Page images
PDF
EPUB

he appeared rather unwieldy and inactive. His face was beautiful; the features large and manly, the forehead lofty and expanded, the eyes dark and animated, the nose finely curved and of due proportion, the lips full, and the general expression of the countenance that of intelligence and benignity.*..

His character is far more difficult to draw; indeed, a true portrait of it could be exhibited only in an honest autobiography. He was undoubtedly a most extraordinary man, The mere circumstance of his being able, by his own unassisted energies, to burst asunder the cerements in which the Hindu intellect had been shrouded for so many centuries, would be sufficient to secure to him a name. But his literary acquisitions in ten different languages-Sanscrit, Arabic, Persian, Bengalee, Hindustanee, Hebrew, Greek, Latin, English, and French-most of which he could write and speak fluently; the acuteness of his understanding, the philosophical precision of his writings, so utterly unlike the loose composition of the best Hindu authors, and the graceful and imposing qualities of his external or superficial character, vindicate the rajah's claim to the title we have given him.

He had infirmities,-who has not ?-which, though not obvious to the world, could not be concealed from those who lived in close intercourse with him. It has been said that he wrote English much better than he spoke it. The reason is that what he spoke was really his own; but his writings were generally, to some extent, the composition of others. We are assured, on good authority, that during the period he was in Europe, except for a few months, besides an amanuensis, he had the constant assistance, in drawing up all papers or letters of any importance (his remarks on the revenue and judicial systems of India, on the suttee question, &c.), from an old Indian friend, connected with the press and politics of Bengal; and that he scarcely sent a line out of his hands without his secretary's revision, unless, as often happened, it was actually composed by him beforehand. How much of his reputation, as an elegant writer, may therefore be attributable to others, both here and in India, can only be conjectured. As he was exceedingly ambitious of literary fame, he took care, both in Europe and in India, to obtain the best assistance he could get, both European and native. His works, therefore, do not furnish an absolute criterion of his literary talents, although these were no doubt considerable.

Perhaps we cannot do better than, distrusting our own means of observation and judgment, lay before the reader the following sketch of his character in England, by a gentleman who was in close and intimate communication with him here, and whose impartiality cannot be suspected, though he does not deal in that general strain of panegyric, which either elevates

The best portrait of him extant is a full-sized one by Briggs. It is a good picture as well as an admirable likeness; but the deceased always felt an accountable aversion to it. Perhaps it did not flatter him sufficiently in respect to complexion, a point on which he was very sensitive. There is also a miniature by Newton, and a bust by Clarke. Dr. Carpenter states that a cast for a bust was taken a few hours after his death.

Asiat.Journ.N.S.VOL. 12.No.47.

2 E

the man above the standard of humanity, or leaves the outline vague and indistinct.

After observing that much obscurity has been thrown on the history of Ram Mohun Roy by those who wish to give the sanction of his name to their own peculiar opinions and doctrines, he goes on to say:

"Some have said he was a Hindu, others a Christian; some that he was a Unitarian, and others that he was attached to the forms of the Church of England. Some have asserted that he was a republican; others that he was an admirer of a citizen King. His different biographers have thus made his real opinions a riddle; those who knew him better, seem not much disposed to clear up the mystery. The fact is, that in religion it is much easier to say what he was not than what he was. He did not believe in the doctrines of Hinduism, nor did he respect its practices: at the same time, he carefully avoided any open and flagrant violation of them, which might have shocked the feelings of his countrymen. He did not believe in the Trinity, yet he regularly attended the places of worship where that doctrine is incutcated. He wrote books in support of the unity of God—a doctrine which Christians hold in common with the Hindu Vedantís, the Jews, and Musulmans. In short, he believed in the Deity, and had a strong sentiment of natural religion, which increased with his years, and, towards the close of his life, was often expressed with all the fervour of genuine piety. He had always cherished, and the longer he lived became more confirmed in, the opinion, that religion is essentially and indispensably necessary to the welfare of mankind. As to the rest, he estimated the different systems of religion existing in the world, not according to his notion of their truth, but of their utility, or, to speak more clearly, according as they were more or less calculated, in his opinion, to promote human happiness and virtue. All speculations, therefore, as to his belief in this or that doctrine or faith, founded on his attendance at this or that place of worship, are evidently futile. His published works on religious subjects hardly furnish a better criterion, because they state not what he believed, but what he considered the sacred books of different persuasions to inculcate: for example, he maintained that the most ancient Hindu works taught pure Theism; and that the Christian Scriptures, both Old and New Testament, taught the leading doctrines of the Unitarians. That he believed these to be the real principles of Christianity may be demonstrated; and that, during part of his life, he considered the diffusion' of Christianity in this, which he deemed its purest, form, highly beneficial to mankind, may also be proved. But to shew that he himself was a Unitarian, or a Christian, in any particular form, would require a distinct species of evidence, which his works do not furnish: they assuredly do not contain any declaration to that effect; and viewing him in his true character,: that of a religious utilitarian, his support of any particular system cannot be construed into a profession of faith.

