by the respectable householders, have an interest in being civil, well-behaved, and attentive.

"The army at Secrole is never called in except in cases of extremity, according to an excellent rule laid down and strictly observed by the Government of Bengal, never to employ the military force except in affairs of real war, or where an active and numerous police is visibly incompetent to provide for the public safety. Only one instance of the military being called in, has occurred at Benares during the last twenty-five years, which was on occasion of the quarrel I have already noticed between the Mussulmans and Hindoos. At that time, Mr. Bird was magistrate, and he gave me a far more formidable idea of the tumult than I had previously formed. One half of the population was literally armed against the other, and the fury which actuated both, was more like that of demoniacs than rational enemies. It began by the Mussulmans breaking down a famous pillar, named Siva's walkingstaff, held in high veneration by the Hindoos. These latter in revenge burnt and broke down a mosque; and the retort of the first aggressors was, to kill a cow, and pour her blood into the sacred well. In consequence, every Hindoo able to bear arms, and many who had no other fitness for the employment than rage supplied, procured weapons, and attacked, their enemies with frantic fury wherever they met them. Being the most numerous party, they put the Mussulmans in danger of actual extermination, and would certainly have, at least, burned every mosque in the place before twenty-four hours were over, if the Sepoys had not been called in. Of these last, the temper was extremely doubtful. number of them were Hindoos, and perhaps one-half

By far the greater

Brahmins; any one of them, if he had been his own master, would have rejoiced in an opportunity of shedding his life's blood in a quarrel with the Mussulmans ; and of the mob who attacked them, the Brahmins, yoguees, gossains, and other religious mendicants formed the front rank, their bodies and faces covered with chalk and ashes, their long hair untied as devoted to death, shewing their strings, and yelling out to them all the bitterest curses of their religion, if they persisted in urging an unnatural war against their brethren and their gods. The Sepoys, however, were immoveable. Regarding their military oath as the most sacred of all obligations, they fired at a Brahmin as readily as at any one else, and kept guard at the gate of a mosque as faithfully and fearlessly as if it had been the gate of one of their own temples. Their courage and steadiness preserved Benares from ruin.

"One observation of some of the Hindoo Sepoys was remarkable. The pillar, the destruction of which led to all the tumult, had originally stood in one of the Hindoo temples which were destroyed by Aurungzebe, and had mosques built over them. In the mosque, however, it still was suffered to exist, and pilgrimages were made to it by the Hindoos through the connivance of the Mussulmans, in consequence of their being allowed to receive half of all the offerings made there. It was a very beautiful shaft of one stone, forty feet high, and covered with exquisite carving. This carving gave offence to several zealous Mohammedans; but the quarrel which hastened its destruction, arose, as I have stated, from the unfortunate rencontre of the rival processions. Respecting the pillar, a tradition had long prevailed among the Hindoos, that it was gradually sinking in the ground; that

it had been twice the visible height it then shewed, and that, when its summit was level with the earth, all nations were to be of one caste, and the religion of Brahma to have an end. Two Brahmin Sepoys were keeping guard in the mosque, where the defaced and prostrate pillar lay. Ah,' said one of them, 'we have seen that which we never thought to see ; Siva's shaft has its head even with the ground; we shall all be of one caste shortly. What will be our religion then?' I suppose the Christian,' answered the other. 'I suppose so too,' rejoined the first, for, after all that has passed, I am sure we shall never turn Mussulmans.' "After the tumult was quelled, a very curious and impressive scene succeeded. The holy city had been profaned; the blood of a cow had been mixed with the purest water of Gunga, and salvation was to be obtained at Benares no longer. All the Brahmins in the city, amounting to many thousands, went down in melancholy procession, with ashes on their heads, naked and fasting, to the principal ghâts leading to the river, and sat there with their hands folded, their heads hanging down, to all appearance inconsolable, and refusing to enter a house, or to taste food. Two or three days of this abstinence, however, began to tire them; and a hint was given to the magistrates and other public men, that a visit of condolence and an expression of sympathy with these holy mourners, would sufficiently comfort them, and give them an ostensible reason for returning to their usual employment. Accordingly, all the British functionaries went to the principal ghât, expressed their sorrow for the distress in which they saw them, but reasoned with them on the absurdity of punishing themselves for an act in which they had no share, and which they had

done their utmost to prevent or to avenge. This prevailed, and after much bitter weeping, it was resolved that Ganges was Ganges still; that a succession of costly offerings from the laity of Benares might wipe out the stain which their religion had received, and that the advice of the judges was the best and most reasonable. Mr. Bird, who was one of the ambassadors on this occasion, told me, that the scene was very impressive and even awful. The gaunt, squalid figures of the devotees, their visible and apparently unaffected anguish and dismay, the screams and outcries of the women who surrounded them, and the great numbers thus assembled, altogether constituted a spectacle of wo, such as few cities but Benares could supply.

"Benares being in many respects the commercial, and in all, the ecclesiastical metropolis of India, I was not surprised to find persons from all parts of the Peninsula residing there. But I was astonished to hear of the number of Persians, Turks, Tatars, and even Europeans, who are to be met with. Among them is a Greek, a well-informed and well-mannered man, who has fixed himself here for many years, living on his means, whatever they are, and professing to study the Sanscrit....... There is also a Russian here, who, by a natural affinity, lives much with the Greek. He is, however, a trader, and has apparently moved in a much humbler rank of society than his friend." *

The Maha-rajah of Benares, one of the Company's wealthy pensionaries, now resides at the fort of Ramnaghur, built by Bulwunt Singh, on the opposite side of the river. A small town adjoins the fort, consisting of two streets crossing each other, of a good width and tolerable architecture. It is "filled with Brahmins."

Heber, vol. i. pp. 428-437.

About a mile inland is a garden-house, erected (but left unfinished) by the unfortunate Cheyte Singh Rajah. The garden is square, laid out in the Dutch style, with formal walks and clipped hedges. At the angles are round summer-houses with domes; at the southern end is a handsome stone pavilion; and opposite to it is a large tank, one of the most magnificent works, Lord Valentia says, that he ever beheld, and communicating with baths for the Rajah's women. There is also a small but most elegant pagoda, of stone, rising from a square base into a dome; the front divided into compartments of about two feet square, in each of which is the figure of a deity, exquisitely carved. These beautiful buildings were never finished, the superstition of India deterring the successor of Cheyte Singh from completing them, lest it should entail the inheritance of his misfortunes.*

CHUNAR.

THE fortress of Chunar, in which, in 1781, the Governor-General (Hastings) took refuge, when, by placing the Rajah under arrest, he roused the timid natives into insurrection,† is situated thirteen miles higher up, also on the south side of the Ganges. It was a place of great importance in former times, but has been superseded as a military depôt by Allahabad. The view of Chunar from the river, Bishop Heber describes as very striking. "Its fortress, which is of great extent and still in good repair, covers the crest and sides of a large and high rock, with several successive enclosures of walls and towers, the lowest of

* Valentia, vol. i. pp. 85-7. The view obtained from the pavilion, of Benares and the river, is uncommonly grand,

† See page 98 of our second volume,