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1830-1835
TOURS TO NASIK; TO JALNA AND ELORA; TO GOA, KOLHAPORE, AND MAHABLESHWAR.
Man the Missionary’s business—Tours of Officials and Missionaries—John
Wilson a delightful companion—First Tour with Mr. Farrar—The Glories of
the Ghauts—The Ramoshee Brigands—Brahmanical Opposition at Nasik—The
Sacred Godavery—Second Tour to Jalna—Battle of Korigaum —Ahmedabad—Worship
of the Monkey God—Historical Characters— The Telescope and Hindooism—A
Christian Government quoted against Christianity—Elora—Christ preached
in the Cave Temple of Kailas— Opposition of the Military Authorities at
Jalna—Mr. Wilson seriously injured by a Horse—Strange
Iconoclasm—Christian Sectarianism out of place in India—Third Tour to
Goa—Old Scenes in the Konkan—Dr. Claudius Buchanan—The Inquisition at
Goa—New and Old Goa—Forged Romish Vedas—Latin Conversations with
Portuguese Priests—A Blushing Prioress—His Excellency the Vice Rey—The
Augustinians and Franciscans —The Representatives of Sivajee—The Raja of
Kolhapore—Satara— Mahableshwar—A Tiger springs up near Mr. Wilson.
“The business of the
missionary is with man,” was a saying of Dr. Chalmers that Mr. Wilson
frequently quoted. To know India, of all countries, is to be familiar
with its people; to be acquainted with its princes; and to understand
the relation of the British Government and its administrative systems to
both. For a missionary to know India, he must add to all that the study,
at first hand, of its religions and their learned men, Brahmanical,
Muhammadan, and Non-Aryan. He must possess the ability to lay a pure and
a historical Christianity alongside both the administrative systems and
the religious philosophies or cultures, so as to saturate the former
with the positive and direct moral spirit which they necessarily lack
from political conditions, and to overthrow the latter by the more
purely spiritual and potent force of Christ Himself. The ordinary
missionary will do well if he confines his energy to one of the three
faiths. As a matter of fact, most Indian missionaries have worked among
the Hindoo or the aboriginal communities, who are vast enough. But Mr.
Wilson was a pioneer whose deliberate equipment, as well as his
evangelic ambition allowed no human or traditional substitute for
Christianity to remain unstudied or unattacked. The official, civilian
or soldier, however zealous, has to be content with the indirect and
frequently unconscious disintegration which has been going on in India
ever since Clive obtained the civil government at Benares from the
effete emperor, Shah Alum. But, freed from the lower responsibility of
political considerations, Mr. Wilson could use all that makes the
civilian efficient, and press it home at once with a moral
disinterestedness and a spiritual force, which the natives, high and
low, were not slow to appreciate. Like the civilian, and to a far
greater extent than the average of the eight or nine hundred members of
the covenanted civil service who have always governed the millions' of
India so well, he held the key to the ears and hearts of the people in a
knowledge of their languages and hoary civilisations, Aryan and Semitic.
Like the district officer and commissioner, too, but with a freedom and
over an extent of territory they rarely know, he made his almost annual
tours, east, and south, and north, to the very centre of India, to Goa,
and again to the far Indus and the courts of Rajpootana, till he knew
peasant and prince, rude ascetic, sacerdotal Brahman, and scornful
Moulvie, as no one hedged round by officialism could do.
Next to mastering the languages it was his object to mix with the people
who spoke them. His model was no lower than “Our Lord and His apostles,”
with whom he had more than once to silence ignorant critics in England.
“Wherever,” he wrote, “the objects of their ministry most advantageously
presented themselves, they were prepared to fulfil it. The temple, the
synagogue, and the private apartment; the narrow street and the public
highway; the open plain and the lofty mount; the garden and the
wilderness; the bank of the river and the margin of the sea; were
equally hallowed by these heavenly teachers.” And he, like them, was in
the East! “But many say, 1 Leave this preaching without doors to native
agents, who will be best able to bear the exposure connected with it.’ .
. . Even after we have been blessed, through God’s mercy, with native
preachers, we must for some time show them in our own persons the lively
example of an apostolic ministration. . . . Xenophon remarked that the
Asiatics would not fight unless under Greek auxiliaries.” The “exposure”
Mr. Wilson ridiculed, although his most fruitful tours were made at an
early period, when even roads were not, and a paternal government had
not doubled its debt to develop the resources of the country by great
public works. Rarely did he find a comfortable post-house or even
tolerable resting-place when out of the beaten track of military
stations and civilian hospitalities. Studying nature as well as man ;
preaching, speaking, examining daily; keeping up the correspondence
rendered necessary by his supervision of the still infant Mission in
Bombay; answering references of all kinds from missionaries, officials,
and scholars, he found— because he made—the tour a holiday. On such
occasions he carried a few books in an old satchel, manuals, sometimes
in manuscript, of the botany, geology, and political relations with the
feudatory princes, being as indispensable as the bundles of vernacular
and Sanskrit writings which he circulated. Thus he was never alone, and
every tour added to his multifarious collection of objects of natural
history and archaeology, to say nothing of Oriental MSS., on which he
lectured to his students and friends. When accompanied by a brother
missionary, and frequently by survey and settlement officers, like
Colonel Davidson, whom he met in his wanderings, he proved the most
genial of companions. His stores of information, old and new,
interspersed with humorous anecdote and a child-like fun, turned the
frequent mishaps of jungle journeys into sources of amusement. And then,
when the travelling or the preaching of the day was done, and the rough
dinner was over at the tent door or in the native “dhurmsala,” or
enclosed quadrangle, there went up to heaven the family supplication for
Gentile and Jew, and dear ones near and far away. To be on tour in the
glorious cold season of India, from November to March, is to enjoy life
in the purest and most intelligent fashion, whether it be in the
Viceroy’s camp or in the more modest tent of the district civilian. To
be on a missionary tour with one who thus understands the people and
loves them, is to know the highest form of enjoyment that travel can
give.
Mr. Wilson’s first tour commenced in the middle of January 1831, after a
year of organising work in Bombay. His companion was the Rev. Mr.
Farrar,1 of the Church Missionary Society, who was just beginning to be
able to speak to the Marathas. They rode upwards of 400 miles. Their
most distant point was the sacred Brahmanical city of Nasik, on the
upper waters of the Godavery. They set out by the Bhore Ghaut, now on
the Madras line of railway, by Poona, and Ahmednuggur, and returned by
the Thull Ghaut, now ascended by the railway to Calcutta. They sailed
from Bombay to Panwel, on the mainland, passing the cave-temple islands
of Elephanta, Salsette, and Karanja, which Mr. Wilson had previously
visited with the civilian scholars Messrs. Law and Webb. At the next
village he met with the first specimens of those aboriginal tribes of
the jungle for whom he was to do so much, the Katkarees, who prepare
catechu. His first view of the glories of the Ghauts of the Syhadree
range he thus describes :—a As we rose from the valley a most majestic
scene began to unfold itself. When I beheld hill rising upon hill, and
mountain upon mountain—the sun setting in glory behind the towering
clouds—the distant ocean, forests, rivers, and villages—and when,
looking around me, I observed, amid this scene of grandeur, a single
stone usurping the place of Jehovah, the Creator of all, I felt and
expressed the utmost horror at idolatry, and the baseness, guilt, and
stupidity of man.”
