahbad, and Arcot, were occupied by British troops or invalids ; while detachments of native troops, officered by English- men, garrisoned the same places, or other con- tiguous stations, as Palaveram, Vellore, Arnee, and Cuddalore. To such places I made repeated visits, and either in them, or neighbouring stations, as Conjeveram, Chingleput, or Chittore, remained sometimes for a week or weeks, as the sphere of duty appeared to require. Some of these excur- sions I shall by and bye describe. The modes of travelling were various, according to the time I intended to remain. My journeyings NOTES OF A MISSION. in this land were never merely to visit or see the antique ruins, the picturesque grandeur, or the strongholds, which might attract the antiquarian, the man of refined taste, or the soldier. There were no stage-coaches ; many of the roads were unsuited to wheeled carriages ; and 1 never tra- velled in such oriental state as to sit upon an ele- phant, or have my luggage carried by camels. Occasionally have I met these useful and sagacious animals with their loads, and admired their doci- lity and submission. My shorter journeys were performed in a bandy, or covered gig, drawn by a single liorse : if I went to a greater distance, and expected to return in a few days, my horse and his keeper sufficed for the way ; but if 1 designed to spend some weeks on the tour, then the palanquin and native booies, or bearers, were required. This equipage has been already described, and is so familiarized to the English reader, that more than a few words is unnecessary to convey an idea of a travelling palanquin and its furnishing. Behind the cushion, against which the shoulders recline, there is a space which may be occupied with a few changes of linen, or rather cotton, and almost all a man’s travelling apparel may be thus designated. There is room enough along the sides to stow away a few volumes of such literature as is most valued. At the foot is placed a shelf deep enough to receive a writing desk, a dressing case, two or three minor matters, a knife and fork, and one or two other conveniences or indispensables for the 6 CONTINENTAL INDIA. traveller. Lashed to the pole outside is a basket frame, containing a goglet or earthen jar of water, a tumbler, and a bottle of brandy, generally es- teemed a necessary appendage for the European traveller in this sultry region. The complement of bearers is twelve, and a massalchee or torch-hearer ; with one or more cavery coobes, who are employed to carry, suspended from a split bamboo over their shoulders, two baskets containing culinary vessels for the traveller and bis bearers, his tea and sugar, and other supplies, which bazaars by the way do not furnish. The bearers may be obtained of contractors, who are certified and registered at the police cutcherry, or office , which is an assurance against loss or disobedience ; they may be hired by the mile, and to go a certain distance, or for the journey by the day, each man receiving three fanams, or sixpence for every ten miles ; or if the traveller means to go dawk, or with speed, he can have relays of bearers posted at stages of ten or twenty miles ; but one set of bearers will run forty miles for two or three successive nights, from sun- set to sun-rise, if well used. They are, however, prodigal of their time, and if left to themselves will bring the traveller into disappointment and diffi- culties by their delays. I have awoke in the middle of the night, after a most laborious struggle with that fearful incubus the night-mare, apprehend- ing that a powerful copra-de-capello had wormed his way through the bottom of my palanquin, and was about to pierce me, by the poisonous fang. NOTES OF A MISSION. / which protruded from his hooded and circular form ; and when I had recovered self-possession, found my palanquin set down in the middle of the highway, and every bearer sound asleep, lying on the open and unsheltered road. In some of my journeys, I came into the vicinity of other travellers — men of influence and station ; envoys, residents, and governors, in progress towards their appointments, on parties of pleasure, jungle-hunting, or other sport ; or in tours of observation, or diplomacy. It is only then that the state and display, the pomp and circumstance of eastern magnificence are seen in South-Western India. For detachments of troops, bullocks, and sometimes camels, are the carriage cattle : elephants are above the mark of captains or subaltern officers for conveying tent furniture and commissariat stores. For field service, brigades under field officers, and European regiments, a few carnage elephants are supplied. It was an imposing spectacle truly, and, I suppose, was employed for that intent, to witness a governor’s escort, his body guard, fifty or sixty camels, and six or eight elephants, traversing the country by slow and deliberate stages, and en- camping in a tope of palm-trees, or under the shade of the banian. It requires some previous training before the horses will associate with confidence among the larger quadrupeds. I have seen my own horse draw back on the road side, and, with the hair of his body standing on end, shake and tremble like an aspen leaf, at the approach of the 8 CONTINENTAL INDIA. elephant ; nor would he stand to face the moving mountain : and yet no creature can be more perfectly tamed and made obedient to the will of man than this colossal animal, whose di- mensions are only rightly appreciated when you look at the mahout or attendant sitting astride upon his neck, and ten or twelve travellers placed in the howdah, or seat upon his back, all which seem not to occasion to him any incumbrance. The intelligent and almost rational obedience of this huge and mammoth-like domestic is proverbial : but when you look at the powerful and ungainly creature, kneeling down at the bidding of the human voice, the movement of the hand, or the glance of the eye, and behold him rise again, stretch out his proboscis as a stirrup for his mahout, and help him into his seat ; when you stand by and witness his docility and submission, bending his hind leg, so that those who are to travel on his back, may make a step of his joint, and climb up behind; and then, when all seem ready for starting, if any loose cloths or cords have fallen off, with a sagacity and minute sense of touch, which can pick up a needle, gathering them together with his trunk, and conveying them to his mounted driver, you are willing almost to con- fess that the instinct of the elephant surpasses, in too many instances, the reason of the men who employ the creature’s power capriciously, or only for the purposes of destruction. I have seen the elephant moving onward, swinging to the right NOTES OF A MISSION. 9 and left a broad waving branch of a tree, larger than a man could carry, and which he had broken off from some lofty stem, that he might fan himself in the heat, or flap off' the flies which might gather round bis head. It seemed to him an amusement, and required from him no greater effort than was suited to the most indulgent pleasure. The pace at which an elephant walks, from its seeming slow- ness, but positive speed, takes the beholder by surprise ; the breadth of his foot, the size of his limbs, and the constancy of his movement, render his progress quick, though imperceptible. I have seen them crossing the river not only where it could be forded, but where a deep and precipitous stream rolled with a torrent’s power, and made it hazardous for boats to cross : but the elephants stemmed the torrent with ease, and passed over in a straight direction, without a curve in their course. The utility and fitness of the elephant for this country and climate, form one of the wisest and most beneficient provisions in nature for the service of man. St. Thomas’s Mount is the nearest station beyond Madras for military — a little more than nine miles brings you to the place ; but the can- tonment and contiguous bungalows stretch far off from the mount, and by a circuitous sweep, the visitor might reach, at a few miles further, Pala- veram. The latter was a station for native infantry, and contiguous to it were the governor’s gardens, a kind of suburban retreat, to which Sir 10 CONTINENTAL INDIA. Thomas Munro frequently retired. Connected with the station, as was customary for all canton- ments, was a bazaar, but no town lay nearer than Covelong. This place was the principal factory of the Ostend Company, and having built a fort, they retained possession of it till their charter was suspended, in 1727 ; it is now subject to Madras. The Mount was the point to which Hyder Ali dashed forward when he dictated terms to the Madras government, and held out no other pro- spect to the alarmed civilians than a journey to Seringapatam, should their lives be spared. This circumstance, perhaps, induced the authorities to fix upon the mount as a chief station for their artillery. Towards the barracks, a sloping ascent brings you to the foot of the Mount — it is but a mount, not even a hill, but planted with pieces of ordnance, and furnished with military stores and weapons of war. Many neat garden bungalows have been built and occupied round the base of the Mount ; a church has been erected, and is occupied by a Company’s chaplain. Although the place seems intended principally for an artillery garrison, yet I have frequently found king’s in- fantry and persons residing ; connected with other branches of the Company’s service : some warrant, or non-commissioned officers, conductors of ordnance stores, &c., and their families, have houses here. Among the latter class, and their country-born con- nexions, as also among the European soldiery, there were frequent opportunities for usefulness ; prayer NOTES OF A MISSION. 11 meetings and domiciliary visits, and occasional services, afforded the privilege of speaking to the consciences of some, and appealing to the judgment and hearts of others. I have known four chap- lains of various talent and principles successively employed at this station; yet I have never seen it when the temporary or more protracted labours of a visitor were unseasonable or intrusive. A constant and resident teacher, wholly devoted to the good of the people, would be an arrangement advantageous to the cause of religion, and acceptable to many. The road leading between the Mount and Fort St. George is equal to any drive of the same distance I have ever seen in Asia or in Europe. An avenue of the finest, most verdant, and umbrageous trees, extends for about six miles from Madras. The cenotaph, to the memory of the Marquis Cornwallis, is the general rendezvous for the Madras loungers, who come out for an evening drive. Marmalong bridge terminates the more shady portion of the road, and opens upon a nullah, or brook, which, in the warm season, is almost dry, and in the wet, or monsoon season, flows as a rapid torrent. Here many of the wash- ermen of the neighbourhood may be seen following their cleansing occupation, dashing the clothes against a stone in the bed of the stream, and then spreading them on the pebbly banks, where not a spot of verdure is visible, under the vertical and scorching rays of the sun. This process, repeated, without the aid of soap or the friction of the hands. 12 CONTINENTAL INDIA. for a few times, produces a snowy whiteness, un- matched by the labours of the English laundress. Within two miles of the fort, St. George’s church stands, on the Mount road, an airy, commodious structure, occupied generally by the senior chap- lain at the presidency, and well attended by the civilians and merchants of Madras. Poonamallee lies at a greater distance than the Mount from Madras, and beyond it, about twelve or fourteen miles, is placed the invalid station of Tripassore : a visit to these places was more neces- sary than to the more contiguous station. The people were of a humbler and more neglected class, and the local advantages were fewer, though more required. The road to Poonamallee has been de- scribed by an English officer in graphic terms, but with great justice. Its beauty and richness are perfectly oriental. Starting from the Hospital gate of Black Town, you pass the Ophthalmic (a govern- ment) Institution on the right, and St. Andrew’s, or the Scotch Church, on the other side. The style of architecture in the latter building is mixed and splendid — more as a monument of Scottish ambi- tion, than as a becoming fane for sacred worship. To look at it outwardly you would conclude it fit to contain some fifteen hundred or two thousand; but I have repeatedly attended when the congre- gation might he fifty people. The building was not erected, nor are the two chaplains paid, by the liberality of the people. The road continues onward till we reach the Spur Tank and the garden- NOTES OF A MISSION. 13 houses of Kilpauk. The Female Asylum is one of the last buildings till the traveller lias fairly entered the country. This institution deserves a passing notice ; is supported by government liberality. The matron was an elderly lady, the widow of a German missionary ; the chaplain was also a missionary of the same nation ; but there were assistant teachers, and the institution was visited by a board of ladies, the wives of the higher functionaries at Madras. The scholars were generally children of a parent- age which would be thought discreditable in well- ordered society, though the poor offspring could be chargeable with none of the guilt of their fathers, or the ignominy of their mothers. It might be considered a refuge of mercy, and rendered a nur- sery for virtuous and enlightened sentiment. Ac- cording to the training here, would be the character of future wives and mothers among the British soldiery and country-born community. “ I shall never forget the sweet and strange sen- sations, which, as I went peacefully forward, the new objects in nature excited in my bosom. The rich broad-leaved plantain ; the gracefully drooping bam- boo; the cocoa-nut, with that mat-like looking binding for every branch ; the branches themselves waving with a feathery motion in the wind ; the bare lofty trunk and fan-leaf of the tall palm ; the slender and elegant stem of the areca ; the large aloes ; the prickly pear ; the stately banian, with its earth- seeking, and reproductive, and dropping branches ; and among birds, all strange in plumage, and in note. 14 CONTINENTAL INDIA. save the parroquet, here spreading his bright green wings in happy, fearless flight, and giving his natural and untaught scream; — these, and more than I can name, were the novelties we looked upon. My dream of anticipation, more than realised, gave me a delight which found no expression in words. I felt grateful that I had been led and permitted to see India ; I wondered at my own ignorance, and at the poverty of my imagination, when I reflected how much the realities around me differed from what my fancy had painted them. How some things surpassed, and others fell short, of my foolish expectations ; and yet how natural, how easy all appeared ! ” One of my visits to this depot was rendered in compliance with the earnest request of a poor soldier, whose brief history may interest some of my readers. Many considerations give British inhabitants of India a claim upon the zealous labours of ministers of the gospel, though their ostensible designation primarily respect the natives of that land. Apo- stolic practice affords a clear precedent for such proceedings ; the fact that they are often overlooked by their nominal chaplains strengthens their claim ; the sad effects of their dissipated and immoral lives among the Hindoos cannot he calculated ; while the obstacles which such conduct raises against missionary labours are most disheartening and de- plorable. It is not less true that genuine Chris- tianity, in the lives of its professors, commends the truth to the consciences of the surrounding idola- NOTES OF A MISSION. 15 tors ; and the cooperation of such fellow-christians is of the highest value in the field of missions. With such views, I did not hesitate often to visit the garrison, the fort, and the cantonment, where I enjoyed numerous facilities, through the friendly countenance of superior and subaltern officers. Regular ministrations of the gospel were maintained weekly in the barrack school-room of Fort St. George. At the close of one service, when the words addressed to the doting rich man, “ Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee,” had been the subject of consideration, as I was retiring, one of the soldiers, in a state of poignant distress, met me. I turned aside to ascertain his motive for waiting on me. His words were — “ Did J. C. (a fellow-soldier) speak to you about me ?” My reply was, “ No.” “ Then did my wife tell you any thing about me ?” “ No,” I said ; “ I do not know who you are, and know nothing about your wife — what is it you want ?” “ Because, Sir,” said he, “ you have been preaching about me all this night.” This led to inquiry and intercourse. The poor man was a nominal Roman Catholic ; had been very profligate, and even awfully wicked, while in the field, as his commanding officer assured me. After passing through a process of severe mental anguish, and encountering much ridicule and opposition from the non-commissioned officers of the regiment, who belonged to the Romish community, he renounced that church, and made a profession of his attach- ment to Christ, by being baptized as a Protestant. 16 CONTINENTAL INDIA. Shortly afterward his regiment was ordered home ; and as he had married a woman of the country, he volunteered into another corps. He was now at the depot, waiting orders to march to join his new regiment. It is to Poonamallee that all draughts of fresh British troops are marched when they disembark at Madras. Here also they wait till detachments are ordered to proceed to their several stations in the peninsula. Many wives, widows, and children, of European soldiers, are located here. The population, who required in- struction in the English language, were therefore numerous; but the poor man who sustained the office of chaplain was incapacitated for such work as they needed. The soldier came to me on this account, having walked the distance, thirteen miles, to solicit a visit, and one or more sermons. I started that evening, and found him returned to the station and busy making arrangements, having obtained a barrack-room, fitted it up, and warned the people. My congregation was large and atten- tive. Once and again did I meet with them, and found many of them in a state of sad and ruinous ignorance. None of the officers attached to the depot took a personal interest in the spi- ritual concerns of the people; hut, though Gallio- like, they did not object or throw impediments in my way, rather, with courteousness, did they ex- ercise toward me true Indian hospitality — spread- ing for me a bed and their hoard. The fort- adjutant, who had great influence, here and at NOTES OF A MISSION. 1 7 Tripassore, gave me all his aid to secure my per- sonal comfort and acceptance with the poor people at both stations. Vegetation is peculiarly luxu- riant around this station, and the soil is extensively brought under cultivation for native agriculture ; the paddy, or rice fields hear an abundant crop, and the husbandmen have frill protection and a ready market. Five or six permanent staff appoint- ments only are held by European officers : the society is therefore small, but the distance from contiguous stations, and the fresh arrivals from Europe, afford variety and recreation. Poona- mallee is more oppressively hot than Madras, being so much farther removed from the benefit of the sea breezes. Tripassore has been the scene of sanguinary strife in the early period of British conquest in India. In 1781 it was occupied by the troops of Hyder Ali, and reduced by an English force. Scarcely had they taken possession of the fort when Hyder appeared before it and gave battle on the neighbouring plain to his English adversaries. Six hundred men of the Company’s troops, and many officers of distinction, were slain on the field, and the fortress of Tripassore was a shelter for the residue of their army, till Hyder retired to the Mysore territory. Thirty years afterwards it was occupied as the cadets’ quarters, where they were initiated into the art and discipline of war. The fort is now dismantled, the walls and fosse are no longer means of defence, and the collector of VOL. II. c 18 CONTINENTAL INDIA. Arcot, who sometimes comes into the district, has a circular bungalow erected on the last remnant of the fort walls. About one hundred and thirty invalided soldiers from British regiments reside within the bounds of the fort; most, if not all, married to native or country-bom women. No functionary higher than a non-commissioned officer resides among them, and they are visited monthly by the district paymaster, from whom their pension or allowances are regularly received. There is no municipal, and hardly any military authority, or restraint ; and, while every man may do what is pleasing in his own eyes, certain mercenary adven- turers have frequently introduced to the pensioners a supply of adulterated spirits, the profuse drink- ing of which has been marked by cases of frantic and fatal madness. For two or three nights, at this time, the dissipation and violence of the hard- ened drunkard are unbridled and fearful. It would appear as if their former employers, on whose pen- sioned bounty they now live, desired their death rather than a comfortable old age. On one of my visits to Tripassore an old Irish trooper spoke some plain but forcible tmth to me : “ I have sarved my king and the Honourable (Company) as a dragoon for twenty-seven years, and now I am cast off just as if I were an ould troop-horse — the Company cares nothing for my sowl.” A more general and equally unpromising description of the state of the people was sent to me by a pensioned serjeant of her Majesty’s 34th regiment : “ The Lord has NOTES OF A MISSION. 19 manifested,” he says, “ his just displeasure of our abominations. Three men have died in nine days. The first had been drinking nearly three months, and died suddenly on the first instant; another died almost as suddenly on the fifth ; and there were scarcely sober men (enough) to carry either of them to the grave : the third died on the ninth. The first I understand did not believe the immor- tality of the soul. May this awaken your pity and zeal to relieve us : don’t be discouraged. I trust the Lord has still some souls in Tripassore.” Where the poor outcasts had not sunk into the debasing practices of inebriation, the sordid vice of covetous- ness evinced its presence and power by the most usurious and extortionate proceedings. They had no chaplain, no missionary, no teacher. I was, I believe, the first person who had brought to bear on their condition any systematic or combined efforts for their improvement. The seijeant, to whom I have referred, speaks of himself in another letter : “ To my shame, I must acknowledge, that my backslidings have been many and grievous. I had altogether given myself up for lost. I was afraid to pray. I considered it only presumption. For a considerable time my outward walk appeared as consistent as usual : mark the hypocrisy of my wretched heart ! At length the lust that was rankling within burst out like a flame of fire ; and, for about thirteen months, I w r as the slave of every filthy appetite and brutish lust. But still I had no rest. O what ways and methods have I taken c 2 20 CONTINENTAL INDIA. to drown the voice of conscience ! At length a man came to me, a stranger, and says, ‘ What a shame it is that there is not a vestige of religion in this place ! — In the name of God, let a few of us endeavour to form a prayer-meeting.’ It imme- diately struck me this was a message from God, and that if I refused it, it would probably be the last offer of mercy. Since that (time) I have been enabled, through grace, to cry for the blood of sprinkling to be applied to my guilty conscience. The guilt and terror I have felt is beyond descrip- tion. But at length, I trust, through grace, I have obtained mercy. O, this is such a wonder ! I can hardly believe what I feel. Sometimes I have such a sense of the Saviour’s love on my heart, that I cannot help but praise him. Then, again, I am tempted to think it is all delusion, — but this I know is the derice of Satan. I have proof against it ; because sin not only is a terror to me, but I really hate it, and I loathe myself on account of it. I love those that bear the image of the Saviour, and long to be holy as he is holy. I long to have done with a sinful body and a sinful world. But I desire to wait his will ; and I trust he will give me grace to struggle against flesh and sin.” It was pleasing to discover the fruits of Canaan thus unobtrusively flourishing in such a wilderness ; surely personal religion is sustained by a divine, though invisible power, — proring that it is not of the will of the flesh, of the will of man, or of blood, but of God. I had sincere pleasure in my earliest NOTES OF A MISSION. 21 intercourse with this good man, and he continued steadfast to the end. I visited this retreat for the pensioned invalid. The collector’s bungalow afforded me quiet and retired quarters, in which I held prayer-meetings, preached sermons, and coun- selled the people. I went from house to house for personal conversation, — selected from among them two or three who were in a measure qualified as teachers for Sunday schools for the children, and bespoke the cooperation of the parents for the attendance of the young. Suitable books, &c. were provided for instruction, and the commence- ment of a library. The intelligent man to whom reference has been made was found qualified to be useful : he had been colour-sergeant, and while in active service had made a profession of religion ; and although he had yielded to the pernicious influence of unrighteous intercourse, his conduct now was most exemplary and modest. He de- scribed his past backslidings and the feelings of his heart with singular felicity, and gave evidence of a rerived interest in the best things. Were this a place for more detailed accounts, his life was every way worthy of a record. He became a most useful and active benefactor of his fellow-soldiers ; and so commended religion to the approbation of men in the higher ranks of the service, that while he conducted prayer-meetings, the collector of the district was not ashamed to appear as a devout hearer, desiring to share in the benefit, as well as to lend his countenance to the maintenance, of the 22 CONTINENTAL INDIA. service. Through this means, a grant of ground and timber was obtained, and a liberal subscription was given for the building of a commodious chapel and suitable school-room, which were speedily erected. Both the collector and the humble seijeant have gone to their account ; but the good which they did lives after them, and their names are embalmed as the benefactors of those who now dwell at Tripassore. I felt my incompetency for free intercourse with the natives ; but I engaged in religious exer- cises among them, aided by an intelligent inter- preter. The readiness of these poor people to embrace the feeble sendees which I attempted to ren- der, showed that the harvest was plenteous, though the labourers were few. It gives me sincere plea- sure to learn, that if some men sowed, others have been permitted to reap ; and that though an ob- scure and very inefficient husbandman was the first to labour, other men have entered to reap that whereon the labours of others had been be- stowed. An English church of nearly twenty members, and a native church of equal numbers, are now planted here : a native school prospers with forty scholars, and an English free-school of fifty-five scholars is maintained, in which the pupils are taught the usual branches of English, and the native language. A native reader itinerates in the surrounding villages ; but a missionary is now stationed at the place with pleasing and en- couraging prospects of success. May the little one NOTES OF A MISSION. 23 become a thousand, and the small one a strong nation ! Tripassore is surrounded by a country, fertile and well-cultivated. The villages are numerous : about a dozen are within accessible distances, and peopled with industrious husbandmen. The rural popu- lation enjoy the advantages of a secure and peace- ful government, and the stimulus of a proximate and ready market for their produce. The occu- pation and patronage afforded to the Hindoo and Mussulman families attach them to their present rulers. I conversed with some observant and shrewd natives of the district, both Mohammedans and idolaters, and, in their condition and tone of their mind, I thought I could discover a degree of independence and domestic comfort superior to what I have witnessed in other quarters. Yet I fear their comparative superiority depended much upon the proceedings and disposition of the govern- ment collector. They are situated within the Arcot district. It is also a sphere peculiarly inte- resting and attractive for the zealous and perse- vering missionary. I did not encounter much Bralnninical influence, or the atmospheric action of the celebrated pagodas of Trivalloor, in the neighbourhood. The people were simple, and more injured by the licentiousness of the old pensioners than by the wiles of their ow n priesthood. Walajahbad is fitted by its barracks, bungalows, &c. as a cantonment for European troops. It is a level, but rather elevated plain ; and though inland 24 CONTINENTAL INDIA. nearly thirty miles, it is visited during the after- noons by the sea-breeze. The accommodation for officers and men is suited to the heat of the climate ; yet in the earlier part of the day, the close atmosphere and the rays of the vertical sun render the climate oppressive, and tempt to oriental indolence. It is situated between the famed city of Conjeveram and the fortress of Chinglepet, but is a little off the high road to Arcot. It was not, except for a few months, the residence of a Company’s chaplain ; yet I have known 800 or 1,000 European soldiers stationed here for months and years. I had many pleasant interviews with my countrymen here, and was always kindly welcomed by the officers, and gladly received by the soldiers. The former never failed to prepare for me a room with every convenience, and a place at their mess-table, or all necessary comfort in the hospitable abode of my friend ; and the latter always arranged for my reception scenes of pleasure and spheres of usefulness. It has been to me many times a source of vivid entertainment and instruction, to listen to the hair-breadth escapes, whether in the field or in the mutinous garrison, — in the Pindarree wars, or in the mutiny at Vellore, of the gentlemen, who had a pleasure in fighting their battles over again ; while I have enjoyed from the humbler ranks, pleasures of a higher order, when in sacred and prayerful fellow- ship we have drawn near to the throne of a common Lord, and fixed our thoughts on the NOTES OF A MISSION. 25 affecting scenes which surrounded the Cross of Calvary, where the great and common salvation was finished by Him who bore the curse for wretched man. Before I detail some of the scenes occurring here, let me request my reader to pass a forenoon at Streepermatore Choultrie ; an early night at the Choultrie of Bal-chitty; and a day and a night at Conjeveram, all on the route from Madras to the cantonment at Walajahbad. The division of the Hindoos into castes ; the jealous retirement which is forced upon oriental females ; the distance which is maintained between the Asiatics and their conquerors ; and the small number of Europeans who have hitherto traversed the extensive lands of India ; have prevented the establishment of hotels in the interior of the country. Yet India is not an unsheltered wilderness. The residence of every European is characterised by liberal hospitality in India, and the traveller is friendless and obscure indeed who does not share the most courteous welcome as he traverses the country. It is, moreover, a religious duty enjoined by Hindoo systems, and practised in numerous instances most prodigally, to erect and maintain choultries, or places of rest and shelter for the way- faring man. Streepermatore is one of the first of such erections which I visited, and the benefit of which I enjoyed in my migrations over the penin- sula. Venketa Runga, a native merchant of great opulence at Madras, built this range of choultries, or caravanserais for the convenience of every 26 CONTINENTAL INDIA. description of travellers ; and evinced a profuse mu- nificence which might be termed princely. On one side of the way is a range of low houses, built of brick and plastered, or chunamed ; not unlike a set of English almshouses. Into these the considerate European sojourner will not enter. They are con- secrated as ceremonially clean and retired, tem- porary, dwellings of the poor Hindoos of caste ; square courts within, and an open space in the centre, with provision for ablutions and other observances connected with their religion, secure to the punctilious idolater opportunities equal to those enjoyed in the usual native houses. On the other side of the road, a spacious double-storied house, built in a style of finished and sumptuous elegance, according to Hindoo ideas of architecture, is set apart and guarded from the pollution or intrusion of the curious, for the more opulent classes of the Hindoos. The tank, or 'pond, with stone steps and a supply of water, has been constructed near to this building; and beyond it is placed the choultrie usually occupied by European travellers. It con-, sists of a central hall, two rooms on each wing, and a cool and agreeable chamber above, to which we ascend by a flight of outside steps. This house is built on a raised foundation, and in a style which was deemed suitable to the tastes and manners of the English. When first opened, it was furnished with many luxuries, couches, tables, and rattan mats. I have heard that even wine and refresh- ments were provided by the liberality of the founder; NOTES OF A MISSION. 27 but the thoughtless or reckless conduct of some travellers is said to have destroyed the furniture, and provoked a cessation of the hospitality. The table was broken, the walls were disfigured by doggerel rhymes, or coarse expressions, and the comers of the rooms have been occupied for culinary purposes ; so that the house is almost unfitted for the recep- tion of English females, by the thoughtless ribaldry of their countrymen. Contiguous to this, but surrounded by a small tope, or jungle, is a pundal, or rustic pagoda : rising from an elevated floor, twelve pillars of granite sup- port a flat roof of the same material. The sides of the pillars are ornamented with sculptures of their mythology. Krishna in his childhood, on one ; crushing the serpent, on another ; and on a third, playing on the flute : Hanuman Rahoo, on a fourth pillar, swallowing the moon, with other representa- tions. Some of these exhibitions are most indelicately offensive. Here the land is not generally cultivated ; but there are villages where it has been cleared, and where the cultivation is varied with an abundance of the banian, the cocoa-nut, and the tamarind trees. Other parts are covered with jungle of a stinted and profitless description. The following domestic pic- ture will give an idea of native travel in India. Under the cool shade of that wide spreading banian tree, w r hich shoots forth its tendrils and mul- tiplies its pillared branches, an avenue around the parent stem, you will perceive a Hindoo family. The party consists of a man, his wife, and youthful 28 CONTINENTAL INDIA. daughter ; their baggage has just been removed from the back of that weak and hungry-looking ox. It is about ten o’clock, and a meal has been pre- pared by the mother and daughter. The husband and father having pulled off his turban and upper garments, till his body is bared to the waist, he eats his solitary breakfast : neither wife nor daughter is allowed to partake with him. As soon as he has finished his repast, his daughter brings the ox’s saddle, on which he lays himself down to sleep. The mother and daughter are then at liberty to take the portion which has been left for them : nor are they discontented ; it is the universal custom of their people, and they have known no other. It was not, however, their lot to find rest when their scanty meal was finished. Though just come off a journey, they are busily employed in preparing the ingredients for the afternoon supply : firewood has first to be gathered. The fire-places are of simple, or rather rude preparation ; two oblong holes in the ground containing the lighted wood, over which the cooking vessels are placed. The whole stock of culinary utensils consists of four earthen pots or chatties, and a brass pot. This last is an important part of the Hindoo’s kitchen apparatus : it is used for drawing water and drinking from : as brass is almost the only material which can be used without ■violating their superstitious usages, since it admits of being cleansed, even although it has been touched by the impure saliva! Plates and dishes find a substitute, in the I lindoo kitchen, in the leaf of the NOTES OF A MISSION. 2f) Indian fig-tree. This leaf is of a thick and glutinous quality, and when dry and pinned together with bits of straw or thorns, it forms a substantial plate, off which I have myself taken my food. The tur- meric, the tamarind, the cocoa-nut, the garlic, and red pepper, with other condiments, compose the mixture provided by these females for the dinner of their sleeping lord ; and now they one or the other he down to indulge the almost universal custom, and take their forenoon sleep. When the sun has gone down from his meridian, they will rise and make preparation for resuming their journey. I shall start at the same time forBal-Chitty’s choultrie, and try to take a few hours sleep there. But, alas ! the comforts to be here enjoyed are few. It is a small-sized granite choultrie, near to which is a tank surrounded with stone, with a few huts on both sides of the road, which, added to the tw r o or three small shops, opposite the choultrie, compose the native village. Before the setting of the sun, if we take an evening walk about half a mile to the left, w r e shall find a rather pretty and rural village. Two grassy lanes, crossing at right angles, the one with the other, lead to the dwellings of the villagers ; like most w r ell-conditioned Hindoo hamlets, a grove of trees and a tank of w r ater are placed side by side at the entrance. A few native travellers have halted for the night; some are per- forming their ablutions in the tank ; others haring cooked and taken their food, are preparing for their rest under the shelter of the tope. On each 30 CONTINENTAL INDIA. side of the lanes there are rows of clay-built houses, some of them flat-roofed, and others roofed with tiles ; a few are of more rude construction, with bamboo supporters, walled with matting or basket- work, and thatched with leaves of the palmyra or cocoa-nut tree. A few cocoa-nut trees are growing as an avenue before the better houses; and, in front, under a narrow verandah, seats of hardened clay have been raised two or three feet from the ground. The walls, inside and out, are painted or washed with a white and red daub, which has been laid on in alternate longitudinal stripes. It is a Brahmin village, — or an Agraharan ; except, therefore, a very few, every dwelling is sacred. The seat and the ground near the door of each have been marked with stripes of the ashes of cow- dung, on which no man of lower caste dares to tread. These lines are fresh laid every morning. It is one of the first offices for a female of the family, at the break of day, to come forth with the cow-dung and water, and holding in her hand some incense, or a few sacred flowers, while she repeats a formula of prayer, to draw out these lines. The nearest tree enjoys the same marks of distinction. A court for their cattle, either in a central square or close behind, with a mud-wall enclosure, is attached to such houses. At the top of one of the lanes stands a stone choultrie, designed only for religious ceremonies, and containing a large wooden ele- phant, painted white and ornamentally gilded. Several pillars have been raised in front of the NOTES OF A MISSION. .*51 building, which support a matted ceiling, by which a portico lined with cotton cloth has been formed. There is besides a pagoda of larger dimensions than such a village would seem to require : it is dedi- cated to Vishnoo, the sect to which the Brahmins belong, and is surrounded by rice fields and gardens, with high hedges of bamboo and tamarind trees. The idol thus worshipped is provided with a vahanum, or conveyance , in the form of a red kite, upon which Vishnoo is brought forth at stated times from the sanctuary, and carried round the pagoda in procession, ornamented with silks and streamers. They have also a ruth, or car, on which the more distant excursions of the idol are taken, when the deluded devotees yoke themselves as cattle, and drag behind them with blind adoration their insensate log. Returning again to Bal-Chitty’s choultrie from this rural scene, we come to a common appendage of most villages — the lofty wide-spreading tree, round whose huge trunk is raised the broad bed, or seat of hardened clay. Here, at the burning hour of noon, the coolie, or porter, deposits his load, the sepoy soldier his knapsack, or the horse- man pickets his horse ; and here man and beast compose themselves for rest under its shade. The space is wide enough for men of every caste, or any creed, to enjoy the shelter, and still avoid any collision, or any accidental defilement; yet the overbearing and wealthy man of high caste sometimes dares to usurp the sole and undisputed occupation. 32 CONTINENTAL INDIA. not suffering the sudra or pariah to come between the wind and his nobility — a dream of possession, however, from which he very soon awakes on the approach of a Moslem trooper, with his glittering scimitar, and his convenient horse-cloth. Here, or in the neighbouring tope, you will, between the hour of noon and sunset, see the supercilious and unshaven Mohammedan, sitting cross-legged on his horse-gear, smoking his hookah, and watching his ghore-wala, or horse-keeper, shampooing or clean- ing the wearied horse ; the Hindoos of the several castes boiling their rice, or mixing their curry- stuffs, within small circles, cut in the ground : to overstep which, for even the haughtiest European, would defile both their food and themselves, and excite a commotion among the silly Hindoos, which, were it not for their degradation and losses, might awaken the mirth of the most grave. The pariahs, the miserable chandalah, despised and Contemned by all, is placed beyond every limit for the castes, while he eats his pitiful morsel of flavourless rice, and ministers to the sustenance of life in its lowest scale of intelligence or enjoyment. Not far off is the pundal, or temporary tabernacle for an idol, built of mud, white-washed, and adorned with clay figures, the work of the potter. In retired spots, some strange-shaped stones, or ancient trees, are visible, for daily pooja, or devotion, having been consecrated by the craft of the Brahmin, daubed with ochre, or decked with flowers, to excite the veneration of the duped and credulous votaries. NOTES OF A MISSION. 33 As soon as the sun has gone down, darkness rapidly prevails in this latitude ; nor is there any artificial or enlivening substitute in a Hindoo village for the light of day. As soon as I could, there- fore, I chose my birth in Bal-Chitty’s choultrie ; hut it was my lot to mingle, as one in a mixed multitude, with men of the least agreeable habits, and with them to share the troubles incident to a common caravanserai. I spread out my mat, and lay down upon the floor of the choultrie ; my horse was picketed outside, in charge of his keeper ; but my companions were less attractive within. Vermin of an offensive description — beetles, cockroaches, hats, mosquitoes, &c. &c. — were plentiful; the apartment was dark ; a single oil lamp was our only source of light ; added to all other incidental nuisances, one of the heavy showers common to the petty monsoon fell after sunset, and forced into the choultrie many who would have preferred a place in the open air. The atmosphere, confined and heavy, became most offensive, and all sleep fled, notwithstanding my earnest solicitations. It was in vain that I tossed from side to side, hoped for repose, or tried to coax myself to drowsy for- getfulness. The whirring of the bats, the chirping of the cockroaches, the stinging of the mosquitoes, the deafening nasal performances of some heavy heads, and the chattering of other sleepless com- panions, rendered Bal-Chitty no favourite of mine, and extracted from me a very deliberate resolve never again to come under his nocturnal influence, VOL. II. D 34 CONTINENTAL INDIA. or to spend my vigils within his walls. As soon as the rain abated, I called my koodra-gara, or horse- keeper, and had my steed saddled for the journey ; a native servant brought up the rear in the morn- ing, and I made my movement as speedily forward as I could pick my way. On another occasion, however, I had to pass a night in circumstances not more propitious for comfort or refreshment. The scene of that afflic- tion was also a choultrie, a few miles to the left of Bal-Chitty’s. I w r as then in company with an original, an Irish traveller. We both were on horseback, and, besides our horse-keepers, had a coolie and a Madras servant. Having such com- pany, I managed to spend the night at the cara- vanserai. I cannot say that I slept, though my companions were more successful. At one moment, being really sleepy, I had closed my eyes, and was just sinking into a troubled dream, when an im- mense bandy-cout, or giant rat, passed over my face. After that, I must have been wearied indeed to have yielded. I now became a watcher : the choultrie was more open than Bal-Chitty’s, and we had more light from lamps, fires, &c. ; but, as a counterpoise, besides the smaller vermin, we had cats, pariah dogs, and howling jackals, leaping about, or drawing near to our resting-place, and, by the most hideous noises, indicating a fearful insecurity to the unguarded or defenceless. This was a second lesson. While keeping my vigils in the middle of the night, I heard a European voice NOTES OF A MISSION. 35 calling “ Ghora-wala ! ” with considerable anxiety. I found next day it had been an officer from a neighbouring station, who had on the previous day shot a brother officer in a duel, and was now hurrying to the presidency, on leave, till the issue shoidd be ascertained. He had sent forward a fresh horse, and was now, in breathless haste, calling for his horse-keeper, that he might without delay proceed. The wounded officer did not die at that time, though I believe he never fully recovered, but car- ried to his grave the ball of his adversary. Undue familiarity, or encroachments upon the family circle of the one by the other, had been the occasion of this murderous revenge and, falsely called, gentle- manly satisfaction. I met both officers afterwards, and I do not think the transaction had made either of them a better man. I am sure it was not fit preparation for the presence of their Judge — a just and holy God. We started in the morning : we were journeying to the station for which I had left Bal-Chitty’s choultrie. My Irish companion was a grave man in his way, though he could relax and enjoy a joke now and then : his horse was not particularly sure- footed ; the animal I rode was high-spirited and swift. The morning had been wet, and threatened more rain. My fellow-traveller was more particular about his comfort than his appearance. He wore an old boat-cloak for protection from the heavy floods, and earned an umbrella up while he rode ; for convenience he had tied a cord round his hat d 2 36 CONTINENTAL INDIA. with which to sustain his outspread covering, the handle of which was tied to a pocket-handkerchief, which he had girt round his waist. His grotesque figure was ludicrous enough, only there w r ere few beside ourselves in the jungle through which we passed to be excited by the joke. We rode leisurely ; the day began to clear, and the rain was gradually abating. We whiled away the hours of our journey by conversation. One theme after another was dis- cussed, generally of a profitable tendency, till some incident suggested to my companion the story of “ Valentine and Orson.” I had either forgotten it, or had perhaps not read it at all, and so did not recollect the matter to which he referred for illus- tration. He began to recite the story ; had entered the wood, and was just about the denouement of some exciting part of the plot, when his horse, with a sudden jerk, came down upon his knees : if a bear had come out of the jungle the catastrophe could not have been more momentary and com- plete. My friend executed the evolution in an instant, and lighted first on the peak of his um- brella fastened to his hat ; his boat cloak flapped round his head and shoulders. A more perfect summerset could not have been made by a merry- andrew; and the passage from the grave to the gay, from the lively to severe, from the sublime to the ridiculous, was so abrupt, that terror and appre- hension gave place to an irresistible outburst of laughter, which I had not time to check, till my horse sprang forward, startled by the disaster. Had NOTES OF A MISSION. 37 the bones, or even neck, of my fellow-traveller been broken, I could not have restrained the first impulse, though, as soon as I could rein up my horse, and hurry back to the spot, it was my first solicitude to ascertain whether any injury had been received. A few bruises, slight and immaterial, were the only consequence ; though, had a bone been broken, or a limb dislocated, my mirth would have been turned into grief very suddenly, and my perplexity would not have been the less, that we were some ten or twelve miles from any European assistance. While the story of Valentine and Orson would have seemed a poor preparation for a sick or dying bed, yet I cannot blame my fellow-traveller for levity or improper conversation. On such a feeble thread are suspended the congruities and coincidences of this ever-varying and chequered life ! One of our topics had been “ fate and free- will” — the extremes of Calvinism, and the opposites of Arminius ; the moral influence of the Predes- tinarian doctrine, and the effect, in comparison, of the Latitudinarian creed of Pelagius. Perhaps never before had those wilds been the scene of such dis- cussions, or had such converse been held by wan- derers in those regions ; but it was all interrupted, and passed away, by the events of a moment. Conjeveram is too noted a place to be passed without a visit by the traveller. Its distance from the cantonment of Walajahbad, is only a few miles, and the intercourse is frequent, ; I have seen the brahmins attached to the pagodas of this city, 38 CONTINENTAL INDIA. going from door to door of the officers’ quarters, as mendicants, soliciting contributions for the maintenance of their festival solemnities : nor did they ask in vain, gifts being often bestowed either thoughtlessly or from a presumed liberality, by the nominally Christian Briton. Conjeveram is cele- brated for its sacred and pompous pagodas : but it is also a place memorable in the annals of British warfare. From 1757 to 1780, frequent collisions between the English and French, or between Hyder Ah and the British, occurred here : and, on the year last named, an action was fought by Hyder and his son Tippoo, who personally commanded the Mysore forces, and Colonels Fletcher and Bailie, who led on the small Madras army. In military phrase, it was a well -fought field, but a most destructive conflict. The British troops were but a handful ; and Hyder’s strength was concentrated around their devoted position. The ranks of the British were, after protracted, heroic, and skilful resistance, broken by the blowing up of two tumbrils of ammunition, and their de- struction or capture was completed by Hyder’s horse or the French artillery. Many a brave soldier, but thoughtless man, found here his grave on the battle-field : and his slumbering dust serves to enrich the soil around Conjeveram. The country is level and the soil generally poor ; yet the town has the appearance of prosperity ; it is large and regular ; the streets arc wide, and cross each other at right angles ; they are shaded with NOTES OF A MISSION. 39 rows of cocoa-nut trees on each side. The houses are generally built of mild, and such as are not ter- race-roofed are covered with tiles. The tanks are large ; but there is one distinguished above the rest for its size and celebrity — it is resorted to for ceremonial ablutions, by the inhabitants and wor- shippers from a distance. It is lined with stone, and furnished with flights of steps down to the water. The conduits by which these pools are supplied, are sluggish and scanty, and their chief dependance is upon the monsoon rains. Yet stagnant as are the waters, till they have sometimes seemed to me like a marsh rather than a flowing stream, with a green and sickly scurf gathered on the surface, hither the highest, as well as the lowest, brahmins repaired for cleansing. The first offices of purification in the morning, and other washings connected with pooja or daily devotions, bring the multitudes to these tanks, where all is performed, from the brushing of the teeth, and the necessary washings, to the sprinklings or immer- sions, and the minutest service which their idol- atry enjoins. The principal inhabitants are brah- mins, connected with two Hindoo temples ; but the town is chiefly dependant upon the attraction and celebrity of the temple dedicated to Mahadeva. The grand entrance is lofty, with a pyramidal tower, gorgeous and tasteless. Its front, sides, and gateway are crowded with sculpture. The style of pagoda architecture is common through the peninsula. The tower is ascended by inside steps. 40 CONTINENTAL INDIA. and divided into stories ; the central spaces on each being open and smaller as the tower ascends. The light is seen directly through them, and, according to the shades of the sky, which form the hack-ground, the effect is sometimes beautiful. The sides of the steps leading to the pagoda are formed by two elephants drawing a chariot, carved in stone. The more sacred place is surrounded hy a double wall. Upon a central paved court stands the inner temple, raised from the ground a few feet ; a deep verandah runs round the whole court, supported by columns of stone, which serves as a receptacle or choultrie, for pilgrims and devotees. The form of these pillars is shaped to suit the appearance of animals sacred to the several deities by which they are rode. The walls, basements, entablatures, and all other parts of the pagoda are covered with sculptured imagery in alto , or demi- relief. These fantastic representations of Vishnu, the preserver, Seva the destroyer, Krishnu, Gunesa, Kamadeva, Sureea, Chandava, Agni, and Baroona, with the bull and twisted snake, the flute, the parrot, the how of sugar cane, the sun and his chariot, with a seven-headed horse ; the moon and her antelopes, and the ram, and the crocodile, exemplify the absurdities of idol worship. I have wandered about the courts of this huge and imposing temple, and, apparently without offence, have passed through the chambers where the idolatrous furniture was kept. There is an immense Ruth, or Car, and smaller conveyances NOTES OF A MISSION. 41 for the idols: but I never entered the sanctuary where the idol is placed, or witnessed the worship offered before the shrine of the false god ; which is at the far end of the central building. The carved work and imagery sculptured on the pillars and walls of the choultries and pagodas are, many of them, elaborately and well executed ; but no English reader can imagine the scenes which are here exhibited in the light of day — incestuous and bestial pollution are the mildest forms of corruption ; — never any scene so astonished me, or opened my eyes to the defilements of Hindooism. Things which it would be a shame for men even to think of in secret, are here carved, as in action, on the granite pillars of the resting-places for the devotee, or by the gates at which he enters for worship. It is by night that the scenery of their proces- sions and idol worship are conducted with most pomp. Unawares, I found myself in the midst of one of these performances. On my approach to the town, along the public road, I passed numbers of natives, in groups of families or social pilgrims : some with burdens on their heads, others carrying children in their arms, or on their hips, or leading older ones who could run along ; some were aged, and bent to their tall staves, but all were pressing onward to the scene of attraction ; some devoutly, but others as to a merry making, or a gala- day. I came upon the scene in the centre of the town. The procession was led by a wandering faqueer, or religious mendicant — an old man, vigorous and 42 CONTINENTAL INDIA. active, with a white flowing beard ; he was robed in the sacred salmon-coloured cloth, and carried in his right hand a staff, with an iron head, shaped like Vishnu’s sceptre. He sang and danced as he moved onward; he was followed by twenty or thirty mounted on Brahminee bullocks, and beating tom-toms ; four elephants bearing banners, and the Nagara, or royal drum; and long files of dancing girls, their shining hair set with joys and garlands of flowers, and their hands linked in each others’ as they moved in measured steps to the music of the temple. The image of Vishnu was small, adorned richly with jewels, and clothed with brocade ; he was mounted on a gilt and glittering figure of Hanuman, the monkey god ; and attend- ant brahmins carried the chowrie and chuttre, the cow-tail fan and umbrella. The idol and his attending ministers were carried on a vast platform, raised high above the heads of the crowd. The procession was closed by a company of shaven, chanting brahmins. The platform was lighted up by hundreds of torches borne around ; fifty men carried large trisuls, whose trident heads were all flame ; rockets were firing on all sides, and the other fire-works were numerous and vivid. Even the shining of the moon did not spoil their effect ; there was a large supply of sulphurous blue in the fire-works, and the flaring blaze of the lamps and torches gave to the branches of the tall cocoa-trees a metallic lustre. Two immense colossal figures of pasteboard, gaudily dressed and dexterously NOTES OF A MISSION. 43 managed, danced before the holiday crowds who clustered the trees, the house-tops and the walls, with thronging groups, or who, in a dense moving mass, filled the streets. This festival is called the garudastavum, and celebrates the Avatar of Vishnu, when he descended upon the earth. For ten suc- cessive days his image is either thus borne through the streets, or exhibited in the courts of his pagoda, when the streets are thronged with brahmins and faqueers, with pilgrims from distant places, or peasants from the neighbourhood. It is a season when nothing but the frenzied shout of the excited fanatic is heard, or the song of the merry idler. My path lay through the midst of them, and a brahmin addressed me, requesting a contribution as an offering for the festival, without success, though I regretted my inability to communicate freely to him the knowiedge of a more excellent way. But in this very multitude were poor de- luded votaries, some with iron rods forced through the skin, festered or bleeding ; some suspended head dowirwards, swinging from the branch of a tree over a smoking fire ; and others with their heads buried under a heap of earth, exposing their naked and disgusting body to the highway passen- ger. A part of the festival scene consists in the performances of the nautch girls, poor young women, prostituted at the temple, and employed to dance with luxurious dress and amorous and measured steps before the idol. The performance of the Ruth Jatra takes place 44 CONTINENTAL INDIA. without any human sacrifices — so far as visible acts of immolation — occurring. A display of sec- tarian strife usually precedes it on the previous night, between the followers of Vishnu and Seva : the former carry their idol on a huge gilt elephant to insult the pagoda of the latter ; even in this there is now no danger. There is no bloodshed in this war ; a boundary-line, or a pillar of separation, being agreed upon by the belligerents : a servant of the Hon. East India Company presides to pre- vent any breach of the articles of war or violation of the treaty ; so that the Sevaites and the Vish- nuites, if they do fall out, shall not come to blows, or break each other’s heads. The elephant and the god turn their posterior parts toward the front of Seva’s temple, and are thrice forced back to the line of demarcation with the shout and gesture of insult ; and at that moment, some of the more furious polemics seem maddened with zeal, leaping on each other’s shoulders, shaking their flaming torches, brandishing their fists, and singing de- fiance. The ruth is in dimension more like -a building than a car : its platform is thirty-five feet from the ground, and a tapestried canopy, with its decorations and pillars, stands thirty-five feet higher. The whole is solid and strong. It is strangely carved, and heavy ; thirty brahmins may stand under the canopy. The wheels are ten feet in diameter, of enormous thickness, and solid. Four cables, a hundred yards in length, are at- tached to it : and two thousand labourers, w hether NOTES OF A MISSION. 45 over their shoulders or by their hands, are required to drag it. Numbers of young brahmins, armed with thongs of deer, leap about in the crowd, now whipping those who drag the car, and now striking those who press upon their path. Some of the wealthy and self-righteous do touch the burden with one of their fingers : you will see wealthy and well-dressed men come nigh, and just put their hand over to touch the rope that they may claim the merit of having dragged the car. It moves onward, towering above the gazing faces of the admiring worshippers. The women hold up their little children above their heads ; and every sight and sound speaks tumultuous joy ; they are mad upon their idols. Many press forward, that, being near enough, they may throw up their offerings of money and cocoa-nuts. The latter are broken, presented to the idol, and cast down again, thus consecrated, to the deluded and exulting devotee, who shares them with the family or friends he brought up to the feast. When the ruth has been dragged through the principal streets, it is restored to its place of rest; and as it approaches within about one hundred yards of that spot, there is a hideous yell, as if they would shout — “A long pull,” &c. — the movement becomes more rapid; and, at the greatest peril of an overthrow, its ponderous wheels rush onward till the course is finished. If now’ we should enter the temple, we should observe nothing but feasting and gratu- lations, complacent smiles, and luxurious indul- 46 CONTINENTAL INDIA. gences. Here is a dark-complexioned wealthy merchant, a pilly or modeliar, of the Vhasya caste, who has provided an entertainment for these sleek, corpulent, or well-favoured children of craft, the officiating brahmins. But where are the votaries who came to the festival for good to their souls ? A deceived heart has led them astray, — they are feeding on ashes, and toil-worn with exhausted resources, they must return to their homes without such consolation as will abide the day of calamity and trial. About the time of one of my visits to this city, wholly given to idolatry, a drought and scarcity prevailed ; the waters in the tanks subsided much lower than usual ; and the brahmins announced that this was in consequence of Mahadevah’s dis- pleasure, because one of his representations, or most sacred images, had been left deposited in the mud at the bottom of his tank. A great solemnity was proclaimed; vast preparations, and even the civil authorities of the district, English civilians, were convened to take part in the ceremony-; offerings, prayers, and sacrifices, were required ; and the idol was taken from the mud and carried to his place, in procession, and with much display. Such was the delusive imposture practised upon the people, while a British functionary presided, and gave directions as to the times and movements of the solemn idolatry ! It would be justly reckoned intrusive and im- proper for Europeans to force themselves into the NOTES OF A MISSION. 47 sanctuary or sacred recess of these pagodas. 1 have seen, however, the common pooja performed by the officiating priest at the open shrine of a small pagoda, when Hindoo worshippers were standing barefooted, their hands united over the breast, and muttering their muntrums, or suppli- cations; and the priest was ringing a bell in one hand, and scattering incense, with the other, round the body of the idol. Perhaps it may be supposed, that the more secret and mysterious performances differ from this simple folly. A kind and liberal friend, a brahmin, has furnished me with a descrip- tion of one service, where he was a listener. I shall give it in a condensed form. “As soon as the party entered the sanctuary, they were op- pressed with heat, from its cavernous closeness and the smoke of the lights burning near the god and goddess. The ceremony was performed by the officiating brahmin, who lighted a little camphor on a circular brass plate, and turned it more than three times toward the god : he then threw over it some leaves and flowers of various descriptions ; after which, as it is usual among the brahmins in their temples, he brought to the company the light of the camphor, that they might individually re- ceive a portion of its perfume and smoke. He gave also a few flowers and a little ashes. To the left of the male idol, about six feet, stood the female image. Here the idolater performed similar cere- monies to the goddess : at the conclusion, the same gifts were bestowed, except the ashes ; instead of 48 CONTINENTAL INDIA. which a small quantity was received of yellow and red powder; a composition of turmeric, chunam, or chalk, &c., which are generally appropriated to the goddess as well as to Hindoo women. Brah- mins and Hindoos, when they visit a strange pagoda, bring presents. On this occasion, the head of the party ordered that some cocoa-nuts, plantains, and camphor, should be brought in and presented to the idols. After being presented, these fruits were distributed to the party of wor- shippers as far as they would divide ; then, accord- ing to the usual custom, the same person gave money to the officiating priest. This gift is sup- posed to be according to the circumstances and pleasure of the donor. The priest then conducted the worshippers, with a light in his hand, round the sanctuary of the idol; and having laid aside their turbans and outer garments, lest they should be soiled, they proceeded to explore some myste- rious and far-winding recesses connected with the pagoda.” I was, on one occasion, brought into Conjeveram, contrary to my original intention, in consequence of an accident which befel my palanquin. The pole so completely broke away from the body, that it was no longer possible for my bearers to carry me ; and it was with difficulty they could convey the palanquin from the place where the accident occurred. I had been travelling in the pretty, well watered valley within which Damal is situated, and through which, for the purposes of irrigation, a NOTES OF A MISSION. 49 branch of the Pallar is conducted hy an artificial channel ; and when the occurrence, which impeded my progress, happened, I was six or eight miles from Conjeveram. In none of the villages could I find, as I passed, a smith or carpenter able to repair the broken pole. My only course was then to walk, while the hearers carried the palanquin on their heads. I never at any other time walked so far at once in India. The night set in upon us ; we were not supplied with oil, or torches ; pedestrian tours are not frequent in the district ; and the poisonous reptiles, which are numerous, render it very unde- sirable to travel much on foot. Necessity, how- ever, left no choice, and, after a weary and troubled pilgrimage, I reached Conjeveram. I experienced the most friendly reception by the assistant collector, who happened to be at his bungalow when I arrived. A gentleman, whom I never saw before, nor have I met him since, welcomed me to his hospitality, pro- vided for my refreshment after the unusual excur- sion, insisted that I should remain throughout the night, and next day furnished me with a new palanquin, in which I started for my destination. Such are Indian courtesy and their liberal habits of intercourse : when I proposed sending back the borrowed palanquin, Mr. McL — begged me to wait till he would himself send for it, a distance of nearly forty miles. His w r as the nearest European residence in a surrounding district of fifteen or twenty miles. My reader will now permit me to conduct him to VOL. II. e 50 CONTINENTAL INDIA. Walajahbad. The family of Walajah obtained the dignity of nabobs of Arcot by splendid military achievements; and by the same means acquired great local celebrity. The name is applied to several native towns or districts : Walajah Pettah and Walajah Naggur are instances. The canton- ment is distinct from either, but it is only a mihtary station, and subject to all the restrictions and regu- lations which are common to a British garrison : a commandant was the superior, and a fort-adjutant exercised the superintendence of a police ; to both these officers it was requisite a stranger should report himself and deliver his passports ; both were gentlemen, and friendly ; with them was neither delay nor irritation. I had the satisfaction to know that my visit was acceptable, and I was employed to officiate as chaplain for the regiment during my visit ; the adjutant read prayers, and I preached on the Sundays, while the men and officers stood on the parade in church order. This was in the morning, before the sun had risen to meridian heat. In the afternoon and evening I met' the soldiers who were peculiarly concerned about religion : they had prepared a small bungalow, which would contain eighty or a hundred ; and in the evenings of each successive day this military tabernacle was filled and surrounded by many listening and interested worshippers — poor fellows, who perhaps in their own country, or in more favourable circumstances, had disregarded such observances. A more select number had joined in a religious brotherhood, and NOTES OF A MISSION. 51 met together, though they had no minister, for mutual counsel and encouragement. They attended to the Lord’s supper, when visited by a minister. I have sat down to this hallowed commemoration with eighteen or twenty at a time. There was in the same regiment a society of another Christian denomination ; a native Roman Catholic priest also officiated within the cantonment, and was attended by some of the soldiers. Few' of their wives were interested in the subjects which I sought to explain ; they w r ere women of colour, principally, and brought up under heathen or Romish influence on religious subjects. I met some of them for religious instruction, but they were subjected to much of the listlessness or enmity of the native mind. The objects of the soldiers’ society were expressed in the rules which they had adopted for themselves ; of which the following was the substance : “ That they should form a general society for the service of God, and to maintain religious worship among such as were disposed to attend. To this society every one was admitted who expressed a wish for it, and conducted himself with moral propriety ; but a more select society was formed from such of these as were desirous of more intimate and Christian communion ; to this no person w r as ad- mitted a member, but such as were deemed to give satisfactory evidence of a divine change, wrought in their hearts, by a conduct which became the gospel of Jesus Christ. These were required to exercise a tender and vigilant concern for each other, and to e 2 52 CONTINENTAL INDIA. pray one for and with another.” They had fixed seasons for meeting, office bearers, subscriptions, and affectionate discipline. By their president they maintained correspondence with missionaries in dis- tant parts of India, and obtained religious books, tracts, sermons, &c. The following is a specimen of such correspondence. “ I have to inform you that I received your letter of the 10th of January, by the , as also a num- ber of tracts and reports, for which the society return you their most humble thanks. The two volumes of Sermons we have safe. The society are at this time all enjoying a good state of health, thanks be to the Almighty ; and they hope this will find you enjoying the same blessing. You mention in your letter that I was to write once every three months ; but, if it is convenient for you, the society would wish to hear from you every month. I, as you advised me, asked Mr. to preach for us. We had just got a fresh place to assemble in, and a very comfortable one too ; he preached in it three times. It will seat one hundred very con- veniently. You wished, in your letter, to know the strength of our society. We are sixteen in num- ber, and there are a number more (who) attend, who seem to be very serious. Our meetings in general consist of between thirty and forty hearers. The small books, for children, I distributed among the children that attend ; but I don’t see how I can put into execution what you recommend, as there is divine service twice on Sundays. The Mis- NOTES OF A MISSION. 53 sionary Society (has) is not increased much ; but I believe it does not altogetlier proceed from unwil- lingness, but for want of ability ; as things are very dear in this place. The number is ten ; we expect two or three more this month. The amount in hand is about fourteen rupees. As our society is increasing, we want hymn books : I wish you could supply us (with) about six or eight ; and, if you send them up and the price with them, as soon as they are disposed (of) with, I will remit the money to you. If you do send them, send three of the middle size, and the rest small ones. I hope you will soon determine on your intended journey, as we shall all very much like to see and be benefited by your instruction. Having nothing further to say, I conclude, wishing you all desirable blessings in the Lord. I remain, in the name of the society, your humble servant, , private.” The next was written by the same correspondent, eighteen months later, and on the eve of an entire and permanent separation. During two years had this intercourse been maintained, and it was very pleasant. The poor soldier, who was I believe a good soldier of Jesus Christ, closed his fife a few months subsequent to our farewell ; he died in hos- pital on foreign service. “ The enclosed is from J D , who very much desires to enter into communion with the church, and thus pub- licly to acknowledge himself on the Lord’s side. His reason for applying so soon is because he is afraid he will be called to join his regiment. He 54 CONTINENTAL INDIA. wishes, therefore, to be proposed this month. I certainly look upon him as a new man in Jesus Christ — and oh, that every one who calls himself by the name of Christ, walked as near, and took as much pleasure in serving God as he does. I an- ticipate the time when he will be very useful in the cause of religion. It is not likely I shall have the opportunity of seeing you again, as we are under orders to march for embarkation at a mo- ment’s notice. I hope. Sir, you are in better health than when I left you ; I, and those that are with me, are all well, thank God ; hut well or sick, the time will soon come when we shall be under orders to leave this world, and appear before God. Oh ! may we be prepared, and then welcome death. I hope. Sir, you will not forget us when tossed upon the mighty waters ; and for this, and all your other labours for our good, may the Lord reward you. H. C. and J. C. are going with me. I shall be very glad if you will send mine and C.’s certificate up before we go ; we expect it will be to-morrow evening. Having nothing further to say, I sub- scribe myself your most obedient, but unworthy servant, private H. M. regiment.” I started from Walajahbad for Chinglepet a little before midnight, and reached it before six in the morning. My route lay through paddy or rice-fields and agricultural hamlets. The road was not direct, and it was not easily traced. As I passed through one of the villages, I observed by the side of the road whole families lying asleep, NOTES OF A MISSION. exposed, on the ground, a coarse comely or blan- ket their only bed and covering. They had chosen this position in preference to their miserable hovels. Shortly afterwards I overheard some wrangling by the way side, and subsequently the half-suppressed titter of triumph. I opened my palanquin, and discovered, that, in my name, my bearers had cap- tured a husbandman, or rather seized his comely, in pledge for himself, that he would escort them till they had gained the high-road. The peasant appealed to me, in the language and posture of abject humiliation ; and when I took my bearers to task for their conduct, they pleaded that they were ignorant of the way, and that otherwise they could not proceed. I arranged with the country- men that he should go as far as we required, and that he should return as soon as we could pursue our journey without his aid. I need not philoso- phise on the state of a country or people of whom such a transaction could be related; the incident is, however, illustrative, and has been recorded to show the condition of the peasantry within fifty miles of Madras, in the oldest possession; it was the original jaghire of the company. Before the morning light arrived, we reached a mined and deserted pagoda of some celebrity. It stood on the brow of a hill ; we ascended by steps, partly cut out of the mountain. There were many cham- bers and recesses in this desecrated temple ; some of its walls on the outside formed a precipitous line with the steep parts of the hill. As we passed 56 CONTINENTAL INDIA. in and out of the several compartments, the bats and other beasts of night, of immense size, flew about with wing strong enough to extinguish ordi- nary lights. Its antiquity and history I could not trace, and could glean no information from the locality : no human being dwelt there, nor was there any contiguous village. The ruin was emble- matical, I thought, of the decay which shall yet fall upon the brahminical system, when the people shall cast their idols to the moles and to the bats, and turn and serve the living God. There is no vitality or elastic power sufficient to reinvigorate the prin- ciple of this idolatry ; its temples go to decay without any seeming regrets or hallowed asso- ciations of the people. I reached the fort of Chinglepet before any of the European inhabitants were abroad, yet I was not left unsheltered. A good set of Palkee booies are always in highest spirit at the end of their journey; and, from an idea that it adds to their own importance, they make an effort to introduce their master to a new station with high iclat. Their chorus is strong, their pace is agile, and their notes are well-timed and sonorous ; “ Peria baba, peria baba, huy ho,” a great man, a great man, is here, is the burden of their song as they approach, and this they repeat with increasing animation till their master has alighted, though they be over- powered in perspiration. The hospitable burra sahib, or great man of this place, was a country- man whom I had never seen, and who had never NOTES OF A MISSION. 57 heard my name, that I knew of, yet his servant came out almost a mile from his house to meet me : he had heard the “ peria baba ” of my bearers as we came along the road, and with his master’s authority, conducted me to a furnished bungalow, with every convenience for the toilet and for re- freshment. I rested for a couple of hours, and at the hour of breakfast was invited to the table of my host. Here an acquaintance was begun, which lasted through many days. Chinglepet gives name to the district, hut it is more memorable for its association in the wars of the Carnatic, as the name of the fort, which, though taken by the French in 1751, was, after being retaken by Clive, in 1752, always able to resist the attacks of Hyder and his allies, to afford refuge to the natives of the Jaghire within, and protection to the army, when weak, under its walls. Till about the end of the seventeenth century, the territory was governed by a Hindoo chief; but, having been conquered by the Mohammedans, was annexed to the dominions of the nabob of Arcot ; by whom it was ceded to the British in 1750. The fort is the residence of a Zillah or district court, and the strength of the place has, I suppose, led to the occupation of parts of it as a convict prison. When my visit was paid to the fort, a native prince was among the children of bondage ; for what reason I did not learn, or what was his rank or country. There were a company of sepoys : the officers in command, the judge and his registrar. 58 CONTINENTAL INDIA. the doctor, and, occasionally, a revenue Chilian, which, with the families of these gentlemen, con stituted the whole circle of British society at the settlement. Sadras, a Dutch factory, was distant some twelve or fifteen miles, where a few families of that nation, or descendants of such, resided; but little intercourse was maintained between them. Madras is nearly forty miles north-north-east. Pondicherry is the only other most attractive set- tlement on the coast, about fifty miles off. Neigh- bours, so few and select, depend much on each other’s good will and courtesy for the happiness of society ; and the gay or thoughtless would find this a dull place. The reading and the studious will, however, appreciate such retirement, and improve it for the cultivation of the mind. I have often found well-chosen and extensive libraries in such stations ; but it too often occurs that play or sport tempt to indulgences which min the purse or destroy the health. I spent a few days in this circle with great satisfaction, and found some sober-minded and reflective, as well as religious inquirers. The district, through which the Pallar flows, between Chinglepet and Arcot, is known by the name Conjee ; it is low and unhealthy ; it is also very thinly peopled. There is here an extensive tank, Caverypauk, which supplies moisture to the parched soil, by which a greater measure of fertility and verdure is maintained than would otherwise appear under a vertical sun. Arcot is distant NOTES OF A MISSION. 59 about seventy-five miles from Madras. The old town is placed on the south side of the Pallar ; and Ranepettah, or the cantonment, lies on the opposite bank of the river : the channel is here about half a mile in breadth, — so broad for the supply of water as to make it appear, except in the rainy season, almost dry ; the exhausted stream flows in two scanty channels. This ancient capital of the Car- natic is surrounded with barren granite hills in a state of decomposition. The locality of Arcot is known in history as ancient as Ptolemy for the site of the capital of the Sorae, or the Soramundalum, whence some derive Coromandel. A more modern date belongs to the Arcot, celebrated in the British conquest of the Carnatic. The Moguls moved from Gingee, because of its insalubriousness, and began to build the present Arcot about the year 1716. The creature of their power set up by the French in 1749, took possession of this place. It was retaken by Clive, two years afterwards, when he sustained a siege of fifty days, till the French and their allies, who had attacked him, were obliged to retreat. For a short time it was again in their possession, but was recovered by Colonel Coote in 1760. Twenty years afterwards, Hyder Ali captured it, when he had defeated Colonel Bailie’s force at Conjeveram. His triumph, was, however, but short-lived. It was held for the nabob of Arcot by Company’s troops for many years ; but about the beginning of the present century, the farce of a native government was removed, and the 60 CONTINENTAL INDIA. nabob brought down to Madras as a state-pensioner. The principal defences were destroyed around the town between twenty and thirty years ago ; and the large fort stands now as a central tower in the midst of the town, which is still extensive. The ramparts of the fort serve a more useful and pacific purpose, as a defence against the inundations of the river in the monsoon seasons. The former palace of the nabobs, except a gateway still entire, is in ruins ; a Mohammedan mosque of attractive splendour, and four or five other places, built for the same religion, afford proofs of Moslem supre- macy ; and the tombs of their saints or princes attest their former wealth and power. The Euro- pean visiter will generally be more familiar with the north bank of the Pallar. Ranepettah is one of the largest stations for troops under the Madras government, but is occupied entirely by cavalry. The lines and barracks would garrison six regi- ments; and range in rows upon a sandy plain, where the herbage is naturally scanty, but on which the constant exercise of troops has scarcely left a blade of vegetation. Arcot is one of the least sheltered, and most oppressive, cantonments for heat in India. There are some garden bun- galows, which have been erected for the con- venience of higher officers ; they are green and scattered spots in the desert. I have seen an English dragoon regiment stationed here, to burn out the contentious and bickering spirit which pre- vailed among the officers. The Madras native NOTES OF A MISSION. (51 cavalry are, however, chiefly the occupants of these lines, and some very dashing men I have heard as being among them. I have, however, known what was far better — gentlemen, from the cornet to the major, not ashamed to take Jesus for their Lord, to acknowledge Him as their Redeemer, and make mention of his name in prayer-meetings ; and as standard-bearers, went forth under Him as the Great Captain of their salvation. There is but poor accommodation for the traveller in choultries, & c. at this station. Hospitality is, however, an ever-vigilant substitute for the European. My home was either at the chaplain’s, or his son-in- law’s. The greatest good has been accomplished by this family ; the day will declare it, when the faith- ful and often despised labourer shall receive the crown ; and when the seals of fidelity shall be acknowledged and rewarded with the joy of our Lord. Often did this good man stand alone, as if he were a mark set up for the ungodly to shoot at. With a temper naturally bland and lively, though quaint, and rendered a little cynical by the un- generous insinuations and cruel hatred of not a few whose portion w r as in this life. My friend, Mr. S. had cultivated an extensive knowledge, and drunk largely into the spirit of our English divines of the seventeenth century. He, therefore, not unfre- quently startled his gay auditories with sallies of plain and homely truths, whether in the pulpit or in social intercourse. If they observed that the season was hot , he would reply in the affirmative. 62 CONTINENTAL INDIA. but that it was not so hot as hell wyuld be to the wicked. If they had used the sobriquets of re- proach, often applied to zealous Christians, as new lights, swaddlers, or methodists, and with significant shrugs, declined much intimacy ; he would warn them of the time to come, when the present despisers would welcome the visits of a Lazarus, and be glad to take hold of the skirts of a man that was called a Jew. The many young Chris- tians who were brought to Jesus here, or nurtured and fitted for active duties ; the travellers to Zion’s gates, who were refreshed and encouraged amidst toils and sorrows under this roof, by the sweet counsel which was taken together, when they that feared the Lord spake often one to another, and the Lord hearkened and heard; and the fellow- labourers who received mutual encouragement and renewed strength, who were enabled to gird up the loins of their minds, who thanked God and took courage, will all remember in eternity this as the house of Evangelist, and the season when with joy they drew water from the wells of salvation, even in this desert place ; and it may he no small source of their rejoicings at the right hand, that a fellow- ship was here commenced which shall be perpe- tuated in the skies. I need not recount the afflictive dispensation by which an only son was taken away in the saddest scenes of mortal conflict, but with the fullest assurances of eternal bliss, or the mingled and compensating mercies by which four lovely daughters were trained up for wisdom’s NOTES OF A MISSION. 