Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2016 https://archive.org/details/dawnoflightstoryOOIesl I Page 35. j Hindoo Child in its Swing. DAWN OF LIGHT 31 Stor]| flf tk gjissimt. M A R Y BY ^ / E. LESLIE. PHILADELPHIA : PKESBYTEEIAN BOAED OF PUBLICATION, ia34 CHESTNUT STREET. CHARACTERS INTRODUCED. f Babu Rajkumar Bhattacharjya, a Brahmin pun- •j dit. LKumaei, wife of the pundit. ' JoDUNATH, brother of the pundit. Prosonno, wife of Jodunalh. Boshouto, young widow of a brotlier of the pundit. Premchand, ] Bovs, the sons of the pundit. Prioratii, J Kamini, daughter of the pundit. Taramoni, aunt of the pundit. Herani, maid-servant. 2 CONTENTS. PAOR Introduction 5 CHAPTER I. The Homestead 13 CHAPTER II. Boshonto’s Hope 30 CHAPTER III. The Break of Dawn 41 CHAPTER IV. Boshonto’s Grief 51 CHAPTER V. Light in Darkness 59 CHAPTER VI. Prosonno’s Trouble 69 3 4 CONTENTS. CHAPTER VII. PVGB A Chain Fastened in Heaven SO CHAPTER YIII. A Visit to Calcutta SO CHAPTER IX. Doubts 106 CHAPTER X. Progress 120 CHAPTER XL The Chain Drawn Closer 12S CHAPTER XII. The Riveting of the Chain 145 CHAPTER XIII. A New Life 155 CHAPTER XIV. Husband and Wife 170 INTRODUCTION. Abridged from that of Rev. Edvard E. Storrow TO THE LoNDOX EDITION. The writer of “The Dawn of Light” is a volun- tary laborer in female mission work in Bengal. Dwelling in the city where it is chiefly carried on, tlie noble impulses of feminine love and pity led her, as well as a few others, to seek access to a select number of respectable Hindoo families, and week by week to labor for their moral and intellectual en- lightenment. IMiss Leslie, therefore, has had unusual opportunities for becoming acquainted with the cha- racter, habits and wants of Hindoo ladies, and in the following story has depicted these with great accu- racy. Boshonto, Kumari, Kamini, Prosonno and Premchaud are veritable personages, though all the incidents associated with their names have not occurred. The story is not only valuable as a faithful por- 1 * 5 6 INTRODUCTION. traiture of Hindoo sceneiy, character and customs as they exist in Calcutta and vicinity; it is yet more valuable, as illustrative of the methods by which light and truth are now penetrating into the daik and sad recesses of many a zenana. Of all tlie social revolutions occurring in various l)arts of the world, none, probably, is more im)iort- ant than that now pa.ssing over the condition of the women of India. Their .state for centuries has been singularly deplorable. Their very birth is a disaj)- pointment. Morally and intellectually they are re- garded as inferior to the other sex. IMucation is denied them. Married while j’et children, they fall into the hands of those who, if poor, treat them as drudges and inferiors; if rich, as too weak, vain and foolish to be able to take care of themselves, and only safe from harm and evil as long as they liave no free intercourse with the other sex, or with the great world outside of the walls of them own apartments. Should their husbands die, they as widows, however young, must subsist on poor and scanty diet and wear the plainest and coarse.st attire to the end of lile. It need not be told how their .state was deploied, especially by tho.'e who were laboring for India’s en- lightenment, but no remedy was at hand. Schools for girls were unknown. V’hen fir.st established. INTRODUCTION’. 7 only the very poorest and those of lowest caste could be bribed to send their daughters. The very few who were sent to school were taken away at the time of marriage, before any permanent result could be looked for. Nor were adults more accessible. If they ventured to draw near tlie out- skirts of a crowd of men who were listening to a missionary, they might be told contemptuously that, being only women, that which a])pealed to the mind and intellect was not for them ; whilst respectable ladies, shut up in their zenanas, could neither be reached by the living voice of instruction nor read the books which occasionally penetrated into their dwellings. One half the population of all India was thus practically beyond our reach. Happily, all this is now beginning to change, and it is alike important and instructive to trace the causes of a movement which, though limited at pres- ent to a few localities, is certain finally to revolution- ize the entire structure of Hindoo society. Around Calcutta the greatest indications of this change are observable ; a statement, therefore, of what is occurring there will illustrate what is going on in a less degree in many other places. Being the seat of government, and the centre of commerce between North-eastern India, with its eighty millions of population, and the civilized 8 INTRODUCTION. world, it has drawn to itself a lai-ger minihcr of Europeans and respectable Hindoos than is anywhere else to be found. From the southern suburbs of the city to Chinsurah, twenty-eight miles north of Cal cutta, and within three miles of each side of the river, there are at least a million and a half of ]ieo- ple. In addition to ten thousand who are being taught in government and government-aided and mission schools in their own language, there are in superior schools and colleges more than fourteen thou-sand who are acquiring a knowledge of our West- ern literatm-e, science and opinions through the Engli.'