a naked savage.' The history of nations is before him, and a Young Bengal is loath to abide by any bookrevelation. He thinks that he would be lagging behind the age by taking up the question of eternal concerns in preference to that of the concerns of this world -to the question of his mission upon earth. Ostensibly he has no religon-not even Brahminism, which is being hampered with rules and forms giving it a sectarian air. But, nevertheless, he has his faith in the life that is right, and he rests his hopes in an Almighty Disposer of events.

In return for the nuzzerana-fee with which we had to make acceptable our visit to Govinjee, we had the honour to receive from his wardrobe each a red-coloured scarf with a border of gold, and a tray of his sacred food. The pera, a kind of comfit, of which the god was fond in his infancy, is still his favourite food. His taste for curds and butter was acquired from the dairy of Jushoda. But the days of simplicity are gone, and the Apollo of Vrij now has his curds adulterated with rose water and amber.' The dead stock of Govinjee's shrine is augmented by the pious bounties of pilgrims from the most distant provinces. There is no donation too triding for his acceptance, and his hand is spread out to receive even the widow's mite. Krishna is the deified ancestor of the Yadus, and the Rajpoots have always been his most realous worshippers. But the largest influx of vetaries now is frem Bengal. The idol is said to be under the protection of the Rajah of Jeypoor. Bat, as from the days of Sancara Acharya, have Mala

bar Brahmins ministered at the temple of Badrinath, on the Himalayas, so from the days of Choitunya have people from Bengal had the ascendancy in the temples of Brindabun. The most devoted votary of Heri now is the Byragee of Bengal, who renounces the world to pass his days in Brindabun invoking his name. The principal office at the shrine, that of Kamdar or Manager, is never given but to a Bengalee. The township of Brindabun is held as the sacred Zemindary of a trio of gods, and no inconsiderable portion of revenue is derived by Govinjee from his one-third share in the

estate.

56

CHAPTER II.

No end of idols and temples in Brindabun-passed a whole morning, and still visited not more than a fourth of them. The idols are the same everywhereKaniya, with Radha on his left, and Nullita 'on the right. The temples, adorned with elaborate carvings upon stone, are all costly buildings, but without much variety. Krishna appears to number almost every Hindoo prince among his followers. There is the temple of the Rajah of Jeypore as well as of his Ranee and of his favourite mistress, of the Rajah of Bhurtpoor and of his Ranee, of Scindia, of Holkar, of the Rajah of Dinajpore, of the Rajah of Burdwan, and of many other potentates. The dignity of these shrines is maintained by rich endowments and grants, besides the donations of pilgrims. The daily expenditure in one or two of them is 100 rupees, and in none less than 10 rupees. In all these religious foundations, the pershad, or the food offered to the god, forms the sinecure livelihood of that floating population of ascetics and mendicants by whom the place is crowded in all seasons, and who by the lowest estimate would not number less than two thousand souls. There are hangers-on, who

are insured of their food for their lifetime under especial recommendations.

The second in the trio of gods is Gopinath, or the Lord of the Gopinees. This also is a substitute in place of the original penate, which had to be removed away from the reach of Aurungzebe. There is nothing in the statue of the Lord of the Gopinees to indicate that surpassing beauty of Krishna, by which he captivated the hearts, not only of rural damsels, but of the Princesses of ancient Hind. The poet does him more justice than the artist. In vain we endeavoured to recognize any charms which the statue is said to possess. The dull cold figure betrays a most defective conception, and is void of any expresssion. The features are hard and utterly meaningless-being hit off without the slightest stamp of that amorous ardency which should characterize the countenance of the Lord of the Gopinees. It is a sad mistake of the sculptor to have chosen principally to exercise his skill upon black marble. The mind and manners of Krishna must have had more to do in winning feminine hearts than his light azure complexion, which the artist has been so anxious above all to perpetuate. Krishna is described to have had the perfection of the male figure, 'such as he appears to young female imaginations-heroic, beautiful, breathing music from his very eyes, and exalting the religion of his worshippers into love.' To have executed a likeness of him, the sculptor should have modelled the beau ideal of the male figure-a Phidian image of the Indian Apollo, and then at least could Hindoo idolatry have

boasted to have developed the beautiful in art, and accomplished a triumph for its apology. The size of the image also should have been of the standard of life-its diminutiveness degrades it into a doll.

In like manner, the statue of Radha, intended as a personification of all that is elegant, graceful, and beautiful in the other sex, is a complete failure. Though moulded into a slender form, the stiff metal has anything but realized the figure of the graceful sylphide who was the pearl in the ocean of Heri's mortal birth.' Her face appears not to smile with complacency on her best-beloved. The 'fawn-eyed Radha' of the poet has in the image eyes staring upon the pilgrim, rather than 'gazing upon the bright face of Krishna.' These are not only artistic but also historic faults in the statue. Care has been taken, however, to preserve historic truth ' in staining the eyes with antimony'-in 'placing a circle of musk on the forehead '-in intertwining a chaplet of flowers and peacock's feathers in the dark tresses' -in girding the waist with 'a zone of bells'-and in wearing on the ankles 'rings which tinkled when sporting in the dance.' The costume and adornments of the image help to give an idea of the toilet of a Hindoo lady in the fifteenth century before Christ.

The affairs of Gopinath are now at the lowest ebb. His property is all under mortgage, and he is over head and ears in debt. The mutiny, having put a stop to all pilgrimage from Bengal, has brought him to this pass. Brindabun is annually visited by more than ten thousand Bengalees, from whose contributions the gods