63 ways, for works of usefulness, places of influence, and scenes of domestic peace. I may not draw aside the veil from my aged friend’s death-couch, and obtrude upon him the gaze of a receding world ; or yet open the privacy of widowed seclu- sion, and shew the “ widow indeed,” as a Mary at the feet of her beloved Lord, who hath chosen that good part which shall not be taken away from her. Many loud plaudits have been sounded to the names of some as good or great, — many vivid pictures have been delineated to exhibit departed talent or worth ; but, I believe, in few regions will there be found so many silent memorials, — so many Ebenezers, — so many stones of help, legibly and deeply engraven, as shall be revealed here when God makes up his jewels ; when He writeth up the people, and numbers the treasures of his grace. With not a few it will then be accounted “ an honour to appear as one new-born and nou- rished there.” On week-day and sabbath-day w r as this house a Bethel and a Bethlehem ; a house of God, and a house wfliere the bread of God was daily broken for the hungry sold. Let my reader accompany me to other scenes ; to Vellore and Sautghur. The valley of the Pallar narrows and draws toward the Ghauts, passing by Vellore. It is verdant and fertile, and extends to Paligonda, where there is water enough for tw r o crops of rice. This fine valley was in former times well peopled, and contains yet vestiges of former opulence and security. Vellore is a w r ell- 64 CONTINENTAL INDIA. built town, and was strongly fortified in the early history of the country. It was, in the time of the Mogul, deemed impregnable, and afforded defence to a refractory or temporising chieftain. The walls of the fort are still rendered so much the more secure by a deep running fosse, or ditch, supplied from the Pallar, which contains many immense and frightful alligators. The destructive powers and propensities of these amphibious monsters serve as effectually as armed battalions for the mounted guard of the glacis or batteries. They may be seen basking upon the waters in all their huge pro- portions; but the daring intruder is never sure where they are not, and it would be a perilous, most probably a fatal adventure, to attempt to cross the waters of the ditch. Vellore was chosen as the prison for the sons of Tippoo, when their father’s kingdom passed away, and his fortress of Seringapatam was taken. Many restless and war- like Mussulmans hovered round about, and longed for the deliverance of the captives and their re- storation to power. It was not wonderful if the slightest pretext should serve to excite the re- tainers and followers of Tippoo’s house, and to attach Mohammedans in the Company’s army. Certain military regulations, adopted by the go- vernment, which interfered with the prejudices and superstitions of the native soldiery, created exten- sive dissatisfaction ; and the emissaries of Tippoo’s family, perhaps, also, of the European enemies of England, seized the moment as favourable for NOTES OF A MISSION. 65 successful resistance. At two o’clock in the morning of July 10, 1806, the attempt was made. The European barracks at Vellore contained four complete companies of the 69th regiment. Two battalions of sepoys in the Company’s service sur- rounded the barracks, and poured in, most un- expectedly, a heavy fire of musketry at every door and window, upon the English soldiers. At the same moment, the European sentries, the soldiers at the mainguard, and the sick in the hospital, were put to death. The officers’ houses were ransacked, and every European found in them was murdered. A messenger, however, escaped to Arcot, and Colonel Gillespie brought up the 19th dragoons to the rescue of their countrymen. The butcheries within were so engrossing, that the insurgents had not guarded the gates of the fort, so as to resist the force brought against them. The sepoys were immediately attacked ; six hundred were cut down on the spot, and two hundred more were dragged from their hiding-places and shot. One hundred and sixty-four of the soldiers of the 69th regiment had been destroyed, besides their officers ; and many officers of the native troops had shared the fate of their fellow Britons, being mur- dered by their own sepoys. I received the story of this Vellore mutiny from Captain J , who was in the 69th at the time, and was one of the few survivors. He described his own utter help- lessness and alarm, — how he fled into a go-clown > or cellar, pursued by the panting and sanguinary VOL. II. F G6 CONTINENTAL INDIA. murderers, with their weapons of destruction in hand ; and how he had just time to say his prayers before his pursuers could have overtaken him, and directed their musket toward his defenceless person. Their attention had been arrested by some other object ; he was forgotten in the melee . In a few hours — hours of torturing and agonizing suspense — he was rescued from so near a death. The alarm created by this affair was unjustly turned to the prejudice of Christian missions, which w T ere in no measure concerned as cause and effect. There is no danger to British power in India from Chris- tianity, so long as the work of evangelization is carried forward by an agency distinct from the government, and left to subsist by the voluntary liberality of those who embrace its creed and sub- mit to its authority. The sons of Tippoo were removed to Calcutta, their adherents were dispersed, and their influence in the peninsula wholly subsided. One of these princes died ; his surviving brother has been for some time in England pursuing certain pecuniary negotiations with the governing authorities — who, he asserts, have become remiss in the discharge of obligations which were undertaken by the Com- pany. He is represented as an intelligent and pleasing gentleman ; perhaps, with all his privations, the loss of a throne, and separation from courtier- counsellors, he is not less happy or capable of enjoying the means of improvement and inform- ation, though he be not permitted to rule on the NOTES OF A MISSION. 67 thrones of Beejanugur and Mysore. He was notin Vellore when I visited that fort ; but every thing smelt of Tippoo. There were fragments of the harem, or the divan, favourites and menials, for whom the English government still provided a daily support. As a visitor, my inquiries and curiosity were excited, and I had every opportu- nity for attaining my desires. A friend and ac- quaintance of old standing was commandant; and through his attentions I was introduced to all that was deemed interesting. The fort is now a station for troops, rather than a stronghold for defending the country. The barracks within and outside of the citadel are employed only for native battalions. The station is hot, and does not suit the consti- tution of Europeans ; yet it is often chosen as the best place for a native corps whose last station has been marshy, subject to malaria, or visited by fevers. There was here no chaplain ; the pious, or well-inclined officers, used to ride over to Arcot, ten or twelve miles, on sabbath morning. It is one of the penalties which a Christian pays for continuing in the army, that he is often placed at a distance from the ordinances of a profitable ministry. It is one of the occasional services which a missionary renders to the people of his Lord, to turn in as a wayfaring man for a night, and lead his brethren in the way, where they may draw water with joy from the wells of salvation. Sautghur is a stage beyond Vellore, where the luxuriance of the East, the variety of tropical f 2 68 CONTINENTAL INDIA. vegetation, and the Moslem passion for gardening, have succeeded in drawing forth the stores of nature in rich abundance. The garden of Sautghur is extensive, situated among scenes diversified by picturesque hills, craggy rocks, and verdant brush- wood. It is laid out in the most formal style, with walks, arbours, and cascades, approved by orientals ; and is filled with orange-trees, cocoas, slender arecas, with many varied descriptions of fruit and flow r er. Mohammedans are peculiarly fond of horticultural pursuits — but they have cultivated the rose with fondest care. Hindoos have not any pleasures in the garden such as are enjoyed by the Moslem. In the Sautghur garden, Mohammedans delight to wander and indulge their passion for Nature’s richest flowers. Major S met a priest of Islam, a hundred years old ; a long snow-white beard fell down upon the breast of the venerable patriarch ; and his aspect commanded the most profound deference. Some of his attendant fami- liars contemned the tribute of respect with haughty look and unbending courtesy; but the old man placidly and calmly returned the salute. Perhaps pride and revenge had fallen asleep in his breast. I have wandered amidst these ghauts on foot, as well as by the usual modes of conveyance, with real pleasure. The beauty of the scenery is re- freshing after the arid monotony of the level regions below. It is not so much the magnificence as the checquered variety ; it is not so much the great forests of natural wood, which diversify the western NOTES OF A MISSION. G9 ghauts, as it is the verdure and solitude, the changing and brilliant hues which adorn the face of nature. The road from Sautghur to Vellore, on the early morning, while the dew is yet moist upon the ten- der herb, is romantically picturesque. To the south and east of Vellore are situate several forts and strongholds, which are well remembered in the Mysore wars. Wandiwash, Chittapet, and Arnee, were most frequently visited with the scourge, the desolations, and the miseries of mili- tary campaigning and hostile sieges. Missionaries seem to have overlooked the whole district ; or to have been influenced by the panic of the Vellore mutiny ; for, till recently, no one of these populous quarters had been occupied, even as an outpost of the missionary field. Arnee is still occasionally occupied by troops, and is a celebrated place for cotton manufactures. The Arnee muslins are famed among Indian fabrics. Here also reside many of the Jain sect, an amiable and qualcerish class of Hindoos. Walajahpet contains a large population of enterprising and respectable Hindoo merchants and traders, who extend their commer- cial intercourse to the markets of Hyderabad, Masulipatam, Nellore, and Mysore ; but have not mingled much in the traffic of their European masters. It is better known to Indian banians than to English merchants. There are now mission- schools in Vellore, Arnee, Walajahpet, Arcot, and Chittoor. At Walajahpet, a missionary, from the London Missionary Society, has commenced active 70 CONTINENTAL INDIA. operations, and built a mission-house. There are scripture-readers, and native Christian teachers, at Arnee and Vellore, by whom the ministration of gospel truth is maintained among nominal Chris- tians, and for the instruction of the inquiring heathen. In this district, of which Chittoor has for some years been the centre, there are nine daily schools for Hindoo children, and three Sunday- schools. In the former are 321, and in the latter 146 children, receiving instruction under the be- nign auspices of Christian benevolence. My first journey to Chittoor introduced me to a select circle of Christians, whose zeal and love, whose cooperation and activity, took me by sur- prise, and presented a new aspect, in which the philanthropist might view the results of Indian conquest. The men whom I then met are now, almost all, removed from the sphere of labour, or of suffering ; but no oasis in the desert could so gratify and cheer the wandering traveller, though breaking unexpectedly upon his gaze, as this was calculated to interest and draw forth the admiration of one who wished well to India, and desired the triumph of truth. Driven into retirement by ill-health for a season, I went to the ghauts without any fixed plan as to route or operations : my bearers, obey- ing their directions, carried me to the house of a judge of the district. The valley in which Chittoor is placed, lies along the base of the Ghauts, and is watered by the Ponee, which falls into the Palaur. The scene is really beautiful, and the fertility of NOTES OF A MISS TON. 71 the soil, the overhanging shadows of the contiguous and richly-clothed mountains, with the splendid mansion-like style of the civilians’ houses, which are not only large and imposing without, but com- modious and airy within, impart to this station a superiority and attractiveness, not possessed by other places of European residence in the penin- sula. There is usually a company of sepoys, and an officer in command, to keep the criminals under awe in the prison, which contains sometimes five or six hundred. The sepoys occupy a small fort. The collector of one of the Arcot districts usually resides here, a civilian whose salary may be about 4,000/. per annum. There are, besides him, circuit judges, each with an almost equal salary, and their regis- trar, with half their income. There is also the zillah, or local judge, with his registrar, dividing five thousand between them. There is, of course, a medi- cal attendant, and always some visiting friend or pass- ing traveller. The native officers of the courts rank high, and receive liberal salaries. To estimate the judicial business of the courts here, civil as well as criminal, I may mention that the Madras presidency is placed under the superintendence of four circuit courts ; and, besides one of these, a zillah-court has its head-quarters at Chittoor. Zillah means side, or division ; a second zillah-court is at Chin- glepet, and a third at Cuddapah. The circuit- judges take their turn on circuit through the district, carrying justice to the homes of the people — at least such is the object of their appointment : 72 CONTINENTAL INDIA. but grave matters come before all three ; appeals, also, from one to the three ; and from the zillah to the circuit-judges ; they have the power of capital punishment, but an appeal may be made from them to a kind of supreme court at Madras — the Sudder Diwanee and Fouzdar Adawlut. The gentleman, on whom I called, had some knowledge of my name, as I had of his ; but we had never met each other. He received me under the piazzas of his princely mansion as I stepped out of my palanquin ; an interchange of names was the commencement of our intercourse ; an intercourse which ripened into reciprocal confidence, kindred sympathies, the maturity and fellowship of similar sentiments on religious and ecclesiastical peculi- arities, and a large measure of correspondence and cooperation in schemes of usefulness and bene- volence. This gentleman was heir to extensive English estates, and derived from them a large yearly revenue. But he had consecrated his all to the service of God among the Hindoos. His for- tune — 6,000/. per annum — was the smallest matter of the dedication : his life was a continual sacrifice ; his influence, his personal exertions, whenever they could be devoted. His knowledge of the language was extensive, and his powers of utterance fluent. Every morning he spent an hour, sometimes two, imparting instruction in the sacred oracles to the professing native Christians, and conducting morn- ing exercises of devotion ; in the evening, again, he was similarly occupied. Sabbath after Sabbath did NOTES OF A MISSION. 73 he labour to make the truth of the Gospel known to the poor heathen — to the mendicant, the prisoner, and the young ; he was the principal support of an English service every Sabbath, in the court-house, for the European families ; with him were asso- ciated two or three civilians and some pious women, in the more general operations. He employed teachers for the young, and men who acted as catechists: one of whom was introduced to me as having been a pupil of Schwartz, at Tanjore. lie supported many of the Hindoos, whom he had adopted into his family, at his own private table. He had fitted up a wing of his elegant mansion as a chapel for worship, and furnished it in a convenient manner, besides placing in it a magnificent and well- toned organ. He gave one meal every week to the mendicant poor; when he addressed them on the sub- ject of greatest interest. In most of his benevolent operations he had a few associates from among the other residents ; some of whom used to meet with him weekly for mutual counsel and prayer. There were others among the local civilians, unrelenting and unscrupulous opposers of such efforts ; and by sneers, open hostility, secret manoeuvres, and ma- licious misrepresentations, they sought to wound the feelings, the reputation, or secular interests of this Christian band : — danger, madness, hypocrisy, or impurity, were insinuated or charged against the plans and proceedings of the warm-hearted enthu- siast. The affliction occasioned by such hatred and hateful opposition to his benevolent mind, was 74 CONTINENTAL INDIA. known only to the God whom he served. I doubt, indeed, the wisdom of some of his measures ; his worldly influence was a bait, to which many a mer- cenary hypocrite was allured; it attracted the hollow- hearted deceivers, who made large profession, and rendered unscrupulous conformity to his schemes for months and years, till they had attained their object. As it drew them, it misled him, and served as a veil to conceal the designs of his plunderers. He knew that many came not for the word, but be- cause they did eat of the loaves and were filled. Y et he was ever ready to judge of others by his own generous honesty, and take the fairest estimate of those who attached themselves to his brethren. He was too much in the habit of giving, and too much elevated in outward distinction, to be able to form an impartial judgment of the native professors. He also felt so acutely the malevolence which perse- cuted Christianity in himself, that he often imputed to the same origin the insinuations which assailed the native Christians. Indeed, I believe he would have done more good had he laboured personally, to the same degree to which he devoted himself, and abstained from any direct distribution, among the people, of his large pecuniary resources ; and had lie devoted his substance as fully to the same sacred cause, and in the same amount, but through unknown channels ; employing others ostensibly as his almoners. He would then have seen more clearly what was the effect of moral influence, what was the fruit of principle, and the sincerity of con- NOTES OF A MISSION. 75 verts. It would not have blinded himself, or de- luded others. When I visited the Hindoos at Chittoor, there was a vast amount of Christian pro- fession ; but when the work was tried by the fire, the disproportion was mortifying indeed. My friend had also, from the best intentions, and in the most honourable manner, married a Hindoo female, whom he had educated in his own house. 1 have no doubt he loved the woman ; but he had been led into the attachment from a desire to elevate the female character among the people of that land. His best friends condemned the proceeding; but none that knew the purity and singleness of his mind, ever questioned the integrity and benevo- lence of his design. 1 fear it was afterwards the source of much distress to his devout mind. Three weeks did I spend under this hospitable Christian friend’s roof; nor had we a single idle day, or occasion for ennui. A new world had opened to me, and a fresh source of enjoyment was presented to him. The religious world, with its leading characters, and new forms of opinion and operation, was most entertaining, and seemed in- structive to him, who had been almost thirty years in India. The history of parties, and their lines of distinction, directed his mind into new channels of thought, and led to other associations of mind and fellowship. I became his fellow-labourer, morning and evening ; he became my interpreter and guide. Many were the precious hours we thus spent. One or two seasons of exciting interest intervened. On 76 CONTINENTAL INDIA. one of them I performed the ceremony of marriage for four parties, Hindoo or Mussulman in their origin, but professing Christians now. I bap- tized thirty-six adults and children ; some of whom had been waiting for months, till a minister should visit them. I also attempted to speak a word in season to the European residents on the Sundays, when the court-house served for our chapel, and the judges’ bench for my pulpit. Some of the most pleasant associations and recollections of my life linger around the weeks spent in fellowship with the admirable persons whom I found in Chittoor. The failure of my benevolent friend’s most sanguine projects, and the disappointment occasioned by those who have drawn back, the comparatively early decease of this eminent and zealous Christian, and the dark aspect thrown over all, or the total change which followed his death, do indeed tinge my reflections with sombre and melancholy doubts. But it was well that it was in his heart ; it was his purpose to serve God and to promote the well- being of the Hindoo people; nor on his bed of death did he mourn one sacrifice, regret one effort, or fret because of any one affliction endured for the sake of his blessed Redeemer. Few men ever en- joyed more real satisfaction in the objects of pur- suit, while living ; and none could have more peace in the answer of a good conscience, and in the assurance of faith at the hour of dissolution. How many who once ridiculed, or cast reproach upon him, joked about his peculiarities, and perverted his NOTES OF A MISSION. 77 motives, or resisted his efforts, when living, would now gratefully exchange their portion with his, or wish their soul to be with his in the eternal world ! Five or six miles to the north-east of Chittoor, along the valley of the Ponee, on the side of a craggy mountain of almost bare rock, are some sin- gular monuments of former times. They are de- tached chambers, in the shape of an oblong square, called here, Pandoo Covils. Four immense stone slabs placed on their edges, form the walls, one large slab is laid for the flooring, and another on the top of the four, for a covering. The largest of these chambers measured about eight feet by seven, and was five feet and a half in height. There is a hole in the upright slab at one end, large enough to admit the body of one man ; and two feet distant, in front of this orifice, a semicircular slab is placed upright, as if for the defence of this entrance ; similar slabs were set round the other walls, though no holes were behind them. Some of the chambers had as many as eight such guards. Large earthen vases have been found, and in one case, a hammer used by Hindoo goldsmiths, under the floor stones of these chambers. Some have supposed that these were repositories for the dead. In other hilly dis- tricts, similar structures are to be traced, even to many hundreds, without any presence of human skeletons ; they seem more likely to have been used as habitations for the living, in a rude and unsocial state of savage life. The semicircular stones might have been intended as means of defence from the 78 CONTINENTAL INDIA. arrows, or other weapons of assault, employed by their lowland adversaries : while the chambers themselves were constructed of stones so heavy that mere human strength was not enough to over- throw them. The natives here think that the king of Delhi, called Pandoo, had five sons, who had been driven into exile, and that this was the place of their retreat, while banished. — Coil, or covil, however, signifies place of worship, and is applied by the Hindoos to Christian places of worship, or heathen temples indiscriminately ; they may have been the dwelling-places of Hindoo ascetics, who, hermit-like, sought the mountain wilderness, and by their practice of austerities hoped to gain the rewards of piety from a deluded and ignorant people. They are now deserted : and the obstruc- tions to Christian missions are few and inconsiderable in this vicinity. Ignorance and superstition are the chief antagonists, added to a corrupt heart. CHI I6TIAN MINI8TBR RECEIVING HINDOO CON VB XVI 8 SECTS BEARING THE CHRISTIAN NAME. The story of the Cross was rendered memorable by the benignity of Him who suffered on Calvary, and the glorious salvation which followed. It is a tale of aggravated, of deeply affecting sorrow; no pictured tragedy ever presented, no heart could conceive, no pen could describe with half the actual intensity of feeling, what He endured who hung upon that accursed tree, the depth of the humi- liating scene through which he passed, the efficacy and extent of that work which he then finished, or 80 CONTINENTAL INDIA. the transcendent glory which he then secured. Pity that such glory should ever be sullied by the mummeries of superstition, or prostituted to the purposes of priestcraft and corruption ! The ad- ventures of the crusades have been often recounted in history and in song, because of their influence on society, and the mad and ruinous enthusiasm of their leaders. The Cross has been ever the badge of the Christian. Is it not, then, because corruption has hung a dark cloud over its early progress in the Asiatic world, that so little is known of the past career, or present position of that sacred emblem ? Com- paratively, it is but recently that Protestant churches have begun to put forth their energies for diffusing the truths of the Gospel in the eastern parts of Asia. Not so with the church of Rome and her emissaries. So early as the fourteenth century, agents were commissioned, who should go forth as the propagators of that nominal Christianity. They went into China and Japan. They overran India and her contiguous islands. One of the most am- bitious and most active was Robert de Nobili. He took singular, yet characteristic methods of ren- dering his ministry successful. He was an Italian Jesuit. He assumed the appearance and name of a Brahmin, come from a far country. He besmeared his countenance, and imitated the austerities of Brahminical penitents, and succeeded in persuading the most credulous of the people that he was truly of the divine stock of their priesthood. To silence those who treated his character of Brahmin as an INDO-CHRISTIAN SECTS. SI imposture, he produced an old dirty parchment, in which he had forged in the Deva Nagree, a deed showing that the Brahmins of Rome were of much older date than those in India, and the Jesuits of Rome descended in a direct line from Brahma him- self. It is even narrated, by one of his own order. Father Jouvenci, that when the smoky parchment was questioned by some of the Hindoos, Nobili declared upon oath, before an assembly of the Brah- mins of Madura, that he derived, really and truly, his origin from the god Brahma himself. By such means, we are informed, he gained over to his sys- tem twelve eminent Brahmins ; and multitudes, by their instrumentality, were influenced to adhere to his instructions. In letters written from the scene of action, they boast of having baptized thousands in each year, while they assure their correspondents that they were not precipitate in the admission of candidates to this initiatory rite, and assert, that the noviciates, after their reception, lived like angels, rather than like men. Such, then, was the apparatus employed for setting up the Romish cross among the myriads of India, while the same course was pursued in other eastern countries : but this was not all ; secular power was added to fraud, and the fires of persecu- tion were lighted up, when the alliance of temporal power gave security to the incendiaries themselves. Hence, we read, the former glory and sad reverses of Udiamper. This was formerly the residence of Baliarte, king of the Christians ; and here is the VOL. IT. G 82 CONTINENTAL INDIA. Syrian church at which archbishop Menezes, from Goa, convened the synod of the Syrian clergy in 1559, when he burned the Syriac and Chaldaic books. The Syrians report, that while the flames ascended, he went round the church in procession, chanting a song of triumph. Ruthless Goth ! A fit instrument to usher in the reign of superstition, and to extend the kingdom of darkness ! The ultimate consummation of their plans has been, that, in the year 1810, the members of the Roman Catholic communion amounted in India to about seven hundred thousand ; in China, Tunquin, Cochin China, and Siam, according to their own reports, to five hundred and eighty-five thousand. In the latter countries, their ecclesiastical corps numbered two hundred and thirty-one native priests, forty-three European missionaries, seven apostolic vicars, and fourteen bishops ; while in India, these emissaries of Rome might be estimated at three thousand priests, and twelve or fourteen bishops, who divided the lordship of the poor, misguided, and ignorant people ; besides various orders of monks, and other regular ecclesiastics, Carmelites, Capuchins, Augustinians, and Jesuits, who, as locusts, which go forth to eat up and destroy, are in India, as in every country over which they wander, opposers of that which is good. I was inclined to put many interrogatories to my Indian friend, concerning the character and influence which this people maintain ; and his benevolent disposition, true Protestant feeling, and frequent INDO-CHRISTIAN SECTS. 83 opportunities of observing, in remote, as well as in more public places, furnished bim with many facili- ties ; so that he was able to describe truly what re- presentation they give of the doctrines of the Cross, and what means were attainable for ameliorating their condition, and removing the stigma, the re- proach of their corruptions, from the name and cause of Jesus. For it is but too true, that the papacy, from whose ministers the wounded and inquiring spirits of aroused Brahmins and other Hindoos can derive no satisfaction, is spread as a mock gospel, as a foe to the truth in the East ; and is, next to the wicked lives of professors, the most perplexing and dangerous to the half-informed minds. It is evident that the Indian papist can still give himself to such miserable expedients as were at first resorted to for the propagation of their system ; and it is ascertained that they will cheerfully admit the votaries of heathen abomination to a share in their own miserable pageantry, and can the next day actually return the sad compliment by a willing and kindred homage to the dead and sordid gods of old Indian idolatry. There are many of the Roman Catholics of Madras descendants of the first Portuguese in- vaders, degenerated, no doubt, from the primitive stock, but perhaps not more so than the inhabitants of the mother country in corresponding circum- stances. They are generally in the lower stations of society, and are employed as writers or subor- dinate clerks in government and in merchants’ g 2 84 CONTINENTAL INDIA. offices, as mere transcribers. They are ignorant, and unambitious of mental improvement ; they speak a corrupted dialect of the Portuguese lan- guage among themselves, but have generally some knowledge of English ; they are extremely fond of display, and of imitating the frivolous amusements and costume of the gayer English. In this pre- sidency they are excluded from the army, as are all Christians, and often from the most subordinate civil appointments : though the same restriction does not extend to half-caste Mohammedans, some of whom have been known to rise to the rank of com- missioned officers, subidar or jemidar, in the Madras cavalry. The Portuguese were not allowed to farm ground, nor hold a plough. Some of them have attained wealth and respectability notwithstanding, rising from the lowest ranks of society to be esteemed while living, and affectionately regretted when re- moved from the intercourse of their friends. An old merchant of Madras, whose history I received, was a case in point. He arrived at a cantonment of British troops as a helpless and unfriended youth, without even a name, a stranger to all who dwelt there ; no parent to watch over him, and no in- structor to guide him. The camp or the garrison presents a truly fictitious state of society, and often yields so much the more a ready and wide field for enterprise and advancement. Here his first employ- ment was, from necessity, of the humblest descrip- tion ; he procured a scanty subsistence, but he was steady ; besides energy, decision, and application. INDO-CIIRISTIAN SECTS. 85 he recommended himself by a readiness to serve, and a good-humoured compliance with the wishes of his superiors, lie obtained friends, and found means of attaining improvement. He was known to every one by his serviceableness, and acquired a local cognomen equivalent to John of the Mount. He went with indefatigable industry through a suc- cession of servile employments, but aspired to a higher than a menial station ; be obtained a know- ledge of letters and accounts ; he gathered a little money, and employed it in traffic ; he speedily, but cautiously, turned his first gains to second advantages. According to his means he could not be deemed parsimonious, yet his stock increased, and with it, his influence was augmented. He finally rose to affluence and respect. He was numbered among the members of the Romish com munity, hut the ghostly influence of the priest over him was partial indeed; he was a singular exception to the bigotry and intolerance of his religion. His purse was open to every generous work, and his hand liberally followed the motions of benevolence : education was promoted by his aid ; he contributed to institutions for this purpose when bring, and bequeathed resources to be enjoyed after his death, by purely protestant establishments. He was the friend of the indigent — he was the patron of the deserving; he promoted merit, and exhibited a nobleness of mind, which rose superior to the influence of his early life ; and when he died, such was the esteem in which he 86 CONTINENTAL INDIA. was held, that clergymen and laymen, of Protestant persuasions, travelled thirty miles to -attend his funeral as a demonstration of their affectionate respect. Thus he proved a striking contrast to the ruined spendthrift who subsequently becomes an inveterate miser. There was in him a display of systematic and benevolent energy, that indicated a constitution of mind in which the passions are actually commensurate with the intellectual part, and are swayed by an exquisitely keen moral sensi- bility, and in which there is an inseparable corre- spondence maintained, like the faithful sympathy of the tides with the phases of the moon. Purely native papists fill up, low as it is, the grade beneath the Portuguese, and are generally not less destitute of intellectual character; their means of information are equally limited. Their religious education is, of course, under the guidance of the priests. The Bible is forbidden to be used ; and the only book of religious instruction which they possess, is a selection from the Bible, in which there is an abridgment of a few of the books, accompanied by explanatory remarks, and some accounts of the mysteries of the incarnation, passion, and resurrection, &c. No wonder, there- fore, that their moral influence among their coun- trymen is even less than that of the worshippers of Brahma. With but few exceptions, they are ex- cluded from offices of trust. They are never raised to authority in their own church, they are the hewers of wood, and the drawers of water— the INDO-CHRISTIAN SECTS. 87 Gibeonites of the community. Their priesthood, such at least who possess any influence, come from Europe, or are of European descent ; and, accord- ing to the description which my quondam informant, the major, would give, “ that monk with the pale Italian countenance, grey hair, small scull-cap, black robe, and white cords, just stepping out of the old palanquin, is the superior of the Capuchin convent — he is a native of Rome.” I have consulted a Jesuit priest, who has spent thirty years in India : he was clothed in the native costume — his head covered by a large shawl as his turban — his legs bare, and his feet shod with sandals — his body-clothes of the Indian punjam ; his grey beard finely flowing over his breast, his manners corresponding with the native hahit, his food the diet of the Brahmins, and in his public instructions avoiding every topic that would offend the prejudices of caste ; becoming all things to all men to such a degree, that he would not permit the sensitive Hindoos to know that the prodigal's father had killed the fatted calf, or that the Mosaic law prescribed the sacrifice of bulls and goats, and would not inform them that Jesus was a carpenter’s son, and his disciples fishermen of Galilee. I have examined him as to the character of that religion, which he and his coadjutors have laboured to pro- pagate; and it seems, that the first missionaries among them, seeing the empire of the senses over these Hindoos, and that their imagination was only to be roused by strongly moving objects, judged 88 CONTINENTAL INDIA. that some advantage might result to their cause, by accommodating themselves, as far as possible, to their inclinations. Conformably with this idea, the ordinary pomp and pageantry which attend the Catholic worship, so objectionable to the Protestant communion in general, were not deemed by them striking enough to make a sufficient impression on the gross minds of the Hindoos. They, in conse- quence, encumbered the Romish worship with an additional superstructure of outward shows, un- known in Europe, which, in many instances, does not differ much from that prevailing among the Hindoos. They have a pooja or sacrifice, (the mass is termed by the Hindoos pooja, literally sacrifice;) they have processions, images, statues, tirtan or holy water, fasts, titty s or feasts, prayers for the dead, and invocation of saints. This Hindoo pageantry is chiefly seen in the festivals celebrated by the native Christians. Their processions in the streets are always performed in the night time, accom- panied with hundreds of tom toms, (small drums,) trumpets, and all the discordant noisy music of the country, with numberless torches and fire-works : the statue of the saint placed on a car, which is decked with garlands of flowers, and other gaudy ornaments, according to the taste of the country — the car slowly dragged by a multitude, shouting along the march — the congregation surrounding the car, all in confusion ; several among them dancing, or playing with small sticks, or naked swords ; some wrestling, some playing the fool ; all INDO-CHRISTIAN SECTS. 89 shouting or conversing with each other, without any one exhibiting the least sign of respect or devotion. Such is the testimony of a Roman Catholic to his own religion, as it exists in the eastern world. But ask the judgment of a discerning Hindoo: I have done so, and he observes, “ They have changed the strong idols of their fathers made of stone, and come to worship weak idols made of wood. But they say they believe in Jesus Christ, and they shew me the small crucifix made of brass hanging round their necks, and they point out the image of wood to me as a proof of Christianity — they have a great many images in their chapel, besides that which they call Jesus Christ. Before every image they have candles and frankincense burning ; they have feasts in honour of these images. During the time of these feasts, and also on the Lord’s day, they kneel down to the images to pray to them, and to kiss their feet. They say that the pope teaches them to count thirty-three prayers to Jesus Christ, and fifty-three to the Virgin Mary. They deliver their prayers to be earned unto God, sometimes by angels, sometimes by saints, and sometimes by the Virgin Mary. Have they seen or heard any order from God, to pray to so many persons, or to send prayers to Him by these per- sons ? A man in the Church of Rome, at seventy years of age, is not wiser in the writings of their God, than he may be when seven or eight years old. Counting beads, saying the Lord’s prayer, and prayers to the Virgin Mary, and worshipping 90 CONTINENTAL INDIA. any piece of wood that is called holy, these things are nearly all that the old man understands.” Such is the impression produced upon the minds of the intelligent Hindoos, by the mummery of Rome. Is this Christianity? Few classes of professional character have been so much the object of reproach and contemptuous derision on the one hand, and the theme of poetic declamation and fervent eulogy on the other, as has been the Missionary to the heathen. For while, from Adam Smith to the modern Slavery advocate, he has been represented as a “ stupid and lying missionary,” destitute of intelligent eyes, and whose accounts might have been reported by more faithful witnesses : the Christian orator in the deep-toned strains of pulpit eloquence, the popular advocate of evangelical associations, and the inventive versi- fier of elegiac memoirs have, in their flights of imagery and bursts of sentiment, enrolled him with the martyrs, and crowned him among the apostles ; so that the expression of popular applause has conveyed into every corner of the land an un- earthly portraiture of the self-denying and swift- winged herald of the Cross. In ignorance, or in fervid zeal, apocryphal inventions may have been added, intended either as improvements on the reality, or to render it more palatable to the particular taste ; and these additions have doubtless served as paintings on glass windows to attract the attention of children, and idle persons without, but to ob- scure the light from those that are within. The INDO-CHRISTIAN SECTS. 91 one extreme may have produced the other ; but now that we have leisure to discriminate, truth may be more clearly distinguished. It will be denied by few, that a missionary ought to be pos- sessed of no common endowments as a man, as a Christian, and as a public teacher — that more is requisite than a graceful demeanour, a commanding appearance, or a powerful frame with “ looks in- spired.” He goes forth to negociate between God and man ; as an ambassador he is sent to the heathen, and is empowered to discuss the grand concerns of judgment and mercy ; to summon myriads of rebels from the confusion and guilt of their revolt; to deliberate on divine things, the interests of the kingdom of God which is with men. It is not too much to require that his heart should be fired with a peculiar zeal, that has been fanned into a holier and more steady flame than ever shone upon the path which leads to the throne of empire and of power, or to the shrine of honour and of fame. So imbued, he will indeed, as he should, be able to set at defiance the rage and rigour of the polar sky, or the fervour and op- pression of the torrid zone. Thus enkindled was the heart of that prince of apostles, and bright exemplar of the missionary school, who, forsaking the society of friends and kindred, his country and his repose, “ crossed cheerfully tempestuous seas,” while his mind was filled with sublimer schemes, and his soul matured thoughts within itself, more vast and noble, more benevolent and generous 92 CONTINENTAL INDIA. “ than ever statesman planned, or warrior wrought.” • The bounds which his ambition grasped ; the glory which lighted his eye, as he pressed forward to reach it ; for which he laboured, for which he prayed, for which he was in journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by his own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, and in perils among false brethren ; for which he suffered the loss of all things, were, that he should be a faithful minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that the offering up of the Gentiles might be ac- ceptable, being sanctified by the Holy Ghost : — therefore, from Jerusalem and round about unto Illyricum, he fully preached the Gospel of Christ. This was his desire, and for the accomplishment of this was he willing to bear suffering and shame ; while he was sustained by that faith, “ whose bound- less glance can see the shadows of time brighten- ing through eternity and filled and impelled and constrained by love, God’s own love, which is shed abroad by the influence of the Spirit in the heart, and love to man — that love which was taught by Him, who came to seek and to save those who were lost, which wrung his heart with sorrow — these ex- cited his tenderest sympathies, and drew forth the unfeigned tear that burst from his eye. Nor was he less distinguished by a sincerity which was genuine in its principles, and not more forward in profession than in purpose, nor more ardent in words than in INDO-CIIRISTIAN SECTS. 93 action. Such is our model : and such should be the character of the modern servants of Jesus, who go forth, not counting their lives dear unto them, that they may finish their course with joy, and he enabled to say, I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith. And every Christian will readily hid them God speed, and pray the Lord of the harvest to send forth more such labourers into his harvest. “ Heaven speed the canvass gallantly unfurl’d, To furnish and accommodate a world ; To give the pole the produce of the sun, And knit the unsocial climates into one. Let nothing adverse, nothing unforeseen, Impede the bark that plows the deep serene ; Charged with a freight, transcending in its worth The gems of India, nature’s rarest birth — That flies like Gabriel on his Lord’s commands, A herald of God’s love to pagan lands.” Whatever doubts the incredulous might cherish as to the visit of St. Thomas, it is certain that one more recently and far less deservedly enumerated among the apostles and saints of Christianity, visited Mileapore, and it is probable, lent the weight of his name, his reputed sanctity and ap- parent devotedness, to the furtherance of a system of imposture, fabrication, and ignorance. Francis Xavier wrote some letters from this ancient city, which are still extant. From Goa he had travelled to Cape Comorin to visit the fishermen of the coast of Travancore ; among whom he promulgated such a view of the Christian faith as corresponded with 94 CONTINENTAL INDIA. his own imperfect and perverted system, and as was but too consonant to the corruption of the middle ages. The measure of his success he thus describes : “In one month were baptized some thousand idolaters, and frequently in one day were baptized a well peopled village ; and so soon as those infidels had received baptism, they ran vying with each other to demolish the temples of the idols.” His activity and success would have been creditable to a better cause. He was not ashamed to be his own herald, but went from street to street sounding his bell, and inviting the people to hear his communications. By these means he some- times collected five or six thousand hearers. In his superficial and rapid career, he proceeded to the city of St. Thomas ; but the people were too flexible for his enthusiastic mind — he longed for dangers. Had he declared the spiritual things of the kingdom of God, he would have experienced trials enough, when he must have contended, not against flesh and blood, but with spiritual wicked- nesses in high places. Paul found no lack of con-; flicts and cares, but it was otherwise with Xavier ; he formed the determination of seeking yet greater dangers in more distant regions, by which he might still farther extend the pale of his church ; he re- turned from Mileapore to Goa, and thence pro- ceeded for the islands of Japan. Deep and intense is the respect which Hindoo papists render to the memory of this missionary ; and many more are the wonders performed by him IN DO-C KRISTIAN SECTS. 95 since dead, than while he lived. He lies enshrined in a monument of great beauty in the city of Goa, and his coffin is enchased with silver and with precious stones. Strange contrast, between the precision of this church, regarding the mortal re- mains of her saints, and the uncertainty which beclouds all the records of their principles, their hopes, and their fears, the truths which they taught, and the efficacy of these truths on the minds of their disciples ! And still more apparent is the comparison between the care which they take of the body, and the manner in which scripture worthies regarded the dust of their frail taber- nacles. The members of the church of Rome are disposed to boast of Xavier as one of their most modern saints, and to hold him forth as the repre- sentative of the Jesuits ; his relation to the society of Ignatius, is at all times prominently introduced, especially in the records of his life. True, it is related, that Francis Xavier was re- claimed by Ignatius ; the means should also be remembered : a close intimacy was, in conse- quence, formed between them ; Xavier became a member of the order organized by Loyola, but it was before the system of the society was matured, or the policy of the founder had ripened to its fruit, that the missionary embarked for the eastern world ; then his intercourse was limited to letters : so that, unless whatever features of their economy may be found in the deceit of the human heart, he was not indebted to his master for his success. 96 CONTINENTAL INDIA. It may be deemed a more perplexing question ; — whether lie were really actuated by those motives which should animate a servant of God, and whe- ther he adhered to the rule which ought to be the standard of Christian activity ? Was it right to cry, “ Yet more, O Lord, yet more sufferings and troubles ?” Did it not savour more of superstition than of humility — more of zeal without knowledge, than of the spirit of truth and wisdom ? It was, perhaps, more characteristic of the quietest system, than of the religion of Him who was a man of sor- rows, and acquainted with grief. His rejection of that provision offered for his support by the care of his friends, displayed more of presumption than of faith ; his refusal of the comforts of life, and the chosen destitution of his circumstances, savoured more of voluntary humility than an acceptable service. He was active, but it was not according to the example of apostles — it was to propagate the system of popery : he travelled far, but it was not to sow the seeds of scriptural knowledge : he acquired great influence among the people, but he did not employ it to inspire them with a love for the Scriptures of truth : he inculcated for doctrines the precepts and commandments of men, so that the people who remain as the descendants of his converts, though separated from the heathen, are remarkable rather for their political character, than their religion. Thirty thousand of these Romish fishermen in the place where Xavier laboured, assembled at the palace of Travancore, in the year INDO-CHRISTIAN SECTS. 97 1804, and defended their Hindoo prince against the rebellion of the Nail's, and conquered that military body. The first Lutheran missionary to India landed in the year 1706, on the Coromandel coast at Tran- quebar; a Danish factory, situated between Pondi- cherry and Negapatam, or Fort St. David. The Danish Mission College excited in the government, or Asiatic Company of Denmark, no such alarms or apprehensions as have been often expressed by British governors and statesmen in respect of Christian missions to the Hindoos. Zeigenbalg, who sailed in 1705 for Tranquebar, was the leader of a goodly band, who have from time been com- missioned to make Christ known among the popu- lation of India. Grundler, Fabricius, Schwartz, Jenicke, Gericke, Pohle, John, and Kolhoff, with their associates, have passed from their labours to their reward. A company of Moravians reached Tranquebar about the year 1760, and endeavoured, by their frugal and industrious habits, to sustain their united operations, in the Brethren' s Garden, a piece of ground, which they bought, about a mile from the town. But other fields seemed more inviting for the brethren's labours, and the Coro- mandel coast was assigned to the fidelity and perseverance of the Lutheran missionaries. The station at Tranquebar was still supplied and sus- tained from the Danish mission college: but Tanjore, Negapatam, Cuddalore, Trichinopoly, Palamcottah, or Tinnevelly, and Madras, while occupied by VOL. II. H 98 CONTINENTAL INDIA. Lutheran missionaries, were upheld by the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge in England. Before the junior associates of Schwartz, who died in 1798, had rested from their toils, another gene- ration was rising, breathing a more ardent zeal, and enforcing, with greater distinctness and pathos, the doctrines of grace and justification by faith. While Dr. Caemmerer at Tranquebar, Dr. Rottler at Ma- dras, and Mr. Kolhoff at Tanjore, were gradually sinking in years and ability, the Church (of Eng- land) Missionary Society, which embraced Africa and the East, was acquiring energy and resources to enter with young and elastic strength upon its fields of labour. In 1811, Messrs. Schnarre and Rhenius devoted themselves at Berlin to mis- sionary work, and were sent forth in 1814 by the Church Missionary Society to Tranquebar. From this parent station Mr. Rhenius was removed to Madras, where he was joined by Bernhard Schmid. While these faithful men laboured under the auspices of the younger society, three other bre- thren, also of the Lutheran denomination. Dr. Rottler, Mr. Falke, and Mr. Haubroe, carried, on missionary operations under the direction of the elder, the Christian Knowledge Society: — both branches of the Anglican Church. The German agents of the younger society were not inclined to become subject to any restraint which would infringe a catholic fellowship, or quench the fire of Christian charity. Besides missionary tours, extensive and repeated, made by Mr. Rhenius, he was I N DO-CH RISTI AN SECTS. 99 instrumental in forming the Madras Tract Society, and a Tamil Bible Society. He also united in acts of public worship, as well prayer-meetings as public services, with missionaries of the London Missionary Society ; he even took part in ordination services with them when a brother missionary was set apart to the work. In one of these I had the pleasure to join with him ; and could testify how cheering were these acts of mutual recognition, and how pleasant it was for brethren to dwell together in unity. It was then I first formed a friendship with this zealous and faithful brother, and learned the sincerity of his love, the catholicity of his spirit, and the ardour of his devotedness to God. He loved all that in every place call upon our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity, but he could not suffer himself to be "cramped into the narrow chair of the Church of England rubrics and canons.” He had himself been ordained without subscription to any confession of faith, and upon the Bible alone, and he felt bound to contend against the spirit of formality which he thought was hostile to the spirit of Christian liberty. There were others, however, in authority, who did not see clearly what Mr. Rhenius saw. Bishop Middleton had proposed to re-ordain Dr. Rottler and the other Lutheran bre- thren ; but even the old doctor thought this was a step too far. Mr. Rhenius had gone beyond the fine of passive resistance, and he was removed from Madras to Tinnevelly. Here he followed the course he had adopted when he began his mis- 100 CONTINENTAL INDIA. sionary career, and observed “ no other rule for spiritual ministrations but the word of God, simple and plain as it is in the Bible.” And as he had been sent out in the providence of God to make known the unsearchable riches of Christ, according to his word, he did not feel it his “ duty to separate from the society, but simply to go on conscientiously in his work.” The province that he occupied, properly called Tirunelvelli, contained about 800,000 inhabitants, many of whom were idolaters ; a large number of Mohammedans were dispersed throughout the dis- trict; about 20,000 were Roman Catholics, the fruit of Xavier’s exertions : nearly all the fishermen along the coast being of this class ; and about 4,000 Lutherans, in connexion with the Tanjore missions, resided in and around Palamcottah. The province is almost a plain of about 100 miles square. After fourteen years of prayer and labour, the gospel had been planted and received in all directions, and the congregations consisted of 3,225 families, containing 11,186 souls, in 261 villages, instructed by 120 native Christian teachers. Few men had ever ac- quired such facility and idiomatic terseness in the Tamil language ; few men had ever become so familiar with the people, or had laboured so assi- duously by preaching, by translations, and original works, for the instruction and conversion of heathen or nominal Christians, as was the lot of Mr. Rhenius. A gentleman who had been chaplain at Poona, and was then archdeacon of Madras, visited Tinnevelly in JND0-CI1RISTIAN SECTS. 101 1S30, and testified — others can vouch for the literal truth of archdeacon Robinson’s description, — “While the people were assembling in the Chapel, I had an opportunity of witnessing Mr. Rhenius’s method of addressing the heathen ; we were walking round the splendid cloisters of the great pagoda of Varun- nen, and were followed by many hundreds. His lively and perfectly native mode of address, as well as the fluency of his language, attracts them won- derfully. The Brahmins crowded around him with eagerness, and as we stopped occasionally at an angle of the building, a question led to a re- monstrance of the folly of this stupendous idolatry, thus convicted and exposed by their own replies ; till his remarks assumed gradually the form of a more general discourse, addressed to the multitudes around, while the pillars, the sides of the tank, and the pavement of the cloister were covered with eager listeners, who were hushed into the most breathless silence. He is bold, impressive, vivid, cheerful in his whole appearance, happy in his illustrations, and a master not only of the language, but of their feelings and views.” It was the testi- mony of the most accomplished scholars of the language that, to overhear Mr. Rhenius in dis- course, you could not discover but it was a native speaking his vernacular dialect. In the spirit of his own counsel did this honoured man labour. “ Therefore, my soul, watch and pray ! be ready. Do diligently what thou hast to do, whilst it is yet day to thee in this land of the bring, and at last go into the blessed mansion prepared for thee by thy 102 CONTINENTAL INDIA. gracious Redeemer. Amen.” He was again joined by his beloved brother Bernhard Schmid; and it was their desire to associate with themselves such brethren from the native converts as they believed were faithful men, and to commit to them the things which they had themselves been put in trust with, that they might be able to teach others also. They wished to administer to them the same ordination which they, as Lutherans, had them- selves received ; but the society replied that “ the Church of England is regularly organized in India, and the bishop of Calcutta is empowered to confer holy orders on natives therefore they “ would naturally present to him any candidate for ordi- nation that may be raised up at any of its stations within the Indian diocese.” Bishop Heber was the first to carry out “ His Majesty's Letters Patent” empowering the Calcutta bishop to confer such orders. The controversy excited by this diversity of opinion was so keen, and Mr. Rhenius felt so decided, that in 1832 he made a communication to the Society, in which he thus expressed him- self: “ As the Committee have determined not to accede to our request, and as I cannot consci- entiously accede to their determination, so neces- sity seems to be laid upon me, to request for a change in our connexion.” As a consequence, the Committee proposed to recall Mr. Rhenius and he made ready to separate himself from the flock which he had gathered. The bleating of the sheep, however; the grief and dejection of his people and bis associates, and the opposition of INDO-CIIRISTIAN SECTS. 103 Christian friends throughout the peninsula, made him willing to remain, if he were required to do nothing contrary to his views ; and the Madras Committee were glad to assent to such terms as might seem not to endanger their supremacy. A truce was, therefore, agreed upon, and the excite- ment appeared to subside ; but the Great Head of the Church had in store other dispensations, de- signed to accomplish his gracious will, to teach his people, and lead his flock ultimately to lie down within his fold, to feed upon green pastures, and beside the still waters ; though these dispensations were to be strangely and deeply afflictive to his servant and to the Committee, and calculated to produce “ great searchings of heart for the divisions of Reuben.” “ The Church, her Daughters, and her Hand- maids,” was a pamphlet written by the Rev. H. Harper, who, by residence in the country, had become Senior Chaplain at Madras. Mr. Harper was one of my earliest acquaintances in India : he had been a pupil, or sort of protege, of the good Dr. Hawker, at Plymouth, though I think his father had been a dissenter; but he was rather a strong churchman than a high Calvinist. The Liturgy and the Articles stood eminently high in his esteem ; the Rubric and the hierarchy of the church were of unquestionable and paramount authority ; the rites and ceremonies were sacred and obligatory. Episcopal ordination, apostolic suc- cession, and clerical ministrations of the Anglican 104 CONTINENTAL INDIA. church, were his beau-ideal of perfection and beauty. He sent his pamphlet to Mr. Rhenius, begging him to write a review of it agreeably to his own opinions, and to forward it to him, when he would gladly insert it in the “ Madras Christian Observer,” which Mr. Harper conducted. The Rev. H. Harper is not like some, a foul-mouthed slanderer : he used to employ most appropriate language ; and, in my experience, was gentlemanly and hospitable — even friendly and humane. Yet he gave the challenge, and Mr. Rhenius could not shrink from the main- tenance of his opinions. With great frankness he made his strictures on the pamphlet, and summed up his review in the following paragraph : “ In conclusion, for what I have said on the various assertions of the writer respecting the constitution and form of the Church of England ; it appears, then, that her doctrine is not entirely built upon the prophets and apostles, and therefore is not altogether evangelical ; that her government is not altogether apostolical ; and that her liturgy is not an extract from the best primitive forms ; for, as for the latter, there was none; and as for the former, it has been shewn that the apostles taught nothing of three distinct orders of ordinary officers in the church, or of raising one bishop or presby- ter over another in rank, dignity, emolument, or greatness ; they taught nothing of constituting secular kings and governments to be the heads and arbitrators in the church of Christ ; they taught nothing about making crosses, wearing peculiar INDO-CHRISTIAN SECTS. 105 vestments, and changing them during divine ser- vice; or about excommunicating those who do not regard them; nor about any other particulars, which I have excepted against before. All these things rest, in my opinion, solely upon human authority, and are relics of the antichristian Church of Rome.” Mr. Rhenius sent home a copy of this Review to the London Committee, having himself published it at Madras, as Mr. Harper had declined its insertion in his “ Christian Observer.” It was not naturally to be expected that a committee of churchmen could approve of such sentiments. It came before them early in 1835, and they con- clude their resolution on the subject in these words : “ That, afflicting as it is to them to dissolve this connexion with one, whom on many grounds they highly honour and esteem, yet they feel bound, in consistency, as attached members of the Church of England, to take this very painful step, and to declare that the missionary relation, which has hitherto subsisted between the Society and Mr. Rhenius, is at an end.” Bishop Wilson, of Calcutta, was even more afflicted: he was shocked to dis- cover a system at work, “ so ruinous, in my judg- ment,” he says, “ to the holiness and peace of the new converts, as to threaten the subversion among them of Christianity itself.” He publicly proclaimed his disapprobation of the missionary. “Call to mind, also,” it is his language to the clergy — “ Call to mind, also, the disappointment in these southern missions, both in the incorporated and Church 106 CONTINENTAL INDIA. Missionary Societies. The higher the talents, the more eminent the success : the wider the former influence, the more prominent the station of any such, the more fatal the subsequent fall. It is not necessary to throw the slightest shade on their previous sincerity, piety, numerous converts, or qualifications as missionaries. But this I say, as bishop of this immense diocese, (God grant the subdivision of it may soon take effect !) that a missionary, coming out in a Church Society, and with the bonds of that Society upon him,” (the bishop had overlooked that Mr. Ilhenius had no bonds,) “ ought in honour first to have resigned his connexion, and waited till his place was supplied, before he published to the world pamphlets in direct contradiction to the church from whose funds he was supplied, and to whose general rules of order, though a Lutheran, he was subject. It is with grief I speak. The extraordinary weakness, as it appears to me, of the arguments, I pass over. The total ignorance of the real state of the ques- tion I pass over. The vain repetition of objections, a thousand times answered, I pass over,” &c. It is not marvellous, if, after such a conflict, the relatives of Mr. Rhenius should apprehend, that his sudden death, which afterward occurred, had been hastened by such exciting events and their coincident effects. It is not surprising, that some of the sub- ordinate functionaries of the church party should have said, or written, most violently, things that were painful to one deemed so grave an offender. INDO-CHltlSTIAN SECTS. 107 His son, lamenting the sudden death of the mis- sionary, writes : “ It is to me a distressing thought, that my dear father’s illness has been occasioned by the anxieties of his peculiar circumstances, and not least by the unjust representations which have been made of his motives and character. 1 wish, indeed, I could persuade myself that this has not been the case ; but some words and sentences, which escaped him during the delirious moments of his last hours, will not allow me to do so. There surely is a point at which the bow, by too great tension, will snap asunder. We cannot expect that, strong as was his mind, he should yet be able to bear all that has been heaped upon him, without danger of his sinking at length under the burden.” It seemed at first that the leadings of Providence required Mr. Rhenius to leave the station alone ; but his Lutheran brethren soon followed him, being unable to submit to some requirements im- posed upon them. They proposed to begin another mission at Arcot, about seventy or eighty miles due west from Madras, and three hundred miles north from Tinnevelly. The sheep, however, whom they had left, and who had imbibed their instructions, and become attached to their minis- try, made many urgent appeals and entreaties for their return. The missionaries sent to be the successors of the Lutherans did not at first adopt very persuasive or considerate means ; and re- ports of severity, of violence, and cruelty, reached Mr. Rhenius and his associates, so that they were 108 CONTINENTAL INDIA. persuaded to return to the sphere of their labours. Letters of a serious and powerful character were addressed by them to their former patrons, in the form of remonstrance rather than of submission, while the local secretary acted, as it has been thought, with harshness, and resorted to legal proceedings. The missionaries resumed their work among the heathen, and such of the people as chose to adhere to them. There were 4 missionary families, 104 native teachers, 54 schoolmasters, 50 children in the seminaries, and 17 adult students, for whom support to the amount of 2,500/. was annually required ; the brethren were none of them in the possession of secular means, but they cast their care on Him who, they believed, cared for them, and whose are the silver and the gold. They made their appeal to fellow-chris- tians in India. They assumed the appellation of “ The German Evangelical Mission in Tinnevelly ,” and then made their objects and plans known to brethren in Germany, to German brethren in America, and Christians in Britain. Resources were furnished with liberality and promptitude from Scotland and America, and Mr. Rhenius was ena- bled, in the last letter which he wrote before his decease, to give thanks to God for seasonable sup- plies, sent to them as they needed. “ We have gone on in this way already near the last twelve months, and the Lord is greatly strengthening our faith, so that we do not fear.” — “ So you see the Lord provides. Trust in him at all times.” These INDO-CIIRISTI AN SECTS. 109 expressions were written on May the 12th, and on the 5th of June, 1838, he closed his course! His end was peace ; his bodily sufferings were brief and few, and a change to unspeakable blessedness was the prospect which opened to himself. Rut it left a family bereaved of their head and counsellor, and a mission weakened and prostrated, desolate brethren, and a wide blank in the ranks of the faithful army of the living God. The tears of his family and friends were mingled with those of many natives, Christian and heathen. Most affecting was the sight, when, one after another, the catechists who were out in the district, and the people, came breathless to the house, to try if, by any means, they might once more behold the face of their long- loved teacher. Many were too late, even to be present at the funeral ; and for a whole fortnight after, catechists and people were coming in to the station, in order to mourn the loss of their spiritual father with his surviving brethren. When the mission was resumed at the end of December, 1835, fifteen hundred and sixty-one families separated from the Church Missionary Society, and united with the German Mission. In May, 1837, they had increased to almost 8,000 souls; contained in families 2,200, and villages 210; instructed by 110 teachers: and in May, 1S38, the increase had continued, and the blessing of God encouraged the labourers. All the German Missions had not so prospered ; but it is probable that of native converts attached to the stations of 110 CONTINENTAL INDIA. the older and younger church societies, in the peninsula, where German missionaries have chiefly laboured, from Madras to Tinnevelly, there may be 30,000 people. The narrative we have given will indicate how far the predilections of the Hindoo converts are allied to the opinions and discipline of their long cherished teachers ; and the probability that the most, if not all, are Lutherans in church government; and, that as far as doctrine is con- cerned, the formulas of the Anglican church are not of high authority among Christian Hindoos. The Vepery mission, the Tanjore and Tranquebar missions, the Trichinopoly and Tinnevelly missions, and the native Christians at Cuddalore and Nega- patam, are principally Lutheran. The apprehen- sions of Dr. Wilson, therefore, as Bishop of Calcutta, were not groundless, so far as the measure might affect the members and unity of the Church of England societies. Dr. Claudius Buchanan wrote, during his “ Chris- tian Researches in India,” a series of lively and familiar letters to his excellent friend, the Rev. David Brown, one of the first of modern Christian ministers in India, and provost of Fort William College. In one of his letters, dated Madras, 6th August, 1806, he begs his friend to communicate to his daughter, then a child, some of the curiosities he had seen. “ Tell H. that I saw, yesterday,” he says, “ St. Thomas’s bones, preserved as a relic in a gold shrine ; and that I saw his grave, whence the Roman Catholic pilgrims carry the dust.” Gibbon INDO-CHRISTI AN SECTS. Ill speaks with uncertainty as to this Indian missionary, whether “ an apostle, a Manichaean, or an Arme- nian merchant, who was famous as early as the times of Jerome.” It is recorded in a Saxon chronicle, and by William of Malmesbury, that ambassadors from Alfred the Great visited the shrine of St. Thomas, towards the close of the ninth century, and returned from the neighbourhood of Madras with a cargo of pearls and spices. Marco Paulo, a Venetian traveller, whose journeys and voyages were performed in the thirteenth century, penetrated as far as the city of Malabar, or Milea- pore, only a league distant from Madras, and was assured that on that spot St. Thomas had suffered martyrdom. La Croze asserts that here the Portu- guese founded an episcopal church under the name of St. Thome ; where they represented the saint as performing an annual miracle, till the English here- tics took possession of Madras-Patnam, when he was silenced by their profane neighbourhood. The St. Thome, or Jacobite, otherwise called the Syrian Christians, consider themselves as the descendants of the flock established by St. Thomas, whom they call the apostle of the east. But they trace their ancestry to Syria, whence the first founders of their church emigrated ; and the Syro-Chaldaic is the language in which their church service is still per- formed. When the Portuguese first opened Indian navigation, the Christians of St. Thomas had been seated for ages in the peninsula between Malabar and Coromandel, and their character and colour 112 CONTINENTAL INDIA. seemed to countenance the idea of a mixture of a foreign race. Mileapore has long since declined, though placed more advantageously upon the coast than Madras ; and possesses stronger recommen- dations for salubrity, sea air, and a fish market. Still known as St. Thome to the admirer of an- tiquity, or the inquirer after matters curious in his- tory, it presents peculiar attractions, and is prettily situated on the beach to the south of Madras. I occasionally visited this deserted ruin of Chris- tian antiquity; and in my rambles or inquiries heard the story of St. Thomas, the origin of the Luz church, and the process of popish conversions. The legend connected with the church represents the Portuguese colonists in quest of a place suitable for their settlement, and attracted by a flame issuing from the ground, as brilliant as if it were a burning naphtha stream. They hailed this as a divine indi- cation of the site on which they should rear their ecclesiastical edifice, and an assurance that thus they should perpetuate the hallowed memorial of the martyred apostle’s zeal and labours, sufferings and death. It is a mile beyond Treblicane, a Mohammedan suburb ; as if the beast and the false prophet would either contend for victory, or join hands for dominion over the poor people. There are a small cathedral, and two well-built chapels, under the charge of a Portuguese bishop, and a sufficient supply of Romish priests, educated at Goa ; who have been recently joined by Roman Catholic missionaries from Britain. Matins and INDO-CHRISTIAN SECTS. 113 vespers in their season, and ceremonies at every hour, were proclaimed by the ding-dong of the chapel hells ; and in these places many kneel before the visible cross, rendering to an idolatrous emblem the worship due only to the Eternal King. The ministers of superstition assume the guardian- ship of Thomas the reputed Apostle’s grave, and pre- tend to enrich the pilgrim devotees with his hallowed dust, to be carried to the most distant parts of India ; and yet they shew his bones, according to the legend, fabricated almost two centuries since, preserved within a gold shrine. The Jacobite Christians dwelling here, when the Portuguese made their first intruding and usurping encroach- ments, all agreed in marking out this as the spot where the Apostle had been buried ; but they affirmed that the bones had been carried away as relics to Syria ; yet they venerated the place where he had rested from his labours ; even the surrounding heathen join in this veneration, and gifts are still here offered on the reputed anniversary of his mar- tyrdom. We need not remark how insignificant is the matter of debate, and how alien from the spirit of Christianity, is such superstition. The tradition serves to connect the history of the Syrian Chris- tians with St. Thome, and to shew how their place and privileges have been encroached upon or usurped by the Roman Catholics. It is affirmed, that the apostle Thomas sailed from Aden, in Arabia, not far distant from the Straits VOL. ir. i 114 CONTINENTAL INDIA. of Babel-Mandeb, a port now in the possession of the British, and landed at Cranganore, on the western coast of Asia. Heber conjectured that his design had been to visit the Jews, who were settled in India prior to the Christian era, and to labour for their conversion : that he proceeded to the Coromandel coast, travelled to Mileapore, where he received and welcomed the crown of martyrdom. If such were the case, no question can be entertained of his fidelity, and that he endured joyfully the loss of all things, and the sufferings to which he was exposed, for the honour of his “ Lord and his God.” Yet we are almost disposed to regret that our de- pendence must be upon the possible correctness of tradition, and that our knowledge must be selected from popular tales. W ere we permitted, we could wish that the acts and testimony of the favoured apostles had been the subject of inspired record, which should be handed down for the edification of subse- quent generations. But God seeth not as man seeth, nor are his ways as our ways ; while the primitive labourers have long since rested from their toils, their works have followed them. In the book of his remembrance are all their sufferings written : and they have a place in the Lamb’s book of life ; they now rejoice that their names were therein enrolled : for their Lord has granted to him who overcame to sit with Him on His throne, even as He also overcame, and is set down with the Father in His throne. Though no sculptured marble serve as the tablet for a record of their labours ; though no INDO-CHRISTI AN SECTS. 115 pillared monument distinguish the abode of their sleeping dust ; though no mausoleum indite the admiration of fellow-men ; though history has hung out no escutcheon, emblazoned by the memorials of their heroic achievements ; and though fame has surrendered to temporary oblivion deeds which turned the world upside down, their record is on High. The diffusion of Christianity, the existence of the Christian churches, the long line of successive Christian generations, the triumphs, the conquests of Christian principle, are their memorial, their joy, their crown. And the unbelievers who would now witness with contempt the honour and distinction of the fishermen of Galilee, shall he required one day to hear with more attention, than if proclaimed by a thousand tongues, or with an angel’s trumpet, their works of faith, their patience of hope, and their labours of love, when through faith they sub- dued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, and obtained promises, waxed valiant in fight, overcame through the blood of the Lamb, and came off as conquerors and more than conquerors, through Him who loved them. The Syrian Christians may have been in early days the crown of rejoicing for Thomas, called Didymus ; and though the remnant discovered in recent times, as the Christians of St. Thome, have been poor and ignorant, as they w ere despised and persecuted, a brighter and more glorious era may yet await them ; when they shall shine forth as the righteous in the kingdom of their Father, and display again an apostolic purity, and a primitive 116 CONTINENTAL INDIA. simplicity and zeal in the sendee of their Redeemer, as their Lord and their God. The creed which these representatives of an ancient line of Christians cherished, was not in con- formity with papal decrees, and has with difficulty been squared with the thirty-nine articles of the Anglican episcopacy. Separated from the western world for a thousand years, they were naturally ignorant of many novelties introduced by the coun- cils and decrees of the Lateran; and their con- formity with the faith and practice of the first ages, laid them open to the unpardonable guilt of heresy and schism, as estimated by the Church of Rome. “We are Christians, and not idolaters,” was their expressive reply when required to do homage to the image of the Virgin Mary. They had piously commemorated men reputed as Nestorians in their liturgy, and adhered to the communion of the patriarch of Antioch or Mosul, who used to ordain their metropolitans or bishops. These shepherds were wont to traverse the distant regions, from Syria, and pass by sea to the coast of Malabar, where they were affectionately received. They were charged with addressing their adoration to two persons in Christ under one aspect : but Mosheim explains this word for aspect, barsopa as syno- nimous with the Greek word prosopon — so that this idea of aspect agrees with our signification of person. The same diligent historian mentions, to their last- ing honour, that they were the most careful of all other societies, and successful in avoiding a multi- 1NDO-CHRISTIAN SECTS. 117 tude of superstitious opinions and practices which infected the Greek and Latin Churches. They read the daily lessons in the vernacular tongue, and had no restrictions upon the use of the same language for public prayer. The Jesuits accuse the Syrian clergy of India of practising marriage, and observing only the two sacraments, baptism and the Lord’s Supper : of maintaining only two orders, or names of office in the church, the bishop and deacon, and of refusing to invoke saints, to worship images, or believe in purgatory : they also regarded the title of Mother of God to Mary, as most offensive. The Portuguese dominion of the eastern seas, enabled the Romish emissaries to cut off intercourse between the patriarch and the Syrian Christians : their bishops died, or were carried prisoners to Lisbon. Gibbon represents the me- tropolitan, or bishop of Angamala, as exercising a jurisdiction over fourteen hundred churches, and a pastoral care of two hundred thousand souls. La Croze states them at fifteen hundred churches, and as many towns and villages. They refused to recognise the pope, and declared they had never heard of him ; they asserted the purity and primi- tive truth of their faith since they came, and their bishops had for thirteen hundred years been sent from the place where the followers of Jesus were first called Christians. In arms, in arts, as well as in virtue, they excelled the other natives, and enjoyed distinctions accorded only to heirs of the crown, or ambassadors besides themselves; their 118 CONTINENTAL INDIA. husbandmen cultivated the palm-tree; their mer- chants were enriched by the pepper-trade; they were instructed in the use of arms from their eighth to their twenty-fifth year, and their soldiers took precedence of the Nairs or nobles of Malabar, who regarded it as a great honour to be esteemed as their brothers ; and their privileges, as second in rank only to the Brahmins, were held in respect by the highest Hindoo princes, who manifested for them an extraordinary veneration. The people were resolute in defending their ancient faith, and refusing submission to the pope. By strata- gem, fraud, and conspiracy,therefore, the Portuguese persecutors attempted, and, for a season, seemed to accomplish their submission. A Synod was con- vened in the year 1599, at Udiamper, and 150 of the Syrian clergy compelled to appear, where they were required to abjure such of their opinions as did not accord with the Romish creed. Archbishop Menezes presided : the only alternative held out was, suspension and the inquisition ; all their original works on ecclesiastical subjects were ordered, to be consumed. The supremacy of the pope was thus set up : but the people declared they would rather part with their lives than use the Latin language in their prayers ; their Syriac liturgy, purged in conformity with papal usurpations, was retained, and a nominal conformity was thus established; and some of their flocks and chapels alienated on the sea coast, among which St. Thome was in- cluded. At such a time it was well for their church INDO-CHRISTIAN SECTS. 119 she had a wilderness to which she might flee. The churches in the interior would not yield to Rome. They proclaimed perpetual hostility to the Inquisition ; they hid their hooks, and fled to the mountains, and sought protection from even heathen princes. They partially recovered their religious liberty, when the courage and industry of the Dutch shook the Portuguese empire. The Syrians asserted, with vigour and effect, the religion of their fathers. The Jesuit persecutors were unable to defend the power which they had usurped and abused : Gibbon says, “ tbe arms of forty thou- sand Christians were pointed against their falling tyrants : and the Indian archdeacon assumed the character of bishop, till a fresh supply of episcopal gifts and Syrian missionaries could be obtained from the patriarch of Babylon.” Yet the leaven was too intimately diffused to be so easily expelled, and there is now a Syrian Roman church, where the nominal Nestorians maintained their worship for thirteen centuries. The Syrian Christians of both sections, however, exhibit the ruins of antiquity, venerable for their continuance, and interesting for their history. They were driven from their beloved abodes, but their present sequestered residence is not without its charms. The enthusiast among them for nature’s beauties (and why should not there be among the Syrian Christians, lovers of nature ?) will scarcely mourn the event which led to a seclu- sion in their present abode. They are placed in the vicinity of stupendous mountains ; the face of 120 CONTINENTAL INDIA. their country presents a varied scene of hill and dale, and winding stream. The extreme limits of the Syrian churches from south to north, are more than 150 miles apart, and from east to west, or in breadth, 30 miles. Besides many mountain streams, the ebbing or receding backwaters wind through the valleys. The perennial streams from the hills preserve the valleys in the richest verdure ; forests, gardens, and plantations abound, and the produce of the soil is most exuberant. The mountain lands are not barren or uncovered, but present a richness of scenery of unequalled grandeur ; here the Indian oak, otherwise called the teak, flourishes in im- mense forests of the finest timber ; while the lower woodlands produce pepper and frankincense, car- damoms, cassia, and other aromatics. Fruits of a hundred diversified names and qualities are here poured from the lap of nature ; the pine and plan- tain, the papayah and pombilmo, the citron and melon, the chaina and mango, the cocoa-nut and cucumber. The appearance of the villages and their rural and simpler places of worship in this moun- tainous and wooded country, is most picturesque. Remote from the busy haunts of commerce, or the populous seats of manufacturing industry, they may be regarded as the eastern Piedmontese, the Vallois of Hindostan, the witnesses pro- phesying in sackclotli through revolving centuries, though indeed their bodies lay as dead in the streets of the city which they had once peopled. Angamala, the ancient seat of their bishop, is one INDO-CHRISTIAN SECTS. 121 of the most remote of Syrian towns, and is situated on a high land : yet here a Jewish synagogue stands near to, or joins hard by the Christian chapel, and Jew and Christian have been wont to live in peace in this land of common exile. Cranganore is the place celebrated for the landing of the Apostle Thomas in India, and not far off is the town of Pavoor, where stands an ancient Syrian church, supposed to be the oldest in Malabar, which bears the name of the Apostle. It has a sloping roof, arched windows at one gable, which is the front and main entrance ; there are five crosses erect, two on either side of the peaked roof, and one on the highest point, and one in the wall over the door : at the other gable is a round detached tower, slanting roof, and surmounted with a cross ; the bells of the Syrians are hung within their chapels, lest they should disturb the heathen gods which may be in the vicinity. The buildings have been compared to some old parish churches in England, the style of which is of Saracenic origin, with buttresses supporting the walls- — the beams of the roof, where exposed to view, are ornamented, and the ceiling of the altar and choir is circular and fretted. While we dwell upon these vestiges of antiquity, and recount the events of their history with a sym- pathetic interest, it is to us a matter of regret and lamentation, that they should have so long existed, surrounded by darkness and superstition, by error and delusion, both degrading and ruinous, without any successful effort to propagate that truth which 122 CONTINENTAL INDIA. they affirm an Apostle came to Western India to proclaim. And while it is a cause of mutual con- gratulation between them and us, that we should both possess, in a language which we understand, the sacred oracles of the living God, it is to be de- plored, that, though they had obtained them at a very early period, they should have continued to hold them in the Syriac language, without any attempt to translate them into the vernacular dialect of the people themselves. It seems a humbling rebuke to the professors of the Christian name, that a fourth part of the nineteenth century should have passed away before any great progress should be attained in rendering the inspired volume into the Malayalim, their own language, and that this, too, should at last be the work of strangers, who had travelled ten thousand miles to labour among them. Would it not be presumptuous to anticipate or look for exertions becoming Christians from these Syrians, to promote among their neighbours the knowledge of the true God ? The people at their doors, the subjects of the same government, still remained bewildered idolaters, and had not been regarded for many ages as fit subjects for evangelical exer- tion. No wonder that one of themselves should confess, “ We are in a degenerate state compared with our forefathers ; the glory of our church has passed away ; we have preserved the Bible ; we have also converts from time to time ; hut in this Christian duty we are not so active as we once were ; it is not so creditable now to become Chris- INDO-CHKISTIAN SECTS. 