^h language. The latter nearly all belong to the middle and upi^er classes of society. In all these schools and colleges, both directly and indirectly, our ideas of morality, of the relations of the sexes, of the honor, love and courtesy due to womankind, are inculcated, and in mission schools and colleges where two-thirds at least of the a'bove numbers attend, the Bible is a recognized cla.ss-book, and there are spe- cific lessons on all the abuses and wrongs affecting native female society. Thu effect of all this is beginning to be very’ marked. The contrast between their manners and customs and our own is soon observed. The more manife.st evils inherent in their own are felt. And now there has grown uj) a fretting imi)atience at the INTRODUCTION. 9 restraints imposed by immemorial custom, and a dis- like to the wrongs and inconveniences from which they suffer. Young men enlightened by an Eng- lish education cannot but observe a marked con- trast between their own intellectual freedom and growth and the utter ignorance, superstition and narrowness of their mothers, sisters and wives. They find themselves married to those whom they would not have themselves chosen, and with whom they can have no sympathy. They see their little sisters given in marriage to perfect strangers who may be four or six times as old as their child-wivc.s. They see widows w’hose husbands died in childhood, who are an encumbrance to their fiimilies, supposed to be cursed by gods and fate, yet whose marriage would be judged to be alike impious and unnatural. They see all this, and though unusually timid and conservative, they cannot shut their eyes to its evils, and are slowly j^reparing to eradicate them. Thus through the education of the boys and young men comes the most effective means of elevating the women. Our tale exhibits some of the modes in which this social and moral revolution is operating. I have known many instances in which students wishing to parade their own learning, and to gratify the in- quisitiveness of their wives, sisters or aunts, have 10 INTRODUCTION. been led, like Premcband and Prionatli in tliis storj', to teach them to read. Thi.s was dorie secret^’, for those at the head of families weie of tlie old way of thinking, and the innovators were fcv/ and uninflu- ential. The education of the better classes, liow- ever, for thirty years and more, has been mainly of the kind we have described. That women should be educated is now believed by thou.sands of native gen- tlemen, and, unlike numbers who a few years ago held this merely as a theory, they are giving it prac- tical effect. Their ideas of proi)riety forbid that ladies should leave their houses frequently or with- out much protection ; thej’ are unwilling, therefore, as a rule, to send them to school, but they do not object to the visits of English and American ladies, or even of native teachers who are properly accred- ited. There is less inconvenience attendant on this mode of instruction than might be supposed, because the sons in a family when married, and even the grandsons, continue to live under the parental roof, and as Hindoo ladies have abundance of lei.sure, it is not difficult to find several in a familj' who are will- ing to li.sten to a teacher. This is the general work in which many ladies are now engaged. Its importance can hardly he over-esti- mated. We are thus gaining aece.ss to that large class whose influence for good or ill is most potent, whose INTRODUCTION. 11 entliralment and luimiliation have been most com- !i plete, and who hitherto have been inaccessible as I the summits of the Himalayas. •Whilst Hindoo women are thus receiving the bless- ings of knowledge and freedom, the men are prepar- ing to advance yet farther in the same direction. They begin to feci that the prescribed age of mar- riage is much too early ; there is a growing willing- ness to send their daughters to schools ; on the ques- tion of perpetual wddowhood they have advanced yet farther, and in spite of an intensity of opposition which it is difficult for foreigners to understand, have brought about several such manaages. It should need only the statement of the simple facts of the case to obtain all that is required in the form of aid and agency, that every Hindoo family accessible to us may have its visitor, and that every girl who can be sent to school may be within reach of one. Let it be distinctly remembered, however, that this auspicious work is confined to a very small part of India. The hopeful state of female education in Calcutta, Bengal and the Punjab is the exception, not the rule. It is certain that not one Hindoo woman in two hundred can read or write. Then, of the thirty mil- lion young people who might be at school, at least 12 INTRODUCTION. 