which should only be the result of conviction. The criminality of religious persecution is deducible from reasoning; its absurdity is manifested by facts.

Malabar, when Hyder invaded it, was divided into a number of petty" Rájáships the government of which being perfectly feudal, neither laws, nor a system of revenue, were known among its inhabitants. The state of the country was little favourable to the introduction of order and good government. Malabar, however, was then very rich in money. For ages, the inhabitants had been accumulating the precious metals that had been given them in return for the produce of their gardens. Hyder's only ob- ! ject in the countries he conquered, was to acquire money; and provided he got plenty of that, he was very indifferent as to the means which his officers took to obtain it. Immediately after the conquest of? Malabar, vast sums; were extorted from its inhabitants by the military. officers. When Hyder found the assets to fall short of its charges, he listened to proposals from the Rájás to become tributaries. The Brahmans, who were left with the Rájás as spies on their actions, took care that the estimate should be so formed, as to leave a large sum to be divided between them and the Rájás. The precarious tenure by which the Rájás held their station, joined to their uncontrolled authority, rendered them to the utmost degree rapacious; not even a pretence was set up for exacting money from all such as were known to have any. There were no laws; money insured impunity to criminals, and innocent blood was often shed by the Raja's own hands, under the pretence of justice. In the space of a few years many of them amassed treasures to an amount unknown to their ancestors; and had it not been for the dread that they entertained of Hyder's calling them to an account for their ill-gotten wealth, their situation under him was better than that which they held before the invasion. The country, however, was daily declining in produce and population; insomuch, that, at the accession of Tippoo, they were reduced to one half of what they had been at the time of Hyder's conquest. But still greater calamities were reserved for the unfortunate inhabitants of this country in the reign of the Sultan. During the government of his father, the Hindus continued unmolested in the exercise of their religion; the customs and observances of which, in many very essential points, supply the place of laws. To them it was owing, that some degree of order had been preserved in society during the changes that had taken place. Tippoo, on the contrary, early undertook to render Islamism the sole religion of Malabar. In this cruel and impolitic undertaking he was warmly seconded by the Moplays, men possessed of a strong zeal, and of a large share of that spirit of violence and depredation which appears to have invariably been an ingredient in the character of the professors of their religion, in every part of the world where it has spread. All the confidence of the Sultan was bestowed on Moplays; and in every place they became the officers and instruments of government. The Hindus were every where persecuted, and plundered of their riches, of their women, and of their children. All such as could flee to other countries did so: those who could not escape took refuge in the forests, from whence they waged a constant predatory war against their oppressors. Multitudes of Hindus circumcised by force, and many of the lower orders were converted. The Vol. IV.

Hh

were

population of Hindus was reduced to a very inconsiderable number. Vol. II. p. 548.

With the decrease of population, the power of paying taxes was also reduced, and the misery of the people was still more augmented by the unrelenting rapacity of their exactors.

The rent paid to Tippoo did not amount to one half of the valuation; for all parties united to defraud him, each getting a share, although during the Sultan's government the rent fell thus light on the cultivators, they were, even by their own account, much worse off than they are at present; for there was no end to the arbitrary exactions which the lord-lieutenants (Asophs) levied. The most intolerable of these, however, arose from the contribution which the Sultan demanded, to make good the sum that he was bound to pay to Lord Cornwallis by the treaty of Seringapatam. Tippoo ordered three millions (crores) to be collected; and the people here say, that by paying their share of this they would not have been distressed. In place of three crores, however, ten were collected, and of these seven were embezzled by the officers of the revenue. These again were obliged to bribe their superiors; but Tippoo did not molest them, and many of the Brahmans are said still to possess very considerable sums, which were then accumulated. Hyder and his son acted on totally dif ferent plans. The father protected the cultivator, but was very apt to squeeze his officers in an arbitrary manner. The Sultan seldom molested his officers, but he cared not how much they fleeced the people. He, however, was probably ignorant of the lengths to which they went, especially after his unsuccessful war with Lord Cornwallis; from which period he was almost inaccessible to his subjects, and continued to brood over his misfortunes in sullen solitude.' Vol. III. p. 248.