123 tian in our low estate.” To the rajah and his court, whose protection they so long enjoyed, they were known only as Sooriani ; but not as professing a religion similar to the faith of that power which had secured to himself his throne, and had for a century been consolidating an empire around him, and has at last become paramount through all India. Surely, if that great light, the word of the living God, had been held up as a lamp of know- ledge, then would the people, who so long sat in the region and shadow of death, have beheld and turned to Jehovah with thankfulness and joy. Something has, however, been done by them- selves, and for them, to improve their spiritual condition, and increase their religious and moral influence. The visit of Dr. Buchanan in 1 806, and his subsequent publication of what he had seen, imparted excitement to the people themselves ; inquiry, and some little exertion, followed. His Christian Researches stirred up many pious men in his own community at home, and led to the appointment of an Anglican episcopal missionary to the country of Travancore. The Rev. Messrs. Norton, Bailey, Baker, and Fenn, were stationed at Allepie in 1816, and at Cotym in the years 1817 and 1818. A Mr. Redsdale and a Dr. Doran were added to the number after a few years, and several chaplains of the East India Company have exerted themselves among the Syrians, especially Messrs. Hough and JefFreson. General instruction was promoted by the establishment of schools. Copies 124 CONTINENTAL INDIA. of the Syriac Scriptures were sent from the British and Foreign Bible Society. The missionaries car- ried forward to completion a translation of the Holy Scriptures into the Malayalim language, the verna- cular dialect of that province. The liturgy of the church of England was also introduced in the same language into the services of several congregations. At Cotym a Brahminical college of celebrity had existed long before, and another had been recently erected not far distant, for the cultivation of San- scrit learning. A Christian college was founded by the benevolent liberality of Colonel Munro, British resident at Travancore, and had been built in 1815. The rannee, or queen regent of Travan- core, was induced to patronise this institution by a gift of 2,000/., and a grant of land called Munro Island, — endowments equal to the support of fifty scholarships. The enlightened views on which Colonel Munro exerted himself for this institution, were expressed by him in 1819 in the following statement. — “ It is only by an efficient course of instruction at the college, that a respectable body of native clergy can be procured for the sendee of the Syrian churches, and for the propagation of Christianity among the heathen.” The college was provided with an English (missionary) superinten- dant, two Syriac and one Hebrew professors, two native teachers of Sanscrit, and an English teacher and assistant. In a short time fifty students were profiting by the advantages of the institution, and the whole Syrian population looked to the college INDO-CHRISTIAN SECTS. 125 as the eye of their body, making it their boast ; while the students gave indications of zeal and pro- gress. Three seminaries, on the plan of free gram- mar schools, were established, one for the central, one for the northern, and one for the southern divisions of the country. The most promising youths were selected from these for the college, which they entered as soon as vacancies occurred. The number of youths under instruction exceeded a thousand, in common schools, besides the fifty who attended college to prepare for ministerial sendees in the church. A printing press had also been established, from which the sacred Scriptures (trans- lations), native works, and religious tracts, conti- nued to issue and circulate among the people. The formation of a public, or collegiate library, had been commenced, and several thousand volumes collected. As an illustration of the interest taken in these proceedings by the Syrian metropolitan, and the partial progress of this ecclesiastic in book learning, as well as the miscellaneous nature of the books, we may mention the following incident. Mar- Dionysius took a pleasure in conducting visiters through the college. To one visiter, after having shewn all other matters, deemed curiosities, he shewed a book, printed in English type, but not in the English language, and expressed his regret that no one of his learned friends had been able to in- terpret or translate this strange work. The friend to whom he made his complaint, glanced over the page, and found it to be a copy of the Scriptures, 120 CONTINENTAL INDIA. in Gaelic, which some Highland soldier had con- veyed to the regions of Travancore. When his visiter was able to explain to the metropolitan the mysterious volume, he concluded that the lady was more learned than many of his wisest associates. These benevolent and enlightening operations were conducted whilst we were in the country, with the concurrence of the principal men among the Syrian clergy ; the chief of whom resided at the college, and joined in the deliberations of the missionaries. We know not whether it has been the effect of Anglican intercourse, but a much greater variety of ecclesiastical distinctions are re- cognised among them than when their standard of faith was first promulgated in Europe by Dr. Buchanan. The metron, metropolitan or bishop, who generally assumes the title Mar ; as Mar- Philoxenus, Mar-Dionysius, &c., is still an office- bearer appointed from Antioch. In times of emergency, the Syrian clergy have chosen one of themselves to hold the office temporarily, till an accredited bishop, ordained and appointed by the patriarch of Antioch, shall arrive, and with all due authority assume his functions ; so was it when Colonel Munro first interested himself in their welfare. The Ramban was selected by his brother clergy, we were told, on account of his eminent devotion, and assumed the designation — Mar-Phi- loxenus, and another metropolitan was appointed ; and this man of the people’s choice quietly retired to the north district of their country, about a INDO-CHRISTIAN SECTS. 127 hundred miles from Cotym, where he maintained the most friendly correspondence with Mar-Diony- sius, who had been sent to supersede him. The ramban, we presume, is synonymous with what Gibbon designates the archdeacon, when describing a similar temporary arrangement. The Mai pans are represented as Syriac doctors ; the Catanars are officiating clergy, designated priests by the English episcopalians ; Dr. Buchanan called them Kasheesas. There has been, occasionally, some apprehension lest the missionaries should overrule the inclinations, and by their domination, subvert the native discipline of the Syrians. Their indirect alliance with the Company’s government, and con- trol over the funds provided by their society, give countenance to this fear; and about the year 1821 , a report was circulated that they were interfering with the Syrians in opposition to the metropolitan’s wish. Dr. Middleton, on his voyage from a visita- tion at Bombay, stopped at Cochin, and sent for the Syrian bishop to ascertain whether or no it was the fact ; but was satisfied by the metropolitan de- claring that there was no truth in the report ; he expressed his approbation, and took his leave. There is, however, much room for intrigue and secret influence for one purpose or another, in the patriarchal appointment of the bishop himself; and there has been sometimes danger of a divided episcopate, hostile factions, and a distracted church. It has almost required the strong arm of power to set aside the temporary fimctionary, to invest the 128 CONTINENTAL INDIA. duly accredited prelate, and exact the obedience of the under-shepherds and the flock. Dr. Heber had an opportunity, in 1825, to exert a large mea- sure of influence at such a crisis. While he was visiting Bombay, a new Syrian bishop (was it a coincidence ?) arrived from Antioch ; he was re- cognised by the bishop of Calcutta; the two pre- lates hailed each other as brother dignitaries, received and administered the sacrament within the rails of the altar as coadjutors, and then the Syrian metropolitan proceeded with augmented power and important credentials to the court of Travancore, and the college of Cotym. They all feel it is of the greatest consequence, that “ no abatement of the regard of the sahibs at Cotym should befall them.” Recently matters do not wear so favourable an aspect. There are about fifty-five or sixty parishes, and sixty thousand people professing to be united as brethren of the Syrian churches. But as Anglican episcopacy prevails in the peninsula, the two bodies will gradually merge as one, and the Syrian and Anglican Hindoo Christians will find themselves subject to the same rulers, and managed under the same policy. The Syrian relics will pass away, and the power of Antioch will succumb to the supre- macy of Lambeth. To the classical, no less than to the ecclesiastical historian, the vicissitudes and story of Armenia are deeply interesting. It lay between the grasping power of the Caesars and the Sapors in the days of their ambition, and was equally the arena of con- I N DO-CHRISTIAN SECTS. 129 tention for the fire-worshipping Sophi, the bigoted and fierce follower of the prophet, and the emissary of the man of sin. Notwithstanding the peaceful disposition of the inhabitants, the regions between Tanris and Erivan, the Euphrates and Caspian sea, were the theatre of perpetual war. The Armenians have ever been proud of their country ; they not only loved it as their birth-place, but revered it as the cradle of the world. On the mountains of Ararat, in Armenia, did Noah’s ark rest, and in the valleys at their base did his posterity find a dwell- ing place. But in the later ages, their homes were dismantled, their plains dispeopled ; and, when their country had been overrun by Mohammedan arms, myriads of Christian families were transplanted from Armenia into Persia, and dispersed into sur- rounding countries. Abbas the Great, king of Persia, in the beginning of the seventeenth century, laid waste all that part of Armenia which was con- tiguous to his dominions ; and, inhuman barbarian ! ordered the exiles to betake themselves to the terri- tories more adjacent to his court. By which sum- mary policy, he proposed to resist the aggressive devastations of the Turks ; and by cutting off the means of their subsistence, either to retard or effectually to oppose their progress, and so fortify his dominions by a wilderness rather than by walled towns and armed battalions. It was a small com- pensation, that he granted a beautiful suburb of Ispahan, his capital, for the residence of the better sort of Armenians, where they were to enjoy the VOL. II. K 130 CONTINENTAL INDIA. free exercise of their religion under the jurisdiction of a patriarch. Soon after this act of short-sighted policy, his power and designs were brought low. Even yet darker clouds which had been hovering, broke over the Armenians, and they were involved in grievous calamities : a storm of persecution arose upon them which shook the constancy of many, who apostatised to Mohammedanism. Others wandered over the earth, as a second nation of Jews, and have become the merchants and brokers of the different countries to which they resort. Many of them made their way into India ; and by industry and acuteness have acquired a large share in the business of the country : they have become, many of them, enterprising, affluent, and re- spectable. Armenians may be found in every principal city of the East, and are in a state of constant motion, travelling, and holding intercourse between Canton and Constantinople. Since the beginning of the seventeenth century, they have obtained a large and lucrative share of the com- merce of the East ; and the fruits of their patient industry are often consecrated upon the altars of their fatherland to uphold the ministrations of their faith among the natives of Armenia, or to propa- gate their doctrines in other countries. Armenia, as a kingdom, was first subjugated in name to the Christian yoke by its heroic prince Tiri- dates, during the early part of the fourth century. Gregory, the son of Anax, was honoured as the illuminator, when the standard of the cross was I N DO-C HRISTI A N SECTS. 131 established from the shores of the Caspian to the banks of the Euphrates. But the Christians suffered from their countrymen, were persecuted and expelled from their places of assembly about the year 350 ; however, when succoured by Constantius, they re- turned again to their altars and their homes ; where gratitude to their benefactor did not fade from their memory ; neither could they be tempted nor forced by the authority and mandates of the apostate Julian, to weaken the cause of the church through their alienation. Previous to the fifth century, the Christians of this nation used the Greek or Syriac scriptures ; but at that time an alphabet of their own was formed ; and Mesrobes, the inventor of their letters, also translated the holy books into the language of the people. Under the rod of op- pression, the zeal of the Armenians has been cha- racterized, by no partial historian, as fervent and intrepid ; they often preferred the crown of mar- tyrdom to the white turban of Mohammed — and rather than wield the sword, and wear the helmet of war, they addicted themselves to commerce, and through evil report and good report, have adhered to their faith. Persecution forced them as exiles to the East as well as to the West: those who fled to Europe engaged in commerce, and fixed their residence at Venice, Amsterdam, Marseilles, and London; but they forgot not the interest of that faith for which they had been driven from their native land. The situation of the western wanderers afforded favour- k 2 132 CONTINENTAL INDIA. able opportunities for exciting their zeal in the ser- vice of religion, and especially for supplying their Asiatic brethren with Armenian translations of the Holy Scriptures, and of theological works from the European presses. In England and Holland, they enjoyed the greatest facilities for this benevolent undertaking, and most generously employed them- selves and their resources for the circulation of the Bible in Armenia. Their version is considered of a high character. Le Crose denominates it the “ queen of versions.” I have met an Armenian gentleman, as member of a Bible Society committee in India, and he assured me that they had the Sacred Scriptures among themselves. Two of this nation were regu- lar auditors in my congregation, and most devout worshippers they appeared ; they also generously contributed to the advancement of missionary exertions. I cordially join in the expressions of the traveller Chardin, when I consider what they have expe- rienced and sustained. “ It is marvellous how the Armenian Christians have preserved their faith equally against the vexatious oppressions of the Mohammedans, their sovereigns, and the persua- sions of the Romish church, which, for more than two centuries, has endeavoured by missionaries, priests, and monks, to attach them to her commu- nion. It is impossible to describe the artifices and expenses of the court of Rome to effect this object, but all in vain.” I never could look upon an INDO-CHRISTIAN SECTS. 133 Armenian, even passing him in the street, or on the road, without a feeling of sincere respect and almost fondness — a tribute which their constancy and sufferings for religion justly claimed ; but of which they were the unconscious recipients : yet I do not propose to panegyrise them at the expense of truth. There is somewhat against them yet. I do not refer to the state of their ecclesiastical government — the patriarch of which resides in the monastery of Echmiazan, three leagues from Erivan, haring forty-two archbishops subjected to his jurisdiction, and an annual revenue, it is said, of six hundred thousand crowns ; but, to his praise be it recorded, there is no mark of opulence or pomp in his exter- nal appearance, nor in his domestic economy ; his table is plain ; nor is he distinguished from the monks with whom he lives, but by his superior power and authority. He attains the patriarchal dignity by the suffrages of the assembled bishops. The prelates of this church, when they have per- formed their liturgy, cultivate their garden ; and the austerity of their life increases in just propor- tion to the elevation of their rank. But the Bible Christian will complain, that though possessed of the Sacred Oracles, and professing the religion which came down from heaven, these Armenians sought not to communicate their doctrines among the people with whom they sojourned ; and were satisfied, if tolerated to observe their own rites, and permitted to pursue the lucre of mer- 134 CONTINENTAL INDIA. chandize, and the gain of traffic. They maintained a distinction from others, by their religion, but they did not seek to distinguish their religion by its genuine characteristics — benevolence, extension, and universality. They put their candle under a bushel ; their light did not shine before men. They have a church in each of the three presidencies, at Chinsurah, Dacca and Sydabad, but it is for them- selves ; and the services of their liturgic worship are performed in the vernacular dialect of their original country. They had evidently attained to a high place in the esteem of Heber, who held brotherly confer- ence with their bishop ; but it is possible he might regard them more for what they may yet become, than for what they have been or done. And the demonstration which they gave of their respect for his memory, though highly complimentary, was not a satisfactory display of their knowledge or scriptural piety : they had mass, or a very similar service, with prayers, for three days, at Calcutta, after they heard of his death, for the repose of his soul. However, they have not assimilated to the other corruptions of Rome, nor the superstitions of the Greek church. They are generally repre- sented as Eutychians, or Monosophytes ; and affirm that the manhood of Christ was of a divine and incorruptible substance ; but I imagine these are the errors rather of their theoretical men, who glory in the antiquity of their religion, and who, with a very small portion of real knowledge. IND0-CHR1STIAN SECTS. 135 speculate and lose themselves in vague abstractions. The people are not generally enlightened, far less learned. The natives of Armenia are represented as ignorant, and the exiles are more occupied with commerce than with literature. The Armenian church is one of the most at- tractive objects on the esplanade, between Fort St. George and the Black Town of Madras. Be- sides the place of congregational worship, other buildings and apartments form the edifice; and the whole is enclosed by a wall. The walls are cliu- named, or coated with Indian plaster, which gives a neat and most respectable appearance to the tout- ememble. The entrance is guarded by a gate, kept shut, except at times of assembly. The prin- cipal building is surmounted by a low conical dome, with brass or gilded ornaments. The whole struc- ture cannot be described as possessing much archi- tectural ornament : yet it is an interesting, though unpretending edifice, and has been finished with marked propriety. There is a quiet taste and an unobtrusive air about it, which is pleasing. The court is paved, and kept perfectly clean. I never was present in the chapel to witness their service ; but shall borrow the following description from Major S , who describes, from personal observation, the Armenian forms in Calcutta. “ The church, in the inside, was divided in the middle by a blue iron railing, with gilt heads. The men of the congregation place themselves in front of this ; the women behind, and farthes from the 136 CONTINENTAL INDIA. altar : just below the steps of which sits the pre- siding priest, in the eastern fashion, on his carpet. A veil of embroidery hangs down before the altar, and paintings adorn all the chapel walls. When the veil is lifted up, you see priests in gorgeous robes, and servitors with bells, staves overlaid with their round laminae of gold at the top, and censers of incense. The altar is highly ornamented, has a scripture-piece painted over it ; and the whole scene has an air of theatrical solemnity, not suited for a place of worship. “ In the course of the worship, they carry a painting of the crucifixion round the chapel in procession. When they administer the sacrament, they give small portions of the bread to all the congregation, who receive it with great reverence ; taste, then wrap it up in linen, and carry it away with them after the service. The bishop always first blesses the elements. The service closes by the officiating priest reading a lesson from the Gospel. The book, which is a small volume with covers of solid silver, wrapped in a napkin of gold tissue, is brought forth with much ceremony, and placed on a portable stand in the body of the chapel. When the priest has concluded, all the men and women draw near in succession, kiss the book with great reverence, and quietly withdraw. In the midst of the service, came in a rude hardy-looking man, who bowed his knee with little appearance of awe, and gazed round him with a fearless curiosity. His bare head, with a profusion of brown sun-tinged I N DO- C H K I ST I A N SECTS. 137 hair, naked throat, brown jacket, with full short trowsers of the same, gathered just below the knee, and a red sash, marked him an Armenian sailor from some port in the Red Sea, or Persian Gulf. Throughout the whole service, the silence, the fixed attention, devotional countenances, and low prostrations of all, surprise you. In few Roman Catholic chapels have I seen such solemn worship as in this Armenian one. The absence of images, the distribution of the bread, and the reading of the Scriptures, are the features which particularly mark the distinction in the daily service of the two churches.” To employ again the phraseology of my quondam ciceroni : “ These females with pale complexions, so as almost to indicate sickliness, with full, black, and expressive eyes, and countenances pensive, modest, and interesting, are Armenian women retiring from worship. You mark their costume. A small tiara -formed cap, with a jewelled front, is hooded over with a fine shawl, whose large and graceful folds falling behind, cover the body, and almost conceal their forms : that fine-looking young man, of fail' complexion, in a clean white vest, with a dark blue sash, and a high cap of black velvet, with many points, is an Armenian gentleman ; and the low stout man, in a purple robe, and mitre cap, with a long black bushy beard, who is speaking to him, is a priest from Armenia.” They are almost everywhere respectable, industrious, and enter- prising ; and in Madras, are generally possessed of 138 CONTINENTAL INDIA. great riches ; one of their number had accumulated such wealth, that he is represented to have ad- vanced to the government 160,000/. as a loan. But among them are occasionally to be found decayed families, and individuals who have sunk from afflu- ence ; and they are not less susceptible of mental anguish and excitement than other nations. One family well known at the presidency, ex- hibits a brief but powerful comment on the vanity of worldly riches and mere human greatness. The father died, leaving a large disposable property to the son. Ambition, or pleasure, drew the young man into the vortex of dissipation ; the sun which had shone upon his birth, became obscured, and adver- sity lowered upon his path. The buffeting storm assailed him unprepared, and the overwhelming torrent came upon his defenceless head. Per- plexity, agitation, disquietude, and gloom, seized his bosom, distracted his mind, and carried him away as with a whirlwind in a cloudy and dark day ; his mental system became a wreck of a thousand frag- ments, driven by the excited passions, and flitting recollections which lingered about his ungovernable mind. He became the inhabitant of an asylum which had been prepared by generous and enlight- ened humanity ; and was attended with skill and kindness, provided by a liberal government. I have lain for hours upon my Indian cot, and listened night after night, and two hours after the midnight watch, through successive weeks, to the melancholy and deeply affecting music of a wildly, sweetly INDO-CHRISTIAN SECTS. 139 played flageolet ; — the only solace afforded to this child of sorrow — once a son of fortune, but now the sad monumental ruin, the mental frag- ments of proud, but frail man. I was sad, yet I did not weep ; nor did 1 strive to banish “ the maniac’s wild notes.” I felt pleased — that even in his delirium, he was permitted to enjoy gratification, and was capable of receiving any soothing indulgence, and deriving relief from even unseasonable recreations. I felt a grief — that sin should have so reigned, that suffering should so prevail, that any man could be so absent to all society, and the vicissitudes of day and night, and so absorbed in mental solitariness. What is man ! It w'as said of Jesus, that he went about doing good; so also will all his genuine followers and faithful disciples. But it is a singular fact in the modern heathen world, that while there were places of accommodation for the superstitious worshipper and the objects of idolatrous veneration, no care has been taken to provide a receptacle for the diseased in body, or those afflicted with the mala- dies of a distracted mind. A wide and unoccupied sphere remained for Christianity, in which to do good, and to communicate the charities of life. No lunatic asylum, nor means for alleviating the con- dition of the insane, was prepared in India till British benevolence and Christian sympathy took compassion on the moon-struck maniac and the broken heart, and provided a retreat for him from the rude gaze and the unfeeling selfishness of man. 140 CONTINENTAL INDIA. In the efforts of modern missionaries the Arme- nians are not overlooked, and the blessings of the Gospel have happily been extended to some honoured men among them. The men of this nation whom I have met, were not only accessible, but liberal in their contributions to Christian mis- sions. When a work of rerival shall have begun, and a turning to the Lord shall prevail among them in their present dispersion, they will be found efficient and acceptable auxiliaries. They are lo- cated in every principal city of the East, and main- tain a constant intercourse with Persia and the land of their fathers. Armenian missionaries have more directly engaged in operations to diffuse among them the Gospel, and they find unbounded facilities for the distribution of tracts. They antici- pate no limit to the demand for such instruction except the inadequacy of their means. The whole nation are hungering and thirsting already for religious books, and are as ready to receive them at the hands of the missionaries as from their own bishops ; even the ecclesiastics, from the patriarch to the obscurest priest, are foremost in their impor- tunities for the circulation of Christian knowledge among clergy and people. A respectable Armenian of Calcutta has entered upon the zealous and active duties of an agent in evangelical labours; he has furnished the following information. “ My brother is in Calcutta. He comes from Bussorah, in the Persian gulf. He brought most pleasing news about our Armenian tracts : he tells me all I wanted I N DO-C HR 1ST I AN SECTS. 141 to know ; the language is understood by all ; the errors of the Armenian church are unmasked ; and he has derived great benefit himself. When the tracts were distributed at Bussorah, great inquiry was made after them by many, and a young man gave out that he was going to reply to them. As soon as I heard this, says my brother, I went to him and said, ‘ Friend, 1 hear you are going to re- ply to my brother’s Armenian tracts.’ He said, ‘ Yes ; I have written about four or five pages.’ I wished to see what he had written ; but he replied, * I cannot shew you, till I finish it.’ ‘ Friend,’ said I, ‘have you ever seen or read any of the tracts?’ He replied, ‘No, never.’ I said, ‘You had better get a copy first, and, after you understand well, then you will be able to make a good reply.’ He consented, was supplied with a copy of the last Armenian tract, which he gladly received and began to read. To the inquiry, after a few days, if he had read it, he replied, ‘ Yes, but I have nothing- more to say, because the author proves the Scrip- tures to be the only rule and guide of our faith, life, and conduct ; so that I cannot write any thing more.’ Poor Armenians ! Yet they are my dear nation. Some of them are trying to hurt me, but how they will do it, they know not. However, my dear brother, himself, was despised for the sake of the truth, for he left the Armenian church, and is thinking to be baptized.” Besides the descendants, collateral and direct, of the primary Portuguese settlers, there are other 142 CONTINENTAL INDIA. dwellers in India of European extraction — of Dutch, Danish, French, and English descent ; and an intermixture of all with the Hindoo family. They are far from being insignificant in number, and by the political relation to their mother coun- tries, a link between both, they are doubtless destined to fill a place in the moral movements of that great and multitudinous empire, in which they must soon, we apprehend, be denizened ; and in the history of that country, where they have recently acquired a designation, as Eurasians, distinct from Hindoos and Britons. Joined to the members of the Portuguese community resident in India, it will, perhaps, not exaggerate their numerical strength, if we estimate them at three hundred thousand souls. At all the presidencies there are schools under government patronage, where English reading, writing, and arithmetic are taught ; to these schools the children of many of this race are eligible : there are, besides, schools supported by the contri- butions of enlightened and generous individuals, among which are the Black Town Chapel free schools, and the Black Town missionary free schools, and other missionary institutions, which are maintained for their instruction. There is, too, an apprenticing society, for communicating to them the knowledge of trades, as also a battalion or corps of artificers supported by government, in which particular attention is paid both to their moral im- provement and their progress in the mechanical arts. There are, moreover, many among this class INDO-CHKIS'l’I AN SECTS. 143 who are wealthy enough, and disposed to send their children to boarding schools, or private tutors. In the times of their greatest prosperity, those who exercised the control over the Grecian and Roman colonial politics, seemed more anxious to secure a reciprocal affection and intercourse, by a community of privileges between the mother coun- try and her distant emigrants and colonists, and to possess their attachment and cooperation, their efficiency and courage, in times of danger, than to reserve a mercantile monopoly of the produce, manufacture, or civil immunities of distant pos- sessions. There has hitherto been a departure from the ancient model in our colonial arrange- ments in respect of India ; we do not determine whether this has been wise, but we anticipate that a change may ere long be found practicable and judicious. “ A Briton knows, or if he knows it not, The Scripture placed within his reach, he ought, That souls have no discriminating hue, Alike important in their Maker’s view ; That none are free from blemish since the Fall, And love divine has paid one price for all.” There are many intelligent and generous minds among this class of our eastern fellow-subjects, who are not only capable of discriminating the justness of principles, and rectitude of procedure, but have also a keen eye to detect the blemishes, or to discover and estimate the consequences of the political and judicial administration : every 144 CONTINENTAL INDIA. expanded and unprejudiced mind will desire the increase of such talent. But the general character of the Eurasians does not reach so high a standard. For one mature mind and judicious observer, who will sustain an equanimity and inflexible adherence to purpose and principle, fifty will be found whose attainments are limited and superficial, and whose opinions are as various, fickle, and incoherent, as may be the vicissitudes and uncertainties of revolv- ing time. As an isthmus between two contiguous continents, connecting European and Asiatic society, their materials may be characteristic of the temperament and constitution of the opposing masses with which they are united. Too long, and unjustly, and from a most impolitic princi- ple, shut out from desirable and improving society among Europeans, and habituated to the inter- course of uneducated mothers, of frivolous and dissipated societies ; it is not to be wondered that they should imbibe the crude and erroneous fancies of the one race, and that while claiming the lineage and rank of the others, they should ape such manners of the Europeans, as most corresponded with their earliest and heartfelt predilections. Their employments are unfavourable for the development of mind, or the increase of intelligence. The incessant repetition of manual labours in the tran- scription of official documents, the mere mechanical details of mercantile transactions, or the fractional calculations of the merchant’s counting-room, with- out any of the excitement incident upon hazard CHRISTIAN SKCTS. 145 and enterprise, will not expand the intellect, nor exercise nor improve the judgment ; while the hours of their pleasure and their seasons of recreation, are times of dissipation and of gayer follies. There are few manufactures where they may be led to study the practical operations of scientific principles, and observe the progress, and be excited to emu- lation by the advancement of others; and the wholesome, active, and vigorous engagements of the field or garden, can seldom engage their atten- tion, or lead them to devout, rational, and elevated contemplation of a great First Cause. Yet there are means which may be employed for their moral amelioration. They know the English language — a key to every science and storehouse of literature ; they are ambitious of conforming to English manners, and they appre- ciate English society ; they trace their relation to the nations of Europe, and participate with a keen sympathy and a fond ambition in the honours of their parent stem. They are accessible to the European teachers ; and while in an infant state of society, they possess immediate access to the sacred Scriptures, that fountain of pure knowledge and cheering consolation, of practical wisdom and ennobling principles : and if they can be induced to study this hallowed record from the pen of inspiration, and to walk in the way which it pre- scribes, then will their course be as the path of the just, which shineth more and more unto the perfect day ; and their experience and example will prove, VOL. II. l 146 CONTINENTAL INDIA. that to scale the heights of heaven, to behold the Sun of eternal truth, and receive his rays ; to grasp the things of an everlasting age, and to be filled with all the fulness of God; to receive the first principles of heavenly science ; to soar on the wings of contemplation, aided by the breath of the infinite Spirit ; to explore the tracts of uncreated light, and dive into the things which are displayed in heavenly places by Jesus Christ ; to be permitted to look into the unseen world, and peruse the records of the New Jerusalem ; to be enabled by an infallible standard, more truly unerring than a mathematical axiom; to weigh and compare the things of redeeming love, and to live as seeing Him who is invisible, shall, without doubt, elevate the human mind, and dignify all who are so employed. There are now lending libraries, and reading societies among them : already are there several congregations of them as Christian worshippers, and some of them are engaged even in missionary operations. The Bishop’s College, Calcutta, pre- sents an opening and an invitation to such of them as shall prove themselves fitted for the good work of promulgating truth and peace. Many of them are enrolled among the liberal patrons of evangeli- cal exertions, and are themselves monuments of what the Lord Jehovah has done by the instru- mentality of missionary effort. It will be well when the congregations are supplied with duly qualified pastors of their own order : this would hold forth a stimulus to the early pious to seek the CHRISTIAN SECTS. 147 gifts and endowments which would adorn the Christian ministry, and be profitable for the instruc- tion of the community. It might, too, exercise a diffusive influence, and inspire the body of the people, not merely with a desire to support their own religious teachers, but also with a zeal to become the labourers who shall long be required for the poor heathen ; not as the colonial agents of a distant mother country, but as the principal and responsible representatives of their own church. In a multitude of instances, they are able to speak the language of the Hindoos ; they are also con- versant with the manners of the heathen ; they might become even erudite in the literature of the Brahmins; and by a holy character, a temperate zeal, prayerful diligence, and unceasing application, they might become harbingers of good to the people, and faithful stewards of the manifold grace of God. WOMAN IN INDIA. The influence of the wife and the mother upon society is so palpable and resistless in the most advanced stages of improvement, that the philan- thropist will demand with anxious solicitude, after the recital of some scenes in these volumes. What is the character of woman in India ? Let her history be developed to us ; give us no exaggerated de- lineation, no distorted or extravagant caricature, no picture which may be regarded as an exception arising from peculiar circumstances. There are WOMAN IN INDIA. 149 general laws which affect the whole community ; there is a common source from which every run- ning brook is supplied; there is a river, the streams whereof pervade and moisten the whole social soil : the female character may be regarded as the fountain, the swelling tide which nourishes and bears onward the dispositions, the attachments, and the desires of each succeeding generation. The corrupt principles of the heart, the debased standard of morals, the diseased affections of a perverted nature, embodied in one representation, will be generally descriptive of the whole sex in India. Treated as beings of an inferior order ; kept back from the commonest means of information and mental improvement, enjoyed by their sisters in western countries ; excluded from the diffusive influence of expanding principle, and taught to look upon the present as the only moment of gra- tification ; they are occupied in domestic toils without any cheering and heart-exciting affections, while they are denied all participation at the social board. Thrown too upon the resources of animal nature merely for any portion of enjoyment, they are accustomed to regard themselves as only the instruments of slavery or passion. In addition to which, the very objects of their worship — to the external symbols of which, as the profanum vulgus, their intercourse is solely limited, — are presented in the scenes of idolatrous festivity, as immersed in criminal indulgence. .Would it be wondered that their character should be blindly selfish, and the 150 CONTINENTAL INDIA. motives of their conduct exclusively, and to the extreme, epicurean ? The arrangement and the economy of the domestic circle cherish still more the luxuriant growth of these rank weeds in the feminine breast in India. The remains of the patriarchal state are per- ceptible in their internal management and govern- ment of social life, and to this the present condition of India may be ascribed. The patriarch’s autho- rity is even more jealously enforced now, and earned into the ramifications of the family than in ancient society. It is here systematized and secured by the sanctions of religion, as well as by the custom of ages. Every house presents the remote, as also the most subordinate division of genealogical rela- tionship. There seems, too, the closest intercourse between the affiliated branches, so that the father of the last or preceding generation, exerts an authoritative influence, even more arbitrary than the power of an adviser. His sons, and their wives, their children also — and it may be, their destined brides too — live within the same enclosure, and often under the same roof; so that sometimes it assumes more the appearance of a clan, than a single family. And lienee, except among those whose habits have been changed, and whose origin or connexions have been interrupted by the in- vasion or policy of foreigners, there is an internal policy paramount to all civic control ; and blind custom and ascendant authority are more con- sulted and obeyed than the rights and wishes of WOMAN IN INDIA. b cacli member of the circle. When the eldest parent in the line is removed, the rule and conse- quence are entailed upon his son, who then be- comes the superior ; and the widow of the deceased, if she survive, merges among the subor- dinate branches ; and if she will brave the days of widowhood, her lot is hard indeed. Natural affection rarely succeeds to make any abatement of the dreadful penalty ; hers is a cup of bitter sorrow, of unmixed woe, and her solitariness is unmitigated by any generous or hallowed associa- tions. Every ten days must she submit her head, aged and bowed down though it he, to be shaved ; in her ablutions, and they must be daily, during uncongenial weather or sickness, the water must be poured upon her head, and not over her shoulder ; every night her task is to watch the burning lamp, and supply it with oil till the morning, and sad would the morrow be, did she suffer it to be extin- guished. This child of sorrow and bereavement is allowed to feed on only one meal each day ; and never must she recline upon a bed, — the lowly and hard ground is the pallet on which her wearied frame reposes. The recreations and pleasures of general society are denied her, and the cloth which distinguishes widowed suffering, in which she must always appear, is deemed the constant, though silent accuser of her cold affections, her selfish and profane love of life. Woman, as a mother, while the husband lives, is seldom allowed in India to bear any rule in the 152 CONTINENTAL INDIA. family : children are without natural affection ; so that the place assigned to females in Hindoo society is, to appearance, abject in the extreme. The institutes of Menu, whose inspiration is as un- questioned as his legislative supremacy is universal among them, do indeed direct that the female who is to be chosen for a wife should not be reproach- able for reddish hair, or too much or too little of the proper shade, for a deformed limb or inflamed eyes, for being immoderately talkative, or for being troubled with habitual sickness ; while her name must be neither that of a constellation, a tree, nor a river, of a barbarous nation, nor of a mountain, of a winged creature, a snake, nor a stone, nor of any image which occasions terror. Besides an agreeable name, she must possess a form which has no defect ; she must walk gracefully — like a young elephant ; her teeth must be moderate in number and in size, and her body of exquisite softness. But there are no rules for the virtues of the heart, the degree of knowledge, the habits of the mind, or the graces of benevolence ; and little wonder ! Could they gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles ? In childhood’s years a female must be dependant on her father ; in youth, on her hus- band ; and, should she survive his decease, her dependance must be on her sons. The nature of this dependance may he imagined, when it is added, that at no period of life, in no condition of society, should a woman do any thing according to her own mere pleasure. Their fathers, their husbands, WOMAN IN INDIA. 153 their sons, are verily called their protectors ; but it is such protection ! day and night must women be bold by their protectors in a state of absolute de- pendence. A woman, it is affirmed, is never fit for independence, or to be trusted with liberty ; for she may be compared to a heifer on the plain, which still longeth for fresh grass. They exhaust the catalogue of vice to affix its epithets to woman’s name : — infidelity, violence, deceit, envy, extreme avariciousness, an entire want of good qualities, with impurity, they affirm, are the innate faults of womankind. And their deity has allotted to women a love of their bed, of their seat, and of ornaments, impure appetites, wrath, flexibility, desire of mischief, and bad conduct. Though her husband be devoid of all good qualities, yet, such is the estimate they form of her moral discrimina- tion and sensibilities, that they bind the wife to revere him as a god, and to submit to his corporeal chastisements, whenever he chooses to inflict them, by a cane or a rope, on the back parts. The observation w r as justly deduced from the facts of woman’s history in India, when the historian said, a state of dependence more strict, contemptuous, and humiliating, than that which is ordained for the weaker sex among the Hindoos, cannot easily be conceived : and to consummate the stigma, to fill up the cup of bitter waters assigned to woman, as if she deserved to be excluded from immortality as w r ell as from justice, from hope as well as from enjoyment, it is ruled that a female 154 CONTINENTAL INDIA. has no business with the texts of the Veda — that having no knowledge of expiatory texts, and no evidence of law, sinful woman must be foul as falsehood itself, and incompetent to bear witness. To them the fountain of wisdom is sealed, the streams of knowledge are dried up ; the springs of individual consolation, as promised in their religion, are guarded and barred against woman in the hour of desolate sorrow and parching anguish ; and cast out, as she is, upon the wilderness of bereavement and affliction, with her impoverished resources, her water may well be spent in the bottle; and, left as she is, will it be matter of wonder that, in the moment of despair, she should embrace the burning pile and its scorching flames, instead of lengthened solitude and degradation, of dark and humiliating suffering and sorrow ? Such, then, is the moral aspect of the female character and condition presented and entertained among the inhabitants of Hindostan ; and it is not surprising that a visiter among them, after but a brief sojourn, should have seen the not uncommon exhibition of mothers, haggard with age and woe, whose children have so abused them, that their ears were torn open by violence and blows — depravity and moral turpitude are the legitimate offspring of such a parentage. The Hindoo, since he does not marry to secure a companion who will aid him in enduring the ills of life, or in obtaining the means of rational enjoyment, seeks only a slave who shall nourish (he thinks not of training) children, and WOMAN IN INDIA. 155 abide in abject subjection to his rule. I have seen when the sun had just risen, or was near his going down, the mother or the daughters coming forth from their homes, laden with their urn-like pitchers, for water from the well or the river, and I thought it appeared a vestige of patriarchal simplicity, a rude emblem of tbe days of their early sires ; I did not then view it as a mark of their bondage or dejection. But when I have beheld the wife of the most wealthy, or other members of the Hindoo family, employed in the lowest drudgery, performing the most menial services, and found it was no uncom- mon spectacle, though humiliating indeed, to wit- ness young women carrying out manure to the fields in baskets on their heads — with sorrow the inquiry has been put, what can be the resources of such beings in the hour of sadness and desolation, and on w hat can their thoughts dwell in the seasons of reflection ; if, indeed, their immortal spirit ever takes a retrospect of the past, or casts a contem- plative glance on the future ? When their hands are idle, and they wander in solitary musing ; w r hen the heavens over them are blackening mystery, and the earth beneath them flits as the fabric of a visionary dream, on what can their souls lean, or their minds feed? When their children are the subjects of an expanding intelligence, and an inqui- sitive solicitude ; when their subtle spirits, panting after a congenial element, inquire the things of an invisible world, or desire to understand the natural phenomena which every day arise, and which almost 156 CONTINENTAL INDIA. spontaneously excite the attention of youthful curiosity, what light can the poor dark parent shed upon the mind — what aid can she render to the object naturally of her endeared affection ? If un- instructed ignorance knew how to mourn its own barrenness, and bewail its own inefficiency, many and bitter indeed would be the unavailing regrets of the Hindoo female. But it is otherwise. The happiness after which this immortal and heaven- derived intelligence aspires, is the absence of thought ; to sleep as long as is possible, and to enjoy the most absolute indolence, is notoriously the acme of Hindoo female felicity. What influence can such mothers exert in society ? and yet relative and reciprocal influence they have — deleterious and baleful indeed ! What prepa- ration can they insure for the vicissitudes of life, the mutual duties of domestic intercourse, and the personal futurities of each individual ? Can a foun- tain of bitter water send forth fresh and sweetening streams ? Is it surprising that the standing cha- racter of the Hindoo population, and its reactive influence, should be shaded by the darkest colours, and productive of such poisonous fruit ? The prayer of every devout heart will be, on receiving a recital so gloomy and affecting, “ Send out thy light and thy truth, and fill the earth with the knowledge of thy name : — Let the Indian, let the negro, Let the rude barbarian see, That divine and glorious conquest Once obtained on Calvary.” WOMAN IN INDIA. 157 It is because females are ignorant of their obli- gations, their privileges, and what ought to be their motives, that delusion so easily overcomes them, and they so cheerfully, or inconsiderately, sur- render themselves to the flames. But when they are introduced to the full possession of religious, scriptural, and otherwise useful knowledge, they will then be enabled to discharge the feminine duties, and sustain the natural and restored rights of the daughters of Eve ; as also to instil the ele- ments of truth, and impart a love and a zeal for knowledge to the generation of children intrusted to their care. While political expediency has sanctioned the horrid rite, the persuasion of friends, the flatteries of parents, the delusions in which the female is trained, the miseries which they must anticipate, and the momentary paroxysm of bereavement, have not unfrequently driven the widow to the mad alternative, and warranted the poet’s assertion : — “ The widowed Indian, when her lord expires, Mounts the dread pile, and braves the funeral fires.” This is a species of heroism which has been dis- played by many of the timid Hindoos in upper and in humbler life ; as well the princess as the wife of the husbandman, might and did suffer this immo- lation. Nor are the friends or kindred permitted to appear otherwise than as participators of the sacrifice and the virtues of the offering ; the eldest son kindles the wood, and the mother and the daughters attend the fatal scene. 158 CONTINENTAL INDIA. Muchta Bhye, the daughter of a princess, had become a wife and a mother. Her son, an only child, in the fresh bloom of youth, was cut down like the flower of the morning : the parent stem drooped for twelve dark months, when he who was considered her companion in youth, and des- tined to be the prop of her declining years, fell, too, before the blast, and was ready to be shaken into the dust ; but the disconsolate mother and bereaved widow declared immediately her resolu- tion to meet the withering destroyer upon her husband’s funeral pile. Her mother was her sove- reign, and though with affection, as the bursting forth of nature, she sought to dissuade the daugh- ter from her fatal resolution, the influence of an erroneous, delusive, and pernicious religion, pre- vented the intervention of her authority as a queen over the misguided woman. It is said she humbled herself to the dust before her daughter, and in- treated that she would not leave her desolate and alone upon the earth, but in vain ; her reply was calm and resolved : — “ Y ou are old, mother, and a few years will terminate your pious life; my husband and my only child are gone, and when you follow, life, I feel, will be insupportable ; and the opportunity of closing it with honour will then have passed.” The unhappy mother, whose igno- rant devotion forbad her to infringe what usage and priestcraft had sanctioned and rendered holy, now resolved to witness the last agonizing scene. She walked in the procession, and stood near the WOMAN IN INDIA. 159 pile, where she was supported by two Brahmins, who held her arms. Although obviously suffering great anguish of mind, she remained tolerably firm, till the first blaze of the flame made her lose all self-command ; and while her shrieks increased the noise made by the exulting shouts of an im- mense multitude that stood around, she was ob- served gnawing in agony those hands she could not liberate from her upholders. After some con- vulsive efforts, she so far recovered as to join in the ceremony of bathing in the Nerbudda, when the bodies were consumed. The little cloud, appearing like a fleece of pearly white, with a margin of ruby red, which, in the early dawn, has preceded the orient sun, his harbinger and offspring, and is rising with a motion gently undulated by the morning breeze above the shadows of the night, may be pointed to as a fit emblem of the female aspect, yet unpolluted by Hindoo super- stition and ignorance in the days of woman’s childhood. But sadly reversed is the closing repre- sentation of her last days. The little cloud has expanded, and darkened, and spread over the heavens ; the deepest gloom, the most sullen and portentous shiftings, are exhibited within the visible horizon ; from no point is there a gleam of opening light : — so was it with the wife of Soobarao. Hollee Letchema was the daughter of parents compara- tively affluent. Her infancy was succeeded by a few short years of ripening childhood, which rapidly glided away, and dming which all the education 160 CONTINENTAL INDIA. she received was limited by the pitiable circle of childish amusements and domestic duties. She was taught to speak, to wash her teeth, to bind on her cloth, to walk gracefully, to ornament the entrance of the dwelling — an embellishment in which great pride is felt, and which is performed according to various heathen devices, designed on the earth with consecrated powder, skilfully dropped through the fingers. It was a period of undisturbed mental gloom ; no means were used to inspire her with a love of knowledge — no plans were followed to ex- pand her mind. If she had few sorrows to endure, or sufferings to remember, she had also few plea- sures to anticipate, and few hopes to cherish. Over her future years hung a cloud of mingled and obscure uncertainty ; nor was there any friendly hand to lift the veil, or shed a light upon her path. Once she heard — and it was when she had reached the early age of seven years — once she heard some com- munings and negotiations about marriage ; but the matter was altogether unintelligible to her, and the personal feeling she could experience at the moment was so uninteresting, that she had no anxiety to know her destined bridegroom, or be introduced to his family and friends. Her time passed heedlessly over, and, as the period drew near when a woman’s feelings and predilections took possession of her bosom, she learned that her hand had been be- stowed, and her affections bartered for a piece of gold. The ceremony of marriage, in the prelimi- nary stage, was now performed, and the alliance WOMAN IN INDIA. 161 ratified by the accustomed rites : she was presented, hut not yet rendered up to him who was to he vested with the dominion of her person, and entitled to her homage and subjection. There had been no exercise of choice on either part, nor mutual affection — designed to he a slave, she had not been wooed as the object of a tender attachment. She remained now as the betrothed wife in her father’s house, and in subjection to her parents, till convenience or caprice led to a consummation of the domestic union. Youthful and pleasing, with certain undefined ideas of marriage, but no relative sympathy and reciprocal confidence, she was conducted through the pageantry and ceremonial of the festive day. Festive, indeed, it was deemed; but the whole might have been viewed rather as preparations for a holocaust to the genius of discord and super- stition, than a service to love : and now, as an extreme extension of liberality, enjoined by the law of the Hindoos, she was plentifully supplied with ornaments, apparel, and food. Many and tiresome were the ceremonies observed on the day of her espousal. While her bridegroom was being received by her father with all the rites of hospitality, three vessels of water were emptied on her head, and accompanied by prayers usual to the occasion, but too indelicate for insertion here ; their hands then, haring been rubbed by an auspicious drug, were placed, hers in his, and bound by a matron with sacred grass, amidst the sounds of cheerful music. * VOL. II. M 162 CONTINENTAL INDIA. The attendant priests were directed by her father to utter their acclamations, while he poured water from a vessel, containing fragrant grasses, upon the hands of the united pair ; and pronouncing their names, as well as his own, he appealed to “ God the Existent,” and said, “ I give unto thee this damsel, adorned with jewels, and protected by the Lord of creatures;” to which the bridegroom replied, “ Well be it.” The father of Hollee here presented Soo- barao with a piece of gold, a text from the Veda was recited, and the affianced parties walked forth, while the bridegroom addressed to her the first expressions of their intercourse, — “ May the regents of space, may air, the sun and fire, dispel that anxiety which thou feelest in thy mind, and turn thy heart to me. Be gentle in thy aspect, and loyal to thy husband — be fortunate in cattle, amiable in thy mind, and beautiful in thy person — be mother of valiant sons — be fond of delights, be cheerful, and bring prosperity to our bipeds and quadrupeds.” The skirts of her mantle were knotted together with his by her father, who en- joined them to “ be inseparably united in matters of duty, wealth, and love.” What mockery ! Fatiguing and trivial were the many subsequent ceremonies. Sacrificial fires were lighted up, jars of purifying water were arranged, handfuls of rice were prepared, and many formalities of expression were recited, while the bride was clothed with a new waist-cloth and scarf; oblations of clarified butter were made to the lire, the moon, and the WOMAN IN INDIA. 103 worlds, during which the bride was first made to stand, and then to sit, upon a mat prepared for the purpose. A stone being placed before her, she, with her hands joined in a hollow form, was made to tread upon it with the toes of her right foot, during this address of the bridegroom, “ Ascend this stone, — be firm like this stone, — distress my foe, and be not subservient to my enemy.” The rice, which had been previously consecrated, was now repeatedly placed in her hands, and mixed with butter ; and she, according to directions, opened her hands, allowing it to fall into the fire. Now followed the most emphatic symbol of the ceremony : being conducted to the bridegroom, he directed her to step successively into seven circles, while seven texts were repeated, and the moment in which the seventh circle was trod upon, was declared the consummation of the nuptial bond, which was now complete and irrevocable. A friend, holding one of the jars of water, approached them, and poured its contents on him and her; again were their hands joined, and sanctioned by sacred texts. Such a marriage verily required the prescriptions of a ritual, and the spiritual directions of a priest. Sitting on a bullock’s hide, its red hair upward, and its neck toward the east when the stars shone, and contemplating the polar star as an emblem of stability, oblations and forms of prayer were presented; abstemiously partaking of food, they lived for three days in her father’s house, and on the fourth day the bridegroom carried her m 2 1G4 CONTINENTAL INDIA. to his home. Surely if oblations, and the precise observance of prescribed ceremonies, could have insured happiness and prosperity, Hollee Letchema might have looked forward to many days of un- interrupted enjoyment and peace ; but, alas ! how vain and delusive ! The natural reserve and restraint of her temper under circumstances so novel, at first percep- tible in her intercourse with him who had taken her into such intimate relationship, gradually sub- sided ; freedom of manner toward him, however, could never be accompanied with mutual con- fidence. She had not been trained to be an intelli- gent associate, and he had not sought an helper and equal who would accompany him in the ways of wisdom, and cheer him in affliction. The play- fulness of sprightly youth, and the soft sweetness of so young a ferfiale, were soon abated — familiarity, characterised by their intercourse, speedily rendered unattractive her blandest smile. Caprice, selfish- ness, and an undue estimate, either of the fe- male character, or of the circumstances under which Hollee had been tutored, the low standard fixed for woman’s attractions or merits, and the example which had been exhibited in his father’s house, conspired, along with occasional disappoint- ments, to subvert any youthful affection which had primarily been excited under auspices such as we have described. Unaccustomed to rule her own spirit, or to seek the enlargement of her own mind, the first interview had showed her to the most WOMAN IN INDIA. 165 advantage; and there remained no hidden excel- lences to be developed — no resources of enjoyment, which had not at the first moment been presented. Ill-informed himself, her husband had not cal- culated on unseen defects, or the partial exhibition which a mere exterior would furnish amidst the peculiar circumstances of their first acquaintance. He soon became discontented, irritable, and vio- lent ; his requests were uttered with authority, and his commands were enforced with the severity of exaction : speedily the connexion became one of bitter rule, and reluctant subjection ; while the untoward captive could ill brook the lordly des- potism which governed her as a slave. Yet there were moments in which the iron yoke relaxed, and when the silken cords of love were felt, when woman’s power held captive the imperious tyrant ; the bonds of natural affection, and the sympathies of our better nature prevailing, realized to them the sweets of domestic union. Such were, however, like angel- visits, few and far between. Years rolled on, the freshness of youth decayed, the cares of a family accumulated upon them, and became a burden more to the mother than to her professed companion. There had been in her a natural ardour, and a genial kindness of disposition, which, had they been cherished by education and religion, might have expanded into the fair fruits of a gene- rous, benevolent, and useful character. She often had felt a clinging to him as the stay of her youth ; and even in the hours of discord, orgies sacred to the 166 CONTINENTAL INDIA. service of India’s gods — even then would the yearnings of her heart, and the relentings of her feeling, be toward him who should have proved the kindred associate of her riper years. She had no knowledge of any thing for which she should live better than her husband, or her own enjoy- ment, and she still desired his life as the security for her own comfort; but Death waits not our pleasure, nor are the approaches thereof dependent upon our convenience. His pale face invades the dwelling of the Hindoo with even more hasty steps and appalling circumstances than where a better religion prevails. The worshipper of Brahma, too, droops under disease more readily than the inha- bitants of a northern clime, and is more dependent for support and alleviation upon the attendance of friends, and the aid of external comforts, than the servant of the true God ; for his eye is fixed with moral certainty upon the things not seen as yet, and his hope is big with a glorious immortality. The kind help, then, of a patient friend, may draw forth the exercise of affection ; and the very self- ishness of the Hindoo, in his hour of weakness, may dictate expressions, which an ear, unused to the sounds of gratitude and cordial friendship, may catcli with avidity, and cherish with ardour. Hollee’s husband was visited with sickness — a sickness which, despite of her sacrifices, vows, and prayers to the poor gods of India, of the botanical preparations of the village apothecary, or the en- chantments used by (he sorcerer or the priest. WOMAN IN INDIA. 167 made the most fearful and rapid inroads upon his strength. She attended him with incessant care — she watched with untiring anxiety ; she wept and made supplication — but not to the only living and tme God ; and, in the moment that she was least prepared for it, when she felt most strongly na- ture’s ties binding them together, and was most absorbed by his influence over her, he expired ! It required at that moment little external excite- ment or persuasion to lead to the wish that she had died with him — to desire death rather than life ! She knew the dreary widowhood before her — no resources had she to sustain her agonized mind — no friend had she who would say to her. Live — no com- forter who could or would soothe her distractions. She looked on the right hand, and the priest was standing. to direct her to the only refuge which he deemed accessible — a speedy, an immediate, a blessed and honourable re-union by the holy fu- neral pile ! She looked to the left, and there, those who superstitiously imagined they might share in the benefit of her immolation and the honour of her sacrifice, or otherwise be unwillingly burdened by her maintenance, were waiting, nay pressing forward to urge her adoption of the priestly coun- sel. She looked forward, but gloom impenetrable, wretchedness unmitigated, hung over her path. She cast her eyes upward, but the heavens were sackcloth and the sun blood ; no father’s pitying eye, no soft word, no gleam of consoling benignity, and no arm appeared stretched out to help. She 168 CONTINENTAL INDIA. turned within, and here bewildered with agitation, overwhelmed with grief, flesh and heart failed her, and in her paroxysm of sorrow she embraced the purpose, and uttered the irrevocable vow of immo- lation. Now the priest thanked Nurraian ; the relatives expressed their joyful gratitude ; and the means of sustaining her resolution, of cheering her mind, of stimulating her spirits, of lulling her fears, and strengthening her attachment to the deceased, were lavishly employed. Her children, the potent and palpable bonds of her obligation to this life, were removed from her sight; narcotics, opium, bang, and other stupifying dings, were abundantly administered ; her body was perfumed, her hair saturated with oil, and her head covered with sandal dust ; garlands of flowers were presented as her ornaments ; and now she was hailed a favourite of the gods, and invested with divine power. She was entreated to bestow her blessing and remem- ber the wants of her friends ; she was entrusted with consecrated gifts to bestow at her pleasure ; no breath that might fan the flame remained to be invoked, and the hirkarrah was employed to an- nounce her pious resolution and the time of the sacrifice. It was within British jurisdiction, and the sanction of legal authority was obtained. All local business was suspended ; crowds flocked from the whole vicinity. Men, women, and children of all ages congregated to the sacred spot, jesting, laughing, and congratulating the friends whom they met. The intelligence was sent to me with a WOMAN IN INDIA. 169 solicitation from a friend that I would attend. I hastened to the scene ; it was a singular display and mixture of religious solemnity, infatuated de- votedness, cruel delusion, deliberate and authorized murder, and unhallowed and humiliating apathy. It was an hour and a half before sun-set, five o’clock, when I reached the place of ungodly sacrifice. The husband was covered with clothes folded about him in the manner in which the dead are usually carried to the place of cremation ; emaci- ated and pale, there was no placidity in his features. Death is rarely an agreeable sight, but it renders the Hindoo exceedingly uninviting. The corpse was laid upon a bier made from unpeeled branches of trees, and without any ornament. It had been carried thither on the shoulders of men, and placed in a circle formed by the officiating priests, the victim, the near relatives and kindred, and such as were approaching to obtain the last benediction of Hollee : these last drew near in the attitude of supplication. She "was attired in a salmon- coloured cloth — sacred garment, and her skin was deeply tinged with saffron. Her years had been few — from five-and-twenty to thirty had she lived a daughter and a wife ; but the few hours of her widowhood had preyed more upon her aspect and her frame than all her previous sorrows or cares. She -was bent fonvard, as if labouring mider an oppressive burden ; or rather as if inward anxiety, sorrow, and anguish, had bowed her down ; yet she 170 CONTINENTAL INDIA. seemed to smile — it was the smile of sorrow : — the cold moon’s cheerless ray shed forth from a sky overspread with portentous clouds, and lighting upon the dismal tomb, is but a faint emblem of the workings of her mind on her palid countenance — it was the expression of a heart which had con- quered nature and burst the bonds of life itself — - it was an apathetic expression, I thought, of com- placency in herself, while it professed to regard those who approached her. A red line was drawn straight from the root of her hair to the ridge of her nose : it seemed to me the mark of suicide. She had bunches of flowers made up and ready to bestow ; cloths, cocoa-nuts, pounded spices and seeds, and money lay beside her, which she distri- buted to the females who came soliciting her favours. She was attended by two principal brahmins ; one of them held an ollah or cadjan book in his hand, from which he read sentences apparently for direc- tion, or that he might suggest consolation to her in this trial ; occasionally he would join his coad- jutor for counsel, or to share in the rewards of the sacrifice. The fees of the brahmins at this cere- mony usually amount to forty or fifty pounds. Sometimes I observed these priests quarrelling with each other, and exhibiting passions depicted in their countenance truly demoniac ; their controversy regarded the money which should fall to the share of each : they w r ere old men, their hair grey, and their features hardened and callous. 1 never contemplated man so far removed from the aspect WOMAN IN INDIA. 171 of humanity. An extremely correct similitude of their appearance is given in the representation of a Suttee in Ackerman’s Hindostan. Whilst the poor woman and the priests were thus engaged, she was indifferent to any attempted inter- ference by some Europeans who sought to rescue her from destruction. The crowds of natives were all busied; few contemplative, many showed the greatest levity, while others employed themselves in preparing the pile. It was constructed of dried wood, in the shape of an oblong square ; the faggots were heaped upon each other, so as to be most easily combustible, to the height of four feet from the base. A stout branch of a tree was fixed in the earth at each corner ; suspended by these, another pile, as a canopy, was formed at about three feet elevation, and plentifully supplied with large billets of wood. The whole material of the pile was carried on the heads of many men, who actively ran backward and forward during the preparation; some straw, also, and cakes of cowdung were provided. The chief magistrate of the district, called the Fouzdar, was present with his peons, or constabu- lary force, armed. There were two European gentlemen, holding situations of trust, officially present. We could not secure the attention of the poor woman, but I made my appeal to the magis- trate, to his authority, his influence, and respon- sibility to God. He said he was there as the representative of the king, admitted his respon- sibility, but replied it was according to their religion. 172 CONTINENTAL INDIA. I urged him to offer her permission to retire if she would. He directed a brahmin, (he himself was one,) to ask if she were still inclined for it ; she answered, she was. Hollee was conducted round the pile after the corpse had been placed upon it : a priest accompanied her the first time ; she walked twice by herself, kneeled by the right side a few seconds, and mounted the pile to the left of the deceased. Deliberately she composed herself; her infant child was placed in her amis for an instant, and embraced ; she saluted her mother, and called her sister, to whom she delivered her jewels : then, having ungirded her loins and loosened her gar- ments, she drew her cloth over her head, and laid herself down behind her husband with such calm- ness as if it had been for a few hours’ repose. They covered her with straw, and poured oil and melted butter over all parts of the pile, the extremities of which were now lighted. The straw, fanned by the wind, was at first suffered only to roll the thick volume of its smoke over her ; and, before any fire could have reached her, the heavy suspended billets were, by the swords of the peons, cut down, and fell upon her with their whole weight. O ! it was a cruel apathy that could stand and witness such a monstrous perversion of human power and reli- gious toleration ! — the more I muse on it my accusations become the more poignant. I stood by the pile while the gloomy tragedy was performed, and never can I banish the screams which pierced the ears of the spectators, while the blue and lurid flame WOMAN IN INDIA. 173 rose from the bodies already consuming in the fire ! It was a moment of tenor, of deep crime, and dark delusion ! Why the attendants were allowed to cut down the mass of faggots which hung over her, and fell with unbroken violence upon her devoted head, I cannot tell ; and how the victim was not totally stupified by the load which crushed her, appeared next to a miracle : it had stunned her for a time, as it also checked the progress of the flame, whose violence raged around the exterior of the pile for five or six minutes before it reached the bodies. A brahmin stood at the head, seemingly ready to direct the acclamations of the people. The poor woman had hitherto remained silent, but when the flames had reached her, the misery of her re- straint appeared in its utmost severity ; when the scorching fury of the fire had begun to prey upon her, she could not move a limb or turn from her cniel woe for a moment ; she shrieked and screamed for help with piteous and heart-rending exclama- tions, but the pile was surrounded by armed peons. The brahmin attempted to assure the people that she was now in communion with her god, and called them to rejoice, while her tones were those of the bitterest agony, while her forlorn mother, heartbroken and overwhelmed with grief, stood rolling herself, tearing her hair, and beating her breast, and leaping with frantic bursts of passion — an affecting spectacle of distracted w r oe and extreme wretchedness ; she seemed unwilling to survive the hour of separation, and longed to throw her con- 174 CONTINENTAL INDIA. vulsive frame upon the funeral ashes, the altar of her daughter’s sacrifice and destruction : the mul- titude joined in the exhibition of joy by clapping their hands and repeating the song of triumph. The scene was closed by the fierceness of the flame which drove the bystanders to a distance, and forced even the priests to retire, while the victim was still uttering the moan of helpless suffering. I waited at a distance, lingering to witness the last obsequies of the infatuated Hollee ; they were offered in the blue flame and funeral smoke of her consuming remains, and in the receding murmurs of the dispersing multitude. It was an appalling exhibition of self-devotedness. The wretchedness of the desolate parent, the forlorn condition of the twice-bereaved children, and the apathy of thou- sands who could so unmovedly contemplate the transaction, may be imagined ; but ah ! who can describe the guilt of the perpetrators, the displea- sure of a holy and merciful God ; and the infatua- tion of nominally Christian authorities who could prescribe for it rules, grant their permission to its performers, and superintend the accomplishment of such a criminal, violent, and bloody sacrifice ? It was surely an hour of the power of darkness. I take shame and guilt to myself, and feel assured that if every observer of such delusion had protested against it on the spot, it would sooner have termi- nated, and the six hundred lives in British India annually immolated, might have been saved to the community, their friends, and their children, and WOMAN IN INDIA. 175 preserved from the crime of suicide, and the horrors of a premature and excruciating death. * It has now happily become only a record of the past, that British authority and colonial legislation tolerated the customs which heathen superstition had established for the sacrifice of human life. Humanity had long blushed at the often-told story, philanthropy had stood weeping in sorrowing sad- ness, and patriotism had bled, while history seemed willing to draw the veil over the page wherein was described how nerveless had become the arm of Britannia’s queen, or how destitute she had proved herself of generous sympathy, while India’s * Another well-authenticated and brutal instance of this sacri- fice occurred about the same time in a more northern province of India : — “ The unfortunate brahminee, of her own accord, had ascended the funeral pile of her husband’s bones, but finding the torture of the fire more than she could bear, by a violent struggle she threw herself from the flames, and tottering to a short distance, fell down. Some gentlemen, who were spectators, immediately plunged her into the river, which was close by, and thereby saved her from being much burnt. She retained her senses completely, and complained of the badness of the pile, which, she said, con- sumed her so slowly that she could not bear it, but expressed her willingness again to try it if they would improve it : they would not do so, and the poor creature shrunk with dread from the flames, which were now burning most intensely, and refused to go on. When the inhuman relations saw this, they took her by the head and heels and threw her into the fire, and held her there till they were driven away by the heat ; they also took up large blocks of wood with which they struck her, in order to deprive her of senses, but she again made her escape, and without any help, ran directly into the river. The people of her house followed her here, and tried to drown her by pressing her under the water, but a Eu- ropean gentleman rescued her from them, and she immediately 176 CONTINENTAL INDIA. cries rose to heaven in the cloud and flame of the funeral pile. The warrior had plumed his helmet, and waved his sword ; he had bared his bosom to the bright spear ; had mounted the breach, scaled the rampart, and forced the citadel ; predatory hordes had been swept from the plains ; tyranny and despotism had cowered beneath his arm ; and, while he had driven before him the resistless enemy of the country, he left behind him security for the husbandman and peace for the people ; but, alas ! weeping widowhood had been left to the horrors of desolation, and the bed of unhallowed and ruthless destruction. The agent of commer- ran into his arms and cried to him to save her. I arrived at the ground as they were bringing her the second time from the river, and I cannot describe to you the horror I felt on seeing the mangled condition she was in : almost every inch of skin on her body had been burnt off ; her legs and thighs, her arms and back were completely raw, her breasts were dreadfully torn, and the skin hanging from them in threads ; the skin and nails of her fingers had peeled wholly off, and were hanging to the back of her hands. In fact I never saw and never read of so entire a picture of misery as this poor woman displayed. She seemed to dread being again taken to the fire, and called out to ‘ the Ocha Sahib’ to save her. Her friends seemed no longer inclined to force, and one of her relations, at our instigation, sat down beside her, and gave her some clothes, and told her they would not. We had her sent to the hospital, where every medical assistance was immediately given her, but without hope of recovery. She lingered in the most excruciating pain for about twenty hours, and then died.” This sacrifice, so abhorrent to Christian feeling, though pro- hibited first by Lord W. Bentinck, in the Bengal provinces, and then in the other British territories, is still offered in other parts of India. Six months ago, four wives and seven slave concubines of Runjeet Singh, perished in the flames of his funeral pile at Lahore. WOMAN IN INDIA. 177 cial enterprise had followed his steps, established marts, cherished trade, ministered to the conve- niences of life, and facilitated the means of literary intercourse ; he had inspired international confi- dence, opened the sources, and filled the channels of mercantile wealth, and had directed the streams thereof to flow through the most distant lands ; but gold had proved so tempting to his avarice, and the love of it had so grown around his heart, and encased his sympathies, and perverted the feelings of tenderness, and stagnated the genial fountains of humanity, that he could coldly witness the altar of abominable and bloody superstition, could pass by the immolating fires, seeing and hearing the wretched victim in her bitterness and agony, and hasten to his counting-house, his merchandise, or his enjoy- ment ! War and commerce thus visited the land in vain for the poor widow ; the red robes and gory hand of the one, and the balances and the weights of the other, interposed no generous influence on her behalf ! The benevolent philanthropist, eager to seize the slightest indication of compassion being ex- pressed toward the unhappy suffering widow, heard, indeed, a few earnest and affectionate tones of sor- rowful remonstrance, but they were from men who had crossed seas, braved storms, and ventured their all in the sendee of their God, in compassion to the idolater, and to carry the glad tidings of great joy to benighted realms. They pleaded with the in- fatuated victims, and appealed to the sympathies VOL. II. N 178 CONTINENTAL INDIA. and principles of the ruling powers : their efforts were unavailing. They detailed the horrors, and showed to a British public, not only the injustice of the practice, but also the ease and safety of its abolition. Their descriptions harrowed the feelings of the sensitive, and drew tears and prayers from the devout ; but, in the council or in the senate, there was no voice of power sufficient to awake or rouse the British lion ; kings and senators, legis- lators and judges, heard not, or seemed not to hear the saddening tale. But there was One who be- held and interposed — the Lord of all. He who ruleth in the heights above, and by whom princes decree justice — he had treasured up the tears of agony, and provided mercy for the suffering. By his authority had the commission gone forth ; by his power were his ministers upheld ; and his ear was open to the fervent supplications of his people. He came forth, and took one of the nobles of our land, and made him to sit on high, and sway the sceptre of British rule among the millions of India. This nobleman, blessed with an enlarged mind and generous affections, and placed within the reach of liberal and enlightening intercourse, enjoyed facili- ties for judging what could, as also what ought to be effected for the amelioration of woman in India. Possessing, too, the command of influence and au- thority, and opportunity of exerting it unequalled by any subject of the British crown residing at home, even the most noble and princely, he dared to be the friend of helpless widowhood, and, with a WOMAN IN INDIA. 179 bold energy and a wise benevolence, he quenched the funeral pile, and trod upon its embers. The mandate has gone out to the distant pro- vinces, and come to the habitation of the Hindoo ; while by many it has been hailed as the voice of mercy, and cheered on in its course as the harbinger of woman’s dignity and happiness. Already thou- sands of widows have been rescued from destruc- tion, and made to feel that they have an interest in the state, and a place in the cares and sympathies of the government. Will it stop here ? No. Soon will the dejected raise her sullen eye, to be illu- mined by the gospel, and her garments of mourning shall be taken away. The feelings of this generous- hearted British nobleman, though he lived but a few years, while he surveyed the retrospect, and counted the thousands of widowed Hindoos, saved by his in- fluence, must have presented a vivid contrast to the reflections of another ruler in the same land, wiio was reported to have refused to exercise the same power, in imitation of a superior authority, and who left it to his successor to interdict the presump- tuous priests, and their deluded victims of the sacri- fice, from the performance of their monstrous rites. The sketches now exhibited will prove what mise- ries have been prevented, and what wretchedness and cruelty have been averted from the myriads in India, by the humane regulations of Lord William Cavendish Bentinck. Many an escutcheon has been emblazoned by armorial bearings, significant of* achievements n 2 180 CONTINENTAL INDIA. wrought by ennobled ancestors, far less beneficial to mankind, and illustrious in fame, than would be the memorial of that deed by which the funeral suttee was abolished in British India. The family of Cavendish Bentinck stands exalted on the roll of national honour. The early history of the lineal branches of this noble house needs not now to be recorded. The annals of British policy and bravery contain the details, and recount the honours which a nation’s gratitude had heaped upon its members. The descendants of illustrious ancestors share in their glory, and reap the reward of their virtues. That heart must be destitute indeed of the gene- rous glow of liberty, and the hallowed love of Christian fortitude, patriotic heroism, and martyred worth, which does not thrill with ecstasy and en- thusiasm over the story of Lady Russell and her suffering lord, the victim of tyrannic despotism and lawless rule, because he was the generous and dauntless advocate of conscientious rights and Chris- tian liberty, the champion of a nation’s wrongs ; but to have been the scion of such a stock, the descendant of such a parentage, and not to have tarnished these ancestral laurels, nor forfeited the title to their hereditary honours, was the proud dis- tinction of Lord William Bentinck, who sprung, on his mother’s side, through the Devonshire branch, from these distinguished progenitors. Nor was it alone to this family that he might look for the cele- brity of his lineage ; for, through a father, who was the favourite minister of a patriotic king, and the WOMAN IN INDIA. 181 popular representative of regal power in Ireland (the duke of Portland), his genealogy might be traced to one who landed on our shores, the page of honour and the personal adviser of a generous and liberal prince, by whom liberty was rescued from destruction, the people from despotic thraldom, and the nation exalted to the pinnacle of power and honour. To be descended from such a line of nobles and distinguished statesmen ; to have the blood of the Russells, the Devonshires, and the Cavendishes, flowing in his veins ; to be an heir to their fame, and the reward of their virtues ; to have risen to rank and personal distinction in the ser- vice of his country ; and, added to the legacy of his forefathers, the virtues and achievements of a patriot noble became however a small portion of the honours of Lord William Bentinck, the last governor-general of India. For to have wiped the widow’s tear ; to have soothed the infant’s woe ; to have been providentially employed to quench the funeral fires ; to have earned woman’s gratitude, and a people’s praise ; to have spoiled a demon’s power, and ruined Moloch’s temple ; to have broken the spell of idolatrous destruction and superstitious delusion, and blotted out a nation’s crime ; to have purchased the praise of the wise and virtuous, and secured the approbation of a good conscience, as w r ell as performed the will of God, the Almighty King ; are titles of renown far beyond the ducal coronet, or the descent of noble and princely blood : and they belong to the deceased Lord William Bentinck. 