However, I never had reason to think, neither did I ever hear, that he was guilty of those enormities with which the other person has been too justly charged; and when I expostulated with him about his conduct, he took it always apparently in good part, and promised to do better; but after repeatedly repenting in a kind of a way, and as often "returning like the dog to his vomit," he avoided my company altogether; and at any time when I went to see him, if he observed me coming in at one barrack-room door, he would immediately go out at another, being unable to answer to me for his conduct; and my presence grieved him, as it called to his mind the many happy hours of profitable and innocent enjoyment we had spent in one another's company. So true it is that guilt is a coward, and that "the wicked flee when no man pursueth."
At last he was seized by the flux, in Trichinopoly, where, as I mentioned, J. F. also died. He had been in the hospital a considerable time before I knew of his illness; and when I went up to see him, I observed that he was drawing very near his end. The agony he endured at that time was pressing the sweat through every pore of his body. Yet he was perfectly sensible; for when I spoke to him, he answered me in a very rational manner. But if the Lord be pleased to continue to me my reason and memory, until I also depart from this vale of tears, I think I will remember his last words until that hour.—After conversing a little with him, and when about to take my leave, I said to him, if it was the will of God that we should never again see one another in this world, I hoped we would meet in another and a better world. He answered me in the few following, but awfully important words, "I know how I am, but I know not how I may be;" taking (as good Mr. Boston expresses it) a leap in the dark, not knowing whether he should land in heaven or in hell. After making inquiry the next morning, I learned that his spirit returned to God who gave it about two hours after I left him. Having gone from our world, we cannot, we ought not, to follow him any farther; only this I will say, that he has received his sentence from him who can do him no wrong; for, "Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?"
Now, from what we have seen of the life and death of these poor men, we may justly conclude that "the way of transgressors is hard." It was the saying of an old divine, that it required a person much harder labour to be damned than to be saved. We must acknowledge the idea to be just, although it may appear to be strangely expressed. But certain and true it is, that although these ways may seem right unto a man while he is walking in them, yet the end thereof is death. Now, although these persons whom I have just mentioned did not shoot themselves nor any of their comrades, yet the reader will easily perceive, by their conduct, the bad effects of evil principles and evil practices, which evidently led to the commission of such crimes as I have too justly charged upon some of the regiment.
CHAPTER IX.
We left Masulipatam to proceed towards Madras, upon the 30th July, 1811, nothing taking place upon the march that I shall trouble you with. When we came to St. Thomas's Mount, (the place where the field force was formed,) it was expected that we were to take the duty of Fort St. George again; but, after being encamped, and in suspense for eight days, we were ordered to proceed to Trichinopoly.—This was a march of four weeks farther; so we left the Mount, and commenced our route towards that place upon the 17th of August, that day three years we left it, to take the field with the centre division of the army. I can hardly entertain you with any new thing upon our march, but an anecdote or two about the elephant. These useful animals, as I said before, carry the soldiers' tents upon the line of march, the oldest in the service generally taking the lead of the rest, carrying a white flag fastened to his load, the rest falling in quite naturally behind him: and I also stated that they follow the regiment or the army; and at no time, that ever I knew of, go before them. And I also, upon the field force, stated that the men frequently fall behind when the journey is very long; being unable many of them to sustain such fatigue. So one day, when we were hard travelled, a young lad who was scarcely able to draw the one foot past the other, (as we say,) was deliberating upon lying down upon the side of the road, and giving it up for a bad job, the leader of the elephants coming up with his white flag, before he was aware, (as they make no noise upon a sandy road,) quietly took the firelock from his shoulder, and gave it to the keeper, who was upon the neck of the animal, where they always ride, as upon a horse's back, carrying a small tomahawk, by which they direct him; but this is seldom needed, as they know every thing almost by the word of command. As I said, he took the firelock from the poor wearied soldier, and gave it to his keeper. The lad being much frightened, not knowing but the elephant intended knocking out his brains with it, gave a fearful stare, and ran off as quickly as his wearied limbs could carry him; but this alarm put fresh spirits into him, and perceiving that the benevolent animal meant him no harm but good, by easing him of his principal load; he came to the camp ground in company with his new acquaintance, whom he every now and then eyed with a look of uncertain satisfaction. I had this story from Serjeant Gray, who commanded the rear guard, a man whom I could believe as firmly as if I had witnessed the whole scene myself. But this is nothing very wonderful, in that truly wonderful animal; for the elephant attached to my own company and I got so very intimate upon the march, that he would not pass the tent of which I had charge, unless I came and spoke with him. Our friendship originated in this way; I used always to keep a piece of rice cake for him, when we could get it to ourselves for money; and while he was getting his morsel in the morning, the men of the tent would be packing the baggage on his back, and thereby we were generally first ready for the march, which was no small matter in our favour.
I could tell you many such stories, which I find more pleasure in, than telling you of men shooting themselves and one another; but these may serve as specimens. Although these creatures are possessed of most wonderful patience, as well as sagacity, yet they can be irritated, as I will make appear. I intend just to state one incident in proof of this, and then I have done with them. It is customary in this country to appoint a soldier of each European regiment to take care that the elephants are attended to upon the march, both with regard to work and provisions; and this person is generally a non-commissioned officer, who receives the appellation of elephant major. A serjeant who held this situation in the 30th regiment, one day loaded a poor fatigued animal with abuse, which he thought he was not at all entitled to. The elephant, observe you, did not immediately avenge himself of his adversary; but coolly waited his proper opportunity, and, in the course of the march, seeing his friend the serjeant at a distance, he embraced the moment when the water of a rice field was flowing across the road, filled his trunk with the sludge, and making up to the serjeant, who happened to have on a new suit of clothes, and of which he seemed to be very vain, he lodged the contents of his trunk upon the proud fellow's coat, and effectually spoiled its new gloss.