Some experience of Poona convinced him of the superior importance of
Bombay as a centre. On their way to Ahmednuggur one of the servants was
attacked by the Ramoshee tribe of robbers, at that time scouring the
country under their famous leader Oomajee Naik, compared with whom,
writes Mr. Wilson, Rob Roy might be reckoned an honest man. But Nasik
was the point of interest, a place of which Mr. Wilson used to say that
it first stoned him, and, forty years^ after, would not allow him to
leave Western India for a time without presenting him with a eulogistic
and grateful address on parchment from its principal inhabitants of
every sect.'
Nasik was soon after occupied by the Church Missionary Society, who have
established there the Christian village of Sharanpoor, an industrial
settlement with a congregation of five hundred, of whom some two hundred
are communicants, and a training school for freed Africans, who helped
Dr. Livingstone. The Godavery river, the scenery on the lower reaches of
which Sir Charles Trevelyan, when Governor of Madras, compared to that
of the Ehine between Coblentz and Bingen, rises at the village of
Trimbuk, only fifty miles from the Indian Ocean at Bombay, and sixteen
miles south-west of Nasik. The Maratha Brahmans give out that its source
is connected, by a divine underground channel, with that of the Ganges
in the snows of the Himalayas. The traditional fountain is a stone
platform, approached by a flight of 690 stone steps, on a hill behind
Trimbuk village. On to that platform the stream falls from the rock,
drop by drop, into the mouth of an idol, out of which the water trickles
into a reservoir. Sir Richard Temple, when Chief Commissioner of the
Central Provinces, sketched the beauties of the river alike with brush
and pen. It has been the scene of the greatest successes as well as the
most serious and expensive failures of the Madras school of Irrigation.
Of the second tour, eastward to Jalna and the caves of Elora, in the
native State of Hyderabad, the country which the British Government had
saved for the Nizam all through the chaos of Maratha, Hyder Ali, and
Tippoo wars, we have an account from Mr. Wilson’s own pen, in letters to
his wife. At a time and in a country for the greater portion of which
there were no maps, we find the tour duly marked out in a chart showing
the road or track, on one side of it every village with the number of
its houses, and on the other the day and date on which each was reached.
The Rev. James Mitchell was his companion. After Poona they walked or
rode short stages of from ten to fourteen miles a day at first. At
Alandi, the first stage onward, they found a great assemblage for the
festival of Inanoba, a god of whom Mr. Wilson gives a humorous, but,
towards the people, kindly account, published in the Memoir of his wife.
At the next village, Phulshuhur, he inspected a settlement which was the
first of a curious experiment intended to train that most valuable but
neglected class, the Eurasians, to agricultural pursuits. Sir John Mai-colm,
in his farewell minute of 1830, had discussed the subject to which the
present Governor of Bombay, Sir B. Temple, has given attention. The
record of this tour, like the encounter with the Bamoshee brigands in
that which preceded it, throws light on the riots and robberies which
have again broken out in the Bombay Dekhan to an alarming extent: —
“The Colossal Pillar at Korigaum.—This monument was erected by the
British Government in commemoration of the brave resistance made by
Captain Staunton. The pillar is tastefully constructed. It is in charge
of a Sepoy, who was engaged in the action which it commemorates. He gave
us a plain account of the battle.
“The Headman of Shikrapoor.—After we had preached in the village, and
distributed books and tracts, the Patel sent for us. The court of his
house was large, but it bore marks of decay. He received us very kindly,
and invited us into an inner apartment. As soon as we had sat down he
brought out a box containing about twenty very handsome European
engravings. He requested us to translate all their titles into Marathee,
and to write them upon the covers. We complied with his request; and he
told us that never in his life, advanced now to seventy years, had he
met such Salaebs as we. We preached the gospel to him ; and he furnished
us with pan supdri (betel nut and a green leaf), according to the native
custom. Mr. Mitchell had a great aversion to chew his offering, and he
almost spoilt our discourse by pleading in excuse the force of habit.
“Ahmedabad is situated to the westward of Seroor. The village is much
gone to decay, on account of the road to Poona having been changed by
the English. It is remarkable for nothing but the residence of the
oldest representative of the once famous house of Pawar, of which an
interesting account is given by Sir John Malcolm. We visited the old
man, according to his personal invitation, and were received with much
kindness. We were surprised to find that he was unable to read. He
showed us the different buildings connected with his wada (palace), and
we endeavoured to engage the interest of his mind by giving him and his
few attendants a simple statement of the gospel, and by allowing him to
view the neighbourhood through the medium of Mr. Mitchell’s telescope.
“Worship of Hanuman, the Monkey God.—In most of the villages of ) the
Dekhan there is a small temple of Hanuman, under the name of Marwate,
without the principal gate. The images are exceedingly rude. They are
liberally besmeared with red lead : and, alas ! they are viewed as the
guardians and benefactors of the neighbourhood, and frequently resorted
to. One of them fronted the place in which we usually sat at Parner. The
votaries generally walked twelve or nineteen times round it, and
prostrated themselves before it, and sometimes refrigerated it with cold
water and adorned it with garlands. A great majority of them were
females demanding the boon of children. The exercise which they take in
connection with their worship may not be without effect.
“The Character of the Natives of these agricultural districts is almost
daily sinking in my estimation. Falsehood and dishonesty, and, when
practicable, incivility, are daily brought before my notice. During the
night which we spent in Jumgaum, we required a guard of two Ramoshees,
three Bheels, and two Mhars ! The latter individuals were always on the
watch to give the alarm. The others, who, as you know, are professed
robbers, think it beneath them dignity to keep their eyes open even when
they are paid for their guardian ship, and represent it as necessary, as
I believe it is, to the safety of travellers. When vve arrived at Nimba
Dera, on the forenoon of Tuesday the 28th November, we were met by a
most impertinent Brahman, who first by falsehood, and afterwards by
passion, endeavoured to drive us from the only place where we could get
shelter from the sun. He was joined by a companion, who without
hesitation united with him in wickedness. Nothing but a severe
reprimand, and the threat that we would represent the matter to the
Collector, effected anything.
“Failure of the Crops.—In some of the villages through which we passed
on our way to Nimba Dera, we were informed that, on account of the great
drought, the crops of the season had almost entirely failed. Though the
complaints of the natives were conveyed to us in a tone which clearly
intimated to us anything but resignation to the divine will, they were
very heartrending. Starvation appeared to be apprehended by not a few,
and, from the dread of it, many of the inhabitants had departed with
their cattle to the banks of the Godavery and Kandesh. We distributed at
several places a few rupees, and they were received with joy. We
endeavoured to improve the righteous dispensation of divine providence,
and we urged upon all the acknowledgment of the supreme God, who alone
can give rain and fruitful seasons.