182 CONTINENTAL INDIA. “ Yes, child of Brahma, then was mercy nigh, To wash the stain of blood’s eternal die ; Peace did descend to triumph and to save, When noble Bentinck crossed the Indian wave.” If the British power has achieved so holy a victory in the service of humanity, with credit to the honoured governor, and peace and safety among the millions who are subject, whose most venerated and reputedly sacred usages have thus been set aside, while the emoluments and vested privileges of their priesthood have been invaded or abolished, another question arises. There are a few native states, either nominally independent of us, or vir- tually our allies, but whose power subsists only at the pleasure of, or as subservient to, the supremacy of the English government. The greatest number, however, of Hindoo principalities, are either the immediate tributaries or the subsidized confederates of the Anglo-Indian rulers. The country occupied by this latter class extends to 200,000 square miles, with a population of many millions. In these the influence of English diplomacy, or the will of the English government, is paramount with the prince or the people. In the former, the nominally independent states, the good-will of the British power is very valuable, and to secure it, the native rulers will make many concessions; but in all such as are purely Hindoo, the suttee continues to be practised, and women are from time to time immolated as sacrifices to a sanguinary and furious superstition. The manner in which WOMAN IN INDIA. 183 the British government has exerted their influence with Portugal, to suppress the lingering and cruel African slave-traffic, is condemned only for the timidity of the policy, and the wavering incon- stancy with which the claims of man have been pleaded with that depraved and ignominious ally. Had we been more energetic, not only should we have better succeeded, but our diplomacy would have been respected, and our statesmen would have received more cordial applause. Why should not the Board of Control , or the Indian governors, be called upon to prove to our eastern allies that woman’s woes and sufferings are the objects of British sympathy, and that we not only feel for the wretched, but will exert our influence for their deliverance ; that we can only cherish true friend- ship with those governments which are maintained for the protection of the weak, and the general wel- fare of society ; and w here the laws of nature, and the bonds of the human family, are held sacred ? The courts of princes and rulers are not often deserted by tbe flatterer and the parasite, and the strain of eulogy is too familiar to the ears of the high and powerful among men, though to many of the ruling powers in India it is most inappropriate, because undeserved. Never was a people so sub- ject to foreign aggression, and so spoiled by their rulers, as the Hindoos were under native princes. Their epochs might be successively dated from the invasion of a Zenghis Khan, a Timur, and a Shah Abbas, carrying relentless rapine, plunder, and 184 CONTINENTAL INDIA. conflagration. The extraordinary sums of gold, the jewellery, and rich cloths, and the stores ac- quired in the repeated sacking of imperial cities and the palaces of sultans, show how the poor must have suffered and been spoiled, and the harvest of industry destroyed. The history of these has suf- ficed as a pattern and a lure for their great men ; and hence, if any of them have outstripped their associates or predecessors, it has been in deeds of plunder and in acts of barbarity — in becoming a terror to their country, a scourge to their people, and the destroying prince. From the same cause Indian society is far from presenting an unsophisti- cated state, or even the originality of a national character, or the possession of undisturbed here- ditary privileges among the reigning families ; the people exhibit the aspect of a yielding, passive plant, which, though never uprooted, has so often been trod upon, as to have been enfeebled and stunted in its growth. The Hindoos illustrate the origin of government by a characteristic legend. “ Health and virtue are of no avail for security ; for two will invade the property of one, and many again will attack two. Thus men would eventually destroy each other, like the various species of fish. A rajah would protect the people, as a large fish does the smaller. In this manner were mankind continually oppressing each other, when they went to Brahma to give them a ruler. Brahma directed Menu to become their rajah. 1 le replied, I fear a sinful action — government is arduous, particularly WOMAN IN INDIA. 185 so among ever-lying men. They said unto him. Fear not, you shall receive a recompense, of beasts a fiftieth part, and thus also of gold ; vve will give you a tenth of corn, increasing your store ; a be- coming duty on damsels, on disputes, and on gaining. Men exalted in wealth or science shall become subordinate to you, as gods are to the great Indra. Thus become our rajah; powerful, and not to be intimidated, you will govern us in peace, as Koorun does the Yukshees; whatever meritorious actions are performed by subjects pro- tected by the rajah, a fourth part of the merit shall belong to you. Thus, let those who desire ad- vancement, hold the rajah superior to themselves, as a disciple does his religious instructor, as the gods do the divine Indra.” The instances are more numerous wherein the large fish, to which the rajah is compared, has fed upon the smaller, than those in which he has been a protector ; and almost generally will it be found, that whatever protection he affords to one from another, it is that the prey reserved for himself may be the richer. And while every subordinate authority is in his own province as despotic as is the sovereign, so they each protect those who are inferior only that they may become a more abun- dant preserve for themselves; and, descending to the lowest gradations in society, it is a contest between chicanery and over-reaching on the one hand, and deceptive secrecy and avaricious elusion on the other. The leaders of this people cause 186 CONTINENTAL INDIA. them to err, and they that are led of them are destroyed. The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the pro- phets thereof divine for money : and among all classes of them it might be taken up as a lament- ation, “ Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil ; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness ; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter !” Like prince, like people ; the character of the upper classes is for the most part indicative of the general state of society — especially in India, where so many have risen from the lowest to the highest stations of influence ; for, though there be a caste among the Hindoos which is distinguished as a military, and another as a rajah caste, it is not at all uncommon to find, seated upon the musnud, or performing the duties of the dewan, one from the lowest orders of the Sudra caste. We could point to the throne, and tell the tale of one, who has been numbered among the princes and allies of the British power ; who, having been taken from the tasks of a pot-maker caste, to sit among the kings of the earth, has again been set aside as unfit to sway a royal sceptre. The conduct of native authorities in relation to the claims of woman, whether for the protection of her chastity, the enjoyment of her rights, or the exercise of her legitimate influence, affords her no security for virtue or prospect for moral elevation. Too often forcible possession of her person follows the capricious selection which momentary attach- WOMAN IN INDIA. 187 ment dictated. Temporary and short-lived indul- gence, which imperious and satiated lust required, is attained at an irreparable expense — to the viola- tion of virgin modesty, and the disruption of ties which conjugal fidelity deemed sacred and per- petual. And the subsequent rejection of the dis- honoured and outcast victim of fickle passion, proclaims to all beneath the ruling class, that the choicest flowers and forms are nursed only to minister to carnal and base appetites; to bloom and be blown under poisonous and pestilent va- pours which corruption has engendered ; and that the highest style of woman is to be fondled and caressed as a tinselled toy, as a vapid and perishing nosegay ; and then to be tossed aside as a withered weed, an unsavoury and decaying herb. The amorous dallying of such men, displayed in their selections for the harem, in their violent intrusions upon the fondest relations of domestic retirement ; or the favoured companions of their polygamous intercourse, with all the heart-burnings and jealous rivalries of their ignorant captives, — however bright the love-tale may be made to glitter in the mere- tricious ornaments of sentimental fancy and oriental poetry, — does more to degrade woman and despoil her influence, to brutalize the feelings of the com- munity, than we can easily describe. Hindostan Proper, where no influence from foreigners has been exerted, is, however, almost wholly destitute of any link which will bind the whole inhabitants together as a community. It is 188 CONTINENTAL INDIA. a wide continent, and peopled by myriads of cog- nate tribes, practising the same rites, worshipping the same gods, and divided into the same castes ; yet, generally the bonds of fellowship are limited by the walls of the village or township in which they dwell. Each township enjoys the form, if not also the conveniences of a republican colony — it is a distinct society within itself, and possesses its proper and peculiar establishment of officers and servants, from the higher functionary, the potail, down to the bhat, or bard of the community. Every family has its appropriate occupation, or specific office, traditionally entailed upon it through successive generations. Under this rude form of government, the inhabitants of the several munici- palities have lived from time immemorial, and the references or appeals to provincial or imperial authority have been comparatively few. The town lands, often comprising thousands of acres, arable and waste, derived by sunnuth, or leasehold from the crown, through various gradations of subordinate officers, have seldom altered their boundaries or occupants. Sometimes, indeed, they have been injured, and even desolated by war, famine, or disease ; yet the same name, the same limits, the same interests, and the same families, have con- tinued for numerous ages. The breaking up and divisions of kingdoms concerned the inhabitants but little, as members of the state. While their own circle remained entire, they cared not to what prince their land was transferred, or to what sove- WOMAN IN INDIA. 189 reigns it devolved. Their internal economy en- dured unchanged — the potail was still the chief inhabitant; and thus it continues — the twentieth in descent still acts as the petty judge, the magis- trate, and collector of their municipal revenue. This is the picture of all India, if we except the cities, which have become the residence of invading warriors or foreign emigrants ; and it seems to warrant the conjecture, that one village had served as the hive from which every swarm had issued, modelled and regulated in the same manner. The idea that every village or township thus constituted is peopled by families, whose indi- vidual character and internal policy answer the description already given, will enable the inquisitive reader to analyze truly the relative aspect of each part of such society, and especially of woman in India. Their influence here, low as it certainly is, may yet be reckoned the matrix from which the community derives its character and tendency ; and their sufferings and calamities under solitary widowhood, may be deemed the same within every pettah, or native municipality. But it is not from native despotism alone, or the unworthy estimate which Hindooism has formed of the weaker sex, that woman in India suffers. To many ills has she been exposed, and sad and disso- lute has become the portion of many a daughter of India by the conduct of European invaders. Had the conquerors of India become her colonists, and fixed in it the home of their affections and their 190 CONTINENTAL INDIA. prospects ; had the years expended in India, as well as the fortunes realized there, been regarded as the property of that country rather than belonging to the native country of the adventurers ; the effects would have been otherwise in the experience of Hindoo women. But from the highest in authority to the lowest in rank, Europeans have regarded their residence as an exile, and their connexion with the people as a sojourn, which was to be ren- dered as unencumbered and irresponsible as pos- sible : and with a selfishness which is base and discreditable indeed, they have not hesitated to employ the softest, and often pleasing children of India, as the handmaids of their pleasure, and the temporary companions of their banishment, who should be cast off whenever expediency made the demand. The many hundred thousand children of such parentage, which have sprung up in India, show upon what terms Britons have intermingled with Hindoo society. Whilst if the parents of such offspring had cherished reciprocal tenderness and fidelity, had lived in the lawful enjoyment of nature’s most hallowed affections, few will question but the country-born population would have been far more numerous. The illicit and clandestine intercourse between the parties, either from the degradation brought upon the native woman, or the seeming and occasional deference of her com- panion to the pride of English family ; the un- certainty which hung over the woman’s destiny, who had become the temporary associate of the WOMAN IN INDIA. 191 travelled stranger; the instances, many and pain- ful, in which women found themselves expelled from a bosom and a habitation, where they had been promised life and fortune, to make way for a more attractive countrywoman, or some fair and favoured sister from another land ; the ruthless manner in which often their offspring were torn from them and placed in receptacles for such chil- dren of shame, while the germ of natural affection was discouraged and extinguished between the children and their mother ; have been ingredients, strong and bitter enough, to mingle many a cup of gall and wormwood. But the effect of such pro- ceedings upon the community at large, would be to countenance natives in their debased opinion of woman, to present the standard of European estimation in a degrading and ungenerous aspect. It would habituate, not only the women them- selves, but their mothers and sisters, from whom they had withdrawn for European intercourse, to regard their sex as created, or treated at least as if created, for the most ignoble purposes. It would leave them without a single generous motive for cultivating their minds, or any excitement to the use of their legitimate influence in society, and would tempt them to employ Jhe moments of weakness and indulgence to circumvent, to plun- der, and, it may be, to ruin the men who had bound them as slaves, and having dishonoured, were now about to desert them, when their power to please or captivate had passed away. 192 CONTINENTAL INDIA. It is surely enough that I have said on this un- palatable subject- I could make disclosures which would be painful to my readers, in order to confirm the intimations which I have but suggested ; I have been compelled to glance at this point to complete the description. And while such has been the baleful nature of the intercourse maintained by European gentlemen ; there has been little to counteract its operation in the influence of English females who have chosen India as their temporary residence. In many instances they have been youthful, and consequently inexperienced women ; introduced to Indian society in the midst of gaiety and excitement/ with volatile associates and high- wrought expectations ; and engaged in employ- ments which do not expand the mind or improve the heart. They have been met and received by the elders of their own sex, who were longing to leave the regions of vertical heat, of sudden death, and of wearisome exile from their homes and kin- dred. They have mingled and formed connexions with the men of wealth and distinction, who were soonest likely to return to England, or who could maintain the most luxurious establishment, suited to the indolent East ; or it may be, at length, they have been captivated by the junior members of the service, or the subalterns in rank, whose duties required them often to change their residence, or perhaps locate themselves where the society was unattractive, and the seclusion was dreary and sad- dening to the light-hearted and uninquiring. On WOMAN IN INDIA. 193 their landing, or their marriage, they took into their service an ayah, or female attendant, who should minister in the trifling affairs of dress and the labours of the toilet ; her attainments were few ; a few words of English, a gentle patience under all irrita- tions, a suppleness which could bend under, if it did not conform to the caprices of successive mistresses; and a disposition to lounge or sleep any hour, or almost all hours of the twenty-four ; and when aroused, prepared to foster vanity, or gratify what- ever weakness she discovered in the Dorisana, or Beebe-Sahib, her mistress. This generally was the only native woman with whom intercourse was held; the milliner, the washer, the cook, the perfumer, the head servant, and every household servant, were men — what then could the young, and perhaps indolent woman, the woman of fashion and pleasure, know of the Hindoo female character? or what could she propose to do for them ? and what moral influence on the women of India, could English women exercise in such circumstances ? It was enough, if the labours of the toilet could be endured so as to appear when the table was covered, or when the hour for evening drive, or the evening party, had arrived — the intervening hours being, many of them, spent in dishabille and the retire- ment of the shaded and punkaed apartment. Mrs. Shenvood has not overdrawn her description of English women in Bengal. And between them and the native women of India, the mothers, the wives, and sisters of the Hindoos, a wide chasm, a VOL. II. o 194 CONTINENTAL INDIA. great gulf has interposed to prevent all friendly or colloquial intercourse. The knowledge which subsists between women of the one family and of the other, has been conveyed and distorted by hearsay evidence; and the poor secluded Hindoo is scarcely more ignorant of her British sister, of her privileges and pursuits, when exalted and sanctified by a cultivated education and a fear of God, than the lady of the collector, the major, the doctor, the magistrate, the judge, or the general, is unacquainted with, and uninterested in, the claims, the sufferings and debasement, the help- lessness, and utter wretchedness of the ten thou- sand Hindoo women who inhabit the zillah, the pettah, or the city, in whose immediate vicinity their dwelling is placed ; while generous-hearted and ingenuous men, who sought to elevate the character of Hindoo females — men, whom we have known, anxious to raise the mother of their children to the rank of their wives and companions, have been tabooed and represented as odd, quixottish, and almost insane, and the worst motives ascribed to them. The imperative obligations under which these considerations lay the lover of his species, and more especially the servant of Jesus Christ, to put forth strenuous efforts for ameliorating the moral wretch- edness, and elevating the general character of Hindoo females, require no farther illustration : unless their women he brought up in modesty and with industrious and religious habits, it is in vain WOMAN IN INDIA. 195 that we seek to improve the Hindoo women. It is the female sex who keep the character of men at its proper elevation. I rejoice, however, to testify that exertions have been made most credit- able to the devoted and honoured women who have gone forth to heathen lands as helpers in the missionary cause. The listlessness felt by adult Hindoo females on the subject of education would seem almost invincible, but there is added to this, an odium which associates a lascivious character with the possession of literary knowledge : this prejudice is not only countenanced, but enforced, for ignoble purposes, by men whose works of dark- ness will not bear the light. It cannot be, that reading has been found to produce such a charac- ter, but women attached to heathen temples, des- tined for pollution, have been presumed to be instructed in the knowledge of letters, and therefore, all native women learning to read, were represented as belonging to the same class — a delusion which the Brahminical priesthood took care to strengthen. An alienated and suspicious mind, misled by these misrepresentations, required to be overcome ; pre- judice and custom must be broke through ; and naturally indolent and careless dispositions should be aroused before education could spread far among the Hindoo females. Barriers and im- pediments such as these, could be surmounted, it might have been thought, only by masculine and cooperating energies, aided by the influence of the governing authority : yet the work was under- 196 CONTINENTAL INDIA. taken by feebler, though not less efficient agency — woman came to the rescue of her debased sister — the wives of missionaries, and females, even single- handed, went forth in the might and majesty of benevolence and truth ; and entering upon this sphere with a generous and ardent zeal, they braved and vanquished the greatest difficulties — the languages, prejudices, climate, and natural sloth and indifference. Their progress has already been triumphant, their success most cheering, and their prospect is more glorious than the mountains of a warrior’s prey, the conquests of the proud invader, and the lam-els of the titled hero. Natives of wealth and influence have pronounced blessings on their name, have entered into zealous cooperation, have led their own children into the flowery paths of wisdom and instruction, or have opened their own secluded and obscured domestic circles for the visits of the teacher, and the ennobling communi- cations of universal knowledge. At every mission in peninsular and northern India, are now schools for females, with an average attendance of one female for every nine boys ; while the instruction afforded to the former is probably more select and practical than what is imparted to the male scholars. Institutions for female education are also in efficient operation in the chief cities of India. There will soon be a cultivated and enlightened seed among the Hindoo females, which, as a handful of corn on the top of the mountains shall shake like Lebanon, and flourish like the grass of the WOMAN IN INDIA. 197 earth. The leaven will work till it has leavened the whole lump. We speak from personal inter- course with intelligent brahmins, whose minds had been illumined with general knowledge, though perhaps, not sanctified under the influence of divine truth; and we do not doubt but a few years will exhibit a change of the most gratifying nature, in the character and pursuits of women in India. A FOJ-TOAn, OR KIT.Ii FORT TRAVELLING REMINISCENCES. A lingering indisposition, which seemed to baffle the power of medicine and the skill of practitioners, had laid me aside from activity, and cast a cloud over my prospects. Change of climate and occu- pation were enjoined. I had set my heart on a visit to the island of spicy groves, and a sojourn with some endeared transatlantic friends, who had come forth there with the ambition to do good. My medical attendants, however, assured me that such a change would be fatal to my life, with the TRAVELLING REMINISCENCES. 199 affection under which I laboured. A northern, or at least, a colder region, presented the only proba- bility of recovery. Not from choice, then, but necessity, was another route pursued. A partial convalescence encouraged a farther experiment, by which I was led from one region to another, feehly performing certain duties, till I had traversed many hundred miles overland, and by water. It was not deemed prudent that I should travel alone : 1 started from the presidency, therefore, accom- panied by one whose zeal and love were a solace and support under drooping sickness and protracted disease, and whose ministering care was often needed, and never withheld in the time of need. Another friend travelled with us during part of the way, and by his amiable and prompt, as well as judicious cooperation, we enjoyed many consolations in our route, and alleviations of the fatigues or priva- tions incident to so lengthened a journey. I shall not again recur to the stages of our pro- gress below the Eastern Ghauts. The high table- land of the ancient Carnata, the country of the modern Mysore ; Malabar, the country of the Nairs; Canara, the Tulava of former times; the shores of the Mahratta country ; the Concans, north and south ; the fragments of Portuguese dominion from Goa to Damaun ; the presidency of Bombay, the chiefship of Surat, the ruins of Mah- ratta warfare, the fertile districts of Guzerat, and the coasts of Cambay, will more than occupy the space I have allotted for this chapter. I can only 200 CONTINENTAL INDIA. skim the surface of memoranda which recount scenes and incidents as various as the localities through which I passed, or the different tribes with whom I mingled. My mode of travel permitted me to visit most of the more remarkable places re- peatedly, and scenes were presented at one time which had not been witnessed at another. I shall not, therefore, transcribe a bare itinerary of stages, arrivals, and departures, but I shall avail myself of the opportunity of grouping incidents, as well as persons ; I shall, moreover, attempt to paint the events, without introducing my bulletins of health, or bill of fare. A personal narrative would be im- pertinent to my object. The collector of Arcot, and other Madras civilians contiguous to the Ghauts, had chosen Pulamanair as a cool retreat from the heat of the Carnatic, and several most agreeable bungalows or chateaus had been erected for their temporary residence. I was received by Mr. , the collector, with the hos- pitable urbanity so characteristic of the country civilians of India. His connexion with the highest authorities of the Indian direction was close, and his influence and patronage were great. His estimable lady was of exalted worth, equal to her lineage and station. But they were both disciples of Christ, and not ashamed to make the declaration of their adherence to the cause of evangelical re- ligion. In our conversational inquiries and dis- cussions, the “ Waverley Novels,” and other productions of Scott’s fertile pen, passed under TRAVELLING REMINISCENCES. 201 review ; the question of their moral influence, their relation to history, and delineations of religious character, was introduced ; and the injustice com- mitted upon the memory and reputation of the covenanters in Scotland, and puritans in England, was strongly reprobated. These colloquies led my host to mention his relation to one of the most distinguished of Scottish worthies, a Clydesdale champion for God’s broken covenant, and bis own oppressed country. Mr. produced a manu- script volume, written in the style of the seventeenth century, which he said he had never read, except a page or two, but he believed it concerned those trying times and martyred men. Within the second page 1 read, “ But the times (of his birth) were ex- tremely unhappy, because of a cruel, tyrannical, prelatical persecution, begun and carried on by the ever infamous Charles the Second, king of Britain, Middleton and Lauderdale in the state, and per- fidious, treacherous Sharpe in the church. For, before I was born, my father, with others, being set on by the enemy at Pentland Hills, when they were standing up • for the gospel, and was routed, and many of them slain,” &c. I found what followed to be partly an autobiography of the writer, and partly the tale of his father’s sufferings unto death. Thus will manuscripts of greatest interest travel, from Clydesdale to Mysore, or other lands even more remote. The possessor was persuaded to print the work, which occupied a hundred octavo pages, and bore the title, “ Victorious Providence in 202 CONTINENTAL INDIA. His Divine and Triumphant Rays.” It is a monu- ment of pious gratitude, and a memorial to the riches of redeeming grace. A few miles to the north, along the ridge of the Ghauts, resides the rajah of Panganoor. His style of rajah is higher in name than in possession ; he might rather be accounted a landed proprietor, who is allowed by the English to enjoy one-fifth of the revenues of his land, and to pay the rest into the Company’s exchequer. He was a polygar chief, but is prudent enough to perceive that servile sub- mission to British supremacy is his most politic course. He has assumed the dress and manners of an Englishman, cultivates the language of the English, maintains a domestic establishment in imitation of an English resident, and whenever he can attract strangers of note to his palace, he appears gratified, and exerts himself to gain their approbation. I have been told of his appearing in top boots, and other parts of dress to suit. But he mingles, in a most incongruous medley. Eastern pomp with English fashion ; elephants and horses, &c. He is much flattered by the attention of the local civilians, and comes forth occasionally in great parade to visit them at Pulamanair. There is a scattered native village, partly employed in agriculture, and partly dependent on the European residents ; the population is not great — about two or three hundred houses ; the cultivation is of the various kinds of such dry grains as do not require irrigation. The stages through the Mysore are provided TR A V EI. LING R EM I N ISC EN C ES. 203 with choultries, and within these is the traveller required to find his shelter and provision, from Pulamanair to Bangalore, about a hundred miles. They have been erected by the government of the country for the convenience of travellers : a cottage- like building, containing a middle room, two side ones, and a deep verandah, from which are de- tached the offices for cooking, and all are enclosed within a fence. They are generally kept clean and free from intrusion by an invalid sepoy, who has his pay from government ; and the head man of the village, the cotwal, attends to see that no overcharge is made for provision, llice, fowls, and curry-stuffs are the readiest supplies for the wayfaring man. Mysore sheep — and their mutton is as good as is the Welsh or Scotch black-face — may also be pro- cured, but the traveller must wait till it has been killed. A scene occurred to our party which will illustrate Eastern travel. We had reached C'olar, and had travelled Dawk, or Tappal, that is, we had posted the journey by relays of bearers. We had, therefore, gone far a-head of our Cavadi coolies, the porters who carried our culinary supplies ; but we were hungry, and had nothing to eat, and found our only alternative w r ould be to cast ourselves upon the local purveyor. A good fat fowl was roasted upon a wooden spit ; rice was boiled in an earthern chattie, or pot ; and a curry-stuff w r as pre- pared in time Hindoo style. All w T as ready to be brought in ; but we had no table except the convex top of our palanquin ; w r e had no vessel to hold 204 CONTINENTAL INDIA. the rice except our wash-hand basin ; we had no plates except the leaf of the banian or fig-tree ; and no knife, or fork, or spoon, or divider. One took one leg, and another took another, and pulled them asunder, and so with the other parts ; we had to dip our fingers into the rice, in native fashion, and mix it with the curry-stuff as we could ; the salt was as blue as slate, and as hard almost as granite, and we had to retain it in the mouth till it melted. The supper was not without its amusement ; but neither is it without its instruction. Such is the state of domestic comfort in one of the most com- mercial cities of the Mysore country ! Such is the social condition of a people hitherto subject to Brahminical and Mohammedan influence ! Colar was the capital of an extended province subject to the Mohammedan sovereign of Bejapore, sometimes called Yigayapore, and though it depends on arti- ficial irrigation, it is fertile and well cultivated : on the edge of a valley a dyke is built, so as to form a large tank, or lake ; the dyke or bank is half a mile in length, and is filled by the rains of the monsoon. It is sufficient to water all the lands of the valley during the dry season. The bund, or bank, of this lake reaches to within half a mile of Colar. This town has long been a thriving empo- rium of trade, from which the imports and produc- tions of the coasts were disseminated through the interior districts. The disastrous effects of war were not felt here as at other places of traffic in the Mysore. The town is distinct from the fort. TRAVELLING REMINISCENCES. 205 The fortifications or ramparts rise twenty-five feet high, and exhibit a square form of about a quarter of a mile on each face. Each corner was defended by an angle, with an embrasure for three guns ; on the centre of the north side was a bastion ; and the whole was surrounded by a fosse, braye, and dry ditch. A few soldiers, about forty, were the only military force while the rajah reigned, but there was no cannon in the place. The town is composed of one large street, with lanes branching from it ; the shops are on both sides of the way — it is an Indian bazaar — the way is narrow — the houses are low, like the booths at an English fair, and the purchasers numerous. Goldsmiths and braziers, and florists and nurserymen, the sellers of flowers and coloured powders, occupy the most prominent places ; provision and fruit shops, drug and cloth merchants, mingle with them. Some native gold is found mixed with the soil, and all who can adorn themselves with jewellery. The culinary vessels of the natives are made of brass. Almost all females, and the dancing girls espe- cially, wear flowers in their hair, &c. ; and the powders are used for marking the forehead by every Hindoo. In the vicinity of Colar two attractive objects present themselves not unworthy of notice— a Mohammedan mausoleum and a charity choultrie. They are distant from the town about a mile, on opposite sides of the road. The tombs are the depositories of Hyder Ali’s ancestors and paternal 206 CONTINENTAL INDIA. kindred. The grandfather and his wife, the father and five of Hyder’s brothers, are entombed in one mausoleum, which is a plain, low room. On the outside of this building are other tombs of more distant relations. They stand in a garden, within a gate, and attached to them is a musjid, or house of prayer, and a large stone tank. Around, and in different parts of the garden, cypress trees of great size grow most luxuriantly, and give to the scene a sombre aspect. Arabic prayers are recited by mollahs, or priests, who are accounted holy, and constantly attend in their place of worship ; other Moslem functionaries are in regular attendance to sprinkle flowers over the graves, and to light lamps in the vault by night. It was the policy of the British conquerors to continue certain endowments granted by Hyder for this purpose. On the oppo- site, the left-hand side of the road, stands a lofty building, where about 150 people receive food every night. There seems to be some connexion between this charity and the mausoleum ; music continually sounds here, agreeably to the custom observed at all Mohammedan tombs. The Mysore government was the ostensible almoner of this charity, but the British government was the guarantee for its permanence. We shall come to Hyder’s own tomb elsewhere. The road toward Bangalore is truly beautiful, passing through rows of trees of diversified name and foliage ; the soonkesari was most conspicuous by its fragrance and lily-white flower. For many TRAVELLING REMINISCENCES. 207 miles it seems as if the soil were peculiarly favour- able to trees and herbage. The walnut, the banian, and the mango, spread their branches, and stretch out their boughs, so as almost to cover the road, and shade the traveller under an alcove ; and the aloes shoot up their spiral branch ; while the milk hedge, ramified, its branches like coral, and growing to the height of twenty or thirty feet, give a ver- dure and luxuriance to the highway most grateful to the eye of a traveller. When the trees are in blossom they perfume the air with the sweetest odour, and vary the appearance of the foliage with fine effect. The country to the right and left is most richly fertile, and the scenery, interspersed with mountainous ridges, or isolated hills, gives the open cultivated plains a more varied and pleasing character. Here and there, across the road, fes- toons of flowers, and strings of cloth, stretched from side to side, show that some great personage, the governor of Madras, or the British resident at Mysore, has been travelling this road. This is a mark of distinction either willingly rendered by the servile and dependent Hindoos, or exacted by the governing authorities, to remind the people of their subject condition, and the supremacy of their English conquerors. On my arrival at the bunga- low of Ooscotah, I was suffering under the most oppressive and agonizing headache ; so rending did the pain feel, that I could find only temporary relief by the application of a tight bandage. Tra- velling by day, and functionary derangement of the 208 CONTINENTAL INDIA. hepatic system, had brought on a nervous and paralyzing attack. As soon as I came in, I sought relief by wandering round the verandah of the choultrie, where I was met by a humane and obliging native of China. He addressed me, observ- ing my haggard and tortured visage, “ Master not well ?” he said. My reply was in the affirmative, that I was very far from being well. “ Would master like some tea?” he asked. “Oh! what would I give for a cup of tea ! ” was my reply. In a short time he brought me a bowl of tea. I de- clined it, and begged that he would serve himself, and then let me have some. This he firmly re- sisted, saying, “ Master take first, then I take.” Never did I experience, nor could I have ever imagined, the potent and magic influence of that beverage, “ which cheers but not inebriates.” I know not the mode nor the proportions in which my Chinese Samaritan friend distilled the aromatic herb, but this I must testify, that in less than half an hour my headache was entirely subdued, my bandages and all symptoms of oppression removed, and I was able to walk out and congratulate my stranger benefactor on the cure he had effected. A few men of the Chinese nation only have found their way to the western peninsula ; but those who have visited Madras are generally mechanics, boot and shoe makers, and prove most diligent, honest, and successful tradesmen. They are men of independent minds, and live much by them- selves. I had no opportunity of requiting the TRAVELLING REMINISCENCES. 209 kind-hearted fellow who ministered so seasonably to my relief. My own wanderings prevented our meeting again. A few vestiges of antiquity, which have de- scended from former times, will contrast with pre- sent appearances. The natural boundary of the ancient Deckan, or South land of India, may be traced along the Kistna, or Cristina, so named from its dark-coloured waters. From the lofty mountains which skirt the western side of the peninsula, this river rises and flows from above the Concan, in a south-easterly direction, through forests and fertile plains, till it reaches the ocean in lat. 16°, in the country of Guntoor. On the eastern coast of this peninsula two provinces of ancient name, the Calinga and Dravida, extend south to the Cape Comorin, or the Cape of Comari, the virgin goddess Isa. In Calinga the Telinga language, and in Dravida the Tamil, have been spoken from time immemorial. On the west coast the provinces of Maber, or Malabar, and Tulava, stretch to the vicinity of Goa from Cape Comorin, and here the Malayalim and Canarese languages are spoken. The elevated central region constitutes the ancient Carnata, or Carnatic, and was long the seat of a flourishing empire ; the ancient capital of which, Dwara Samudra, or Devaghiri, 105 miles north-west of Seringapatam, was plundered in the succeeding years, 1310 and 1311, by Mohammedan invaders. The latter was effected by a predatory incursion of Malec Naib, general of Aladdin. VOL. II. p 210 CONTINENTAL INDIA. “ Continuing to advance for the extermination of infidels” — so writes Ferishta — “after a march of three months, they engaged and took prisoner Belala Deva, king of the Camatic, and plundered his country, destroying the temples, and seizing on all the images which were of gold. Malec Naib erected a small mosque, in which he celebrated the name of Mohammed, and read the Khutta, in the name of Sultan Aladdin. At the time (1609) in which I write, this mosque is still in existence. It is situated in the land of infidels, near the grove of Sita and the bridge of Rameswara. Those infidels have respected a house consecrated to God, and have preserved it. Some ascribe this to a pro- phecy contained in their books, that the whole of India will be subjected to Mohammedan princes. After Malec Naib had possessed himself of the treasures of all the kings of that country, and was preparing to return, the night before his march a quarrel arose among some brahmins, who sought refuge in his camp, respecting money taken from the buried treasures of the nobility. A Moham- medan overheard them, and lodged information with the Cutwal. The brahmins were seized and carried before Malec Naib : on the application of the torture, they refunded what they had taken ; and discovered not only that treasure, but six other places of deposit in the woods. Malec Naib drew immense sums from these deposits, and began his march towards Maber (Malabar). Having also destroyed the temples there, and collected large TRAVELLING REMINISCENCES. 211 sums and valuable jewels, he returned to Delhi in the year 711 of the hegira (1311). He presented to Aladdin 312 elephants, 24,000 horses, 96,000 maunds of gold, and innumerable diamonds and pearls.” It is said that the native rajah Belal Rai, whose family reigned till 1387, removed his seat of empire to Yadavapuri, or Tonuru, in the neigh- bourhood of Seringapatam ; hut this prince is con- jectured by other authorities to have founded Vijayanagur, or Bijapore; a city which soon at- tained to a high degree of splendour and magnifi- cence. Its rulers extended their authority over the whole peninsula south of the Krishna. Their power and prosperity excited the envy and alarmed the fears of Mohammedan princes whose dominions w r ere contiguous, and who had thrown off' the su- premacy of the Mogul, and their confederacy joined in plundering Bijapore ; they killed the rajah in battle, and depopulated the city. Its present remains, a heap of mins, prove its ancient greatness as the capital of an independent sovereignty. It is re- presented to have consisted of three towns, one within another, situated in a fertile plain : the innermost w r as the citadel ; the next was the fort, not less than eight miles in compass; and the outermost w r as environed by a wall from twenty- four to thirty miles in circumference. The inmost fort, though a mile in circuit, appears but a speck within the larger one, and both are in a manner lost in the extent of the greatest wall. The second fort now contains several distinct towms, and p 2 212 CONTINENTAL INDIA. amidst its ruins there is room for extensive corn fields. The citadel was well built of ponderous stones, and encompassed by a ditch one hundred yards wide, and was a place of great strength, consisting of a strong curtain, numerous towers, fausse-bray ditch, and covered way. The interior presents a heap of ruins, the mosque of Ali Adil Shah being alone preserved in repair, all the other buildings having fallen into decay. The king’s palace was situated within the fort, so were the houses of the nobility, many extensive gardens, and large magazines. Beyond the walls were noble palaces and populous suburbs ; and Bijapore is stated, on native authority, to have contained 984,456 houses, and 1600 mosques: recent tra- vellers think this last statement no exaggeration. The wall, which is placed north and south, was built of stone of prodigious thickness, and twenty feet in height, with capacious towers every hundred yards. Mosques and mausoleums, adorned with the orna- ments common to eastern architecture, abound, especially within the inner fort of Bijapore, the greatest of which is 290 feet long, and 165 broad. The mausoleum of Sultaun Mahmood Shah is 153 feet square, with a dome of 1 1 7 feet in diameter at its greatest concavity. The mosque and mau- soleum of Ibrahim Adil Shah, completed about the year 1620, is reputed to have cost 700,000/. and occupied 6,533 workmen for the space of thirty-six years. The dimensions of this building are, of the basement 130 yards long and 52 broad. TRAVELLING REMINISCENCES. 213 and raised 15 feet. A plain building, 115 feet by 76, stands within, covered by an immense dome raised on arches. The mausoleum is a room 57 feet square, enclosed by two verandahs 13 feet in breadth and 22 feet in height. The buildings are generally of massive stone, built in the most durable style, and of elegant workmanship. There are here some cannon of enormous calibre ; one brass gun, fixed in the centre, would require an iron bullet weighing 2,646 pounds. The city is well watered, having, besides many wells, several rivulets running through it. Bijapore is distant from Bellary about forty miles, on the south bank of the Toombudra: its downfal followed the sanguinary battle of Tellicottah in 1564. The lofty and rugged piles of rock, heaped in strange and threatening forms, the furrowed and naked hills which now occupy the site of this ancient city, appear to the modern traveller like the mighty ruins of some work of nature, rather than the fragments of human toil ; whereas, on closer inspection, he observes, what seemed naked hills, studded with rude stone choultries, their summits occupied with small pagodas; while the perpendicular masses of natural rock are so inter- mingled with columns, raised by manual labour, as to be hardly discernible from each other. Frag- ments of pillars, -walls, pagodas, or choultries, scattered in the thick jungle, may be traced in the valleys, in one place peering just above the brush- wood, and in another nearly concealed by rich 214 CONTINENTAL INDIA. mantles of creeping plants. Clusters of domes of lofty arches and ruined gateways mark out the boundaries of once beautiful gardens, throughout which may yet be traced the remains of fountains and baths. “ Sorrowfully I passed,” — (these are the words of Major S ) : — “ every stone beneath my feet bore the mark of chisel or of human skill and labour. You tread continually on steps, pavement, pillar, capital, or cornice of rude relief, displaced or fallen, and mingled in confusion. Here, large masses of such materials have formed bush-covered rocks — there pagodas are still standing entire. You may for miles trace the city walls, and can often discover by the fallen pillars of the long piazza where it has been adorned by streets of uncommon width.” Here is a large pagoda, per- fect and kept in good repair ; for to this spot a pil- grimage is made annually by crowds of devout Hindoos, who hold a fair in this wild scene, and perform their ablutions in the sacred Toombudra, which rolls on, hurrying past these ruins, over a rocky bed, often broken and intercepted in its course by huge picturesque masses of the rock. Another pagoda is pointed out, whose gates, pillars, and projecting cornices are adorned with admirable sculpture, and to which is attached an idol-car, composed entirely of black granite, whose orna- mental carving is beautifully executed, and which was once moveable ; its wheels are now half bedded in the soil. A subterraneous sanctuary, which used to be lighted with torches, still contains the arrange- TRAVELLING REMINISCENCES. 215 ment for rites and ceremonies of the goddess Kali, the monster destroyer of the human race, and to whom human sacrifices were offered. The thought of crimes perpetrated here will lead to an acknow- ledgment of the divine justice, when, in the hour of retribution, a band of Moslems broke into this recess, and seizing the assembled priests by their consecrated locks, hanging on either side of their shaven crowns, dragged them with shouts to the light of day, polluted their necks with the foot of pride, slew all, and rolled their gory heads as mock offerings to the foot of their goddess, whose neck- lace of human skulls bespoke her appetite for such sacrifices. The waters of the Caveri have, from time imme- morial, been held sacred by the Hindoos; and in a temple near to the modem capital of Mysore, Vishnoo reposed in the form, or avatar, of Sri Runga, prior to the writing of the Seva Purana, a work of remote antiquity. Hither pilgrims used to resort, that they might bathe in the sacred stream, and visit the temple of Sri Runga. About the year 1454 a new pagoda was erected, and a fort constmcted in its vicinity, which afterwards be- came the seat of a provincial viceroy. Bijapore, or Vijayanagar, was the capital, in which the chief ruler resided, and the town of Sri Runga, or Se- ringapatam, was the citadel of the viceroyalty. The lands on which the temple and fort had been erected, were possessed in 1524 by the ancestors of the rajah, who was set upon the musnud or throne of 216 CONTINENTAL INDIA. Mysore at the overthrow of Tippoo Sultaun. They were then called Mysur, a contraction of Mahesa- suri, an epithet of the Hindoo goddess Isa. The provincial ruler at first only bore the title Udiar, synonymous with Poly gar, or the modern Zemindar and landowner. While the dynasty of Bijapore was in vain struggling against decline from 1564, the provincial udiars were striving to evade paying their revenues to government, and gradually to enlarge the bounds of their possessions, in which the Mysur udiars were most successful. Raj Udiar, as heir of the family property, was nominated to the charge of government by the dying viceroy in 1610, when he removed his residence to Seringa- patam, and, as a convert, professed his adherence to the Vaisnava doctrines. In the course of a long, active, and successful reign, he added many neighbouring districts to the dominions originally subjected to his sway. Nine princes of the same family succeeded each other during 150 years — from 1610 to 1760 — on the throne of Mysur; the last of whom was deprived of regal authority by the usurpation of Hyder Ali, the commander of his forces. The monarch whom Hyder subverted was under the pupilage and control of brahminical deceit ; the rajah whom the British restored was to the utmost limit a creature of his brahminical advisers. The ascendency of the court was swayed by brahminism ; the rajah never did any thing till he consulted the brahminical keeper of his conscience. TRAVELLING REMINISCENCES. 217 A description of this oriental state-priest will not now be unsuitable. The number of brahmin sanneasis is small ; under the name of Gooroos and Swamalus, they may be reputed the bishops of the different sects who exercise a jurisdiction over all their inferiors in every thing relating to religion and caste. They also perform certain ceremonies, such as Upadesa and Chicranticum, a rite among the Hindoos analogous to the con- firmation granted by English prelates, whether in England or India. They are supported entirely by the willing contributions of their disciples ; which, nevertheless, are so burdensome, that a gooroo never can continue long in one place. The con- tributions of all the city of Madras are only equal to the wants of a swamalu, or Hindoo bishop, for a month or two in a year. A hundred pagodas daily, or 3 61. 15s. 5d. is as little as can be decently offered to such a personage, or nearly 14,000/. per annum. The rajah of Tanjore has been said to give his gooroo 250 pagodas, or 91/. 18s. 6|r/. per diem, when honoured by his visits. The gooroos travel in great state ; with elephants, horses, palanquins, and an immense train of disciples, the least of whom considers himself above the most highly exalted of mankind by their reputed sanctity. They travel generally by night, to avoid Moslem or European scorn. They claim more than vene- ration; they consider themselves entitled to ado- ration. On the approach of a gooroo to a place, every Hindoo of pure birth must go to meet him ; 218 CONTINENTAL INDIA. the other classes are not admitted to his presence. On being conducted to the principal pagoda, the gooroo bestows Upadesa and Chicranticum on such as have not already received these ceremonies, and distributes holy water. Matters of local strife, transgressions against the rules of caste, and sub- jects of controversy, are submitted to his decision ; and having settled these, or punished the offenders, his disciples, and other learned men, are permitted to dispute on certain theological subjects in his presence. These disputations are described as similar to those which seven or eight hundred years ago were common in the Romish church. Their knowledge of science or the secrets of nature, of moral or natural philosophy, does not perhaps excel what was possessed in Europe in the darkest ages ; and their reputation in controversy is limited only to subtilty in debate, and fluent facility in the use of logical terms or metaphysical distinctions. Kempali Gowdah is represented as having been a polygar, or udiar of Mugdee, a province which lies to the south-west of Bangalore twenty-five miles, in the thirteenth century. Nundidroog, Sevagungah, &c. were joined with other places under the government of Mugdee. Kempah Gow- dah, though he could not boast of noble lineage, or of princely ancestors, having been only a husbandman of his tribe, was yet able to command the respect of his contemporaries, and secured to himself the admiration of coming generations ; he had been comparatively illiterate, yet lie ranks as TRAVELLING REMINISCENCES. 219 a moralist and a saint. He maintained his govern- ment among the people by equity, and defended his country from foreign aggression by a small military force. His intelligence and ability are the theme of tradition among his countrymen even yet. He erected several noted pagodas and large choultries, dug large tanks and wells, and bestowed, for the maintenance of charity, of religious places, and of brahmins, portions of land for cultivation. One of the grants, bearing his signature, was shown among the natives while I was here ; and some of the descendants of the original recipients were then enjoying the fruits of his bounty. None of his own descendants remain ; but the pagodas are pointed out, as the enduring monuments of his beneficence, in perfect condition. Two of them are at Nundidroog and Sevagungah, celebrated in distant parts. The tradition among the people of this country is, that Kempah Gowdah was too good to live as a man ; — that his prayer and long desire had been, that he should be always present and prepared for the service of his God, having lights in his hands in the temple. He was beloved by God, and by his miraculous power he was transformed into the shape of a stone image, holding two lamps in his hands, in which form he now stands in the temple at Sevagungah. Another pagoda is still upheld in the vicinity of Bangalore, as having been finished by his piety : the verandah, the surrounding wall, and other stone erections, are assigned to him ; while the gods 220 CONTINENTAL INDIA. themselves, it is said, became fellow-workers with him, and excavated a cavern, several deep and hidden recesses, and other internal arrangements. This pagoda is near Gureepoorum, a village about a mile south-west from the fort of Bangalore. It is placed upon a mound-like hill, and is partly formed of excavated rock; the descent to the cavern is gradual, and about six or eight feet deep at the entrance ; the temple for the idols is almost twenty-four feet square. There is a male and female form, to whom offerings and incense are daily presented, and to provide which, Kempah Gowdah left an endowment : time and political changes have almost totally alienated these. Ca- vernous passages lead to the right and left, about five feet high and three feet wide, extending some eighty or ninety feet in length. A third passage goes off in the direction of other chambers, de- signed as storehouses or sanctuaries ; and a fourth passage, it is affirmed by the officiating priest, leads to the pagoda of Sevagungah, distant thirty-four miles. The truth of this, however, he leaves the gods themselves alone to know ; since it is peopled with snakes and other dangerous or noxious rep- tiles, so that no human being has attempted the passage for many hundred years. A party of liberal and half-sceptical brahmins explored most of these caves, and advanced farther than their friend the priest advised ; but their scepticism was either not quite proof against the impressions of early edu- cation, or not so strong as to induce them to TRAVELLING REMINISCENCES. 221 undergo the fatigues necessary to trace the extent of the excavations ; they did creep and crawl, or twist themselves to a considerable distance, and found the passage continuous, serpentine, and in- accessible, except by great labour. I have the account of their undertaking now lying before me, w ritten by one of themselves, too long for insertion here. Bangalore has been a conspicuous object in the history of Mysore since Hyder first received it as his jaghire, or territory, from the revenue of which he should maintain himself as commander of the rajah’s forces. It was noted in the wars con- ducted under Cornwallis and Wellesley, and has since continued the depot for a large division of British troops. The fort w r as considered by the Moslems as a master-piece of military architecture, and admitted by European engineers to have been a well-built citadel; it is of an oval shape, and about a mile in circumference. I have wandered round its walls with old officers, who were full of anecdotes about Hyder and Tippoo’s cruelty, and who pointed out the dungeons where these rulers had confined European officers taken in war, and, having treated them with severity, whence they afterwards led them forth to death. I saw, residing within the fort at the same time, tw r o officers, whom Tippoo had kept bound in fetters under a tree till a battle w r as decided, that he might take revenge upon them. They obtained a happy deliverance by his reverses ; one of them had been then only 222 CONTINENTAL INDIA. a non-commissioned soldier in the European ranks, and rose no higher in the service than a lieutenant ; he was attached to the arsenal. The other was a subaltern, though a commissioned officer, while awaiting his fate under the tree ; he attained the rank of lieutenant-general, and was commander-in-chief while his companion in arms and suffering con- tinued the subaltern. The palace of Tippoo Sultaun, though composed of mud, possessed magnificence without, and spacious conveniences within, and was the residence of the general officer command- ing the Mysore division of the troops. Hyder and Tippoo had formed extensive gardens, which were divided into square plots, separated by walks and ornamented by fine cypress trees : vines, apples, and peaches, are successfully cultivated, and these, as well as almost every other fruit of the tropical and temperate climes, produce most luxuriantly. The Pettah and surrounding villages are populous, containing about seventy thousand inhabitants. The cantonment is under a separate jurisdiction, and is military in all its arrangements. It is plea- santly situated on the highest points of the Mysore country, wide, open, and waving plains lying around, setting hardly any bounds to the excur- sions of the rider or the occasional pedestrian. The accommodations for the military, whether for discipline and field exercise or barracks, are suffi- cient for as many as eight or ten corps. There are usually an English dragoon and an infantry regiment, besides two or more battalions of horse- TRAVELLING REMINISCENCES. 223 artillery, constituting a European force of between two and three thousand soldiers ; there are, also, one or more native cavalry regiments, and from four to six battalions of native infantry, officered by gentlemen sent out as cadets from England. 'I' he lines of the sepoys are well furnished with bunga- lows for the European officers, and the barracks for the British troops are well fitted for the climate and all military purposes. There is a chaplain for the station, and a place of worship for the troops. There are two missionary stations, one for the Wesleyans, more recently commenced, and another for the London Missionary Society, which has con- tinued for nearly twenty years. I was more familiar with the gentlemen of this latter mission, and shall glance at their operations. It was deemed conducive to the general interests of their mission, and called for by the peculiarities of Bangalore, that the missionaries should devote a portion of their time and sendees to the Euro- pean residents ; and to this they were encouraged by the zealous cooperation of civil and military authorities ; some of whom occasionally, or with more regularity, attended their ministrations in a bungalow chapel which had been erected within the cantonment. Some truly excellent persons, especially from among the military, lent their cor- dial assistance : Majors M and OB opened their hearts and their houses to such as loved the Lord Jesus ; and sometimes as many as ten or twelve officers, besides the ladies of some 224 CONTINENTAL INDIA. of them, assembled at domestic prayer-meetings, and attended services in the chapel. The general officer, the commandant, colonels in command, and other officers, contributed to objects pursued by the mission ; and soldiers, sometimes two hun- dred, attended the preaching in the chapel. A few had joined in church-fellowship, and kept up prayer-meetings. From the salubrity of the climate, invalids or convalescents from other stations came to Bangalore, and enjoyed the religious counsel of the missionaries; imbibing and carrying with them, when they left, principles which developed in beneficent operation in the stations to which they returned. Associations were formed, and liberally supported, auxiliary to the Madras branches of the Bible, Tract, and Missionary Societies. Supplies were procured, as occasion served, of the choicest religious and instructive works, suited to the British population, while the libraries of the missionaries were often scattered far and wide, to diffuse useful and scriptural knowledge. The missionaries and their families formed at some times a rather nu- merous circle ; invalid brethren joining them from other stations, and continuing to cooperate with them in their benevolent labours for months, or even a longer period, as their health might require. In this extended society there was facility for re- peated services in English, and there was propriety in maintaining them. The fellow-labourers who convened from Madras and Bellary, and associated in the fellowship of the saints, found such inter- TRAVELLING REMINISCENCES. 225 course profitable, and were thereby refreshed for renewed work, and prepared for further usefulness. But the every-day work, and appropriate field for these men, were found among the natives of the land ; nor did they neglect, or only partially occupy this their appointed sphere. They held private and repeated intercourse, day by day, with their Hindoo neighbours ; they maintained schools, common and select ; the gospel was often preached in the verna- cular language, through the week and on the sabbath, in the chapel, by the road-side, in the market-place, and surrounding villages; during tours of itine- rancy, or in more limited excursions. I accompanied one of the missionaries and several of his native bre- thren in a visit to one of the neighbouring villages. It was ten miles from the cantonment, and lay at a distance from any highway ; the road to it was through green fields and rural by-paths. We passed two or three rude and scattered hamlets, straggling and ruinous; and such buildings as stood were mean and exposed, indicating little comfort or intelli- gence ; while the modes and state of cultivation be- spoke the poverty of the people, and their ignorance of husbandry. We were met, as we approached the village, by three of its rustic inhabitants. They were brothers of Canarese family, and named Chi- napa, Yunia, and Yaugapa, whose tale would illus- trate the social condition of this people, and be an interesting episode in my sketches ; but it would be too long. When agriculture is the early and only occupation of a people, few of them generally VOL. II. Q 226 CONTINENTAL INDIA. can read, and great ignorance prevails : but when the gross and palpable cloud of heathenism is super- added — when great love for Brahma, Vishnu, and other gods, has been nursed from infancy in their minds, accompanied with all the foolish vanities of idolatry — we need not wonder that they had not been taught to think or judge for themselves. The province of Bangalore is subdivided into several soubahs. We were now in the district or soubah of Begour : for a circuit of five miles round the country is well watered, and richly productive. There were no monuments of antiquity ; there was no traditionary battle-scene to be surveyed; the ear of history had never heard the name of Com- monillee, and the trump of fame had never given one faint sound of its praise. The aspect of the village exhibited a striking illustration of the beau- tiful parable, in which Zion of old is thus repre- sented by Him who had brought her through the wilderness, and planted her in a fruitful soil : — “ I will tell you what I will do with my vineyard ; I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up so that even a child, with this parable in his hand, as a native of such a village, might see the simplicity, expressiveness, and pathos of the simi- litude, when it is said, “ Why hast thou broken down her hedge, so that all they who pass by the way do pluck her ? the boar out of the wood doth waste it, and the wild beast of the field doth devour it.” Commonillee was surrounded by a thick, evergreen, and impervious hedge, which rose to a TRAVELLING REMINISCENCES. 227 considerable height ; and since it could boast of no lofty columns or stately temples, none of its build- ings were visible from without; the gate of the village was only a door-way or passage through the hedge, whose twigs and branches were neatly pruned. The surrounding scenery was peculiarly picturesque, and the situation was “ remote from war’s alarms.” The contiguous fields were covered with grain, the valleys clothed with verdure, and the trees laden with fruit : the village pasture sent forth the bleating of the sheep, and was adorned with herds of kine. The superiority of one village over another may be often traced to the factor, the headman, or renter of the village, to the partiality of the soubahdar of the district, or the fouzdar of the province. The appointment of these superior officers is sometimes owing to favour or influence, but more frequently to the offer of a greater reve- nue as the rental. The ryot, or husbandman, is many intermediate steps from the fouzdar, and, in Mysore, is never the freeholder or proprietor of the little farm, though the family, from father to son, may have lived upon the ground for ages. A system of villanage prevailed under the Hindoo govern- ment, holding the peasant in bondage, similar to that by which the serf of Poland or Russia is op- pressed. The soubahdar of Begour appeared a considerate man, and used his power not as an oppressor of the poor. The village economy was patriarchal, and unrefined almost to rudeness ; and the intimacy or intercourse of the families insured q 2 228 CONTINENTAL INDIA. easy access among the villagers. The traffic of the people was stimulated or supplied by sundees, or fairs, in a larger hamlet called Venkatabrum. In such sequestered haunts does the love of gain, of novelty, or indulgence, tempt men to cherish a reciprocal dependence, and the inhabitants of neighbouring villages to exercise the duties of mutual relationship. These three brothers had become Christians, and were at first unmolested ; but the change on their character and pursuits excited the hostility and alarm of heathenism ; and though at first they had obtained permission and countenance to build a school-room, and bring a school-master, they were afterwards prevented. “ The headman and village people conversed among themselves,” I quote Chinapa’s words, “ saying, ‘ If these people build a school here, they will try to get the village under their care ; they will get an agreement from the rajah. They will do this on account of building a school.’ The headman therefore said to the preacher, ‘You have no right to build a school here.’ His objection has prevented the building, and the materials are lying in the village till this time. Since that period, all our kind friends in the village have become enemies to us : they have risen up and abused us very badly. They said among themselves, f These people, instead of wor- shipping our god, have left it and gone to the holy religion !’ In many ways they have abused us very badly, and become bitter enemies. They again TRAVELLING REMINISCENCES. 229 conversed among themselves ; ‘ This is not enough, only to prevent their building a school ; as long as they are living in the village, they will be trying to get it ; for that reason we must try to find some plan to drive these people from the village.’ So they have been conversing together ; they tried to prevent our drawing water from the village well — in many unjust ways they treated us: — they took us to the soubahdar of Begour, and the head- man said, ‘ These people will not do for the village.’ Many falsehoods he charged us with : he said, ‘ There are good people come from a far place to stay in our village, we had better give the ground of these people to them.’ The soubahdar made many in- quiries, and he answered the headman, ‘ If new peo- ple be come to the village, I shall he able to give them ground; I have no right to send away old ryots.’ Then he turned to me, and said, ‘ You shall have more ground than you now have, to the value of two pagodas, that you may get on comfortably.’ The headman, and one from Bangalore, a great enemy, thought if they kept the village, the Christians would soon get it ; but if a brahmin engaged for the village, it would then be secure. These two went to the pettan of Bangalore, to a brahmin, and persuaded him to take the village. The brahmin went to Mysore, and received an order from the great king. He came to Commo- nillee, and said to us, ‘ This village belongs to me, because I have got an order from the rajah.’ Then the old headman and the bitter enemy from 230 CONTINENTAL INDIA. Bangalore told the brahmin a great many things about us. He believed what was said, and they tried again to send us away from the village ; these three treated us very badly. Some time after, the ground which the soubahdar gave us, in addition to that which we had, was taken from us and given to the other people ; some of our old ground, and two tamarind trees, they have also taken from us ; and one of our houses is given to another person.” The following scene will exhibit the process of village justice, the local courts, and modes of re- paration. — “ Two women, from one man’s house, came into ours when we were not present, and robbed it — for that we felt much, and intended to inquire. In a short time the two women differed and fought, and the news of robbing the house was soon known in the whole village. Then we went and said to the people who stole, ‘ Have you done justly in this V The village people who were gathered together said to us, f We will give you two pagodas and four hundred seers of raggy,’ (a species of grain — each seer about three half pints) ; we answered them, ‘ The people who stole from our house have taken more than what you promise.’ Then they all conversed together, and wanted to charge some fault on us. ‘You too have done some wrong in this village :’ so they said. We always thought they desired to bring some accusation against us : for this reason we said, ‘ Let us stay quiet.’ One clay afterward, a quarrel arose about our household TRAVELLING REMINISCENCES. 231 affairs in our own family; the village people soon heard of it. They came into our houses and said/ Who gives you authority to act in this way in the village?’ Then they took us to the soubahdar of Begour. He inquired into the cause, and told the people, ‘ This is their own house quarrel, we have nothing to do with it.’ The headman said to this, * You must inflict some punishment on these people, or the business will not go on well — they will become impudent.’ By many other ways they tried to bring punishment on us. The soubahdar then punished us badly, and took some fine from us besides, for the fault.” The relation of people and prince will appear from what followed. The devices and hostility of their adversaries so far prevailed, that they were for a season exiled from their homes. For ten years during the reign of Sultaun Tippoo, and twenty-three under the restored dynasty of Kistna Raji Oudawer, this family had resided in Connnonillee, where father and son had been em- ployed as ryots ; and in return for “ the ground which had been granted to them by the favour of the great lord, the rent was paid to the Circar, and the duty owing to the government w r as rendered by them. As a child receives support from its father, so they acknowledged they were comfortable, in common, under the government of the rajah.” They therefore made their appeal to him as the protector of the defenceless and oppressed. “We have come,” they said, “ from the village, and left our family, and cattle, and goods, which we have, and 232 CONTINENTAL INDIA. we know not where we must go ; we do not want to complain because they have treated us so badly here, but because they have sent us from the village. That is the reason we present our cause to your feet, to support us with your powerful hand, for we know your hand will never thrust us away.” Their appeal was well supported at court by the British resident, who had been informed of the whole transaction. The rajah’s decision was given in their favour, and they were restored to their property and rights. W e passed on still farther into the rural solitudes, and traversed a verdant and beautiful district. The country might have been pastoral for flocks and herds, the herbage was rich and abundant, and was varied by hill and dale, enriched with clusters of wide-spreading trees, and small but refreshing lakes of water. Our route brought us to a small hamlet, inhabited by brahmins, who reside here as the officiating priests of a far-famed pagoda, situated at the ascent of a mountain, which it was our inten- tion to climb. They seemed to pass their time in perfect idleness. The festivals of their swarnie (idol) were the only seasons of their activity. Yet they occupied a most sweet and sequestered nook ; and their habitations indicated a large measure of luxu- rious indulgence, as if their life consisted only in the abundance which they possessed. I was enter- tained by one of their tales as 1 passed along through their green meads. A heroine of hunting celebrity had, Diana-like, acquired the honours of deification. TRAVELLING REMINISCENCES. 233 The weapons used by her in the chase differed from the bent bow and the quiver, the dogs, the chariot, and the white stags of the Grecian huntress. Yet there seemed to me a great similarity in the fable of the Hindoo to the representations of the daughter of Jupiter and Latona. She pursued her sport on foot, and carrying a spear in her hand ; so masculine was the strength of her arm, or rather so gigantic was her energy, that, when she cast her instrument of destruction, if it did not destroy her victim, it penetrated the hardest rock. A peren- nial fountain was shown, which, according to the current tradition, had been pierced by her spear, and whence a flowing spring gushed from the rock as soon as the weapon was withdrawn. Virtues were ascribed to this stream which were sufficient to remove maladies the most desperate and loath- some. We enjoyed from the top of the mountain a commanding and interesting view of the Mysore country. On one quarter appeared a rich and fruitful plain ; on another a thick-set, close covering, and impervious jungle ; and on a third were pre- sented specimens of sublime natural scenery. On the brow of the hill was a small building, a kind of tabernacle, without ornaments of any kind, into which I entered. An image of stone occupied the place as a temple — but such an image ! it is hardly possible to fancy a shape so monstrous. Some of the rudest, or most inventive of our painters, when creating forms for hell, and clothing demons in 234 CONTINENTAL INDIA. bodily proportions, have produced conceptions of hideous aspect ; but even they, compared to this idol, were “ as Hyperion to a satyr.” The image was besmeared with filth and dust, daubed with oil and red ochre, and ornamented with relics of garlands — votive offerings to signify the veneration of some superstitious devotee. The ultimate object of our search was a reputedly holy tank, which lay embosomed in a romantic amphitheatre, capable of containing many thousands ; high hills formed the back-ground, and answered the description of the mountains round about Jerusalem. The scene was fitted to take a powerful hold on the imagina- tion of an enthusiastic observer. From an emi- nence which rises in the midst of the amphitheatre may be counted a hundred hills, surrounding it in the distance, and numerous glittering lakes of water, with here and there a village or hamlet, scarcely visible to the naked eye. A huge stone rests upon the top of this height, which I ascended with diffi- culty. I do not know that it is a rocking stone, but it seemed so equally poised that vibration could easily be produced. The following account of the origin of the sanctity of the place I received from a native on the spot : the tradition is there most surely believed. ‘ A prince had been diseased with leprosy, and having endured all the alienation which an affection so loathsome could produce, he wandered from his native country, and came hither, accompanied by a dog. The leper reclined by the margin of a marshy pool, musing on his unhappy TRAVELLING REMINISCENCES. 235 state; the dog was led into the brake in quest of game ; when he came out, and returned to his mas- ter, he shook himself, and some drops of the water fell upon the leprous prince. A change soon passed on his skin where the water drops had rested ; he therefore applied in greater quantities the water from the pool, by which his skin was wholly cleansed, and a cure effected. He celebrated the virtues of the healing waters ; the fame of them was spread abroad, and the tank was denominated Savermarnukie — a golden face. Many pilgrims hastened to it from distant quarters, that they might be healed of their diseases, and all found the remedy which they required. The devotees, who still come from all parts of India, first wash in the water, and taking a leaf of the tree sacred to the divinity of the place (for it has now a divinity), approach images carved on granite, to whom their petitions are presented.’ The representations are various. I examined one, a well-shaped serpent, with a leaf of the sacred tree in its mouth. The stones on which these are carved are placed near the tank. The devotees heap a number of stones together as they retire, to remind the god of their visit, and the ardour of their devotion. There are always three ; two of them as supports to the third, which is laid upon them. On the road, for the distance of a mile from the tank, are hundreds and thousands of these memorials of a foolish and wretched superstition. This scene is reputed most holy, even by men of 236 CONTINENTAL INDIA. highest rank among the natives of the country. Only a few years prior to my visit, the fouzdar, or provincial governor of Bangalore, was among the attendants at the annual feast of the pagoda, and evinced a deep interest in the history and objects of the consecrated shrine. Superstition or policy secured his patronage and support. The brahmins represented the virtue and acceptableness of liberal offerings at such an altar, and he was persuaded to improve the tank. At the time of my visit he had spent 2,000 pagodas, or 800/., in carrying out his plans. He had sunk a wall on the margin, and built in the tank in a square form ; he had laid steps of granite leading down to the water, and constructed choultries immediately contiguous, for receiving the sick, the lame, or the weary pilgrims. I saw these buildings, scarcely yet finished. The tank is thirty-five or forty feet square, but is not deep ; the water subsides in the drought of summer, and lies a stagnant and uninteresting pool, with a green marshy scurf upon its surface. The offering was only to superstition, whatever motives might have dictated the improvements. No physical good can result from it, for the water has no virtu- ous quality, and is not even fit for drinking. In such a state, I should apprehend it was only calcu- lated to generate disease. Such are the sacrifices which the disciples of superstition make for the service or honour of their unprofitable idols ! AtVenkatabrum,Commonille, and Savermamnkie, and throughout the soubah of Begour, the mission- T RAVELLING R E M I N I SC E N C F. S . 237 aries of the gospel have often appeared as heralds of peace, and bringing glad tidings. As their work advances superstition will be subdued. At Ven- katabrum the following scene occurred. One of the preachers, accompanied with some others, had entered the sundee, or fair, and commenced con- versation about Jesus as the Saviour of guilty men, redeeming all who believe on him, and commanding all men everywhere to renounce idol gods, to repent of idolatry and all sin. The impression, from his representations, was produced, that all heathen gods were useless, that God was in Jesus Christ, the only true God, from whom alone salva- tion could be obtained, and that heathen gods could give help to no one. This drew forth an anta- gonist, who afterwards thus detailed his own feel- ings : “ For that I conversed angrily with him, and said you must not preach here ; no person will hear you ; go away. So I told him.” The preacher changed his place, retired under the shade of a tree, and talked with the people, many of whom seemed anxious to hear. “ Again I went and heard them. A doubt grew in my mind. I argued with them, and they gave a proper answer to my ques- tion. Then love grew in my heart. When they spoke concerning the false gods, I then saw their vanity and falsehood, and I believed that Christ is the true God, and will give happiness, present hope, and future glory ; and I felt, that if I received not Christ, I should not only suffer present evil, but also eternal misery. I received one book which 238 CONTINENTAL INDIA. they had, and carried it to my village ; it was all read to me, and, because it was plain, I understood it. Then I considered there is one God, able to save me from sin, through Jesus Christ : on that account I rejoiced.” I passed several weeks as a visitor at this mission. The earliest agents had been sent forth about the year 1820. One of the two who first were located here had suffered a severe loss in the death of his wife, and other circumstances had induced him to return to England. The gentleman appointed along with him still remained, associated with two others, one of whom had been sent out from England, and the other had been removed from Bellary, for the benefit of climate, &c. This last excellent man was compelled in a few months also to seek the benefit of a sea voyage. He died during the day on which he embarked for England at Madras. He was a most w r orthy and pious person, but of delicate constitution, and unfit for the labours of a missionary, especially in the East The mis- sionaries had sought to improve the general means of education among the natives by free schools, retained under their own inspection and control. They had established male and female boarding schools for a limited number of Hindoos : the boys’ boarding school contained more than tw r enty pupils, some of whom had made rapid and pro- mising advances in general knowledge and in the principles of Christian truth. Some had grown up from this school w r ho gave indications of fitness TRAVELLING REMINISCENCES. 239 for the office of teachers and preachers. These had been associated with others, converted adults, whom it was proposed to employ as itinerants or settled preachers in the neighbourhood or at greater distances, in a seminary for ministerial instruction. It was ultimately proposed to enlarge this seminary, and to designate it The Mysore College : the prospectus which was circulated for this purpose was thought by some to have been premature, though it received from many liberal patronage and promises of continued support. All the higher branches of human learning were to have been taught the students, and access to the stores of European literature, especially in Biblical criticism and theology, was to be afforded through the medium of the English language. The mis- sionaries enjoyed the cooperation of a most valuable coadjutor, in the person of a Hindoo brother ; whose fervent piety, extensive knowledge of the sacred oracles, and remarkable facility in the lan- guages of his countrymen, as well as his eminent zeal, intimate knowledge of the character, habits, and modes of thinking of the Hindoos, and the congeniality of his constitution with the climate, rendered him superior to any missionary I ever had the pleasure to meet. The object contem- plated by the missionaries in the projected college, and the preeminence they assigned to the English language and its literature, could only be dis- approved of by men who were alike ignorant of the country, and of the character of the human 240 CONTINENTAL INDIA. mind, of the nature of Hindooism, and of the operations necessary to extend the gospel in such a land and among such a people. One native, qualified and trained by such means for such work, is, for diffusive labours, worth six English mis- sionaries ; and when such preparations can have been made out of the present converts as a wise and liberal economy will dictate, the vast, dispro- portioned expense of missionary labour will have been diminished to a great degree, and so much greater an amount of available resources may be turned into fields which now lie unoccupied and unapproached. The man who would discounte- nance some such mode of operations, is either blindly infatuated or grievously wicked ; and if he has influence enough, and exerts it to crush such means of enlightening India, he does more mischief by one such effort than he could countervail by personal labours, protracted to a patriarchal old age, and extended by the zeal and energy of an Eliot or a Brainerd. I have not heard whether or not any part of the Bangalore seminary yet con- tinues in operation. Carey and Marshman, Mor- rison and Milne, Sir Stamford Raffles, Bishops Middleton and Heber, and many other philanthro- pists, yet living, advocated and sought to promote the prosperity of such institutions. The Anglo- Chinese College, Serampore College, Bishop’s College, and Jaffna Missionary Seminary, are monu- ments of what the wise and good from all lands have devised for the evangelization of oriental TRAVELLING REMINISCENCES. 211 tribes, kindreds, and tongues in British India. But I shall recur again to this subject. 1 should prove myself a most unfaithful witness, and guilty as a Christian of deep ingratitude, were I to fail to record my testimony in this place, of the fidelity and steadfastness of native converts, to whom I was introduced while in Bangalore. The native minister whom I mentioned as associated with the missionaries is still, twenty years since his conversion, rejoicing in Christ Jesus, and with energy and heaven-derived success, spending and being spent in the service of his Redeemer. Per- haps no man in British India now living has been more honoured as an instrument of conversion to Christ among the Hindoos. His zeal, his love and devotion, his faith, his labours, and his success, if properly appreciated, are calculated to provoke very many to love and to good works. Among them who shall shine as the stars for ever and ever, I do not doubt hut my beloved, though sable friend, Samuel Flavcl, shall stand in his lot at the latter day. The following record from his own pen, received only a few 7 days ago, is an instance, among hundreds, of those w 7 hom God has honoured him as a means of turning to righteousness. It illustrates the process and fruit in multitudes of cases by which the sinner has been brought to God. “ In 1833, while I was returning from the Koul bazaar, from preaching the gospel, my attention was directed to a deserted temple, by a light shining between nine and ten at night. I went up to it, and VOL. IT. R 242 CONTINENTAL INDIA. saw a man making pooja (worship) to several images. I asked him why he set up these images and wor- shipped them : he answered that he was seeking the expiation of his guilt and eternal happiness. After directing him to the Saviour, I invited him to come to my place the next morning, which he did, and the Lord plucked him as a brand from the burn- ing, and made him a monument of his grace and mercy.” He was admitted to the church at Bel- lary, May 1, 1836. The memorial from the con- vert himself is very satisfactory : — “ To the best of my recollection, when I was about the age of twenty-five, I first felt that I was a sinner, and needed salvation. Desirous of obtaining the favour of the gods, I made long pilgrimages to Kosu, Ramagherry, Benares, Ramshara, Tripetty, Madura, Juggurnaut, Conjeveram, and Hurryhur, paying homage to the idols at those places, and washing in the rivers held sacred by the heathen. A period of seventeen years I spent in following lies, seeking peace to my troubled mind ; but all in vain. Of this time I spent five years in the worship of Vishnu, and had my shoulders burnt with the chakramkita — -a ceremony designed to point out special dedication, in which a hot discus, the symbol of Vishnu, is applied to the shoulders. For seven years I performed the worship of Sheva; the rest of the time I spent in the adoration of idols of my own making. About three years since I arrived at Bellary, and as I had often heard that if any one would take possession of a deserted temple. TR A V ELLING REM IN ISCENCES. 