Imatges de pàgina
PDF
EPUB

of the claimant is notoriously infamous, and the degradation of three-fourths of the Hindoos, under the name of shōōdrūs, may well awaken the compassion of every benevolent individual.-Such are the blemishes in the Social Institutions of this people, operating on the great mass of the population so as to reduce them to the lowest possible state of degradation.

The habitations of the Hindoos are highly unfavourable to health, especially during the wet and cold seasons, as the people have nothing but a thin mat betwixt them and the cold damp earth during the hours of repose. It is very common also to make a large pit by the side of the house, with the earth drawn from which the walls are formed; these pits, being filled with water during the rains, contribute greatly to the unwholesomeness of the dwelling-house. To this we might add, that vast numbers who travel to festivals are obliged to sleep on the bare ground at night, exposed to all the inclemencies of the weather. To these circumstances, added to unsubstantial diet, some of the most dangerous diseases of the country are perhaps to be attributed.

The lightness of the Hindoo dress must also add, in the cold season, not only to the misery of the poor, but to the number of the afflicted: the eagerness of the poor to obtain shreds of coarse woollen cloth to cover their heads, and their general dislike of the cold season, prove that they suffer much from the cold.

The imperfection of their medical system, and the ignorance and rapacity of the quacks who bear the character of physicians, greatly adds to the general misery.— It would surely be an act of philanthropy to improve the medical knowledge of the Hindoos; and this might be easily done, by instituting a college at Calcutta, for the instruction of the medical class; and by disseminating, in the native languages, European ideas on the nature of diseases and their remedies, pointing out, at the same time, the absurdities in the Hindoo practice.

Nor can I avoid suggesting, that, while the plan of governing the Hindoos by their own laws is maintained, it would surely be a great benefit bestowed on them, were

such improvements from the English civil and criminal laws incorporated with theirs as are most suited to their condition, and to the improved state of society. To suppose that the Hindoos would be offended at this, would manifest a deficiency of knowledge respecting the nature of Hindoo prejudices, which I should be very sorry to ascribe to any person who has been twelve months in India.

The heavy expences attending marriages, as well as those incurred at the celebration of the rites for the repose of the dead, in thousands of instances involving the lower orders in debts they are never able to discharge, are also great obstructions to the progress of the Hindoos in civilization.

The general practice of borrowing, even among the poor, and that at a most enormous interest, (as high as 30 per cent.) is a heavy tax on industry, and keeps the lower orders in a state of wretched dependance. A Hindoo seldom makes provision for the future: he borrows to supply his most common wants, and then evades payment, as long as he possibly can.

The great number of feasts in the Hindoo calendar,* the time consumed in pilgrimages, and the burden of swarms of mendicants, resembling armies of locusts, greatly tend to increase the poverty of the lower orders.

The long intervals which commonly take place betwixt their meals, appear to be highly injurious to the health of the people..

The removal of the dying to the banks of the Ganges, the voluntary immolations at places the resort of pilgrims, and the burning of widows alive, entail so much misery on the Hindoo race, that every humane heart is rent in pieces whenever these horrible practices are brought into public notice. The great success which has attended the benevolent exertions of Government in certain cases, encourages us to hope, that the hand of mercy will, sooner or later, heal the wounds of a country

The number of females who go on pilgrimage, or attend festivals, is to the number of males as three to one,

or even more.

bleeding at every pore from the fangs of superstition.-These cruelties can have so little sanction from any form of religion, are so abhorrent to every human feeling, and have in some instances been prevented with so much ease, that one can scarcely forbear wishing, that more may be done to prevent such plain violations of the duties men owe to themselves and to society.

:

The practice of burning the dead tends very much to blunt the feelings of the living; and the method of doing it, presents a striking contrast to the respect, and tender feeling, cherished in burying the dead among Christians in the Hindoo fune rals, no children or relations are seen weeping over the pile; the only persons present, are two or three men, with bamboos in their hands, to keep the limbs and bones on the fire, and to facilitate their destruction: even the ashes are washed away, or thrown into the Ganges, not leaving a vestige that can remind the living of their deceased friends; the place where the dead are burnt, is not a grove of cypress adorned with monuments, but the common receptable for whatever offends the sight.

It is, however, but justice to the Hindoos, to mention certain of their institutions which would do honour to any country:

Many rich men allow pensions to learned Hindoos, to enable them to teach the shastrus to others; and all learned teachers instruct youth gratis, as an act of merit, though in general their rich neighbours amply reward them.