Upon this march, which, being in the rainy season, exposed us to constant wet, we crossed four rivers in boats; viz. two branches of the Kistna, and two branches of the Cauvery, which overflowed its banks at the time. We were obliged to lie by the side of the last mentioned river some days before we durst venture over, as the basket boats, formerly described, could not withstand such a current; but at last we got over with a considerable degree of difficulty and danger, though without any material damage. I had frequently, upon this march, taken up the resolution of the young man just mentioned, to give it up in despair; and had it not been for that kind of unconquerable spirit I seemed to be possessed of, I certainly would have made application for a doolie, which at this time was hardly to be obtained. I was, indeed, very near dying outright one day. The faithful companion of my toils, who used every means in her power for my benefit, prepared always (if possible) a draught for me when I came to the camp ground; but on this day it would not go down. She entertained very unfavourable hopes of me for some time, but, as the Lord would have it, after I rested a little, I was somewhat recruited; and being near the river last mentioned, we had a respite for a day or two, and being thereby something refreshed, I made out the march, which was four hundred and eighty-five miles, without the help of a doolie. The reader would not at all be surprised to hear of men dying, and giving up, upon a march in this country, if he could form a just idea of their hardships. On the very night before this, there was such a dreadful hurricane, that we could neither sit nor lie, but were obliged to stand and hold the poles of our tents, to keep the wind from carrying them away; and many of the tents were blown down, notwithstanding all the efforts of their inmates to support them; for the pins and cords were no security against the irresistible power of the airy element, but gave way like stubble before the sweeping blast. The ground, on which we had frequently to lie, was so deluged with the rain, that we were often up to the ankles in mud. All we could do in this case was to clear it away with a momatee, (a kind of scraper;) but, after all, the wet ground was a very unwholesome, uncomfortable bed. Our provisions, as I have mentioned before, were mutton and rice; and, had they been good, we would have had no just cause to complain; but, how could the sheep be in good condition in this country, when they live one half of the year upon the roots of grass, not a blade being to be seen during that time, except what grows by the sides of rivers or tanks? and marching them about with the army, you may be sure, did not at all improve their condition. I have looked at a chattie pot, (all their cooking utensils are made of earth, like our tiles or cans,) where half a sheep has been boiled, and, I assure you, there was not a vestige of fat to be seen: and then, the rice being cleaned and cooked in the open air, was always less or more mixed with sand. The only refreshing article we received was our two drams of liquor, which was a very acceptable beverage mixed with water; but I need not labour to make you enter into my feelings, for that would be impossible, unless you had experienced what I have done. However, I would not advise you to try the experiment to gratify your curiosity, or you may think it dear bought; and, in all probability, never come home to tell the tidings. I must say, indeed, that I was quite overjoyed when we received the route to go to India; but if I had known beforehand what I was to be subjected to in that country, I think, and not without cause, that I never would have been able to support the afflictions and hardships which fell to my lot; but the Lord, who is infinitely wise and merciful, in the exercise of that wisdom and mercy, has hid both the pains and pleasures of his dependent creatures from them, that "in the day of prosperity they may be moderately joyful, not knowing how soon afflictions may overtake them, and that in the day of adversity they may consider that the Lord may yet have many even temporal blessings in reserve for them;" and by thus "setting the one over against the other," we may keep an equal, humble, and dependent mind; and thereby act under the injunction of the apostle, namely, to "weep as though we wept not, and rejoice as though we rejoiced not; and buy as though we possessed not; knowing that our time here is short, and that the fashion of this world passeth away."
We reached Trichinopoly upon the 5th October. This march, upon the whole, was the most severe I experienced in India, but it was the last I ever travelled upon foot. I was not long in Trichinopoly till I found the effects of my former troubles; for I was seized with a liver complaint, and a general debility of the nervous system, which rendered me totally unfit for duty. I lingered long in this delicate state, and the doctor proposed sending me home, but the commanding officer was unwilling to part with me, still hoping that my disorder would take a favourable turn. My leading fifer was ordered to do my duty, and I had full liberty to walk about when able, wherever I pleased, and to amuse myself in any way I thought proper. In a word, I continued in this weakly state for about a twelvemonth, when it was found necessary that I should be invalided.
While we lay here, I received an addition to my family, in consequence of my wife having stood godmother for a child belonging to a serjeant of the regiment. But to enable you to understand the story properly, it will be needful to give you an outline of the mother's history, which I will do in as few words as possible.
Nelly Stevenson, (which was her maiden name,) was the daughter of Wm. Stevenson, weaver in Anderston, Glasgow, with whom she lived until she was twenty years of age, at which time she was married to a young man of the name of M'Dougal, who volunteered into the Royals from the 26th regiment when in Dublin. This young man was one of the many who died of the flux when we lay in Wallajahbad. After his decease, she married a serjeant Fleming of the light company, by whom she had the child for whom my wife was sponsor; but this man lived with her only two years, when he also took the flux and died. In about six weeks afterwards13, she married a serjeant Lee of the grenadier company, by whom she had one child, and he being visited with the same disorder as her two former husbands, died also while we lay at Trichinopoly. She was now a widow the third time in the course of six years, and left in a destitute state; but she did not need a fourth husband, because she was over-taken by the same fatal disorder that laid them in the dust, and died in about five weeks' illness, in the twenty-sixth year of her age. Now, in this case, it was plainly our duty to look after the child for which my wife stood, agreeably to the vows of God which were upon her; and a Serjeant Brown of the regiment, and his wife, took charge of Serjeant Lee's child, for whom they had become accountable, after the manner of the Church of England. But I will say no more about this at present, as I will have occasion to speak of the last mentioned child again.