6fteen millions are girls, and of this vast number there is reason to believe that not one hundred thou- sand are really under instniction, or one in one hun- dred and fifty. Thu.s, whilst there are sixty million adult women in India who, with the rarest exeep- tions, are wholly uneducated, there are nearly thirty millions of their daughters who are growing up in the deepest ignorance. This eannot be perpetuated. We who exult in our freedom and intelligence, who boast of the chiv- alrous, delicate and Christian sentiments we enter- tain for womankind, are bound alike by duty, honor and beneficence tb seek the elevation of our magnifi- cent Eastern empire, and Christian women especially should strive that their Hindoo sisters may share their freedom, cultivation, happiness and piety. The Dawn of Light. CHAPTER I. THE HOAIESTEAD. BOUT ten miles beyond one of the suburbs of Calcutta is a large village, indeed almost a small town, inhabited chiefly by high-caste families, dwelling in substan- tial brick-built houses. There many Baboos, or native gentlemen, have their country resi- dences. Availing themselves of one of the newly-opened Hues of railway, they go every Monday morning to the city, and return to their families on Saturday afternoons. It is true they might, by using the same means of conveyance, go and return each day, but most Bengali gentlemen have their city as well as 2 13 14 THE DAWN OF LIGHT, their country liouses, and they prefer being near their places of business throughout the week. The railroad passes within a mile or two of the village, but the pleasantest way to it is by carriage. The r«ad is very beautiful. Now you pass by a tank cov’ercd with the gorgeous blossoms of the crimson lotus — a flower so regal in its beauty that it seems to deserve the name of the Queen of Flowers far more than does the blushing rose; now you see a grove of mango trees, and if the time of the year be the cold season, each branch is tipj)ed Avith the orange blossoms and crimson leaves of a wild orchid ; farther on is a long range of bamboos, looking beau- tiful and soft in the ever-shifting alternations of cloud and sunshine ; then you come to a field of a kind of pnlse, blue with innume- rable flowers of the richest, deepest azure; a field of yelloAV mustard succeeds, Avith its golden light and its peculiar yet grateful fragrance. In the rainy season every bank and bit of old Avail is marvelously adorned with ferns of v'arious kinds. The AJiantum THE HOMESTEAD. 15 lunulatum, with its pale -green, crescent- shaped leaves, and its black, hair-like stems, beautifies every road. The maiden-hair, with its delicate, feather-like fronds, mantles every half-hidden, secluded wall. The very ditches on either side the road are beautiful, for in them grow arums of singular loveliness. Tiie leaves of some of these arums are blotched with purple; some are veined with exquisite embroidery; but the most are of a rich uniform green. During a shower these beautiful leaves hollow themselves to receive the rain- drops, and then the succeeding burst of sun- shine lights them up with extraordinary radiance. The bazaar, or market, is situated at the entaince of the village. There, in the little stalls, may be seen all sorts of things exposed for sale. Here sits an old man with his stock of tiny looking-glasses, balls of white and colored thread put up in bottles, littk round wooden boxes fantastically painted, heaps of necklaces, or malas, as they are called, strings of beads of various sizes and numberless bracelets of glass or lac. A mis- 16 THE DAWN OF LIGHT. cellaneous collection of nails, locks, cow-bells, tin boxes, conch shells, etc., completes his assortment of goods. Farther on is a pot- tery-shop, with earthen vessels of different sizes and shapes, some of them almost rival- ing in beauty those of the famous Etruscan vases. Yet a little farther on is a sweetmeat shop. Great plates full of parched rice, and of butter, sugar and spices in every form of delectable preparation, are so arranged as to tempt the eyes of the passers-by. Beside it is a fruit shop, with bunches of golden plan- tains hanging up within, and an immense heap of green cocoanuts lying in front. And perhajis next to this is a stall for the flower garlands used in idol-worship. Here the Avorshiper, on his way to the river or the temple, for a few cowries* may buy wreaths of white jessamine, crimson hib'^cus or any other of the beautiful floAvers of India which may happen to be in bloom. LeaAuug the bazaar, Ave come to scattered * A small shell, about eighty of which are exchanged for a copper pice, itself the smallest coin in common use, of less value tb*\n a cent. THE HOMESTEAD. 