243 erect an idol, and pay to it his adorations, he would obtain great merit, and God would reveal himself to him ; I, finding a deserted temple, near a tank, took possession of it, placing in it three images, which I had made, and to which I daily paid homage, and at the same time worshipped the sun and the moon, and made many prayers. I paid every attention to the decoration of the images I had set up. I suffered, also, many penances ; sometimes my head covered with sand under a burning sun. I continued these ceremonies for the space of three months, and daily felt increasing sorrow and trouble of conscience, in consequence of finding that after all my pains, I could not obtain peace of mind, and that God was not pleased to reveal himself to me. When I was in this troubled state, one day when Mr. Flavel was returning from the Koul Bazaar, he came to me, and asked me why I was taking all this trouble in worshipping these lifeless images. On my telling him that I wanted to find God and could not, he said to me, ‘Come to my house to-morrow, (appointing a time,) and I will show you a safe way to find him.’ After speaking a little more he left me. I went the next day to his house, when he spoke to me very long about the vanity of idols, and showed me the way of obtaining peace of conscience through the blood of Christ the Saviour of man- kind. This w^as just what I wanted, and had been seeking for, and I felt great joy. I felt at once the truth of his arguments against idols, for I had my r 2 244 CONTINENTAL INDIA. own experience to teach me that they could do me no good : I was so fully persuaded that I had wasted my life and strength in vanity and lies, that I went at once after my conversation and broke the idols in pieces, and threw the fragments into the tank. I took off all the marks of idolatry from my body, and returned home to my family, inform- ing them that I at last had found what I was in search of these many years, that God had sent his servant to teach me the way of happiness, and that I was fully convinced that it was the right way. I then knelt down, and prayed to God, thanking him for his mercy in sending his servant to show me the way to serve and please him. My relatives were greatly provoked that I had determined to forsake the gods of our fathers, and deserted me, with the intention of having nothing more to do with me. They continued for some time, till they found it would not keep me from persevering in the course I had taken ; they returned, but constantly persecuted and abused me. The Lord, I thank his name, has given me grace to hear it all patiently, and now they have in a great measure desisted from their attempts to draw me hack to their ways. I have found great delight in regularly attending the house of God, and hearing his word preached. The more I have heard, the deeper have been my convictions that I am now in the right path. Peace of conscience I have found from believing in Christ. I desire to serve the Saviour who has bought me with his precious blood, and brought TRAVELLING REMINISCENCES. 245 me out of darkness into his marvellous light. Since the time I renounced idolatry, I have found true pleasure in serving the Lord : I cast my soul at his feet, and look to his sufferings and death for the pardon of my sins, and my acceptance with God." The seminary to which I have referred, con- tained, at the time of its greatest extension, four- teen students ; and the preparatory boarding-school had twenty pupils : a few had then finished their studies, and were already employed in active labours. Of the ministerial students only one or two persons have declined from the right way, after a period of more than thirteen years. Two of the three villagers from Commonillee have died in the faith ; the death of another, a converted brahmin, was peaceful and full of joy; so with several others who have closed their course and the ministry which they had received. Their labours have been diffused from Darwar to Cape Cormorin, and from Cananore and Mangalore to Madras, and Vizagapatam. In sixteen different stations have these native students, from the seminary or the school, become evangelists to their countrymen, and most of them continue till this day honoured and useful men, cherishing toward each other affectionate sympathies, and exercising a paternal vigilance for each other’s welfare and reputation, well calculated to prove that they are the disciples of Christ Jesus, and the children of Him who is the God of love. 246 CONTINENTAL INDIA. Through the kindness and attention of the Hon. Mr. C , the Resident at the court of Mysore, the rajah’s bearers were ordered to carry our party forward to the capital, for which we started, after a longer residence in Bangalore than we had antici- pated. Our route lay through some of the minor towns of Mysore. Kingery is eight miles from Bangalore, stretching along in a continuous street for nearly half a mile, with shops on each side of the way. Here is a commodious bungalow for the convenience of travellers ; further onward are the remains of a mud fort, enclosing within one gate a village of mud cottages. The road now lay through a hilly country, and was shaded by verdant foliage from the trees which lined the road ; the parts adjacent to which were chequered with natural forests, or groves of planted mangoes. Biddidy is a town ten miles nearer to Seringapatam, a place of considerable traffic : almost every house toward the street is a shop, and the inhabitants are all engaged in trade. The traveller’s bungalow here is spacious, clean, and comfortable. Oossour, or Ouspettah, is eight miles further in the route : another straggling country town. The rajah occu- pied this place as the head quarters of his cavalry ; it is situated on the banks of a small stream, over which has been thrown a bridge, a hundred yards in length, and built of brick. The surround- ing country is infested with tigers, but contains plantations of sugar-cane, groves of betel-nut trees, or extensive fields cultivated for grain. The next TRAVELLING REMINISCENCES. 247 town is Chinnapatam, near to which is Pattala Durg, a dungeon fortress, employed by Tippoo as the prison-house of his least hopeful captives : here they found no mercy. The town itself is open, — some think it rather handsome, — containing one thousand houses, with manufactories for sugar of a superior quality, for glass, and for steel wires em- ployed in musical instruments. A stone fort, of an oblong square, with a fosse-braye outside of the walls, is placed about half a mile distant. The fort is strong, surrounded by a deep ditch, and has two gates at the comers north and eastward. Besides the bastions, which are circular, there are square platforms at the corners, with stones in the centre for sustaining the mortars. In the walls are a hun- dred and twenty-three embrasures, and enclosed is a decayed mud village and a small pagoda. Muddoor is memorable in my journeys for its stream and its bungalow. I have crossed the nullah or stream when my palanquin-hearers could wade through it ; my palanquin containing myself and travelling luggage placed on their shoulders, and have been thus landed high and dry on the oppo- site bank. The stream was then gentle and clear, the most refreshing object on which the eye had rested for days. I have passed it when the scene was changed, and presented an exciting contrast. The waters were then red, muddy, and troubled. It had swollen to the dimensions of a majestic river. It was a flood of rolling and resistless waves sweeping onward with a swelling, swift, and tumul- 248 CONTINENTAL INDIA. tuous current ; its breadth and depth increased : perhaps, four or five times its original volume. This had been a sudden change too, so unexpec- tedly, that I have seen the British resident, his suite, and a number of visitors, who had come out for the wild sports of the jungle, impeded, and compelled to bivouac upon its banks. The torrent had risen to such a height in a few hours, and would probably subside in as short a time, from the monsoon and tropical rains. The passage of the Muddoor river, under such circum- stances, could be effected only by a temporary arrangement. We crossed by means of a circular vessel, whose ribs were made of large hoops of the bamboo, and whose sides were composed of raw bullocks’ hide, like a large leathern bowl. A strong cable was passed from one bank to an- other, and by means of it the boat was guided, being allowed slowly to whirl round. I think about as many as twelve of us were passengers in such a vessel. Our palanquins followed in the next trip, and we were all safely landed on the other side. A little farther down the stream, but within sight, the followers and escort of the resi- dent were crossing from the opposite shore. Here were high-bred Arabian horses ; patient and docile camels, as beasts of burthen ; elephants of huge and unwieldy shape, tame as lambs, and obedient as well-bred dogs ; with soldiers, followers, and ser- vants. The superiors of the party had started on some pursuit of the forest-chase, and struck into TRAVELLING REMINISCENCES. 249 the thickets of the jungle. Each horse was attended by his own keeper; horse and man plunged into the river, and made for the other shore: the ostler holding by the bridle and swimming by the head of his horse ; they buffeted the waves together, and seemed each one to help, as well as encourage the other. The elephants took the passage more deli- berately, and with perfect coolness. Their whole body was submerged ; the proboscis only was above the water, held up like a trumpet : the eyes and ears of these huge quadrupeds moved upon the surface with perfect composure. Swimming was an opera- tion with which the elephant appeared as familiar as walking. The camels only were helpless and depen- dent. They were ferried across by means of the leather vessels, their heads being fastened to the boat, and their body left to float in the water. The scene was animating and novel to me. But the passage was effected without any loss or injury. It happened none the worse for our fare at the bungalow that we had been preceded by Mr. C. and his friends. He knew that we were en route, and left directions for our entertainment. The table was spread, and covered with the richest provision, and even the rarest viands ; wines of the choicest kinds, and dishes of curry and pastry, followed soups, mutton, and fowl, as plentifully as if we had been welcomed at F Coiu’t. These arrangements, carefully followed out by the servants, had been specially ordered by the hospitable and generous resident. Such entertainment in the middle of an Indian jungle. 250 CONTINENTAL INDIA. as it was unexpected, was fitted to inspire natives and strangers with an assurance of British friendship and generosity, and to leave the best impressions. Idolatry extends its undisputed and baleful sway over all these parts. The brahmins impose and subsist upon the people. By music, and dancing, and mendicancy, they carry on their deceptions ; and the willing victims are led captive by the selfish and blind guides. It is a part of religion for some brahmins to beg, and is an act of devotion for the people to honour the mendicant brahmin who condescends to receive gifts. Their religion does not however provide for the virtuous, but neces- sitous and indigent poor. A travelling gooroo passed between Muddoor and Mundium. His palanquin was shorter than ours ; he sat cross- legged, we generally reclined. His was gaily painted and ornamented. He was preceded by an avant courier, who ran in advance of his palanquin about two hundred paces, blowing through a curved horn, and announcing to the people by the way his titles and the honours due to him. Several attendants accompanied him, armed with large knives, the weapons of defence common to Courg. There is a mud fort at Muddoor, similar to one already described, but not in such repair. The sugar-cane grows luxuriantly, so also does the coffee-plant, in the surrounding country. The manufacture of sugar is performed in the most rude and simple process by the peasantry. The cane is bruised within a hollowed cavity in the TRAVELLING REMINISCENCES. 251 stump of a tree, whose roots have been left in the ground. A beam of wood is used as the pestle of a mortar, being fixed to a transverse shaft, to which two bullocks are yoked. The juice, when thus expressed, is drawn off by a hole bored into the lower part of the immovable trunk. The liquor thus drawn off is boiled in earthern pitchers, and having been left to cool, is granulated or prepared in other states for the market. The coffee was under the restrictions of a monopoly, which are injurious to commerce as well as to the people. He was a jolly Scotchman who farmed this mono- poly from the Mysore rajah, and made well of it. He was reputed the best singer and dancer on the west coast, and was accounted a bon vivant and good-fellow by the gay people. The happiness or improvement of the peasantry was, however, quite a different subject. The approach to Seringapatam is a continued descent for several miles, and presents an extended and opening prospect of the fort and the country around. Encircled as this far-famed citadel almost is by the waters of the Cavery, and embosomed in a valley, as it appears, with lofty hills, serving as its back-ground to the eastward, when the traveller looks down upon it, Seringapatam is so situated as to attract and impress the visitor with an idea of its strength and beauty. When I first travelled through to Mysore, I approached this fortress with very mingled feelings. The deeds of war, of des- potism, and cruelty, with which the history of 252 CONTINENTAL INDIA. Seringapatam was associated in my memory, occu- pied every locality, gave life, and incident, and sympathy to every hill and valley, every winding of the road, or bend of the river ; with the imagi- nary or historical representation of continuing columns, flying squadrons, and breaching parties ; of waving banners, the clash of arms, and the tumult of battle ; of sanguinary carnage, the rage of furious passions, or the rash and impetuous in- trusion of guilty and unprepared immortals into the presence of an infinitely holy Judge. This had been Hyder Ali’s place of security as well as usurpation ; the capital of his dominion, and the scene of many of his cruelties. Here Tippoo Sul- taun had contended with Lord Cornwallis and the strength of his combined and allied forces, but sub- sequently had been reduced to terms of humili- ation ; here, again, had he assembled his captured foes, British soldiers and officers, whom he had vanquished in war ; and here did he, in his reverses, experience the chequered vicissitudes of warfare, when, wounded and cast down, he was trampled upon, and numbered among the slain. Here had been gathered and arrayed as beleaguering warriors, a Sir David Baird and a General Harris, an Arthur Wellesley, Generals Stuart and Floyd, a Sir John Malcolm, and many officers of superior rank and distinguished name. I never could pass through Seringapatam without the most vivid apprehension of the malaria, the disease and mortality which reign there. The events of war have slain thou- TRAVELLING REMINISCENCES. 253 sands, but these terror-kings have cast down many more. Forty years ago this city was reckoned one of the healthiest stations in the peninsula : it is now the grave of many a thoughtless and fool- hardy youth. In the time of Hyder and Tippoo’s prosperity, Scringapatam would contain a hundred and fifty thousand people. The population was reduced to ten thousand when I knew it, and many of these had been attracted or retained within its walls by the Company’s gun-carriage manufactory. The Cauvery divides, and, by its separate branches, renders Seringapatam, which they encircle, an island. Canals are conducted from oue branch to another for the purposes of irrigation. They are sluggish in their current, but render the extensive fiat fertile and luxuriant. It is occupied by rice cultivation, and yields a large increase. But tbe exhalation from the stagnant waters when the fields are oveflowed, induces fevers of a fatal character. For more than half the year the channels are nearly dry, and the river is then only a feeble stream, struggling onward between the rocks which rise in its bed. The monsoon from the western coast fills the channel in its season, and it then becomes a rapid and powerful river, broad and majestic, carrying down a great body of water. Each brancli of the stream is furnished with a bridge, one of them in length nearly a thousand feet, built of stone, but not w r ell finished or elegant. It was de- signed also to serve as an aqueduct to bring water into the town. Its mode of erection has been thus 254 CONTINENTAL INDIA. described : square pillars of granite were cut from the rock of such dimensions as to rise above the surface at the highest floods; placed upright, in rows, they were let into the solid rock, the bed over which the river flows, about ten feet from each other ; they stood close to one another all the width of the bridge, twenty feet ; their tops were cut to a level, and a long stone was laid above each row. Above these longitudinal stones others were placed, contiguous the one to the other, and stretching from row to row, so as to span the river. The half of the breadth of the bridge is occupied by the aqueduct, which was secured, sides and bottom, by brick and plaster ; the road, which ran parallel, was laid with gravel, and divided on the off-side from the aqueduct by a parapet wall. The bridge over the other branch was a temporary erec- tion. The Cauvery supplied water for the double ditches which surround the fortress, cut to a great depth out of the solid rock, and extending to a circumference of between two and three miles. The palace and Zenana, or Harem of Tippoo within the fort, was a large building, surrounded by massive and lofty walls of stone and mud : its outward appearance was mean, though some of the inner apartments were commodious and handsome. The private rooms which Tippoo occupied formed one side of a square ; the other three sides were em- ployed as warehouses, in which his goods, and even merchandise, were deposited. The principal front of the palace served as a revenue office, and here TRAVELLING REMINISCENCES. 255 the sultan occasionally showed himself to the populace. The chief entrance to the private square was here through a strong narrow passage, in which lay couching four tamed tigers in chains, but ever ready to display their unruly passions in case of any disturbance. The hall in which Tippoo wrote, and in which few persons, except a favourite minister, Meer Saduc, were ever admitted, was behind these. Retreating still farther was his bed- chamber, shut up on every side, and communicating only with the hall, by a door and two windows. The door was strongly secured on the inside, and a close iron grating defended the windows. The bed in which the sultan slept was a hammock, sus- pended from the roof by chains ; and, lest any person should fire upon him while in it, in a situation so as to be invisible through the windows. In the ham mock were found a sword and pair of loaded pistols. The British conquerors converted these buildings, such as were available, into barracks, but the troops used to complain they were ill lodged, from the want of ventilation. The jail was an inferior building, even compared with other dungeons ; small, dirty, and surrounded by mud walls ; but the comfort of those who occupied their prison- houses gave the prince or his father no concern. The inhabitants are still, in the greatest proportion, descendants of the Moslem adherents of Tippoo, and from them the place takes its religious character. To the east of the fort is a well-constructed mosque, with two minarets : there are here 25G CONTINENTAL INDIA. cloisters and courts, columns and arches of the most perfect style of Mohammedan architecture. The minarets may be about 200 feet in height, and are ascended by winding staircases, lighted by small windows. I had the pleasure of driving from Mysore to the Lal-Baugh, or red garden, which is situated on the eastern part of the island of Seringapatam : it is extensive and handsome ; its cypress-trees, which are numerous, and of luxu- riant growth, form its peculiar attraction ; its foun- tains are in ruins and hastening to decay. It contains a royal palace, built in the moslem style. The apartments are low, but with a cheerful aspect, and well ventilated. The walls are adorned with what seems to be gold and silver foil, and the ceilings are stuccoed and painted. It has only two stories ; the ground floor is composed almost entirely of open halls and verandahs, which are supported by light and elegant pillars, with ornamented arches. Hyder and Tippoo only occasionally resided here — they usually lodged in the fort. Their tomb is contiguous to this garden : it was erected by Tippoo, who seemed to enjoy a filial indulgence in honouring his father, and looking upon his grave. You enter it by an arched gateway, over which a room is erected and occupied by musicians, who perform for the dead, morning and evening. Within about a hundred paces of this entrance, a mosque and a mausoleum are built upon a raised founda- tion. The form of the mausoleum is square, at the base a verandah surrounds it, supported by TRAVELLING REMINISCENCES. 257 columns of black marble, highly polished ; the same material covers the floor. The building rises in the shape of a dome, adorned with stucco-work ; the summit is gilded and crowned by a crescent ; minarets, with gilded points, rise at the four corners. There is an entrance to the tomb from each side : one of them is occupied by a black marble case- ment, carved with great beauty, in a successful imitation of filigree work. An octagonal room, surmounted with the hollow dome, is within, on the floor of which are the tombs covered by cloths - of gold and silver brocade : sentences of the Koran have been embroidered on the edges of these cloths. Flowers have been strewed over them, sweet- scented perfumes are constantly spreading their fragrance, and at night the dim light of funereal lamps is shed forth. The mosque is open at one side, and is supported on arches, which spring from rows of columns : other tombs have been placed in the immediate vicinity, and surrounded as they all are by the luxuriant cypress-trees, the effect is imposing and beautiful. These sombre mansions of the dead divest mortality of much which is naturally appalling, yet they speak no peace con- cerning the spirit ; mighty though the dead once were, nothing but sordid dust lies here. There is another palace, once occupied by these moslem princes, the Dowlut Baugh ; it also stands within a garden of the same description, but is not so large. On one of the walls there still remains a painting, which represents Hyder and Tippoo, at the head VOL. II. s 258 CONTINENTAL INDIA. of their forces at Poollaloor, when Colonel Bailey was defeated, and his troops taken prisoners. It is poor as a specimen of art, not superior to the designs on China cups, but it is said to give a correct likeness of the two princes. The British burying-ground had been so closely peopled when I visited this place, as I was informed by an officer, that at the burial of a soldier, it was necessary to place the detachment in order, outside of the wall, when they fired their volleys over the grave of their comrade. Regular troops had been withdrawn, a local battalion had been raised to do garrison duty, and their encampment was outside the fort, at a place called the French Rocks. There w r as no chaplain or missionary stationed here; the mis- sionaries from Bangalore sometimes \isited the place, and preached to the inhabitants ; they had schools within the city, and a few Europeans or country-born non-commissioned officers maintained a correspondence with them. The royal city of Mysore is about nine miles nearer the coast than Seringapatam. It is much more healthy, and had become populous during the reign of the restored dynasty. The court, the government, and the British residency, had their palaces, offices, mansions, and halls of audience, within Mysore. The population was great, but vaguely stated by any whom I coidd consult. The cholera prevailed at my first visit among the na- tives, and had been carrying off one hundred victims daily in the town. The surgeon of the TRAVELLING REMINISCENCES. 259 residency assured me, however, that the numbers were reduced to fifty per day, and the alarm seemed to have subsided. A country-born prac- titioner estimated the inhabitants at 200,000 ; but his calculations were independent of any accu- rate census. The city was extensive and scat- tered ; and the population was dense in the bazaars and streets. None of the buildings which I saw could boast of antiquity, or give evidence of per- manence. The materials of almost all were mud ; and even the ornaments of the palace seemed to me to be only of painted wood. The people were a mixed multitude, and had been attracted by the presence of royalty or the business of the govern- ment, the hope of gain and preferment, or the redress of wrongs. Arabs, Persians, Mahrattas, Canarese, and natives from the coast, Brahmins, Mohammedans, Moguls, Indian dervises, soldiers of fortune, merchants and tradesmen, servile para- sites of the court, and abject slaves of oppression, constituted the motley throng which crowded the avenues and paths of Mysore, or inhabited its streets and lanes, who met and mingled in this central capital. The fauxbourgs and environs of Mysore had grown with mushroom rapidity, and seemed as temporary in their character as the gourd of Nineveh. The residency was composed of suites of apartments situated in different parts of the gardens, which were assigned to the British envoy, and were as spacious and princely as any nobleman’s demesnes. The stables were like royal s 2 260 CONTINENTAL INDIA. mews, and alone were fit to accommodate any gentleman ; and indeed, not unfrequently the resident himself occupied apartments here. He was fond of horse-flesh, though no jockey ; and sometimes had as many as sixty horses, his private property, in these stables, among which I have seen one, valued at 2,500 pagodas, suffering from tetanus or lockjaw for nearly a week. The horses most prized here, were from Arabia, Cutch, and Persia. Wherever any of the visitors slept or breakfasted, in the bungalows, or in the more stately apartments, all met to dinner in the resi- dency, when the party often amounted to thirty or forty. For the hot season, there was a chateau erected on the top of a hill, eight hundred or a thousand feet above the city. To render this easily accessible, a winding path had been cut on the mountain side. The situation was airy, salu- brious, and picturesque. At the first visit I paid to Mysore, I was conveyed to this elevated and seques- tered retreat. From its windows was obtained a distinct view of the Nielgharies, especially before sunset : they may be fifty miles distant ; but they tower in lofty grandeur toward the west, and the declining sun casts forth their sombre shadows, as a foreground to his magnificence when going down. I spent several weeks in the retirement of Mysore, coming forth at my pleasure from the peaceful scenes through which my walks lay, to mingle with the more stirring incidents of the court or the residency. TRAVELLING REMINISCENCES. 2G 1 The Dussarah, an annual feast, occurred at this time: though observed by all classes of Hindoos, 1 imagine it to be of Moslem origin, and to have been introduced by Hyder Ali. There is a Dus- sarah, a fortified town, in the province of Guzerat, which, with twelve surrounding villages, is the property of a Mohammedan zemindar of Arabian descent. About the year 1209, one of his an- cestors was put to death for killing a cow, and he has been since reputed as a martyr, and his tomb held in high esteem. Many of the Indian festivals can be traced to similar auspices. During the feast of Dussarah, the rajah held his durbar, or levee, in an open court, fronting the palace-yard. Visitors at the residency had the entree, and were expected to honour the prince’s durbar. I attended during one of the days, and was presented to his highness by the resident. Chairs were placed on the left hand of the musnud, or throne ; and after the Europeans had been presented, they were directed to seat themselves ; — the games and sports of the feast were then proceeding in the palace- yard, and in presence of the rajah. The English visitors were led up before the throne, and pre- sented to the prince, making, as they approached, three salaams, raising each time their right hand to the forehead ; the name and designation was then pronounced, and the ruler condescended to hold out his palm to shake hands, which he performed with great listlessness ; his hands as clammy and cold as if each finger were a snail. After each 262 CONTINENTAL INDIA. guest was seated, a garland of flowers was Aung round his neck by one of the rajah’s servants, and then followed with a supply of betel-leaf, and the nut which natives eat; a third succeeded with a vessel of rose-oil ; each visitor received the betel and the perfumed oil, and rising from their chair, made salaam toward the rajah. The throne on which he was seated, accompanied by his son, an illegitimate child about six years old, was a square enclosed bench, made of solid gold ; the position he occupied was cross-legged, without dignity. On the right hand stood his officers of state, and behind him were ranged servants of the king, with fans and brushes of peacock feathers, to drive off the flies. The pageantry and gewgaws of this court were not at all imposing. The parade and sports in the palace-yard were frivolous and servile in the most abject degree ; — wrestlers striving for prizes; gettee fighters con- tending for victory : sparring and boxing were the most manly amusements which I witnessed; and these were for the rajah’s pleasure. The com- batants were shaven, and the upper parts of their body entirely naked : the boxers were armed upon one fist with weapons made from buffalo -horn. The tradesmen appeared in procession, and did obeisance, prostrating themselves to the ground, acknowledging the benignity of their ruler. Thou- sands of people were gathered within the court- area with slavish adulation, ready to raise their admiring voices. Buffaloes to fight with each TRAVELLING REMINISCENCES. 263 other, trained and prepared by shaving for the con- flict ; elephants, to contend with the buffaloes, or still fiercer tigers, or to dance among fire-works ; were then brought upon the stage. A tiger had been caught in the jungle a few days before, by men whose business it was to take him in his lair ; he had been kept for the feast, and fed on short allow- ance, at the same time to lessen his strength, and add to his ferocity when let loose : when led into the area to contend with an elephant, his keepers slipped their noose, and let him free. I did not see the result, but was told that he declined the combat, leaped over the fence, and cleared a way for himself through the avenues of the court. This afforded unexpected sport to our European guests, and the tiger-hunt in the streets of Mysore as- sumed all the animation, but more of the hazard of a forest-scene. No one knew, or at least, no one repeated injuries inflicted on the people, whether any were killed or not, but the tiger was not allowed to escape : the gun and aim of the sports- man were too much for him in a region where he was a stranger. The tiger is never a match for a trained elephant. I do not know if they be natural enemies, and contend when they meet in the jungle. The claws and teeth of the tiger can make no impression on the scaly hide of the elephant, whose only weak point is his proboscis. This he generally turns to its highest possible curve ; and then he contrives to bring his adversary between his hind and fore-leg, to kick him forward and backward, 264 CONTINENTAL INDIA. and then, when down, to tread him under foot ; for the tiger, in such a state, death is certain. The scenes of merriment in which the Moham- medans delight, when unawed by the presence of Europeans, indicate their degree of refinement and their ambition. Representations painted on paste- board are carried about, followed by crowds of pleasure-seeking Moslems : these are amused by tumblers and dancers, whose movements are all rendered sonorous by the ornaments and bells fas- tened on their limbs ; masks are used by others ; and the form of tigers, led in chains, creeping on all fours, or roaring and springing about among the crowd, is assumed by the performers. The combats of negroes are assimilated by others, painted as African blacks, and armed with short staves. The myriads who saunter forth adorn themselves with the gayest clothing, turbans of every colour — green the most sacred, but red, brown, and purple ; blue, rose, and pink vary their aspect : sailing onward with wide silk trowsers, and flowing shawls over their shoulders, they gather round the dancing girls ; groups of whom, covered with tinsel toys, dressed in soft muslins and gay silks, and carrying- on their heads plates of gold, employ themselves to fascinate or receive the wages of degradation. Torches, fire-works of all kinds, horsemen on their prancing and neighing steeds, and faquirs, with all the delusive assumptions of religious hypocrisy, diversify their occupations. Jugglers, and per- formances on the magic lantern, elicit the merry TRAVELLING REMINISCENCES. 265 shout, or perplex the more inquisitive idlers who wander through the streets. Among the curiosities of the capital was an elephant-carriage, which had been constructed under the direction of the rajah, and in which his highness occasionally took an airing. It was some- times used for the gratification of visitors at the residency. Six elephants were yoked and har- nessed in this vehicle : their trappings and harness would be a load to a common horse ; each elephant carried his mahout, or driver, behind his ears upon his neck. They moved at a pace which seemed for them only a smart walk, but so swift was their progress along the road that gentlemen mounted on horseback could only keep up with the carriage by making their horses gallop. The carriage had been built by a French coach -maker from Pondi- cherry, and was only remarkable for its dimensions, which were sufficient to contain ninety persons. A musnud, or elevated seat, like an ottoman, was placed in the centre, to be occupied by the rajah and his personal friends ; seats were ranged round the margin with the faces inward, and the shape of the carriage was an oblong. They tell a story of a general, some of whose early days were spent in confinement at the fortress of Seringapatam, that on a visit to the rajah at Mysore, about the time of my sojourn here, he went out by invitation with the prince in this gigantic carriage : it was a royal pastime, and the rajah had given the hint to his servants to put the elephants to their quickest 266 CONTINENTAL INDIA. pace : but the effect of the velocity was such upon the nerves of the old warrior, that he implored the interposition of his highness to stop the carriage, or let him out. What would the old man have done in a railway steam coach ? I visited the stables of this prince : the most attractive object to my mind was an ass from the jungles of Persia, a present from the ruler of that country to the rajah. It was truly a noble animal, symmetrical, and of cream-coloured whiteness, so high of blood and spirit that he required two keepers in constant attendance ; he stood fourteen hands high, the size of a common Arab horse. If the asses, on which the judges and rulers of ancient Israel used to ride, when they went forth out of their gates, were of this species, their appearance and attitude would be quite corresponding with their station : this, too, reminds us how much the animal creation has deteriorated under the cruel and unwise usage of passionate and oppressive man. The society and intercourse at the residency was not always subject to the fonns and trammels of ceremony and state. The first hour of dinner was usually enlivened, at least attended, by the music of the residency band, which had been trained to play some European pieces with great taste. Irish melodies were no strangers among their perform- ances : Erin go Bragh was the signet in most fre- quent use : but these strains were soon superseded by general conversation, and local or national anec- dote and story ; whatever was Irish was relished, yet TRAVELLING REMINISCENCES. 267 not so as to offend other peculiarities. As a great rarity in those far eastern climes, the butler was one day ordered to bring from his store a bottle of Irish whisky. The cork was drawn, and the bottle and a liqueur glass sent round the party : each one sipped, and as they tasted, recalled memorials or associated fancies with their father-land, the Emerald Isle ; all praised and rejoiced that they had once more been brought into such proximity with the produce of their native country. The bottle, how- ever, came a second time to the host, and he seemed to have some doubts : his confidence was shaken — he called the servant — examined whence the bottle had been taken, and it was well ascer- tained that the Irish whisky was nothing more than country arrack — but perhaps just as good for the country : and the less taken of either, the better for the constitution. The conversation had turned to the reputation for wit and drollery of the Irish peasantry, when it was mentioned as a good story, and quite a pardonable blunder in an Irish soldier, who had been ordered to compare the time-piece with the sun-dial, and to settle the matter with his master, had raised the dial from its pedestal, and brought it into the room that both might be com- pared together. On another occasion a party of natives approached the residency, carrying some sacred or important deposit ; they laid down before the company a snake taken in the jungles, more than six feet in length, and as thick as a man’s thigh. It was a monster-specimen of jungle snakes. 268 CONTINENTAL INDIA. and attracted the curiosity of all present. The natives offered it for sale, but either none were inclined to purchase, or no one would pay so much as the captors had expected, and they deliberately lifted the somnolent but loathsome reptile, and conveyed it back to the jungles : such is their horror of destroying a serpent’s life, and their vene- ration for that deified brute — whose shape is an emblem of many mysteries in their religion — that they will suffer the most noxious serpents to escape, though they do not scruple to place them at the mercy of European travellers. The Abbe du Bois, a Jesuit missionary from France, had resided in Mysore for thirty years : he had recently left that country when I first visited it. He had possessed considerable influence both with the rajah’s court and at the residency, and had left an impression among the people of his benevolence and austerities. He had obtained his reward, and was regarded as an oracle by some soi-disant Christians. His letters and correspond- ence were coveted by dignitaries of the English church, and he had been received with great court by Anglican functionaries in India, and at Leaden- hall-street ; till at length he assumed the province of monitor and counsellor to Protestant churches as to their duties and prospects. He published letters dissuading English Protestants from mis- sionary enterprises in India, assuring them that he had laboured for thirty years with hut little effect, and was now retiring to make his own peace ; and TRAVELLING REMINISCENCES. 2 G9 farther, that he regarded the present race of Hin- doos as doomed to destruction, and, therefore, irreclaimable by any efforts of missionaries. It is a maxim of ancient times “fas est doceri ab haste ;” but few would be so infatuated as just to do what an enemy advises. “ If any form of Christianity,” — these are the old Jesuit’s words , — “ were to make an impression and gain ground in the country, it is undoubtedly the Catholic mode of worship, whose external pomp and show appear so well suited to the genius and dispositions of the natives ; and when the Catholic religion has failed to produce its effects, and its interests are become quite despe- rate, no other sect can flatter itself even with the remotest hopes of establishing its system.” “ There are in the actual circumstances of the case no human means to introduce Christianity among the natives, with any well-grounded hopes of success.” He declared that, in his opinion, three modern versions of the Scripture, the Tamil, Telinga, and Canarese, were “ fit for nothing else” but “ wrap- ping the drugs of country grocers in them as in waste paper.” Did the pope, or his emissaries, ever use any means of making the unadulterated oracles of God accessible to the people ? Facilities were afforded me for knowing the private character of the rajah — his personal phy- sician and daily attendant was familiar and com- municative on many minute characteristics. The rajah was a devotee to his idol-worship — five days every month he fasted so abstemiously, as to prevent 270 CONTINENTAL INDIA. himself swallowing his own saliva — he was punctual in observing days and seasons for ceremonial ablu- tions, for offerings and attendance on the pagodas. He declared of the English, from his opportunities of judging them, that they had no religion, though they were brave as soldiers, and wise as rulers. He watched narrowly, and knew intimately, the habits of his European friends, who resided at his court, or near his capital. Yet the rajah was not a virtuous or honest man ; he was neither chaste nor just ; neither a wise nor a good king. His wives and concubines were numerous, and his private amours were not unfrequent. His only offspring was illegitimate. His rule was arbitrary, cruel, and oppressive ; his country was impoverished, his people misgoverned, and his army an ill-paid rabble. The British government made him, and have since set him aside as the instrument of their power ; they found him disposed to be treacherous, to enter into leagues with their adversaries, and to become a dangerous and plotting neighbour and ally. The Company now rule the country for themselves. The following transaction came under my notice while here. The missionaries at Bangalore had sent out two parties of native Christian itinerants, one of whom were to labour in and around Mysore, and the other were requested to extend their jour- neys to a greater distance. Their efforts had created some inquiry and alarm among the Mohammedans and Brahmins, and measures to TRAVELLING REMINISCENCES. 271 suppress their opinions were promptly adopted. The stationed party here were meditating a retreat to another field for labour ; and the other party were at the same time passing through the city, from which their brethren were about temporarily to retire. An Arabian became furiously excited, and exhibited the most sanguinary hostility; he rode out of the city in quest of the hunted and hated Christians, who, he imagined, had left the place ; he came upon the others, who were unconscious of their danger : riding toward them in a rapid manner, he hailed them, “ Are you the Christians ? What ! were you the two who were preaching in Mysore ?” They had not preached in the city, and they answered “ No;” and he hastened forward at full gallop. About an hour afterwards he returned to them, and addressed them in Arabic, with gestures and looks which indicated great wrath ; and then in Hindostanee, he added, “ These Mo- hammedans dwelling at Mysore are silly and weak creatures, and are easily deceived — therefore, these Christians are trying to deceive them. I have read the Testament in the Persian language. Jesus Christ is mentioned in that book, and called God — that is wrong. It is not just to say that Moham- med was a sinner. If any man wish to preach another religion he must preach to his own people, in their own place — that is nothing to us. But to speak in the bazaars and streets so openly, that Mohammed is as other men, and that all are wrong till we believe in the Christian religion ! 272 CONTINENTAL INDIA. we cannot remain silent : we ought not to let them go away : and we must not allow them to escape, for they should not live. Now, it appears, many must lose their lives : but I am a stranger to this Mysore : I never put a great value on my life. I have heard for these three days about the Christians, and I have been looking after them in every street, without being able to find them. But if I see them, I am ready to lose my life by taking away theirs.” He then returned to the city. In the mean time, the supposed or reputed offenders had been traversing the streets and lanes, and resorting to the market-places and temples of the city, that they might fulfil their mission. During the week they had extended their labours to the suburbs, to villages and places of traffic ; but on the Sabbath, a day which they observed as a memorial of their Saviour’s work, they confined themselves to My- sore. As in the time of Christ, the Jews, Pontius Pilate, and Herod, so now the heathen, Moham- medans, and Roman Catholics, conspired together against the servants of the Lord and his anointed — a false accusation was lodged before the rajah against these evangelists. Two armed police, peons, were sent in quest of them. The Christian itinerants heard, on their return from village labours, that official persons had been inquiring for them. They deemed it their duty to occupy their usual place, in the midst of a sundee, or fair, for the purpose of conversation and preaching. The rajah occasionally resorted to this place for his own pleasure, and TRAVELLING REMINISCENCES. 273 he was now in a remote part of the bazaar. The cotwal, or police magistrate, required the attend- ance of the Christian preachers, and the following is their report of the interview: “We went: he asked us, 4 Who are you?’ To this we said, ‘We are the servants of God :’ ‘ What Shastrum do you teach?’ ‘We do not preach the Shasters : we preach Him who died for the sins of the whole world : we preach that He only is the way, the truth, and the life — his name is Jesus Christ ; we preach Him only, not any other Shasters.’ After this he asked several questions. The Lord opened our mouths to give an answer to every question.” The cotwal sent a peon to the rajah, to inform him, that those men whom he wished to see, were in his presence. The rajah immediately ordered two other officers to take them into custody — the cotwal accompanied them to the king, who was then mounted on his horse, attended by some brahmins and courtiers. He appeared highly incensed at the time, and employed a brahmin to act as his interpreter. The first salutation from the rajah was, “ O, these are the fellows after whom I have been seeking these three days : now you are apprehended, where do you come from ? how many of you are come ? Are you dwelling in my city? By whose authority and orders do you stand in the street and preach?” They replied, “ That God, who created all things in heaven and in earth, and all living creatures, and every soul, VOL. II. T 274 CONTINENTAL INDIA. has, by his Son, given us orders to preach this doc- trine — the pardon of sin through him ; according to his authority, (this is) the way of salvation, the entering into life : this is what we preach.” His highness answered to this: “You are like persons who seek to coax children by giving them date- fruit — this you are doing with my people : you give them date-fruit, (but it is to) intoxicate them. You shall not stop in my city, else I will give you great punishment. This time I will let you go, for pity’s sake.” They said, “ We are all sinners ; therefore the word of God is sweet for the sinner ; we were ignorant of the Creator of the world, and of the Saviour of sinners. Now God sent his own Son, Jesus Christ, that the poor and miserable might receive, through him, salvation and blessing ; we are ordered to let sinners know this ; we have accordingly made known the sweet gospel ; and we are yet bound to make it known.” The rajah spoke again : “ Y ou must go to the honourable Company’s cities : if you do not leave this, I will tell Mr. C. to drive you away. What caste are you of?” They informed him they came from Bangalore, and were associated with many others ; that the tutors (of the Seminary) sent them, and that they were of the caste of the priests. “ Do not,” they added, addressing the rajah, “let your highness be angry, for we have come to bring a word which will give benefit to your own soul, and good to the whole of your city. Here is the same gospel for you,” (offering to him a copy of the gospel in TRAVELLING REMINISCENCES. 275 the Canarese.) He turned aside disdainfully, and treated them with severity, and commanded them, saying, “Preach no more in my city — go away.” At this they declared, “ The Lord Jesus Christ will again appear. He is the final Judge,” — and continued to speak on the last judgment. The rajah gave directions to the peons, in whose charge they were placed, and then rode away. They were immediately conveyed to the different cut- cherries (police offices) in Mysore ; where a de- scription of their features and stature was taken and entered into each cotwal’s office ; and after eleven o’clock at night they were released, and next day were obliged to leave the city. The narration which these humble men gave of their proceedings was found to be faithful by the testimony of other natives, and was corroborated by the communications of my friend, the rajah’s doctor. In Mysore and Seringapatam the seed of the kingdom had been sown like a handful of corn, and there were a few, who, though obscure in the world’s eye, were not hidden from God, and who rejoiced in the salvation by Jesus Christ. I met with them then, and have often heard of them since ; and within the last few months communications from the country inform me, that several pious European gentlemen, now residing in the city of Mysore, are conducting benevolent and evangelical opera- tions in Mysore, by the assistance of natives, who were in a course of preparation, as associates of the men whose story I have now recited. The handful t 2 276 CONTINENTAL INDIA. of corn, though sown on the top of the mountains, will yet flourish like grass of the field. My route from Mysore to the coast lay through a wild and picturesque region. I never beheld any country with holder outlines or grander features of natural scenery. A road was then in process of formation by pioneers, both in the rajah’s service and in the pay of the Company. Eight hundred la- bourers were constantly employed in this work of improvement. The jungle thick, the ground was marshy, and the malaria pestilential, and proved fatal to many Mysorians. The mortality among this corps was such, that many hundreds, perhaps thousands, fell under the effects of fever. Through several stages there was no highway ; we traversed fields, or opening spaces in the forest, where the grass was higher than a man’s head, and where, for safety from tigers and elephants, our escort deemed it expedient to keep up a running fire by matchlocks ; we forded through middies and nullahs, streams and rivers, without bridges, or crossed by means of bamboo stakes. One part of our track lay through the elephant jungle, par excellence — the undisturbed domain of those giant lords of the forest — where as many as eighty or a hundred elephants in one herd might occasionally be met. Yet from them the traveller had comparatively nothing to dread ; his chief hazard was in meeting a sulky and prowling outcast wandering alone, who had either been ex- pelled from the community in disgrace, or had left in some fit of disgust. This was not unusual ; it TRAVELLING REMINISCENCES. 277 occurred in our own experience ; as we passed through, an old elephant was haunting the route of the traveller, and had killed a soldier a few days before. He was marked by the natives as an old elephant, with a broken tusk, and blind of an eye, probably the scars of war, or some personal quarrel in the forest. They represented him as lurking about, and concealing himself by day in the water of a tank or pool, and as only tempted to come out if he marked any defenceless or unconscious traveller. These exiled delinquents sometimes, how- ever, assume greater boldness. I saw a gentleman, who had been exposed to such danger on the road, and whose bearers were so frightened, that they set down his palanquin, and sought refuge as they ima- gined it could be found. The traveller himself was a little deaf ; when he ascertained the cause, he took his gun with him, and sought a tree for shelter. The elephant drew toward the palanquin, and walking round it, looked in as if he were in quest of the tra- veller. The gentleman took aim, and fired. He might as well have danced a hornpipe. The elephant laid hold of the palanquin with his trunk, and pitched it into the air as the traveller would have done an old hat, broke it to pieces, and tore into fragments the contents — clothes, parcels, &c. There are vil- lages in this region, but their habitations are literally among the trees, above the reach of such uncivil neighbours. This is no hearsay representation ; I saw them, and passed under them, though I did not venture up to visit the inhabitants of such 278 CONTINENTAL INDIA. airy dwellings. In one part of the road my bearers took the alarm, and created such noises and con- fusion as might have been expected had they been assailed by Mahratta plunderers. It was in the middle of the night ; I had been slumbering in sweet sleep, when their cries of consternation awoke and confused me. I asked what was the matter. They told me they had come upon the track of a single elephant. I inquired how they knew it, and they pointed out the impressions of his footsteps. These traces were of an oval shape, as big as the crown of a hat, and were evidently of recent formation : it might have been a few hours before. I encouraged them to hurry on, to shout vociferously, to fire away, and keep a blazing torch and good spirits. Their torch appeared like a moving conflagration ; long billets of light split wood, which burned with a clear and continuous light, and lasted generally from village to village. The reflection of the torch in the forest was cheerful to the traveller, and alarming even to the beasts of prey, and we moved onward without interruption. The greatest obstacle in our journey arose, in one part, from the thick entanglements of the jungle and the awkwardness of the natives who were appointed to carry our palanquins. Twelve of the villagers could do no more than six expe- rienced bearers would perform without difficulty. They had, moreover, a way of their own, and an apparatus which they had to mount for carrying the palanquin, which was far from pleasant to the TRAVELLING REMINISCENCES. 270 traveller. These were men whom the Mysore govern- ment had placed in this district, to whom lots of ground were assigned for their services, and whose duty it was to forward travellers whsse route lay through the country; and their services were se- cured to us by the kindness of the resident. In passing through the province ofWynaadwe came to Manantoddy, a hill-fort of the English government, and a sort of rendezvous for their pioneer camp. From the time we crossed the nuddy which seemed to divide this province from Mysore, our road improved, the scenery became more enchanting, and the lofty grandeur of the mountains burst forth with the finest effect. The ravines and declivities among the hills were clothed with verdure of the richest green ; the trees, of gigantic stature, lined the ridges, and rose with trunks of the largest timber from the glens and glades of this luxuriant country. You look far down into the deep ravines, and behold forest-trees of mature growth, yet, seen as they are from your lofty position, they hardly seem larger than bushy brushwood, and their dimensions are only guessed by the opening spaces which are seen beneath them. The situation of Manantoddy is solitary to the two or three officers whose duty requires con- tinued residence. But to one disposed to converse with nature, or to study natural history, to gaze upon and explore the monumental antiquities of creation, or the fragments of remote convulsions, such a station must prove more attractive than the 280 CONTINENTAL INDIA. ruins of civic greatness, or the mounds and strong- holds cast up by warrior conflict. I was received by the officer in command with prompt and cordial hospitality, and spent a short time under his bun- galow-roof with great pleasure. He has since given to the world, in two lively volumes, the notes and reminiscences of a thirty years’ residence in eastern countries. Major B — was then a keen sportsman, and was sometimes drawn into the jungle farther than a sober consideration for his own safety would have warranted. He showed me the tusks of a boar which he had encountered and killed, but which had nearly overpowered and rendered him a martyr to the wild sports of the East. The ferocious beast had turned on his assailant, and attempted to gore him in the stomach. Major B — was only saved by a strong belt which he had girt round his loins. The tusks of the boar passed through and rent his other clothes, and partially tore, but did not penetrate the belt. The combat was short and critical, but ended in my host’s triumph. Birds of every plumage fluttered and dwelt around, giving animation to the solitudes of the forest. The peacock was here in flocks, and supplied the table with a constant dish. Game was abundant. Elephants roamed on the contiguous mountains ; their tracks, where they had made paths for themselves, were visible from the door of the bungalows. Among the pheno- mena of animated nature, a rare species of a kind of monkey-sloth was caught by one of my friends here. The natives of the country appeared never TRAVELLING REMINISCENCES. 281 to have seen such a little man of the woods. The creature was discovered, with one ol its young, to appearance almost tame, and inclined to become domesticated : so much so that they were allowed to move about without restraint. The parent might he about ten or twelve inches in height, and the young one about eight inches. They walked upright on their hind-legs, and besides their erect form, had much the appearance of human beings: the countenance of the old one being like the face of an elderly female. For some time the parent seemed fond and attentive to its young one ; they both fed without any reluctance. Latterly, how- ever, the elder animal became morose and reserved, refused food for a day or two, and excited fears of its approaching end. My friend was, however, surprised shortly afterwards to discover the body of the young one beheaded, and the trunk left care- lessly by the mother. So far as could be traced, the parent had committed infanticide ; and what added to the wonder, the little murderer seemed afterward quite relieved of its melancholy, and was inclined to indulge its appetite as before. I am not naturalist enough to determine the rank in the animal tribes which such a monster should occupy. My friend was persuaded by an officer of superior rank to give to him the survivor, to enrich his museum. I hope Major W — was able to preserve the creature alive, or, at least, to bring her bones and hairy skin to Europe, and to determine, either by his own observation, or the assistance of some 282 CONTINENTAL INDIA. friend, to what species this inhuman murderer belonged. If so, I do not fear that the matter is lost to science. Major W — was a naturalist and painter of superior talent. I stood frequently lost in admiration, gazing at the scenery which presented ‘ the uplands, sloping and decking the sides of the mountains, and the woods rising over woods, in gay theatric pride;’ in the midst of which this little fort lay as a beacon on the top of a rock. Though it was elevated, there were mountains on either side, which rose, breaking through the clouds, far above its parallel. Mount Dilly sometimes presented its summit, with verdant sides and elephant paths, like stripes of cultivated land, on which the purest sunshine gleamed with unmixed serenity and unshaded clearness, while the mists gathered round, and settled upon its shoulder, or rather what seemed from our position its base. The sun shone at the same instant with refulgent strength on the grounds which Manantoddy occu- pied, and contrasted with picturesque grandeur the proximate scenery. Here was the “ tall cliff that lifts its awful form, Swells from the vale, and midway leaves the storm ; Though round its breast the rolling clouds are spread, Eternal sunshine settles on its head.” Our route lay along the ridge of a hill and the range of a valley. The winding path was so per- fectly finished, that a coach and four might have travelled along for many miles; and we had the TRAVELLING REMINISCENCES. 283 grand scenery of the Western Ghauts opening on our view in new forms at every turn of the road. The hill country stretched till within a few miles of Cananore, when the aspect of the country and nature of the soil were greatly altered : the red, pulverised, clay surface of this province would forbid the expectation of luxuriant vegetation, and yet nothing can exceed the fertility of the lands which are held and well cultivated by the nairs of Malabar, a little farther south. The rains which foil around Cananore are exceedingly heavy and protracted; the water, however, soon passes off the surface. The description given by Sir Thomas Munro, of the province of Canara, might be applied to some of the lands lying contiguous to Cananore. “ The eternal rains have long washed away the rich parts, if ever it had any, and left nothing but sand and gravel. There is hardly a spot where one can walk with any satisfaction ; for the country is the most broken and rugged, perhaps, in the world. The few narrow plains that are in it are under water at one season of the year ; and during the dry weather, the numberless banks which divide them make it very disagreeable and fatiguing to walk over them. There is hardly such a thing as a piece of gently-rising ground in the whole country : all the high grounds start up at once, in the shape of so many inverted tea-cups, and they are rocky,” &c. & c. The villages nearer to the coast appear better situated, and their soil is more fruitful : the produce of their grounds. 284 CONTINENTAL INDIA. too, finds a profitable market in the English gar- rison at Cananore. There are properly three places known as Ca- nanore : the cantonment, the fort, and the native town. The first is nominally British ; the other two are virtually so, but are in name the territory of the Beebee of Cananore : her possessions ex- tend only two miles beyond the glacis of her fortress. The situation of this place is favourable for commerce and shipping, being at the bottom of a small bay, the best on the coast, and well defended. The Portuguese were the first Euro- peans attracted here, and landed about 1501 ; they were well received, obtained permission to build a fort, and then drove out the inhabitants. In their turn they were expelled by the Dutch, about 1660 or 1664 ; who are said to have expended, during ten years, 50,000/. in strengthening its fortifica- tions, and afterwards sold it to a native Mussulman family. Tippoo Sultaun took it from them ; and from him it was captured by General Abercrombie, in 1790. It is usual in Malabar for the succession to go in the female line ; a practice which is ob- served in the family to whom the principality of Cananore belonged, and to whom the English restored the nominal sovereignty for an annual tribute of 1,500/. This princess is also the sove- reign of the Laccadive Islands : she is regarded likewise as the head of all the Mussulmans in Malayala : yet all her revenues and duties, her com- mercial, as well as political economy, are regulated TRAVELLING REMINISCENCES. 285 by the approbation of the Company. She engages in trade, and possesses several vessels, which are navigated under her own flag: they sail along the coast, and proceed to Surat and Arabia, to Bengal and Sumatra, importing horses, piece-goods, sugar, almonds, opium, silk, benzoin, and camphor : pepper, cardamoms, arrow-root, sago, sandal-wood, coir, for ropes, from the cocoa-nut, and sharks’ fins, are her goods of export. The beebee was about eighty years of age when I visited Cananore, yet she transacted the affairs of her commerce and her government, and examined the accounts for herself. The following sketch will illustrate her family re- lations and influence : — Her grand-daughter was destined as her heir, passing over her sons, or sons’ sons. When this young lady was married, a great entertainment was given — a gentleman present thus described it : — the European ladies and gen- tlemen were the guests. “ We were received by the beebee in her bed-room, and the ladies were admitted into the chamber of her grand-daughter. The dining-room was very large and well lighted, and the dinner was entirely after the English fashion. The quantity of meat put on the table, as usual in India, was enormous, and the wines and liquors were very good. The young chief, or son of the beebee, with the father and husband of the young lady, who have no kind of authority, re- ceived the company in the dining-room, but did not sit at table : when dinner was served they retired to a couch at one end of the hall, and smoked 286 CONTINENTAL INDIA. hooqquas till the company rose to dance. Appro- priate toasts were given, and these were honoured by salutes of guns from the beebee’s ships. Many fire-works were displayed, and there was music both European and native. The house of the beebee is very large, and though not so showy as some of the sultan’s palaces, is by far more com- fortable, and is in fact by much the best native house that I have seen.” The beebee and her Mussulman connexions are not the only Mohammedans residing in this vici- nity ; there is a caste, or race, or tribe, called the Maupillies, supposed to be descended, on the father’s side, from Arabs. For many ages intercourse was maintained between this coast and Arabia by navi- gators ; who, sailing without wives or families, mingled with the natives of Malabar, and gradually raised up a race of mixed descent, that would not be admitted to the privileges of Hindoo caste ; while the repeated visits and dominant power of their kindred would secure them a position and respect in society. The Maupillies are larger and more mus- cular and athletic than the Hindoos, with more sanguinary courage and more promptitude to re- venge personal quarrels, to rob or to murder their victims; they evidently reckon themselves more independent than other natives ; they all carry a knife in their girdle, and it is understood use it too freely in their own defence, or for assault. They are known by their small skull-caps of quilted buckram ; the women clothe themselves like other TRAVELLING REMINISCENCES. 287 Mohammedan females, but the men conform to local customs, and wear no covering above the waist. The meaning of their name, in the provin- cial dialect, may be “ a mother’s child signifying that the mother is known but not the father. To this idea corresponds the practice of the Nairs, the principal tribe which inhabits Malabar, who inherit from the female line, so that the property, even of a man, descends to his sister’s children : a woman is lawfully permitted with them to entertain two or more paramours, besides her husband; and if any one of these has left his slippers at the door, the husband is not allowed to pass the threshold of his own house. I was told, as a part of the system, that only the eldest son in a family was allowed to marry ; the most licentious intercourse being prac- tised between the sexes : thus the custom originated : since the wife alone was supposed to know the chil- dren of her husband ; whereas if he left his property to descend in a direct line, he would run the risk of enriching children not his own ; but it is presumed his sister’s children are certain to be of his own blood. This people are represented as evincing a more inde- pendent spirit, and desperate resolution, than other Hindoos, while their industry and enterprise are com- mended, as securing them many comforts not enjoyed by others ; but, alas ! how are the wells of domestic peace poisoned, and how are the sympathies of love’s wannest bosom desecrated ! How much has Christianity to achieve when its triumphs begin. Their women wear no clothes above the loins ; they 288 CONTINENTAL INDIA. protect their bosoms from the sun by a muslin handkerchief, but it would be deemed immodest to have it spread over them when any man passes ; they, therefore, always remove it when they meet a man— such is fashion. The women, as well as the men, are better looking than the Mysoreans ; they are handsome, fair, and well made, and scrupulously observant of the customs of their people and the rites of their religion. The Teeyers are a menial tribe, a caste inferior to the Nairs and Maupillies. I have seen them not ashamed to acknowledge the superiority of other castes. The cantonment is situated on the open plains, and lies above the rolling sea ; besides the barracks, it contains a number of private bungalows, occupied by the officers and their families. There is also a church built in the plainest style, to which was attached an episcopal chaplain ; but, alas ! poor fellow, not only had he mistaken his profession, as to fitness, hut his moral qualities and personal conduct could not commend his creed or his system. A good- natured, obliging fellow though he was, his weak- nesses, indiscretions, and criminal indulgences were more than I can number, nor shall I name them. Many ridiculous stories were told, and many things were done, to make a Christian sad, and to make the infidel mock and disregard his own convictions. Social and mess-room habits, extravagant expendi- ture, and accumulated debts, rendered the poor fellow’s name a bye-word, and his religious services a derision. The cantonment was large enough to TRAVELLING REMINISCENCES. 289 contain one European regiment and two native corps. I only met the local staff and the officers of II. M. regiment; with the latter I held intimate and frequent intercourse, and, as often as I could, dined at their mess, or with the comman- dant. The latter was a hospitable and warm- hearted countryman, and was much respected in the province. 1 met at his table two peculiar characters : the Vicomte de Richmond, and a medical and scientific associate, sent out by Louis XVIII. The French nobleman was a pleasing and interesting person ; he had been bora at the Isle of France, and had been educated in France and England. He spoke the English fluently ; had passed through Persia, visited Bombay, sailed down the Concan coast; was now starting for Mysore, through which he meant to proceed to Pondicherry, and, having assumed the functions of governor- general of all the French settlements in the East, he was then to visit Bengal. His medical and scientific attendant never opened his mouth, except to fill it, and never seemed to raise his head at table, except to look for something more. He was, however, said to be an indefatigable student of nature, and a most laborious searcher for botanical specimens. The vicomte was a favourite in all re- gions and parties ; I found he had been so at Bom- bay, and was so esteemed afterwards at Mysore. I was induced to visit Tellicherry, and some other of the places farther down the coast, but I shall first mention the staple production of this province — VOL. II. u 290 CONTINENTAL INDIA. the pepper plant. Most of the population in this district are, in some way or other, engaged in the cultivation of the pepper vine, or in the gathering, drying, and preparation of its fruit. Like the hop, it is parasitical, and artificially propped up in the same manner. In the end of May, when the rainy season commences, a number of trees, — if large enough it matters not of what kind, — are lopped of their lower branches ; a pit is dug, a foot and a half deep, round each tree, and a slip of the pepper plant is set in the ground at their root. This grows three years before it bears fruit, during which nothing is done more than to bind it loosely to the tree and to prevent its falling to the ground. The rainy season is so continuous for six mouths, that it requires no artificial irrigation. The fruit, when it appears hanging to a middle stalk, like Portugal onions to a straw, is cut and laid out in the sun for three or four days, and after being thus dried and stripped from the stalk, it is ready for sale. The fruit appears during the rainy season. The white pepper is prepared by depriving the corns of their outer skin by maceration in a compost of quick lime. The cinnamon, and other aromatic trees, as well as the sago, a beautiful species of palm, grow here without much difficulty, and give to the country a most enchanting appearance. The coast wears the same aspect for many miles toward the south. To the north of Cananore, similar scenery extends only for a few miles. Bimlipatam is a village a few miles in this direction, and is reached by a well-made TRAV E L L I NG REMI NISCE VCES. 291 road through an avenue of trees. There is here a romantic valley, diversified by an inlet from the sea, and wooded beautifully on either side. An old French factory once commanded the village, and formed a picturesque object from the low grounds. The inhabitants of Cananore make this a place for pleasure excursions, for boating on the water or enjoying the shade of the sheltered scenes. Tellicherry is twelve miles south by the coast ; the inland road is more direct, only eight miles : it has no river, nor any rising hill intervening between the sea and the town. Many of the houses stand upon the beach, and the cliffs are composed of pud- ding stone. The places which were once selected as places of strength, are now occupied as sites for bungalows ; to which, from their elevation, English- men retire, that they may enjoy a fresher and purer air than can be expected below. These add to the effect of the appearance. I was kindly entertained at the residence of the civil judge of the province, and obtained from him much information which I had not otherwise acquired. Tellicherry has been always a port of great commercial consequence on the Malabar coast ; and was an object of warlike controversy. In 1781 it was invested by Hyder Ali, who established a fortified camp in the vicinity, preparatory to his attack upon the place. A strong detachment from Bombay, under the command of a Major Abingdon, arrived to relieve the town early next year. He proceeded with secrecy and skill, and came upon the enemy by night, when unpre- u 2 292 CONTINENTAL INDIA. pared for sucli a visit ; he carried all their outworks and forts, entered their camp, and routed them in every quarter: 1,500 prisoners Avere taken, besides the victims of war who were slain ; a large train of artillery, all their military stores, and a numerous body of war-elephants became the booty of the captors. The roads off Tellicherry are convenient for shipping, and admit of a near approach to the shore, with good anchorage and a quiet sea under the shelter of Mount Dilly and Green Island. It has, therefore, always been a principal port for British trade on this coast. Almost all the pepper grown in Canara and Malabar is collected and shipped here. The Company’s vessels and private traders, therefore, frequent this port. There are two places, as distinct as two towns, one more in- land than the other, called Tellicherry. The town on the sea coast is inhabited chiefly by the Hin- doos and Portuguese in the sendee of government ; the other division is situated among trees, is larger, but of meaner construction, and is occupied solely by natives, who are classed by their creed as adherents of Brahma, Mohammed, and the Pope — Christians the last class should not be called. In the centre of the houses, toward the beach, there are remains of a large fort, erected under the direction of Europeans. From its elevated site, it was perhaps designed to command the harbour, but it is so dismantled, as to be deprived even of its flag-staff. There are, however, several good dwelling-houses, in which servants of the Company TRAVELLING REMINISCENCES. 293 reside. The civilians and judicial officers of the Government have their houses in retired and re- mote parts of the country, some of them four or six miles apart. There is no visiting here, except by conveyances. The dwelling of the judge who so hospitably entertained our party, was in a secluded and most picturesque situation, and as large as an English nobleman’s mansion. An incident occurred with one of us, which will exemplify Indian life. The heat of the night was great, and had been felt by us the more intolerable, from our recent resi- dence in a higher region. An unquenchable thirst soon exhausted the supply of water in the bed- room; but there were no bells, no water-pipes, no servants, and we were ignorant of the geography either of the house or its wells. The midnight hour had long and wearily passed, but it was yet several hours till gun fire, and we had extinguished our light; where to find the servants we could not tell, but to awake our kind-hearted host, merely for a drink of water, would have appeared intrusive. Nevertheless, the exigency was urgent, and a parched throat and tongue prevailed to break through all restraints. The chief sufferer started on an explor- atory tour through the wide, open, and spacious rooms, passages, and halls, to discover a draught of water ; the intervening delay seemed to me so long, that I could brook it no further. I, too, followed in my night gown, and met my companion in dis- habille, bearing in both arms a chattie, or jar of water, and labouring up stairs with the prize as 294 CONTINENTAL INDIA. joyously as if the chattie were a treasure which had been seized as a spoil from our worst foes. This station had at one time enjoyed the services of a chaplain of excellent character and evangelical principles ; a manifest contrast to the poor fellow of the same church, to whom I last referred. He had, however, now withdrawn to another station ; some good had followed his exertions. Major B. and one or two others in the same rank were more than favourable to religion : they practised and endeavoured to promote it. There were a few European soldiers at Cananore, and a few natives or country-born people there and at Tellicherry, who valued religious privileges, and sought to im- prove themselves and others in the maintenance of them. With these humble and pious persons of both ranks, I enjoyed frequent intercourse, espe- cially with the Christian soldiers. Two of the native Christians who had been trained at Banga- lore, were employed here for a season to preach the gospel, and gather wanderers into the fold of Christ. I understood from Major B , that their exertions were faithfully devoted, and their labours well received ; so that the cause of truth and peace was promoted, and the good of mankind was extended by their means. I cannot, however, refrain from transcribing a representation from the pen of one who was no sxvaddler, or evangelical, of such a station as Tellicherry, when uninfluenced by the restraints of religion, or the presence of a faithful watchman. “ There being seldom any TRAVELLING REMINISCENCES. 295 other religious observance of Sunday at the out- stations in India, beyond that of closing the public offices, and enjoying a respite from business, it is a day more particularly devoted to the paying and returning of visits, in which the morning is con- sumed ; and in the evening there is generally a party at the house of one of the principal residents, to which all the rest are invited. . . . The whole of the family with whom I was staying, and several others of their guests, rode out to the collector of revenue at the distance of about three miles from the town, where we had all been invited to dine. We found already assembled here, the whole of the European residents, with the ladies of such of them as were married, though it was just past three o’clock, and the dinner hour was nominally four. The ladies were all in full evening dresses, but the gentlemen were all in white jackets. There being two billiard-tables in the verandahs, the gentlemen were occupied in this game, and the ladies barely found a companion each to beguile their time until dinner. We sat down in number about twenty, to a very sumptuously furnished table, where turtle- soup, excellent fish, choice turkeys and poultry, old madeira wines, iced claret and sparkling cham- paign, were in such abundance as to have furnished a feast to the most fastidious epicures (of five times the number) ; at least ten or a dozen dishes were taken away without being tasted; not one-tenth part of the provisions set on the table was con- sumed, though the guests were all in good health 296 CONTINENTAL INDIA. and spirits.” No wonder that such habits of high living ultimately injure the health and the taste to such a degree, as to destroy all relish for the greatest luxuries that even Indian wealth can procure. “ The twilight was passed in an agreeable ramble over the sides of the hills, on whose summit the dwelling of our entertainer was seated; our evening was divided between billiards, cards, chess, and backgammon, and a sofa party for con- versation. The rigour of the protestant mode of observing Sunday in England, soon relaxes in India into a freedom quite equal to that of the catholic, when a small community finds time to hang heavy on their hands without amusements.” I have quoted quite enough of my friend’s senti- ments and occupations to describe a civilian’s up- country Sunday. Can my readers wonder that Christian missions should be disliked and mis- represented, and that impediments almost in- surmountable should obstruct their success and vex the minds of the benevolent men who conduct them ? A few miles distant from Tellicherry, in the interior, an enterprising gentleman, of Scotch de- scent, had obtained the occupation of some lands, which he cultivated as a plantation for pepper and other produce of the country. Mr. B was con- sidered as singular in his habits as he had been successful in his undertakings ; and he had not scrupled to avail himself of the servile degradation of his fellow-men, natives of that province. In TRAVELLING REMINISCENCES. 297 Malabar and Camara, a description of slavery has been upheld as the doom of about eighty thousand of the people : they are not captured negroes, hut aboriginal Hindoos; they are bought and sold by proprietors, and subject to capricious treatment, but their oppressors are amenable to the Company’s judicature ; the slave-master is not the law-maker. Mr. B had bought a number of these degraded people, and some of them ran away ; he pursued to recapture and restore to their bonds the run- aways. His proceedings became matter of litiga- tion ; and the opinion of the highest law-officer in India was delivered, that no Briton could hold a Hindoo in slavery within the Company’s territory. Mahe is a French settlement, the only one on this coast. They first took possession of it in 1722; and though the British recovered it in 1761, the French again obtained possession in 1763 by a treaty of peace. In 1793, Mahe again fell into the bands of the Company, who held it till the restoration of the Bourbons. It had been given up by the English, and was governed by a Mon- sieur Law, in the name of Louis XVIII., when I passed through the province. Their territory was limited to a few miles, and is distant only five or six from Telliclierry, being situated on the banks of a river which is navigable for large boats for a considerable way up the country. The harbour is secure ; and small vessels can cross the bar with safety. The country through which we pass is beautiful; and the roads are fine between it and 298 CONTINENTAL INDIA. Tellicherry ; but any one who goes thither to observe French people in this part of the world, will suffer disappointment. I went rather as a visitor of the country than one of its conquerors. I carried, however, letters of introduction to the governor from my friend, the judge, which secured me all a Frenchman’s politeness. The town had been neat, and contained some good houses, which were also well and prettily seated. The undula- tions of the country, and windings of the river, and the mountainous background of the Western Ghauts, rendered the vicinity picturesque and varied. But decay marked the appearance of the place, and the governor was the only Frenchman, the only Euro- pean in the settlement. Monsieur Law was a collateral descendant of the celebrated Baron Law of ‘projecting notoriety; whose Mississippi scheme and bank speculations once turned the heads of old France. The modern governor was as visionary in his greatness, and as aerial in his day-dreams, but he lived in the world of his own fancy — few were deceived in his speculations. Poor old man ! I pitied his isolated and dreary portion. When 1 reached Government-house, the whole establish- ment was in distress, and every countenance the picture of consternation. But the suite of the governor consisted only of Hindoos or half-caste Frenchmen ; his Excellency was rolling on a couch in convulsive agony, and surrounded by distressed attendants, ministering as well as they were able, and as they thought, to their dying master, slops and TRAVELLING REMINISCENCES. 299 decoctions, the virtues of which seemed doubtful. I approached the aged sufferer; he was nearly sixty-five years of age. 1 asked the cause of his distress, and found it a spasmodic affection. He eagerly demanded if I was a doctor. I replied, that I had not much skill, but I knew a little of what was useful ; and, if he would permit, I should take him into my own care. I prescribed ; and in less than three-quarters of an hour the old gentle- man was out of bed, and dressed, showing us the objects worthy of notice, and vowing that it was his stars, his good angels, which had directed me to his relief. He was overflowing with royal anec- dotes as well as with gratitude. He spoke of his “ friend Louis,” his “ friend Charles d’ Artois,” and his “ old friend George IV.,” as if they had been his playmates or schoolfellows, in whose boyhood he had been their familiar friend, and with whom he yet remained on terms of closest intimacy. He was, however, quite as unceremonious and un- restrained in his phraseology respecting the “ King of kings,” whose name was on his lips every sen- tence he uttered ; Mon Dieu ! varied by the occa- sional interchange of. My God ! Jesu Christ ! formed integral parts of speech, not mere flowers of rhe- toric. However, he had all the suavity and affa- bility of his nation when this profanity was gently rebuked; and with a thousand professions of gra- titude, he acknowledged his error, protested how religious he was, and vowed abstinence hence- forward from such offence. The whole settlement 300 CONTINENTAL INDIA. were in Cimmerian darkness — the truths of reli- gion were not known — how could they call with acceptance on Him in whom they did not truly believe, and of whom they had not heard ? — and how could they hear without a preacher ? The only person of a religious character was an ignorant native priest of the Roman Catholic communion, who officiated at Mahe. I was now brought to the borders of the pro- vince of Calicut, and can only glance at its position and history. The town and port lie about three hours’ sail, with a moderate breeze, south of Telli- cherry, and was the first Hindoo harbour into which European navigators entered in the fifteenth century. Vasco de Gama arrived here in May 1 498 ; and the Portuguese attacked the place to take it in 1509, with 3,000 troops, but were re- pulsed with great loss, and their general was slain. It was often the arena of strife between the English and Hyder Ali, as also with his son Tippoo. At the fall of the latter prince, English supremacy gave security to mercantile enterprise and native occu- pation. The proper name in the native language is Colicodu, which means the cock-crowing, and implies that a province so named extends as far as the crowing of a cock will be heard. This Hindoo chanticleer must however have had a stentorian organ for uttering his clarion notes, since the dis- trict extends about seventy miles in length. It is in breadth very narrow, only a few miles. From the usual name the designation of cotton calicoes is TRAVELLING REMINISCENCES. 