“The Upper Godavery, 1st December.—In the evening we took a walk on the
banks of the Godavery. It is at this place, and even at this season, a
very considerable stream. Numbers of the Brahmans were performing their
evening ablutions at the spot where the river Prawara enters it. They
form a numerous class in the neighbourhood. In Prawara Sangam there are
a hundred houses of them ; in Toka, which is situated on the opposite
bank, there is the same number ; and in Gaigaam, about half a quarter of
a mile farther down the river, there are about ninety houses. Many of
them engage in agriculture, but a great source of their support is the
dakshina (alms) which they receive from the pilgrims who come to bathe
in the holy waters. This cluster of villages, and Nasik and Paithan,
form the only sacred towns on the Godavery which are situated in the
Marathee country. I should think that their celebrity is on the decline.
The progress of knowledge, and the increasing poverty of the people,
contribute principally to the destruction of the pristine zeal. No true
philanthropist can regret the circumstance, for nothing can be more
melancholy than the delusion under which men labour when they believe
that they can wash away their sins in a river, and acquire a stock of
merit by all the trouble, fatigue, and expense which they incur in the
fulfilment of their wishes. In the course of the day we had laboured
much to expose it, and, I trust, with some effect. None of the natives,
like Sliookaram Shastree, at the first discussions in Bombay, alluded to
any sacramental use of the waters—a circumstance which is worthy of
notice, and particularly as we had intercourse with the most learned
Shastree. The benefit of ablution was argued to be positive, to be an
invaluable and unavoidable blessing to all who use it, according to the
many promises and declarations of the Shastres relative to the virtues
of the Ganges. The Hindoos and Roman Catholics are wonderfully agreed
about the efficacy of rites intrinsically considered. On returning home
we saw a very large and splendid meteor proceeding in a direction
horizontal to the earth. It was visible for a considerable time. The
natives assured us that a few days ago hundreds of a similar nature were
seen, and that they were greatly terrified by the unusual occurrence.
“At Toka we went to the house of Baba Shastree, the richest Brahman in
the place, and we were rather surprised to find him desirous of
conducting us into an inner apartment of the upper story. We were happy
to perceive the liberality of his sentiments and feelings, and we had no
objections to gratify him. We found a respectable congregation
assembled, and we gave a general view of the Gospel, and of the
objections which we commonly urge against Hindooism. We were heard with
respect, and nothing was urged in reply to us except the encouragement
granted by Europeans to idolatry. Augustus Brookes of Benares, known
among the natives as Gasti Bruk, it was said, had become a convert to
Hindooism. The East India Company was liberal in its donations to
temples. The great Saheb, Governor Elpliinstone, had distributed money
among the Brahmans when he visited Toka, and had given a salaam and
Rs.100 to the god. The Collectors were in the habit of employing
Brahmans to perform anusthans for rain, etc. It was exceedingly
difficult to deal with the observations which they made on these
subjects. I told them, on the information of the late Dr. Turner, Bishop
of Calcutta, communicated to me during his visit to Bombay, that Mr.
Brookes had expressed his regret for the countenance which he had given
to the delusions of the natives ; that it was not to be concluded that,
because the Company had continued the revenue of temples, it approved of
these temples, and that I hoped that it would soon see the impropriety
and sin of giving any support to them; that I could not credit the
statements given about Mr. Elphinstone, a gentleman who greatly promoted
the improvement of the natives, and who subscribed to the propagation of
the gospel, and that the Rs.100 were probably placed by the Brahmans
without his consent before the idol; and that, while the anusthans were
performed to please the natives, the payment of them by the Company, and
every other species of encouragement granted to idolatry, was decidedly
sinful. I also expressed my hope that the time was at hand when right
views on these subjects, and other practices sanctioned without
consideration, would generally prevail among Europeans. All the Brahmans
admitted the propriety of the Company, as a Christian Government, giving
nothing more than toleration to the Hindoo religion. Their wishes, I
doubt not, were nevertheless what we might expect them to be.
“At half-past nine o’clock he invited us to return to his lodgings, with
the view of witnessing a display of fireworks, and the performance of
native musicians, etc., which he intended as a compliment to us. We
explained our views of the sanctity of the Sabbath ; and it was with
great difficulty that he accepted of our refusal. We gave him credit for
his intentions ; and I have no doubt that his respect for us was
increased by our consistency. I should have mentioned before, that I
asked him why he had left the ‘ holy city ’ of Kashee (Benares), and
come on a journey to Toka in search of merit. He pleaded the respect of
his family for the idol at Toka. When I told him that in the Marathee
language, the term kashikare was equivalent to that of an arch-villain,
and that the circumstance told little in favour of the 'sacredness’ of
Varanasi, he laughed very heartily.
“Elora, 4th December.—After a very fatiguing ride in the sun we arrived
at Roza. At this place there is a bungalow belonging to a Mussulman
gentleman; but we found it occupied by two officers. They did not invite
us to come in; and after tying our ponies to a branch of a tree, and
engaging in social worship, we stretched ourselves on the stone floor of
a large mausoleum, built by the Emperor Aurungzeb. We took our breakfast
at one o’clock; and proceeded to make our first visit to Kailas, the
principal Brahmanical excavation of Elora. We remained in it till after
sunset, examining its many wonders and curiosities.
“5th December.—We set out very early in the morning to the excavations.
We commenced with those situated in the northern part of the hill, and
went regularly through them all proceeding to the south. We gave them a
very minute examination; and I wrote down 50 pages of notes on them, of
which the following is a summary:—The caves are situated in a ridge of
hills which runs north and south, with an inclination in the centre
towards the east. They are not far from the base of the hills; and the
entrance to them commands a very extensive and interesting view of the
Dekhan towards the west. The rock out of which they are cut is of the
trap formation, and well suited for their marvellous workmanship. They
are undoubtedly of three different kinds, Jain, Buddhist, and
Brahmanical. The Jain caves are situated in the northern part of the
hills, the Brahmanical in the centre, and the Buddhist in the south. It
is difficult to say which of them are the most extensive and
interesting. The Brahmanical excel as works of art. The accounts which
are given of their wonderful structure do not, on the whole, fall beyond
the truth. The Buddhist caves, from the nature of the workmanship, and
from the appearance of the rock, appear to me to be the most ancient.
“I preached the gospel in the temple of Kailas to thirty natives, and
Mr. Mitchell followed me. Little did the formers of this wonderful
structure anticipate an event of this kind. We are in all probability
the first messengers of peace who have declared within it the claims of
Jehovah, announced his solemn decree to abolish the idols, and entreated
his rebellious children to accept of the mercy proposed through his Son.
Some of our auditors pointed to the magnificent arches and stupendous
figures around us, as the very works of God’s own hand ; but we pointed
them to the marks of the instruments of the mason, to the innumerable
proofs of decay everywhere exhibited, and to the unsuitableness,
absurdity, and impiety of the representations. We directed their minds
to Him ‘ who sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants
thereof are as grasshoppers, That stretcheth out the heavens as a
curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in; ’ and we called
upon them ‘ to lift up their eyes on high, and behold Who hath erected
these things, That bringeth out their host by number : Who calleth them
all by names, by the greatness of His might, for that He is strong in
power; not one faileth.’ They could not resist our appeal; but in all
probability we had not long left them when they would practically deny
their own admissions.