17 brick houses, each one embosomed in trees. If the day be cool, we can get out and walk along the road. And what a walk that is ! By one coming from the heart of the busy city the stillness is immediately felt as most delightful. The air is fresh and cool, and “the voice of the turtle is heard in the land,” for stealing through the stillness may be heard the sweet yet mournful coo of the wild dove. Sometimes, too, the hoarse croak of a raven may be heard, and occasionally the singular cry of a half-mythical bird which no one professes to have ever seen, but whose nest, wonderful in size, is said to have been dis- covered. In such a quiet and beautiful retreat was the homestead of Baboo Rajkumar Bhatta- charjya. He was a Brahmin and a pundit, or teacher. Sanscrit, the sacred lanc:uage of the Hindoos, was nearly as familiar to him as Bengali. Its polysyllabic words had a strange charm for him, and nothing delighted him more than to have pupils who partook of his enthusiasm. A refined, polished man, he was a perfect gentleman ; conversation 2 * 18 THE DAWN OF LIGHT. with him was a real pleasure, for with great intelligence h<; combined the most finished courtesy. He taught in one of the Calcutta colleges, and had besides some private pupils. On this account he stayed in Calcutta from Monday until Saturday, going to Gopalj>ore — for so we shall call the place — for the day of rest. Verily the Sabbath is a blessing, even to those who have not yet received into their hearts the Lord of the Sabbath !* The pundit’s household was not large. It consisted of his wife, Kumari ;f his two sons, Premchand and Prionath ; his daugh- ter, Kamini; his brother, Jodunath, and his wife, Prosonuo; and Boshonto, a young woman of eighteen, the widow of a younger brother who had died a few months be- * Government and merchants’ offices and all public schools being closed on the Sabbath, it is a day of rest to thousands who do not acknowledge its sanctity. It is now much used by such for meetings where moral and literary questions are discussed, and for worship by those who have discarded idolatry for some form of Theism. t These Bengali names, ending in t, should be pro- nounced as if ending in ee, as Kaminee, Kumaree, etc. THE HOMESTEAD. 19 fore. An old aunt, Taramoni, and a servant, Herani, completed the establish- ment. Kumari was a sweet-looking woman, very fair and very gentle. Her age might have been about twenty-eight. She was slightly tattooed on her chin and nose, but these marks — the former resembling a fleur-de-lifi, the latter a simple black line — seemed only to give to her face a more intellectual expres- sion than it would otherwise have had. Her three children Avere her pride. Prernchand Avas a queer little felloAv of about tAvelve years of age. He had been carefully in- structed, and Avas really very clever. Like all Bengali boys, his Bengali education com- menced on the day he completed his fifth year. On that day his mother, according to native custom, dressed him in his best attii’e and sent him to the village pntsliala, or school. There he learned the alphabet, the multiplication table and the AA^ay to form the letters on strips of palm leaA'es. Naturally quick, he soon learned all that could be taught him at tin/ pafuliala. Then his father 20 THE DAWN OF LIGHT. took him into the city with him every INIon- day morning, w'here he attended one of the large missionary institutions, and made rapid progress in every branch of education. Eng- lish w’as speedily accpiired, and so fond was the little fellow of the new language that Avhenever he met any one who could speak English, he preferred talking in it to Bengali. He even affected to despise the Bengali lan- guage and all Bengali books. Such w'as the progress he had made in understanding Eng- lish that he could rapidly and accurately translate English into Bengali, and Bengali into English. He was the darling of his mother and the hope of his father. Every Saturday his favorite dishes and sw^eetmeats W'ere prepared against his coming home, and the Sunday passed in listening to his tales of Calcutta and its wmnders. Well was it for the boy that he had not his mother’s petting- all the week. The second son, Prionath, was about eight, a merry laughing boy just able to read easy words. During the rainy season paper kites absorbed his heart; at other times his tops, THE HOMESTEAD. •21 fishing-rods and pigeons formed the delights of his play-hours. Excepting when he Avas asleep, his presence at home alforded little satisfaction. Restless, active, domineering, he plagued his mother and aunt, teased Kamini and M'orriod Boshonto. In his father’s old aunt, however, he always found an unfailing friend. It was she who petted and spoiled him. After every misdemeanor he fled