301 derived : some fabrics of this description were first brought to Europe from this port. The ancient town has long been submerged by the sea; and when the tides are very low, their waves are said even now to break over the tops of what used to be the highest temples and minarets. It was for- merly a magnificent and extensive city, but the present town is placed in a low situation on the sea-shore, is unsheltered, and its streets are narrow and dirty. European merchants and civilians have their residences in the country on elevated and retired positions, amidst topes or clumps of mango, jack, and cocoa-nut trees ; surrounded by the rich and fertile scenery of Western India, whose hills are cultivated to their summits with cardamoms, while forests of teak, bamboo, and poon, stretch far and wide. “ Here, from the mountain to the surgy main, Fair as a garden, spreads the smiling plain ; And lo, the empress of the Indian powers ! There lofty Calicut resplendent towers ; Her’s every fragrance of the spicy shore, Her’s every gem of India’s countless store.” I embarked for Bombay in a vessel, a sort of armed ketch, belonging to the East India Com- pany, commanded by an officer of the Bombay marine, and worked by a Mohammedan crew under the mastership of a native officer, designated the serang. His subordinate assistants were called tinduls , and the men Lascars. The Moors, or Hin- dostan language, was spoken by them. The navi- gation seemed to me quite as efficiently managed 302 CONTINENTAL INDIA. as I had seen it in British ships ; a little more noise and more hands for any job, perhaps, but equal regularity and obedience ; as good sailing, and as quick progress, marked the Hindoo sea- manship. The vessel was commissioned to re- ceive specie from the several ports on the coast, for the use of the Bombay government. We had therefore none of the effluvia or confusion belonging to cargoes from the dry-salter or the planter, and the opportunities were the more fa- vourable for our visiting the principal stations on the coast. The cabin party consisted of Lieu- tenant R — , four ladies and myself; three of the ladies had been born in the country, and exhibited much more of the vivacity peculiar to the French, than of the languor belonging to the Hindoo, or Indo-British character. Our society was therefore lively, and being brought into proximate inter- course, we spent a few very agreeable days. The cabin was so constructed, that the parties did not incommode each other by night, and yet, during the day, we had but one cabin and one poop. Our commander performed the office of a hospitable entertainer throughout the passage, and main- tained the reputation of a provident host. He had been often stationed in the Persian gulph, on the Euphrates, and the Red Sea ; and had many anecdotes of Arabian and Persian character. I was pleased with his deportment, as I well might be in every respect ; except in the matter of his God, where I had reason to dread great laxity of TRAVELLING REMINISCENCES. 303 principle, or absolute scepticism. Always afloat, where few religious privileges had been enjoyed, and constantly mingling with people of other creeds, and with few, at any time, of his own countrymen, he had become indifferent, and thus imbibed feelings of hostility to the Christian faith. Mangalore is situated at the embouchure of a river, about eighty miles north of Cananore. 1 spent several days at this place, and had the plea- sure to mingle with the civilians of the station, whom I found quiet and enlightened men. I also met some of the military officers resident in the fort, and others doing duty in the pioneer camp, as well as connected with the Company’s commis- sariat, whom I had previously known, or to whom 1 had friendly introductions. Had I been left to my own choice, Mangalore appeared to me the only place on the West coast, where I should have liked a continued residence. The climate is milder than the more southern or eastern stations; it possesses all the picturesque beauties of hill and dale, mountain and plain, wood and water, and the most happy combinations of all these charms. Its contiguity to the sea secures to it cool and fresh breezes daily ; the cultivated, dry, and elevated lands, which rise toward the lofty Ghauts behind, shelter it from the overpowering winds that blow over the plains on the opposite coast. Animal food, vegetables, and fruit, in their season, are plentiful and cheap. There is perhaps temptation too strong to the keen sportsmen in the jungles, which 304 CONTINENTAL INDIA. lie not far off in the Courg country. A vertical sun, and the malaria, which abounds in an Indian forest, do not furnish elements peculiarly congenial to an Englishman’s constitution. The custom, too, of swallowing brimming tumblers of “ brandy- pawnie” which often prevails with the young and thoughtless, ministers too certainly to disease and mortality. An instance of this fatal delusion occurred in a warm-hearted rattling fellow, whom I had met in another part of India. When he heard of my arrival in that province, he came in, a distance of some forty or fifty miles, to renew acquaintance, and was then in the highest spirits and rude health. A few weeks afterwards, the abundance of game, in the vicinity of his camp, and his love of the chase, induced him to over- heat himself; his incautious use of spirituous mix- tures, and exposure to draughts, brought on a delirious fever, and he was earned off without conscious apprehension, or an hour’s warning, in the midst of strangers, where not a tear bedewed his grave, or a record remained to distinguish his sleeping dust. I repeatedly had an opportunity of examining the shore and river banks of Mangalore : but in no part of the many wanderings of my life, have I suffered a more lively apprehension of proximate danger, than while crossing the bar of the harbour. There are two streams, which form a junction before they reach the sea ; the source of the one is easterly, and navigation may be conducted up TRAVELLING REMINISCENCES. 305 it sixteen or twenty miles — the other comes from the north, and runs along the coast, parallel with the shore, for ten or twelve miles : on the eastern bank of the latter Mangalore is situated. From the town to the landing-place an extensive sandy Hat intervenes. The hospitality of our friends entertained us till the last hour ; and a desire to take the cool of the evening for embarkation, induced us to delay. The pleasure of friendly and enlightened converse, made time pass imper- ceptibly, and it became necessary we should traverse this long sandy tract by torch-light. We could only reach our vessel in a massulah, or flat-bottomed boat : a narrow fragile bark, in which there was not a single nail, but every separate, slender, and bending plank, was only fastened to its neighbour by coir rope. Night gathered in overwhelming darkness; the surf rolled and dashed with vehe- mence, and its noise was mingled with the ominous surges of the rivers, now joined, rushing over the bar : — the boat seemed to twist and bend like a willow before the blast. We had six rowers and a steersman ; but such oars ! — pieces of bamboo, to the end of which a board eight or ten inches square was corded. The distance we had to row had been increased — our vessel having dropped down with the tide and lying to : we therefore rowed out to sea three or four miles. So narrow was our boat that two could not sit abreast. My companion, a lady, had therefore to crouch between my knees. To add to our excitement, she became sick, and we dared not move VOL. II. x 306 CONTINENTAL INDIA. to the right hand or to the left. A single half-inch plank was all that lay between us and the deep ocean, for more than an hour. We ourselves were powerless, and had no confidence in the sea- manship of our native sailors, or even that they knew or could discover whither our vessel had dropped. Never were distracted creatures more completely, in appearance, at the mercy of the waves, or more helpless. I could not have been more subject to the caprices and terrors of a wild and ungovernable imagination off the cape of storms. Yet we reached our vessel in safety, and without the ripple of a wave entering our boat, or the spray wetting our garments : so our fears passed away. At another time I wished to land a horse which we had on board. He was young, and, though naturally gentle, was of high blood, and had not felt his confinement between decks congenial either with his natural habits, or his early training on the plains of Persia. The vessel on board which he had been placed was called a dhonie, and could cross the bar. We selected such a part of the sand-bank which lay between the river and the sea, as would suit for the vessel to lie alongside. It was, how- ever, necessary to make the horse leap over the side of the vessel into the shallow water, which was done by his keeper holding the bridle and going before him. The horse seemed glad enough to escape from the hold, yet he was rather reluctant to take the plunge overboard. But at length he leaped out : TRAVELLING REMINISCENCES. 307 and never did lion of the forest more rejoice in his liberty, or embrace it with more triumph ; he shook off all restraint, spurned the bridle, and with mane erect and whisking tail, he careered along the strand with a majestic elasticity, which indicated the luxury of wildest joy ; his neck seemed clothed with thunder, “the glory of his nostrils was terrible; he pawed in the valley and rejoiced in his strength ; he mocked at fear, and was not affrighted ; neither turned he back from the roaring sea.” I stood on deck, and whilst dreading some accident, I could only admire his perfect symmetry, his fleetness, and his strength. He was ultimately secured, and yielded to his keeper as a child subdued by affection. Mangalore has been the scene of warfare and carnage from the earliest times of European inter- course. The Arabs had made it a mart for their produce, and a port whence they received Asiatic commerce. The Portuguese came into collision with them. Hyder Ali occupied the position in 1763, and the British disturbed his possession, seizing his vessels. He recovered this loss afterward, and held it till 1781. The British again invaded, and continued masters of, the place, though assailed by one of the most formidable armies, under Tippoo Sultaun, till peace was concluded between the sultaun and the English. The latter again took the place when Tippoo’s power was annihilated. Nothing but the ruins of the fort may be now seen in a heap of rub- bish. The collector’s house stands on an eminence, x 2 308 CONTINENTAL INDIA. and commands a magnificent prospect. It is ap- proached by the bank of the south ditch of the old fort ; when I visited him, he had a hundred con- victs at constant work, making improvements. The house of the colonel commandant overlooks the northern ditch, which is now a garden surrounded by picturesque ruins. On the summit of the fort, a flight of steps and a terrace were built, which supply an evening promenade, where, with a fine sea view, the residents enjoy the cooling freshness of a western breeze. The native population of the town is about 20,000, divided into Hindoos, Mo- hammedans, and Romish Christians. The last class have some historical interest attached to their name. The proximity of the place to Goa attracted the attention of the Jesuits, who had there a college and an Inquisition. They succeeded in persuading many to embrace their tenets, who ranked as the middle and industrious classes among the Hindoos, and who did not intermarry with other castes, or even with the Portuguese. Hyder Ah carried these away in thousands, and forced them to assume the ritual marks of Islamism. It is said as many as eighty thousand were the victims of his religious bigotry and intolerance, whom he compelled to emigrate from this district. They, or their de- scendants, returned when the power of his son was broken, and they enjoy the patronage of the En- glish government, and the sympathy of many who admire their constancy. They have numerous churches in the Portuguese style, the interior TRAVELLING REMINISCENCES. 309 of which is decorated with the pomp usual in catholic worship. Their officiating priests are native Hindoos, educated at Goa, who, on then- return from college, observe strictly the rules of the catholic priesthood, administering the mass and sacraments in Latin, and discharging all the func- tions assumed by the same classes in Europe ; but in no way excelling them as to the moral and en- lightened instruction imparted to the people. Since I visited the place, some German missionaries have commenced a protestant mission at Mangalore, and are encouraged by the manner in which they have been received among the people, and aided by the Company’s civilians. They have judiciously availed themselves of the cooperation of two Hindoo Christians, who had been educated and brought to a profession of Christianity at Bangalore, in con- nexion with the mission seminary. An important department of the East India Company’s economy, the cavalry branch of their commissariat, was conducted through this port. The dragoon regiments, horse artillery, and native cavalry were mounted on Arabian chargers. To supply horses for as many as ten or twelve corps, as also for the officers of infantry, required a con- stant trade with the Red Sea and the Persian Gulph. The horses were generally landed at Mangalore, and conducted to the Company’s stud at Coongul : where hundreds of the choicest Arabian breed were constantly kept under the charge of commissariat officers. It was a sight worth 310 CONTINENTAL INDIA. travelling to see so many coursers of the desert, which had been reared as companions of the Arab camp and brought to the plains of India, displaying all the spirit and all the gentleness of the Arabian. I visited the place and spent some days with the gentleman in charge. I found there a number of officers, who had come from motives similar to my own, or to select horses for remounting then* corps. We occasionally rode out on the young horses ; but the native and uncurbed liberty in which the colts had been bred, put my horsemanship to the test more than once. The horses were valued at from four hundred to a thousand rupees. The establishment and piqueting were conducted in most admirable order. The Company had an- other place, as a sort of nursery for native beasts of burden, Honsoor, where elephants were reared and trained. This was called the Company’s farm, and a magnificent affair it was. In our course up the coast, having passed Barce- lore, a mountain 5,000 feet in height and ten miles inland, the next place of any note was Onore, (Hona- waur,) at which I did not land. I have been in- formed it was formerly a port of great commerce. It is seated at the mouth of a stream which com- municates with a salt water lake of some extent, reaching to the foot of the Ghauts. Hyder Ali had built dock-yards here, which his son Tippoo demolished. In 179.9 it came finally into the pos- session of the British, who have a custom-house to superintend the trade in rice, pepper, betel-nut. TRAVELLING REMINISCENCES. 311 cocoa-nut, and salt fish. Hyder Ali found the terri- tory an appendage of the ranee, or princess ot Bed- nore. It had been previously in the possession of the Dutch, who captured it from the Portuguese. When these latter, the earliest European conquerors, visited Onore, it was the capital of an independent rajah, whom they subdued : such are the vicissitudes of conquest. “Fortified Island,” six miles in circum- ference, is two miles to the northward, and is sur- rounded by a stone wall, with towers of defence, which are visible from the sea. Anjediva is a smaller islet, only a mile in length, but rendered more known in history by the retreat of Sir Abra- ham Shipman and his troops, who had been sent from England to take possession of Bombay, a marriage portion with the Infanta of Portugal, as the queen of Charles the Second. The place was a grave to many of the soldiers, as well as their general. It is now a land of exile for convicts from the Portuguese settlements in India. Goa had more attractions for my curiosity, and claimed greater attention, as having been the seat of Portuguese vice-royalty, the scene of a Romish Inquisition with Jesuit functionaries, and the See of an archbishop, who ranked in the papal hierarchy as primate of the East. I landed, and spent two days in wandering over its ruins and marking its decay. We entered the harbour, and sailed up the Mandova river, till our small craft lay alongside New Goa. I had before this finished my trip in the Company’s ketch, and now sailed in a country 312 CONTINENTAL INDIA. vessel, which I had chartered for my own accom- modation. This I found as convenient, and nearly as cheap, as two palanquins, with their complement of bearers. Our movements and time were at our own command. We had a small cabin, inclosed by a bamboo roof, which answered for a poop, when objects at a distance required to be examined ; a sail-cloth served for an awning and the walls of our marine tent. Our botilla lay at anchor while we explored the monuments of Goa, ancient and modern. The embouchure presented to the voyager a picturesque and enchanting coup-d' ceil. Down to the water’s edge the trees hung their umbrageous branches, clothed in the most verdant foliage. The bay spread out right and left, embosomed within the most peaceful amphitheatre, and affording every facility for aquatic amusements or maritime com- merce. There are monasteries and churches on every point and nook of land, white-washed with- out, and surrounded by wood and water. I under- stood a native to affirm that there was a church here for every apostle' and each evangelist ; while the women who followed the Saviour were all equally honoured : if honoured they could he, by having their names attached to shrines of super- stition. There were in the province 200 churches and 2,000 priests in devoted subserviency to papal Rome. One church excelled all the rest in its attractions and sanctity. San Creten, called also the Chapel of the Palace, was built after the model of St. Peter’s at Rome, and was venerated as the TRAVELLING REMINISCENCES. 313 most sacred edifice by the devotees of Western India. The altar-pieces were adorned in a gorgeous, but tawdry style ; the gilding and painting were lavish, but without a chastened or refined taste. There were several oratories, or confessionals, round the choir, in which I observed father-confessors. The relics or memorials, the nostrums or charms, which hung round the principal altar, showed the degradation of the worshipper, and the impo- sitions practised by the priests. The bone of a deceased saint ; the wax model of a leg or an arm, an ear or a tooth ; the necklaces and beads of dis- tant suppliants ; the doggerel prescriptions of super- stition, and the muntrums, or recipes, to preserve chastity and resist the devil ; the vials with elixirs, and the coarse pictorial representations, setting forth the virtues of urinary secretions, when swal- lowed as medicines, which were the memorials of this altar, declared the character of Eastern popery, from the highest places of its power, and the strongest fortresses of its dominion. I attended the performance of cathedral service in what was called the see church. Sixteen priests, in black vestments with a white stole, entered while I waited, and took their places round a reading-desk, which stood toward the altar, on an elevated plat- form. They were all dark complexioned, and appeared natives of the country. Them missal, or breviary, was a large folio, and the language did not sound to me as Latin or Portuguese ; I sup- posed it to be Mahratta,. or ancient Concanee. The 314 CONTINENTAL INDIA. congregation consisted of only four besides our- selves and followers, though the building might have contained many hundreds, and was in good repair. The sacred Inquisition stood hard by, hut it was now only the shadow of what it had been ; its doors and windows stood open ; its dungeons and cells were said to be without captives or occupant ; its terrors had passed away ; and it served only as a monument of hided intolerance, and declining priest- craft and superstition. My friend. Captain R — , who served in the corps of occupation when the British troops garrisoned Goa, a few years prior to my visit, had gone forth in his rambles to search for what was curious. He reached the Inquisition, entered its chambers, and passed from one to an- other without apprehension, till, unexpectedly, he came into its secret-place, or strong-hold, which he entered by a window, where he fomid a company of priests still officiating as the ministers of cruelty and bigotry. The encounter was equally a sur- prise to both parties, and the arms of the soldier were ready to be drawn for his defence, when a compromise was effected, inasmuch as he had tra- versed beyond his bounds, and the priests were unwilling to excite hostility. I was too much an invalid, and too solitary a wanderer, to make any wonderful discoveries ; besides, I was not dressed in even a little brief authority. I therefore believed what I was told, that the power of the Inquisition had passed away. I did not intrude upon the santa casa, or holy office, where many hundred TRAVELLING REMINISCENCES. 315 victims had been brought to an iniquitous tribunal, judged in matters which belonged only to God, and consigned, by the sentence of blasphemous usurpers, to undeserved death. I might, had I advanced but a few paces, have seen the spot where the miserable martyrs, convened from their dun- geons, had received the sentence of their murderers. Here the images of the presumed heretics who had died in their cells were wont to be presented, their bones enclosed in small chests, and covered with pic- torial flames and demons ; while the living heretics, a hundred and fifty at a time, more miserable and degraded still, habited in a grey cloth, on which was painted their portrait placed among burning torches, flames, and demons, and crowned with a pasteboard cap, bearing the same infernal symbols, were made to walk forth barefooted over the sharp piercing stones of the streets, bearing a lighted taper in their hands. Hence were they led to the bank of the river, where fagots had been prepared for their burning, or auto-da-fe , and where the viceroy, with his attendants, w r ere assembled to wit- ness the act of faith, when the executioner seized and hound them to the stake, to be consumed amidst the burning fagots. The dungeons of this horrible prison-house were described as in number two hundred, and each only ten feet square, the abodes of misery in such a climate, where hundreds have languished for many years without intercourse with relatives, and unknown to their friends whe- ther they yet fingered in existence, had died in 316 CONTINENTAL INDIA. their dungeons, or were burned as heretics, and condemned to perdition. No wonder that the “ mark of the Inquisition” should be deeply traced in the solemn countenances and peculiar demean- our, or priestly terror, of those who, after tedious confinement, had been liberated from this scene of torture and dreaded oppression. The halls and courts of such a building could tell nothing but misery and sorrowing affliction, and to traverse them would only identify our associations with priestcraft and superstition. The numerous convents and monasteries had been ruled by the Augustinians and Dominicans, the Capuchins and Jesuits. I saw nothing of their library, but Dr. C. Buchanan speaks of its choice and rare books. Francis Xavier lies enshrined in a highly-finished marble monument, and his coffin is enchased with silver and precious stones. The church and convent of St. Augustine, in which he is entombed, are reckoned of superior architecture. I passed through the palace of Albuquerque, from the water side, the halls of which were uutenanted, the courts overgrown with weeds and grass, and the surrounding lawns laid open to every intruder. The walls were monuments of ambition and pic- tures of decay, a fit emblem of the Portuguese power, which had dawned with the achievements of that renowned soldier, had been limited by his conquests, and began to fade when his career had closed. The old city of Goa may be called a republic of priests ; ecclesiastical buildings and TRAVELLING REMINISCENCES. 317 clerical functionaries are its only tokens of life, sluggish and obsolete though they be ; the “ host,” or the priests’ manjeel, passing through the street, formed the only moving incidents. The manjeel, a substitute for the palanquin, is a sea-cot sus- pended from a bamboo, with a coarse covering thrown over it, and borne upon the heads of four men. The more lordly padre, or assuming church- man, was preceded by a footman, bearing bis staff, to which bells and rings w r ere attached, and by whose jingle, as be ran, the bearers w r ere able to keep time in their motion. We tried to sleep in the bungalow r of a brahmin at New Goa, to which we bad been directed by communication with an old Portuguese, Admiral De S — . Our Hindoo host professed to provide sleeping-cots for bis guests, but if he had brought them from Egypt under the third plague they could not have exhibited more moving animation, or more effectually have prevented repose, while the walls and floor were teeming with a noisome popu- lation. Sleep we could not ; and to be longer in such company w r e were ashamed ; we therefore rose, and most resolutely endeavoured to maintain a sedentary position, from which also we were driven, sleep and vermin keeping up the strife with eminent success. Portuguese filth w r as found by us equal to the most modern Coptic versions of Egyptian plagues, and we were fairly forced from land to water for our own protection. Our brah- minical Boniface did not profess to supply his guests 318 CONTINENTAL INDIA. with stimulating drinks, nor even provision for the table — the latter our servant purchased at the bazaar; but what was lacking in provender, the old idolater made up by the number and compass of empty apartments, through which we might roam, and the lavish amount of his charges. Old Goa is eight miles up the river ; the straight streets and handsome stone-built houses give the city a magnificent appearance ; but it is a vain show ; the largest houses are uninhabited. There are two harbours, defended by castles and batteries. Algoada point, and Nostra Senhora de la Cabo (a monastery), are the extreme and most conspicuous points of the bay; the former on the north, and the latter on the south entrances. But the mer- chandise of the port is insignificant, and the inha- bitants of this viceroyalty, once the noblesse and royal blood of Portugal, are now sunk in the lowest poverty, and reduced to the utmost contempt among their neighbours. I heard of one, a princess of the royal house of Braganza, dancing at a ball given by some British authorities, slip-shod and without stockings fit for appearance. Such tales were told by those who had witnessed the humbling scene, and joined in the sportive dance. The servile work of Goa is performed by negro slaves ; and a more affecting picture of moral ruin, and mental imbecility, I have not seen as produced by oppression, than was presented by the poor captives from Mosambique, whom a cruel cupidity had stolen from their friends and home. Vacuity, TRAVELLING REMINISCENCES. 319 absolute and unbroken, rested upon their counte- nances ; mind in them seemed motionless and characterless, like the unmoved sands of the Za- liara; their very talk and mirth were no more animated than the chattering of the monkey tribes. I never did so pity the slave as at Goa. But, indeed, it is only the broken and prostrate spirits who can securely be made bondmen here : the energetic and restless would find an asylum and safety in the Company’s territory : if once they have passed the confines of the province they are free, and cannot be reclaimed by assumed proprietors. The southern Concan stretches along the coast from Goa to Bombay: a narrow stripe of land below the Ghauts, from thirty to forty miles in breadth, well watered and fruitful. It was long noted as the nest of pirates, till about eighty years ago, when their strong-holds were destroyed by British assailants. The places most known are Gheriah, Rutnagerree, Sevemdroog, and Hurnee, Anjenweel, and Bankote. Anglia, the piratical chief, made Gheriah the principal seat of his power; and when it was reduced in 1756, by Admiral Watson, 200 pieces of cannon and mor- tars, besides military stores of all kinds in abund- ance, and 100,000/. in money were found in its fort. A fleet which used to cope with English, Dutch, and Portuguese men of war, and repeatedly captured frigates and sixty-four gun-ships, was destroyed, together with two large ships building on the stocks. The next port is sometimes called 320 CONTINENTAL INDIA. Rettrah-Gheriah, from its resemblance to the former strong-hold. It was used to be distinguished by a large banian tree, which had stood for centuries as a sea-mark. Rutnagerree is now a civil station of the Company’s collectorate. My friend, Mr. R. M — was attached to this place when I passed : one of the most amiable and benevolent of men, whose influence and talents were devoted for the welfare of the people, and whose happiness arose from his efforts to do good. Severndroog was described to me as having been one of the strongest sea- fortresses in the East. The island itself, a solid rock, was excavated, or its weaker parts built up of blocks of stone, ten or twelve feet square, and mounted with a battery of fifty pieces of cannon ; while the opposite shore, on the continent, now called Hurnee, was fortified by strongly con- structed works, and defended by eighty other pieces of ordnance. What seemed the robber’s strength became his weakness. Commodore James, in 1755, attacked the island, battered the walls, fired the buildings, and succeeded in blowing up a powder magazine ; when the British sailors pur- suing their success with battle-axes, cut a passage through one of the gates, and completed the conquest of the citadel. Hurnee formed a station of the Scotch Missionary Society, and was occupied by several faithful and indefatigable agents of their benevolence. 1 visited their mission, — examined their schools and other operations, — breakfasted with them in their eagle’s eyry, a nest among the TRAVELLING REMINISCENCES. 321 crags, romantic and retired, as well as cool and salubrious. I also drove with one of them to Dapoolie, a cantonment situated a few miles inland. I liked the easy and accessible habits of my countrymen on this coast, and spent a few pleasant days among them. The missionaries were re- spected, and their schools were numerously attended, and well conducted : so far as I could judge. I travelled by the coast from Hurnee to Bankote, and crossed the river at Anjenweel in a small boat. My horse was made to swim across, his head kept above water, being fastened to the stern of the vessel. The river was broad and deep, the current strong, and capable of receiving ships of burden. I rode over a mountain, the sides of which had been cut into terraces and steps, to afford facilities for horse and foot passengers. At another time, our pathway lay through an exten- sive tope or wood, where bats were as large as crows, and as numerous as in a rookery : they hung in hundreds upon the trees. In natural history they are known as the Roussettes, and might, from appearance, be dreaded as vampyres, ( vespertilio vampyrus.) The natives had not, how- ever, any farther apprehension of evil from their vicinity than the destruction of their fruit. Ban- kote is known also by the name Fort Victoria. It is a military post of the Company, and serves to connect the lines of defence along the coast. I was chiefly interested in it, from the branch of the VOL. II. y 322 CONTINENTAL NDIA. Scotch presbyterian mission, which had been esta- blished here by some gentlemen whom I had known in Britain, and with whom I was happy to renew acquaintance and intercourse. Their zeal for general education kept pace with their desires to extend the gospel ; and their supply of religious tracts and scripture portions was accompanied with elementary books and works of general knowledge. They had a lithographic press in efficient operation for smaller productions, and their demand for more extensive publications was met by the American mission press at Bombay. The mission was in close connexion with the kirk chaplains at the presidency ; but they also maintained fraternal intercourse with the American missionaries, and the agents of the London Missionary Society on the same coast. Their schools were established over a wide extent of country, and the children attending were faithfully instructed in the truths of Sacred Scripture. They extended their tours and itine- rancies to Poona, as also to Bombay, and enjoyed the confidence, if not also the sanction of govern- ment. One of the first missionaries had been an officer in the Company’s service. Lieut. M did not, however, long live to labour in this good work. Although sickness and death have removed some of the earliest, and not least faithful agents, their mission is upheld, — its sphere is widened, — and the men who now fill the stations have produced a most favourable impression on the minds of their countrymen, and effected great changes on the TRAVELLING REMINISCENCES. 323 feelings and views of the idolatrous natives who are brought within their influence. I sailed between Bankote and Bombay, the dis- tance being some seventy or eighty miles. The latter is indeed a “ good bay,” with numerous isles dotting the glassy surface, and giving variety and scenic effect to the harbour. Bombay, itself, is an island verdant with oriental luxuriance, rocky though its surface he, and its shores present attrac- tive landscapes to the sea-worn voyager. No sight is so refreshing to wanderers upon the watery waste as the green foliage of the shores and sloping banks within this harbour. The very wharfs, or bundas, were shaded and beautified by trees to the water’s edge. We approached from the south, and came to anchor about midnight : during four hours we had perceived the light-house ; and as we ap- proached nearer, the waters assumed the serenity of an inland lake. When the morning light broke upon us it displayed the resplendent and truly oriental scenery of this enchanting bay. The islands from the entrance of the harbour to the northern passage, are Henery and Kenery, Colabah, Elephanta, Butcher’s Island, Salsette, and Caranjah, which lie around Bombay. The island, on which is the seat of government, is six or seven miles in length, and one mile in breadth ; but it is united to Colabah and Salsette by cause- ways or fordable straits. In Butcher’s Island ships generally water, and Elephanta contains the cave temples, so perfect a monument of Asiatic antiquity. y 2 324 CONTINENTAL INDIA. The city of Bombay is ostensibly defended with a castle, gates, and fortifications; but its greatest security is good government. Under the direc- tion of Monstuart Elphinstone, the tanks were enlarged, and supplies of water for the inhabit- ants more abundantly secured. No man could have been more popular as a governor than was Mr. Elphinstone. These arrangements for increas- ing the supplies of water, and his orders to admit the people to the freest access through the govern- ment grounds, and to his own presence, added to his popularity. His urbanity, courteous familiarity, and unaffected simplicity in all his intercourse, made him the idol of the people, and the object of eulogy to every visitor. I had the opportunity repeatedly of meeting at his table members of every branch of the service : the cornet, or the ensign, with the junior civilian was just as affably enter- tained as were gentlemen of highest rank or influ- ence. When he was about to retire from the presidency, native princes, chiefs, and gentlemen, allies, and subjects, gave expression to their at- tachment by an address, in which they feelingly commemorated his abilities as a statesman, and his virtues as a private individual; and a subscription of several hundred thousand rupees, to found “ Elphinstone professorships,” for teaching the natives in Bombay “ the languages, literature, sciences, and moral philosophy of Europe.” Yet society in Bombay was in a strange and anomalous state during my visit : the military distinct from TRAVELLING REMINISCENCES. 325 the civ il, and both separated from the legal pro- fession; while the bench was in collision with the bar, and there were two parties in the church. My intercourse was friendly with persons of all parties, having met in private society Sirs II. C and E. W of the judges; Messrs. W and S of the government council ; Mr. F , chief secretary, and several of the highest functionaries in the head departments of the government, as well as the officiating clergymen, one of whom is now the bishop of Bombay. I had the honour to enjoy the marked and friendly attentions of Colonel Sir J. M‘Donald, the British envoy to the court of Persia. At his table it was my fortune to be a guest, in company with a khan of Persia, a nobleman sent from Ispahan, by the Shah, to render eastern honour to the British embassy. This Persian noble was escorted by a numerous suite, but his Turcomanee secretary and interpreter was the most interesting and sociable of his companions. Though they dined at table with the envoy and his guests, they fed from dishes which had been prepared for them- selves. Pillau was a favourite mess, which they conveyed to their mouths by spoons, carved fan- tastically from apple wood ; their use of the spoon was not natural, and seemed only a rare expedient. They had the restrictions of the Koran against wine, but none to restrain the most copious draughts of ale, of cherry -brandy, and noyeau. It seemed to their host no impolitic measure to pro- vide for his mission a liberal supply of these 326 CONTINENTAL INDIA. admired liqueurs. The envoy had pitched his tents on the esplanade, and contiguous to his tents had the khan encamped, which presented a novel scene. Colonel M‘Donald’s dining tent was a richly fur- nished saloon, hung round with scarlet cloth : the tent which served as a drawing-room, was so contiguous that we passed out of the one into the other, and equally complete with ottomans, sofas, &c. adapted to oriental luxuriance. We were told of the old khan, who, as a victorious soldier, had been ennobled on the field of battle; that his wardrobe contained a suite of apparel for every day in the year, and that to keep these in order was the province of his most favoured wife. Who, or how many, were the wives of his harem, we heard not. Bishop Heber had left this presidency just before my visit to Bombay, where he had produced a strong impression on many minds. His wife had been with him, and mingled with all classes. The bishop was much employed in some cases of clerical discipline, in which little satisfaction was ministered to either party. I was told, by an officer of engineers, of a church which had been erected at the expense of the Company, and under the superintendence of one of their officers, that as it had not been built due east and west, the bishop refused to consecrate it by his episcopal benediction, and the usual formularies of his church. My grati- fication was, however, sincere, to find numbers of gentlemen who were partakers of the pleasures, and TRAVELLING REMINISCENCES. 327 influenced by the principles of true religion, and many more who evinced a benevolent interest in mea- sures for the moral and intellectual improvement of the people around them. Great harmony prevailed between the good men of all parties on missionary work. The exertions of American missionaries had not been in vain ; the benevolent men who were then labouring in Bombay from the transatlantic churches, were reckoned brethren by the chaplains English and Scotch, and the other missionaries from Scotland and England. I found here Gordon Hall; he who, with Nott and Newell, wrote the “ Voice for Six Hundred Millions of Heathen.” He was a true American, and an eminent Christian, an obedient disciple of Jesus, and a valiant soldier of the cross. I never met a more sterling character, or a more zealous missionary. I travelled with him part of the way on his last journey : he died on a missionary tour at Nassuck, a native town in Aurangabad ; but though the appalling malady which earned him off, gave no premonition — he was not unprepared. He expired on the field of labour, and left India his debtor, while many Chris- tians mourned their loss. In the same band, too, I found the second wife of Harriet Newell’s husband, and a child of theirs, called Harriet Newell. The American mission had a good chapel, and an efficient printing press for printing the Scriptures and religious publications in the native languages. Their schools and itinerancies were conducted with great prudence and self-denial. Two of their 328 CONTINENTAL INDIA. number had died before I reached the place, and three only remained : two of these have since been removed to a better sphere. But their successors, and all future missionaries, will have cause to remem- ber the labours, privations, and zeal of a Newell and a Hall, a Nicols and a Graves, and their colleagues. I admired the female members of this mission quite as much as their male coadjutors. I had never met American women in such frequent inti- macy before. Some of these had been contempo- raries and correspondents with the Judsons, Newells, and Woodburys; and, with every feminine excel- lency, they exhibited minds of masculine energy, zeal of the purest consecration, and a generous enthusiasm, which bore them onward, in their vo- luntary exile, to labour, self-denial, and suffering, deserving the highest encomiums. I was happy to find their worth and society appreciated in the circles of European distinction. What I saw pre- sented a striking contrast with the persecution and hostility experienced by some of the same band ; when a mean jealousy, from political con- siderations and a despotic oppression, seized, im- prisoned, and proposed to banish these American missionaries from British India, since they were, as spies, judged dangerous to the Company’s power. Political animosity is as relentless as superstition. Other missionaries have occasionally resided at Bombay. The Church of England Missionary So- ciety had one agent stationed here at my first visit. TRAVELLING REMINISCENCES. 329 but lie returned to England. He had been most diligent in preparing a translation of the Prayer- Book into the Mahratta language. The Methodist Missionary Society had several labourers, some occasionally, and others more permanently residing at Bombay. Here Dr. Coke’s party landed, and hence they proceeded to Ceylon. The last mem- ber of this Society, who had occupied the island as a station, suffered in mind as well as in body. A friend of mine received, at the distance of two hun- dred miles, a letter from the missionary, entreating his correspondent immediately to hasten to Bombay to attend his funeral, for that he had that day ex- pired to the great regret of his friends, and could not be interred till my friend should be present. The hypochondriac afterwards recovered health, spirits, and usefulness, in another and more salu- brious sphere. The Scottish Missionary Society had also placed four of their missionaries under the direction of a committee at Bombay ; and they sometimes came up to the presidency for counsel and cooperation. Since my sojourn there, these missionaries, with renewed accessions of strength, have become agents in carrying out the scheme of the General Assembly for Foreign Missions. One of those whom I knew, and others who have followed after, are now located on the island, and with zeal and efficiency are honourably carrying forward the measures necessary for extending the knowledge of the gospel, and subduing the people to the sceptre of the Messiah, whose right it is to reign. Their 330 CONTINENTAL INDIA. conquests will be more permanent than the war- rior’s, and more honourable and beneficial than the acquisitions of the diplomatic or political agent, and their reward will be far more enduring. I did not witness in any part of India such a mingled population as is to be seen in Bombay. From their enterprise and industry a’stranger would be led to judge that the Parsees most prevailed, or had the greatest influence, — their names are so prominent, and so often met in trade as shop- keepers, merchants, and ship-builders : ‘ Homaijee,’ * Jemyjee,’ ‘Muntjee,’ &c., with all such cognate appellations, are sign-boards over many shops in the bazaar. They are, however, only estimated at 11.000. They are fire-worshippers, the ancient ghebres of Persia, expelled, by Moslem intolerance, during the persecution of Shah Abbas, in the six- teenth century. The Mohammedan population are reckoned about 25,000, of whom many are of Arabian birth or descent. It is said there are here 4,000 Jews; so many, however, do not reside in the island. I met some of them, hut they are not so marked as the Parsees. Many of them have enlisted into the ranks of the Company’s army ; and others are known as the Borrah mer- chants, who carry on an extensive trade with Guzerat and other northern ports. There remain the descendants of the Portuguese settlers, about 8.000, who are more prosperous in Bombay than their kindred in the colonies of their mother-coun- try. About 160,000 Hindoos, from almost every TRAVELLING REMINISCENCES. 331 Indian nation, constitute the remaining population of this chief seat of the presidency. I need scarcely name the British residents, or specify how small is their number, except the military, who may be nearly 8,000 of all ranks throughout the whole presidency. The European inhabitants of the town do not exceed 1,000 altogether — merchants, civilians, and lawyers. Bombay used to be called a Scotch colony ; most of its merchant adven- turers, and many of its civilians, being from Scot- land. The mixture of society with the diversified manners of the population — the Mahrattas, the Banians, Parsees, Guzerattees, Arabians, Jews, Armenians, Portuguese, Americans, and British, gave a singularly checquered aspect to the whole settlement. Illustrative of the habits and relations of society, so mingled and gathered from so many divers nations, a scene occurs to my memory. A friend of mine, who had spent a few years, wandering with some of the wildest tribes of Arabia, and associating in their pursuits and domestic plea- sures, (so far as tent-scenes, with Bedouin Arabs, en- camped in the wilderness, can be termed domestic,) came to Bombay, still wearing the costume of the desert, in the Bedouin garb, and retaining the man- ners, which from policy as a wandering Arab he had assumed. He could speak the dialect of Arabia with fluency equal to his vernacular tongue : while his flowing beard, deep-tinged complexion, and grave exterior, gave him the repute of a lineal son of 332 CONTINENTAL INDIA. Ismael. He proceeded to the mosque, and assumed the devout deportment of a follower of the prophet of Mecca, where he was hailed by mollah and mufti as a true believer in the Koran : he was even honoured as one of the purest and most distin- guished of the tribes. One and another of ‘ the faithful’ drew near, and, saluting him, inquired for the welfare of their brethren in the desert ; what the prospects of ascendency were to the Crescent ; and whether the green banner of Mohammed was soon again to wave upon the plains of India. Some of them, even more confidentially, began to divulge to him conspiracies and stratagems which had been laid against the English power in India, and to solicit his cooperation. He counted his beads, and answered them by some verse from the Koran, or Arabian proverb, by which he only increased the mystery of his character, and their confidence in his fidelity. He visited the Court of Justice; and some of the functionaries, whose office was either to expound or administer Mohammedan law, again attracted by his Bedouin costume and manner, entered into conference, expressed their abhorrence of the unbelieving English, a desire for their expulsion, and ardent hopes that the time would soon come when the Crescent should pre- vail over the Cross ; while they earnestly inquired from him tidings regarding their brethren in the Happy Land. My friend felt himself already in- volved in misprision of treason, and was glad of the first pretext for a retreat. When, however. TRAVELLING REMINISCENCES. 333 his Moslem admirers saw him admitted to the most confident intercourse with their European supe- riors, and apparently as much at home with them , they thought they had caught a Tartar, or the devil. But he was as good an Arabian among English settlers as among the Mohammedans, except with his confidential friends. One gentle- man, not in the secret, walking on the esplanade in company with a mutual friend, the accountant- general, and the soi-disant Arab, asked of the for- mer, in good broad Scotch, ‘ Wha is that Arab friend ye hae wi’ you V not supposing that the Arab friend was a true-born Englishman, under- standing every word he spoke, and one who was destined to become the boldest reformer, and most unwearied opponent of the East India Company’s monopoly of trade and power. The part which most attracted my notice was the bazaar, in which the merchandise, suited for each nation and tribe, was exhibited to the best advantage, while the several merchants occupied the rear, ready to- answer the demands of customers, or to hold familiar converse with each other. The stores of cotton wool, which are piled in bales on the open esplanade, waiting for shipment, afford another feature of peculiarity to the place : the manner in which the pressure of the screw is here applied to diminish its bulk for stowage, is an in- vention of some merchant residing in Bombay, and shows great dexterity. The screw is worked by a capstan with eight bars, and to each bar thirty men 334 CONTINENTAL INDIA. are appointed ; so that two hundred and forty work at each screw. In the centre of the town is a spacious green, around which many large and handsome houses have been built : here stands the church and government- house. The other districts of the settlement do not show less appearance of comfort, and even wealth. I wandered more on foot in Bombay than I did in any other Indian city ; and was surprised with the number of dwelling-houses, two and three stories high, occupied by a comfortable and contented po- pulation. In my evening rambles I often heard the pleasing sound of the rebeck ; an instrument of three strings. The people had more social enjoy- ment and intercourse, and seemed better provided with domestic comforts, than in other cities ; while they were ensured in peace and safety by British authority. The residences of Europeans are usually situated in the suburbs, in the midst of most beautiful and picturesque views. The hill and dale into which the island is broken, clothed with groves of the ever-verdant cocoa-nut ; and the walls by which the gentlemen’s villas are sur- rounded, give the whole suburbs the appearance of seclusion, wealth, "and comfort. The residences of a few are situated even more remote. Malabar Point is a country residence of the governor, situated on a promontory of the island. The road to it lies from the fort by the esplanade toward the south, first passing through a cocoa-nut grove, and then along the face of a rock, over which a TRAVELLING REMINISCENCES. 335 way has been cut. To the right of this ascent is the burying ground of the Parsees, where the body is not entombed or burned, but left to decay, when the loosened bones fall into their place of sepulture — a pit covered by an iron grating. There is, near the point, a cleft in the rock, which is esteemed as the gate of heaven by many of the Hindoos. The aperture is considerably elevated and difficult of access, being surrounded by rocky projections, and in stormy seasons incessantly washed by the ocean billows. Many devotees resort thither, notwith- standing, to be purified from their sins, which they think is effected by passing, or rather wriggling as a serpent, through the consecrated hole. The ruins of an ancient temple are visible in its vicinity, and a Brahmin village, well supplied with the com- forts of life, furnished by the profusion of idolatrous superstition ; in the centre of it is a large tank with broad flights of steps leading down to the water. The prospect from Government House is commanding, and the surrounding scenery is beautiful and picturesque. I spent a day here with Colonel Sir J. McDonald, who described to me the superstitions of the Hindoos connected with the sacred hole. To him nothing in the whole frame- work of Hindoo society, or even in the follies of their superstition was unknown ; and with the greatest clearness and simplicity he could impart his in- formation. There is another house in which the governor has occasionally resided. Parell was formerly a Portuguese church connected with a 33G CONTINENTAL INDIA. monastery. It was purchased by a governor of Bombay, who added to it an upper story : it is now a commodious and spacious building. The veran- dahs are supported by lofty pillars, which surround the house ; the body of the former church serves as a magnificent hall, and the whole is finished in a style suited to a royal palace. The grounds and gardens are extensive and well arranged, producing the most delicious fruits and fragrant shrubs and flowers peculiar to oriental climates. European fruits have also been successfully cultivated. The house is situated at the foot of a hill ; on this hill, the flag-staff is raised; and from it the harbour, the whole bay with its celebrated islands, and the surrounding country, are seen to the finest effect. The dock-yard of Bombay surpasses any other ship-building establishment in India, and is equal to almost any other in the world for size and con- venience. I walked in and around this splendid arsenal, where there is a dry dock capable of receiving three ships of the line at a time. There is a place contiguous, convenient to heave down several ships at once. There is also a rope-walk, where cables and all descriptions of cordage are manufactured, to which only the king’s yard at Portsmouth is superior in all England. The workmen are protected by a covering from the severity of the weather. They have warehouses for naval stores amply supplied, together with large quantities of timber, whether for building or repairing, and forges for all kinds of smith’s TRAVELLING REMINISCENCES. 337 work. The docks belong to the Company, but are entirely occupied by the Parsees, who are accounted excellent ship-carpenters, and are re- markably assiduous as well as skilful. They have every facility for success in the abundant supply of timber, which the exhaustless teak forests of Ma- labar provide, and the streams upon the coast easily convey. Many merchant-ships from 600 to 1,300 tons burden, and frigates, and some ships of the line, have been built at this dock-yard. The whole marine department is under as regular govern- ment and superintendence as are the royal arsenals at home. A gentleman trained in the Portsmouth dock-yard presided in the principal department, while the whole superintendence was in the hands of a long-headed Scotchman, whom I had the pleasure to meet at Government House, as well as in his own office. I could hover about this presidency through many pages, visiting again Colabah and its barracks, as well as the many comfortable bungalows occu- pied by European residents. I could recall many reminiscences of hospitality and enlightened inter- course with countrymen ; I might repeat friendly discussions held concerning the improvement of India, with Scotch as well as English chaplains, with medical friends and military opponents. I met one European, in almost supreme authority, who held that we were bound by treaty and honour to abstain from all attacks upon the Hindoo religion. VOL. II. z 338 CONTINENTAL INDIA. and to uphold it with every resource of the govern- ment. I conferred with another, in exalted rank, who evinced his partialities by defending the excel- lences, purity, and truth of the Moslem faith, while he deprecated interference with the creed of the innocent Hindoos. From another I heard the avowal that even were the British power to be shaken to its foundation in India, it was the paramount duty of Christians to labour to diffuse the doctrines of the gospel, and let the people hear the words of eternal life. But I should too long delay my reader ; and shall therefore only detain him till we cross over to Elephanta, and look into the ruins of its cave- temples. A party of resident gentlemen made arrangements to conduct me to this ancient ruin, among whom I had the pleasure to number the two presbyterian chaplains of Bombay. One of the Company’s judges from Malabar joined us, and our circle was enlivened by the presence of several ladies, who accompanied their husbands. We sailed in an open boat, sheltered by an awning, the dis- tance a little more than five miles by water ; refreshments varied and ample were carried along with us. The sail in the bay is pleasant, and the surrounding scenery most fascinating. Gharipore is the original name ; hut it has become known to Europeans by the name Elephanta. The occasion of this designation, received from the Portuguese, was a colossal statue of an elephant, which stood opposite to the landing-place. I saw the fragments TRAVELLING REMINISCENCES. 339 of the rock which had once borne this figure. The porphyry of which it was composed, had, however, yielded, either to the depredations of man, or the ravages of time. Cracked and mutilated, it had long sustained the fanciful appellation ; but, when I looked on it, only a shapeless mass of hare rock represented the elephant of Gharipore. The island is about five miles in circumference, is well watered by springs, and produces a large return, for culti- vation, of rice and other useful commodities. The jungle wood is of luxuriant growth ; sheep and poultry are reared in abundance ; venomous ser- pents are often seen, even within the precincts of the temple. In some of these caverns water accu- mulates from subterranean springs. A gentleman of our company, not aware that so large a supply of water could be procured, had his attention called to one of the caves to mark how admirably smooth was the floor : the water seemed the more like to an earthen floor, from the dust which continually fell upon the surface from the roof. His eager admiration led him precipitately forward, and he plunged at once, knee-deep, • into the cold and imsuspected water. It was a good-enough and harmless joke, while so many were present, and with day-light. He might, however, have suffered a little more alarm had he been alone, and by night, in such a scene. We spent a day in these rambles over the island, and through the caves, or in discussing the merits of this monumental antiquity. None of us could reach the dates, the era, or the dynasty z 2 3 10 CONTINENTAL INDIA. connected with its erection ; but all were constrained to admire the patient industry and perseverance by which these porphyry rocks had been so deeply excavated, and those gigantic statues so maturely and mysteriously chiselled. The entrance to the principal cave is sixty feet wide, and eighteen in height ; the ceiling is supported by curiously carved pillars, in various rows ; and the walls adorned with sculptured figures, all cut from the rock, and, though fashioned, remaining in natural adhesion. The figures bore a proportion to the compartments in which they were placed ; and none of them appeared confined, or so near as to lose their effect. The dimensions of the caves may therefore be judged of, from the fact, that I stood upon the shoulder of the principal idol, and, with my out- stretched hand, could only reach its crown. In an inferior chamber, to the right, the principal figure was sixteen feet high : such were the labours of Hindoo idolatry, and such their reward. Many of the pillars have broken off from the roof; many of the images are defaced : the exfoliations of the rock are rapidly reducing the whole scene to con- fusion. The shrine has so long been forsaken by brahmin and priest, that time cannot tell when these idols were worshipped. It is not even the resort of pilgrims ; it brings no revenue to any altar, and provides no sacrifice for any god. Super- stition has been left to go out here in obscure dark- ness; and the pall of endless night has gathered over every trace which would lead to the origin. TRAVELLING REMINISCENCES. 341 or discover the devotion which consecrated the memorials of this cavernous temple — this ruin of abominable idolatry. We left the island of Gharipore in safety, and on the same day returned to our friends. Every party, however, have not been able to say so much. Storms sometimes rise in the bay, and render, so long as they prevail, any intercourse between the several islands impracticable. I met a gentleman who was one of a party that had to spend the night at Elephanta without shelter, in dreary apprehension, and on short commons. They returned next morning to Bombay, thankful that the monsoon had not fairly shut them up among the lifeless tenants of the caverns. Another party suffered a more dis- astrous fate only a few years before my visit : two of their number were lost during the storm which had risen after they landed upon the little isle, and which they hoped to weather. Excursions of pleasure may thus become scenes of sorrow, and be associated with trials or difficulties which cast a cloud over all their attendant enjoyments. We were permitted to receive, and had cause then, as we have had many times since, to sing of mercy and goodness, though undeserved. I engaged a passage for Cambay in a small native trading vessel, with liberty to land and spend a few days at such towns along the coast as claimed par- ticular attention. The voyage was not agreeable, since we kept so close by the shore, and our native seamen, even with a fair wind, sailed only six hours 342 CONTINENTAL INDIA. in every twelve, casting anchor whenever the tide turned against them. But we had repeated oppor- tunities for marking the ports and observing the state of the people of the Concan and Guzerat. The voyage also did that for my constitution which no other means had yet been able to effect ; an entire change in my system was produced, and the liver seemed to resume its healthy functions. The sail from Bombay to Tannah, in Salsette, was most beautiful ; our channel was the back-water flowing between the island and the continent. A qooI evening and a clear moonlight permitted us to watch every romantic winding of the water, or changing aspect of the rising woodlands, by which our shores were diversified. It often appeared that we were stealthily floating upon the glassy surface of an inland and untroubled lake. The prow of our vessel seemed alternately to be moving into a miniature and secluded bay, or turning again to some rich fringed and beauteously tufted islet, which had been cast up for moon-beams and gentle zephyrs to play upon, or where fawns and light gazelles should gambol. Even my friend Gordon Hall was withdrawn from his severer pursuits to stand and gaze with admiration upon the varying and paradisaic scenery. Our vessel appeared only to lap the water as she passed onward with a tide and a breeze so favourable as to give speed to our progress. Early next day we reached the fortress of Tannah. Salsette is twenty miles long and fifteen in breadth, but is reputed one of the most TRAVELLING REMINISCENCES. 343 fertile and populous isles of Asia. The Portuguese had held it and Bassien, at the mouth of the back- water in the northern Concan, for many years. The Mahrattas kept possession of them from 1740 till 1774, when the Company’s forces took them, after a severe conflict. It is said the governor, who held the island for the Mahrattas, was ninety-two years old, and when summoned to surrender the citadel of Tannah, the only place of strength, answered, “ / was not sent here for that purpose .” His courage and exertions were incredible, and his brave companions were inspired by his example, till they had sustained a bloody assault and he was slain in battle. Resistance was no longer available, and the place submitted to the conqueror. Tannah is still a garrison, but occupied only by invalid troops. I visited the old soldiers in their barrack, and heard their tales of hardship, as well as of guilt. I sought to direct their attention to brighter worlds, and make known to them the way. They heard me gladly. This had been the sphere of an excellent and faithful missionary’s labours. Mr. Nichols, from the American Board of Missions, was stationed here, and, when he died, left his name precious among the people. In the centre of the island, and surrounded by unwholesome jungles, is situated the rocky mountain of Kenneri, remarkable for the ex tensive excavations which superstition prepared in ancient times. Each cavern forms an entire tem- ple, and several of them are ranged in a line, but others are placed one above another. The figures 344 CONTINENTAL INDIA. which adorn, and the inscriptions which were in- tended to declare the object of the excavation, are indeed wrought out, or deeply engraved on stone ; but none can decipher or tell their meaning. The chief cave was appropriated as a church by the Portu- guese ; on the sides of which two gigantic figures stand erect, each twenty-five feet in height, their hands close to their bodies — a posture sustained by modem Buddhist figures in Ceylon. Many of the sculptures of this temple were defaced by the hos- tility of Mohammedans and Roman Catholics. There is one difference which marks the process of excavation here, as distinguished from the caves at Elephanta. I saw in the latter no artificial means of support for the roof ; hut in the principal cave of Kenneri fine teak ribs seem to have been em- ployed for this purpose, and are now almost gone ; so that the ceiling is left to bear its own burden. The side chambers on the right and left of the great cave are smaller, and apparently unfinished. On the north-east point of Salsette, Gorabunda appears a lofty and attractive object ; said to have been a church, originally built by some Portuguese female devotee ; it is now a species of caravanserai, or choultrie, to which it had been set apart by the Mahratta conquerors — a purpose with which the English authorities are not now disposed to interfere. 1 landed here, and ascended by a steep and weary flight of stairs to the summit or peak of an elevated hill, from which we look down to the opposite continent, and have a full panoramic view of all the TRAVELLING REMINISCENCES. 345 country surrounding Bassien. The situation is com- manding, and the church must have been erected with care and at great cost. A scene presented to us, when we reached the top, which was novel to me and characteristic of by-gone times. We met a native chief, of dignified and demure, haughty and reserved manner, coming forth from the church ; he hurried past in silence, and proceeded downward to the water side. His escort was composed of a motley and ill-assorted company ; some with short swords and shields, others with daggers or spears, and some with matchlocks, and others with bows and arrows, and ruder weapons of destruction : they had instruments for martial music ; but none sounded pipe or harp. A few of his retainers were burdened with camp equipage, or stores for supply. A dark scowl, a surly and suspicious glance of the fiery eye, some low mutterings unintelligible to us, and the hasty tread and gradually subsiding sound of their footsteps, formed our only inter- change from them ; while we looked and thought only as those whose curiosity had been excited, and who had been abandoned to suspicion and perplexity. However, we met the chief afterwards. As we approached Bassien we observed tents pitched on the plain without the walls, and several Europeans in social converse. They seemed near to our landing-place, and we were surprised when we reached the shore, to find ourselves at a con- siderable distance. They had, however, perceived us drawing toward land, and a messenger was 346 CONTINENTAL INDIA. waiting to invite us to the tents of Burra Sahib. The gentleman who showed this attention was collector of the district, and his party consisted of an assistant and two friends, a civilian and an officer on a visit to them. We had never been known by name to one another, or held the most partial intercourse. I sent a note, with my address, and describing the circumstances of our party ; the messenger was returned instantly, with a renewed and more urgent invitation, and a palanquin to convey one of our number to the encampment. The company was then more mixed, hut the strangers were made to feel at home, and enter- tained as guests with the most cordial hospitality. The gentleman of highest rank had to proceed to another part of his district ; but his assistant gave us an Irish welcome, and acted in such a way as to remove all feeling of restraint. All the three presidencies are distinguished by peculiarities of habit which are expressed by sobriquets well un- derstood in India. The Bombay ducks are not less piqued upon the honour of their presidency, than are the Madras mullagatanies, or the Bengallee qui hui’s. Our host was determined to prove to us Madrassees not only the hospitality of his side, but also the culinary ability of his servants, and the stimulating condiments of their cookery : a good hot curry, a cubeh, was accordingly prepared for us, not a whit too fervid for our palate. Our friend, on the principle that “ practice moves where precept fails,” partook most largely of his own TRAVELLING REMINISCENCES. 347 cook’s preparation ; but it was a little more than his month and throat could hear. It was a moving and tearful scene, and ended in a hearty and good- natured joke. However, while we were indulging our light humours within the tent, more serious matters were ripening without for a tragi-comic scene ; and at first our friend, the civilian’s, careful vigilance was requisite, and then his paramount authority was put forth. We marked certain grave-looking personages taking counsel, and soliciting the de- liberation of our host. We were then told the facts, and warned of the proceedings. The native chief whom we had encountered at Gorabunda was now in Bassien, and had taken possession of a house strong in itself, and defended by his motley armed escort, who stood watch behind and before : but he had violated the restrictions, and defied the penalties of the supreme court at Bombay. He was a Hindoo prince, and his territory was nomi- nally independent of the British. I understood his brother to be the rajah of Surat, and an ally of the Company ; but this man had visited the presidency, either for pleasure or business, and while there had become involved in pecuniary embarrassments. Debts accumulated and creditors became clamorous. In order to secure a respite, he solicited two Bombay merchants to become his bail, and when he had pledged them as his secu- rities, he hastened out of the island, and was escaping with his retinue, when I first met him at Gorabunda. The native merchants who had 348 CONTINENTAL INDIA. become bail for him, applied to the court for an attachment, and despatched a messenger at arms in pursuit. This functionary reached Bassien while we were entertained at the tents of our host Mr. S. and, as a matter of prudence, sought the counte- nance of the Company’s civilians. I understood it was not within their province to aid in the caption of the prince : while they were equally solicitous to avoid a collision between their peon force and his retainers, and also to aid the representative of the supreme court in securing the delinquent. It was, therefore, their policy to keep out of sight ; but they allowed their civil force to exhibit its prompti- tude and efficiency. Great was their fear, lest the messenger at arms should overstep his limits or involve them ; many, therefore, were the cautions given and repeated. He was an Irishman, voluble and ready-witted ; and imbued with no small con- ceit in his own prudence. His replies were quite in keeping with his character : “ I have been three years in the service, and you may be share I’ll do it prhudently .” What his strategy had been, or his negotiations, I did not hear ; farther than that the peons, and all the strength of the collector’s cut- cherry, were arrayed and placed conspicuously, so as to muster with greatest and most imposing effect. The night was spent in uncertainty ; despatches were often received by our host, inti- mating that the house was beleaguered and defended by the followers of the chief, and that he kept himself within barricades and closed doors. TRAVELLING REMINISCENCES. 349 I walked out in the morning, and witnessed the closing scene, when the curtain dropped on all his princely greatness. In my progress, from the shore to the village, I met the chief on one side of the road, and the messenger at arms on the other, proceeding toward the boat which was to convey the party again to Bombay. The prisoner walked in a nonchalance style, carrying his kuleean as if enjoying his smoke ; only one or two retainers appeared to follow in the rear, but no peon, or Company’s officer, was within sight. One tender and timid partner in his sorrows lingered as close as her ideas of decorum permitted ; half shrouded in her cloth, haggard and woe-begone in her countenance, subdued and softened in her expression, trembling and shrinking in her manner, as if she feared to be ordered back by her lord, yet clinging as a tendril of most sensitive delicacy which could not leave her love : — and such is weak and faithful, suppliant and enduring woman ; — such, too, often is her reward ! Bassien was a walled and fortified town, in which churches, mosques, and pagodas, were numerous, their architecture rich and gorgeous, with orna- ments of every style yet visible. A small village had risen up in its suburbs, and the country round was fertile and well cultivated ; but the town was a scene of desolation, such as I never elsewhere visited. At this fort, in the year 1802, the peishwa of the Mahrattas signed a treaty with the British, by which he became their vassal and pensioner. 350 CONTINENTAL INDIA. subject to their control, and removable at their pleasure ; and Bassien is a mournful monument of his transient glory. I walked round on the top of its walls, and marked its streets, squares, and public buildings ; its ramparts and defences. But there was not now one human inhabitant of any tenement in the whole town; serpents, lizards, and frogs, there might be in myriads ; and plants, shrubs, and trees, in profuse and wild luxuriance ; but not a hand to subdue or prune, nor a footstep to be traced from wall to wall. In many houses, I saw trees which had grown up from the floors, and made a passage through rents in the ceilings ; in others, the nettle or the prickly pear kept garrison against any human in- trusion ; but the whole was a monument of what had been — a city of the dead ; a desert of houses ; a sort of unentombed Pompeii, or an emblem of what Sodom might have been had not the Dead Sea engulfed it, or the liquid flames swept over its desolations. Such are the events of war, — such the judgments of an overruling Providence. Bassien might be held up as a mirror to human greatness, and a lesson to usurping man. “It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in, from gene- ration to generation ; neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there ; neither shall the shepherds make their fold there. But wild beasts of the desert shall lie there ; and their houses shall be full of doleful creatures ; and owls shall dwell there ; and satyrs shall dance there. And the wild beasts TRAVELLING REMINISCENCES. 351 of the island shall cry in their desolate houses, and dragons in their pleasant palaces.” I took farewell of the kind friends whom 1 had so incidentally met, and never saw them again ; but a few years afterward read in an Irish paper the sad death of one of them. Mr. S. had gone to visit his friend Mr. T. They both went out to bathe, and Mr. S. sunk to rise no more ; nor could his friend, who passed again and again over the spot, afford relief, though he could perceive the sinking form almost within reach, and observe him moving under water, as if with imploring attitude, looking up for help. No wonder that the bereaved associate should mourn for his friend many days! Few men ever gave such early promise of success! We now sailed along the coast, and found the navigation of our Hindoo mariners dilatory and exhausting. By the time we arrived at Damaun, our water was consumed, and our live stock re- duced. We were sick and tired of the confine- ment, — of the perpetual agitation and rolling occa- sioned by the ceaseless surf ; we therefore made toward shore, but had neither chart nor pilot, and could not discover the channel. Our only alter- native was to draw into shoal water, and lay the vessel to. Our sailors then took us upon their shoulders, and carried us through the surf to land, where we found ourselves on Portuguese territory. We were without passports or introductions, and knew not the terms on which our allies would receive such wanderers, habited as we were, and 352 CONTINENTAL INDIA. destitute of interpreter or the knowledge of each other’s language. It appeared expedient that we should inform the governor of our character and destination, our wants and our wishes. This we did first by a messenger, who speedily returned with a reply, that his excellency, Don Julian, &c.&c. would come and see us ; we accordingly prepared for the visit of the governor. In a short time, he appeared with a train of attendants, such as might have suited a potentate of secondary rank. We plainly told him, in the Hindostanee language, who we were, whence, and whither we were proceeding ; that we required water, and should have to remain within his territory during the night. The Don did not excel in courtesy or hospitality : most laconically he directed us to the other side of the river, where we might find a choultrie, &c. ; and then taking a cheroot from his pocket, he lighted it at the lantern of an attendant, turned on his heel, and left us to our speculations : — in which he had not the honour to attain a very exalted place. Without much farther delay, we passed under the walls of the fort toward the river, were ferried across and came to the house of a half-caste Portuguese, who acted as postmaster for the British authorities in contiguous districts. He was most civil, and his wife, a perfect native, was most hospitable and attentive. She could speak no language that we understood ; and all intercourse was conducted in dumb show. Yet with a consideration and delicacy which greatly raised her in our esteem, she arranged for bathing TRAVELLING REMINISCENCES. 353 the feet of her stranger guests, and provided a comfortable bed for us. We passed the night in peace, and awoke in the morning refreshed. Our sur- prise was. great to hear, before we left our rooms, the voice of a Scotchman in a region so secluded and remote. We soon ascertained that he was an involuntary exile, — had not been faithful or prudent in his trust, and had made Damaun a city of refuge till better days should dawn. Two or three days prior to our arrival he had been put under arrest by the local authorities, for having omitted to salute, or uncover his head to his excellency the governor. This petty tyrant chose the morning of our visit to the settlement for crossing the river, and ordering a salute of guns to be fired to his honour. The slaves who crouched beneath his lash despised his pride ; and his pretensions did not make us admire him the more. We understood that the Portu- guese possessions lay along the river about ninety miles up its course, on a strip of land about three miles broad ; that nearly thirty villages bowed to the supremacy of Damaun, and the revenue thence received was about three lacs of rupees, or 30,000/. There were a few merchant vessels and a frigate in the harbour of Damaun, when we sailed out from the mouth of its river. We had then a better opportunity of observing its appearance than when we entered. It lies on the coast of the province of Aurangabad, and looks well from the sea. The houses and churches being all white-washed, its exterior appearance is attractive and prepossessing. VOL. II. A A 3.54 CONTINENTAL INDIA. There is nearly seventeen feet of water over the bar, so that the harbour is convenient for smaller vessels. Some of its merchants traded in slaves, sailing to the Mozambique for this inhuman pur- pose. We asked the price of a boy who served us, and understood his purchase money was about 6/. 10s. Ship-building is earned on with spirit and to some extent ; for which the contiguous teak forests, as well as the position of the harbour, afford facilities; while the Parsee inhabitants, who are numerous, supply enterprising mechanics. These ancient ghebers have a temple in Damaun, in which they affirm the sacred fire of their worship has con- tinued burning for twelve hundred years. So long a time is it, as they pretend, since they brought it from Persia. They have as much folly and pre- sumption about their fire-worship as have the Hin- doos about the avatars of Vishnu. Damaun was taken possession of by the Portuguese, in the year 1531, and has remained subject to their power till the present time ; but it has not added to the prosperity or increased the wealth of its usurpers. The south-eastern division of the province of Guzerat, from Damaun to the Nerbudda, lies low, and has few rocks or mountains in the whole length of it toward the shore. The soil is singularly rich and free ; the black mould descends to the depth of five or six feet, with hardly a stone to be seen the size of a field turnip; presenting a striking contrast with either the western or the northern districts. The fertility of the region around Surat exceeded TRAVELLING REMINISCENCES. 355 any thing I had witnessed elsewhere. I passed through standing crops, where the grain rose to the height of six feet, and the stalk was so strong, that though the head of the com was larger than my hand, it did not bend or yield to the weight. The wave of the field before a slight breeze was majestic and luxuriant. All sorts of grain, (except oats,) cotton, tobacco, sugar-cane, indigo, and gum, are the produce of this district. But we did not find the climate either healthy or pleasant ; there is a heavy thickness in the atmosphere, especially when the sun has gone down, and before his rise, which rests as a dense fog, in the channel where rivers flow or marshes spread ; whilst in the day time we are exposed either to a hot wind or an oppressive and stifling calm. In the rainy season the country presents a surface of thick mire, and in the dry months nothing but sand or dust meets the eye, except where covered with cultivation. The population of this territory is mingled, and generally destitute of the means of improvement. The Bheels, Bhatts and Dheras, the Catties, Coolies and Mewatties, the Charons and Grassias, form a strange and heterogeneous diversity ; but many of them are in the rudest state of civilization. The Vaneeyas, or Banyans of Guzerat, the Jains, the Boras, and Parsees, are all distinct classes, and recall to the mind of the enlightened reader traditionary or historical associations of peculiar interest. The Parsees are the modern representatives of the an- cient magi ; the Boras are Jews in manners and a a 2 356 CONTINENTAL INDIA. features, but Mohammedans in religion ; the Vaneeyas are the travelled merchants of western India, found in every mart and trafficking in all the commerce of the East ; while the Jains are the lingering fragments of some primitive sect, whose creed was simple and their habits inoffensive. I entered the Tapti, a river sacred among the Hindoos, on Sunday afternoon. The sweep of the river, the cultivated and fertile fields on both banks, pleased us, and encouraged the anticipation that we should like the country. The afternoon had been on the water mild and favourable, whilst the frame of our minds was in a measure harmonized to the sacred purposes of the day. We were startled to hear a salute of guns from the Surat batteries. We reached the harbour of this long renowned seat of eastern traffic as the sun was setting, and were brought at once into the midst of a scene the most imposing and oriental of all my earliest dreams and associations. Along the water’s edge we observed many solemn figures gazing in the attitude of pro- found admiration toward the descending luminary. Clothed in flowing garments of snowy whiteness, their feet uncovered, standing upon the fringed mar- gin of the murmuring river, and each one isolated from all intercourse with his fellows, they seemed to have come forth to commune with the glorious orb, and to address their devotions to him before he should retire. They presented illustrations of unbroken and seemingly imperturbable abstraction ; and ap- peared to have attained the highest measure of TRAVELLING REMINISCENCES. 357 superiority to all sublunary things. I never saw a Christian congregation exhibit more entire command over their passions, or the perceptions by which a sympathy is maintained with outward and visible realities. The intensity of their devotions might be thought to have perfectly absorbed all other appre- hensions. They had brought garlands or posies of choice flowers, which each worshipper held in his lap, and after their forms of address or routine of petitions were completed, as it appeared to me, on the very eve of the sun’s descending below the horizon, they cast the flowers upon the waters at three times, and having laved some water with their hand after the flowers, they made salaam to the west and retired. When I reached my friends, I ascer- tained that this was a company of fire-worshippers, who rendered such homage to the emblem of their divine principle. I was also informed that the day was a festival with the Hindoos connected with one of their deities, and had been ushered in by a change of the moon. In honour of this event had the battery guns been charged, and the salute, which I heard as I entered the Tapti, fired by English soldiers, under the directions of British officers, and at the expense of the East India Company. No one can justly blame the government for non-inter- ference with idolatrous worship, to put it down by constraint or persecution, or for the most perfect protection to every Hindoo in observing the rites of his religion, where he neither robs nor murders : but who can commend the policy which would 358 CONTINENTAL INDIA. identify government with the monstrous delusions practised in India ? The castle of Surat was erected in 1543 under Sultaun Mohammed Shah, King of Guzerat ; and soon after became subject to the Emperor of Delhi. It was in those times a favourite port ; and the commerce of the Great Mogul from the gulfs of Persia and Arabia, as also for the coasts of Western India, was brought thither. From it Moslem pil- grims started for the Arabian shores to do honour to Mohammed’s tomb : and Surat was thence de- nominated one of the gates of Mecca. The Portu- guese were the earliest European adventurers who landed and obtained influence. The Dutch sup- planted them. In 161 1 the English traders were per- mitted to establish here a factory — a favour conferred on them by the moguls after urgent and protracted solicitation. It was their first foot planted on the continent of Asia. In 1620 they contended for ascendency by naval conflict with the Portuguese, and, gaining the advantage, acquired fresh influ- ence at Surat. In other parts of Guzerat, at Cam- baya, Ahmedabad, and Goga, they obtained similar privileges. The Dutch contended with them in 1 654, and suspended their trade at Surat ; and in 1 664 they were compelled to encounter Sevagee, the Mahratta, and his forces. They resisted him with success, and were further rewarded by the blind mogul, who foresaw not their rising dominion and supremacy. In 1670 their valour was again tried by the same adventurer ; hut they again triumphed. TRAVELLING REMINISCENCES. 