"In regard, then, to religious belief, I see no reason to think that the slightest change took place in the Rajah's mind for the last forty or fifty' years, that is, since the period when, about sixteen years of age, he began to

doubt Hinduism. With the zeal of a new proselyte, he then rejected all, and is said to have composed a work on the errors of all religions. He next tried to refine the grossest of them to a system of monotheism; on this he afterwards attempted to engraft a kind of unitarianism, which might embrace alike the Hindu and the Christian. As he advanced in age, he became more strongly impressed with the importance of religion to the welfare of society, and the pernicious effects of scepticism. In his younger years, his mind had been deeply struck with the evils of believing too much, and against that he directed all his energies: but, in his latter days, he began to feel that there was as much, if not greater, danger in the tendency to believe too little. He often deplored the existence of a party which had sprung up in Calcutta, composed principally of imprudent young men, some of them possessing talent, who had avowed themselves sceptics in the widest sense of the term. He described it as partly composed of East-Indians, partly of the Hindu youth who, from education, had learnt to reject their own faith without substituting any other. These he thought more debased than the most bigotted Hindu, and their principles the bane of all morality.

"This strong aversion to infidelity was by no means diminished during his visit to England and France; on the contrary, the more he mingled with society in Europe, the more strongly he became persuaded that religious belief is the only sure ground-work of virtue. If I were to settle with my family in Europe,' he used to say, 'I would never introduce them to any but religious persons, and from amongst them only would I select my friends; amongst them I find such kindness and friendship, that I feel as if surrounded by my own kindred.'

"He evidently now began to suspect that the Unitarian form of Christianity was too much rationalized (or sophisticated, perhaps I may say) to be suitable to human nature. He remarked in the Unitarians a want of that fervour of zeal and devotion found among other sects, and felt doubts whether a system appealing to reason only was calculated to produce a permanent influence on mankind. He perceived the same defect in the Utilitarian philosophy, and ridiculed the notion that man, a being governed by three powers reason, imagination, and the passions-could be directed by those who addressed themselves only or chiefly to the first of these powers, overlooking the importance of the two other elements of human nature, which must continue to exert an everlasting influence so long as the world endures.

"A writer in one of the daily papers has said he was in politics a republican. I know of no ground for this opinion; if there be any, it must have reference to an early period of his life. He may have approved of it, in theory, while surrounded by power more or less arbitrary, from the form of government existing in his native country; he may have deemed a republic good in America, but he thought the rule of the citizen King the best adapted for France, and in the same manner heartily rejoiced in the establishment of the throne of King Leopold in Belgium. Though a decided reformer, he was generally a moderate one. For his own country, he did not

propose even an Indian legislative council, like Mr. Rickards; he deemed the English more capable of governing his countrymen well than the natives themselves. A reference of measures of internal policy to a few of the most distinguished individuals in the European and Native community, for their suggestions, previous to such measures being carried into a law, was the utmost he asked in the present state of the Indian public mind. He not only always contended, at least among Europeans, for the necessity of continuing British rule for at least forty or fifty years to come, for the good of the people themselves, but he stood up firmly against the proposals of his more radical friends, for exchanging the East-India Company's rule for a colonial form of government. His argument was, that in all matters connected with the colonies, he had found, from long observation, that the Minister was absolute, and the majority of the House of Commons subservient; there being no body of persons there who had any adequate motive to thwart the Government in regard to distant dependencies of the British crown. The change proposed was, therefore, in his estimation, a change from a limited government, presenting a variety of efficient checks on any abuse of its powers, for an absolute despotism.