“Jilgaum, 7th December.—We rode through Aurungabad. A great part of its
site is a mere ruin, and a great part of it within the walls seems to
have been used as a burying-ground. From the gate at which we entered to
that at which we came out is a distance of nearly three miles. We
arrived at Jilgaum, distant from Aurungabad about twenty miles, at noon.
We had suffered a great deal from the heat, and we resolved never,
without absolute necessity, to expose ourselves in this manner again.
Our luggage did not come up till about 4 o’clock p.m., and we were not a
little anxious on account of our fatigue and hunger. We have not the
consolation that we were called to^endure either in the cause of duty.
They were the result of our own imprudent arrangements.
“Jalna.—At Jalna, which is twenty-one miles east of Jilgaum, we arrived
at ten o’clock. We were received with much warmth and kindly feeling by
Captain Wahab. There are several young officers and their wives, who are
in very hopeful circumstances ; and who may receive much benefit from
our visit. I baptized the child of Lieutenant -. She is an illegitimate
of three years old, and a sweet-looking little girl. I have had much
satisfaction in conversing with the father, who appears a true penitent.
I was asked to-day to baptize another child ; but the father did not
meet my views. To-morrow I intend to baptize the infant of Captain
Tomkins. He is a convert of Henry Martyn, but he dislikes the English
form of baptism. He is an excellent person, and useful as an instructor
of the heathen.
“On Tuesday we preached to a large and noisy audience in the bazaar, and
distributed a considerable number of books, which were received with
much eagerness. One of the tracts, the Remarks on Muhammadanism, was
handed up to the Colonel commanding the station, by, we believe, some
European officer; and his fears have been so much excited by the reports
from Bangalore, that he requested us to circulate no more copies at
present in the cantonment. We explained the nature of the tract to him,
and we told him that in the circumstances of the case we should not
continue to distribute it.
“15th December.—Since I last wrote to you the enemy of souls has been
busy at this station, and he has succeeded in stirring up two or three
of his European votaries to represent to the authorities here that our
tracts are calculated to excite to sedition, to recall a great number of
them and consign them to the flames, and to advise the total prohibition
of any further circulation. The consequence is that we have been
forbidden to circulate any more, and that, in our present circumstances,
we have seen it expedient to dismiss all further applications. I doubt
not that in a few days shame will cover those who have thus opposed the
work of God. Indeed, they already begin to feel its burnings. You must
not imagine from what I have now said that our residence here has become
unprofitable or unpleasant. The very contrary is the case. Our pious
friends have cleaved more closely than ever; and even those who were
formerly indifferent have been in some degree interested. We have
received and accepted an invitation for dinner from one of the
informers.
“I received a severe kick from a horse, which has laid me up for a
little. I have suffered a great deal of pain from the blow, which was
inflicted on the front bone of my right leg below the knee ; but I have
reason to be thankful that no serious danger is apprehended. At first I
had a few convulsive shocks; but they soon went off. I am entirely free
from sickness, and the injury appears inconsiderable.
“22d December.—I am now so well that I write to you upon my chair. D. V.
I preach to-morrow evening sitting. On Monday I propose to set out for
my dearest love. I have engaged twelve porters to carry me down for
Rs.112.
“Nandoor Nimbha and Shingwa, 28th December.—We left Shivagaum early in
the morning, and proceeded to Nandoor Nimbha. This village is small, and
almost all the male inhabitants of it, and a few females, had an
opportunity of hearing the Gospel. We offered them Rs.8 for their
village gods ; but they said that they were afraid to part with them. We
proposed that the power of the idols should be put to the test; and to
our astonishment they consented. The headman handed a large club to Mr.
Mitchell, for the purpose of striking them ; and he dealt out three
heavy blows upon Hanuman. His lordship received them with great
meekness, and without showing the least symptom of displeasure. The
villagers stood aghast; but they immediately destroyed their convictions
by alleging that our virtue gave us a great power over the gods, which
they could never exercise. Death, they said, would be the consequence of
their inflicting a blow. Thus Satan preserves them in their strong
delusions.
“Kallian, 9th January.—We passed through Rahata on our way to Kallian.
The villagers assembled in considerable numbers to hear the Gospel; but
we remarked that the facilities for collecting them are not so great in
the Konkan as in the Dekhan. In the latter province the villages are all
enclosed within walls, and their houses are not so scattered as those in
the villages below the Ghat. In the Dekhan, moreover, there is generally
an open space near one of the gates where all business is transacted,
and where we can always find auditors without much trouble, and to which
there is nothing correspondent in the Konkan. The villages on the sea
coast, however, have one advantage. They are on the whole more thriving
and populous.”
Jalna, where for the hour the military authorities opposed Mr. Wilson’s
benevolent work even more effectually than the Brahmans had done in the
previous year at Nasik, has, like that station, since become the scene
of the very successful mission conducted by the Rev, Narayan Sheshadri,
one of his converts. This tour deserves notice on its European side.
Chaplains, still too few for the wants of the troops, or so employed
that the troops are not cared for first, were fewer still before the
Charter of 1833 enlarged the ecclesiastical establishment. A sacerdotal
conflict between the Metropolitan of Calcutta and the Government of
India first led Lord William Bentinck to decide, as had been done in
1813, that the chaplains are the officials of Government, just as the
churches are its property. The English in India were too few, and
heathenism was too strong for sectarian bigotry to have then shown
itself. In the time of Claudius Buchanan, the author of the
ecclesiastical establishment, and till the arrival of Bishop Middleton
and Dr. Bryce in Calcutta, such a spirit was unknown. Hence Mr. Wilson
preached in the Jalna Church, and in the same service the chaplain from
Secunderabad read prayers previous to the sermon. The Presbyterian’s
comment is—“This was very liberal.” But when, soon after, the Bishop,
Daniel Wilson, made his first metropolitan tour after his defeat by Lord
William Bentinck, he forbade this “irregularity” in a general circular
to the chaplains. Long after, his noble successor, Bishop Cotton,
arranged with Government that the ecclesiastical buildings of the State
should be used, when necessary, for Presbyterian as well as Episcopalian
services.