The forming pools of water for public use, is a great blessing; and the making of roads, though limited to the direction of sacred places, and intended only for the accommodation of pilgrims, is still of considerable utility.-Hospitality to travellers is a national characteristic, and deserves every praise: a traveller is sure to find an asylum and entertainment in a private house, at any village where he may happen to arrive. The erection of houses adjoining the flights of steps descending to the Ganges, to shelter the poor and sick, is another act of compassion, which reflects honour on the Hindoo nation; though this, and similiar institutions, arise out of the superstition of the country, and cannot fairly be ascribed to benevolent feelings.-The

planting of orchards, and trees for shade; and giving water to travellers on public roads during the sultry months, deserve also similar commendation.

Notwithstanding the counteracting influence of the cast, formal agreements of friendship, even between bramhuns and shoodrus, are very common. When these agreements are made, the parties choose a name by which to call each other, as bundhoo, moitră,* sangată,† &c.; they present to each, and sometimes to the families of each, suits of clothes, and make feasts for each other. Persons going to the temple of Jăgănnat'hŭ, in Orissa, sometimes make agreements of friendship there, and ratify them by presenting to each other the sacred food, the orts of Jugunnat❜ho. When two females thus join in friendship, they call each other soi,‡ or vukoolŭ-phoolů,§ or mükŭră,|| or dékh inů-hasee,* &c. These friendships, though often suddenly formed, spring from mutual attachment.

The concern of the Hindoos to secure happiness after death is very strong and general; and, however inadequate, to answer the important ends of salvation, those numerous acts of superstition may be to which they are excited by this concern, these acts, many of them very expensive and painful, shew a solicitude about an after-state which may put to the blush many professed christians.

The author now proceeds to offer a few remarks on the moral state of the Hindoos, though he is aware of the difficulties of describing the character of a whole people, amongst whom a thousand varieties and shades of difference must exist.

It may be proper to observe, in the first place, that though the Hindoos are tolerably quick of apprehension, mild, † communicative, and polite, we are not to look among them for the solid virtues, as integrity, humanity, truth, or generosity. The This word inlimates, that they will each consent to what the other proposes. A sign of the zodiac. * This word intimates, that the sight of each other will

* Friend. + Companion. The flower of the vŭkoolů. produce laughter.

+ I wish here to be understood as speaking only of the Hindoos, and not of Musulmans, who, in this country, answer too nearly to the description which Mungo Park has given of the Musulmans in Africa. He who has read 'Park's account of his treatment by Ali at Benown, will, I apprehend, see the picture of a Mahometan in every part of the world. See Park's Travels, page 121, &c.

[ocr errors]

cast confines all their social feelings within its own circle. A generous man is a social being, but how can a person possess social feelings, when he is cut off from the great bulk of his fellow creatures, and forbidden to eat, or drink, or smoke with them, on pain of total degradation?

If love of country be a virtue, we are hardly to expect it amongst a people who have been so long governed by their conquerors; the Hindoos are attached to the place of their birth, like other nations, but, beyond this, they know nothing of patriotism. Nor are we to look amongst them for any of the virtues which spring from the enjoyment of liberty, and from those benevolent institutions which owe their existence to the influence of Christianity. India contains no Hindoo hospitals for the sick and the insane, no institutions for the relief of the poor and unfortunate, no charity schools, no benevolent societies of any kind; nor do the popular institutions, or the established superstition, contain any one operative principle capable of improving the moral condition of the people. How then can it be expected that the Hindoos should be virtuous?

An excellent writer, in his sketch of the state of British India, speaking of the Hindoos, says, 'Instances of filial disobedience are said seldom to occur;' 'their women are distinguished by a fidelity to their vows, which would do honour to the sex in the most civilized nations,' p. 53. Now, it is very unfortunate, that in no respect are the Hindoo manners more deficient than in filial obedience, and conjugal fidelity. The Hindoos feel, indeed, a very strong attachment to their children, but they are exceedingly neglectful of early discipline; and hence disobedience to parents is proverbial to a shocking degree. Hindoo lads, especially among the poor, make no hesitation in grossly abusing both father and mother. It is a fact which greatly perplexes many of the well informed Hindoos, that notwithstanding the wives of Europeans are seen in so many mixed companies, they remain chaste; while their wives, though continually secluded, watched, and veiled, are so notoriously corrupt. I recollect the observation of a gentleman who had lived nearly twenty years in Bengal, and whose opinions on such a subject demand the highest regard, that the infidelity of the Hindoo women was so great, that he scarcely thought there was a single instance of a wife who had been always faithful to her husband.

A a

« AnteriorContinua »