In the course of the time we lay in Trichinopoly, we had one Serjeant Clark affected with that dreadful disorder called hydrophobia, in rather a singular manner. This man being afflicted for some time with a very bad sore in his leg, and hearing that the tongue of a dog licking a sore of this kind had a very healing effect, he had recourse to this expedient, and coaxed a small dog in the barracks, which he took notice of sometimes, to do him, as he thought, this good office; but it would appear by the consequences that followed, that the dog had been disordered before it left off this practice, and before the serjeant was taken to hospital. It may seem strange to the reader, that this dog licking a sore, should produce so alarming an effect; but it was clearly proven, that the man himself had never been bitten; and there was a consultation of the faculty held upon this extraordinary case, who came to the conclusion, that the disease must have proceeded from this cause. The doctors tried repeatedly, and by various methods, to get him to swallow a little water, but all to no purpose; one of them attempted to give some to him in a concealed manner, putting it into what is called a hubble bubble, (a kind of pipe with a long tube, so that he could not see it); but whenever it came near him, he immediately took one of his shaking fits; and they were compelled to take it away without success.
Another extraordinary case of this extraordinary disease occurred while we lay in Masulipatam, which I shall just mention, and no more. One of the Company's artillery men, in the warm season, was seized with the disorder, but no person could tell how he came to be so affected, as there was no appearance of any bite about his body. This nonplussed the faculty completely, for they were sure enough that it was the hydrophobia; but how it had been produced they could not tell. Inquiry was made at his comrade, if he had known of his being bitten at any former period; and he told them, that he recollected perfectly of his being bitten about a twelve-month ago; so, after they had deliberated for some time upon the accounts received, they came to the conclusion, that it was to the effects of this bite, though at such a distance of time, that he owed his death. Before I left the country, a kind of cure, it is said, was discovered for this most dreadful disorder. The cure seems quite natural; but as the way it was commonly said to have been discovered is strange, I shall give a very short account of it. One of the native women being bitten by a dog, and put into a place of confinement, contrived to make her escape, but when she was in the act of running away, some persons discovered her, and pursued her as fast as possible, and the poor creature, in her fright and trembling, fell all her length upon a place covered with broken bottles, and was no doubt cut and mangled dreadfully; however, the great quantity of blood that she lost was thought to have been the means of delivering her from this dreadful malady; and I understand that, since that time, bleeding a person almost to death, has repeatedly been tried with success in India, for this disease.
CHAPTER X.
March 19, 1811.—We left Trichinopoly, to proceed to Bangalore. I had upon this march a doolie, for the first time since we came to India; and I had now travelled about 1600 miles with the Royals, since the regiment arrived in the country. We reached Bangalore upon the 12th of April; and, as I continued still very poorly, the doctor told the commanding officer, that it was in vain to keep me in India, in the hopes of regaining my health; for that was a thing not in the least to be expected, so I was ordered to be invalided. I accordingly passed the Board upon the 20th of August, along with thirty-two more; but only eighteen of these were ordered for Europe.
I now, according to promise, resume my story of the little girl that went to Serjeant Brown at Trichinopoly, when we took home the orphan, to whom my wife had been godmother. This serjeant's wife was attacked by the flux, after we came to Bangalore, and being a woman grievously addicted to liquor, she was for some time abandoned by all the women who wished well to their character; but my wife hearing of her deplorable state, could not think of a countrywoman dying amongst black people, without any European woman paying the least attention to her. She determined, therefore, to render her what assistance was in her power; and, accordingly, went one day to her room, where she found her in a very loathsome state, attended only by her black female servant, and the child crying very much. She asked the woman what made the child cry so bitterly? to which she replied, choar elia, (that is, she has no meat; or rather, she is crying for hunger.) After putting clean clothes upon Mrs. Brown's bed, and doing all that she could do for her immediate comfort; she brought the poor starved little creature into our hut14, and said unto me, "O! Robert, if you will not take it amiss, I will keep this poor object, and see if I can do any thing for her." I cheerfully agreed to her humane proposal; and could scarcely help crying, when I saw the child crying; and my wife also bathed in tears. We accordingly kept the child, and Mrs. Brown still getting worse, died in a few days. My wife became much attached to the little girl; and the period drawing near when I had to leave the regiment, we proposed to Serjeant Brown to take her home to Scotland with us, but he formally refused, saying that he would get her brought up himself; but we could not think of leaving her in the country, as Serjeant Brown might soon be taken from her by death15; and, likewise, because a man in his situation could not do his duty to a child like this, when he had no one but a black woman to look after his domestic matters; and besides, we could not think of taking her sister home, and leaving her in the country; so I spoke to the adjutant of the regiment, and it was soon settled that she was to accompany us.
This child was twenty months old when we took her home, and she could not set her foot upon the ground, more than if she had not been twenty weeks; she had the appearance of a monkey, more than any of the human species I ever saw; she was indeed nothing, I may say, but skin and bone; and was all covered over with a kind of white hairy down, and her skin, by being so much exposed to the sun with the black woman, was like a duck's foot, so that she was really a loathsome object; but by the time that she had been with us a few weeks, she not only could stand, but, to our great enjoyment, was able to walk about holding by my hand; but after she began to get a little flesh upon her, she broke all out into boils; many of them of such a size, as to require to be lanced by the doctor, and the scars of several of them remain upon her until this day; but I shall have occasion to speak about the children again; and, therefore, will say no more about them at present.
When I was upon the eve of leaving Bangalore, I thought if God spared me to return home, I might expect to see some of the friends and relatives of the men, who would be inquiring after them; I, therefore, wished to make myself acquainted as well as possible with the state of the regiment; and, for this purpose went to the orderly room, and received a statement of the men who had died and gone home invalids; I shall merely mention the number, as the names would be of no use to the reader. Total strength of his Majesty's 1st, or Royal Scots, after the grenadier company joined in Wallajahbad, 1006. Joined at different periods since the regiment came to India, 941; that is, a total of 1947 men, out of which number have died, and been invalided unfit for further service, eight hundred and forty-five.—Number of women that came to the country with the regiment, sixty-two; joined at different periods, twenty, out of which died thirty-two. We had at this time only two children in life that came out with the regiment, and the total number of children that died upon the passage, and since we landed, fifty-seven; that is a total of nine hundred and thirty-four, including invalids, in less than seven years. There were also eight women who left their husbands in the country, and went to officers of different regiments, being "drawn away of their own lust and enticed;" that insatiable desire of "wearing of gold and putting on of apparel," displayed by too many, was their ruin; but before I left the country, three of these poor wretches died in great misery, and four of them became common prostitutes about Madras. The remaining female of this unhappy class, in consequence of some disease, was reduced to such a state of decrepitude, as to be drawn about in a small cart, being unable to walk. What a pity, and a shame it is, that ever such scenes should be exhibited by those who bear the name of Christians; and, particularly, in a country which we are labouring to Christianize. Sure I am, that it operates greatly against the success of these excellent missionaries, whose labours are carried on near any of our regiments; for, when the natives see the shamefully inconsistent conduct of the soldiers and other Europeans, they cannot but think that their own religion is better than that of our countrymen, since, generally speaking, these are much inferior to them in point of sobriety, and some other moral habits.