The invasion of Lord Cornwallis appears indeed to have been a source of great affliction to the provinces through which his army marched. Not so much, says Dr. B., from the troops themselves, as from the ravages of those who, having contracted to supply grain and forage, plundered the inhabitants in all parts, without remorse, under the plea of fulfilling their contracts. The progress of devastation attendant on war, and the succession of evils consequent on a state of hostility, are strongly depicted in the following extract.

Krishna Raja of Mysore, rebuilt the great temple of Cancanhully; which, as usual, is supposed to have been of great antiquity. According to fable, it was founded by Valmica, a celebrated Brahman, the author of the Ramayena, who lived in the Tritaia Yugam, many hundred thousand years ago. Previous to the invasion by Lord Cornwallis, this country was fully cultivated. The devastation was commenced by Tippoo, who blew up the works in order to prevent them from being useful to the British army. After this, the Anicul Polygar ravaged the country, Colonel Read having invited him back to his dominions. According to the accounts of the Amildar, this gentle Hindu has rendered two fifths of the whole arable lands a waste; and, from the small number of inhabitants, the beasts of prey have increased so much, that, during the two last years of the Sultan's government, eighty of the inhabitants of Cancanhully

were carried away by tigers from within the walls of the fort." These have been since repaired, and the people can now sleep with safety. To keep off these destructive animals, every village in the neighbourhood is strongly fenced, with a hedge of thorns. On the approach of the army under General Harris, Tippoo burned the town, and he did not allow to escape this favourable opportunity of destroying an idolatrous place of worship. He broke down the Mandapam, or portico of the temple, and nothing remains but the gateway, and the shrine, to destroy which, probably, his workmen durst not venture. Cancanhully at present contains about two hundred houses. Before the invasion of Lord Cornwallis there were at least five hundred. It stands on the west side of the Arkawati river.' Vol. III. p. 426.

We have attended, with considerable interest, to our traveller's accounts of the state of opinion and morals in the countries he has visited. They are such as, having had no contaminating intercourse with Europeans, cannot be considered as sophisticated by any of those deteriorating principles, with which soidisant philosophers upbraid a state of civilization and refinement. They have been described as the residence of mortals happy and pure by nature: where benignity in all its forms delighted to bestow benefits on the sous of men, and the sons of men were brethren in the most amiable sense of the term. Alas, Dr. B. is not a philosophe: there is no such description here. On the contrary, the innumerable sects into which the opinions of the natives are divided, the rival and opposing interests of those opinions, with the customs and observances consequent on them, demonstrate clearly that if there be any. where a race free from evil propensitics, it must not be sought in the mountains or plains of Mysore.

The most obvious institutions, to a traveller, are those which mark the intercourse of the sexes, the established and ordina ry connexions of life: yet we find these perverted in no common degree, among certain tribes, and even the strongest affection of nature, the parental ropyn, suppressed by the preva lence of custom.

Having procured (says Dr. B.) some of the principal Nairs that at tended on the Rájá in a visit which he made to Captain Osburne, and a sensible Namburi who seemed to be much in favour with that chief, I consulted them on the differences that obtain in the customs of the Nairs, who live north from the Vay-pura river, from those that are observed in the Southern parts of Malayala. The female Nairs, while children, go. through the ceremony of marriage, both with Namburis and Nairs; but here, as well as in the South, the man and wife never cohabit. When the girl has come to maturity, she is taken to live in the house of some Namburi or Nair; and after she has given her consent to do so, she cannot leave her keeper; but, in case of infidelity to his bed, may be punished with death. If her keeper have in his family no mother nor sister, his mistress manages the household affairs. The keeper, whenever he:

pleases, may send his mistress back to her mother's house; but then, if she can, she may procure another lover. A man's house is managed by his mother so long as she lives.. When she dies, his sister comes for the fifteen days of mourning. She afterwards returns to her lover, and remains with him until he either dies or turns her away. In either case, she returns to her brother's house, of which she resumes the management, and brings with her all her children, who are her brother's heirs. A Nair here is not astonished when you ask him who his father was; and a man has as much certainty that the children born in his house are his own, as an European husband has; while these children are rendered dear to him by their own caresses, and those of their mother, who is always beloved, for otherwise she would be immediately dismissed: yet such is the perversity of custom, that a man would be considered as unnatural, were he to have as much affection for his own children, as for those of his sister, which he may perhaps never have seen. Of all known manners of conducting the intercourse between the sexes, this seems to be the most absurd and inconvenient.' Vol. II. p. 513.