359 In 1687 they were visited with the mogul’s dis- pleasure, and their factory was seized : but after they had flattered him by the most abject sub- mission, an order for the restoration of their pri- vileges was granted. They continued in possession of their factory ; though the castle and the town became the object of fierce contest between the representatives of the mogul and the Siddees — the latter holding the castle, and the former the country ; while the Mahrattas levied, or were entitled to, a species of black mail, called the chout. In 1758, the English interfered in the strife be- tween these parties, and obtained possession of city and castle, promising that the mogul flag should always float upon the castle, and at the mast-head of their principal cruiser in the Tapti. In 1800 the nawaub of Surat resigned, as it was deemed fit by the English he should resign, the government, civil and military, with all its emolu- ments, powers, and privileges, to the East India Company : while they agreed to pay him and his heirs one lac of rupees annually, together with a fifth part of what should remain as surplus of the revenues after all expenses, &c. In the year 1796 Surat was computed, according to Mill, to con- tain 800,000 inhabitants. Fourteen thousand Parsees were said to dwell in the city, pre- serving their manners, and adhering to the reli- gious rites of their ancestors. But although by some it be reckoned the largest city of modern India, and contains all the appendages of a fortress 360 CONTINENTAL INDIA. and a garrison, it had not so imposing an appearance as some other cities through which I have passed. The gross population was not reckoned to exceed 200,000, and it has been since still farther reduced ; though I think the Parsees continued as numerous as formerly. The streets are so narrow that hackeries, or bullock carts, when they meet, have to draw back till they recede to an opening, on the right hand or the left, ere they can pass. They are in the dry season almost impassable for pedestrians from the dust, and in the wet season from the mud. At the end of each street gates had been set up, but they were now falling into ruin. The houses are, many of them, three stories high, their walls to the streets without windows, or any sign of animation, which give them all the appearance of so many dungeons or store-houses. The entrances are by a court-gate, within which is generally a square area, and the inner fronts of the dwellings are furnished with latticed verandahs, while upon the roofs they have terraces for retirement, on which the inmates may walk for exercise. The houses are generally so close together on the streets, that the sun does not shine upon the passengers who traverse from place to place ; but this extreme contiguity also prevents free ventilation, and makes fires in Surat so much the more dangerous. The burying-ground con- tained many memorials of Dutch families, who were speedily becoming extinct. There were also many venerable, but dilapidated places of worship ; among which the Mohammedan mosques were most TRAVELLING REMINISCENCES. 361 conspicuous. I visited one which had a towering minaret two hundred feet high. 1 entered this without due caution, having omitted to take off my shoes before I traversed its floors. The keeper of the mosque ran after me, in the greatest alarm, requiring that I should show reverence to the sacred edifice. This rendered it to me a scruple of conscience, and 1 retired, rather than recognise the holiness of the mosque. The parts which I passed through were highly ornamented with the finest mosaic work ; inscriptions were beautifully written in Arabic on the walls. The whole had the air of a decayed and deserted building, which had been once a celebrated temple. The Moslems, I concluded, were on the wane, and the horn of their crescent had ceased to fill or enlarge. The temple of the Parsees was reckoned of high repute, but no European had entered it. I saw part of its enclosure from the terrace of a lofty dwelling- house, but could distinguish no object which is worth being mentioned. There was no English chaplain or congregation to whom I was intro- duced, and I think there was no Episcopal church for even the Company’s servants ; though Bishop Heber had included Surat in his diocesan visita- tion. The trading interest of this port had declined, but cotton continued an article of frequent purchase and shipment. The natural phenomena aromid the city were monotonous and cheerless. When we rose in the morning, such a fog usually rested upon the river, from bank to bank, that the water 362 CONTINENTAL INDIA. could not be seen ; but the whole appeared like the mist of a hoar-frost, before it has formed its fantastic shapes on the branches or twigs of trees, at home. We have sat shivering, clothed in flannel, at such an hour ; while, on the same day, before the meridian had passed, the loosest cotton gar- ments were felt too hot and oppressive. The civil government of Surat was vested in a chief, a collector, and certain other principal and subordinate functionaries ; John Romer, Esq. stood first, and Mr. Elphinstone was collector. The command of the garrison was reposed in the senior officer of the district ; but with either of these I had no intercourse. Servants of the Company, both civil and military, frequently resorted from neighbouring stations, either for a change of cli- mate, or to make purchases suited to the wants of their more retired situations, which kept the society more lively and changeful. There was a station of the London Missionary Society esta- blished here, which has been upheld now nearly thirty years. One agent destined for this field had abjured his religious profession, and become a servant of the Company. Dr. T. died somewhere up the Persian Gulf. Another gentleman, who was sent from England to occupy the place of schoolmaster at the station, was induced to remain at Madras, where he first landed. One of the two who first settled at Surat, died after a few years of great fidelity and usefulness. There were three, two ordained preachers and a printer, missionaries TRAVELLING REMINISCENCES. 3G3 when I visited the city. Their labours were all conducted in the Guzerattee language. They had a printing-press in efficient operation, at which translations of the Scriptures, and copies of religious tracts, were multiplied for circulation. Many thousand pages of evangelical instruction had been thus scattered in the city and province. They had six schools for children and adults, containing 350 children, carefully and constantly inspected, in which much scriptural truth was taught. I visited some of these schools with the missionaries, and saw the examinations, and heard the faithful men striving to interest the parents of the children in the gospel for themselves, by earnest and hortatory appeals, and the distribution of tracts. Some of the schools were also occupied as preaching stations for the people. The same labourers occasionally extended the sphere of their labours, and some- times took in Ahmedabad and Baroda. I found these humble and zealous Christians, men who rejoiced to labour and suffer; and they had both laboured and suffered for the cause of Christ. They had a single sendee for themselves, their families, and any Europeans who wished to engage with them, on Sabbath evening; wiien they pre- ferred reading a sermon of some author for their edification, lest the preparation for the pulpit might tempt themselves to overlook the direct work of the missionary to the heathen. I found it pro- fitable to join with them in commemorating a Saviour’s love and sacrificial death ; the season was 364 CONTINENTAL INDIA. truly pleasant after our wide and weary wanderings. They had weekly a religious service, for the benefit of the teachers of their schools. They had a small chapel, connected with the mission-house, for native worship, where a good morning congregation attended. Their afternoon service was at one of their school-rooms, in another part of the city. They had a fluid for relieving the poor and the stranger. They laboured well, and in such a spirit as might warrant the anticipation that ultimately they should be crowned with success : and I be- lieve, that subsequently to my visit, they have, in pleasing instances, witnessed the beneficial result of their operations. Two cities of some celebrity, Baroach and Ba- roda, are not far distant from Surat. The Tapti and the Nerbudda flow in a parallel direction toward the gulf of Cambay; their distance from each other, where they enter the sea, is about thirty or forty miles. Baroach stands on the banks of the Nerbudda, a little farther up the river than Surat. In 1572, this city was a place of great trade, and seemed to warrant its traditionary iden- tity with the ancient Barygaza. Prior to its occu- pation by the British, it was two miles and a half in circumference, fortified in the oriental manner with high walls, which were perforated for musketry, and flanked with towers. Added to its natural advantages, these defences gave it all the strength common to Asiatic fortresses, so as to render it impregnable in the people’s opinion. It was besieged TRAVELLING REMINISCENCES. 365 by a British force in 1771; the English general, Wedderburne, was killed under its walls. The beleaguered people were emboldened, and trusting to some tradition, that their town would never be taken, they fought with energy ; but it was carried by storm in a few days. The mother of the nawaub braved all the dangers of cannon and bombs with her son, never quitting the object of her affections. They escaped together ; and when pursued, she charged the prince, saying, “ Go, seek succours or an asylum among your allies ; I will retard the march of our enemies, and may, perhaps, escape them.” Her pursuers, however, pressed upon her closer than she had hoped, and she plunged a dagger into her heart, to avoid falling into her enemies’ hands. The prince did not long survive her. In consequence of some claim, by usurpation, which the Mahratta Scindia alleged, a division of this territory took place between him and the English in 1782 ; but in 1803 the latter power assumed over it the entire control. The houses are generally lofty, like those of Surat, and the streets narrow and dirty. Mosques and mauso- leums in the city and vicinity are numerous, but dilapidated. The district around is fertile, well- cultivated, and populous, the inhabitants are orderly and industrious. Cotton is grown and manufactured ; wheat, joaree, rice, and other grains, are produced ; nuts, oil-seeds, shrubs and plants for dyeing, constitute, with the other produce, the principal exports of the country. The Nerbudda 366 CONTINENTAL INDIA. is a sacred stream, and is reckoned to possess a peculiar property for bleaching cotton cloth the purest white. The Guicowar, Futteh Singh, resides at Baroda, and is nominal ruler of the greater part of Guzerat. His Mahratta ancestry commenced their predatory incursions in the province about the beginning of last century; and in 1730 Sahoo Rajah confirmed the invaders in their conquest, and the several members of the family have succeeded, whether as brother or son, till the present time. The revenues of this reigning petty sovereign latterly have fallen into great confusion, and the British, of course kindly, interfered and undertook the management of his affairs. In 1818 the population amounted to one hundred thousand. The district is called Champaneer. The town is intersected by two spacious streets, which cross at the market-place, and divide it into four equal parts. The houses of the Mahrattas are mean hovels: ruins of the Mogul houses are yet visible, and show them to have been handsome. In the environs are several mag- nificent wells, with steps down to the bottom. The only stone bridge in Guzerat has been erected near this city over the Viswamitra. The fortifica- tions of the place in 1780 consisted of slight walls, with towers at irregular distances, and double gates. During the war with Scindia and Holkar, in 1 803, the native bankers advanced to the British army a crore and a half rupees, about 1,600,000/. They now enjoy the security and peace of British TRAVELLING REMINISCENCES. 367 dominion. I cannot say whether their advances were repaid ; or if they have obtained an equivalent by the consolidation of a better and more equitable government. The gulf derives its name from an ancient city, which by some is traced to the Camanes ot Ptolemy ; it is still called Cambay. The depth of the water in this gulf has been decreasing for two centuries. Its bed is only six miles broad, fifteen miles east of the town, and is left dry at low water : the tides rush in with amazing velocity, and rise with rapidity to the height of forty feet ; ships can then anchor near Cambay, but the sea recedes as quickly, and the river runs almost dry, so that vessels are left aground in the mud; or, when attempting to sail out, if they take the ground, are immediately upset, to the risk of every life on board. I did not visit this ancient mart, so en- compassed with perils, but the following is my information derived concerning it : — The city of ancient times is said to have been overwhelmed and buried in the sand. The modern city flou- rished as the seat of an extensive commerce ; but declined with the decay of Ahmedabad, and in consequence of the subsidence of the sea. Cotton, grain, elephants’ teeth, and cornelian, are its only exports. Cambay is supposed to have been, about the fifth century, the capital of the Western Hindoo emperors. When Francis d’ Almeida landed in 1515, he saw r the fragments of splendid buildings and temples, the ruins of an ancient city. Such 363 CONTINENTAL INDIA. is the report of Osorio, a Portuguese writer. It was taken possession of by the army of General Goddard in 1780, but restored to the Mahrattas three years afterward. The British again resumed their dominion over it in 1 803, — by treaty, such as the lion of the forest makes with his jackall. The houses are built either of stone or brick. A brick wall, nearly five miles in circumference, surrounds the town, which encloses three bazaars and four large reservoirs of excellent water. Of the houses many have underground apartments : in these the inhabitants concealed their females and valuable pro- perty during times of alarm. Extensive mins of subterranean temples, and other buildings, half buried in the sand, are still visible in the south-east suburb. The temples are described as belonging to the Jains, and containing two immense statues of their deities ; one is black and the other white. The inscription on the latter, the principal figure, is to Parswanatha, and dated 1502, in the reign of Akber; it was then carved and consecrated. On the black one is inscribed the date 1651. The promontory of Western Guzerat is terminated by a small island, celebrated as an ancient fortress, which is a few miles to the south parallel of Surat. It is called Diu ; is only six miles and a half long, one mile and a half broad, is nearly barren, and contains no water fit for use, but what is collected in ponds or tanks during the monsoon. The origin of its fame was a renowned Hindoo temple, which was reckoned one of the richest places of the TRAVELLING REMINISCENCES. 369 East ; it is described by Mill under the appellation of Sumnaut. The Sultaun Mahmood of Ghizni had heard of the wealth which ages of superstition had accumulated ; he was also aroused by the pride and contempt of the brahmins, who defied his power. For their chastisement, he undertook an expedition in 1024, and arrived at Diu in the following year : it is separated by a strait from the main land, and is fordable at low water. Here he encountered a large army collected by the alarm of the priesthood. The brahmins and guar- dians defended the sanctuary with all the obstinacy of enthusiasm or despair; but all resistance was vain, and the Sultaun, a fanatical Moslem, en- tered the temple. Exasperated by the sight of the gigantic idol, he aimed, with his iron mace, a blow at the head, which severed the nose from its face. Crores of gold, or millions of sterling money, were offered for the ransom of the deified image by the trembling brahmins. The Sultaun’s answer to his omralis, who counselled him to accept the bribe, declared that he valued the title of breaker, not seller of idols : he was a royal Iconoclastes, and gave orders to proceed with the work of destruction. At the next blow the belly of the image burst open, and forth issued a vast and incredible treasure of pearls, rubies, and dia- monds, a sufficient explanation for the devout liberality of the brahmins, who wished to save their god; and a full reward for the zealous hatred which the emperor displayed toward idol-worship. VOL. II. B B 370 CONTINENTAL INDIA. In other parts of the temple, immense stores of wealth were found by the conqueror, and all the faithful triumphed in the emperor’s achievements. Recent events give additional interest to this Ghiznividian monarch, and his renowned capital : and my reader will, for a moment, fall into the train of this sweeping conqueror, in whose mind the passion for war had fermented, till it became the very alcohol of ambition. Fourteen victorious invasions did he conduct into the bosom of Asia, from his far western fortress in Candahar, before he finished his last exploit among the Jaats. The son of Subuctagee, originally a Turkish slave, his first distinction was, as the successor of his father, the deputed governor of Ghizni, and servant of the Samanides. This was a line of princes, celebrated by Persian historians as eminent for their justice and learning, who had extended their sway from the Jaxartes to the Indus ; yet the son of Subuc- tagee, the Turkish slave, asserted his independence, subverted their throne, and, having founded the dynasty of the Ghiznivides, was the first to hear the Crescent beyond the farthest limits, toward the south, of the Persian empire, and to lay the foun- dation of Mohammedan thrones in India. The earliest expedition in which lie turned his face to India, is dated in the year 1,000 of the Christian era. He renewed his visit next year ; met and defeated Gepal, the prince of Lahore. His vengeance was again, in 1 ,004, poured out on the head of a minor prince upon the Indus; and in TRAVELLING REMINISCENCES. 371 the following year, he encountered the confederates of Lahore and Multaun, in the pass of the moun- tains, when he drove the former prince into Cash- mere, and rendered the other his slave. In a fifth expedition he chastised a rebellious satrap, Zah Sais, a renegade Hindoo; his sixth visit was paid on the following year, when the princes of Oojien, Gualior, Kanoze, Ajmere, Delhi, Calinger, and the Guickwars, joined their forces, in vain, to oppose him — the monarch of Ghizni triumphed. His spoil from temples and cities had been great ; but his return in the following year was reckoned ne- cessary to subdue the refractory king of Multaun, whom he carried as prisoner to his native capital. Success does not quench the thirst of the con- queror ; the greatest warrior Mill weep for new worlds. Fresh conquests were the cooling streams in which the sultaun of Ghizni delighted to lave. Tahnesir, a city famous for its brahminical sanctity, and contiguous to Delhi, attracted his cupidity ; he spoiled it, and proceeded to Delhi ; and having demolished the idols, he gathered up the riches which superstition had hoarded, and marched homewards. Yet again he returned to Lahore, and overran Cashmere ; nor was his am- bition satisfied. In 1018, Kanoje upon the Ganges, a hundred miles south-east of Delhi, was doomed as his prey. Three months were spent in the march from Ghizni, and “ seven mighty streams rushed across the intervening space.” A passage through the mountains, by Cashmere, was forced, and the b b 2 372 CONTINENTAL INDIA. rajah, surprised and alarmed, submitted. Herat, Mavin on the Jumna, Muttra and Agra, bowed to his subjugating sway. The booty accumulated, for incalculable had been bis treasures, tempted Mahmood to project improvements on bis native fortress. He built a mosque, so beautiful and magnificent, that it was called the Celestial Bride ; and, as an ornament, “ struck every beholder with astonishment and pleasure.” In its vicinity he founded a university, which he provided with a large collection of curious books in various languages, and a museum of natural and artificial curiosities. Funds for the maintenance of students and the salaries of teachers were munificently endowed. Mahmood resumed again the toils of war ; and one expedition followed another, till he had ran his course and established a dominion only equalled by English conquerors in the same lands. The tide of conquest has now, however, rolled back ; and soldiers enrolled in those cities, which he desolated eight centuries since, and armed by a power which did not then exist, have marched through the same passes, trampled on the plains on which his military glory was immortalized, and cast down the strongholds of his pride, and the fortresses of his strength. Candahar has been traversed, Cabul has been occupied ; and Ghizni has been stormed, her gates shattered, and her majesty laid low, even with the dust. Where is now the spirit of Mah- mood, or the prowess of his warriors? TRAVELLING REMINISCENCES. 373 The interest cherished for this region of classic ground in the romance of eastern warfare, is now reflected by the rising sun of a modern Ghiznivide, Shah Shooja, carried upon the rolling tide of English and Hindoo conquest to the throne of Candahar. His triumphs have been achieved by troops who rendezvoused from the same cities which the first Ghiznivide captured. The British army, not so many as 30,000 troops, has pene- trated these regions ; and having subdued the sur- rounding country, has placed a prince tributary to English power on the throne, while only 191 men have been killed and wounded. Thus far the policy of Lord Auckland has succeeded ; and the colonial territory of Great Britain, and the influ- ence of her counsels, have been extended. But the philanthropist sees another object of attraction. The historian Mill has said, “ the northern pro- vinces of India, Cabul, Candahar, Multaun, and the Punjab, appear from the days of Darius Hystaspes to have followed the destiny of Bactria, Chorasan, and Transoxiana.” We may now reverse the de- pendence, and attach the destiny of the eastern provinces of Persia to Cabul and Candahar. Will Britain, or her ally in those countries, follow the example of Mahmood ? Will they encourage learning in proportion to their superior knowledge and facilities ? Will England spread the wings of her protecting power over the Christian missionary, that he may enter upon these fallow and untrod fields ? Will Christian churches prove themselves 374 CONTINENTAL INDIA. as zealous for the religion of truth as the Moslems were for the mosques of Mohammedan imposture ? There is not a missionary in Persia, — in the eastern provinces of her ancient empire, — in all the pro- vinces to the west and north of Delhi, — in the Punjab, — on the Indus, or toward the Jaxartes, — in Cabul or Candahar. No Bibles are circulated ; no schools yet, of Christian character, have been instituted ; and no religious tracts in the languages of the people have been prepared. It is known that idolatry, in its foul forms, is practised at the court of Lahore, as well as in the neighbouring regions. A few weeks before these conquests, eleven females were consumed on the funeral pile. Yet the chiefs of the Punjab made so many appli- cations to the political agent on the frontier to procure an English education for their children, that the government has found it necessary to attach a schoolmaster to his establishment. The tide of literature is even rolling back from India to Persia, and the supreme government lately sent a large supply of English books for the use of the king of Persia’s military seminary ; the students of which are represented to be actuated by a strong zeal for European learning. Will not the devout Christian trace a merciful providence in the dispensation by which these countries are brought under British supremacy ? The merchants of India and Great Britain will be awake to the stirring interest of these events. Manufacturers and traders, with a lynx-eyed TRAVELLING REMINISCENCES. 375 vigilance, already contemplate the openings for woollens, cotton prints, hardware, and whatever will take the market, remunerate enterprise, and reward the application of capital. On the rolling tide of the Indus, on every river of the Punjab for a thousand miles inland, we may anticipate the rapid navigation of steam employed to carry the manufactures of England, and bring down to the sea-coast the produce of these many lands. The markets of Candahar, Cahul, Herat, and Bactria, will assuredly be open to British enteqmse ; and Persia will receive her supply from the same stock. Multaun and Lahore will be but resting-places for the sons of commerce.- We regard these waterv highways of eastern regions as opening safe, ac- cessible, and expeditious channels for our expanding and pervading traffic. Shah Shoojah is the puppet of English policy, and if he respects not, and gives not security to our traders, that they may pass to the north and west, Ghizni and Cabul will not shelter him, but he must then follow Dost Ma- homed. We have here then a free course for trade, benevolence, and knowledge ; and, as we feel confident the merchant will not be slack in profiting by the occasion, we hope the agents and messengers of truth and mercy will hasten to present their treasures more valuable than gold or precious stones. Let Mahmood be an example to the modem conquerors of Ghizni ; — let them remember the Celestial Bride, and its kindred uni- versity. Let it be a condition of British protection 376 CONTINENTAL INDIA. to the authorities in Cahul, that European litera- ture and the schoolmaster’s labours shall be exten- sively and freely patronized. Let these fields, white for the harvest of instruction, be speedily occupied by efficient teachers. Let the advocates of learning and promoters of Christian missions occupy in faith and zeal. The spoil of the mer- chant and the booty of the manufacturer must adorn the Celestial Bride of Moder Ghizni, — must furnish libraries and museums for the youth and studious disciples of truth in Candahar. Let the images of wood, silver, and gold, or the delusions of Islamism, be driven to the moles and the bats, before the light of knowledge, and the weapons of wisdom and reason. Thus will a greater and more beneficent conqueror than Mahmood adorn Ghizni with new trophies, and make it, as the place of his feet, glorious, where righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins ; so that it shall be known as the place of the Redeemer’s rest, and a habitation where his honour shall continue to dwell. In 1615, the Portuguese obtained possession of Diu, hut they acquired not spoils so abundant, nor were they such image-haters as Mahmood. They instantly commenced fortifying the island, and ren- dered it in ten years impregnable against all the powers of India ; so that it became a place of ex- tensive trade and intercourse, and was the harbour in which their fleets were laid up during the winter. Their power fell into decay ; it was plundered by the TRAVELLING REMINISCENCES. 377 Arabs of Muscat in 1670. It has ultimately sunk into insignificance, and has now no commerce or influence in those seas. I sailed past this place on my route to the pre- sidency, which we reached in safety without any incident deserving a record. Circumstances after- wards rendered my return to England expedient, and I sailed in one of the Company’s chartered ships. Our voyage was long and wearisome. I have no inducement to recite the events of that tedious pilgrimage over the waste of waters for six long months. But as we touched at St. Helena, and the incidents of Napoleon’s death are still fresh in the island, I shall give an account of my visit to the prison in which he died, and the tomb in which his ashes were laid. St. Helena was discovered by the Portuguese in 1502, on St. Helen’s day; they stocked it with different kinds of useful animals. The Dutch took possession of, and kept it till 1600, when the English attacked and subverted their power ; after which they held it for seventy-three years. The Dutch seized it again by surprise, and attempted to hold it in their own hand, for which purpose they fortified the only supposed landing-place ; but the English had discovered another small creek and a pathway up the rock, which two men could climb abreast. They reached the top of the rock by night with such secrecy, and so confounded the Dutch, that they laid down their arms, and sur- rendered at discretion. This creek has been since 378 CONTINENTAL INDIA. fortified by a battery of large cannon placed at the entrance, so that now no regular approaches or sudden surprise can be expected to succeed for the capture of the island. Excellent water for ships can be had in abundance, and provisions, fresh and suitable, may be procured at rather a high price. The climate is not unhealthy, and the air of the place is pleasant to Indian voyagers. The tem- perature is moderated by a continued sea breeze. A series of violent and perilous storms, which lasted for six weeks, thwarted our progress, and buffeted and tossed us as we passed over the latitudes, and within sight of the lofty mountains of Madagascar ; we were, therefore, inclined to welcome any port, and embrace the most desolate shore with gladness : yet my heart recoiled from the aspect of St. Helena, as a most inhospitable and forbidding island. Viewed from the sea, along its whole circumference (twenty-eight miles) it exhibits only an immense wall of perpendicular rock, varying from six to twelve hundred feet in height. It stands alone in the ocean, twelve hun- dred miles from any land, and seems to have been cast up by some submarine convulsion as the furnace lava of a great volcanic combustion. Most bleak and dreary is its general appearance. It carried to my mind a stunning and appalling effect. It seemed not a habitable portion of the world’s do- minion, but the cineritious incrustation ; the singed and barren surface of some spot on earth whose end bad been to be burned, and which having TRAVELLING REMINISCENCES. 379 borne briars and thorns, was rejected, and was nigh unto cursing. I could not restrain my thoughts from conjectures as to the influence its appearance would have on the mind of Buonaparte, when he first looked upon its rocky casement as the wall which should enclose his wanderings, and secure the world against his future ambition. I asked, ‘ Was nature commissioned to bring from her deepest recesses this basaltic creation, to be a prison-house for him who had made kings tremble, and then cast them down ; who had played with crowns and sceptres, and then placed them on the heads and in the hands of his minions or flattering parasites ; who had divided empires or joined kingdoms toge- ther, as whim and caprice inspired him, and had shaken the institutions of antiquity, convulsed the orders of society, and set at defiance the opinions and the arms of the world ?’ The contrast with all this was the position of the captive who trod the decks of the Bellerophon, and was now constrained to stretch out his hands that others might guard him and carry him whither he would not. There are only four small openings in the rock, which, as a natural bulwark, surrounds the island ; and through these openings the scene is pleasingly changed and diversified. Verdant and beautiful patches of ground intermingle with the rocks ; while on the summit, a plain, 1,500 acres in extent, spreads out the lap of fertility covered with vege- tation, and capable of every species of culture. The loftiest eminence, called Diana’s Peak, and 380 CONTINENTAL INDIA. rising to the height of 2,700 feet above the level of the sea, is situated in the centre of the island. One of the little straths, down which a silvery streamlet flows, is called James Town : on its beach is a place for ships lying-to, and whence passengers may land with safety. To this place we passed, after the interchange of successive sig- nals between the ship and the shore, and while we were under a battery of cannon which could have sunk us in a few minutes. James Town is entered by an arched gateway, and by a handsome parade — where the public offices are kept, and one of the governor’s houses is situated. The principal street contains about thirty houses, well-built, and neat- looking. The English population, besides the soldiers, artillery and infantry, amounted to nearly three hundred. There were several respectable Jews. We staid at the house of one where we were most suitably entertained, but the charges were high. Mr. S had made a fortune of 80,000/., gone to England, where he lost it in speculations, and returned to his former employ- ment of hotel-keeper. There had been slaves ; some of them introduced as convicts, even from islands in the Indian Ocean ; and others as cap- tives from the African continent. Some were of fair complexion. I conversed with a few of them, and found it was common to let them engage with their several employers, who would pay for then- work; while the slave undertook to bring to his owner a certain sum monthly. If 1 well remember, TRAVELLING REMINISCENCES. 381 their numbers were about fifteen or eighteen hun- dred slaves. It had been resolved by a meeting of the inhabitants, under the auspices of the gover- nor, that all born in and after the year 1823, should be free, and the others should be encou- raged to purchase their freedom. The importance of St. Helena arises from its position as a place of refreshment for vessels re- turning from the East, and from its connexion with the history of Napoleon Buonaparte, who was confined, died, and is buried here. I Ic arrived on the 17th of October, 1815, and died on the 5th of May, 1821. He first resided in one of the houses which Mr. S kept for voyagers, and then removed to the farm-house, where he died. I walked to see the places consecrated to history by his sojourn, his death-bed scenes, and the repose of his dust. The ravines and broken interstices on the surface of the island, with the elevated hills and green patches which nature had produced, or art had prepared, rendered the walk not unpleasant, and gave variety to the scene. The room in which the downcast emperor lay a-dying was narrow, and must have been close and heated — a sad and touching contrast to the salons and suites of cham- bers at the Tuileries, or at Fontainbleau ; I think it was scarcely more than twelve by fifteen feet. What a humbling lesson on the moral of martial or political greatness ! The pride of this man would not stoop to accept other apartments, while his haughty and domineering conquerors would not 382 CONTINENTAL INDIA. suffer him to indulge certain frivolous partialities ; and thus their splenetic strife wrestled for a victory on the threshold of the grave. The w r alk to his tomb is chequered with many melancholy asso- ciations. Even there, in the dust of the narrow house, w r e see the contention of ascendant power and irritated ambition. No name is recorded upon the stone which covers the emperor’s bones. The English authorities would not designate him by titles with which they had contracted treaties and formed a short-lived peace. How sordid such paltry hostility ! The tomb looks greater, nameless though it be, than if the most gorgeous mausoleum had been reared, and inscriptions of high enco- mium had been lavished upon the fallen monarch. The silent and footless scene is full of meaning — the brook, or rather spring, murmuring and re- freshing, from which he was wont to drink, carries a memorial in its ceaseless flow of the low-laid soldier; will his name he as long remembered as its refreshing current shall continue to irrigate the little vale ? The weeping willow, which droops over this grave — will its root still vegetate to pro- vide a shadow for his dust and a shelter for the pilgrim, who, to many generations, will tread this mysterious spot, and inquire for the relics of the mighty dead ? Are its drooping branches an abiding emblem of French sorrows, Gallican sym- pathies, and republican disappointments ? The book which records the names of visiters from every region of the earth — which contains the hitter TRAVELLING REMINISCENCES. 383 denunciations of Ins admirers against the authors of his calamity; and the moral reflections, the poetic eulogies, and superstitious prayers of the various parties of discordant sentiments and hostile politics, who have been drawn to his tomb, is hut an epitome, a microscopic view, of what separate biographers and national historians shall have written concerning the emperor of France. BI8H0F*9 COU.IOB CAXOUTTA EDUCATION AND THE ENGLISH. A people cannot be enlightened unless they have been generally educated : though they may be partially educated and yet not enlightened. The knowledge of letters and the knowledge of things do not always go hand in hand. Words serve to express principles ; but the literary symbols may be possessed without the discrimination of mental phenomena; so that the school and the alphabet may not always indicate the presence of learning EDUCATION AND THE ENGLISH. 385 and intelligence. Erudition also, and metaphysical acumen, with the most abstruse speculation, have been attained, when a sound philosophy, a pure and righteous code of ethics, and an equitable and liberal political economy have been resisted or set aside. Scholars, poets, and priests, have not always been the friends and advocates of justice, truth, and liberty. The academic hall, the groves of Parnassus, and the consecrated cloisters, have often been the nurseries or the hiding-places of arbi- trary power, of erroneous doctrine, and spiritual despotism. That a “ little knowledge is a danger- ous thing” has been chanted till the distich has passed for a proverb, though the most learned men have often become the greatest heresiarchs, and those who professed themselves wise have turned out the most palpable fools. A superficial know- ledge of language or of books is, therefore, not sufficient for the cultivation of the mind, and a learned and recondite literature may be possessed by a few without producing any moral elevation in themselves or of the general community. The ap- plication of these remarks to India, and their justice in reference to its people, will presently appear. The Hindoos are not literally an uneducated people. The village school is found in the most rural districts, and the sacred college is connected with almost every celebrated temple of brahminical idolatry. Endowments for educational institutions have not been confined to pagodas, or destined only for the preparation of their priesthood ; neither VOL. it. c c 386 CONTINENTAL INDIA. are they only to be traced to the enlarged liberality which enlightened intercourse with English scholars might inspire, or to the ambition of only wealthy and pretended patrons of literature. From time immemorial lands have been assigned by municipal authorities as the schoolmaster’s portion, or for the maintenance of the poor scholar; while in more recent times estates of great extent and value have been set apart, by private bequest or generous donation, to provide instruction in sciences, the languages of antiquity, or in general philology. In the presidency of Madras, a statistical “ return to government in 1826” specifies schools, in number 11,758, colleges 740, and the attendance of Hindoo scholars at the former 146,011, of whom 3,313 are females, and at the latter 3,805 ; besides 13,561 Mussulman children, and 26,963 who receive pri- vate tuition at home ; so that the proportion of the population in the Madras presidency is repre- sented as one scholar to every five persons. These schools are for the most part supported by the people whose children are sent for education. The rate of payment varies in different districts, or according to the circumstances of the parents ; the lowest being charged 1 \d. per month, and the highest 8s . ; while the average fee among the poorer classes is 9d. monthly. In some of the provinces the endowments have been alienated, as charter or foundation schools in England have been ; but a few remain administered in accordance to the devises of their patrons. In Tanjore 77 colleges EDUCATION AND THE ENGLISH. 387 and 41 schools are supported by the rajah ; in Salem 20 teachers of theology and one Mussulman school are yet maintained ; so also are 28 colleges and six Persian schools in Arcot. At Rajamundry 69 teachers of the sciences are endowed with land, and 13 receive allowances in money. At Trichi- nopoly seven schools, and one college in Malabar, continue to be upheld ; while at Nellore several Brahmins and Mussulmans receive each 1,467 rupees ( 1 46/. 145.) per annum, for teaching the Vedas and the Arabic and Persian languages. The returns from various districts in Bombay present farther illustration of the Hindoo and Mo- hammedan provision, and desire for, and mode of conducting popular education. Ahmedabad, Surat, Kaira, the Concans, Baroach, and Kandiesh, have respectively reported 84, — 219, — 141, — 92, — 154, and 189 schools; total 879 schools, with an aggre- gate attendance of between 20 and 30,000 scholars. These are of native origin, and appear under native control. They are located, some in cities, some in townships, and others in villages ; they are held, some in private dwellings, and others in temples ; most of them give only the rudiments of reading, writing, and arithmetic, being only elementary ; while a few are reckoned superior for educating Moollas and Pundits. The manner of remune- rating the teacher varies, as well as the amount, in the several districts. The more general practice in Ahmedabad is for each boy to present daily about a handful of flour ; three shillings are paid c c 2 388 CONTINENTAL INDIA. when the boy has become perfect in his first fifteen lessons ; when an accurate knowledge of the alpha- bet is acquired, a similar sum ; again when he is able to write ; so also when able to cast up accounts ; and when he can draw out bills of exchange ; and, finally, when he is about to leave school, a sum from two to ten shillings is usually paid. The office of schoolmaster is in this province generally hereditary. In Surat the source of emolument is in flour, cash, and service-lands ; each master receives in the city about 60 rupees (6/.) annually, in grain and money, for fifty boys. In Kaira boys of respectable families give half a rupee, or one shilling, on first entering the school, and send their teacher on days of ceremony a meal of grain and ghee, or butter ; they also sometimes beg for him from respectable visiters. When they quit the school in the evening, they present a handful, or the quarter of a pound, of grain to the master ; and when they finally retire from his instructions, they make him a present of from five to ten shil- lings. His income may thus sometimes reach 10/. annually. Very inadequate payments in money and grain are made by the children in the Con- cans ; the teachers have generally not more than from ten to twelve shillings monthly. In Baroach the allowances vary from 3/. to 11 . annually, the remuneration being rendered by the parents in regular money payments, in a daily portion of grain, and in gifts, according to the progress of the scholar. The schoolmaster’s salary in Kandiesh EDUCATION AND THE ENGLISH. 3S9 is all derived from the scholars, and does not average more, it is supposed, than 4/. annually. Mr. Montgomery Martin exultingly exclaims, “ Let us no more hear about the schoolmaster being cribbed, cabined, and confined in the East India Company’s territory.” We might say, after the Bombay specimen, that the crib is indeed but scantily supplied ; and if he be not “ cabined and confined,” it may be because feeling no peculiar attractions in his employer’s crib, the schoolmaster has gone abroad to seek for more abundant and hospitable fare. Truly there is little need to muzzle his mouth during his daily toil in these western provinces. Yet it is but proper to observe that 10/. per annum are deemed rather a comfort- able supply for a Hindoo in the British canton- ments. It is not improbable, moreover, that many of the teachers are provided with the village endow- ment ; which they may cultivate during intervening hours, or holiday seasons. While, since the returns to which we have referred were made to inquiries of government, the more knowing ones may have had an eye to farther grants from government, and a hope that poverty would plead more eloquently than efficiency. We should be disposed to doubt the ability or faithfulness, the qualifications and zeal, of a teacher whose labours went unrewarded, and whose pupils did not soon perceive the pro- priety of honouring one who had communicated the richest benefits connected with social intercourse. The laws of the Hindoos give the highest place to 390 CONTINENTAL INDIA. the teacher, and lay the scholar under obligations of servility and contribution, which would not suffer the master to lack whatever is good. “ As he who digs deep with a spade comes to a spring of water, so the student, who humbly serves his teacher, attains the knowledge which lies deep in his teacher’s mind.” “ Let him carry water-pots, flowers, cowdung, fresh earth, and cuscus grass, as much as may be useful to his preceptor.” “ In the presence of his teacher, let him always eat less, and wear a coarse mantle with w r orse appendages ; let him rise before, and go to rest after, his tutor. Let him not answer his teacher’s orders, or converse with him reclining, nor sitting, nor eating, nor standing, nor with an averted face ; but let him both answer and converse, if his preceptor sit, standing up ; if he stand, advancing toward him ; if he advance, meeting him ; if he run, hastening after him ; if his face be averted, going round to front him, from left to right : if he be at a little distance, approaching him ; if reclined, bending to him ; and if he stand ever so far off, running toward him,” & c. &c. &c. To form and distinguish the letters of the alpha- bet, drawing them with the finger or a stick in the sand, are the initiatory steps towards reading and writing ; this we believe is a pretty general attain- ment among Hindoos. To their religious doctrines some of the brahmins have added very crude speculations concerning the intellectual and moral worlds ; these they denominate philosophy. With EDUCATION AND TIIE ENGL ISII. 391 the middle classes, shopkeepers, tradesmen, and artificers, education ends at ten years of age ; when reading, writing on the palm leaf, and the simplest rules of arithmetic, may have been acquired. The Frenchman Anquetil Duperron describes with great naivete , and most correctly, a school scene in a Mahratta village. “ The scholars, in two rows, sitting upon their heels, traced with their fingers the letters or words upon a black board, covered with white sand ; others repeated the names of the letters in the form of words. For the Indians, instead of saying, as we do, a — b — c, pronounce the symbols thus : — a zoama ; b anama; k anama, fyc. The master seemed to pay but little attention to the recitation of his class ; but preferred to strike the backs of the poor children with a long rod. In Asia that is the place which smarts : and passion is, un- happily, too common in these countries : study is that which, of a surety, their masters sacrifice to vengeance.” Mr. Mill justly remarks, “ If the Hindoo institu- tions of education were of a much more perfect kind than they appear to have ever been, they would afford a very inadequate foundation for the inference of a high state of civilization. The truth is, that institutions for education, more elaborate than those of the Hindoos, are found in the infancy of civilization.” With these observations we may, nevertheless, contrast the testimony of a Hindoo writer, the Seer Matakhareen. “ There were in those times at Azimabad numbers of persons 392 CONTINENTAL INDIA. who loved science and learning, and employed themselves in teaching and being taught ; and I remember,” he says, “ to have seen, in that city and its environs alone, nine or ten professors of repute, and three or four hundred students and disciples ; from whence may be conjectured the numbers of those that must have been in great towns and in the retired districts.” These were Mussulmans, whose study was the koran and its commentaries — the Mohammedan religion and Mohammedan law. But what are they, or what is the Sanscrit with its Vedas, its poetry, fabulous or traditionary, its stories of Hindoo gods, or legends of their kings, as moral and intellectual means in the operations necessary for elevating and enlarging the mind of a people ? The average number of students attend- ing the superior schools, denominated colleges, in the Madras presidency, is six to each ; and the propor- tion of those who make proficiency in Sanscrit studies may be conjectured, from the fact, that ten or twelve years are required to become fluent readers and competent grammarians. But the truth is, most of these colleges are only pagoda-schools, where young brahmins are trained to become func- tionaries in their worship. A smattering of Sanscrit will suffice, if they acquire a facility in the details of their idolatrous ceremonies. This is a study in which the greater their progress, so much the more are they depraved, the greater is the perversion of their mental powers, and the more are they alien- ated in their affections from truth and virtue. The EDUCATION AND THE ENGLISH. 398 amours of their gods which they celebrate ; the courtezan prostitution which they witness, the de- ception which they see practised upon a blind and deluded multitude, and the ridiculous mummery performed as worship, must prove rank and luxu- riant weeds and nettles, briers and thorns, to choke any seed or principle of truth, which may be found in Sanscrit writing. But in reality, what do we find is the effect which native literature has produced ? Has it inspired a love of liberty, of truth, or of justice? Has it strengthened their intellectual powers ; or nourished the fruits of righteousness, of benevolence, and peace ? Is their social system, — walled and barred by the divisions of caste : — or is their domestic intercourse, — where woman is only a menial, a slave, and a victim of passion, the indi- genous growth of their literary culture, — a demon- stration of wisdom, or an evidence of the beneficial tendency and the enlightening influence of their educational institutions? A shrewd observer and competent witness. Dr. Buchanan, affirms, in the 166th page of the sixth volume of Asiatic Researches, that “ no useful science have the brahmins diffused among their followers : history they have abolished ; morality they have depressed to the utmost ; and the dignity and power of the altar they have erected on the ruins of the state and the rights of the subject.” So far, however, as I have discovered, the Hin- doos have manifested no indifference to the advan- tages of education : they have evinced the strongest desire to attain, and a zeal in the pursuit which 394 CONTINENTAL INDIA. indicated a deep sense of the value of instruction. The educational philanthropist is not required, even in rural districts, to use stimulants to excite attention, or to beat up for scholars that his school may be filled: while Hindoo youth show more than an equal aptness in receiving instruction with the youth of other nations. I think they may be said to possess a peculiar facility in acquiring the learning to which they have access. Noy do I imagine, that there is so great a want, in the remote districts, or among the unassisted native communities, of scholastic institutions, as there is of a good system of education, the elements of correct learning and the means of useful informa- tion. There are districts of which I cannot speak so favourably : — the Ghoonds, the Koolies, the Beeloochees, and the Muggs, will appear excep- tions, with many others among one hundred mil- lions of idolaters or followers of Mohammed. But there is verge and room enough for the corps scholastique, in which to display their enterprise, their love of letters, and their ability to “ rear the tender thought, and teach the young idea how to shoot to become the benefactors of unnumbered millions of mankind. The English authorities ruling over India might have been expected to be more engrossed in the acquisition and consolidation of conquest, or in their pursuits as merchant adventurers, during the earlier stages of their power, than in inquiries about education, or efforts to promote it. Yet men there EDUCATION AND THE ENGLISH. 395 were whose tastes and acquirements prepared them to enter cordially into such associations, as had for their object the development of oriental literature. Halhed and Colebrook, Sir William Jones and Sir James Mackintosh, Sir John Malcolm and Mr. Erskine, Richardson and Wilkins, Wilson and Shakspeare, Wilford and Gilchrist, Vans Kennedy and Trevellyan, with many others, have filled up the succession of oriental scholars, or acted as patrons of literary institutions. To many of them the Asiatic Societies and the Royal Society have been indebted for the accumulated stores of varied learning deposited in their archives, or published in their journals and researches ; while a stimulus was given by them to other, less known but not less indefatigable labourers, in the same work. In 1801, the government required returns from their servants respecting the morals of the people and the state of education ; though I do not find that any general measures were adopted till after the year 1813, when parliament included it as a term of the renewed charter, that 10,000/. per annum should be devoted to Hindoo education. Isolated acts of government had, however, preceded this measure. In the year 1781, Warren Hastings, as governor of Bengal, founded the Madressa, a Moslem college at Calcutta. Buildings were erected for its use at an expense of nearly 6,000/., which, at first, he disbursed from his own resources, and afterward obtained leave to repay in full from the govern- 396 CONTINENTAL INDIA. ment treasury. 3,000/. annually, from lands, were applied for its maintenance. Persian and Arabic were the languages studied; Mohammedan law was taught the students to qualify them as officers in the courts of justice. The branches of instruc- tion taught, were subsequently classified ; grammar, rhetoric, oratory, logic, arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, natural philosophy, law, and the theology of the koran, were prescribed as branches by a government committee. The salaries of the officers varied from 500/. to 36/. : while the stu- dents were allowed, some as much as 20/., and others as little as 8/., annually. From the year 1794 to 1818 inclusive, the gross expenditure was nearly 50,000/. : the total charges for the first buildings, and a re-erection in 1823, 21,628/.; and for support till 1835, from its foundation, 135,220/. Two hundred scholars of the institution were pub- licly examined, on the 15th of August, 1821, in the various branches of science taught in the Ma- drissa. The study of Arabic, Mohammedan law, and mathematics, was then extended, and a medical class instituted. An English class was formed in 1828, when skeletons, anatomical models, and surgical works were provided. Examinations were now held in arithmetic, algebra, and Euclid ; in phi- losophy and medicine; in Arabic, logic, and rhetoric. All applications for law-officers under the Bengal government were to be accompanied by certificates from the college ; and a preference given to those who had acquired the English language, and pro- EDUCATION AND THE ENGLISH. 3.97 cliiccd testimonials of good conduct. The number of students in 1830 was ninety-nine. Perhaps this smaller number was better instructed ; at least, a greater expenditure was incurred for them indi- vidually ; while other institutions had increased and competed with the Madrissa. Jonathan Duncan, Esq., resident at Benares, established in 1791 the Hindoo Sanscrit College , in that ancient capital of brahminism : his avowed object was to employ, beneficially, a surplus, which the revenue yielded above their estimated amount. Beginning with 1,400/. in the first year, it was augmented to 2,000/. in the following years ; and in 1834, its revenue amounted to 2,600/. The receipts of the Benares Sanscrit college till 1834, were 96,000/. The avowed object of this insti- tution was to preserve and cultivate the laws, lite- rature, and religion of the Hindoos in their sacred city. The course of studies prescribed for its students, comprehended theology, ritual, medicine including botany, &c., music, prosody, grammar, sacred lexicography, poetry, logic, ethics, philo- sophy, law, history, metaphysics, mathematics, and mechanic arts. Besides the scholars on the foun- dation, and a certain number of poor children who were to receive instruction gratis, the institution was open to all who were willing to pay for in- struction : 162 scholars had monthly allowances in 1 834 ; besides thirteen pundits or professors, and a librarian, with a European superintendent and secretary. In 1824, the number of scholars had 398 CONTINENTAL INDIA. been 271. The rajah of Benares, and other natives of rank, have from time to time made donations to the support of this college. Fort William college was begun in 1800, with the pri- mary design of qualifying the Company’s European servants to fulfil their duties among the people effectually. The knowledge required from them of the native tongues, as taught in this institution, gave a stimulus to native studies, and set a value upon oriental learning. It provided an extensive establishment of learned natives, attached to the college ; some of whom were employed in teaching the students, others in making translations, and others in composing original works in the oriental languages. Dr. Claudius Buchanan asserted, that “ Lord Wellesley founded the college of Fort William to enlighten the oriental world; to give science, religion, and pure morals to Asia ; and to confirm in it the British power and dominion.” Dr. B. himself says, “ In its dignity and extent, I perceived a radical revolution in the European character, the future civilization of India, and the foundation of an ecclesiastical establishment.” Popular education was, however, overlooked ; and no means were employed to improve the sub- jects and system of instruction pursued by native teachers, either by the literary servants of the Company or any of the supreme rulers in India, till another class of men engaged in the benevolent undertaking. Christian missionaries first gave an impetus to the zeal of all parties in the popular EDUCATION AND THE ENGLISH. 399 education of India. Their enthusiasm did not at first, perhaps, possess the discrimination which such a work required ; but they meant well, and their energies w r ere directed to the right point. In this enterprise, much chagrin and disappointment were at the commencement experienced. At the three presidencies, schools under missionary superintendence, for the orphan or neglected children of European descent, or of Christian pro- fession, met with a ready patronage and cordial support from official and mercantile gentlemen ; but the efforts of the same men among the native population were often regarded as Utopian, or even dangerous. Till 1813, the government did not sanction the residence of Protestant missionaries from Britain within the Company’s territory. The devoted men who first advanced on the field of Christian missions, sought refuge within the posses- sions of the Dutch or Danish governments. At Serampore, and in Chinsurah, near Calcutta, some of the first educational institutions for Hindoos were established. A great moral victory was however gained by the friends of education and Christianity, in the controversy which was excited prior to the renewal of the East India Company’s Charter in 1813. Truth prevailed; enlightened and liberal considerations triumphed ; and not only was liberty afforded to Christian teachers of every name to go forth and seek the elevation and con- version of the Hindoos, by schools and preaching, but the Company’s government was enjoined to 400 CONTINENTAL INDIA. devote 10,000/. per annum to the purposes of education. The sinister and hostile predictions of a "Scott Waring,” a "Twining,” and others, were over-ruled, and have not been verified. The several missions in India, under the auspices of English, Scotch, and American societies. Baptist, Congre- gational, Episcopalian, Methodist, and Presbyte- rian, severally in their order of time, entered upon this sphere of philanthropy with earnestness and vigour, with diligence and emulation. But they encountered great difficulties from the want of proper persons to act as schoolmasters. They employed native teachers, whom they paid and superintended; whose plans they modified, for whose books they substituted portions of the Sacred Volume, and whose conduct before the children they strove to regulate by salutary counsels and moral restraint. The knowledge of native-trained teachers was extremely limited ; many errors mingled in their opinions ; they were rarely influ- enced by good principle ; all their prejudices and predilections were in favour of idolatry, and of a literature based upon, polluted, cramped, and distorted by a polytheistic theology ; while the system of their teaching was characterised by no enlarged or philosophic view of the human mind. So far as they had any object, it was to obtain their salary with the least possible trouble, and to counteract any apparent religious design of their patrons. They required the vigilance of an Argus, and the powers of ubiquity in their inspectors. EDUCATION AND THE ENGLISH. 101 Their muster-roll was no index of the state of their school, and the catalogue of their school-books and requisites was no guarantee for the extent and cha- racter of the daily lessons. The greatest destitution, moreover, prevailed of elementary works fit for the youthful native mind, or calculated to impart profit- able instruction. It could not reasonably be expected that missionaries, only a few years in the country, should be able to compose with idiomatic fluency and precision, works suited for Hindoo youths ; few, if any, of the native literati were qualified by knowledge, principle, or inclination for such a task ; and none of the Company’s linguists rendered assistance for many years. At various missionary stations, however, not only did qualified persons begin to rise up; but perhaps a more rational and palpable mode gradually developed itself in the preference given by many intelligent natives for English education. These means appear to the considerate mind so plausible, and to the experi- mentalist so practicable, that some self-denying men might fear it as a snare to their idleness, or shun it as an occasion for calumnious imputations among men who would not give credit to their motives. At every station which I visited, the English language was pursued by Hindoos of all castes with the utmost avidity ; for this purpose the brahmin did not refuse to read the New Testa- ment, or commit portions of its sacred record to memory. Parental prejudice, and priestly intol- erance, could not quench the thirst for this know- VOL. II. D D 402 CONTINENTAL INDIA. ledge. But not a few of the missionaries at first perceived not their own vantage ground ; and be- cause they thought many of the boys attended sucli schools, “merely desirous of learning English that they might obtain situations in public offices,” they rather discountenanced native schools, in which that language was chiefly taught. The effect of this universal attention to native education by missionaries, on the minds of the secular authorities in India, though not acknow- ledged in words, or perhaps appreciated by the parties themselves, was seen in the measures of government. In the year 1816, the missionaries of Serampore opened boys’ schools for Hindoos, and devoted 300/. to their support as a commence- ment. Two years afterward, the Marquis of Hastings employed one of their number, as an agent of government, gradually to introduce schools in the country of the Rajpoots ; and when 1,200/. had been expended for this purpose in 1820, he took the whole expense of these schools on govern- ment ; which continued at the rate of nearly 400/. annually. At Chinsurah, an extensive system of educational operations was commenced by Mr. May, a missionary, in which he received liberal counte- nance from the local Dutch authorities ; that pos- session was transferred under British rule, and these schools were provided with funds from govern- ment to the amount of 720/. per annum. The Bengal government continued likewise to support elementary schools at Allahabad, Cawnpore, Saugor, EDUCATION AND THE ENGLISH. 403 and Bhagulpore : to which more than one thou- sand pounds were annually applied. In 1821, a Sanscrit college was planned for Calcutta; in 1824, a college was founded at Delhi, for Arabic, Persian, and Sanscrit ; about the same time, another college was instituted at Agra for Sanscrit, Persian, Arabic, and Hindee ; and more recently a Moham- medan college has been established at Hooghly, under the superintendence of a government com- mittee. The Hindoo Sanscrit college at Calcutta was designed in lieu of institutions projected for two other districts : since the presidency was more accessible to all parts, and gave facility for European superintendence, 12,000/. were appropriated to the erection of the buildings, and 3,000/. are yearly applied for its support. It contains ten pundits, or professors of grammar, rhetoric, logic, literature, algebra, law, medicine, and theology, with two libra- rians. Thirty students have had a salary of about 10/., and seventy about 51. annually. In Delhi, the government ascertained that the ancient endow- ments for schools were in a state of ruin and neglect ; that the circumstances of even the respect- able classes did not admit the expense of educating their children; while many old colleges existed which might be rendered available for that purpose, and some persons were able to give instruction ; therefore, it was resolved to establish the Delhi college out of funds partly derived from govern- ment, partly from an existing endowment, and partly from a fund levied in the city. The income d d 2 404 CONTINENTAL INDIA. made sure to it, in recent returns, was 1,680/. per annum. It employed four Arabic instructors, five Persian, and one Sanscrit, and educated three hundred students, who received a monthly allow- ance : the attendance of scholars fluctuated accord- ing as their stipendiary grants were increased or diminished. Certain lands had been constituted an endowment applicable to the maintenance of schools and seminaries of learning at Agra. The annual rental yielded, was nearly 1,600/. ; and till 1822, this revenue had been allowed to accumulate, when it amounted to 15,000/. ; the interest of which, with the rent, gave 2,000/. yearly. The committee to whom this statement was submitted, recommended that this institution should be con- ducted on a more liberal footing than the existing government seminaries ; that besides the languages, whatever was most useful in native literature should be taught, freed as much as possible from its lumber, and not confined to studies connected only with peculiar classes. The introduction of European science, and the English language, was not recommended : but Hindoo and Mohammedan law, government regulations, and arithmetic were added. 4,250/. were expended in building apart- ments, and 1,600/. yearly were spent in its support; seven principal teachers and five assistants were employed for Arabic, Persian, Sanscrit, and arith- metic; and seventy-three stipendiary students; besides about one hundred and thirty who received no allowance. The Ilooghly college has been EDUCATION AND THE ENGLISH. 405 founded in the bequest of a Mohammedan, who lived in that town. The principal had accumulated in 1831, to the sum of 74,700/.; and the interest, 3,735/., is to be annually devoted to the main- tenance of a Mohammedan college. All these matters were subject to the superintendence of a “ General Committee of Public Instruction” at Calcutta, formed by the Bengal government for promoting education and improvement of the morals of the natives of India. At their disposal, the 10,000/. annually appropriated by government, were placed. The opinions of the men who at first composed the committee deserve notice. It was natural that when government regula- tions, affecting the education of the people, were to be adopted, the most experienced and literary of their servants should be chosen to superintend the proceedings. Men learned in the native lan- guages, who had spent many years in the pursuit of such knowledge, and who had thereby acquired their importance and official distinction, were likely to value oriental rather than European studies, as suited to the people. Such persons have become fixed in their habits, and obsolete in their ideas. There is a sort of aristocracy in their literature ; a “ privileged class who are by birthright” or patron- age “ teachers and expounders of literature, reli- gion, and law.” It is therefore with them “ a case of necessity, and almost all that a government could give, or the people accept through such a channel,” when “ a seminary is instituted for the 406 CONTINENTAL INDIA. higher classes/’ in which oriental literature, Mo- hammedan and Hindoo, shall be taught. " The most influential class,” with these old Indians, are synonymous with, or rather superior to " the most enlightened of the Hindoo population every other interest must be put in abeyance, must be made to defer to what would be reckoned “ an acceptable boon by the learned and brahminical caste” And since the only way to propitiate them is to place within their reach "the cultivation of Sanscrit,” " tuition in European science must be held neither amongst the sensible wants of the people, nor in the power of the government to bestow ! ” There is, as these obsolete linguists anticipate, " a preju- dice against European learning” among their con- temporaneous pundits, which is "not very near extinction ;” any attempt, therefore, to present the produce of western intellect, so as " to enforce an acknowledgment of its superiority, could only create dissatisfaction.” And because they had supposed, or perhaps heard rumours of this learned brah- minical hostility, they concluded that " the actual state of public feeling remained an impediment to any general introduction of western literature and science.” " The Committee has therefore con- tinued (till 1835) to encourage the acquirements of the native literature of both Mohammedans and Hindoos in the Institutions,” the Madressa, and the Sanscrit College of Benares, " which they found established for these purposes. They have also endeavoured to promote the activity of similar EDUCATION AND THE ENGLISH. 407 establishments, of which local considerations dic- tated the formation, as the Sanscrit college of Calcutta and the colleges of Agra and Delhi,” &c. The duties assigned to, or assumed by, this com- mittee, were sufficient to clothe them with the most despotic control : they superintended the various native colleges and seminaries established, sup- ported, or assisted by the government of Bengal ; and received the reports of their periodical exa- minations, directing the course of study pursued at each ; they received and audited their monthly bills in most cases, and paid their several appro- priations to them ; they received from government the sums payable to the various colleges and the general education fund, and disposed of surplus funds in account with the government agents, or in particular securities : to them w r ere sent, and they decided upon, proposals for composing, trans- lating, editing, and passing through the press, ■works likely to be useful to the colleges ; and they procured and furnished such books as were re- quired. This committee is still the channel of all correspondence with government on the subject of native education ; and furnishes an annual report of the proceedings of the different colleges, drawn from the reported examinations ; as well as accounts of the printing and distribution of books, and the state of the funds. But it is now constituted of other elements. A contrast with these views and proceedings is presented in the origin and prosperity of the Vidy- 408 CONTINENTAL INDIA. alaya or Anglo-Indian college. This institution owes its foundation to the intelligence and public spirit of a few opulent native gentlemen, with the coope- ration of certain English friends of western literature, who associated together in 1816, and subscribed a capital of 11,317/. to establish a seminary for the instruction of the sons of Hindoos in the European and Asiatic languages and sciences. It did not originate with government, or its committee. But through unpropitious circumstances it sunk into comparative inefficiency ; its funds diminished, and its more sanguine friends apprehended premature decay. The native managers were inspired with confidence by the appointment of the committee of which we have spoken, who had been called into operation under the authority of a despatch from the Corn’t of Directors, to attempt to introduce “im- proved methods and objects of study.” Assistance was granted, on condition that the secretary to the “ Public Instruction Committee” should be ap- pointed visitor of the college, to the amount of 360/. per annum — enough for house-rent — out of the Education Fund. Henceforward, the Institu- tion sustained a direct dependence on government, and is commonly known as the Hindoo College. On it now nearly 3,000/. are yearly expended in teaching English literature and science, apart from religion, through the medium of the English lan- guage. In order to secure the continued attend- ance of the more promising pupils, government endowed a limited number of scholarships. This EDUCATION AND THE ENGLISH. 409 is an expedient which succeeding years proved quite unnecessary : a growing popularity attends its progressive operations ; a select library of hooks and some additional philosophical apparatus were sent from England ; and it is still reckoned de- cidedly superior to every other institution. Its success appears to have shaken the constancy of some of the old Indians who idolized the Sanscrit: they say, so long as such a number, all respectably connected, “ can be trained in useful knowledge and the English language, a great improvement may be confidently anticipated in the intellectual character of the principal inhabitants of Calcutta.” They appear, moreover, to have felt the “ want of adequate instruction in the higher branches ; the present preceptors (at the time they reported) not being equal to conduct young men far beyond elementary knowledge they even acknowledge the defectiveness of the means for raising “ the standard of native instruction, and imparting a knowledge of European science and literature ; and the difficulty of attempting to do so by trans- lations into the native languages. They therefore proposed that a “ distinct English college should be established, with the sanction of government, for the admission of a certain number of the more advanced pupils from the Hindoo and Mohammedan colleges, for gratuitous instruction in literature and science by means of the English language.” In the Hindoo college the number of scholars rose from 196, in January 1826, to 372 in the following 410 CONTINENTAL INDIA. year, and 437 in 1828 — of whom 100 received gratuitous education. Every succeeding year they have continued to increase. This “ Instruction Committee” began to attach an English class to the older and oriental colleges. To the Madressa, a head-master, at a salary of 240/., and his assist- ant, 1 20/. ; to the Calcutta Sanscrit College, a head-master, 240/., assistant, 70/. ; to the Benares Sanscrit College, two masters, 200/. ; to the Agra College, a head-master, 120/., and a writer, 50/. ; and to the Delhi College, a head-teacher, 240/., an assistant, 170/.; monitors and native assistants, 60/. Such were the arrangements made prior to the movement which more recently took place under the auspices of Lord William Bentinck, to which I shall hereafter refer. I have carried forward this rapid summary with- out turning aside to contemplate other proceedings of a not less important character, that I might not interrupt the continuous survey which it was ex- pedient to exhibit. There were elements in operation in other quarters, which it would scarcely be presumptuous to conjecture, had an influence on the opinions or reasonings of men in office and power. During the period over which we have glanced, some missionary institutions were assuming a form, and acquiring a consolidation, which promised permanency, and extended useful- ness. The first of these was the Anglo-Chinese College, at Malacca, founded by the generous liberality of Dr. Morrison, the first stone of which EDUCATION AND THE ENGLISH. 411 was laid on the 1 Oth November, 1818. Morrison and Milne were colleagues in this work: the money, influence, and general design owed to the former their parentage ; but the development of principle and the detail of the operation came from Dr. Milne. One of their principal designs in this catholic enterprise was to open the literature of the western world to the pupils in the Malacca College. The English language was to be taught to every student, and thus an entrance was to be administered into the consecrated stores of Anglican Christian theo- logy; whilst British and European sciences were to shed their genial rays upon all who sought to know these sources of wisdom and truth. The prospectus of this institution was early and widely circulated among the literati and functionaries of Bengal. The Serampore College was first suggested in the year 1818, but the building was not begun till 1820. The bias of the venerable and indefatigable founders of this institution was towards oriental literature. I do not see any prominence given to European science, or to the English language, as a medium of instruction, or as a means of general information, in their plan ; though it is well known they had a class for English in the college. They proposed to give a superior education to the chil- dren of Christian natives, in the doctrines and precepts of the sacred Scriptures ; in Indian gram- mar ; in the Sanscrit, as the source of all the philological knowledge possessed by the Hindoos ; in chronology, general history, astronomy, geo- 412 CONTINENTAL INDIA. graphy, and chemistry. They specially desired to provide a body of native Christian labourers, who, ex- celling in a correct grammatical knowledge of their own tongue, should possess a connected knowledge of the system of divine truth. They hoped that in a few years a body of learned native Christians would be formed of the highest class, as judicious lin- guists, in the original tongues, as well as their own, for completing or improving translations of the Scriptures. They cherished the prospect that hereby natives of weight would be induced to assist the diffusion of Christianity by their influence and support, by being allowed to enjoy the advan- tages of Serampore College. The professors of the college, it was expected, would naturally sym- pathize with the students whom they had trained. I would not misrepresent the designs of these eminent and devoted men; but I think they had a greater partiality for Sanscrit than for English literature, and I imagine it would not be difficult to account for this attachment. The Bishop’s Col- lege, Calcutta, is more fitted for ecclesiastical purposes than general literature, and I should conclude is more designed for the reception of students of European extraction than for Hin- doos. Native languages are taught, to qualify the missionary for his office, rather than as the lan- guage in which he is to receive instruction. On the hank of the river Hooghly, three miles below Calcutta, the foundation stone was laid on the 15th of December, 1820. Bishop Middleton was EDUCATION AND THE ENGLISH. 413 the projector and founder, but 5,000/. each were contributed by the four societies — the * Propaga- tion of the Gospel,’ the * Christian Knowledge,’ the ‘ Church Missionary,’ and the ‘ British and Foreign Bible Society.’ A “ King’s Letter” solicited a collec- tion in all the churches of England and Wales, and 45,000/. more were gathered. The three Church Missionary Societies have besides appropriated, one, 6,000/., another, 1,000/. for several years, and the third, 1,000/. annually, for the regular main- tenance of the students. It is placed under the immediate direction of “ The Society for the Propa- gation of the Gospel;” but the statutes are so framed as to afford opportunity both to the govern- ment in India, and to the religious societies con- nected with the Church of England, of obtaining, under certain regulations, the benefits of the col- lege for such students as they may place there. It has a college-council, composed of the three pro- fessors, one of whom is principal ; the bishop of Calcutta is visitor. Four missionaries are attached to it, besides teachers of the native language. The American missionaries arrived in Ceylon during the year 1816, and obtained pel-mission to locate themselves in the district of Jaffna. They early devoted themselves to educational labours, and printed, in 1823, the prospectus of a college. Their operations had led the way to such a plan from their boarding-school establishments, which lat- terly assumed the name of the Missionary Seminary. They reasoned thus : — India has been subdued to 414 CONTINENTAL INDIA. a foreign power, principally by native troops ; their indolence and moral weakness having been super- seded by early and exact training: so the extended provinces of Satan’s empire may be made to furnish materials to aid in their own subjugation to Christ ; but for this purpose, and to render them generally efficient, they require mental discipline as well as piety ; a thorough Christian education, both intel- lectual and moral, is necessary, since their own course of instruction forms in them no strength of character. Indeed it is necessary to enlist in the work their energies of body and mind, and their native feelings, so directed ; since foreign labourers are few, and ill able to bear the heat of the cli- mate, have so little knowledge of the customs, religion, and language, or ability to assimilate and sympathize with the habits and predilections of the people. Their principal object was to prepare native preachers, schoolmasters, and other assist- ants in the work of missions, which they appre- hended would otherwise be very slow among the millions of the East. They wished to raise up and employ qualified translators and writers, able to transfer the treasures of European literature and science into the native languages, as well as to enrich them from the stores of Christian devotion in English. True science they accounted an efficient means of exploding false philosophy and supersti- tion : but the whole fabric of idolatry, the absurd systems of Hindoo geography and astronomy, and their stupid fictions in natural science, rest upon EDUCATION AND THE ENGLISH. 415 one foundation, which demonstration and experi- ment could easily overthrow ; the extension of true science would, therefore, undermine the fort- ress of error and delusion, and give scope for erecting the temple of God on its ruins. The American missionaries, with these views, proposed the establishment, on a liberal scale, of a Christian institution, for the instruction of Tamil and other youth in the literature of Ceylon, and also in the English language and the elements of European science, which was to have been called the Jaffna College. They had one hundred lads at five stations of their mission ; many of whom were so advanced in their studies as to require tuition of a higher character, suitable apparatus, and the more special application of a competent teacher. Funds were provided in America; devoted men, though citizens of another nation, were eager to occupy the sphere of usefulness, and become the means of elevating the principles and improving the cha- racter of British subjects, and a field was already white for the harvest. But national jealousy inter- posed ; the local government acted upon the igno- rant prejudices of authorities at home, and checked the expansive benevolence of American Christians. The plan of the college was published, but not permitted to be developed. The school has gra- dually increased, and is denied the more highly sounding title of a college; and the eclat of profes- sorships is withheld from its teachers ; while the fuller and more efficient application of the prin- 416 CONTINENTAL INDIA. ciples and resources which it would have called into action, has been prevented ; but experience in the Mission Seminary has only confirmed the theory propounded for a Jaffna College. I am happy to have learned that Sir R. Wilmot Horton had so clear a discrimination of character and such generosity of disposition, as to appreciate and advocate the merits of these philanthropists. The secretary for the colonies, some fourteen years ago, had enjoined that no future additions should be made to their mission; and, after this injunction was eleven years in force. Sir R. W. Horton obtained its removal. Can we wonder that the government of China and Japan should exclude from their borders Christian missionaries? The printed plan of the college was not without its uses : it was well written and forcibly reasoned, and commended its principles to the judgment of many friends of education in India : seed was sown, by means of its circulation, which ultimately germinated, and grew to fruitful trees. The prin- ciples which they advocated will yet fill the con- tinent of India. In Madras there has always been a greater dis- position in the natives to acquire and use the English language, than I think has existed in Bengal. There has, too, been less pretension in the Madras civilians, or other public men, to oriental learning and deep reading in the dead languages of Asia, than among the literati of the eastern presidency. There has been less manifested of an esprit do corps EDUCATION AND THE ENGLISH. 417 with the Sanscrit brahmins, and less confidence in native languages as depositories of wisdom and truth. Beschi and Fabricius, Du Bois and Rottler, were erudite scholars in the spoken, rather than in the obsolete tongues of India. Sanscrit was not pas- sionately studied at Madras, as far as I knew, among our most distinguished linguists. The natives in all ranks covet^I earnestly a fluency in the English tongue; an(J the value of English, as a medium, was more feadily appreciated in such circum- stances. The origin and apparatus of the college at Cottym, has already been sketched : it takes rank in chronological order prior to the foundation of the Anglo-Chinese College, having been founded in 1815. The first and efficient patron who ex- erted himself to secure its stability and resources, was Colonel Munro, who persuaded a Hindoo princess, the Rannee of Travancore, to grant 2,000/. and a piece of land for its endowment. The institution was intended only to benefit Indo-Syrian youths, candidates for ecclesiastical offices in the provincial church, which had so long existed in Travancore ; we might, therefore, class it only as a secondary seminary. Yet so important was the English language, in Colonel Munro’s opinion, for their progress and improvement in study, that one of the special advantages provided in the Cottym College, was an English teacher ; and it was marked out as a branch of education which aspiring and intelligent youths would appreciate and em- brace. Some circumstances, the development of VOL. II. E E 418 ‘CONTINENTAL INDIA. character or*o&principles, have proved unfavourable to the efficiency of this college. Gentlemen ap- pointed to high office, and who joined it with lofty expectations, have retired with seeming disappoint- ment. Two English gentlemen are, however, still in “charge of the college,” and a course of pro- ceeding, different from that previously pursued in the mission, has been adopted by the correspond- ing committee of the Church Missionary Society, with the sanction of their president, the bishop, at Madras. I hope this change will leave the Syrians, as much as possible, and as far as Scripture requires, to the unfettered exercise of their judgment and the liberty of conscience ; while Europeans are assiduous in opening to them the sources of Euro- pean literature, and in providing such instruction as will expand, enlighten, and elevate the minds of the Syrians. Bangalore was occupied as a mission station for the Mysore country, in the year 1820, by the agents of the London Missionary Society. After various experiments, and an examination of conflicting opinions, by one of the earliest missionaries, he and two others were convinced that a seminary, on an enlarged scale, whose operations should embrace the people who spoke the Canarese, the Tamil, the Teloogoo, and Hindostanee languages, might be established with advantage and efficiency in this eastern Montpelier, which might scatter its blessings and strew its rewards from Cape Comorin to Delhi, from the Malabar to the Coromandel coasts. The EDUCATION AND TIIE ENGLISH. 419 senior agent had soon after his arrival commenced a course of lectures on theology, delivered to natives. General schools were at first undertaken, but speedily superseded by one institution for more select pupils ; which should he conducted, as well as superintended, by combined and concentrated effort. A hoarding- school for youths, and an academy for adults, rose simultaneously as the natural product of the plans adopted. Additions were gradually made to the subjects of study ; while the number of pupils in- creased, in the school, between twenty and thirty, and in the academy twelve — young persons of promising ability, and with a character for consis- tency and application. English and Sanscrit, be- sides the vernacular tongues of the surrounding countries, were taught by competent instructors. Some of the pupils received regular instruction in the original languages of sacred Scripture, and made creditable progress. The patronage of friends and the steady progress of the operations and plan, in- duced the missionaries to contemplate further en- largement, and a more comprehensive designation for their institution. They drew up a development of their principles, and a detail of their projected additions under the title, “A Plan of a College,” which it was proposed should be called “ The Mysore Mission College.” They specified the professorships which they deemed immediately re- quisite, to be one each, for languages and his- toriography, for moral philosophy, for mathematics and natural philosophy, and for sacred theology : — E e 2 420 CONTINENTAL INDIA. they contemplated, also, without delay, a medical professorship. From Madras to Bombay, the plan received the warmest approbation of many friends, and the assurances of cordial support. But circum- stances entirely of a personal nature, into which we cannot here enter, prevented the consummation of the plan. The essay of the projectors was, however, published in Bangalore, in 1826, having been printed at the American press, Bombay. Copies were forwarded to the authorities and other gentlemen interested in the question of education. In the two western presidencies several hundreds were circulated. Gentlemen who have since occu- pied the highest offices, second only to the gover- nor-general in Bengal, were more than generally acquainted with the principles of the measure, and were able to judge of their probable adaptation to the state of our Indian fellow-subjects. I mention this not only because it may be gratifying to the feel- ings of some whom I highly esteem, but because I think, that though the scheme was rendered abor- tive at the particular station, the efforts of the gen- tlemen may not have been lost in the general cause of education, or be without influence in more recent movements for the intellectual and moral ameliora- tion of the people of Hindostan. The seed sown may not have been as water spilt upon the rock. The principles, then, whether wisely or prematurely advocated, and for the first time definitely promul- gated, and by argument and illustration elucidated, applied, and made practical, have germinated, and EDUCATION AND THE ENGLISH. 