It is easier for the Christian reader to conceive, than for me to describe, my feelings for a few days previous to leaving the regiment; but just place yourself, as it were, in my circumstances, and let the past and the future be present to your mind: suppose yourself to have been for seven years absent from your native country, and from all those who were near and dear to you at home, and, above all, from the public ordinances of divine grace, and to have been travelling in that wilderness wherein (both literally and figuratively) there was often no way; and also to have been as it were at the gates of death, when there could be little rational hope entertained of ever being brought up again, much less of having the joyful anticipation of soon being restored to your native country, your friends, and even perhaps to a health of which you had long been deprived; and, in a word, to pure air, pure water, and, above all, to a pure Gospel—I say, suppose yourself placed in these circumstances, and see if you will wonder when I tell you my joyful feelings were excited almost to rapture upon this occasion. But you may be ready to say, was there nothing I was leaving behind me calculated to raise in my mind feelings of an opposite kind? No affectionate friends with whom I had enjoyed agreeable fellowship? No doubt there were such friends, and I bless God I can say, that they were friends who had not only travelled part of the weary way with me in that wilderness, but whose society I hope to enjoy again in the promised land; and when I saw and thought on such friends, my mind was no doubt agitated, and a conflict of joy and grief was awakened in my breast. I will just select one solitary individual for my present purpose, as her situation was peculiarly trying, and consequently better calculated to touch the sympathetic feelings, by way of illustrating what I have stated; namely, that I was not without friends from whose social and religious fellowship I was about to be separated.
This person was a young woman, named Mrs. Copwick, who came along with her husband from his Majesty's 33d, when the volunteers from that regiment joined us before they embarked for Europe. Her father and mother had been for a number of years in the regiment, and she was born and brought up in it; and when she attained her 18th year, the old people encouraged her to keep company with the drill serjeant of the corps, who was a man of very depraved habits, and who, in point of years, might have been her father, but he knew how to manage their failings by his own experience, and used to give them many a hearty treat of liquor for her sake, and to gratify his own insatiable desire for drinking at the same time.
The consequence was, notwithstanding the poor girl's disinclination, that her parents got them joined together in a marriage contract. Mrs. C. had been in our regiment for some time before I was acquainted with her, and our acquaintance arose from my wife bringing her into our hut shortly after we came to Bangalore. We were several times in each other's company before we had any conversation of a religious kind; and the first time that I may say any of us had a favourable opportunity was, I think, one Sabbath forenoon, when I was engaged reading Doddridge's Rise and Progress. I happened to make some observations on the subject, which gave her a suitable opportunity of opening her mind to me, which, it struck me, from some previous circumstances, she had been desirous of doing. I was truly delighted with the simple, undisguised manner in which she expressed her sentiments and feelings, and happy that I had it partly in my power to relieve the uneasiness of her mind, and to assist her inquiries after divine truth. From this time we endeavoured to make it convenient frequently to have some discourse together in our hut; the Sabbath, in a particular manner, being devoted by us for our mutual edification; and she found it a very severe trial indeed to be compelled to exchange our company and conversation for the company and unprofitable conversation of the men, when she went to her barrack-room at night, and, above all, to face her brutal husband, who perceived by her artless manner of endeavouring to persuade him to leave off his wicked courses, how she had been employed. Her attempts to reclaim him, alas! were all in vain, for the best answer that she would receive from him for this kindest of all love, was to keep her tongue to herself, and not trouble him with her —— nonsense; and if she attempted, while he was defaming, to entreat, it was well if he did not enforce his denunciations by the weight of an unmerciful hand. Such was the miserable situation of this poor female, who had, besides this, the care of two young children, and was unwearied in her endeavours to make her husband and them comfortable. Now, my dear reader, if you have been placing yourself all along in my circumstances, you will certainly partake, in part, of my feelings; but, after all, it will only be in part; for although the power of imagination is great, yet I am persuaded you will come far short of the reality; still I am sure you will not wonder at my being sorry to part with this truly amiable young woman, who was earnestly desirous to obtain the knowledge of that way in which she might "escape the wrath to come," and in whom I felt the more deeply interested from a consideration of my former situation in the Prince of Wales's Island, where I so earnestly desired some person to assist me in inquiries of a similar kind. Now, all that I could do for her in this case, (for parted we must be,) was to give her my advice, my best gift16, and my blessing with it, namely, Doddridge's Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul, (which book I formerly mentioned having purchased from one of the men in Hydrabad,) and which had been of great use to myself; and I hope the blessing of God has rendered it of great service to her also. In a word, we parted with very sorrowful hearts, but our sorrow was not without hope, for that blessed religion which had formerly supported our minds, and cheered us in many a gloomy hour, left us not even now, when we needed comfort; but told us that the sufferings of the present time were not worthy to be compared with the glory that should be revealed in us at our meeting in Emmanuel's land; and that our light afflictions which might intervene, were but for a moment, and would, by the divine blessing, work out for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.