Having thus surveyed the Marathee-speaking country north-west to Nasik
and south-west to Poona, and thence into the native State of the
Muhammadan Nizam of Hyderabad, Mr. Wilson gave up the cold season of
1833-34 to the southern Maratha country and the adjoining settlement of
the Portuguese at Goa. His colleague, the Rev. James Mitchell, was again
his companion. A sea passage of fifteen hours took them to the old
scenes at Hurnee, and thence to the southern boundary of the former
Konkan mission. At the shrine of the elephant-god Gunesh, endowed with
£120 a year, paid at that time through the British Government, an
incident "occurred which is a parallel to Cicero’s remark on the two
Augurs. An old Brahman, who had come from Satara to see the god, was
reproved because, at the close of a meal and before he had performed
ablution, he had happened to touch one of the officiating priests. The
old man immediately retorted, “ Hullo, my religious friend, you have
forgotten to wipe the sandal-wood from your forehead”—in other words,
3*011 have either forgotten to-day to purify yourself or to remove the
sign of your uncleanness. The priest confessed that he stood corrected,
and he gave a hypocritical laugh. He had pretended holiness to gain the
respect of the stranger Brahman. At a village farther south, when
passing the tombs usually erected over widows who have burned with their
dead husbands, Mr. Wilson expressed his feelings to a Brahman, who
replied that he approved of Suttee, but did not find fault with the
British Government for abolishing it. To him, as to the mass of Hindoos,
the order of an absolute Government was sufficient to alter or prohibit
even a religious rite, when that was contrary to natural religion or
morality; just as the teaching of an absolute priesthood had, by a
previous generation, been accepted as an authority for burning widows
who, if childless, otherwise enjoyed the liferent of their husbands’
estates. The natural spring at this shrine was believed to come,
underground, from the Ganges, hundreds of miles to the north, wherefore
Mr. Wilson read to the worshippers notes which he had taken of the
lectures on hydrography in the University of Edinburgh. His explanation
was confirmed by a }roung English-speaking Hindoo, whom he had known in
Bombay, and who had come from a distance of ten miles to pay his
respects to the missionarj". Thus already, in four years, the merely
scientific truth radiating out from Bombay, through English, into the
jungles of Maharashtra, and the notes of an Edinburgh lecture-room were
used to overthrow Gunesh with the aid of an educated Hindoo. Farther on
Mr. Wilson saved from the infamy of their lives, in future, a widow and
two daughters who asked alms for the temple to which they were attached,
by arranging to send them to the destitute girls’ school which he had
opened in Bombay. They proved in after years to be devoted Christians.
The connection between the Government and idolatry was found at almost
every step. At Kampta the town-clerk, a learned Braliman, “ told us that
the whole village belonged to Bhagwati (an idol), and that the English
Government was so kind as to collect and pay over the revenue to the
idol. I expressed my deep regret to him, that, in making the settlement
of the country, the Company’s servants had fallen into the error and sin
of associating themselves with superstition; and informed him that many
of them were aware of the evil, and that it would probably soon be
rectified. There is scarcely a temple in this part of the country which
has not an allowance from the revenue. The Mahalkaree of Kharipatan
showed me a list of the sums granted in his district. I was perfectly
thunderstruck on reading it. Even temples that are almost forsaken by
the natives are not overlooked. Ten or twelve of this description had an
allowance of five or six rupees per annum. I asked how these sums were
expended. ‘In buying light for the god,’ was his reply. ‘The allowance/
he added, is ‘ charitable; many Brahmans, also, have grants.’ I trust
that the time is not far distant when all these sums will be profitably
employed in promoting the education of the people.”
That is the sort of disestablishment which the British Government, as
such, can do little directly to bring about as the crowning result of
its recent efforts to leave all management of the shrines to the
worshippers, and all disputes about the property to the ordinary civil
courts. But the time is not so hopelessly distant as may appear at
first, when Mr. Wilson’s foresight may be justified, by the educated
natives themselves insisting on saving from the fraudulent greed of
their priests the enormous endowments intended in many cases to act as a
poor-law, and transferring them to the education of their children, for
which they are now compelled to pay a cess on the land-tax.
At Yingorla, a port to which the frequent famines have led Government to
direct their attention recently as likely to be the best on the Western
coast, next to Bombay itself, for the import or export of grain, Mr.
Wilson and his companion took boat again for Teracol, the first village
belonging to the Portuguese. Just a quarter of a century had passed
since, in 1808, Goa, the capital of all that was left of the once
promising empire of Yasco de Gama and Albuquerque, which Camoens had
sung in his Lusiad, had been visited by a Christian ecclesiastic whom,
in many respects, John Wilson closely resembled. Claudius Buchanan was
the son of an elder of the Kirk, who was the parish schoolmaster of
Camhuslang during Whitefield’s preaching. He was educated at Glasgow
University, was for some time tutor in the old Scottish family of the
Campbells of Dunstaffnage, and was about to become a preacher of the
Church of Scotland, when, fired by the experience of Goldsmith, he
determined first to see the world of Europe. His wanderings ended in the
completion of his studies at Cambridge under Isaac Milner, whence the
first of the Clapham men, Mr. Henry Thornton, sent him out to Calcutta
as a Company’s chaplain in 1796. There his studies, his travels, and his
researches soon marked him out to Lord Wellesley and Lord Minto as an
adviser on all educational, philanthropic, and scholarly questions. His
writings so influenced public opinion in England, that Parliament in
1813 created the ecclesiastical establishment which Charles Grant and
Wilberforce, though aided by Pitt and Dundas, had failed to force on the
East India Company in the Charter of 1793; that steps were taken to
prohibit self-immolation under the car of Jugganath and the pilgrim-tax;
and that the Inquisition was for ever abolished in Portuguese India in
1812. The same evangelical charity, the same scholarly research, the
same intellectual breadth of view, the same zeal for the propagation of
Christian truth in the East, marked the two Scotsmen—the one
Episcopalian, the other Presbyterian. Mr. Wilson does not fail to note,
in the Journal of his visit to Goa, that it was “the first since the
days of Claudius Buchanan expressly made for the circulation of the
Scriptures and other missionary operations.” Dr. Buchanan’s visit to Goa
was memorable from his intercourse with Josephus a Doloribus, one of the
Grand Inquisitors, whose admissions are most important as to the
fairness of the account of his two years’ sufferings under the order of
the tribunal by the French adventurer and physician Dellon in 1673-5. In
1808 there were upwards of three thousand priests belonging to Goa, and
those whom Dr. Buchanan saw declared they would gladly receive copies of
the Latin and Portuguese Vulgate from the hands of the English nation.
Mr. Wilson had one advantage during his visit in 1834. The recent
political changes in the mother country, and the absence of the
Archbishop, made the authorities and priests more liberal in their
intercourse with him.
“Teracol, 28th Jan. 1834.—We took an early opportunity of visiting the
fort. It is in charge of an old officer, Captain de Silva. He has been
44 years in India, and never expects to return to Portugal, which he
left when he was 14 years old. We conversed with him about the political
affairs of Portugal and other subjects. He told us that Donna Maria had
been proclaimed in all the Goanese territories about two weeks ago, and
gave us some of the orders of the day to read. He represented the whole
province as in a state of perfect quietness. I offered a Portuguese
Bible to him. He said that almost the only book which he read was a
short treatise on the sufferings of Christ by D’ Almeida; but he
intimated his readiness to accept a Bible, provided his padre would
allow him. The padre was sent for. I held a long conversation with him
in Latin. He granted permission to the Captain to receive the Bible, and
on my offering one to himself he said, Habeo tibi grcitias. He gave me
an account of the state of the Romish Church in the territories of Goa,
and in return I described to him the state and principles of the
Churches of Scotland and England. He showed us his chapel, remarking
parva est. Pointing to the different figures near the altar, he
denominated them imago Salvcitoris, imago mirificm Virginis, imago
Sancti Antonii, etc. The following conversation then took place. J. W.
Usus imagimim in ecclesia est contra Dei secunclam mandamentum. Padre.
In Novo Testamento irnaginum usus permittitur. J. W. In quo loco
permissio invenitur ? P. Nescio, sed hoc scio, Ecclesia Romana permittit.