to her, and, big as he was, he always nestled in her arms, while the old woman sheltered him from the slaps he so richly de- served. Kamini, the youngest, a child of four, was a very sweet little girl. She had glorious eyes. Very pretty did she look M'ith her black hair nicely tied up, and her tiny saree, or dress, properly arranged — a veritable lit- tle woman. Her prattle was charming, and whenever she lisped out any sentence unusu- ally long, or tried a new and difficult word, her mother’s heart leaped for joy. “Just listen to Toki,” she would say, for Toki was the name of endearment by which the child was called. Kumari dearly loved her, girl 22 THE DAWN OF EIGHT. though she was^ and even the pundit, her father, was very fond of her. Kuniari had these three children • livinor, but slie had lost four others when infants. This is the case with most Hindoo women ; indeed, generally speaking, for one they have living two are among the dead. And, sad though it be to think of the tears of the sor- rowful mothers, yet we cannot but rejoice at the knowledge that thousands and thousands of little ones have thus passed away from these dark and dreary homes into the full blaze of the splendor of the throne of God. Jodunath and his wife, Prosonno, come next. Jodunath was a younger brother of the pundit. He was a young man about thirty, without the abilities of his elder brother, yet like him quite a gentleman. He had a situation in one of the Calcutta offices, and earned eighty rupees* monthly. Prosonno Avas a young woman of twenty. She w'as good-tempered and affectionate in disposi- tion, and little Ivamini seemed to love her quite as much as she did her mother. From * About forty dollars. THE HOMESTEAD. 23 her birth the little creature had been contin- ually with Prosonno, and almost the very first words she had learned were “ Boro 1 Bow” (chief wife), the name by which Pro- sonno went in the household. There was the best understauding between the sisters- in-law. Every one loved Prosonno ; even that little rogue, Priouath, after jilaguing her to the utmost degree, would go and throw his arras round her, and be forgiven and caressed. But loved as she was, Prosonno had one cause of sorrow — a child had been denied her. Puja (religious rite) after puja had been performed, a julgrimage had even been undertaken, but still the longed-for i blessing was ^vithheld. Poor Prosonno ! she feared her husband’s love on this account ;| was passing from her. Ij The next member of the family was Bo- I shonto. She was the widow of a brother ' younger than Jodunath. She was only i eighteen, but a magnificent woman. Tall, large-limbed, large-eyed, fair, slow and lan- j guid in her mnvements, there was something I majestic and f.iscinating about her. Her 24 THE DAWN OF LIGHT. husband had died three months before, and her face looked very sad oftentimes. But on her features there was not that look of strong despair so often visible on the face of Hindoo widows, for a hope glowed within her heart. She looked forward to having a baby of her own — a child to gladden the dreary years of her widowhood. She wished for a boy, and can we wonder at that? What good would a daughter be to her? In a few years she would have to part with her, sending her into a dark and, perhaps, joyless future. But a boy would be her own, her very own, as long as she lived. He would always care for her, always support her, always live with her. His young wife would be to her as a daugh- ter, and his children would be brought up by her as if they were her own. Pleasant were Boshonto’s day-dreams, and many were the prayers she offered to the gods entreating the blessing of a son. The aunt, Taramoni, belonged to the old school. She was a genial old lady, tall, dark, with bright eyes and gray hair. She always had a pleasant word for every one, the whole THE HOMESTEAD. 25 family venerated her and her influence on all was good. The children w^ere much loved by her ; indeed, she indulged them too much. She was considered a very holy woman, and had been on pilgrimage to Juggernath, to Gya, to Benares and other shrines. She ate only once a day, and much of her time was spent in devotions. But the house was all the brighter for her presence, and the whole village too. An old widow, she had the })fivilege of going about among the neigh- bors, and whenever any sickness occurred, the })undit’s aunt was sent for, and by her knowledge of native medicines, many of which are really excellent, she was often able to give relief. In quarrels, too, she was often called in to arbitrate, and her decisions, sen- sible always, "were generally accepted. The servant was a distant relation of the family, a Brahmani and a widow. She cooked for them, brought their water, went to the bazaar and made their purchases, and did whatever else was wanted m and about the house. She was kindly treated, and pro- vi