The invalids left Bangalore upon the 13th September, 1813, and proceeded to Punamalee, a depôt for recruits from Europe, and invalids from India, homeward bound. We were ordered there to be in readiness for the first Company's ship that should touch at Madras. We arrived at Punamalee upon the 1st of October, 1813. I had in this place a severe attack of the bile upon the stomach; but it was not the disorder generally called by that name in this country; for it has nearly all the symptoms of the flux, being accompanied with great pain in the bowels, which are generally much swelled, along with a considerable degree of sickness. I was so much exhausted by it in two days, that I could not turn myself in the bed without assistance. I continued about a week very ill, and had more the appearance of getting a grave in India, than of ever seeing my native country again; but it was the wise saying of a worthy divine, that man is immortal until his day come; for while there are more days, there are means stirred up. But often, since I came to India, have I been inclined to take up the language of good Hezekiah, "I have said in the cutting off of my days, I shall go to the gates of the grave; I am deprived of the residue of my years. I said I shall not see the Lord, even the Lord, in the land of the living; I shall behold man no more with the inhabitants of the world." But I can now add, with the same good man, "O Lord, thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption; thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back: for the grave cannot praise thee; death cannot celebrate thee; they that go down to the pit cannot hope for thy truth: the living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I do this day." O that I may devote my spared life unto thy service.
While we lay at Punamalee, Paddy L—, of our regiment, drowned himself in a tank, at the back of the barracks, upon a Sabbath morning. This man was going along with us for Europe, with a bad discharge, in consequence of having made himself unfit for further service by shooting off his hand, for which dreadful outrage against the laws of both God and man, as well as against his own body, he was sentenced to receive corporal punishment; to be kept in confinement during his stay with the regiment; and to be sent home with a blank discharge. He had also been frequently confined, after we came here, for different crimes; and once while he was in the Cungie-house,17 having obtained a light, on pretence of lighting his pipe, he set fire to the place, attempting to burn both it and himself; and it was with considerable difficulty that his life, at that time, was saved, being taken out half suffocated, and as black as a chimney-sweep. I cannot inform the reader what were his diabolical motives for drowning himself; but we need not wonder much at it, when he was so depraved as to commit such crimes as I have mentioned, and indeed many others which I decline noticing; only this I will say, that "destruction and misery are in the way of such people, and the way of peace they have not known;" and no marvel that "their feet run into evil, and make haste to shed blood, seeing they have no fear of God before their eyes."
While here also I received a letter from Serjeant Gray, giving us the melancholy intelligence of his wife having had a severe attack of the flux, and of that disorder terminating in her dissolution, and earnestly soliciting me to send him a word of consolation, and an advice suited to the particularly trying circumstances in which he was placed; to which request I most readily complied in the best way I was able. My wife and I were much affected at the unexpected news; and no wonder, considering that great intimacy which had always subsisted between our families ever since the time I received Doddridge's Rise and Progress in Hydrabad. Our attachment to one another was such, that during the time the regiment was in Trichinopoly, when our huts were at a considerable distance, we very seldom passed a day, if duty would permit, without being in one another's company, and frequently we even dined together; and this friendship subsisted until we left the regiment, when we had truly a sorrowful parting; but we then little imagined that one of us was so near the eternal world. Surely the language of Divine Providence to us at this time was, "Be ye also ready, for at such an hour as ye think not the Son of Man cometh." Surely this is an important, universal, and perpetual admonition, "O that we were wise, that we understood this, that we would consider our latter end." My letter no sooner reached the regiment, than Mrs. Copwick seeing it, wrote off immediately to Punamalee, requesting me very kindly "to send her also a word of advice before our embarkation; adding, that although she had not forgotten my former counsels, yet she had a great desire to have something from me in writing, that would not only refresh her memory, but also excite her gratitude to her heavenly Father, who had used me as an instrument, that Christ might be formed in her soul, and that it might also be a help to support her mind, under her severe trials, and encourage her to a continuance in well-doing, trusting that at last she might receive the end of her faith, even the salvation of her soul."
I need scarcely inform the Christian reader with what joy I received this delightful letter, and with what comfort and enlargement of heart I answered it; all that I shall say is, that I wish God may bless every mean which I have been enabled to use for her eternal advantage, and that we may finally meet again upon the right hand of the judge, when he which soweth, and they which reap, shall rejoice together.
I have since learned from good authority, that Serjeant Gray has followed his wife to the narrow house appointed for all living, and that Mrs. C.'s wicked husband is also gone from our world, dying as he had lived, and that God, in his kind providence, has provided a friend who took an interest in the welfare of his widow, and obtained a place for her in the family of a respectable clergyman in the country, to take the superintendence of his children, having made ample provision both for her and the orphans. In their happy experience, therefore, was that promise fulfilled18, "Leave thy fatherless children, I will preserve them alive, and let your widows trust in me."
My dear reader, you may naturally enough think that the writer of this little work is very defective in his duty, when he has travelled so many hundred miles in India, and has scarcely so much as even dropped a hint of the appearance of the country, the customs and manners of its inhabitants, their religion, &c.; but my reason for this is, that I may make this work appear as regular and satisfactory as possible; for I have designedly delayed entering upon these things until I was just going to take farewell of the country. And now, as I am going to take a long, and, I hope, a last adieu of that part of the world, where I have suffered much, and, I bless God, have enjoyed much, I will attempt a very brief account of these, in their regular order, before I step on board ship, and close my bodily eyes—for ever perhaps—upon this scene.
CHAPTER XI.
Country.—I do not mean here to give you a particular description of the various parts of India through which I have travelled, but rather attempt a very brief sort of general representation of it: and I will say that it is, comparatively, sandy and barren; for water, which is so essential to the fertilizing of the soil, is in most places very scarce; and no wonder, when it is generally six or seven months in the year without a shower of rain. And were it not for a plan adopted by the natives, where there are no rivers, by far the greater part of the country, now peopled, would be uninhabitable; but during the monsoon, or rainy season, the inhabitants, having prepared large tanks for its reception, get these amply stored during the heavy rains; which I have often seen fall in such abundance as to inundate the country so that the communication betwixt villages, (which are always built upon rising ground,) had to be carried on by boats or canoes. I say, when these tanks are filled, it secures to them, humanly speaking, the succeeding harvest. The event is celebrated with great rejoicings; but I shall not waste your time and my own, in attempting to describe these ostentatious parades, but desire rather that you would turn over your Bible, and look at Belshazzar's mob of musicians, described in the 3d chapter of Daniel, for you will there find the description of a similar band; and it is very easy to conceive, in your own mind, a number of black people following them. I will rather give you a sketch of the manner in which their crops are produced, which will be more entertaining and instructive.
