Question; but no
sooner was he called upon to substantiate his assertions by swearing
by his favourite wife, than he threw down the article contended for,
and took to his heels with all speed, in order to avoid the much
dreaded oath." It will appear, therefore, that there is scarcely any
class of persons in India so utterly destitute of principle, as to be
incapable of understanding the obligation of an oath, or the necessity
of speaking truth when solemnly pledged to do so, the difficulty being
to discover the asseveration which they consider binding.
In nearly every transaction with servants in India we find them most
unscrupulous respecting the truth of any account which they give, and
yet at the same time they will fulfil every engagement they enter into
with a conscientiousness almost unknown in Christian countries. The
lowest servant of the establishment may be trusted with money, which
will be faithfully appropriated to the purpose for which it was
intended, but certainly they entertain little or no respect for
abstract truth.
The controversy at home concerning the general disregard to accuracy
manifested by the natives of India has caused much consternation here,
and will, I trust, be productive of good. It will show at least to
the large portion of the native community, who can understand and
appreciate the value of the good opinion of the country of which they
are fellow-subjects, the necessity of a strict adherence to veracity,
in order to maintain their pretensions to morality, and it will
evince the superiority of that religion which, as one of its precepts,
teaches a regard for truth.
Willing as I feel to bear testimony to many excellent points in the
native character, I regret to say, that, although they do not deserve
the sweeping accusations brought against them, the standard by which
they are guided is very low. At the same time it must be said, that
the good faith which they observe, upon occasions in which persons
guided by superior lights would be less scrupulous, shows that they
only require a purer religious system to regard truth as we have been
taught to regard it.
CHAPTER XI.
* * * * *
BOMBAY - (Continued.)
* * * * *
Residences for the Governor - Parell - Its Gardens - Profusion of
Roses - Receptions at Government-house - The evening-parties - The
grounds and gardens of Parell inferior to those at Barrackpore - The
Duke of Wellington partial to Parell - Anecdotes of his Grace
in India - Sir James Mackintosh - His forgetfulness of India - The
Horticultural Society - Malabar Point, a retreat in the hot
weather - The Sea-view beautiful - The nuisance of fish - Serious effects
at Bombay of the stoppage of the trade with China - Ill-condition
of the poorer classes of Natives - Frequency of Fires - Houses of the
Parsees - Parsee Women - Masculine air of the other Native Females
of the lower orders who appear in
public - Bangle-shops - Liqueur-shops - Drunkenness amongst Natives
not uncommon here, from the temptations held out - The Sailors'
Home - Arabs, Greeks, Chinamen - The latter few and shabby - Portuguese
Padres - Superiority of the Native Town of Bombay over that of
Calcutta - Statue of Lord Cornwallis - Bullock-carriages - High price and
inferiority of horses in Bombay - Hay-stacks - Novel mode of stacking.