J. W. Ecclesia Romana permittit, et Deus inter-dixit. P. Idolatria non
est. J. W. Sic cdunt Brachmanes. We parted on good terms, the Padre
promising to call upon us in the evening. He kept his word. In the
course of our walk I tried to ascertain his theological sentiments. He
said that he believed in the doctrine of predestination ante merita
cognita, agreeably to the principles of Augustine. I expressed my
accordance with his views. During our conversation on the celibacy of
the clergy, he said, In hac civitate Pauci Presbyteri midiebribus
furtive utuntur. I urged his admission as a proof of the inexpediency of
the vow to observe celibacy made by all the Romish clergy. Few or none
of the priests, he observed, knew either Greek or Hebrew. I referred to
the Vulgate translation made by St. Jerome as a proof that the Romish
Church in the days of old was not averse to the use of the Scriptures in
the language best understood by the people. He had not formerly adverted
to this circumstance; and admitted that as the lingua Latina nunc Romm
non in usu est, an Italian translation should be made for that place. We
compared the proceedings of Romish and Protestant missionaries. I
admitted the learning and piety of Francis Xavier. He condemned the use
of all violence in the propagation of Christianity, and lamented rash
admissions into the visible Church. He expressed his surprise at the
audiences with which we are favoured, and remarked, ‘ Gentiles in hoc
regione non audiuntl I advised him to study their languages, and to
preach the pure doctrines of Christianity.
"Late in the evening, when the padre had retired to the fort, about
twenty of the inhabitants of the village came to our lodgings. We
examined and addressed them in Marathee, which they speak in rather a
corrupted form. We gave a few Portuguese tracts and two Testaments to
three or four of them who could read them. One of them brought a large
folio volume, which he called a Pur ana, to show to us. It was of
Marathee Prakrita, but written in the Roman character. It contained
paraphrases of several of the discourses of the apostles, extracts from
the Bible, notes on church history, refutations of Hindooism, etc. It is
a work of immense labour, and it is creditable to the learning and
patience, if not to the piety, of some olden missionary. The owner said
that he was in the habit of reading it, in the Brahmanical style, to
assemblies at his door.”
Was this the work of the Jesuit Stephens, the first Englishman whom we
know to have landed in India five years after Francis Xavier’s death in
October 1579, whose letter to his father, a merchant of London, is found
in Hakluyt He published a Konkanee Grammar, a History of Christ, and an
Account‘ of Christian Doctrine. The Madura Jesuit, Robert {de Nobili’s
“Fifth Veda,” which the French called L’Ezour Vedam, so far deceived
Voltaire that he appealed to it as a proof of the superiority of
Hindooism to Christianity! Taking \ again to the boat, Mr. Wilson spent
the time on the way southward to Goa in reading the Latin Bible “for the
sake of facility in conversation,” and Cotineau’s Historical Sketch of
Goa.
“29th January 1834.—We lay at the mouth of the Goa river, or rather
firth, for about half-an-hour, till we obtained permission to go up to
Pangim, or New Goa. The aspect of the country, from the appearance of
the villages, churches, and forts, is unlike anything which I have seen
in India. Our landing at Pangim reminded me much of Cape Town. The
houses are, generally speaking, very substantial, and painted white.
Many have. two stories, and united conical and lofty roofs for every
apartment in the upper story.
We had not been seated for many minutes, when a great number of persons
came to us to offer their services. Some of the proposals which were
made to us were calculated to impress us with very unfavourable
impressions of the morality of the place, and with the behaviour of our
countrymen who came to visit it. We met them with suitable indignation
and reproof.
“Two parish priests of Pangim held a discussion with me. They, like the
other priests, were anxious to procure books. We gave them, as to all
the priests with whom we have had intercourse, a Portuguese Bible, a
Latin Bible and New Testament. I offered them a copy of Calvini
Institutiones.
Non licet nobis libros heretico legere, was the reply. Joannes Calvinus
vir cloctus et pins fuit; ejus opera legere vos clecet, was my answer.
The merits of the Reformation were shortly discussed. The work of the
Genevese Reformer was ultimately carried away by those to whom it was
proffered. I had a conversation on personal religion with a young lad of
twenty, who is at present studying canonical law.
“1st February.—The first sight of Goa is magnificent, although it is at
once evident that nothing remains but the churches and some other public
buildings. The walls of the city are now almost entirely destroyed ;
but, like Dr. Claudius Buchanan, we entered the city by the palace gate,
over which is the statue of Yasco de Gama, the discoverer of the passage
by the Cape, and one of the first ‘ Vice-reys ’ of India. The hero
stands aloft, in vestibus quce decent tempora antiqua. The first
building which we visited was the Church of the Palace. It is an exact
model of St. Peter’s at Rome. It is arched in the roof. Its principal
altar is decorated in a style surpassing anything which I had formerly
seen. Its convent and cloisters are small. It belongs to the Theatins or
order of St. Cajetan, who were instituted in Italy by St. Cajetan of
Thiena, and by John Caraffa (Pope Paul the Fourth), Bishop of Theato.
They were established in Goa in the middle of the seventeenth centuiy.
The Italian founders were soon joined by many of the natives. There are
at present no Europeans in the convent. No natives but those of
Brahmanical descent are admitted. We saw two of the friars seated in
confessionals in the church. . They were lending ear respectively to a
woman, and muttering forgiveness. Several other persons of the female
sex were prostrating themselves in the church, and waiting the appointed
time of disburdening their consciences. The Cajetans are the most
renowned confessors in the colony. They live almost entirely on the
offerings of the superstitious. They seldom exceed fifteen in number,
and, owing to the unhealthiness of their situation, are short-lived.
“In passing from St. Cajetan’s to the Cathedral, we saw the ruins, or
rather the site, of the Inquisition, which was founded in 1560, and the
court of which was ordered to be suppressed in 1812. The representations
of the British were the cause of its destruction. I cordially assent to
the only remark which Dr. Buchanan makes on the metropolitan church—£ It
is worthy of one of the principal cities of Europe.’ We went from the
Aljuva to the Monastery of St. Monica. It is the only nunnery in Goa,
and was founded by the infamous Dom Fre Alexo de Menezes, archbishop of
Goa, about the year 1600, and by him dedicated to the mother of
Augustine. The exterior of the building has nothing remarkable about it.
To the cloister we could of course have no access. We were directed to
the public hall. We found the abbess and prioress seated in a room
adjoining us opposite an iron grating, where alone they could have
communication with us. They were both Europeans, and very neatly dressed
in white, and attended by two or three female servants. They very
readily entered into conversation with us. The abbess entered the
convent when she was fifteen years old, and has resided within its walls
for forty-four years. The prioress entered it in 1818. She blushed when
Sr. Capella jokingly told her that, amidst the political changes which
are taking place, she would be permitted to leave it and to marry. The
abbess told us that, including novices, there are thirty nuns in the
establishment at present. Europeans pay Rs.1000, and natives double that
sum, on their entrance. The funds of the institution are much reduced
from the loss of its estates. It receives Rs.1000 per annum from the
Government. The nuns engage in making rosaries, in knitting, and the
preparation of sweetmeats and preserves. We bought several articles from
them. When we offered them a Portuguese New Testament, the abbess said
that she could not take upon herself the responsibility of accepting it.