After, therefore, having these tanks well replenished, and before they begin to plough their rice-fields19, (which must be always nearly level,) they flood them with water for a day or two, to soften the ground; and, to effect this, they have recourse to the following expedient: they erect a thick post about twelve feet high, at the top of which there is a strong lever, somewhat like the handle of our pump wells, only much longer, and to that end to which you may suppose the sucker of the pump attached, they fasten a rope or chain, of a sufficient length to reach the water, and, at the end of this rope or chain, they have a large iron bucket, and a person ready, at the side of the tank, to guide and empty it into the furrows or ridges, (Psalm lxv. 9th verse and downward,) which are formed in the rice-fields for the reception of the water, and also to conduct it over the surface of the whole plain that they intend to water. At the other end of the lever another person is appointed to tread on it, so as to raise up or let down the bucket to the person, as I said, who stands at the bottom to guide and empty it; and, to prevent the feet of the drawer from slipping, there are a number of knobs or blocks of wood nailed upon that part of the handle which he treads. These water-engines are frequently erected by the side of a growing tree; but when this is not to be had, there are two large uprights placed close by the supposed pump, and spaked across, so that the person may not only ascend and descend upon this kind of ladder, but also have a security from falling, while he is following his employment. This is the mode of watering fields, I may say, universally adopted in India, where I have travelled; but there is another kind of water-engine, which I understand is generally used in Egypt, and some other countries, which is managed by the motion of a wheel. In this wheel there are a number of steps, and the person treading upon these turns the wheel round until the rope or chain has elevated the bucket to a level with the soil intended to be watered; but whether the one or the other plan be adopted, it is a laborious and scanty manner of watering cultivated grounds of any extent. If the inhabitants of these parched countries were obliged to adopt this mode for their gardens only, it would be comparatively trifling labour; but when a person takes a view of a very extensive field, which must be kept two or three inches deep all the time the rice is growing, (and only when they wish the rice to harden is it taken off,) I say, if we consider this, the reasoning of the inspired historian, in showing the superiority of the land of Canaan to that of Egypt, will be very evident.
Deuteronomy xi. 10. "For the land whither thou goest to possess it, is not like the land of Egypt, from whence ye came out, where thou sowedst thy seed, and wateredst it with thy foot, as a garden of herbs: but the land whither ye go to possess it, is a land of hills and valleys, and drinketh water of the rain of heaven; a land which the Lord thy God careth for: the eyes of the Lord thy God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year even to the end of the year."
Although I have said that the country is comparatively sandy and barren, yet I say, that many parts of it also, which are situated on the banks of rivers, are very fertile. The finest parts of India that I have seen are near the Kistna and Tamboothera; these rivers supplying their neighbourhood abundantly, give it a very fresh and delightful appearance; and, O! how it cheers the spirits, and invigorates the eye of the "wayfaring man," to come into the view of a considerable tract of country, covered with woods and various kinds of herbage, after having travelled days, or even weeks, and scarcely ever seen any object to relieve the fatigued eye; but, on the contrary, every thing to offend and hurt it; nothing presenting itself on any side but glistening sand, scraggy bushes, the shining arms of the soldiery, and the dazzling exhalations of the morning dews. Surely, "Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is: for he shall be as a tree, planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh; but her leaf shall be green, and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit." The analogy of this figure is simple and beautiful, and the application natural and easy, from what I have been stating, to the pious and reflective mind.
Manners, Customs, &c.—The complexion of the Hindoos is black; their hair is long; their persons in general are straight and well-formed, and their countenances open and pleasant. The dress of the men amongst the higher ranks is a white vest of silk, muslin, or cotton, girt with a sash; the sleeves are very long; and the upper part of the garment contrived to fit, so that the wearer's shape may be seen; their trowsers descend so low as to cover their legs; they wear slippers down in the heel, and peaked at the toes, into which they put their naked feet. The dress of the women amongst the higher or middle ranks, is a piece of white calico tied about the waist, which reaches to their knees; and the vest is thrown across their shoulders, covering the breasts and part of the back; their hair, like that of the men, is tied up in a roll, and adorned with jewels, or toys; they wear pendants in their ears, and several strings of beads round their necks; they also wear rings upon their fingers and toes, and bracelets upon their wrists and ankles.
The Hindoos are, in general, very sober, and abstain from all animal food. The Brahmins, in particular, never eat any thing that has had the breath of life: curees of vegetables are their common diet; the chief ingredients of which are turmeric, spices, and the pulp of the cocoa-nut. They esteem milk the purest food; and venerate the cow almost as a divinity.
In manners, they are effeminate, luxurious, and taught to affect a grave deportment. This initiates them early in the arts of dissimulation; so that they can caress those whom they hate, and even behave with kindness to those whom they intend to murder20. The common salutation is, by lifting one or both hands to the head, according to the quality of the person saluted; but no person salutes with the left hand singly.
On visiting amongst friends, the master of the house never rises to receive his visitor, but requests him to come and sit down beside him on the carpet or floor; and the betle-nut-box is presented to him, as we do our snuff-boxes. This betle-nut is used in the same manner as we do tobacco; and both the men and the women take it indiscriminately.
Dancing girls are generally engaged at public entertainments to amuse the company. They adorn their necks with carcanets, their arms with bracelets, and their ankles with small gold or silver chains. The dance of these women is a cadenced movement, performed to the sound of a drum, (called a tum-tum,) which a person beats upon with his fingers, and accompanies with a song, that, to a person possessed of any taste, is truly barbarous. The mode of beating time is with a small bell, or cymbal, which the dancing-master holds in his hand. This bell, or cymbal, he beats against the edge of another of the same kind, which produces a brisk vibrating sound, which animates the dancers, and gives precision to their movements. They, however, display no elegant attitudes, but are full of gesture; and the motion of their arms seems to occupy their whole attention.