421 are bearing fruit on the highest places of the field. The government abroad, and literary authorities at home, have embraced and enforced the wisdom and utility of the same sentiments. The writers of the plan of “The Mysore Mission College” distinctly avowed their adoption of English, and showed their reasons of preference for it as a medium of in- struction to Hindoo youth of advanced classes and promising attainments. I quote their opinions, because they seem to me important. They affirmed that Sanscrit and all the cognate dialects did not contain any works which might he generally employed to enlarge the mind, or could he characterised by general utility, while the labours and talents of missionaries would never “ he sufficient to translate the works of other men into these languages, or compose works in them to meet the deficiency. A department in the seminary is thus rendered neces- sary for the study of that language which of all others is best supplied with works of wise and good men, and in which are writings most calculated to advance the interest of general learning and moral improvement. As it w r ould be folly for Europeans to attempt imparting a knowiedge to Hindoos of their owm language, when natives much more qualified could be found ; and as the natural ten- dency of every thing which has been acquired, ex- cept religion, is to deteriorate when it passes from one to another ; so a knowledge of the pronuncia- tion and power of the English language would de- teriorate in the hands of one who had not acquired 422 CONTINENTAL INDIA. it as a first element of his nature. Our plan would be liable to serious objections did we not provide against this result ; we therefore consider that it is necessary an English teacher of the English lan- guage should always be retained in the institution. “ This arrangement is doubly enforced by the principle we have adopted, which requires that the English language shall be the ultimate medium of all public instructions embraced by the system, and which, so far as our experience goes, has been proved the most efficient for the successful issue of our efforts ; nor do we imagine the justness of our views stands upon mere individual practice. There is an important truth which should not be over- looked in the plan of education, viz. ‘language is but the instrument conveying to us things useful to be known.’ f Every nation affords not experience and tradition enough for all kind of learning,’ and when this is the case, as in India, the language of some nation which has been most industrious after wisdom, ought to form a principal branch of study in such an institution. Without the charge of pre- dilection for our own country, we think we are jus- tified in asserting that Britain stands unrivalled by any ancient or modern nation in the study of uni- versal knowledge, and that through the English language India will receive from her conquerors and legislators an intellectual treasure far more valuable than all she has in her power to give in exchange. “ As the natives in India appear never to have EDUCATION AND THE ENGLISH. 423 risen above a semi-barbarous state, their languages are at present better calculated for popular subjects than for learned discussions. An elevation of mind will speedily be produced by the spread of know- ledge. General explanations on subjects of inquiry will soon prove unsatisfactory. Vague terms will awaken doubts and occasion much misunderstand- ing and error. If teachers are only furnished with indefinite symbols, where their language from its barrenness is unable to give better ; if the know- ledge they obtain be little more than what can be derived from translations already made, or which may be yet made by foreigners, we feel persuaded that the check to intellectual and moral improve- ment will be incalculable. We must look to the authorized public teachers for the formation of cor- rect habits of thinking, and it is therefore necessary that the knowledge they receive should be through a medium more definite and correct than their own tongue is, or can be, for a considerable period. With strict propriety we may assert that the natives of India are unable, with precision, to abstract or generalize on moral subjects, if they know only their own language. The philosophy of mind and theology are subjects unknown to them, except by the translations of foreigners into their dialects. To naturalize these important sciences, natives them- selves must be able to secure them an introduction in a native costume. The European, as it regards correct and extensive knowledge in literature and philosophy, is soon convinced of his great supe- 424 CONTINENTAL INDIA. riority over the Asiatic, who is comparatively well- informed, but whose knowledge is confined entirely to those branches which have been cultivated by his more learned countrymen. If, from a desire to benefit his fellow-immortals, the western philan- thropist seeks to impart his rich stores, through the language of the people, which we shall suppose him to have acquired, two great difficulties meet him in the very vestibule ; — he is unable to discover terms properly to convey his meaning in his newly- acquired language, and he cannot use to the best ad- vantage this imperfect medium. He is not familiar with the shades of meaning which phrases assume : — shades, which, more than the proper meaning of separate words, give life and distinctness to dis- cussion, and which are nicely discriminated by their intuitive association, acquired from early habits and conversation, uninterruptedly free among them- selves, and accessible only to few, if indeed to any, besides natives. The translations made by foreigners will, to a certain degree, receive a tinge from that difficulty and restraint which a language but partially known and a paucity of proper words will impose. “ Translations made by a native who understands the English tongue, will possess both an ease and vigour which will rarely, if ever, be found in that of foreigners; because his mind has received an im- petus in the acquisition of the language, and its powers are expanded by the great increase of useful knowledge. His free conversation with his coun- trymen not only discovers his superior attainments. EDUCATION AND THE ENGLISH. 425 blit also gives him an opportunity of hearing the variety of their remarks clothed in their own lan- guage, and observing how their mistakes may be rectified. He sits down to write full of hopes that he is about to bestow a valuable treasure upon his countrymen and friends ; while the translations to be made are of the works which have most in- terested his own mind when deriving solid profit from their perusal. “ These remarks are applicable to speaking in the language ; and surely the habits of thinking are likely to bear proportion with the correct medium through which we receive our knowledge. A knowledge of the English tongue and its authors, therefore, appears to hold a place of the first im- portance in a plan for the intellectual and moral elevation of the Hindoos. The English language will not only prove a more correct medium of giving public instruction to the students, but it will facilitate their progress in useful knowledge. All the Inchan languages have been for so many ages the vehicle of every thing in their superstition which is morally debasing or corrupting to the mind, and so much is the grossly impure structure of heathenism wrought into the native languages, that the bare study of them often proves injurious to the mind of a European. If, therefore, they are still adopted to convey moral truths to the mind of the student, his progress in that important branch of knowledge must be greatly retarded. Early associations in the use of terms will always be 426 CONTINENTAL INDIA. more powerfully perceived by the man of application than by such as are accustomed to think more loosely, to receive rather than impart knowledge. “ When nations have arisen from a state of gross ignorance and barbarism to that of civiliza- tion and learning, it generally has been the effect of imitative energies. The leading characters in such a mighty reform have always considered the acquisition of the language of some highly-polished and well-informed people the first step of mental and national elevation. “ Those who are appointed, in the providence of God, to become the harbingers of great moral changes among a people, are bound to consider well what is most likely to impede the progress of such transitions, that they may carefully avoid hin- derances, and adopt those measures which are likely to ensure speedy success. A language, in which knowledge of every kind that is useful to man has been conveyed for ages, is best calculated to supply a nomenclature to, and enrich such as are defi- cient and poverty-stricken, to become a standard by which the people, advancing from a state of wretched ignorance, may settle disputes, remove many difficulties, and prescribe boundaries to their own indefinite languages. The English appears, in these respects, equally as important, if not more so, to the moral improvement of India, as the Latin was to Europe at the Reformation. Students who are preparing for the ministry of the gospel are characters of great importance in Christian lands. EDUCATION AND THE ENGLISH. 427 but of much more importance in heathen countries. The acquisition of the English language by them may be considered one golden link in the chain of operations now actively carried forward for the rapid subjection of the nations to the yoke of Christ. Whilst the memory of the student is im- proved by mastering the English, his views are enlarged, and all his mental powers are invigorated, and the key of a valuable treasury, stored with extensive, useful, and necessary knowledge, is put into his possession. If, by diligent application, he is able to adorn his mind with valuable intel- lectual furniture, and should the truth in its saving power sway his heart, may we not reasonably an- ticipate that it shall yet be found he has been prepared of God to become an enlightener, a moral instructor of his countrymen — a light to shine in a dark place ? “ The advantages conferred on the institution itself, by adopting the English as the ultimate medium, are great. All the energies and know- ledge of the European professors will be concen- trated to form the character of the Teloogoo, the Canarese, the Hindostanee, and Tamil pupil. The different departments allotted to each professor are still confined to the improvement of the same cha- racter. Thus all the solid advantages of the college are secured to every student, who will have the benefit of receiving his education from all who are officially engaged in the institution. The death or removal of European professors, after it has been 428 CONTINENTAL INDIA. established for a short time, will not seriously in- terrupt the progress of those branches taught by them, because natives will grow up and be able, pro tempore, if not altogether, to supply their place, and European successors, when they arrive, will be able immediately to commence the engagements of the class.” At Madras a “ School-Book Society” had con- tinued in operation, pursuing the same object with a similar society at Calcutta. A few of the more accomplished linguists at the presidency were mem- bers and coadjutors. Translators and examiners in government departments undertook the direc- tion or superintendence of some of its special objects, and several of the college moonshees were employed in the subordinate proceedings. The de- sign was not merely to prepare or select elementary works for Hindoo instruction, but also to infuse into the native languages the knowledge and scien- tific resources deposited in European literature. Compendious catechisms on geography, astronomy, grammar, &c. were in demand, and Joyce’s Scien- tific Dialogues, and other popular digests, were translated into Tamil, to supply the means of in- struction to the more inquisitive Hindoos. But I well remember the difficulties and slow progress of such works. The Europeans, ostensibly em- ployed on these specific objects, were of course much more engaged in their official departments as servants of the government, so that they were sometimes glad to assign their translations to any EDUCATION AND TIIE ENGLISH. 429 mere literary, and even incompetent, hack among the unemployed moonshees. Men were thus en- trusted with such translations who most imper- fectly knew the English language, and had no enlightened acquaintance or sympathy with the sciences, no understanding of their principles or their technicology, and were therefore unable to transfer from one language to another the meaning of their authors. I have seen one of these inferior agents of the “ Madras School - Book Society ” passing from one European acquaintance to an- other, soliciting explanations, and trying to deci- pher the meaning of passages of Joyce’s Dialogues, book in hand, and the rough manuscript of his translation as its companion, while the ostensible translator, and the gentleman who seemed respon- sible, and in whom the society reposed their con- fidence, might be a judge in the Sudder Adawlut, or secretary to the college council. The society was, therefore, not so efficient as could have been desired, and the conviction was forcibly conveyed, that it was necessary to impart extensively, among the Hindoos, a correct knowledge of the English language, as well as of European sciences. It might, indeed, excite inquiry why so few of the Madras natives possessed a grammatical acquaint- ance with the English, and a fluency in its speech, since so general an ambition existed among them to acquire it, and so many schools, under Euro- pean missionaries, had been maintained for the last hundred years. It may, however, be replied, that 430 CONTINENTAL INDIA. the thirst for English among the natives of Madras has been excited chiefly from the desire to be qualified for some office that would secure gain, or at least employment ; and the schools supported by the “ Society for promoting Christian Know- ledge” were conducted, for more than seventy years, under the direction of German or Danish missionaries, to whom the English was a foreign and a learned language, and who, therefore, had no facility in imparting the knowledge of it. A change, however, was effected under the junior societies. The London Missionary Society’s agents established a school for English, which was attended principally by brahminical youth. A central school for the instruction of teachers was also commenced in 1823, under the most favourable auspices. Among the branches of knowledge embraced by its pro- jectors, it was proposed that the pupils “ be in- structed in the English language ; in the elements of geography and astronomy ; also in the outlines of general history ; the principles of chemistry ; and that they be made acquainted with the plan of education adopted by ‘ the British and Foreign School Society.’ ” Principles were developed, and experience was gained ; but changes occurred among the con- ductors, and the central school ceased its opera- tions. “ The School-Book Society” were led to contemplate more vigorous exertions for gradually removing the impediments which obstructed the free literary intercourse between Europeans and EDUCATION AND THE ENGLISH. 431 the natives of India. In an Appendix to one of their Reports they urgently recommended a system of instruction in English as the means of effecting a salutary change on the intelligence, moral cha- racter, and liberality of the Hindoos. “ The English language,” they remarked, “has become so exten- sively useful in India, that it is considered as indis- pensably necessary for the governed as the Indian languages are to the governors. It not only en- ables them to become acquainted with the manners and customs of the various enlightened European nations, of which the people of India have, at pre- sent, but very faint ideas, but what is more impor- tant, it opens to them the inexhaustible treasures of the literature and science of Europe, so well calculated to enlighten the understanding.” At this time the government of Madras presented to this society a donation of 3,000 rupees (300/.) It was during the effective and clear-sighted admini- stration of Sir Thomas Monro that this proof of sympathy and cooperation was afforded to the “ School-Book Society and we may, not hastily, conclude, that not only did the governor know, but also strongly approved, of the mode recom- mended for elevating the native character by the managers of that institution. The inhabitants of Bombay differ in character and pursuits toto ccelo from the native citizens of Madras. They have much more commercial enter- prise, far more intercourse with Europeans, their minds are in a much higher measure liberalized and 432 CONTINENTAL INDIA. enlightened, and their relish for European luxuries, refinement, and knowledge, exceeds in an eminent degree any similar taste among the people at Madras. A native Education Society was founded at Bombay in 1815, composed of natives and Europeans in nearly equal proportions. Its mea- sures have, through successive years, continued to be distinguished by energy and liberality : the funds contributed, in some years, being as much as seven or eight thousand pounds. During the year 1826, their chief school at Bombay contained 595 boarders, of whom 228 were girls ; while its day- scholars were 740, of whom 472 were natives. Their operations were extended to other towns and districts in the presidency. They sent forth from their institution in 1829, 44 pupils, of whom 32 were Mahrattas, 5 Guzerattees, and 7 Euro- peans, to enter upon literary occupations, for which they had been qualified. In 1830, their committee reported 25 ready to assume the functions of schoolmasters in the provinces of the Deckan, the Concans, and Guzerat ; of these, 14 were Guze- rattees and 11 Mahrattas. Their stations for employment were selected by the society, in which the government employed them. They possessed an accurate knowledge of their own language, and had made such progress in the higher branches of the mathematics as to be able to rank as teachers of them. In the year 1831, 250 boys had been conducted in this seminary, through a course of study in the English language, and 50 had left it EDUCATION AND THE ENGLISH. 433 with what was deemed a competent knowledge of it, besides an acquaintance with geography, mathematics, and geometry. The scholars in the Mahratta branch amounted to 954, and in the Guzerattee to 427 ; and the number of the society’s general schools was 56, containing each nearly 60 boys ; or a total of scholars between three and four thousand. The boys who made the greatest progress in the English schools, it was observed, were the Hindoos, chiefly through their perse- verance and regularity. Mohammedan boys seldom entered the institution as pupils. More recently, the pupils in the English language at this semi- nary have been limited in number to 100. An Engineer college has been founded at Bombay, where, soon after its formation, 86 students were educated and maintained. The government con- templated giving increased facilities for diffusing the English language, and aided the missionaries at the presidency in establishing an English semi- nary for the natives. At Poona, a Hindoo college was also established for extending the knowledge of the English language, European sciences, and other branches of native instruction. The govern- ment of this presidency were forward to promote plans of education : they had issued in 1828, in- quiries to their provincial officers, respecting the number of scholars in each school, the number of schools, the mode of conducting education, and the relish evinced by native youth for printed lite- rature, and measures consequent on such informa- VOL. II. F F 434 CONTINENTAL INDIA. tion had been so promptly taken, that Sir Lionel Smith, who was then commander-in-chief, affirmed in 1831, “ Education is in such extensive progress, that I hardly think it could be more extended. Education is also going on in the Deckan : the encouragement given by the government consists in a very liberal establishment, under the direction of an officer of very great attainments in the native languages.” The judges of the Fouzdar Adawlut (the supreme criminal) court recommended what they thought the most likely means to promote and improve the education of the natives : “ a gra- dual extension of schools on an improved plan, either by affording the patronage of government to native schoolmasters, on condition of their im- proving their system ; or by the establishment of new schools in populous places, at the expense of government ; and the gratuitous distribution of useful books, such as books of arithmetic, short histories, moral tales, distinct from their own false legends ; natural history, and some short voyages and travels ; occasional and well-timed public examinations, accompanied by liberal rewards for proficiency to the scholars : which coming from the government, would prove its interest in the proceeding, and its disposition to encourage such beneficial measures.” But the anxiety of the Hindoos to obtain a knowledge of the English language, has far exceeded official arrangements. There are private schools at Bombay, in which hun- dreds of native youths are studying the language EDUCATION AND THE ENGLISH. 135 of England at their own expense ; in which they have made respectable proficiency. The question of “ Education and the English” was acquiring prominence, and exciting attention in the several provinces of India, when the Rev. Alexander Duff, a missionary from the general assembly of the kirk of Scotland, arrived in Cal- cutta. The opening of his mission, about 1828, was marked by a most vigorous and well-directed effort to secure the attention of the natives, and communicate to them an enlightened and liberal education. His indomitable perseverance and steadiness of purpose, his ardent zeal, his generous and benevolent ambition, and fervid eloquence, which have recently shone forth in Dr. Duff’s visit to the land of his fathers, rendered him a fitting champion for the cause of English education among the Hindoos, and insured him a marked progress in the esteem of his pupils, and a con- spicuous place among the advocates for the utility and expediency of employing the English language as the medium for introducing general knowledge and general science among the people of Hin- dostan. His views are the more entitled to consideration, as he may now be regarded in the character of representative of the church of Scot- land mission, and the committee of their general assembly, with which he cooperates. He is the organ of many enlightened and judicious men. He answers the question. What is education in its highest and noblest sense ? by declaring that it f f 2 436 CONTINENTAL INDIA. denotes the improvement of the mind, in all its capa- cities, intellectual, moral, and religious. But though it were merely a question of intellect, this can only, he conceives, be cultivated by the inculcation of truth. Well, then, he inquires, will oriental lite- rature bear the test and supply this aliment ? With some scruple he rejects the satire of Ferdusi, as applied to the vast ocean of eastern lore, but which was first spoken in allusion to imperial splendour : “ the magnificent court of Ghizni is a sea, but a sea without a bottom, and without a shore : I have fished in it long, but have not found any pearls yet with little hesitation he expresses his opinion, that “ in spite of occasional truths, beauties, and excellences, oriental literature is throughout impregnated with a great deal more of what is false in principle, erroneous in fact, and, by consequence, injurious in moral tendency.” He undertakes to demonstrate, that in the choicest works of Hindoo literature are taught ‘things frivolous and useless; false chronology and history; false geography and astronomy; false civil and criminal law ; false logic and metaphysics ; and false morals and religion. That the foulest blemishes pervade the entire mass, or rather constitute the main part of its ingredients, while real or supposed excellences may be characterised as isolated, thinly strewn over the vast surface, like rare islets of verdure scattered over the great African desert; and that the universal literature of India cannot produce a single volume that is not studded with EDUCATION AND THE ENGLISH. 437 error, far less a series of volumes that would furnish any thing bearing the most distant resemblance to a complete range of accurate information in any conceivable department of useful knowledge.’ The analogical reason drawn by some from the use of the Greek and Roman classics in European schools for the study of Indian classics, he thus exposes. — In Britain, the Greek and Roman classics form but a fraction of a collegiate course ; and their injurious impressions may be (he says are more than ?) neu- tralized by another and a higher species of teaching; and while both teacher and taught know and ac- knowledge that the religion of Saturn and Jupiter is false — a dead and obsolete mythology, they regard its doctrines, precepts, and ritual, as pos- sessing no divine authority. Whereas in the Sanscrit and Mohammedan colleges nothing, except the niceties and subtilties, the extravagant legends, and worse than fantastical speculations of the Indian classics, has been taught ; while there is no other principle in operation, in the school or at home, to neutralize the evil or counteract the per- nicious influences of what is false. The religion of Brahma is still a living religion, fraught with malignant energy, and operating with undisputed sway on the understanding and the conscience of millions : while its classical repositories are studied, not as mere literary productions, but as divine scriptures : works that either issued directly from the mouth of Brahma, at the time of creation, or were written subsequently under his immediate 438 CONTINENTAL INDIA. inspiration. Every thing contained in them is regarded as sacred truth, every thing enjoined in them as sacred law, having the signature and stamp of divinity ; while they have been taught and ex- pounded in government institutions to heathen youth by brahmin priests, whose duty, profession, and interest have been, to maintain their authority as imperative and supreme in science, law, morals, and religion. He sets aside the vernacular languages as utterly incapable of representing European ideas ; they have no words wherewith to express them. The selec- tion, therefore, must be made, either of the Sanscrit or Arabic on one side, or of the English on the other. The two former are no more living or spoken languages in India, than Greek and Latin are now in Great Britain ; but are dead and unknown to the vast majority of Hindoos, as much as any foreign tongue that can be named. The choice, therefore, is not between two indigenous, living and spoken languages, and a foreign tongue, but between two unknown, eastern languages, destitute of a culti- vated and enlightened literature, and a western language, unknown, but spoken by all in authority, and enriched by stores of wisdom and truth. The time and labour of a native of India demanded for mastering the Sanscrit, will be prodigiously greater than are required for acquiring its western com- petitor. “ The Sanscrit language,” said the late rajah, Rammohun Roy, “ is so difficult that almost a lifetime is necessary for its acquisition but the EDUCATION AND THE ENGLISH. 439 tenth part of such a period will suffice for an in- telligent native youth to overcome every obstacle to a fluent and facile use of the English tongue. Let the time and labour required for each be equal, which of the two will form the most valuable in- strument for communicating the knowledge pos- sessed by Europeans ? Which will best answer the purpose of education ? When the difficulties of Sanscrit philology have been surmounted, what knowledge will it convey to the student ? — only a few scraps and fragments of remote antiquity — here and there a withered or fading leaf which appear on drooping and sickly plants, exotics in a foreign soil. Let him expend a fraction of the same toil in acquiring English, and he is at once presented with the key of all knowledge — all the really useful knowledge which the world contains : he is admitted to the storehouse of a literature which supplies a complete course of sound inform- ation, unmixed with error in every branch of inquiry, literary, scientific, and theological. The continuance of English, then, as the medium of literature and science, to the select youth of India, is evidently desirable, until the spoken, living dialects of India become ripened by the copious infusion of expressive terms for the formation of a new and improved national literature. Things, not words; knowledge, not mere speech ; must be taught in order to insure a decided change in the notions and feelings of the people : a smattering of English throughout India is to do little good, — a know- 440 CONTINENTAL INDIA. ledge of it sufficient for the ordinary purposes of life (such as copying letters and keeping accounts) is quite compatible with gross ignorance and inve- terate superstition, — such superficial acquirements diffused through the mass, can do little good ; if instruction be attenuated to “ a thin unsubstantial vapour, that it may be spread over the largest possible surface,” it w ill be only a flimsy, though delusive pretext. But the object of the advocates of the English medium is everywhere to encourage the pursuit of it ; and in central stations, of great concourse, to condense it in a solid, permanent form, in bodies favourably circumstanced for its preservation, like the Anglo -Hindoo college at Calcutta, in which it is sought to impart “ an English education of a high description.” The object of such patrons of occidental literature among our eastern fellow-subjects is expressed by Bacon, in his quaint comparison of learning and water : — “ The works or acts of merit towards learning are conversant about three objects ; the places of learning, the books of learning, and the persons of the learned. For as water, whether it be the dew of heaven or the springs of the earth, does scatter and lose itself in the ground, except it be collected into some receptacle ; so this ex- cellent liquor of knowledge, whether it descend from divine inspiration, or spring from human sense, would soon perish and vanish into oblivion if it were not preserved in books, traditions, con- ferences, and places appointed as universities, col- EDUCATION AND THE ENGLISH. 441 leges, and schools for the receipt and comforting of the same.” That the grand effect of such a plan of education, fairly and honestly administered, will he the demo- lition of the superstitions and idolatry of India, can be substantiated by indisputable facts. When young men have completed a course of “ high English education,” they discover that the truths of our history, chronology, and science, generally come into constant and fatal collision with the opposing errors in their own theories. No system can long resist palpable truth in the minds of men. The shasters, therefore, when their abounding errors are demonstrated, are stripped of their divine authority, and the mythology, which is upheld solely on the credit of these sacred books, sinks into annihilation. A few statements, illustrative of the practical truth of the views just advanced, follow, as the testimony of native Hindoos, the most competent witnesses in matters of fact on such a question : — “ I sent my son to the Hindoo college to study English ; and when he had risen to the fourth class, I thought he had made L some progress in English knowledge ; I therefore for- bade his going to the college (any longer), for I have heard that the students in the higher classes of the college become nastiks ” (sceptics in Hin- dooism). This communication appeared in a Bengal native newspaper. But the father had been too late in his preventive policy, — the son was then a candidate for Christian baptism. The 442 CONTINENTAL INDIA. editor of the “ Enquirer,” another native paper in Bengal, — who was once a brahmin, is now a Chris- tian, and received his English education at the Hin- doo college, — has put on record his testimony in the clearest terms. “ The Hindoo college, under the patronage of government, has, as indeed it must have, destroyed many a native’s belief in Hindooism. How could a boy continue to worship the sun, when he understood that this luminary was not a divinity (devatah), but a mass of inanimate matter ? How could he believe in the injunctions of such shasters as taught him lessons contrary to the principles inculcated by his lecturer in natural phi- losophy ? The consequence w r as, that Hindooism was battered down. No missionary ever taught us, for instance, to forsake the religion of our fathers. It was government that did us this ser- vice,” (through the efficient operation of the edu- cational system). Another newspaper, edited also by a native, the “ Reformer,” the organ of a large and educated class of Hindoos, contrasts, accord- ing to the views of his party, the fruits of ordinary missionary operations with those realized by the Hindoo college, in the following strain : — “ lias it (the college) not been the fountain of a new race of men amongst us? From that institution, as from the rock from whence the mighty Ganges takes its rise, a nation is flowing in upon this desert country to replenish its withered fields with the living waters of knowledge. Have all the efforts of the missionaries given a tithe of that shock to EDUCATION AND THE ENGLISH. 443 the superstitions of the people which has been given by the Hindoo college ? This at once shows that the means they pursue to overturn the ancient reign of idolatry is not calculated to insure success, and ought to be abandoned for another which pro- mises better success.” I shall farther recite a short paragraph from Dr. Duff. “ Like the laws which silently, hut with resistless power, regulate the movements of the material universe, these educa- tionary operations, which are of the nature and force of moral laws, will proceed onwards till they terminate in effecting a universal change in the national mind of India. The sluices of a superior and quickening knowledge have already been thrown open ; and who shall dare to shut them up ? The streams of enlivening information have begun to flow in upon the dry and parched land, and who will venture to arrest their progress? As well might we ask with the poet — ' Shall burning Etna, if a sage requires, Forget her thunders, and recall her fires ? When the loose mountain trembles from on high, Shall gravitation cease while you go by ?’ ” I have not heard of any movement among the admirers of Lord William Bentinck, to raise for him a monumental pillar at Calcutta, or in West- minster Abbey ; or of any project by which it might be attempted to perpetuate the memory of his wisdom and virtue. I do not always believe the eulogies of cold smooth-faced marble ; neither 444 CONTINENTAL INDIA. do I account every note of the clarion trumpet of fame as melodious, or true to nature, however musical or elaborate. It is not always for good and great men that their contemporaries erect mausoleums, or consecrate shrines ; yet “ the good which men do, lives after them,” — they rest from their labours, and their works do follow them. I doubt not it will be so with “ honest William Bentinck f and therefore I ask no false marble, or piled heaps of chiseled stone, to adorn his memory. He has done more, ten thousand times, for man- kind, than the hero of the Nile or the conqueror of Waterloo. I fear I dishonour the sacred dust of the man whom I so admire, by the comparison : — the lustrations of the one are immortal, — the echoes of the others are carried on the breath of popular applause. Garments rolled in blood, and banners, stained and ensanguined, waving on the gory field, will be the shrouds of a Nelson and a Wellington; but Madras and Sicily, Naples and Bengal, will bring peaceful trophies around the bier of this “noble Bentinck.” Widows in thou- sands saved from the burning pile, and spared to educate and bless their orphan offspring, will pour the generous tears of a pure and hallowed gratitude upon the undecayed and ever-green laurels which shall adorn his memory. Not by selfish ambition, but by a benevolent and philanthropic wisdom, he seized immortality by the “ fore-lock,” — he placed himself between the wings of the olive-bearing dove; or, perchance, rather of that angel which EDUCATION AND THE ENGLISH. 445 was seen to “ fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on all the earth, and to every nation and kindred and tongue and people.” Where do we find missionary operations conducted on evangelical principles, except where the English language is known by the preacher, and the knowledge of it desired by the people to whom the herald of peace has been sent ? But Lord William Bentinck has identified his name, his influence, his policy as a statesman, with the extension of the English language. Well do I remember the sinister and sarcastic rumours circulated at the time of his departure for India, concerning a pious relative, who, it was surmised, was to accompany his lordship in his official ca- pacity. Report would have it, that this gentleman, or his lady, had provided a large assortment cf religious tracts to convert the natives of India — ■ that boxes had been filled with these dangerous nostrums ; and therefore influence was used by the Leadenhall sovereigns to prevent the meditated crusade. Perhaps these boxes had, like Pandora’s, been opened, and exposed to the winds. But one sweet and potent balsam remained to cheer and bless, to illumine and refine — Lord William Bentinck carried out the determination to rule the millions of India for their moral and political advantages, and the authority to employ what means he con- sidered conducive to the ends of such a govern- ment. He fixed upon the English language, and set it in its own place among the elements of 446 CONTINENTAL INDIA. Hindoo regeneration. He was not rash and fickle, but deliberate and determined. He matured his measure, and established it. To promulgate the following document, was one of the last public acts of Lord William Bentinck’s administration in Bengal. “ Fort-William, “ General Consultation, 7th March, 1835. “ The Governor-General of India in Council has attentively considered the two letters from the Secretary to the Committee, (the Government Committee of Public Instruction) dated the 21st and 22d January last, and the papers referred to in them. “ 1st. His Lordship in Council is of opinion, that the great object of the British Government ought to be the promotion of European literature and science among the natives of India; and that all the funds appropriated for the purpose of educa- tion, would be best employed on English education alone. “ 2d. But it is not the intention of his Lordship in Council, to abolish any college or school of native learning, while the population shall appear to be inclined to avail themselves of the advantages which it affords; and his Lordship in Council directs, that all the existing professors and students at all the Institutions, under the superintendence of the Committee, shall continue to receive their stipends. But his Lordship in Council decidedly EDUCATION AND THE ENGLISH. 147 objects to the practice which has hitherto prevailed, of supporting the students during the period of their education, lie conceives that the only effects of such a system can be, to give artificial encou- ragement to branches of learning which, in the natural course of things, would be superseded by more useful studies ; and he directs that no stipend shall be given to any student that may hereafter enter at any of these institutions ; and that, when any professor of Oriental learning shall vacate his situation, the Committee shall report to the Govern- ment the number and state of the class, in order that the Government may be able to decide upon the expediency of appointing a successor. “3d. It has come to the knowledge of the Governor-General in Council, that a large sum has been expended by the Committee on the printing of Oriental works; his Lordship in Council directs, that no portion of the funds shall hereafter be so employed. “ 4th. His Lordship in Council directs, that all the funds which these reforms will leave at the disposal of the Committee, be henceforth employed in imparting to the native population a knowledge of English literature, and science, through the medium of the English language ; and his Lord- ship in Council requests the Committee to submit to Government, with all expedition, a plan for the accomplishment of this purpose. (A true Copy.) (Signed) “H. T. PRINSEP, “ Secretary to Government .” 448 CONTINENTAL INDIA. To show at what rate the committee to which this letter was addressed had been inclined to patronize oriental literature, it is stated, they ap- plied, during ten years, 20,000/. for printing or purchasing Sanscrit, Arabic, and Persian works ; they voted 6,500/. for the same object, which yet remain to be appropriated ; and had resolved to print, in his original, Avicenna’s most celebrated works. — This was an Arabian writer of the eleventh century, styled the prince of Arabian phi- losophers and physicians, by his admiring con- temporaries : but who was in fact a licentious, intemperate, though precocious scholar, whose profound study of philosophy had not taught him good morals, or his speculations in medicine, the art of preserving his own health from the effects of intemperance. To publish the works of this obsolete and empirical philosopher, the committee had resolved to devote some two thousand pounds, when Lord W. Bentinck interrupted their dreams and extravagance. The committee had been modified in character, by an infusion of new blood in 1834, when the change enacted by parliament passed upon the Indian government : but there still remained so much of the old nature in its constitution, that modern principles of education could only count upon an equal moiety; while the elder seers tenaciously adhered to their Sanscrit veneration. Parties so nearly balanced, stood parallel; similar to a recent parliamentary division relating to education at home. Lord EDUCATION AND THE ENGLISH. 449 W. Bentinck destroyed the equilibrium ; he cast his weight into the scale for reform, and made it kick the beam. The contest had formerly seemed so undecided, that the seniors hoped the value of the doubt would be conceded to them — that vested pre- rogatives, and use-and-wont would preponderate in favour of their opinion. When therefore the order in council was issued, consternation filled their minds; and the sides of their oriental Parnassus shook with convulsive alarm, as if Jupiter-tonans would confound the snowy Himalayas in his rage. From the banks of the Ganges to the halls of Oxford, and from the pagodas of Benares to the colleges of Germany, one loud, hitter, and mournful wail was heard for the precious relics of Hindoo antiquity, the unfathomable mysteries of Sanscrit philology, the untold and undiscovered riches of post-diluvian science and theology. An avatar of Jones, Colebrooke, Halhed, and Wilkins, might almost have been prognosticated, or a metempsy- chosis of some beydanti sages, so as to give us a conference between the living and the dead on this crisis of oriental literature. A conclave of the Hindoo immortal and famous Nine, Loomus, Makiendee, Byass, Ashootaman, Bui, Hunwent, Bibeekhen, Kirpacharij, and Purrissram, and of all the Gooroos, of celebrity past, present, and to come, with Abulfeda and Hafiz, Avicenna and Ferdusi, Averroes and Sadi, Abulpharajius and Abulwafa, under the presidency of Brahma and Mohammed, should long ere this day have been VOL. II. G G 450 CONTINENTAL INDIA. convened by the joint influence of our German and oriental savans, to proclaim the infallible wisdom contained in the Sanscrit, Persian, and Arabic literature ; and to set forth, with due authority, an Index Expurgatorius against all Anglican nastiks and European giaours, and their poisonous writings, introduced under the auspices of science and philosophy. The effect of this educational and literary reformation, has undoubtedly been most propitious to an extended sway of the mother tongue of Britons and of sound literature and science among the millions of Asia. Education has derived a new impetus, philanthropy a new impulse, and truth a new force ; which, with knowledge as the lever and intellectual liberty the fulcrum, will move onward and upward, with gigantic strides, the gene- rations of men ; when they shall occupy the place in the scale of being, and shine in the brightness of wisdom and benevolence, enriched with the rewards of virtue and peace, and clothed in the spoils of reason and research. The resolution of Lord W. Bentinck has brushed away the dust and cobwebs of many dark ages. Lord William Bentinck found an efficient and cordial coadjutor in the Right Honourable Thomas B. Macaulay, who sustained, in the new system, the office of president of the General Committee of Public Instruction. The progressive and exalted eminence attained by this statesman in the political world, and the honours heaped on him as a public servant, do not more distinguish him than do his EDUCATION AND THE ENGLISH. 451 profound and philosophic dissertations in literature, or the just, discriminating, and enlightened disqui- sitions of his parliamentary oratory. Before his departure to India he had laid his country under obligation for his services in behalf of constitutional liberty, and of the reputation of puritanic patriots. English letters had been enriched by his research and eloquence in critical essays, and the lessons inculcated in our national history had been deve- loped by his senatorial labours. He had held deep converse with the sages of ancient days, and had drunk copious draughts of English freedom from their pure and generous fountains. Therefore was he able to appreciate the enjoyment derived from well-selected literary stores, and to speak of the happy oblivion into which distressing events are often cast by the ministrations of knowledge. “ I feel this more strongly than perhaps others may,” he confessed on a recent occasion, “ arising from peculiar circumstances in the history of my own mind. For I can say that, as far back as I can remember, books have been to me dear friends ; they have been my comfort in grief, and my com- panions in solitude ; in poverty they have been to me more than sufficient riches ; in exile they have been my consolation for the want of my country ; in the midst of vexations and distresses of political life, in the midst of political contention and strife, of calumny and invective, they have contributed to keep my mind serene and unclouded. There is, I may well say, no wealth, there is no power, g g 2 452 CONTINENTAL INDIA. there is no rank, which I would accept, if, in ex- change, I were to be deprived of my books — of the privilege of conversing with the greatest minds of all past ages ; of searching after the truth ; of con- templating the beautiful ; of living with the distant, the unreal, the past, and the future. Knowing, as I do, what it is to enjoy these pleasures myself, I do not grudge them to the labouring men, who, by their honourable, independent, and gallant efforts, have advanced themselves within their reach ; and, owing all that I owe to the soothing influences of literature, I should be ashamed of myself if I grudged the same advantages to them.” True learning is generous, and the wisely learned hate monopoly. Literature, like “ charity, is twice blessed ; it blesses him that gives, and him that receives. It stands at the corners of the streets, and calls to the sons of men ; it addresses the simple ones, and tells them that wisdom is better than rubies, and all the things which may be desired are not to be compared to it” Such also is the principle of Mr. Macaulay. He was, there- fore, one of the ablest and most strenuous coad- jutors of Lord William Bentinck in promoting the extension of English and European literature among the people of Hindostan. He reasoned cogently, and, with singular felicity, established the claims of Anglican learning. The following paragraphs are ascribed to his pen. “ How then stands the case ? We have to edu- cate a people who cannot at present be educated EDUCATION AND THE ENGLISH. 4.53 by means of their mother-tongue ; we must teach them some foreign language. The claims of our own language it is hardly necessary to recapitulate ; it stands preeminent even among the languages of the West ; it abounds with works of imagination not inferior to the noblest which Greece has be- queathed to us ; with models of every species of eloquence ; with historical compositions, which, considered merely as narratives, have seldom been surpassed, and which, considered as vehicles of ethical and political instruction, have never been equalled ; with just and lively representations of human life and human nature ; with the most pro- found speculations on metaphysics, morals, govern- ment, jurisprudence, trade ; with full and correct information respecting every experimental science which tends to preserve the health, to increase the comfort, or to expand the intellect of man. Who- ever knows that language has ready access to all the vast intellectual wealth which all the wisest nations of the earth have created and hoarded in the course of ninety generations. It may safely be said, that the literature now extant in that lan- guage is of far greater value than all the literature which, three hundred years ago, was extant in all the languages of the world together. Nor is this all : in India, English is the language spoken by the riding class ; it is spoken by the higher class of natives at the seats of government ; it is likely to become the language of commerce throughout the seas of the East ; it is the language of two 454 CONTINENTAL INDIA. great European communities which are rising, the one in the south of Africa, the other in Australasia : communities which are every year becoming more important, and more closely connected with our Indian empire. Whether we look at the intrinsic value of our literature, or at the particular situation of this country, we shall see the strongest reason to think that, of all foreign tongues, the English tongue is that which w r ould be the most useful to our native subjects.” It has been a corroboration of the wisdom and policy of this measure, that other eminently qua- lified judges have advocated the same opinions. Sir Charles Metcalf know's India well, and his judgment is entitled to the highest respect. It was auspicious for the interests of European lite- rature that he immediately succeeded Lord W. Bentinck. His opinion of Sanscrit and Arabic lore will be gathered from his reply to the Asiatic Society, who had solicited government assistance, in the publication of certain works in these lan- guages. “ The government,” he observed, “ hav- ing resolved to discontinue, with some exceptions, the printing of the projected editions of oriental works, a great portion of the limited education fund having hitherto been expended on similar publications to little purpose but to accumulate stores of waste paper, cannot furnish pecuniary aid to the Society for the further printing of those works ; but will gladly make over the parts already printed, either to the Asiatic Society, or to any society or indi- EDUCATION AND THE ENGLISH. 455 viduals who may be disposed to complete the publication at their own expense.” Lord Auckland carries his views into farther operation, and gives the best of all assurances that he approves of the measure. He has built at his oxen expense a hand- some school-house in the government park at Barrackpore, and has established in it a large English school, which he often visits to watch the improvement and direct the studies of the pupils. As another sign of the times, I feel sincere plea- sure in noticing the work of C. E. Trevelyan, Esq. Bengal Civil Service, on the education of the people of India. Had I sooner seen that valuable volume it would have facilitated my own inquiries. It will gratify every enlightened friend of education by its generous, expansive, and philosophical prin- ciples and illustrations. The patronage by government of the English language has already produced the most surprising results among the Hindoos, from the lines of the sepoy battalion to the palace and courts of princes. Schools have been established, and libraries pro- vided for native regiments : it is a new figure in military tactics; but these soldier seminaries may become the nurseries of knowledge, and prove extensively advantageous to many others. Two hundred thousand sepoys, with their wives and children and camp followers may be instrumental in diffusing a literary leaven through the whole mass. I believe, in many instances, these schools for the troops will be found efficiently conducted. 456 CONTINENTAL INDIA. I have occasionally instructed or examined the son of a brahmin only seven years of age, in his English lessons, and found him able to read “ Blair’s Lec- tures on Rhetoric,” and give the meaning of the sentences in two or more native languages. His father was a servant of the Company, and subor- dinate to one of their political residents. The king of Oude has been induced to establish an English school at Lucknow, and placed it under the control of an English officer. Lord William Bentinck had adopted English in his correspondence with a chief in western India, Fyz Mahomed Khan. The conse- quence was, that Kishenlall, one of his adherents, engaged an English tutor for his two sons, to qualify them to act as secretaries to his prince. A demand for English tutors and secretaries speedily followed from others. Native princes already offer large salaries for English secretaries and teachers ; and the most abundant employment is readily procured for any one competent to teach. The solicitude of the native princes, on the Indus and in the Punjab, to procure English education for their sons and retainers, has been so urgent, that the Company’s diplomatic agent, employed among them, has found it wise and conducive to his success to attach an English instructor as part of his esta- blishment for the education of young native chiefs. Prior to the year 1835, when Lord W. Bentinck’s resolution was issued, there had been established ten colleges or seminaries, in which English was taught under the patronage of the government. EDUCATION AND THE ENGLISH. 157 During that important year seven new institutions for English were established in Calcutta, Jugger- naut, Meerut, Ghazeepore, Patna, Dacca, and at Gawahati, in Assam. An English class was also added to all the preexisting native colleges in Cal- cutta, Benares, and Delhi. In 1837 six others were commenced at Ruj Shahi, Jubbulpore, IIos- hungabad, Ferruckabad, Bareilly and Ajmere. During the years 1838 and 1839, thirteen more have been established. So that now the govern- ment institutions for English, under the direction of “ The Government Committee for Public In- struction,” in Bengal, are in number forty ; besides the institutions at the other presidencies, whether public or private, of a missionary, or generally of a mere literary character. The sum distributed by this committee, from various sources, for English education chiefly, is about three lacks of rupees (30,000/.) There are about eighty zillahs or pro- vincial districts under the Bengal presidency. It is the purpose of the friends of education to es- tablish in each a normal seminary to serve as a fountain of instruction for the district. The half of the work has been done. But they act on the principle of aiding, rather than wholly supporting ; they serve, therefore, by this to develop the re- sources and disposition of the natives. They act, too, as a stimulus to native enterprise, and secure a large measure of cooperation ; so that a much greater amount is expended on education than is granted by government. Many wealthy natives are 458 CONTINENTAL INDIA. ambitious of being regarded as patrons of literature ; and donations of two or three thousand, and some- times as much as ten thousand pounds, have recently been given by baboos and rajahs, by Parsees and Mohammedans. It may afford some criterion of the present state of literature in India if I glance at the number and constitution of the academic and literary semi- naries in Calcutta, and mention some of the fea- tures of the principal institutions in the upper provinces. The printing establishments at the presidency, and in its vicinity alone, will help the judgment of an interested inquirer. It will be observed as a new character in the modern era of oriental learning, that natives of India, whether Christians by profession or not, have been associated in the same committees, and as directors, with the most eminent Europeans, for the management of educational institutions. The general commit- tee of public instruction consists of thirteen Euro- pean and four native members. The Hindoo College has three native governors, two European visiters, six native and two European directors, seven European professors and head masters, four European and seven native assistants ; besides moulavies and pundits, secretary, cashier, and ac- countant. I mention the college of Fort William as employed to decide on the progress of civilians in oriental languages, rather than to impart in- struction. Bishop’s College, besides European pro- fessors, retains four native teachers ; but no native EDUCATION AND THE ENGLISH. 459 Hindoo has any part in its government, in its syndics for translation, or control in its printing establishment. The superintending committee for the Madressa consists of six Europeans only. The Sanscrit College has three Europeans and two native gentlemen in committee. The Hooghly College has three Europeans, as a principal, a professor, and a head master. The Calcutta School- book Society, under the highest patronage, has a committee of fourteen, equally divided between natives and Europeans, besides secretary and depo- sitaries. The Calcutta School Society is patronized by the governor and a judge, with a committee of four Europeans and seven natives. Fourteen other schools and colleges in the provinces enumerate their office-bearers ; among whom I find nearly eighty Europeans as teachers, professors, secre- taries, superintendents, and committee-men, with fifteen native coadjutors. The oriental seminary at Calcutta is established for the education of Hindoo youth in English literature and sciences, and is conducted by two head masters and three assist- ants ; the teachers are native and English. The Union School is under the patronage of the Cal- cutta School Society, with a committee of two English and two native gentlemen. La Martiniere is an institution founded by a munificent bequest of General Martin. It is conducted on principles analogous to those adopted by the Irish Board of Education, and is managed by governors, ex officio, including the members of council, the judges, and 460 CONTINENTAL INDIA. the bishop, and three others annually chosen. The Armenian Philanthropic Institution has an Armenian and an English department ; in the latter five, and in the former two teachers are under a committee of four Armenian gentlemen. The Hindoo Benevolent Institution, with a Bengalee auxiliary, called Patshalla, has a managing com- mittee of six Europeans and five natives; besides visiters, examiners, and proprietors, two super- intendents, and eight teachers, all natives. The Parental Academic Institution has one head master, a patron, visiters, secretary, a surgeon, and a com- mittee of fourteen gentlemen. The Calcutta High School, with a management wholly clerical, employs seven European masters and a secretary. A Free- school Institution, under the exclusive patronage of the Episcopal Church, has nine civilians and five clergymen in its management ; the male and female department having each four teachers. The Benevolent Institution, founded by the Serampore Missionaries, supports two schools, with two mas- ters, a mistress, and a secretary. The Catholic Charity Schools have one female and two male teachers. The Serampore College does not require either specification or description in this place. Its character and influence in the field of missions, and within the Christian Church, will be duly appreciated by every friend of literature and religion in India. There are nine printing establishments at Calcutta for English purposes ; but many native writers avail themselves of the facilities which EDUCATION AN1) THE ENGLISH. 4()1 they afford for periodical or occasional publications. Eight native establishments give designation to the native press of Calcutta. The proprietors of these last, with one exception, are all natives of India; and from these establishments numerous periodical works are daily, weekly, monthly, and annually issued. Such are the elements of literature, and such the prospects of education in India. But I cannot close this survey till I have glanced at the means and progress of female instruction among the Hindoos. Till missionary operations had been carried forward to some extent, few females in India were blessed with the advantages of education. Some licentious companions of the pagoda brahmins, and the nautch girls (women whose occupations were similar to those of opera- dancers,) were the only known exceptions to the universal ignorance of Hindoo women. Hence the ability to read was an attainment repre- sented as discreditable, and a stain upon the reputation of a woman’s purity. Reading was reputed as only ministering to evil passions. They might, therefore, conclude, since “ignorance was bliss, it was folly to be wise.” The Serampore missionaries took the lead in educational efforts among the daughters and mothers in India; and Mr. Ward’s visit to England in 1822, and his letters addressed to the ladies of Liverpool, excited the attention of the British public on this matter. The missionaries at other stations, and of other societies, were zealously contending against native prejudices. 462 CONTINENTAL INDIA. pride, and domination ; and, by experiment, proring what could be done, and showing to the natives the more excellent way. It continued, indeed, a ques- tion, with many sincere friends of the people, whether special and separate efforts should be made, or whether their condition could be improved till the minds of men were more enlightened and expanded. Yet it cannot be questioned but judi- cious measures for improving the females would also have an influence on their husbands and brothers. The British and Foreign School Society commissioned Miss Cook as their agent to Cal- cutta, who entered upon her work with energy and resolution, and found among the residents the most generous sympathy and cooperation. The Marchioness of Hastings patronized the work, Lady Amherst lent her measure of influence. Lady Ben- tinck aided generously in promoting the design, and the Misses Eden, sisters of Lord Auckland, give all the weight of the governor-general’s connexion to the same cause. General schools, central schools, and orphan asylums for Hindoo females, have suc- cessively risen and prospered in and around Cal- cutta. The system has been diffused over India, on the banks of the Ganges, in the higher and western provinces ; at Burdwan, Cawnpore, Be- nares, Gorruckpore, Allahabad and Futtehpore; and in various places under the Madras and Bombay presidencies. Thousands of Hindoo females are now under instruction, and make as decided progress as any of the other sex. The EDUCATION ANT) THE ENGLISH. 463 introduction of science, or the higher branches of education, has not been attempted ; hut in most instances English classes have been established, or separate education in English has been imparted to the scholars : a most wise and beneficent arrange- ment, whereby the young women may he enlight- ened, as well as qualified to fill situations in the households of Europeans with advantage and satis- faction. Prejudice and long-established custom were likely to operate on the minds of the wealthier and higher class of Hindoos, both to restrain their liberality, and withhold their daughters. Yet re- forms always move upward, and though the poorer members of the community he more accessible to benevolence, and generally the earliest recipients of popular benefits, individuals among the more opu- lent and aristocratic ranks often become efficient coadjutors. Though few, there have been some Hindoos of distinction who have perceived the value of female education, and especially such as have been brought into familiar and friendly inter- course with English families, and have mingled in the society of European ladies. With timidity, perhaps, and hesitation, yet with inward pleasure, they have not only witnessed, but countenanced, the attempts made to instruct the female children of poor Hindoos. There are many rich natives, on whom fashion and flattery exercise paramount in- fluence ; especially what is fashionable among the Company’s higher servants, and on which the supreme government bestows its patronage. 464 CONTINENTAL INDIA. The favourable manner in which female education has been espoused by the functionaries of govern- ment, has operated powerfully among the higher ranks in India. The children of nominally Chris- tian Hindoos, orphan children, and the daughters of needy or menial natives, were first made partakers of education in mission schools, under the domestic superintendence of the wives of missionaries ; and often with the parental care of adoption. The result was, that when their progress w r as discovered, and their improvement and superiority over un- educated females, however highly connected or wealthy, w r as established, the pride of the Hindoo was touched, and his ambition excited. He gave his money, that he might be numbered among the honourable patrons ; and employed teachers for his own daughters, that he might receive the applause of the leaders of fashion for his liberality and in- telligence. The first scholar wiio attended Miss Cook’s (now Mrs. Wilson’s) instructions w r as of humble parentage ; and to secure her continuance, it w r as required that the teacher should sign an agreement that she would make no claim on the child hereafter for having educated her, but would give her up to her parents when they desired. In 1822 eight schools for girls w 7 ere formed in Cal- cutta. In the following year they increased to twenty-two, containing 400 children ; and a public examination w r as held in June. The second ex- amination took place in December, 1824; when five hundred children were present. Eighteen EDUCATION AND THE ENGLISH. 465 months later the foundation stone of a central school was laid in the corner of Cornwallis-square, to which a retired native chief, the Rajah Boidanath Roy Bahadur, contributed 20,000 rupees (2,000/.) His ranee, or princess, afterwards received instruc- tion in English from Mrs. Wilson ; and visited the central school to mark the progress of the children ; of whom nearly two hundred attended in the year 1829. The number in this institution had increased in 1836 to nearly 300, besides the daily common schools and the orphan asylum. Attempts have been made to bring native ladies of rank into the intercourse of English ladies ; the break- ing down of prejudice and bashfulness is, however, of slow progress. During my residence at Madras, visits of ceremony, and even entertainments, passed between the begum and bebees, or ladies of the nawaub, and the ladies of Sir T. Monro and Sir A. Campbell : amusing and ludicrous incidents oc- curred, which required a large measure of restraint and politeness on the part of the guests. I borrow the following, sketch, conveying, as 1 believe it does, much truth of description, and correctly illus- trating the uneducated state of Hindoo females. Only a lady could have delineated the scene, since none else would have been permitted to witness the figures in the group, ornamented or unadorned as they are described. “ A message was sent by the bebees, to say that they would put on all their jewels and richest attire, hoping that the English ladies would do the same. VOL II. H H 466 CONTINENTAL INDIA. The hour fixed for the visit, which had been the subject of much arrangement, was five in the after- noon. The gateway, by which we entered to a very large house, was narrow and shabby, leading into a spacious quadrangle, the centre of which was occupied by an open stage, raised upon pillars, for a place of exhibition on days of worship or amusement ; from the galleries which encircled the house, both above and below, many doors were seen leading to the different apartments of the numerous inmates ; next to those appropriated to the females, was a small room furnished partly in the English style, into which we were shown. We had to wait for some time before any one appeared. At last children without any clothing, though some were seven or eight years old, came in, but ran away as soon as w r e attempted to speak, or to touch them. A little girl, however, soon returned, accompanied by one of the bebees. Others, at different distances, followed. We w r ere astonished at the degree of timidity, betrayed by extreme awkwardness ; some approaching with fingers in their mouths, some leaning against the wall or furniture, and others rudely thrusting for- ward to satiate their curiosity, none venturing to speak, or even to offer a salaam. The legitimate wife, or head bebee, was soon distinguished ; a beautiful woman, as fair as many Europeans, and of the sweetest expression of countenance, graceful in form and manner. Addressing ourselves to her, we discovered that the group of women and cliil- EDUCATION AND THE ENGLISH. 4G7 dren (about thirty women, and as many children) that surrounded us, were relations of her husband, either by blood or marriage, and occupied one side of the building, the other being allotted to the men. The elder women would not venture to come near us, bidding us to keep at a distance, saying that they feared we should destroy their caste ; the younger soon threw off their restraint, and began to pull our dresses about, closely ex- amining all that we had on. They asked so many questions about our clothes, our habits, our manner of eating, especially of our marriages, and the degree of intercourse that European ladies were allowed to have with their husbands, that we were at a loss to reply, and had the greatest difficulty to suppress the noise occasioned by their all speaking at once, and in the loudest possible tone of voice. We were pained beyond expression with the frivo- lousness and impurity of their minds and conver- sation. Their better feelings being roused, the bebees one and all confessed that they had never been taught otherwise, ‘ but they were willing to learn to read or work like the English ladies ; for, as they had nothing to do all day long, it was their custom to be idle, and to talk about foolish things.’ On taking leave of them, they begged that we would come again, and bring them books, pictures, and dolls. In this interview, and aftenvards, when they received notice that strangers would accom- pany us, they w r ere dressed in sarees of the most transparent muslin or gauze, with gold and silver H H 2 468 CONTINENTAL INDIA. flowers, completely exposing the person, and were loaded with a profusion of ornaments of gold, silver, pearls, and diamonds ; but when we unex- pectedly called upon them, they were in the oppo- site degree neglected, the children running about without the slightest covering, so that the approach was any thing but pleasant. The bebees’ apart- ments, which we afterwards visited, were dark and uncomfortable, in a state of great filthiness, with narrow gratings for windows. They took pleasure in showing us their jewellery, which was kept in the same state of untidiness ; and speaking of their husbands, they seemed to appreciate them only by the number and value of their gifts.” The extent to which a knowledge of English, and an assimilation to Anglican literary habits, prevailed in the eastern provinces prior to the movement under government auspices which we have described, may be judged of from the numbers of English and native newspapers which had been started, many of which were conducted by and for the natives of India. In the year 1814 only one newspaper existed at Calcutta : including this first, there were five periodicals in 1820, among which flourished Buckingham’s Calcutta Journal, circu- lated over India generally. They had increased to thirty in 1830, monthly, weekly, and daily, besides quarterlies and annuals. Four years later, they were thus enumerated by Mr. M. Martin : in English, eight daily, four political and four commercial, papers ; three political journals twice or three EDUCATION AND THE ENGLISH. 40.9 times a week ; and ten weekly, three political, four commercial, two literary, and one official ; six were published monthly, and four quarterly ; besides six which appeared as annuals. These thirty-seven were all issued from the Calcutta press ; hut four- teen native periodicals were also published, weekly, twice or thrice a week, or daily, nine of which were in Bengalee, two in Persian, two in Bengalee and English, and one in Bengalee, Persian, and Hin- dostanee. In the Upper Provinces, in Delhi, Meerut, Agra, and other districts, in Bombay, and Madras, thirty other periodicals, native and English, were conducted with various talent and success. It would be satisfactory to be able to mark the onward course of this literary current, but changes and new streams pass on with a rapidity which defies our pretension to any correct analysis of oriental enterprise on this new field of conquest. The demand for English literature has rapidly strengthened, is increasing, and cannot be restrained. To each of the forty institutions in Bengal for promoting the culture of English and European learning the committee have found it requisite to annex a good library. The appetite for reading we know grows by what it feeds on ; and therefore of making many books there is no end. This is no cause of regret or complaint. Entertaining and instructive books have been procured from America as well as England ; contracts have been entered into with booksellers for a regular supply ; 2,000/., the donation of one native patron. Rajah Bejai 470 CONTINENTAL INDIA. Govind Sing, have been appropriated in aid of such public libraries. The natives are cherishing a taste for libraries of English works. I have seen a Brah- min more pleased to display his literary treasures than native women ever were to show their jewels. I have found in his private room, where he was gratified to entertain his English friend, a select and well-bound library, containing works of history, of travels, and of philosophy; Reid and Stewart’s works in company with Locke and Bacon. My friend valued these writings not for their appear- ance ; he studied the science of mind, and dis- cussed metaphysical subjects with intelligence and research ; his pride consisted in knowing the things which were the theme of his authors ; works on mythology and antiquity afforded him amusement, and occupied much of his time. This man was not a Christian, but an enlightened heathen ; he was not possessed of large wealth — he might be reputed one of the middle classes. I have also met a Mohammedan of quite as cultivated a taste for letters and books, though not so enlightened or philosophical in his studies ; he had more wealth, and expended it in employing secretaries, and fur- nishing an extensive library with splendid and costly works. There are many such natives in all parts of India ; and let the present growing taste prevail for only a few years, and the consequence will be, that the largest market for European lite- rature, and the most profitable field for English bibliopoles, will be found in British India. The EDUCATION AND THE ENGLISH. 471 enterprise of British commerce will soon discover the channels in which capital may more freely flow, and hy which they may obtain the best returns. I have confidence in the demands and profits of trade ; that they will naturally, and without ephemeral stimulants, secure a seasonable and economical supply of English literature for Hindoo readers. But the friends of literature may do much by countenancing and contributing to the resources of educational institutions, by supplying and directing the proper application of such me- chanism as is most subservient in diffusing a know- ledge of the English language. I have no doubt that a more decided encouragement of this language at the seat of every protestant mission would tend to advance the establishment of evangelical truth. There is the widest scope for the enlightened and zealous schoolmaster abroad. Men complain because there is no war, that there is a super- abundance of hands, and there is no demand for professional men. It is the greatest mistake ; there is a war — of principle, between light and darkness, truth and error, and legions of profes- sional men are required to fill the ranks — many are required to run to and fro, that know- ledge may increase. And why should not the schoolmaster go abroad on a generous and high- minded crusade ; on an adventure not more peril- ous than the merchant or the tradesman often undertake ; while his superior acquirements should inspire him with confidence in the value of his 472 CONTINENTAL INDIA. commodity, in the triumph with which truth’s progress shall be crowned, and in the conquests which a benevolent wisdom must achieve against all the combined powers of folly and crime ? Many of the schoolmasters who have started in India came out in the ranks ; and almost all have pro- spered, though imperfectly qualified for their task. Let a new order of men go forth, and they will find openings in India, where enterprise, assiduity, and skill, will obtain a reward equal to their am- bition, and where they may become the benefactors of thousands and tens of thousands. The multiplication of printing-presses, no longer obstructed by law or authority, will be essentially serviceable in the same cause. A national lite- rature is yet to be created ; and printed books are comparatively few in India. Printing has not been in operation among the Hindoos ; their native literature has been transcribed by the style, or copied by the reed. The new modelled and christianized, the scientific and historical literature of 200,000,000 has yet to be printed ; and all the elementary processes prepared and furnished in unnumbered thousands ; for the village school, the academic and collegiate hall, as well as for the family group and ornamental libraries of the rich and noble. The great majority of the Hindoo population may not have acquired facility in reading even their own language, far less English ; yet many feel a pleasure in, and derive profit from the engagement. True knowledge is valuable for EDUCATION AND THE ENGLISH. 473 its own sake ; and growing numbers of inquirers will speedily evince a desire to possess, if they find it within their reach, the precious pearl. It gives a weight to character and a superiority to the possessor, which are soon perceived, and readily acknowledged by those who are less privileged. Men of correct information and enlarged con- ceptions, increasing in number, will very soon give a decided tone to public opinion, and such a general and powerful direction, that where useful knowledge is rendered accessible to the many, whose means are limited, a great and rapid moral improvement in society may be reasonably ex- pected. Why should not societies be formed ex- pressly for the purpose of fitting up and supporting missionary printing establishments ? The benefit to be realized might be incalculably great. The principal object of such associations would naturally lead them to direct their attention to works which they think best calculated to forward their designs, in promoting the highest interests of men. Any expensive, but truly beneficial publication, which they might deem of great importance to translate for the spread of science or Christian knowledge, would be made known among scientific, benevolent, educational, or religious societies ; and the aid contributed by those who were willing to share the expenses connected with such an undertaking would not only lessen the burden, but ensure com- pletion. The liberal soul, which devises liberal things, will not look upon this project as chime- 474 CONTINENTAL INDIA. rical, considering the advantages derived already to literature and education by the efforts of the Society for Diffusing Useful and Entertaining Knowledge. But such fountains of instruction are especially deserving the patronage and support of missionary institutions : they are sweet springs of vital and refreshing efficacy in the waste wilder- ness, more precious than the wells which Isaac’s servants digged in the valley of Gerar, and for which his herdmen strove. The servants of Christ and of his Church should be quick to discern the signs of the times, as philosophers discern the face of the sky ; and prompt to place themselves as watchmen round the wells of salvation, that the sources be not polluted, or the streams rendered impure and noxious : such is the care, and such the vigilance required for the printing press. With great eloquence and propriety did the poet of Weston Favel apostrophize this mighty engine of universal light and wisdom : — “ How shall I speak thee, or thy power address, Thou god of our idolatry, the press ? By thee religion, liberty, and laws, Exert their influence, and advance their cause ; By thee worse plagues than Pharaoh’s land befel, Diffus’d, make earth the vestibule of hell ; Thou fountain at which drink the good and wise ; Thou ever bubbling spring of endless lies : Like Eden’s dread probationary tree, Knowledge of good and evil is from thee.” It is, therefore, no presumptuous or needless warning; neither was the counsel misplaced or EDUCATION AND THE ENGLISH. 475 inappropriate, which I have read and would here repeat to the promoters of Christian missions, and their foreign representatives, as servants of the Church. Let these agents take their “ stand in ther highest and most commanding position to which God, in his holy providence, is inviting them. Ele- mentary works, and every other which issues from these presses, under the superintendence of men in whom are the fear and knowledge of God, should all be made to subserve the great cause of our holy religion : leaving other productions to advance as their weight may be felt, either through the progress of general knowledge, or as the arti- ficial excitement occasioned by speculative men may increase the demand.” The world is, every day, subject to changes in its moral aspects and relations. These the states- man and politician assiduously watch ; the manu- facturer and the merchant anticipate and prepare for transitions of a far inferior and more evanescent nature; but the Christian and the philanthropist pursue a merchandise more precious than the ruby or the diamond, than the golden wedge of Ophir, and conduct negotiations concerning a kingdom and a dominion, whose sceptre shall have universal sway, and whose duration shall be for ever and ever. Why should not they then, with vigilance and solicitude, contemplate and eagerly seize the incidents and changes of a moral character, which may transmute the appearance and pursuits of the world ? It is unsuited to the dignity and principles. 476 CONTINENTAL INDIA. the confidence and resources of the Church, to be thrown into a ferment of apprehension and uncertainty, of perplexity and indecision by the convulsions or revolutions, the new demands or necessities of the world : she should always he prepared to facilitate, and move onward with the progress of useful knowledge, or the new impulses of mind and opinion. When the spirit of inquiry is generally aroused among a people, she should be prepared with means, ample and appropriate, with which to endow her agents who wish properly to direct and answer its demands, or by which inquirers may be enabled to attain unto, and rejoice in the truth. The direction of the spirit of inquiry is the prerogative of no mere philosopher or moralist ; it is an important talent, committed, in the ministration and diffusion of the word and ordinances, to the Church, which the Lord has given to her members and ministers, to occupy diligently ; that when he comes he may receive it with usury. “ Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature,” is his command ; while his gracious promise assures her of his presence , — “ Lo I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.” If this talent be neglected, or if the servant hide it in a napkin, then, not only is an opportunity of benefiting the world lost; hut leave is given to interested, am- bitious, or misguided aspirants to intrude their supply of notional errors, or philosophy falsely so called ; which, meeting the wants and appetites of EDUCATION AND THE ENGLISH. 477 awakened and anxious minds, operates as a poisonous food, that will corrupt, or at least become a substi- tute, for more wholesome nutriment ; which vitiates the taste, and powerfully retards all moral improve- ment. How is the demand in heathen countries, which is daily increasing, to be effectually provided with a salutary supply, without a sufficient number of well-directed printing establishments ? Let the communities of Christians who have entered on the godlike work of missions, on the principles of the Divine oracles, take the lead, occupy their legiti- mate position, and exercise the control which truth is sure always to impart ; and they will wisely and safely direct public opinion among the numerous sections now rapidly emerging, in augmenting myriads, from heathen ignorance. Let “ all the winds of doctrine be let loose, if so be truth is in the field we fear not the issue but be sure that truth is there, clothed in her own pure, invulnerable armour ; no false helmet, no strange mail, no unproved sword, no greaves of brass, or ponderous shield of unethereal temper, but the panoply in which she has ever con- quered, by which she has been mighty, through God, in every contest through which she has passed. Yet it seems as if the flippant and demoralizing age of infidelity were near a close, or had come at least to anility and dotage. The mumblings of toothless age, or the momentary glimmerings and hallucinations of superannuated folly, may now and again give symptoms of a protracted existence ; but the greatest number of scientific and literary 478 CONTINENTAL INDIA. characters which will be raised up from among the natives of Hindoostan will, there is great pro- bability, and so much the more likely if Christians be wise and faithful, be rationally convinced of the truth of Christianity, and constrained to admit its importance ; though all may not be sincere believers in Christ Jesus their Saviour. The instrumentality of such auxiliaries may be made subservient under the auspices of a well-regulated press. Let every advantage be improved by the Christian church ; for every one who is not against her, is for her ; every lover of truth is a friend to his species, and will prove a helper in advancing the cause and triumph of justice and wisdom over the whole world. Though the chief aim of Divine mercy is to make men wise unto salvation, which gospel truth alone can effect ; yet we are taught to value and think on “ whatsoever things are true, what- soever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report.” Let the press be made instrumental in demon- strating what is the virtue and what is the praise of these things, and it will help to raise up a host of faithful soldiers, who will go forth to the de- struction of ignorance, error, and crime, and pre- pare a people for the service of the Lord. THE END. iahdci.ay, rniNTicn, miRAU struct him.. NEW WORKS PUBLISHED BY T. WARD AND CO. PATERNOSTER ROW. CELESTIAL SCENERY ; or, the Planetary System Dis- played: illustrating the Perfections of Deity, and a Plurality of Worlds. By T. Dick, LL.D., Author of the “Christian Philosopher,” &c. 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