The prioress, however, seized it besides several tracts with joy, kissed
it, and said that she would always pray for us.
“Precisely at two we saw the doors of the Angustinian Convent thrown
open. The prefect of the Augustinian College, and the prior Fre Jose,
offered to show us all the buildings, which are nearly as extensive as
those of the University of Edinburgh. ‘Few cities in Europe,’ says M.
Cotineau, ‘can boast of a finer edifice of the kind; the cloisters,
pillars, galleries, halls, and cells, are all most beautiful.’ What
struck me most was the display of portraits of the martyr missionaries
of the order. Many of them are well executed, and represent the friars
in the attitude of death. I could not but think with admiration of their
devotedness, and wish that more of it were exhibited among Protestants.
The view from the turrets is magnificent. We stood almost entranced on
first coming into contact with it. We examined the library of the
college. The books are fast going to decay. They do not amount, I should
think, to more than 1500. Many of them are very old and valuable. I
noticed most of the Roman Catholic Church historians referred to by
Mosheim. I heard the youths of the noviciate of the college read a
little Latin, and put a few questions to them. A European monk followed
us with a very anxious eye. He evidently wished to make some
communication to us. We both felt great compassion for him. The superior
of the college was very free in his communications. He was much pleased
to find our pronunciation of Latin so much like his own. I gave him a
Portuguese Bible, and left some books for the provincial and prior,
presented by Mr. J. Wolff and Mr. Farish. Among them was a copy of Keith
on Prophecy. May the perusal of them be abundantly blessed ! It was in
the cloisters of an Augustinian convent that the spark of piety was
first kindled in Martin Luther. The Augustinians (twelve in number) came
first to Goa in 1572. They have a yearly income of Rs.15,000,
independently of an allowance of Rs.1500 made by the Goa Government.
They have several missions in the East under their care. Their vestments
are white. These were originally black, but were changed on account of
the defection of the German Reformer, of whom his friends were greatly
ashamed. They are the most respectable monks in the Catholic Church.
Leaving the Augustinians, we proceeded to the church of Dom Jesus. It is
built in the form of a cross. Though it is a noble edifice we scarcely
surveyed it at all. I hastened to the shrine of the celebrated Francis
Xavier, of which I had heard much. It surpassed all my expectations, and
certainly excels anything of the kind which I had before seen. It is of
copper, richly gilt and ornamented, and placed within a silver
incasement. It rests upon an altar of Italian marble highly wrought.'
There is a vera effigies of the ‘ Apostle of India ’ on the south of the
tomb, and a statue of solid silver, which is not exposed to view. He
died in the island of Santian, in the Chinese Seas, in 1552. His body
was brought to Goa in 1554. It was exposed to public view till 1780,
when it was locked up in its present receptacle. Alas that it should now
be viewed as the ‘ sacred dust ’ of a heathen Buddha!
“We reached the Archbishop’s palace at Pannelly about half-past five
o’clock. The quaternarian kept his appointment and introduced us to the
curator of the library, which I was very anxious to examine. It
contained about two thousand volumes. Though they are in a better
condition than those in the Augustinian convent, they are rapidly going
to decay. Few of them are modern. I observed only three Protestant
volumes among the whole of them. I found a MS. translation of the Four
Gospels in Arabic, of which it would be well to procure a copy.
“4th February.—The secretary introduced us to the Vice-rey, Dom Manuel
de Portugal e Castro, at the palace, who received us very politely. He
then showed us the portraits of all the Vice-reys of India. Most of them
came originally from Portugal. There are not many of them which have not
been "re-touched by native artists. The portraits with which I was most
interested were those of Alfonso de Albuquerque, Vasco de Gama, John de
Castro, and Constantine de Braganza. Constantine refused to accept from
the king of Pegu the sum of 300,000 cruzados for a monkey’s tooth which
had been adored at Jaffnapatam as a relic of Buddha. He deserves to be
had in remembrance for his firmness and decision, and aversion to
countenance idolatry. How different was his conduct from that of the
Bengal Governor who sent an ambassador to the Grand Lama to congratulate
him on his incarnation!”
Returning through the jungle of the coast and the forest of the Ghats,
where they slept with only a slight covering from the dew, but soundly
after the fatigue of their intercourse in Goa, Mr. Wilson and his
companion reached the pure Marathee-speaking district of Dharwar, and
the London mission station of Belgaum. Here he came on the border line
of the Tamul-speaking and the Canarese districts of Madras. In preaching
to the English residents he did not, amid all the claims of India,
forget to urge those of the Gaelic School Society. He passed through
Shunkeswar, the residence of the great Swami of Western India, where the
annual fair of the deified reformer Shunkur Acharya was being held by
ten thousand people, and the god was being dragged in a car forty-five
feet high. After a day’s incessant preaching there, and at other towns
and villages, Mr. Wilson thus writes in his journal:—
“I have often wondered how Whitefield could preach so frequently in
England; but it is now a considerable time since I discovered that
practice in public speaking makes it comparatively easy. Some advocates
speak four or five hours daily at the bar during the press of business;
and we, who are called to act as ambassadors of Christ to our perishing
fellow men, may well continue our ministrations during a longer time.
The interest with which we are heard has a reflex influence in
strengthening us for the discharge of our duties. The impressions which
we produce, though in general they may not lead to any very striking
visible effect, have, I am persuaded, a powerful influence in weakening
the hold of superstition, and in enlightening and directing the
conscience. When the Gospel is generally preached, as I hope it soon
will be, through the length and breadth of the country, individual
conversions will become more frequent. It is the general apathy of the
unenlightened, which destroys the ardour of individuals, on whose mind
favourable impressions are produced. I fervently wish that evangelical
agitation were the order of the day in India. Into this agitation I
would of course wish no unholy element to enter. I would wish it to be
like that of the Apostles and the Reformers.”
The town is further remarkable for the first of those interviews with
one of the princes of India, to which Mr. Wilson was afterwards
frequently invited. The house of Sivajee, the founder of the Maratha
power, is now represented only by the Raja of Kolhapore, the
representative of its younger, and the Raja of Satara, the head of its
elder branch. Bawo Sahib, who received Mr. Wilson, was “an oppressive
and profligate ruler,” who had not many years before been compelled by a
British force to abstain from attacking his brother chiefs. He died in
1838, four years after the visit, leaving a son, the misrule of whose
minority again compelled our interference.
But he was faithful in the Mutiny of 1857. On his death, in 1866, we at
once recognised his nephew and adopted son, Rajaram. To him a melancholy
interest attaches. Well educated he visited England in 1870, a gentle
youth who 'wrote a journal of his experience, presenting a significant
contrast to that of his grandfather, to whom Mr. Wilson “ opened the
Scriptures ” in vain, and told the story of the conversion of Britain
which these Scriptures had made great. Raja Rajaram died at Florence,
and his body was burned with Hindoo rites on the banks of the Arno, the
last of that branch of Sivajee’s house. To perpetuate it, Lord Mayo’s
government waived all the usual provisions in a case of adoption, and
another Bhonsla boy was searched out in 1871. He is now sixteen years of
age, and is being educated to govern some 800,000 tenantry, who pay him
annually a revenue of the third of a million sterling.