The manner of drinking among the Hindoos is remarkable. They religiously avoid touching the vessel with their lips, but pour it into their mouths, holding the vessel at a distance. Their notion is, that they would be polluted by drinking any stagnant liquid. Thus, they will drink from a pump, or any clear running stream, but not out of a standing pool. On a march, when any of the natives made their appearance with their jimbos, (a small vessel, generally of brass or earth,) we were driven by thirst sometimes to leave the ranks, and entreated them to permit us to drink; but it was always in vain; and if any of us took the vessel by force into our hands, either to swallow its contents, or to draw water for ourselves, they broke it to pieces, and raised the hue and cry that they were polluted and ruined; and any soldier so acting would expose himself to a severe flogging. But I have known some instances, wherein some of those people, possessed of more generous minds and liberal sentiments, have given us to drink, when we held our hands at each side of our mouth, while they poured the water into them, holding the jimbo about half a yard above our head; but, in this case, we were more satisfied externally than internally.
The houses in Hindostan are for the most part very mean; in front of these houses are sheds on pillars, under which the natives expose their goods for sale, and entertain their friends. No windows open towards the streets, and even the palaces of their princes have not any external elegance. The marriages of the wealthy Hindoos are conducted with the utmost splendour and extravagance. The little bride and bridegroom, who are frequently only three or four years of age, are for several nights carried through the streets, richly dressed, and adorned with the finest jewels their parents can procure, preceded by flags, music, and a multitude of lights. The astrologer having fixed on a fortunate hour, they are taken to the house of the bride's father, and being seated opposite to each other, with a table between them, they join their hands across it, and the priest covers both their heads with a kind of hood, which remains spread over them about a quarter of an hour, while he prays for their happiness, and gives them the nuptial benediction; after which, their heads are uncovered, and all the company are sprinkled with perfumes, and the evening concludes with a magnificent entertainment for the friends who attend.
The Hindoo women, in general, treat their husbands with great respect; and very few are ever known to violate the marriage bed. They begin to bear children at twelve years of age, and sometimes younger; but they seldom have any after they are thirty; and frequently before that time they lose their bloom, and begin to fade. With respect to the funerals of the Hindoos, some of them bury the body, and others burn it. The ceremony of burning is performed in the following manner:—Having washed and dressed the corpse, the relations and friends carry it on a bier to a small distance from the town. This is usually done the next day; but if a person die in the morning, his body is always burnt the same evening; for, in this country, a corpse will not keep long. The funeral pile is usually made near some river or tank; and if he be a person of rank, great quantities of fragrant wood are mixed with the fuel. As soon as the corpse is placed upon the pile, and some prayers muttered by the attending Brahmin, the fire is applied at one of the corners, when it soon blazes up, and consumes the body to ashes.
The horrid practice of widows burning themselves along with the corpse of their deceased husbands is losing ground very fast in India; and there is scarcely ever an instance of it now known in our settlements; and, as far as I could learn, when performed at all, it is chiefly confined to the Brahmin cast.
Religion, &c.—The religion of the Hindoos is all contained in the sacred books called Vedas. These books are supposed to have been the work, not of the supreme God himself, but of an inferior deity called Brimha. They inform us that Brahma, the supreme god, having created the world by the word of his mouth, formed a female deity, named Bawaney, who brought forth three male deities, named Brimha, Vishnu, and Seeva. They say that Brimha was endowed with the power of creating all things, Vishnu with that of cherishing them, and Seeva the power of restraining them. They say also, that Brahma himself endowed mankind with passions and understanding to regulate them; while Brimha created the inferior beings, and afterwards employed himself in writing the Vedas, and gave these to the Brahmins to be explained. These Brahmins are allowed to be the most honourable tribe amongst the Hindoos, and are alone appointed to officiate in the priesthood, like the Levites among the Jews. They alone are allowed to read the Vedas or sacred books; and to them are committed the instruction of the people. There are several orders of these Brahmins: those who mix in society are not unfrequently of depraved morals; and we need not wonder that it should be the case, when they are taught by their religion that the water of the Ganges will effectually wash away all their sins. Those Brahmins who live secluded from society, are men of very weak minds, or enthusiasts, who give themselves up to indolence and superstition. The Chehteree, or second caste, is next in rank to the Brahmins; and from this caste their Nabobs, or Princes, are always chosen.
The Bice, or Banians, who compose the third class, are those people whose profession is trade and merchandise. They have no particular religion, unless it be adherence to truth in their words and dealings. They are the great factors by whom the trade of India is carried on; and, as they believe in the transmigration of souls, they eat no living creature, nor kill even noxious animals, but endeavour to release them from the hands of others who may be intending to destroy them. I have seen them feeding the mice and bandicauts with grain or rice in the bazaar.
The Soodera, or fourth class, is the most numerous, and comprehends all labourers and artists. These are divided into as many orders as there are followers of different arts; all the children being invariably brought up to the profession of their forefathers.
The temples of the Hindoos (called by them pagodas) are large, but disgusting stone buildings, erected in every capital, and are under the direction of the Brahmins. The pagoda of Seringham, near the place where we crossed the Cavery, and which we passed on our way to Trichinopoly, is allowed to be the most stupendous, and is held the most sacred of any building of the kind in India, that of Chillambraum excepted. This pagoda is situated about a mile from the western extremity of the island of Seringham, formed by the division of the great river Cavery into two channels. It is composed of seven square inclosures, one within the other, the walls of which are twenty-five feet high, and four thick. These inclosures have each four large gates: the outer wall which surrounds this pagoda is between three and four miles in circumference, and its gateway to the south is ornamented with pillars, several of which are single stones, thirty-three feet long, and about four in diameter. The walls of this building is covered outside with the most hideous figures, likenesses of which are to be found neither "in heaven above, nor on the earth beneath, nor in the waters under the earth;" so that persons would not literally be guilty of a breach of the second command if they were to fall down and worship them,—such as men with elephants' heads, serpents with men's heads, bullocks with women's head and breasts, &c. and monsters which I have never before nor since seen or heard of, and these painted in the most glaring colours. Here also, as in the other great pagodas of India, the Brahmins live without subordination, and slumber in a voluptuousness which knows no wants. This pagoda is about four miles from Trichinopoly.