"He had been an enthusiastic advocate of the Grey administration, from his arrival in Europe till his departure for France, in the autumn of last Whether it was that he imbibed some fresh light from Louis year. Philippe and his subjects, or that the first Reformed British Parliament disappointed him, or that he had taken some personal disgust at the present ministry (the most probable of the three), he became most bitterly opposed to it. He was in the habit of inveighing against it in the strongest, I may truly say coarsest, terms: a circumstance the more remarkable, as he had hitherto been distinguished by the courtesy of his language and the studied politeness of his expressions, Even when engaged in the warmest controversies, and in repelling personal insults, he would not formerly permit hinself to use a strong epithet, or utter any reflection which could be considered in the least illiberal or ungentlemanly. During the last period of his life, his manners were much changed, and the powers of his mind seemed to be decaying. Controversy of any kind, in which he formerly displayed such admirable temper and patience, seemed now to throw his mind off its balance. For reasoning, he substituted invective; and, losing the power of persuasion, attributed bad motives to all who differed in opinion from him.

"Another proof of the decay of his mental powers, at this period, is the small part he took in the question of the Company's charter, which was to fix the destinies of his country for many years to come. From him some great effort might have been expected on such an occasion. But, for any thing he attempted, either publicly or privately, he might as well have been seated all the while, with Hindu quiescence, under a banyan tree on the banks of the Ganges. He latterly expressed a wish to withdraw himself from politics entirely, finding the discussions into which they led him no * He thought more of the empty title of Rajah than of the results of the East-India Bill; and if the Company had acknowledged this title, they might have calculated on his open support, as they had his secret wishes in their favour.

longer supportable with any comfort to himself. In short, his intellectual career had drawn evidently to a close, and though the termination of his natural life may be sincerely regretted by his friends, it is perhaps fortunate for his fame that Providence has decreed he should not outlive his mental faculties."

In conclusion, we may mention that the signature commonly used by the Rajah was Ram Mohun, written in Hindustanee; in Bengalee A. Ram or Rama is the name of the celebrated demi-god, রামমোহন the hero of the Ramayana. Mohun is one of the names of Krishna.

BRITISH INTERCOURSE WITH CHINA. ·

Mr. Marjoribanks, late President of the Select Committee in China, by whom the experimental voyage to the north-east coast of that empire was carried into effect, has published a letter on the present state of our intercourse with China, addressed to the President of the Board of Control.*

The letter begins with some remarks upon the illiterate character, and the discreditable conduct of the Company's agents,† at the commencement of our commercial transactions with China, which, with other circumstances, he says, "brought the British name into merited contempt." In later periods, the aggrandizement of the Indian empire has exchanged this feeling for one of deep and distrustful apprehension, the removal of which "will not be done by pursuing a system of wretched subserviency to a corrupt and despotic government; but by acting in strict accordance with those sound principles of national honour which we apply to other nations."

Formerly, he observes, our merchants were not restricted to one port in the empire; in the early periods of our trade, all ports were opened to them, and it was not till 1680 that their exclusive privileges were conceded to the Hong. The Company, whose counteracting resistance probably has prevented our being expelled from Canton, continued to trade with other provinces long after the interdict was issued; "the truth is, that the edicts of the Emperor, fulminated from Pekin, are often issued without any expectation, and sometimes without even a wish, that they should be obeyed." With respect to the Hong, contrary to the evidence of Mr. Plowden, a predecessor of Mr. Marjoribanks, the latter paints them in the worst colours, as guilty of fraud and deception in the very instances where they have credit for liberality and generosity. The Chinese merchants are rarely just, he says, "except when prompted by self-interest." The great object of the Hong is to prevent any infringement of their own monopoly, and they resort to the lowest means of fraud and deception, to impose upon foreigners, and in representing their conduct to the government.

Letter to the Right Hon. Charles Grant, President of the Board of Coutrol, on the present state of British intercourse with China. By Charles Marjoribanks, Esq. M.P. London, 1833. Hatchard.

To prove their illiterate character, he cites a passage from a letter to the Court, dated in 1660, in which they refer to the Monument, erected some ten years later!

"From my acquaintance with them, the Hong are generally considered very liberal merchants. and not liable to the charge of want of faith."-Evidence, 16th August 1831.

« ՆախորդըՇարունակել »