Truly, we are of Doctor B.'s opinion; but we think this conduct not altogether unworthy of that sapient race, which, although totally unacquainted with Lord Monboddo, has persuaded its women that Europeans "have long tails, and wear breeches in order to conceal them."

Concerning these Namburis, the Doctor relates an anecdote, which is also very characteristic of Brahmanical equivoca

tion.

• Every Namburi who stains his hands with blood ought to become an outcast; but an exception was made in favour of Putter, and his compa nions, who undertook to assassinate Sholun Permal. Before he departed on his enterprize, the Namburis promised, that, in consideration of the laudable intention with which the deed was undertaken, the law should not be enforced against men who were acting for the good of a cast so favour ed by the gods. After Putter and his companions, however, had murdered the unsuspecting prince, and had made their escape to the tank where the Brahmans were performing their devotions, they became struck with horror, and, sitting down on the steps, exclaimed "How can we with our bloody hands approach such pure beings!" The Brahmans replied, that, in consequence of the promises which had been made, if they had come down they must have been received; but, as they had chosen to sit at a distance, conscious of their impurity, they must ever afterwards be considered as inferior to the Namburis. The descendants of these persons are to this day called Nambuddy, or sitting on steps, and are considered by the Namburis as not much higher in rank than Rájás, or other princes.' Vol. II. p.426.

We learn from Dr. B., that some of the castes have neither worship nor priests of any kind; that others perform certain. ceremonies, which they call worship, once a year: that some are visited by their spiritual superintendants, at uncertain times, as once in three years: that written instruction is totally unknown among many of them, and that the privilege of

reading for instruction is intrusted to very few. Ignorant and heedless even of the principles of his religion, each is satisfied with a few observances, in which he follows his ances

tors.

The establishment of Brahmanism is systematic; and, when complete, it manifests no small skill and knowledge of the human heart, in those who arranged it. This caste is derived by descent, like others; but only those attain to eminence in it, who go through the preparatory studies. These show their skill by investigating questions proposed to them by their superiors, at meetings held partly on purpose; and at these the reputation of those who are likely to rise in the caste is established. A superior order regulates these students, and even inspects Brahmans of some reputation, examines the state of their discipline, corrects erroneous interpretations of the sacred books, and delivers exhortations. These persons are too sacred to be beheld by the eyes of the vulgar: yet when they approach a village at their visitation, all their adherents are expected to go out to meet and receive them with honour and reverence. These are called Gurus.

In their judicial capacity the Gurus possess great authority. They take cognizance of all omissions of ceremonies, and actions that are contrary to the rules of cast. Small delinquencies they punish by pouring cow-dung and water on the head of the guilty person, by fine, and by whipping. For great offences they excommunicate the culprit; which is done by shaving his head. This excludes a man from all society, even from that of his nearest connections; for his very wife would incur a similar punishment by giving him any assistance. The excommunication may be removed by a Guru; in which case he purifies the repentant sinner by a copious draught of cow's urine.' Vol. I. p. 147.

There is a constant warfare of opinion among the learned of the different sects into which the castes are divided, each insisting on its superior antiquity and rank. Some for instance abhor the shedding of blood, and refuse to admit it into any sacred rite: others consider the introduction of blood as necessary. Some will not eat of food prepared by individuals of a caste inferior to their own : others will eat freely, without thinking it any defilement, though they agree with the former, in refusing to marry out of their own caste and their own sect. As a striking proof of the pride of caste, Dr. B. observes, that the Shanar, though they acknowledge themselves to be of the impure race called Panchamas, still retain the pride of cast: and a Tiati, or female of this cast, although reduced to prostitution, has been known to refuse going into a gentleman's palanquin, because the bearers were Mucuar, or fishermen, a still lower class of people than herself." (Vol. II. p. 415.)