There are several sects among the Hindoos, but their differences consist rather in external forms than religious opinions. They all believe in the immortality of the soul; a state of future rewards and punishments; and transmigration of souls. The virtues of charity and hospitality exist amongst them, both in theory and practice, towards those of their own caste. They say that hospitality is commanded to be exercised even towards an enemy; and they use this simile, "the tree doth not withdraw its shade from the wood-cutter, or water-drawer, nor doth the moon withhold her light from the chandalah." These pure doctrines, however, are intermixed with many vile superstitions. The Hindoos pray thrice in the day, at morning, noon, and evening, turning their faces towards the east. Fruits, flowers, incense, and money, are the usual offerings to their idols; but, for the dead, they offer a particular sort of cake called punda. They all seem to pay an extraordinary veneration to fire, and always wash before meals.
There is a religious order among the Hindoos, called Fakirs: these are a kind of begging friars, who make vows of poverty, and seem insensible both to pleasure and pain. They generally live upon the bounty of the smaller kind of merchants; and I have seen them often carrying a small copper jimbo, (vessel,) in the form of a water-melon, when they were begging through the bazaars. These Fakirs, to obtain the favour of Brahma as they suppose, suffer the most dreadful tortures; and the austerities which some of them undergo are incredible to those who have not been eye-witnesses of them: some of them stand for months upon one foot, with their arms tied to the beam of a house, by which means their arms settle in that posture, and ever after become useless; some sit in the sun, with their faces looking upwards, until they are incapable of altering the position of their heads; and I even saw one in Bangalore, who had a large sort of iron grating fixed upon his neck, that had not stretched himself upon a bed, or even upon the ground, for two years. But the people, in all these cases, deem it an act of piety to encourage and support them.
The ordeal trials of melted lead, or boiling oil, as practised in India, are considered by the Hindoos as a standing miracle. The ceremony, which is in the following manner, is performed with great solemnity: The party who has appealed to this form of trial for his innocence, whether on suspicion of murder, theft, or unfaithfulness to the marriage bed on the part of women, is publicly brought to the side of a fire, on which is placed a vessel of boiling water or oil, but most commonly melted lead; the magistrates of the country or city being present, his hand is washed clean, and the leaf of a particular tree, with his accusation written upon it, is tied about his waist; and then, on a solemn invocation of the deity by the Brahmin, the person plunges in his hand and scoops up the boiling fluid! and if he draws it out unhurt, he is absolved; but if otherwise, be receives the punishment due to the crime charged against him.
The ceremonies of the Hindoos are dictated by the Brahmins and the sacred books; but to give you a detail of their number and absurdity, is a task to which I am altogether unequal, and which could neither instruct nor entertain the reader. I will, therefore, close this sketch with giving you a few translations from their Vedas or sacred books, which will give the reader some idea both of the doctrines and style of the Hindoos, as translated by a very able pen.
"1. By one Supreme Ruler is this universe pervaded, even every world in the whole circle of nature; enjoy pure delights, O man! by abandoning all thoughts of this perishable world; and covet not the wealth of any creature existing.
"2. He who in this life continually performs his religious duties, may desire to live a hundred years; but, even to the end of this period, thou shouldst have no other employment here below.
"3. To those regions where evil spirits dwell, and which utter darkness involve, all such men go surely after death, as destroy the purity of their own souls.
"4. There is one supreme Spirit, which nothing can shake, more swift than the thought of man.
"5. That supreme Spirit moves at pleasure, but in itself is immovable; it is distant from us, yet very near us; it pervades this whole system of worlds, yet is infinitely beyond it.
"6. The man who considers all beings as existing even in the supreme Spirits, and the supreme Spirit pervading all beings, henceforth views no creature with contempt.
"7. In him who knows that all spiritual beings are the same in kind with the Supreme Spirit, what room can there be for delusion of mind; or what room for sorrow, when he reflects on the identity of spirit?
"8. The pure enlightened soul assumes a luminous form, with no gross body, with no perforation, with no veins nor tendons, untainted by sin, itself being a ray from the infinite Spirit, which knows the past and the future, which pervades all, which existed with no cause but itself, which created all things as they are in ages very remote.
"9. They who are ignorantly devoted to the mere ceremonies of religion, are fallen into thick darkness; but they surely have a thicker gloom around them who are solely given to speculation.
"10. A distinct reward, they say, is reserved for ceremonies, and a distinct reward, they say, for divine knowledge; adding, this we have heard from sages who declared it unto us.
"11. He alone is acquainted with the nature of ceremonies, and with that of speculative science, who is acquainted with both at once; by religious ceremonies he passes the gulf of death, and, by divine knowledge he attains immortality.
"12. They who adore only the appearances and forms of the Deity, are fallen into thick darkness; but they surely have a thicker gloom around them, who are solely devoted to the abstract existence of the divine essence.
"13. A distinct reward, they say, is obtained by adoring the forms and attributes; and a distinct reward, they say, by adoring the abstract essence; adding, this we have heard from sages who declared it to us.
"14. He only knows the forms and essence of the Deity who adores both at once; by adoring the appearance of the Deity, he passes the gulf of death; and by adoring his abstract essence, he attains immortality.
"15. Unvail, O thou who givest sustenance to the world, the face of the true sun, which is now hidden by a vase of golden light! so that we may love the truth, and know our whole duty.
"16. O thou, who givest sustenance to the world; thou sole mover of all; thou who restrainest sinners; who pervadest yon great luminary; who appearest as the sun of the creator, hide thy dazzling beams, and expand thy spiritual brightness, that I may view thy most glorious, real form!"