On reaching the confines of Kolhapore the Scottish missionaries were met
by troopers, who attended them. On nearing the town the Captain-General
and a few of the troopers and thirty sepoys formed an escort to the
banks of the Pandi-Gunga, where their tents had been pitched. There they
had presented to them, in the name of the descendant of the mighty
Sivajee, “ great loads of fruit, sweetmeats, eggs, and chickens,” and
they found a retinue of liveried servants at their call. After examining
the black marble tomb-temples of Shunkur, the reformer, and his first
disciple, and preaching for a day, the Sahebs were thus received at an
audience:—
“25th February 1834.—At four in the afternoon, two of the Sirdars,
attended by forty sepoys, came to conduct us to the palace. The streets,
as we passed along, were as much lined with people as if the King of
England had come to see them. We were vastly ashamed of the honours
which they tried to heap upon us. On our arrival at the palace we were
received by Haibat Rao Gwaikawar, one of the most respectable of the
Sirdars. He conducted us to the great room. We entered it, according to
custom, without our shoes. Several hundreds of people, including all the
Sirdars, were seated in two rows fronting one another. We were squatted
near the Gdcli (royal cushion). On the entrance of the Raja all the
people stood up. He saluted us very kindly and asked us to sit down.
After a little commonplace conversation, we directed his attention to
the Christian Scriptures and gave him a brief summary of their contents.
I then presented him with an elegantly bound copy of the New Testament,
and of the Exposure of Hinduism, and with copies of Matthew bound in
silk, and Exposures aud other tracts for his Sirdars. He expressed his
pleasure at receiving them. I told him about the conversion of Britain,
and ascribed all its greatness to the book of which I had given him a
copy. Mr. Mitchell recommended him to encourage educa-tiou in his
territories. It is to be regretted that he practises polygamy. He has
five wives, but only two sons and one daughter.
“10th March 1834.—We rose at gun-fire, and, along with Dr. Young, we
ascended to the celebrated hill-fort of Satara. It is about 3000 feet
above the level of the sea, and its height from the base is about 900
feet. It is strong by nature, as the rocks near the summit are
perpendicular. We took about twenty minutes to walk round it. It
commands a very fine view of the country. In descending from it, we
found the agreeableness of ‘ the shadow of a great rock in a weary
land.’ In the afternoon we visited Satara. It is much better laid out
than any native town which I have seen. The streets are broad and
straight, and the houses are, on the whole, neat and substantial. The
English have the credit of forming the plan of some of them. The
population may be stated at between fifteen and twenty thousand, and it
is reported to be on the increase. The palace is a plain quadrangular
building. We should have been introduced to the Baja had he been at
home. His high school is also a quadrangular building.
“11th March.—We set out for Malcolm-Peth on the Mahableshwar Hills about
two hours before sunset; and we arrived at the Sanitarium, where we were
kindly received by Captain Jameson, about nine o’clock. On the top of
the ghat, about 4500 feet above the level of the sea, we saw the fern
and the willow, and heard the voice of the lark, the thrush, and the
blackbird. They called vividly to remembrance our native hills and
groves, and made our very souls thrill. We made several calls on
European gentlemen throughout the day, and we preached to large
congregations of natives. I recognised two of my Bombay native friends
among our audience. They were very happy to see me.
“15th March.—We proceeded early in the morning to Mahableshwar, which is
about three and a half miles distant from the Sanitarium in Malcolm-Peth,
or Nehar, as it is called by the natives. Our ride was remarkably
pleasant. The tops of the hills and mountains below us were rising above
the thick white clouds like islands in the ocean. The appearance of the
cottages, roads, and plants reminded us of the scenes in another land.
The atmosphere was comparatively cool and bracing. The sun was rising
with glory in the east. The birds were offering up their early orisons
to Him who formed them. Mahableshwar is a religious establishment,
almost on the highest pinnacle of the hills, sacred to Shiva. It has no
connection with Wai in the plains below, as has been alleged by some. It
is under the direction of Deshast Brahmans, while Wai is under the
direction of Konkanasts. There is a considerable spring at the most
sacred spot, which is said to be the source of the Krishnahai, Savitri,
etc., and which is denominated the Panchaganga. There is a small tank at
the place where it issues from the ground, and which forms the Tirtha,
to which pilgrims repair. It is surrounded by a small court and shed, in
which there are a few idols.”
This is our first introduction to the great hill sanitarium of Bombay,
which was ceded in 1829 by the Raja of Satara in exchange for other
lands. The State lapsed in 1848, but the British Government has
continued a pension of £250 a month to the adopted child of the last
widow of the Raja, who died in 1874. The concluding extract from Mr.
Wilson’s journal of this third tour tells of that encounter with a
tiger, which some of his Hindoo controversialists declared that he
magnified into a miracle !
“18th March 1834.—We set out for Nagotana a little before sunset. On i
the road I experienced a remarkable deliverance, which should excite my
most fervent gratitude to the Father of all mercies. I had got the start
of Mr. Mitchell in passing through the jungle, and in order to allow him
opportunity of coming to me, I was just about to pull up my horse, when
I observed an enormously large tiger about six yards from me. Instead of
running from me, he sprang up near my horse ; I then cried out as loud
as I could, with the view of frightening him. I had the happiness of
seeing him retreat for a little ; and I galloped from him, as fast as my
horse could carry me, to Mr. Mitchell, whom I found walking with four or
five natives. We passed together the spot where I had the encounter,
without seeing our enemy. He was heard, however, among the trees by our
horse-keepers. He has been seen by the natives for some days past a
short time after sunset, exactly at the place (about six miles from
Nagotana) where he appeared to me. The men whom I found with Mr.
Mitchell told me that they regularly present offerings for protection
from tigers to an image on Wardhan hill. I showed them the vanity of
their confidence ; but in their misdirected devotion I saw the call to
remember ‘ the Lord who is my refuge, even the Most High.’ ”
Some time after this the able civilian, Sir J. P. Willoughby, presented
Mr. Wilson with a cottage on Mahableshwar, and there, when more advanced
in years, he and his missionary brethren 1 used to recruit their wasted
energies during the college vacation in the great heat of May and June
in the plains. He became closely identified with the place up to the
year of his death, and evangelised among its tribes right down to Poona.
When a part of the hill called Sydney Point, after Sir Sidney Beckwith,
the Commander-in-Chief, had its name changed to Lodwick Point, he used
humorously to resent such tampering with historical and landscape
associations. His “ bungalow ” was another mission centre, like Ambrolie
in the native quarter of Bombay. Not a day passed even there without
vernacular preaching and examination of schools, while the
ever-increasing arrears of his extensive correspondence were cleared
off. The climate and the scenery alike tempted to literary labours. To
the comparatively small and select society of European officials, civil
and military, and to the educated native gentlemen who began to frequent
the spot, Mr. Wilson often delivered those lectures which afterwards
attracted crowds in the Town Hall of the capital. In close and constant
intercourse with the Governor, the Commander-in-Chief, and the members
of Council, he brought his wide information and high principles to bear
on political questions, especially when these concerned the native
princes and people. Thus Mahableshwar became to him the scene not merely
of well-deserved rest but of more varied work and wider social
influence. |
